The Socialist Repubic of Venda

The Socialist Republic of Venda
(Marxist-Leninist Communism)

Warships	Tug	Buoy Controller
Auxiliaries	Mobile Shipyard and Repair Ship	Survey Ship
Bases	Troopships and Transports

Tech Level 6
Conjectural Ship Designs

Description:
     A short humanoid race that reaches the 1.4 meter mark on the measure stick, the Venda make up with attitude what they lack in height. Covered with fine and luxurious fur from head to toe, members of the race spend a good portion of their free time grooming. Their fingers have short retractable claws that, over millennia, have become more useful for combing than for fighting. Affixed with a permanent scowl in their canine-like faces, Vendians depend more on inflections of speech to convey emotion than on other non-verbal cues. In regards to the development of civilization and establishment of a world communist state on Venda the fact that no-one could smile didn't matter. Later it would turn out to be an important matter indeed.
     With heavy industry at the heart of the state, the Venda moved into space and colonized what real estate they could. Over a century later a freighter, on course to deliver prospectors to an asteroid, accidentally discovered the system's warp point. With the prospect of more territory to claim, the Vendian Space Navy built some exploration ships and surveyed the new system. To enforce the claim of ownership of the new system, called Anvil, the first set of bases were built and positioned at each of the new system's two other warp points.
     Then the Fendalens arrived. Luckily only a trio of small inoffensive survey ships made transit, and first contact protocols initiated.Over a period of two months the contact teams made considerable progress. For the Fendalens, however, it was tough. The unsmiling Venda reminded them of a rebellious subject race in the former High Kingdom. Moreover the Vendians were making it clear that they intended on going through the warp point of contact and that nothing will stop them.
     King Kysjyt, having been raised on stories about the fall of the High Kingdom, couldn't get past the unsmiling Vendian face. In combination with the stated belligerence of the race it was the opinion of the King that an exercise of the kingdom's military might was in order. The war that followed scarcely lasted ten months. Failure of the Vendians to develop minefield technology in time was part of the reason. The other part was the use of prototype and first generation fighters by the Fendalens. Even the Armored Knight Corps (Fendalen Army) participated, invading and conquered the Vendian homeworld in three months.
     The occupation was protracted for Kysjyt wanted nothing less than the complete cooperation of the Vendians. In the middle of the CPS/Fendalen war the Vendians were finally made to sign a partnership pact and were amalgamated two years later. Allowed to have a task force for self defense, the race also built and manned OWP defenses in the Fendalen system of Gateway (bordering CPS and Jazta space). All ship and OWP designs were of Fendalen origin.
      In the starting phase of the Pulurtan War the Vendians were targeted by the High Navy for 'special' treatment. Once they learned about the Vendians, and their uncanny resemblance to the subject race that helped to bring down the original High Kingdom, the Pulurtans knew they had to do something. The point of Pulurtan entry into Fendalen space was just three transits from the Vendian homeworld. With two heavily contested warp point assaults and casualties to show for it the High Navy broke into the Vendian home system and literally bombarded the planet and all other settlements into so much radioactive slag.
     After that bombardment there were only 100,000 Vendians left. 80,000 of those were on a hostile environment colony committed to support OWPs manned by the remaining 20,000 in a system bordering CPS space. Knowing that they couldn't provide safe haven for the survivors the Fendalen Kingdom took a major step and asked the CPS and its allies to accept the remaining Vendian population. To their credit, the Elotoshani accepted the Vendians and had them settle a former Asteroid Axis world in conjunction with their own people, forming a joint colony. Since Elotoshani space was as far as one could get from the Fendalen Kingdom (barring closed warp points), it was felt that the Vendians would be safe from the Pulurtans. A year later that assumption would be put to the test.

The Vendian Space Navy (VSN)
     Until the accidental discovery of warp points the VSN main role was to safeguard the spacelanes of the home system. To that end large numbers of Urbanite and Pioneers escorts were built to conduct patrols in force. In comparison all other warship types were built in small numbers. A sizable reserve was maintained of all ship and platform types, refitted periodically with new technology.
     With the discovery and colonization of the Anvil system the VSN undertook the construction of battleships, the largest warships possible with the current technology. 48 Chairperson class BBs were commissioned but only 12 were active at any one time. First contact with the Gyst Fendalens brought about a partial mobilization followed by a full mobilization after a VSN task force was defeated trying to assault the Pantry system.
     Only one new weapon system, the plasma gun, was given the R&D go-ahead just before the failed assault. Decisions on replicating observed enemy technology were unsure until the fall of the VSN Anvil/Pantry warp point defenses. Only very limited numbers of units built or refitted with plasma guns, along with the anti-fighter small craft, were on hand when the Gyst invaded the home system. Close assault and capital missiles were also developed and used in time for this battle, but actually capital missile launchers were one month shy of being perfected. Additionally, x-ray lasers were perfected but again a lack of time prevented their use.
     Anti-matter technology proved to be too costly for initiate R&D in any one month. Instead 20% of the gross monthly budget was set-aside to form a surplus. At this rate it would've taken nine months to accumulate enough of a surplus to start anti-matter R&D. Needless to say the invasion of the Gyst stopped this accumulation three months shy of its target.
     The one technology that the VSN initially had no idea existed was datalink point defense. Until the VSN bid to recapture Anvil there was no opportunity to observe the system in action, since all involved missile volleys up to that time were too weak to make targeted Gyst ships to call upon their datalink partners for help. Once it was reported after the failed Anvil reclamation assault the VSN Bureau of Applied Technology was given the funds needed to replicate it. However, scarcely two months passed before the RN invaded Venda, the project having barely made any progress. Like so many what-ifs had the war lasted longer datalink link point defense, along with fighters, would've been made available to the fleet, albeit in such numbers as to not significantly affect the inevitable outcome.