Jack of Harts

Bludworth Space Marine’s innovative spaceship designs that could launch and land in water captured a significant share of the spacegoing markets in the Twenty-Second Century. Most of the dedicated space forces thumbed their noses at the Bludworth designs as no wet navy ship could hope to match the effectiveness and versatility of their own specifically designed and optimized spacecraft. Civilian shipping agencies and national navies were another matter. The shipping agencies preferred to load and unload at preexisting docking facilities, and the various navies of Earth thought they could make superior space explorers than their space force competitors. The navies had centuries, if not millennia, of explorers in their past, and they knew how to handle large ships and long voyages. While most of the space forces had inherited their air force progenitors’ love of the strike fighter as the ultimate weapon of war and peace. They were two competing cultures, and Bludworth Space Marine and her competitors happily helped to fuel it. They remain a leading supplier of warships for the Republic of Texas Navy to this day, and their products can be found sailing the hyperspace lanes throughout known space.

Bludworth Marine quickly became the Republic of Texas Navy’s largest supplier of new and recycled oceangoing ships. They refurbished numerous old United States Navy warships for Texas, like the retired Wasp-class amphibious assault ship that had spent the previous decades languishing in the Beaumont reserve fleet. Texas renamed her Ranger and sent her out to patrol the gulf waters against all enemies, foreign and domestic. She did not end up fighting the United States Navy, which did its best to stay out of the disagreements between the Federal and State governments of the time, though did support numerous operations against the Mexican drug cartels. Most of her original air group came from the Marines of Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, and when it came time for America to stand up to China’s advance against Australia, Ranger led the Republic of Texas contingent. She carried Cowboy F-35s and Ospreys into the standoff, and participated in the final strikes against the Singapore Collective. Ranger then returned home to serve as the Texas flagship for decades to come, proof of Bludworth Marine’s superb capabilities when it came to rebuilding and maintaining the aging warships that served most of the American States in those days.

Bludworth Marine was the largest owner of naval construction and recycling yards in Texas when the Second Great Depression came upon us all. They owned multiple port facilities on the gulf coast, and competed successfully in the civilian shipping market. They also held contracts with the Texas State Guard to perform long-term maintenance and end-of-life recycling on many of their gulf and coastal ships. When Texas began looking to expand their navy into something that could compete on the global stage, they knew Bludworth Marine and its various competitors would be critical to their success. So the call went out, the call was answered, and Bludworth Marine instantly went to work building the quasi-private/public industry that would revolutionize the Republic of Texas Navy.