The five Oceanian ships waited silently by the jump gate, the active sensors on the two destroyers scanning the structure in an effort to gain information about its construction. On Earth, the final decision was made as to which ships would make the transit. There was no guarantee that a matching jump gate would be found on the other side so any ship that entered the gate might not be able to return. The only two Oceanian ships with jump drives were Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, both en route from Earth to Titan and five billion kilometers away. They could mount a rescue mission if required but only if one of the smaller Melbourne class ships made the transit as the destroyers were too large for the Sao Paulos? jump drives. Therefore Sullivan Bay was chosen, due to the seniority of its captain, Commander David Ryan, son of Vice Admiral Dominic Ryan. At 7.24 am on May 27th 2085, she entered the gate and vanished from Oceanian sensors.
Five minutes later Sullivan Bay returned via a jump gate she discovered on the far side, bearing news of the first star system other than Sol to be visited by humanity. As agreed beforehand, the system was to be named Washington but the astrographics did not live up to the name. The system was a quaternary, comprising a dim M0-V primary, two more M-class stars orbiting as a pair at nine hundred million kilometers and a brown dwarf orbiting way out at 20,000 AU, or three trillion kilometers. The only two planets in whole system orbited the B component. The inner was a half-molten, airless chunk of rock orbiting at just 1.2 million kilometers while the outer was a large terrestrial world with an almost breathable oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere but a temperature of -100C. Port Phillip, Sullivan Bay and Dandedong transited into Washington and began a new gravitational survey while the two Tribals remained at the Sol side of the jump point to continue their scans of the jump gate. Three days later the Spruance class survey ship Kinkaid arrived at the Sol ? Washington jump point and transited into Washington to survey the two planets.
On June 2nd 2085, Sao Paulo arrived at the innermost jump point of the Sol system, nine hundred and forty million kilometers from Earth and well outside sensor range of any Eastasian or Eurasian ships. The second interstellar voyage in human history ended in the Los Angeles system, a binary with a yellow G5-IV sub-giant primary and a distant orange K2-V companion star. The primary had four planets, three of which were Venusian worlds, with high pressure, high temperature atmospheres of Carbon Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide, while the fourth was a tiny, barren rock. The companion star was far too distant to visit and in any event had only a Venusian world and two more barren planets. So far the Oceanian exploration of space had not yet found anything of value. Sao Paulo remained at the jump point to escort Melbourne, Macedon and Yarra into Los Angeles to begin a gravitational survey. After which she planned to skirt around the outside of the asteroid belt to avoid detection from Earth and set course for jump point three on the opposite side of the system
A day later her sister ship Minas Gerais transited jump point two to discover the San Francisco system, a trinary with a yellow-white F8-IV sub-giant primary eight times as bright as Sol and a pair of G-class stars orbiting at eight hundred billion kilometers. While the thirteen planets shared between the primary and the B components were of no immediate value, the C component had two worlds with oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres and acceptable temperatures. Although one planet had too much oxygen and the other too little that could be adjusted by terraforming if the distances were not so great. Unfortunately, for the moment the two potential colony worlds were far out of reach.
While Oceania was starting to explore Sol?s neighbouring systems, the Eurasian Union launched three more Baden class gravitational survey corvettes. As the Eurasian survey was approaching completion and the newly built Badens were too far away to speed up the process, they remained in Earth orbit awaiting the completion of the first Eurasian jump ships in September 2085. A few days later the two Eastasian Kagero class survey ships were launched and the East Asian Alliance finally began its own gravitational survey. They were soon followed out of the slipways by two Jianghu class heavy cruisers. Although the Eastasians were falling behind in the survey race their military forces remained comparable to their rivals.
On June 17th, the Oceanian jump ship Minas Gerais transited jump point four of the Sol system and entered the Chicago system. Continuing the trend of multiple-star systems, Chicago was a trinary with an orange K3-V primary, a dim M5-V companion orbiting at fifteen billion kilometers and a distant L7-VII lithium dwarf C component. This was the most interesting system so far with two of the four primary planets having oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres. Although both atmospheres were too thin to breathe and the surface temperatures were -60C and -86C, if either world had significant mineral resources, their relatively close proximity to Earth would make them worthy prospects for future terraforming. The other two planets of the primary were a tide-locked Venusian world and a gas giant with a dozen moons, one of which was larger than Earth and had a dense atmosphere of Nitrogen and Methane, a surface temperature of -8C and gravity of 1.55G. Due to the low temperature of the oxygen-nitrogen worlds, this moon was actually an place easier to build domed cities. The primary also had a sparse asteroid belt and several comets worthy of further investigation. The eight planets of the companion star were a collection of gas giants and frozen rocky iceballs with almost fifty small moons while the dwarf star was planetless. A day later, Kinkaid completed her survey of the two planets in the Washington system. One had large but inaccessible quantities of Vendarite and Tritanium and the other was completely worthless.
Sao Paulo transited jump point three on June 24th and discovered the London system, a trinary of two yellow G5-V stars 19,000 AU apart and a small brown dwarf six billion kilometers from the primary. London-A II was the first serious candidate for colonization. A terrestrial world slightly larger than Earth, with a thin oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, gravity of 0.71G and a temperature of 39C. On the warm side but within human tolerance. Because the atmosphere was only half the density of Earth?s and the oxygen content was twelve percent, some terraforming would be required to bring the oxygen up to a breathable level but far less than any other planet found so far. Unless exploration of jump point six revealed anything startling, colonization of this planet by Oceania would begin as soon as a jump ship that was capable of escorting colony ships and freighters into London could be built.
However, that could take considerable time. Research into the next level of jump drive efficiency was due to be completed by mid-August. After that a new jump drive and a new ship class in which it would be incorporated would both have to be designed. To build the new class, a shipyard would require retooling before construction could even begin. In the meantime, the Eurasian Union, which the Oceanians believed already had superior jump drive technology, might complete their survey of Sol, explore the London system and begin colonization before Oceania was ready. Therefore Vice Admiral Ryan recommended to Admiral Nelson that Oceania should claim jump point three and maintain a military exclusion zone to prevent the other powers exploiting London first. After discussion with the President, Admiral Nelson agreed and ordered Vice Admiral Ryan to protect the London jump point while still maintaining a suitable force to also protect Titan Base. Apache and Zulu were ordered to abandon their scans of the alien jump gate and rendezvous with the carriers Ark Royal and Enterprise at the protected jump point. No announcement was to be made to Eastasia or Eurasia until one of their ships entered the zone, in order to avoid giving them any advance warning of the jump point location. The other two Tribals, Gurkha and Iroquois and the Ark Royals Illustrious and Yorktown would remain at Titan Base. In the meantime, the geological survey ships Kinkaid and Radford were dispatched to London to investigate its mineral potential
On July 2nd, Minas Gerais entered the Ottawa system, which lay beyond Sol?s outermost jump point. Ottawa was the first single-star system to be discovered and its primary, a yellow G4-IV sub-giant, was orbited by ten planets, including six terrestrial size bodies in the inner system. Three were Venusian worlds with high-pressure, poisonous atmospheres and surface temperatures measured in hundreds of degrees while the innermost planet was a rocky world similar to Mercury. Ottawa V had a liveable surface temperature of 2C and acceptable gravity but a dangerous atmosphere of methane, ammonia and nitrogen while Ottawa VI was an ice-covered wasteland with a thin carbon-dioxide and nitrogen atmosphere. While there were three potential hostile environment colony sites, there was certainly nothing to turn Oceanian attention away from the London system.
Earth?s supply of Tritanium ran out on July 13th 2085. All three powers had stocks exceeding fifteen thousand tons but a new source would have to be found eventually. Several other minerals were projected to run out within twelve months and as yet, no power had established any off-world mining operations, primarily due to the lack of suitable sites within the Sol system plus a desire to extract as large a share as possible of Earth?s remaining resources.
Life got a little more interesting for Oceania on July 22nd when the Eurasian Union completed its own gravitational survey. Although the two Eurasian Montcalm class Jump Frigates were still under construction and would not be ready until mid-September, Eurasian sensors quickly spotted the jump gate on the Washington jump point and dispatched Frunze, one of their two Kirov class battlecruisers to investigate, along with four Baden class survey corvettes, the fourth of which had only just been completed. The three Badens that had just completed the survey of the Sol system headed back to earth to refuel. Three Oceanian Melbourne class survey ships were already in Washington, partway through a gravitational survey.
The East Asian Alliance completed developed of the Xainan X510 Jump Drive on July 28th and designed the Jinan class Jump Destroyer around the new system. Retooling of their second largest shipyard began immediately and was due for completion in January 2086, at which point two Jinans would be laid down.
Jinan class Jump Destroyer 5100 tons 451 Crew 706.6 BP TCS 102 TH 320 EM 0
3137 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/5/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Replacement Parts 5
Xainan X510 Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5100 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Nuclear Pulse Engine (8) Power 40 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 240,000 Litres Range 105.9 billion km (390 days at full power)
Active Sensor S20-R16/100 (1) GPS 320 Range 3.2m km Resolution 16
Thermal Sensor TH1-5/100 (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-5/100 (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m kmIn mid-August Oceania completed their work on improved jump drive efficiency and began design work on a new generation of jump engines. While the ideal would have been a jump engine capable of handling a 10,000 ton such as the Ark Royals, or the 8000 ton North Carolina class freighters, a compromise was needed in order to get a jump ship into service as soon as possible that was capable of escorting smaller but still useful ships. The result of that compromise was that J600 Jump Drive with its maximum ship size of 6000 tons, large enough for Roanoke colony ships and Tribal class destroyers. Development of the new drive was expected to take about five weeks and then a new jump ship could be designed .The North Carolinas were too large for the J600 but they were slow and short-ranged ships anyway so a new smaller and faster design of only 5250 tons, the Alaska class freighter, was created. The Electric Boat shipyard, which had built the two Sao Paulos, began retooling to build Alaskas.
J600 Jump Drive
Max Ship Size: 120 (6000 tons) Max Squadron Size: 3 Max Dist: 50
Jump Engine Size: 24 Efficiency: 5 Jump Engine HTK: 5
Cost: 144 Crew: 120
Materials Required: 28.8x Duranium 115.2x Sorium
Development Cost for Project: 1440 RPAlaska class Freighter 5250 tons 261 Crew 341.6 BP TCS 105 TH 320 EM 0
3047 km/s Armour 0.5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 0
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5 Replacement Parts 1
Nuclear Pulse Engine E7 (8) Power 40 Efficiency 0.70 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 73.5 billion km (279 days at full power)On August 22nd 2085, the Eurasian survey ship Hamburg, under the command of Capitaine de fregate Fyodor Bogdanov, transited the alien jump gate into Washington, completing the first interstellar voyage by a Eurasian vessel. After naming the system Paris, he took his ship back into Sol to report before returning as part of a flotilla of four Baden class ships to begin a gravitational survey of the new system. The three Oceanian Melbourne class ships were in the outer system, in the final third of their own survey and were unaware of the arrival of the Eurasians. However Vice Admiral Ryan was well aware their survey would be coming to an end in the next few weeks so he ordered the destroyer Iroquois to leave Titan and head for the Washington jump point to ensure the safe return of the Oceanian survey ships. Recent intelligence updates could not locate the Eurasian battlecruiser Frunze or four of the seven known Eurasian gravitational survey ships so it was possible they were at the Washington jump point as no Eurasian jump ships had been identified so far. Meanwhile Frunze was continuing her scans of the alien jump gate and was rewarded in early September by the first tech data on jump gate construction.
In the London system, Kinkaid and Radford continued their geological survey while their sister ship Spruance was hard at work in San Francisco. London A-II, the near-habitable world, proved disappointing with deposits of low accessibility Sorium, Uridium and Corundium. The innermost planet of the primary was more promising with almost a hundred million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium although the only other two minerals, Neutronium and Vendarite, were at accessibility 0.5 and 0.6 respectively
On September 18th, the Eurasian Union launched two Montcalm class Jump Frigates. Montcalm headed for jump point one, leading to Los Angeles, while Carillon set course for the London jump point. The Sixth Directorate of Oceanian Military Intelligence, responsible for the identification of foreign shipping, spotted the new ships and attempted to identify them based on their knowledge of existing Eurasian units. The intelligence summary for senior officers was as follows:
Designation: Kirov class Mass: 10,000 tons Role: Warship
Observed Speed: 3000 km/s.
Armament: Based on tech data, the class is armed with 15cm Near Ultraviolet Lasers, although the total number of weapons and their accuracy is unknown.
Sensors: 1) Strength 12, Resolution 16, Range 1.9m 2) Strength 60, Resolution 80, Range 48m
Kirov: Currently in Earth orbit with sensors active.
Frunze: Left orbit on July 22nd, 2085. Current whereabouts unknown
Notes: Role and names for this class established through Eurasian propaganda broadcasts
Designation: Dunkerque class Mass: 8,000 tons Role: Escort
Observed Speed: None as neither ship has left orbit
Armament: Based on tech data, the class is armed with 10cm Near Ultraviolet Lasers, although the total number of weapons and their accuracy is unknown. This suggests the Dunkerque is intended as an escort vessel
Sensors: Unknown
Dunkerque, Richelieu: Currently in Earth orbit.
Notes: Role and names for this class established through Eurasian propaganda broadcasts
Designation: Tarantul class Mass: 1000 tons Role: Fast Attack Craft
Observed Speed: None as no unit of this class has left orbit
Armament: Based on tech data, this class has a high-powered gunboat engine and is armed with a 15cm laser.
Sensors: Unknown
Eleven units currently in Earth orbit.
Designation: Konigsberg class Mass: 2700 tons Role: Geological Survey Ship
Observed Speed: 2962 km/s
Armament: None known
Sensors: Unknown apart from assumed geological survey sensors
Notes: Role for this class based on activities of observed units
Four units in class, all of which are currently in Earth orbit
Designation: Roma class Mass: 4850 tons Role: Freighter
Observed Speed: None
Armament: None known
Sensors: Unknown
Notes: Role for this class based on scans of cargo holds
Seven units in class, all of which are currently in Earth orbit.
Designation: Normandie class Mass: 3900 tons Role: Colony Ship
Observed Speed: None
Armament: None known
Sensors:: Unknown
Notes: Role for this class based on scans of cryogenic transport modules
Four units in class, all of which are currently in Earth orbit.
Designation: EU Grav Survey Class (no name assigned yet) Mass: 3900 tons Role: Gravitational Survey Ship
Observed Speed: 2000 km/s
Armament: None known
Sensors: Unknown apart from assumed gravitational survey sensors
Notes: Role for this class based on activities of observed units
Seven units in class, three of which are in Earth orbit. The other four left orbit on 22nd July along with the Frunze, which indicates the Eurasian Union may have completed a gravitational survey and prepared to survey a new system. If so, their likely destination would be the jump gate at the Washington jump point.[/code]
Designation: Newly Launched Class (no name assigned yet) Mass: 3000 tons Role: Unknown
Observed Speed: 2666 km/s
Armament: Unknown
Sensors:: Unknown
Notes: Two units launched on 18th September 2085 which immediately departed Earth orbit bound directly for the Los Angeles and London jump points. Suspect these are the first Eurasian jump ships.
Based on the intelligence summary, the new Eurasian class was initially designated as EU Jump Ship. Vice Admiral Ryan alerted the two carriers and two destroyers at the London jump point, collectively known as Second Fleet, and ordered the senior officer, Rear Admiral Callum Jenkins, to prevent any Eurasian ship from entering London, without the use of force if possible. He also ordered Iroquois, one hundred million kilometers from the Washington jump point, to proceed with caution and attempt to extract the Melbournes from that system before the Eurasian jump ship en route to London was intercepted by Oceanian forces. Finally, the Jump Tender Minas Gerais, currently waiting on the Sol ? San Francisco jump point while Spruance carried out a geological survey, was ordered to move into Los Angeles before the second Eurasian jump ship arrived and warn the three Melbournes in that system.
Six hours later, Iroquois was still forty-five million kilometers from the jump point when she was hailed by Contre-amiral Oleg Komarov, who claimed he was on board the battlecruiser Frunze at the Sol-Paris jump point. As the destroyer?s own sensor range was only thirty-seven million kilometres, there was no way to verify Komarov?s actual location but it seemed unlikely he would be lying. Commander Joe Preston of the Iroquois accepted the hail and was informed that the Eurasian Union had claimed both the alien jump gate and the system beyond the gate and that his ship should cease its approach immediately. Commander Preston ignored the warning and requested instructions from Earth. Well aware that the peaceful co-existence that had prevailed in space for several years could be about to end, Vice Admiral Ryan ordered him to continue on course until Iroquois was in missile range of the jump point.
The presence of the Eurasian battlecruiser at the alien jump gate was quickly established as Iroquois closed despite increasingly dire warnings. The second Kirov and the two Dunkerque class escort cruisers suddenly left Earth orbit and set course for the Washington (Paris) jump point. Although they were five billion kilometers away, their sudden departure sent a clear message that the Eurasians were not prepared to back down. As Saturn was on the opposite side of the system from the Washington jump point, the two carriers and single destroyer at Titan Base could not intercept the Eurasian reinforcements. Second Fleet could intercept in time but that would require uncovering the London jump point and, in any event, once the three Eurasian ships moved out of sensor range of Earth, it would be difficult to track them down in the depths of the Sol system if they deviated from a direct route. Whatever happened in the coming hours, Vice Admiral Ryan knew that Oceania needed a scout ship capable of shadowing hostile fleet movements plus greater sensor capability on Earth. With the looming confrontation at the Washington jump point plus another potential flashpoint once the Eurasian jump ship moved close to the London jump point, there was a significant risk of a system wide conflict between Oceania and the Eurasian Union.
Aware that Vice Admiral Ryan would not back down from a fight, his superior Admiral Marcus Nelson contacted Amiral Feodora Cherkasov, his opposite number in the Eurasian military, in an attempt to defuse the situation. Against the objections of his subordinate, who believed that Oceanian forces would crush the Eurasian Navy if it came to a battle, Admiral Nelson explained that three Oceanian survey ships were already in Washington and Iroquois was merely trying to ensure their safe return. Amiral Cherkasov usually hid her emotions well but Nelson could see she was shocked the Oceanians had beaten the Eurasian Union in the race for interstellar travel. Aware of their significant technical superiority in the area of propulsion, the Eurasians had plainly not realised the far superior Oceanian shipbuilding rates would offset that advantage. Admiral Nelson stated that if the Eurasians would allow his ships to leave the Washington once they completed their survey, he would accept Eurasian possession of the Washington system and sole access to the alien jump gate on the condition that Oceania had sole access to the London system, which the Eurasian Union had yet to explore.
Amiral Cherkasov stated she would let the Oceanian ships go free if they abandoned their survey immediately but she was not prepared to concede the London system without even seeing it. Admiral Nelson replied that he might consider asking the Melbournes to return immediately without completing the survey but the status of London was non-negotiable. If the Union wanted to claim a system then it was only reasonable that Oceania could do the same. He knew he made a mistake as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Amiral Cherkasov was now wondering just what was so valuable in London that Admiral Marcus did not want her ships to even enter the system. Washington was probably not even that important to her because it was control of the alien jump gate and a chance to learn its secrets that was her real objective. Amiral Cherkasov now demanded access to London before she would release the Oceanian survey ships her forces had trapped in Washington. Admiral Nelson realised he had done nothing to resolve the situation but had given away both the importance of London and the progress of Oceania in terms of exploration. In an attempt to salvage something from the conversation he stated he would consult his superiors before continuing the negotiation, which both admirals knew meant they would be fighting soon, but he stated that if it did come to hostilities, no Oceanian ship would open fire inside the orbit of Mars and he asked for Amiral Cherkasov?s assurance that the Eurasian Union would abide by the same rules of engagement. He reminded her that combat in Earth orbit could only lead to total war on the planet below. She paused in thought for a moment, then nodded and closed the connection.
Steve
