Ministry of Defence Orders Refit of 42nd Century CarrierMinistry officials say naval component likely to be key in future conflictsAQQAK --
The Hawu Mumenhes Ministry of Defence has ordered a refit for the
HMS sḤtm. The 42nd Century aircraft carrier was procured by the Chapman Administration from Istalian naval construction firm
Leonardi® Industrial Group S.p.A in 4127. Because the 250-year-old ship never saw combat, senior Ministry officials have advocated the ship's decommissioning. However with threats to Ezinsundu and historic Hawu ally Mordusia mounting in the Central Seleyan region, the Admiralty has urged administration officials to maintain the ship lest the military find its force projection flatfooted. 'A new carrier would've taken years to construct. And with the breakdown of the Minister's talks in Mordusia, locating a base of operations in the region has become a high-risk proposition,' said Rear Admiral Mpinkulu Nakht-Thmesie, a senior officer within the Hawu Mumenhes's Navy's
Naval Supply Systems Command.
Defense sector experts say the need to refit the
HMS sḤtm points to a worrying fracture in the
Hexicontinental Security Structure, the Chapman-era doctrine of rapid global force projection. Critics have charged the Morrison Administration's foreign policy team with dereliction of duty for allowing the foreign relations which underpin the
HSS to go fallow. Qiniso Sibanyoni, a Research Fellow at the
Chapman Presidential Center for the Study of Public Administration at the University of Soleb, told the
Scribe that the Morrison Administration's diplomacy has been far too quiet, bordering on lazy. 'You simply cannot go that long without renewing foreign relations, no matter how historical or well-crafted. Diplomatic relations is like a garden: it will grow naturally so long as it is watered regularly; but neglect its feeding for long, and it will wilt and disappear in time for harvest,' said Sibanyoni. 'Every administration since President Chapman has promised to reengage with the Mordusians and none of them followed-through, including the current administration. That old base in Seleya was key to Hawu interests and influence in the region; without it, we are absentee and nearly voiceless.'
Administration officials countered that there was still hope of salvaging the Hawu-Mordusian relationship, but time is of the essence. In addition to floating the enslavement of Ikpi and other Saridan nationals, the Duntrekker regime is thought to be responsible for the disappearance of a Mordusian scientific research vessel in Saridan waters. 'It's provocation, no doubt about it,' said Jocelyn SankhAjōrē, a Deputy Minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 'They're trying to get our attention and they want to see how far they need to push it to get us engaged. So we've got to go in, it's just a question of getting the Mordusians on-script and keeping them there for the long haul,' said the Deputy Minister.
mid-to-late 4380s-ish, contemporary with the introduction of slavery and concentration camps in Saridan
-Boipelo Zola Akhenhboui-Richardson,
Editor-at-Large, The Daily Scribe