WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS WITHIN!!
Tales of the Union.
The Imperial Arm.
4th November 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. 7th Sky & Light disembarked from their transports without any interference from the Imperials, set up their base and commenced operations against the colony. There was initial light skirmishing and the defenders left Major-General Chan Lan Lin in no doubt that there would be stiff resistance to the Union troops. There was something however that troubled Major General Lin, it was so quite! When the Union took over Delta Aquilae-A III back in 36 there were colonists visible in the outlying areas of the colony, working the fields and extending the habitation. But here there was only automated machinery in the fields and the outlying farms were devoid of colonists. Of course it was possible that with the long time between locating the colony and the landing the colony had totally withdrawn into the protected heart and there was ample evidence of the defending garrison.
9th November 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. The 7th Sky & Light advanced on the Imperial Devarian colony. After a week of inconclusive manoeuvring one of the Imperial Garrison battalions was caught as it changed position and suffered over 25% casualties.
14th November 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. The Imperials decided to make a stand up fight of it, perhaps not their wisest move, the second Imperial Garrison battalion took 43% casualties, sucked the 3rd Garrison battalion into the fighting which lost over a third of its effectives. This victory was without losses to the superior Union forces. Major General Lin’s concerns had not gone away, there were still no sign of civilian population, could they all have been drafted into the military?
26th November 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. The drive on the colony capital continued, without faltering. One Imperial Garrison battalion was completely consumed in the fighting as it attempted to hold back the 7th Sky & Light from the gates of the Capital. A late sally by the two other battalions failed to save it and they in turn took significant casualties.
1st December 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. After the fall of the outer defence works the 7th Sky & Light drove against the main colony settlement. In their way were a pair of Imperial Garrison battalions one of which took minor losses as it fell back. The fighting grew in intensity as the 7th Sky & Light pressed the defenders, breaking the capital’s defences at last, destroying an Imperial battalion at the gates themselves then pushing back the remaining defenders to the central buildings inside the city. The destroyed battalion sacrificed itself to enable the other Imperial unit to escape. The only Union losses came when an Imperial special ops team tried to assassinate Major-General Lin as he visited the 134th Brigade HQ. Fortunately the Imperials failed in their attempt, none of the Imperial team survived the engagement. Major-General Lin’s still could not find any civilians, and most eerily not a female, neuter or child anywhere (the Imperial military was an entirely male affair, and clones at that).
The 8th Assault Division arrived in system and headed for 15 Sagittae-A II and the second Imperial colony.
6th December 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. The fighting was now inside the capital city and was hard on both sides as small groups of combatants fought each other in narrow alleyways and from the roof tops. The remaining Imperial Garrison battalion suffered horrendous 86% losses in a pitched battle in defence of the colonies main administration building. But the Union did not have it all their own way. The 142nd MI battalion was enticed into a trap and the surrounding building brought down on top of the unit. It lost 44% of its establishment killed or wounded.
11th December 50. 15 Sagittae-A III. The 7th Sky & Light assaulted the last organised resistance on the planet and its fall was an anti-climax as the outfought attackers finally laid their arms down. It now only remained for Major-General Lin to establish his control over the former Imperial colony. To be truthful the colony was a poor affair, no industry above that needed to survive, and precious little infrastructure, and no sign that a civilian population had ever graced the planet’s surface. It was a ghost colony. However there was an Imperial Colony Governor and he had not purged his database, and this was the true spoils of victory. It gave the jump paths to twelve hitherto unknown systems and the paths to four that were known of but not their location. One poignant message in the Imperial Governor’s ansible database was that of the 25th May 45, “Exploration of a jump point in the HIP 96183 system has revealed the new system of Rencin containing a Class IX Black Hole.” Appended to this was a note: “24th June 45. Class IX Black Hole, Knight-Sergeant Nhlanhla Hlanganani assumed killed when his ship Nakor 002 encountered a black hole in the Rencin system.” A note to all Union ships was posted giving the location of that system with a strict no entry order.
[image] I:\Imperial Sector.JPG [/image]
16th December 50. 15 Sagittae-A II. As one campaign ran down with the investiture of 15 Sagittae-A III another kicked off as the 8th Assault Division began the battle for 15 Sagittae-A II.
21st December 50. 15 Sagittae-A II. Once more the defences of the Imperial colony were only three Garrison battalions, one of which tried to hold the outer defence works which had been substantially improved since the fighting on 15 Sagittae-A III. Unfortunately the defenders of 15 Sagittae-A II were not facing mobile infantry of a Sky and Light Division, but the assault infantry and heavy armour of an Assault Division, even if they were green troops. The Imperial battalion was fortunate to only lose a third of its effectives as it was pushed back. Major-General Rhana Khare found there was a lack of civilian personnel on this planet as well!
27th December 50. 15 Sagittae-A II. The 8th Assault Division moved in on the capital without apparent opposition. That was until the 179th Assault Infantry battalion and the 38th Brigade HQ ran into a skilfully laid ambush. The 179th took a hill overlooking the colony against light opposition and the 38th Brigade HQ set up shop on the hill which gave an excellent field of view. That was until the whole hill literally exploded leaving a deep crater. The Imperials had mined the hill and suckered the Union. 50% of the Brigade HQ personnel were never recovered and over a third of the 179th were incapacitated or killed. To be sure the Imperial suffered for their success, two battalions took over a third casualties and the other lost a fifth of its number. The fact that this was another ghost colony did not prevent the defenders fighting to hang on to it.
1st January 51. 15 Sagittae-A II. The last week was unending misery for the Imperial troops. One battalion was caught by the heavy armour of the 165th Leviathan Brigade and was lucky to survive as a coherent unit, losing two thirds of its men killed, captured or wounded. The other Imperial battalions fell back to make a stand outside the gates of the colony capital.
6th January 51. 15 Sagittae-A II. The stand outside the gates did the Imperials little good as Union armour crushed two battalions and drove the other to seek cover within the city.
12th January 51. 15 Sagittae-A II. The organised resistance in the Imperial colony ceased as the remnants of the last Imperial battalion fell before the capital building. This left Major-General Rhana Khare to restore order in the colony under its new rulers. The Union had acquired another dirt poor colony with no installations and little infrastructure, and no population! There was no new intelligence to be garnered from this Governor’s database.
12th February 51. Matsumaru. Task Force 4 had been sent to explore the reaches of the Imperial Arm as it was becoming known. By this time the fleet had reached Matsumura when the threat display on the fleet scout Farsight lit up with the unmistakeable signatures of a pair of Destroyer vessels of the Cazadora class approaching from the direction of Matsumura-A VIII. So as not to leave a force behind it which could ambush it on the jump point Squadron Leader Harris decided to eliminate it now.
13th February 51. Matsumaru. The two fleets were on closing courses when the sensors on the Farsight picked up the track of four small craft on an intercept course with the Task Force closing at 10,000 k/sec and only 87.3 million klicks out. They appeared to be 1000 ton fast attack craft and were given the reporting name of Dragonera 002-005. Cliff and Col, Spire class frigates, targeted the small craft with five launchers apiece and waited for the range to drop while the Task Force raised shields.
10:15 The range shrank to 75 million klicks and the two frigates opened fire. 11:16 Twenty, nine-kiloton explosions marked the grave of three of the small vessels, but one had only been hit by two missiles and thought badly hurt was still in the game. Col fired a single missile at it, which was all that was required to destroy the immobilised craft.
21:34. The two Cazadora class were finally in range. This time Cliff, Col and Mountain targeted Cazadora 007 while Range, Scree and Tower targeted Cazadora 008. 21:51 the first salvo split Cazadora 008 asunder but this salvo was insufficient to kill Cazadora 007. However the second salvo forty seconds later was more than enough to obliterate the Destroyer vessel.
26th February 51. HP332518. The next system down the line for Task Force 4 was HP332518. Obviously this system had been the site of a battle as there were four wrecks near the inner planets, one of them a Destroyer Las Palmas class, the Destroyers had fought in this system at some time in the past. They had certainly been widespread, only in the systems out of Delta Aquilae did they appear to be absent.
13th July 51. Devaria – Delta Aquilae-A IV. Finally the updated jump destroyer design, a class adopted from the Devarians was approved. It was a larger vessel with X-ray lasers replacing the particle beams of the original class. The refit of the Alma Lodaka commenced. All production of this class would take place in the Delta Aquilae system and the names of the class would be Devarian. The class would be teamed with Phoenix and Argon class vessels and enough would be produced to enable the squadrons to jump together, rather than relying on the standard transit method for a large task group. This had been an aim of Star Corps high command since the debacle at HIP108380 back in early 44.
Alma Lodaka Mk II class Jump Destroyer 8,500 tons 805 Crew 3690.85 BP TCS 170 TH 560 EM 900
9411 km/s JR 5-750 Armour 3-37 Shields 30-300 Sensors 42/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 23.5
Maint Life 2.75 Years MSP 1357 AFR 115% IFR 1.6% 1YR 258 5YR 3872 Max Repair 922 MSP
J8500(5-750) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 8500 tons Distance 750k km Squadron Size 5
Starr Industries Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (10) Power 160 Fuel Use 40% Signature 56 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 225,000 Litres Range 119.1 billion km (146 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/15 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 150 Litres per day
Quad 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x4) Range 384,000km TS: 32550 km/s Power 24-24 RM 7 ROF 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
CIWS-250 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 25000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S16 192-32000 (1) Max Range: 384,000 km TS: 32000 km/s 97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (4) Total Power Output 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR98-R19 (1) GPS 3078 Range 98.9m km Resolution 19
Thermal Sensor TH3-42 (1) Sensitivity 42 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 42m km
ECCM-3 (1) ECM 30
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes 10th October 51. 99 Herculis. The construction vessel Galain 001 failed to report in on time. Fearing another Imperial Devarian Colony, this time armed, Task Force 2 was dispatched.
30th October 51. 99 Herculis. Task Force 2 arrived in the 99 Herculis system and headed in-system. It immediately found the wreckage of the Galain 001. 99 Herculis-A was devoid of planets so Task Force 2 made for the B component in search of Galain 001’s assailants.
2nd November 51. 99 Herculis. Task Force 2, Group Commander Lawson commanding, detected an enormous 60,000 ton vessel at the extreme range of the fleet scout Warden’s sensors. Was this the vessel that killed Galain 001? But it was so slow! Only 1000 k/s, even the ill-fated Galain 001 could outrun that ship, it was given reporting name of Augthaol 001.
The fleet proceeded in-system. Suddenly alarms were going off all over the Task Force as twenty-five small fast attack craft of only 800 tons were detected at a fraction over 41 million klicks and closing at 10,000 k/s. The small craft had the same type of EM and energy signature as the big 60,000 ton vessel. These were the likely killers of Galain 001! The craft were given the reporting name Augaithus. Task Force 2 targeted each FAC with 5 missiles each and opened fire. The Task Force changed its heading towards the jump point to slow the rate of closure. 15:33 the missiles reached their targets and disappointingly several salvos failed to score a single hit on the FAC. Four attack craft survived untouched, a few were dead in space. However the follow up salvos did not miss completely. The effects of the missile warheads was strange, the FAC outer armour or skin appeared to burn and blister then the craft would leak a viscous, bilious yellow fluid before shrivelling into an inert carbonised husk. The Task Force turned back towards the large alien vessel once all the gunboats had been accounted for.
0:17 5th November 51. 99 Herculis. As soon as Task Force 2 was in range of Augthaol 001 it sent 285 missiles at the alien monster. Once the vessels massive shields were breached the ship leaked fluid and then charred and distorted only to burst like a ripe boil. But amongst that noxious debris were another twenty gunboats! This time the fleet scout Warden was watching for them and picked them out at 48 million klicks, the fleet opened fire. This time six attack craft survived the initial onslaught. The three active approaching vessels were destroyed by a second salvo. Contact was lost with the others. The Task Force reversed course to regain contact. However, the missiles already dispatched arrived at the location of their targets and over the next few seconds located them and destroyed two, the other survived even a third hit, so Dragon fired a further lone missile which sealed the fate of the enemy – vessel or craft almost seemed a misnomer, construct or growth might have been a little more accurate.
9th November 51. 99 Herculis. As Task Force 2 approached the B component, it detected yet another four alien vessels given reporting name of Anduril 001 to 004. These vessels appeared to be strip mining the planet they were orbiting. Once in range the Task Force wasted no time in opening fire. All missiles hit their targets, obliterating the enemy. Unlike the gunboat brood mother these had virtually no protection and were easy kills.
17th November 51. Penkala. Task Force 4 was deep in the Imperial Arm and had reached the system marked on the charts as Penkala. The star had a planetary system and it had been noted that the chart indicated that one of the planets in Penkala system was habitable for the Deravians. After the Task Force transited into the system it headed for Penkala-A III, but the sensors soon lit up with three Kuiper 99 Aliens ships, Cazadora class, designated numbers 009, 010 and 011 respectively closing on the Task Force.
18th November 51. Penkala. As Task Force 4 moved further away from the jump point a single Las Palmas class vessel was detected deep in system.
14:29 the Spire class missile frigates opened fire, the frigates allocated 35 missiles per target. 14:50 the first incoming were detected, the usual 3 missile salvos. All was progressing as expected until the fire control computers on the escorts threw a glitch which enabled four salvos to intercept the fleet virtually unopposed. The flood of missiles overwhelmed Col’s point defence which could only take out two of the incoming missiles, ten missiles made it through to impact on and around Col’s shields bringing them down and scoring her armour, fortunately not penetrating. Right at the last second the escorts’ fire control came back on line and took out the rest of the inbound Hellcats. But then at 14:57 a leaker hit Col again, but was absorbed by her regenerating shields. When the Firestars reached the alien ships, the Cazadoras’ point defence was not up to preventing the wave of missiles hitting their targets. The warheads burst amongst the Destroyer vessels. Shields collapsed, hull plates vaporised cross members warped, half melted machinery fell into space through the hull breaches as the ships died in the inferno. The fact that there no life pods ejected from the dying vessels was almost not worth commenting on.
20th November 51. Penkala.
Las Palmas 006 was destroyed before it was able to fire its own missiles at the Task Force. The Task Force continued in and found that Penkala-A II was indeed home to a small Imperial colony in spite of the presence of the Destroyer task group. There was immediate speculation that the Imperials and the Destroyers may be allies even though it was probably another Imperial ghost colony.
13th December 51. Gram – Avalon-A II.
A new series of missiles was designed for the Star Corps utilising the latest technology.
Firestar IV. Missile Size: 4 MSP (0.2 HS) Warhead: 10 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 21
Speed: 64000 km/s Endurance: 32 minutes Range: 123m km
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.36 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 360,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 8.4683
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 1280% 3k km/s 362% 5k km/s 217% 10k km/s 108%Arrow IV. Missile Size: 1 MSP (0.05 HS) Warhead: 1 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 53
Speed: 72000 km/s Endurance: 4.2 minutes Range: 18m km
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 180,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 3.005
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 3770% 3k km/s 888% 5k km/s 532% 10k km/s 266%Hellcat II. Missile Size: 6 MSP (0.3 HS) Warhead: 16 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 25
Speed: 50700 km/s Endurance: 49 minutes Range: 150.1m km
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.315 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 315,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 11.2483This is a significant improvement over the captured Hellcat missiles, 25% faster, 25% greater range, double the warhead and the inclusion of a thermal sensor. However this missile will not be manufactured unless stocks of the Hellcat run out as they are “free” for as long as Destroyer bases are encountered and captured.
Warhammer. Missile Size: 15 MSP (0.75 HS) Warhead: 30 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 16
Speed: 82300 km/s Endurance: 48 minutes Range: 235.1m km
Thermal Sensor Strength: 0.48 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 480,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 28.7133
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 1316.8% 3k km/s 432% 5k km/s 263.4% 10k km/s 131.7%26th December 51. V1396 Cygni. Task Force 4 was the furthest any vessel from the Union had been from Avalon, nine jumps out. There were two planets in this binary system that had to be checked out for Imperial ghost colonies, one in each component. Task Force 4 found an Imperial colony on V1396 Cygni-B II. The Imperial Arm appeared riddled with Imperial ghost colonies.
28th December 51. V1396 Cygni. Task Force 4 discovered a further Imperial colony on V1396-A II with the usual EM and Thermal 55, Combat C30 signature of a ghost colony.
18th February 52 16:56:15,Gliese 777GE Ashen Shugar II-004 completed a gravitational survey of the Gliese 777 system. The system had a total of 3 jump points. Gliese 777 was a trinary system, a G8-IV accompanied by couple of red dwarfs, the A component contained two planets with an HI of 1.9while both the B and the C component had a terraforming prospect with an HI of just over 2 A subsequent geological survey revealed a destroyed outpost on Gliese 777-A II – Moon 6.
21st February 52, Gliese 758,GE Ashen Shugar II-002 completed a gravitational survey of the Gliese 758 system. The system had a total of 3 jump points. A geological survey would wait until additional survey vessels were available; no planet looked like a probable site of an Imperial colony.
19th March 52. Gliese 710, Task Force 1 was sent to look for Ashen Shugar II-012 which had failed to check in with a regular progress report. Ashen Shugar Mk II 012 had been operating out of 110 Herculis, a system adjacent to Omicron Aquilae, exploring jump points that may have been explored by the Imperials and only two jumps from Delta Aquilae. The Task Force found her wreckage in Gliese 710, a K7-v star with eight planets orbiting it. This was the last system the Ashen Shugar II-012 had reported entering and that she was about to commence a geological survey of the system. Task Force 1 moved in system. Task Force 1 consisted of a jump ship, three jump destroyers, a fleet scout, six missile frigates, nine missile boats and nine escorts.
20th March 52. Gliese 710. As the Task Force 1 moved in the screens of the fleet scout Pioneer lit up with the signature of six Anduril class mining vessels of 6000 tons and an Augthaol brood mother of 60,000 tons. Commodore Imogen Summers ordered the Task Force to prepare for the 800 ton gunboats that were found last time these vessels were encountered. A day later as the Task Force bore in-system the threat board lit up with the signature of 42 Augaithus class fast attack craft. The frigates targeted the approaching Horde and the Task Force changed heading away from the Brood ship to slow the rate of closure of the gunboats. It took the missile frigates two full salvos and then a few more launches to pick off the last handful, but the Horde had been decisively dealt with, however, the consumption of missile stock was ferocious. It had taken 325 Firestar III missiles, and achieved a hit rate of only 72% while against the Destroyers they were confident of almost 100%.
23rd March 52. Gliese 710.The brood mother ship was again picked up on sensors three days later; four missile boats unleashed a full alpha strike against it. The missile storm detonated as one and brought down the misshapen vessel’s shield and then ate into the innards of what was more a living creature than inanimate ship. There were considerable arguments still on-going regarding the origins of these ships, whether they were “natural” or an organic construct. Twenty minutes later twenty Horde attack craft were detected approaching the Task Force at 10,000 k/s. The missile frigates immediately began sending salvos against them and after four rounds of firing they had all joined their brood mother in a nuclear pyre.
Five–and-a-half hours later the signature of six Anduril class mining vessels appeared on the fleet scout Pioneer’s scanners. Once in range the frigates destroyed them with just ten missiles apiece.
1st April 52. Gliese 777. Ashen Shugar II-002 had been sent into the Imperial arm in the wake of Task Force 4 to perform a more careful survey of the systems the task force pasted through. One of its more interesting findings was a destroyed outpost discovered on Gliese 777-A II – moon 6.
3rd July 52. Matsumura. Ashen Shugar II-002 continued to survey the Imperial arm and located a Destroyer listening posts on Matsumura-A VIII – moon 14 and Matsumura-A VIII – Moon 11. Both had a thermal signature of 5.
1st July 52. Gram – Avalon-A II. The restricted role of the carriers had irritated Morgan Sykes and Star Corps high command for a considerable time now. Finally the solution had been funded. Three enormous jump carriers were ordered, the largest warships ever built. CVJ Windwalker left the construction bay with due fanfare. Marshal Sykes attended the launch.
Clan Mk I class Jump Carrier 30,000 tons 1986 Crew 8552.45 BP TCS 600 TH 1680 EM 900
8000 km/s JR 5-500 Armour 3-86 Shields 30-300 Sensors 42/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 27 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.95 Years MSP 4811 AFR 266% IFR 3.7% 1YR 821 5YR 12313 Max Repair 1722 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 9000 tons Magazine 648
J30000(5-500) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30000 tons Distance 500k km Squadron Size 5
Starr Industries Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (30) Power 160 Fuel Use 40% Signature 56 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,595,000 Litres Range 239.3 billion km (346 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/15 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 150 Litres per day
CIWS-250 (3x6) Range 1000 km TS: 25000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Sunsnake (216) Speed: 69,300 km/s End: 14.4m Range: 59.9m km WH: 9 Size: 3 TH: 392 / 235 / 117
Active Search Sensor MR98-R19 (1) GPS 3078 Range 98.9m km Resolution 19
Thermal Sensor TH3-42 (1) Sensitivity 42 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 42m km
ECM 30
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes A new attack shuttle, tentatively named the Thorndevil, had been designed to operate from these carriers. There was also to be a new size 3 missile, the Sunsnake, to arm these craft. However while the carriers were approved the expenditure for the new shuttles and missiles had yet to pass the Naval Appropriations Board. There would be a considerable delay before they would be funded, especially as the fleet was undergoing urgent refits to replace all the old R20 search sensors with the new R16 sensor so that warships would receive advanced warning if they were unfortunate to encounter the Horde. Fire controls were also upgraded so as to be able to target the gunboats at increased ranges. Once more Survey Command was at the back of the queue and with the proposal to replace current survey vessels with a new class politicians were reluctant to fund an expensive refit for a ship which might be scrapped in a year or two.
1st September 52. SW Burnham 157. The Madri Mayachari xenological team finished surveying the ruins on SW Burnham 157-A II. The inhabitants had called themselves the Commonwealth of Zwickau, they were a Tech Level 2 culture. There were 270 installations which might be recovered; once more they were technically inferior to the Union.
4th October 52. Penkala. Ashen Shugar II-002 continued to survey the Imperial arm. It found a Destroyer listening post located on Penkala-A V – moon 29, thermal contact strength 10.
27th January 53. Excalibur – Avalon-A IV. The jump carriers Moonstalker and Sand Dragon completed and left their construction bays to join their respective carrier groups. The core of the carrier groups are now composed of two standard carriers and one jump carrier. However only the regular carriers had their squadron of FACs embarked. There was no sign of the new attack shuttles.
14th February 53. Penkala. Ashen Shugar II-002 continued with its task to carry out a detailed survey of the Penkala system. Two more Imperial ghost colonies were discovered, one on Penkala -A III – moon 1, thermal contact strength 55 the other on Penkala-A III with a thermal signature of 55 and an EM signature of 55.
30th March 53. SAO 89188. 8th Assault Division arrived in SAO 89188 and landed on SAO A III – moon 12 in brigade strength, but the base was unoccupied with no defenders. They recovered 165 Hellcat missiles and a DSTS.
[ b]8th April 53. SW Burnhan-157V. [/b]
Destroyer cybernetic killers attacked the dig on SW Burnham 157-A II, erupting from a vault disturbed by the excavations. The 6th Assault Division was on hand to deal with the interruption at the dig. They were able to prevent the mechanical horrors reaching the settlers. The two battalions of automatons suffered 25% casualties.
15th April 53. S.W. Burnham 157-A II. Following the standard SOP the mechanoids were pushed back into the crypt from which they emerged and it was collapsed on top of them, destroying the remnants of the two cybernetic battalions.
11th June 52. Penkala. Ashen Shugar II-002 located and fixed another Destroyer base, this time in the asteroid belt. Penkala asteroid #86 It had a thermal contact strength of 10.
20th August 53. Clarent – Avalon-A III. Clarent was deemed to be fully terraformed. It was a world very like Gram, dry and dusty, a little cooler, but without all but a very basic biosphere imported from Gram, it was also mineral rich. It is unlikely to be a tourist destination anytime soon, but it was a superb mining location.
18th September 53. SAO 89188. Brigades from the 8th Assault Division occupied the Destroyer bases on SAO 89188-A IV – moon 2 and SAO 89188-A III – moon 12. No defending forces were present. Three tracking stations were recovered with a number of Hellcat A/S and Bugbear anti-missile missiles.
8th June 54. HIP99711. Galain Mk II 004 was building a jump gate in HIP99711 and was overdue to report in via ansible. This should have been a routine task as HIP 99711 had been surveyed and no sign of an alien presence found. Fearing the worst Task Force 1 was dispatched to try and locate the missing vessel.
17th June 54. HIP99711. Task Force 1 broke into its Task Groups, TG1.1 consisted of the fleet scout Pioneer, the Phoenix Mk IIIB class missile boats Daemon, Djinn and Devil, the missile frigates Cwm and Crag and the Argon Mk II escorts Hydrogen, Neon and Nitrogen. TG1.2 consisted of the jump destroyer Alma Lokada, missile boats Balrog, Basilisk and Centaur with the escort Chlorine, TG 1.3 consisted of the jump destroyer Draken Korin, missile boats Cerberus, Chimera and Cyclops with the escort Fluorine. TG1.4 consisted of the jump ship Endurance, the missile frigates Arete, Couloir, Spire and the escort Helium. Task Group 1.1 made a standard transit via the open wormhole while the rest of the Task Force made squadron transits. This formation would be a one off but indicated the way Star Corps wanted its Task Forces structured in future, each Task Group capable of a squadron jump with an integral jump ship.
18th June 54. HIP99711. As soon as sensors came back on line on the fleet scout Pioneer a Horde brood ship was detected. Surely the gunboats could not be far behind. The Task Force recombined and made for the Horde base ship. Then early on the 18th alarms tore the crews away from their breakfast as the Horde FAC were detected on approach at just under 58 million klicks. Amongst the regular brood of Horde gunboats were two new ones given the reporting name of Dulalas. Their mass was also 800 tons, but apart from that nothing was known for definite except the sensors detected something different about them. 1.5 minutes later all the approaching FAC had incoming. Some would survive as the Task Force only had Firestar IIIs. New constellations appeared and disappeared, by 08:07 all had been destroyed. The Task Force continued on towards the Horde brood ship.
19th July 54. HIP99711. Towards the evening of the 19th the Task Force came in range of the base ship and Balrog, Basilisk and Centaur opened fire. 30 min later the missiles impacted, but did not destroy the brood mother, insufficient missiles had been devoted to the mother ship, it may have been slowed but it was still there! The mother ship released more of its brood. The Spire class frigate were now occupied in picking off the advancing gunboats, until they had been accounted for the mother ship was allowed the time to repair and regenerate its formidable shields. Finally after the gunboats had been destroyed the last two missile boats and the six Spire class frigates fired as one. This missile storm was sufficient to turn the brood mother ship into another piece of carbonised debris circling the star.
23rd July 54. HIP99711. Three miners were detected along with another of a new class of worker given the reporting name of Augcating 002. It still took only ten missiles apiece to destroy all of the miner vessels.
8th September 54. HIP 96183, Task Force 4 Reached HIP 96183. This system was of particular interest to the Union. It contained an HI 0 planet. Of course it was also suspected of having another Imperial ghost colony emplaced on it. The Task Force was not disappointed. “Population Detected! EM Signature 55 Race ID: Devaria Imperium” was the stark report from the scanner consoles as the Task Force closed the planet HIP 96183-A IV.
10th September 54. HIP 96183-A IV, Troop Transport Task Group 6 had caught up with Task Force 4 in HIP 96183 and it was loaded with six heavy assault battalions and six assault infantry battalions which were turned loose on the imperial world of HIP 96183-AIV with orders to capture the Imperial ghost colony.
27th September 54. HIP 96183-A IV, The heavy assault brigades surrounded the Imperial colony and the assault brigades advanced on it. Two of the garrison battalions tried to stand up to the assault battalions as the outlying districts of the colony were invested, but suffered 30-40% casualties. There was some evidence that this may not have been a ghost colony as a residential block and mass driver were destroyed in the fighting. When inspected after the fighting there was evidence that the residential block had been occupied by up to 25,000 Imperial civilians.
2nd October . HIP 96183-A IV. The three Union brigades were still on the offensive, pushing the Imperial garrison forces before them, The 3rd Imperial garrison battalion tried to ambush a Union assault infantry formation but it went horribly wrong and a third of the Imperial troopers lay dead on the field before the remnants could extract themselves from the brisk action. A second Imperial battalion was decimated as it attempted to block the advance of a Union Leviathan brigade.
7th October 54. HIP 96183-A IV. This was possibly the fiercest fighting yet experienced on HIP 96183-A IV. The remaining Imperial forces lost heavily as they defended the outskirts of the colony proper, suffering 25-35% losses. Another accommodation block was destroyed in the fighting, killing a further 25,000 civilians.
12th October 54. HIP 96183-A IV. As the Union troops move through the suburbs the remains of the three Imperial garrison battalions ambushed an assault battalion, destroying or disabling 14% of its suits. Unfortunately in return the Imperials suffered two battalions destroyed and the remaining formation received 29% casualties as the Union armour rolled over them. Many of the housing units were obliterated killing a further 50,000 civilians along with the loss of infrastructure.
22nd October 54. HIP 96183-A IV. The remnant of the last surviving Imperial battalion struggled on without let-up but was losing strength daily. It now only held the capital building and administration offices in the heart of the colony. The constant action was sapping its strength, a quarter of its remaining troops were injured.
29th October 54. HIP 96183-A IV. The Final Imperial battalion was destroyed. The Governor had again failed to purge his database and further astrogation information found. The navigation details for Gliese 69, Gliese 720 and BY Draconis were revealed. The imperials still had survey craft operating. To test the metal of the new jump carriers the Windwalker Task Group was dispatched to hunt for the elusive Imperial vessels while Task Force 4 headed for Avalon and a refit.
10th February 55. Gram – Avalon-A II. It was announced today that CIC Fleet Marshal Morgan Sykes was killed in an accident reputed to involve the prototype of the new Thorndevil assault shuttle. Initial reports that the elderly Marshal was at the controls of the prototype have been discounted, the Marshal having lost his personal shuttle licence about a year ago. The Union would in mourning for five days. Morgan Sykes was viewed by many as the saviour of Avalon and father of the Star Corps. It would be some months before a successor could be appointed.
14th February 55. BY Draconis. The CVJ Windwalker emerged in to the orange light of a new star, the task group shook itself out into cruising formation, the three carriers at the centre accompanied by a fleet scout surrounded by the six escorts, a single Ashen Shugar class survey vessel darting ahead to chart the system.
Task Group commander, Squadron Leader Lamb, now had to wait on the services of the Ashen Shugar survey vessel detached from Survey Task Group 1 to survey the system. This would take some time as the survey squadron had split up and only one ship had been allocated to his force as the Union mapped the expanse of the Imperial arm. This was all in an effort to track down the elusive Imperial fleet. Squadron Leader Lamb couldn’t help musing that the last stopover the fleet had, at Refuge – HIP96183-A IV was a more pleasant sojourn that this empty waste of a solar system. Refuge was eight jumps distant from Avalon and slated to become a sector capital. It was one of the rare worlds man could walk unprotected on, which was just as well, the terraformers would be busy for many decades in the nearer reaches of the Imperial Arm, so rich it was with terraforming prospects.
26th February 55. Gliese 840. Squadron Leader Lamb had swapped the light of one K class star for another, not a lot more exciting. Gliese 840 was an uninteresting system, a K0-v star with a single terrestrial body circling it. Still the Task Group needed to exercise and this was the first jump point located out of BY Draconis and it would suit his purposes admirably while this system was surveyed for jump points.
1st April 55. SAO 89188-A IV – moon 8The ruins on SAO 89188-A IV - Moon 8 were fully surveyed by the Nicholas Porter Xenologist Team. The alien race which inhabited the planet was identified as the Wayland Imperium and their language and symbology was translated. 6 abandoned installations were found which might be recovered. Of some significance was the fact that the tech level of this outpost was TL5, on a par with the Union, but still they vanished. The moon in future would be known as Wayland.
13th April 55. Gliese 840. The Windwalker Task Group had spent the last couple of week exercising while waiting for a new jump point to explore. He reflected it would have been nice if the Windwalker could have exercised its own embarked small craft but they were still not even ordered. The Ashen Shugar survey vessel announced it had completed the gravitational survey of the system, there was but one jump point in the system, that by which the fleet entered. The Fleet turned to wards the jump point by which it would transit to return to BY Draconis to located another jump point through which the Imperials had evaded the Union Task Group.
As the fleet approached the jump point the fleet scout Seeker detected a Devaria Imperium ship on approach, having just entered the system. It was quite a small vessel at 3050 tons. It was given the reporting name of Renenet 002 and was capable of 2622k/s. It was not a class in the Imperium ship database! The FAC Squadrons launched, Windwalker still being without attack shuttles embarked watched impotently. Task Group commander, Squadron Leader Lamb, ordered the fleeing Imperial ship to stop and be boarded. The Renenet 002 made no reply and changed its heading to a course directly away from the Task Group. Squadron Leader Lamb ordered No. 1 FAC Squadron to open fire. Granite 001 targeted the Imperial vessel and open fire. 19 Flarestar missiles left their tubes on Granite 001. Due to an oversight, these were the very first marque of the missiles; the missiles in the tubes of the Union FAC had not been renewed since before the Devarian war. However this should not be a problem in this case as the target was not very fast or manoeuvrable and dated from the same era. The missiles turned space around the small craft incandescent; the small ship came apart at the seams, life pods launched. The Windwalker recovered the survivors, but interrogations revealed no useful information. However there were indications (or at least hope) that this was the last Imperial ship still operational.
1st August 55. Excalibur – Avalon-A IV. Ross Webster, Planetary Coordinator for Excalibur was killed in an accident. The authorities were adamant there was no foul play He will to be replaced by Karine Wieser, formally Planetary Coordinator of Saginaw. Her post will be filled by an upcoming administrator Lakshimi Ponarkaar.
1st December 55. Gram – Avalon-A II. Ewan Preston of the Windwalker clan was appointed CIC Fleet, Star Corps and promoted to Marshal. Marshal Preston stated that he wanted far reaching reforms of the Star Corps and as a start instituted training squadrons in the ship building systems of the Union, Avalon and Delta Aquilae. These squadrons will be the first stop for all new naval construction and ships will not join operational squadrons until they are fully trained. Marshal Preston is also keen to see every Task Force able to conduct a combat jump with its entire force. This is a work in progress and many years from completion. He also announced a formal programme to replace Survey Commands survey vessels.
27th January 56. Gliese 777-A II – Moon 6. The ruins on Gliese 777-A II – Moon 6 were fully surveyed by the Nicholas Porter Xenologist Team. The alien race which inhabited the planet was identified as the Rio de Janeiro Hierarchy and their language and symbology was translated. 6 abandoned installations were found which might be recovered. As on Wayland the tech level of this outpost was TL5, on a par with the Union. The moon in future would be known as Rio de Janeiro.
20th November 56. HD325518-A IIIThe survey vessel Ashen Shugar II-002 discovered a ruined city on HD 325518-A III.
7th December 56. Matsumara. The 217th Marine Brigade dropped onto the 14 moon of Matsumara-A VIII to take over another Destroyer listening post. 28 Otlichny AS missiles were recovered. A second listening post on moon 11 was also invested by the 214th Marine brigade. On this moon 120 Hellcat missiles were recovered.
30th February 57. Penkala. Prior to the main event the 215th Marine brigade occupied a Destroyer outpost on moon 29 Penkala-A V. 180 Hellcat missiles were recovered.
Penkala-A III The 9th Drop Marine Division unloaded prior to advancing on the Imperial colony. It was thought this was another ghost colony. The usual EM 55, thermal 55 signature had been detected.
3rd March 57. Penkala-A III. The campaign kicked off with a general advance, however the green marines were vulnerable and the 212th Marine battalion got into a fire fight with a garrison battalion and lost 41% killed, wounded or suits off-line, the Garrison battalion did not escape scot free, losing a third of its effectives.
8th March 57. Penkala-A III. The savaging of the 212th had a salutary effect on the Division, the advance slowed to a crawl, the Imperials falling back sniping as they went.
14th March 57. Penkala-A III. The marines inched forward, the Imperials giving ground grudgingly, it was a grinding campaign. The fact it was a ghost colony gave the defenders an advantage, they did not have to preserve the colony infrastructure.
19th march 57. Penkala-A III. It had become embarrassing, three battalions holding off a whole division. The command decided something must give and ordered a general advance. The marines were fortunate to catch two battalions off guard and they both lost a third of their effectives killed, wounded or captured.
24th March 57. Penkala-A III. Finally the defenders were brought to bay before the main colony habitation. Unable to stand up to the sheer power of a full division the two battalions withered and died in the fierce fighting rather than surrender.
30th March 57. Penkala-A III. The colony was finally pacified. It was indeed yet another ghost colony. There were only 98 units of infrastructure. The fact that there were two Destroyer outposts in system fuelled the idea that the Imperium and the Destroyers had some kind of alliance. The governor’s database did not reveal any further Imperial systems, or it had been successfully purged. There was some evidence however that Penkala was known in the Union database as Gliese 709.
2nd April 57. Penkala. 214th Marine Brigade occupied a Destroyer outpost on Asteroid #86. 60 hellcat missiles were recovered.
8th April 57. V1396 Cygni. Ashen Shugar II-002 discovered substantial mineral reserves on V1396 Cygni-B I included 166 megatons of duranium (0.6) 11.6 megatons of uridium (1) and most importantly 64.5 megatons of gallicite (1). This would become an important mining colony but that would be decades in the future after Refuge – HIP 96183-A II had been built into a fully functional sector command centre.
Excalibur – Avalon-A IV. Finally production of 108 Thorndevil attack shuttles got underway to equip the three Clan class carriers already built.
5th May 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The 9th Marine Division fresh from its bruising campaign in Penkala arrived on V1396-A II and marshalled for their next campaign.
10th May 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. Unfortunately events seemed to be replaying themselves as the 222nd marine battalion lost 43% of its complement to an ambush set up by the Imperial battalion which lost little over a quarter of its strength in this asymmetric battle.
15th May 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The Marines had learnt from Penkala, they did not follow the Imperial script this time and moved rapidly against the main colony, causing severe losses to the Imperial garrison, one suffered over 40% casualties, another received over 25% and the remaining battalion well over 10%.
20th May 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The marines full of confidence in their own ability were handed a sudden reverse as the 224th marine battalion was ambushed and suffered nearly 25% casualties for no appreciable losses to the Imperials.
25th May 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The marines counter attacked, their strength allowing them to rest units, a luxury denied the Imperials as the fighting moved towards the centre of the ghost colony it became more intense and more than a third of an imperial battalion was lost to the incessant attacks.
2nd June 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The week started well for the marines as they destroyed completely an imperial unit, but then their attack stalled in the face of stiff resistance of the two remaining battalions.
7th June 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. Another Imperial battalion fell as the fighting moved into the core of the colony, the other unit suffered grievous casualties as it tried to stem the tide as the marine division rolled over them. The remaining Imperial forces were holed up in the fortified central building, but the end would not be long delayed.
12th June 57. V1396 Cygni-A II. The final redoubt was over run and all organised resistance ceased. It only remained for the marines to round up any stray clones and interrogate the governor.
20th June 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. After a few days standing down the 9th Drop Marines were back aboard their transports and soon established their beachhead on another planet with yet another Imperial ghost colony defended by yet more of the Imperial clone troopers.
26th June 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. The initial skirmishing left the 200th Marine battalion with 25% casualties, but the marines were learning and the Imperial opponents came of far worse suffering nearly 40% losses as they tried and failed to stem the Marines advance. This colony appeared to be defended by a brigade strength garrison, stronger than normally found on a ghost colony.
1st July 57. Saginaw – Xi Pegasii-A II – Moon 3. The atmosphere of Saginaw became breathable completing the terraforming of the moon. Saginaw would become part of the Zwickau – S.W. Burnham 157 sector.
V1396 Cygni-B II. The marines showed the mastery of their craft as they turned the tables of the Imperials catching two battalions in a well laid ambush and managing to kill, incapacitate or capture 30-50% of the clone troopers of the Imperial units without loss. As a result the Imperials fell back towards the main colony structures.
6th July 57 06:36:28,Gliese 788, An exploration of a jump point in the BY Draconis system by Ashen Shugar I-002 revealed the new system of Gliese 788
7th July 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. Inexorably the Imperials were pushed back into the colony. Fighting was dwelling to dwelling, with the propensity of the Imperials for semi-subterranean housing units the fighting became ever more intense with the casualties being on the Imperial side as the Marines mastered the mode of combat required for this type of operation. Two imperial battalions lost a third or greater of their number, becoming a shadow of their former selves.
8th July 57. Gliese 788. Ashen Shugar I-002 was deep in the Imperial Arm. Captain Stella Müller was still surveying for Imperial colonies. She had reached BY Draconis, one of the last systems found in an Imperial database. The next jump out of BY Draconis would be into the unknown. The transit went without a hitch, and Ashen Shugar I-002 powered away from the jump point. Then as the passive sensors stabilised alarms activated, there was a massive signature very close, a Horde brood ship. Then before anyone on the bridge could react the first of the meson beam exploded within the ship, one of the first volleys totally destroyed the ansible, along with the operators. It took just thirty seconds to reduce Ashen Shugar I-002 to a wreck. Captain Müller made it to a life pod, but knew full well she was doomed as no cry for help had been made, no one knew where they were. Help was many jumps away.
13th July 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. The noose tightened around the Imperial brigade, one battalion was totally annihilated, without hope of reconstitution, the others were decimated.
A message reached Star Corps HQ from the fleet scout Seeker left in BY Draconis to patrol the system looking for more Imperial vessels. The survey vessel Ashen Shugar I-002 failed to reappear after exploring a jump point out of BY Draconis. The craft missed its last two scheduled rendezvous. Star Corps HQ had also had no reports from Ashen Shugar I-002 raising the possibility of some disaster overtaking the vessel. This was right at the end of the Imperial jump chain; it would be a logistical effort to get there, some twelve jumps. Task F orce 4 was given the task as Task Force 1 was refitting.
19th July 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. Two Imperial battalions died in defence of the colonies central administration buildings. there was only the rump of the final battalion left to try and man the defences of the final bunker, totally surrounded and cut off there was no hope for the Imperials. It was always a surprise that the Imperials never seemed to recognise their relative weakness and resort to guerrilla warfare.
24th July 57. V1396 Cygni-B II. The marines stormed the last bunker in the Imperial colony; the Union flag now flew over the governor’s residence, what there was left of it. All the now remained was the mundane task of clearing up, removal of booby-traps, unexploded ordnance and of course bodies.
20th September 57. BY Draconis. Task Force 4 arrived in BY Draconis. The Seeker had left the system months before after running short of fuel and supplies. There was nothing untoward on Farsight’s sensors as the Task Force proceeded to the jump point the Seeker had witnessed Ashen Shugar I-002 disappear into. Ashen Shugar I-002 had reported entering BY Draconis without problems and after re-surveying the system had noted the new jump point they were proceeding to and intended to transit. The Task Force formed up and leaving the tankers at the jump point in BY Draconis, prepared to transit in battle formation.
25th September 57. HIP98508-A II. The atmosphere of HIP 98505-A II was now breathable by humans but the surface temperature was still 227
oK, cold enough to freeze the lungs of anyone foolish enough to try and breath it unheated.
30th September 57. Gram - Avalon-A II. Retooling for Clan Mk IB class completed at Union Naval 'Yard on Gram - Avalon-A II. The three carriers of this class will undergo modernisation as operational duties allow.
Clan Mk IB class Jump Carrier 30,000 tons 1997 Crew 8686.9 BP TCS 600 TH 1680 EM 900
8000 km/s JR 5-500 Armour 3-86 Shields 30-300 Sensors 42/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 27 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.96 Years MSP 4886 AFR 266% IFR 3.7% 1YR 832 5YR 12483 Max Repair 1722 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 9000 tons Magazine 782
J30000(5-500) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 30000 tons Distance 500k km Squadron Size 5
Starr Industries Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (30) Power 160 Fuel Use 40% Signature 56 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,635,000 Litres Range 245.3 billion km (354 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/15 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 150 Litres per day
CIWS-320 (3x10) Range 1000 km TS: 32000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Sunsnake (261) Speed: 69,300 km/s End: 14.4m Range: 59.9m km WH: 9 Size: 3 TH: 392 / 235 / 117
Active Search Sensor MR155-R16 (1) GPS 3456 Range 155.5m km Resolution 16
Thermal Sensor TH3-42 (1) Sensitivity 42 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 42m km
ECM 30
Strike Group
36x Thorndevil Attack Shuttle Speed: 19200 km/s Size: 5
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes 7th October 57. Gliese 788. Task groups 4.2, 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 made a squadron jump into the new system from BY Draconis. As sensors cleared TG 4.2 headed to the jump point to BY Draconis to allow the passage of TG 4.1 that had no jump ship to make a squadron jump. As the TF reassembled, the sensors on the Farsight came online; stark on the screen were five Horde vessels and the wreck of the Ashen Shugar I-002. This meant that not too far away would be the Horde gunboats. The brood mother appeared subtilly different on sensors and was given the reporting name Anthalos 002. The miners also appeared to be of a new class, designated Aigalas class.
21:36 The Horde FAC made their appearance, all 36 of them. Weapons officers went into overdrive as they started targeting the alien vessels. Less than a minute later the ships echoed to the sound of missiles leaving their launchers. 21:57 the first salvos reached their targets and although they were only Firestar IIIs they took a dreadful toll of the approaching FAC. These attack craft were also of a new strain not seen before designated Augcatlos class. The Task Force moved in system, but was short on fuel, only the fact that the Task Force had tankers with them would enable them to return to Avalon. Fuel was not yet readily available at Refuge – HIP 96183-A IV.
8th October 57. Gliese 788. 15:37 The Brood ship crept within range, five Phoenix class MBs targeted it and as one launched. 16:54 Missiles burst around the monster ship, but the armour seemed to be thicker than previous brood mothers and it took another launch of the four remaining Phoenix class frigates to kill it, as the final salvos were going in against the brood ship twenty more FAC were detected and the Spire class FGs opened up, it took three launches to clear the infestation, then the TF moved on to deal with the miners. By 23:48 the system was clear of Horde ships.
End of Part Five.
