Admiral Geon Français

[maddox]

Français Geon

Born in 1861 in Reims, His father Daiël Marchant Geon, a carrier military man, and his mother Laetishia Dupline, a nurse before she married.

When he was 5 they moved to Villiers-sur-Marne.  Right in the way when the Prussians invaded France.

The horrors of that war, but also lessons of honor came to young Français.

In this terrible periode , Français lost his father and his 2 youngest sisters Melissa and Louise.  His Mother and twin sister Alene did recover from this ordeal. Alene in the end did mary a Bavarian. The son of the Prussian commander who saved their lives. And punished the wrongdoers.

Between the French/Prussian wars  Français joined the navy, and as 15 year young youth he had his first war, again a prussian one, as the youngest midshipmen in the French Navy. Mainly a land war, but the ship where he sailed on did see action, and this gave the carrier of Geon a boost.

In 1897 he was appointed rear admiral, and in charge of the Indochina Fleet.  The split of Indochina and the deeding of North Indochina to the Netherlands was a downfall, as irregularities in the books gave  rear Admiral Geon a trail.  He was aquitted. But the stain was so bad, he got the choice.  Discharge, or assuming command of the ill faited Greater Napoleon. Crewed with the scum of the Marine National.   
The peace mission to the gulf of Tonkin gave him a token promotion to admiral.

The return to France after the peace mission and the saving of the Habsburg Battleship Tegetthof was the most dark part in Admiral Geons life. The vindictive Premier Palpaté used everything in his power to get the admiral convicted, and with succes. Discharched from the navy, convicted as a traitor and spy, he got the only sentence the French law has for these crimes. Life hard labor in the coalmines.   
But his succes on Greater Napoleon, and the confidence he created gave him friends in strange places, and his harsh sentence was transmuted ,against about every rule, to a light duty in a naval hospital. After Premier Palpaté voyaged to Brazil, to meet his faith and fate, Français was reinstated as Admiral, but in service of the ministery Foreign affairs. As a special envoy to Vienna he conducted the succesfull conclusion on the Middle Kingdom/French war.

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A speach he delivered once on the Greater Napoleon, after the Capetown Caper and the execution of the worst offender.

Did any of you gentlemen have seen war up close?  I did. I was 9 years when the Prussians invaded France. My father was a colonel, and he died in an all out attack on the Prussians sieging Paris. My mother dragged me and my 3 sisters out of the warzone. But we got into troubles when we encountered a compagny of Prussians.  The horrors cost my 2 youngest sisters their lifes. Poor Melissa and Louise. 5 and 6 years young.  I don't want to tell you how they suffered. But all know what depraved things men can do to "enemies". The only reason I do not hate the Prussians with all my heart is because the Commander of that compagny shot the rapists himself when he learned of those depravities.

[maddox]

A almost 2 decennia ago, in a galaxy close, close by.

On Greater Napoleon, admirals quarters.

French Admiral Geon, hand in his quicly thinning hair, was reading the latest complaints from Orange Republic citizens.  Most about damages and teft, but even some of rape.
"Trying to get the  large crew of Greater Napoleon to work together is a disaster, even my flag officers can't maintain discipline at all" he mused. "Thanks to that DeCreme I got this big shovel of manure. The flagship of the French Navy. Pah, the ship is huge and has more guns than the avarage fleet, but I wouldn't dare to go up against a sloop with this debacle"

"Sir, Captain Gironde from the Condor to see you"

"Show him in, and roll out the bar"

"How can I help you, captain?"
"Get a spine, you young admiral, that would be a good start.
Sorry to be so rude, but the voyage to here was already a disaster, but that my men report that the crew from the Greater Napoleon are an insult to France is the last straw. My few of men, who can speak local languages are  currently acting as aides to the local constables. Sometimes it helps to diminish the damages done by the GN crew."

" Captain, if I wouldn't know better I would have you in irons for the insults you could have given me, but I'm a realist. This stays between us. A cognac?
I know that it's a mess, but being friendly didn't help at all. My officers aren't cutting the cheese, nor does the crew accepts authority. It has grown to far, and if we stay in port untill the rest of the warships are assembled  I fear the Orange republic will declare war against France, Or at least will make a diplomatic hell of it.
You're a captain for more years than I'm at sea, can you give me advice?"

"Thanks for the Cognac.
That's why I'm here Admiral. It's not simple, and you'll have to answer later to the admirality about some things. But all is better than to answer to Premier Jardan.  First of all, no more shore leave for GN crew.  It's that simple. All GN sailors and officers will be on half pay for 6 months. This money saved will be used to compensate for the damages done. The rest- because I doubt it's enough- will have to come from France. Just to avoid diplomatic incidents.
Best of all would be be out at sea, and train the ears of your crew, life firing, smoke in the hallways, even limited flooding, to see how the crew likes real war. I can detach some of my officers to help yours to regain discpline. But for this I want only 1 promise. You will back up the sentences to the hilt. How severe they can be."

Few days later, on the mid deck of the Greater Napoleon. A temporary gallow has been build.
Admiral Geon brought out the charges and verdict. His voice ringing clear as a bell

"Seaman Lachar, you stand accused of theft, vandalisme, public intoxication, rape and murder. You have been judged and found guilty. You had your defence in court, but do you have words to adress to your fellow sailors?"
Lachar, his eyes wild staring at the  gallow only stammerd some animalistic sounds.

"It seems you can't give life a last meaning, Lachar" "Let the punishment be finished"
The exectutioner, a giant , even recognizable with the hood pushed the feeble struggling lachar on the gallow, and tightened the nose.

Tonk

[maddox]

The drill.

In the  dangerous autumn waters of Cape Hope Admiral Geon was on the bridge of Greater Napoleon, demanding full speed.
The great ship quivered, dug her stern into the waves and started accelerating ponderously.

In the  boilerrooms the stokers were feeding the  furnaces at a frentic pace, because they know, if they don't give everything they have, the pole is waiting, the next to be flogged.

The machinists pushing the great crankshafts for that extra rpm. Kathumpkathumpkathump, Every of the huge cylinders hungry for more pressure, more steam.

The lookouts searching for the object of this exercise, the small old sloop Condor. The lightly overcast sky brings the haze of horizon closer, the great hight of the crows nests aiding the attent eyes only a bit.

In the dark bowels of Greater napoleon, other forces are at work. A man in a compartment opening  a seavalve, a trickle of seawater becoming a flood, and he leaves the compartment, not closing the watertight hatch that leads to the compartment above, a series of bunks.

In the shaft tunnel another man is preparing another surprise. Oil soaked rags and wet timber, even a rubber hose, smoke trickles up, the fire smolders, and he leaves too.Leaving the hatch ajar.

The lookouts see smoke on the horizon, probably Condor. They warn the Bridge.  Admiral Geon smiles.  The real drill is to start any moment. The valveman entering the bridge, saluting and stands in the back. The smokeman doesn't need much more time, and he too salutes and stands back.

The aft lookout sees another plume of smoke, another bearing.

Admiral Geon gives the order to train the 305's to both targets, the 340's stay at 0°.  In the turrets men start to work, load the shell, ram it in, get the charges, ram them. Close the breech, elevate the barrels, wait for the order.

"How did Magenta hit a target at 12000 yards?" Muses Geon. Oh well, that doesn't matter now. See if my crew will deal with the problems that come to them.

In the starboard machineroom a trickle of smoke is seen,  a 3th machinist opens the hatch and a choking cloud assaults him, the  huge noisy machineroom, already filled with steam and oilfumes now fills with smoke, some crewmembers start towars the hatches out.  The first machinist drives a firecrew towards the smoke belching hatch, a hose is rolled out, the seavalve opened, the pump started.  A hiss, smoke already diminishing. KathumpKathumKathump, the  machines still giving all they have.  A damage control crewmember investigates. He finds the sprayed open left overs of oily rags.... What idiot didn't clean his mess? A question for later.

At port, a compartment, normaly filled with supplies is filled with seawater, the waters already raising to the treshold of the hatch, Greater Napoleon is listing slightly, but everybody is at his post, and that means no one sees the water rising, and starts filling the crew compartment.

De damage control crew notices the list on the inclinometers, the officer inquiring.  Admiral Geon smiles, and waits. When the list  becomes greater than 3° he will inform the "right crewmembers". Damage control crews are  searching.

In the mean while, more smokeplumes are spotted. It seems "Les Intrépides" are making sure that they "win" the drill.

Admiral Geon gives the order to fire the 305's. Range is still to great, but to be sure, elevation is 0°  8 barrels boom simultaniously. The Ship shudders, even in the boilerrooms the stokers look up. For an instant, they start shoveling coal faster.  He demands thet the 305's can fire asap.The guncrews reload as fast as possible.  Starboard forward turret is the fastest, in 48 seconds they have reloaded and are ready to fire.
Admiral Geon issues an stimulant.  The first crew to fire 4 salvos with the 305's get 3 bottles of cognac.

This makes that the last echo of the 305's fades after 3 minutes and 9 seconds.


3° list is reported, Damage control crews didn't find anything yet. Geon nods, and the 2 midshipmen ,who entered the bridge earlier disappear.

He calls off the drill.  The heliographs signal to the closest sloop, what aborts the torpedo run it was making.

Damage control reports a leak, pumping is commencing, but 50 sailors will suffer from wet bunks and a lot of cleaning.