The Rise of the Commonwealth – October 2111
The Commonwealth was officially formed in January 2110, although the process of amalgamating the civilian population, industry and military forces of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom required almost two years from that point onwards. The Royal Commonwealth Navy began absorbing all the various warships and commercial vessels fairly early in the process. Isolated colonies, such as the Canadian colony of Acadia, were also simple to transfer to Commonwealth governance. On those planets with colonies from two of the powers, such as the Australian and British populations on Pendragon, or even all three, such as Earth and Avalon, the complexities of amalgamation were far more difficult to manage. Eventually, the method chosen was for each national colony to complete all its shipbuilding, installation construction and ground force training tasks before becoming part of the Commonwealth administration.
The first real test for the new Commonwealth would come in the Olympus chain. The survey ship Attenborough had contacted an alien race in the Zeta Herculis system in October 2109 and was followed through the jump point by three alien ships when she returned to Olympus, a vast system centred on a colossal O8 class star. Attenborough held position for several weeks and managed to establish full communications with the aliens, which referred to themselves as the Osmanli Devleti, in early December. As nothing further could be accomplished in Olympus, she retreated along three more systems in the Olympus Chain (NN3991, WISE 1741-2553, HIP 80346) until she reached The Moat, the closest system on the jump gate network on January 12th 2110. One alien ship followed her from Olympus into NN3991, but then held position on the Olympus jump point.
The Commonwealth Admiralty, a new organization created to command the Royal Commonwealth Navy, received the news of a space-faring alien race with both concern and a determination to ensure the safety of Commonwealth citizens. A task group was speedily organized using ships constructed by all three founding nations and given orders to investigate the area around Zeta Herculis and to determine the level of potential threat. The orders specifically included instructions to press as far as possible and attempt to scan Zeta Herculis-B III, which was deemed likely to be the alien homeworld, or possibly a colony. If the aliens resisted the attempt, force could be used if the task group commander believed it would be successful. As the task group would be operating outside communication range of the Admiralty, the orders allowed wide discretion from the senior office present.
The task group comprised the jump cruiser Resolution, the Dreadnought-M class battlecruisers Collingwood and Colossus, the Agincourt-M class escort cruisers Agincourt and Quebec, the Tribal-M class destroyers Comanche, Matabele, Mohawk and Nubian, the Canadian-built Halifax class destroyers Fredericton and Winnipeg, the Australian-built Melbourne class destroyer Canberra and the Australia-built destroyer leader Sydney. Sydney was equipped with Ryan-Blackburn RB-210A Active Search Sensor, which had by far the longest sensor range in the task group at two hundred and ten million kilometers, while Fredericton and Winnipeg were the only missile-armed warships and carried UK-built Perseus anti-ship missiles.
On April 2nd 2110, after a long journey, the task group arrived within two hundred and ten million kilometres of the NN3991 – Olympus jump point and detected an Osmanli ship, designated as Iskenderun class. This was positively identified as the ship that followed Attenborough for part of the survey ship’s homeward journey and was therefore known to be jump-capable. The Commonwealth commander, Commodore Edward Cook, was concerned that the entire task group approaching would be taken as a hostile act, assuming that had not already been detected, and for the moment he preferred to act with caution. With no jump gates between The Moat and Zeta Hercules, that meant sending forward the only jump-capable ship, the Resolution class jump cruiser, either alone or with a small escort. Commodore Cook deemed that too great a risk. Therefore, he requested the assistance of the Australian-built Adelaide class geological survey ships. As well as being larger than their UK and Canadian equivalents, the Adelaides had active sensors and a jump drive large enough to escort Tribal-M class destroyers through a jump point. Attenborough was on hand to serve as a runner so she moved back to The Moat and relayed the request. The closest Adelaide was forty days away so the task group held position and waited.
The survey ship Adelaide arrived at the task group on May 14th 2110. Escorted by the Tribal-Ms Mohawk and Nubian, she set course for the Olympus jump point. As they approached, the Osmanli Iskenderun, a 6400 ton ship, exchanged hails and warned the Commonwealth ships not to transit the next jump point in the chain, which led from Olympus to Zeta Herculis. There was still no sign that the Iskenderun was aware of the large Commonwealth task group two hundred million kilometres away. The Adelaide and the two Tribals transited into Olympus and moved across the system to the Zeta Herculis jump point. At thirty million kilometers they detected four more Osmanli ships; an Iskenderun, two designated as Aydin class and a sole Kemer class, all of which were 6400 tons. As previously agreed with Commodore Cook, the small task group waited for another Adelaide to arrive and act as a communication relay on the jump point back to NN3991.
Newcastle, the second Adelaide, escorted by the Tribal-M Matabele, transited into Olympus on June 3rd and held position on the NN3991 jump point. They too were warned by the Iskenderun not to proceed beyond Olympus. With Newcastle now able to relay messages from the most forward task group back to the main body, Adelaide, Mohawk and Nubian began closing on the four Osmanli ships. Their mission was to enter Zeta Herculis and scan the third planet of the B component. At fifteen million kilometres they were hailed by the alien ships and warned not to approach. Commodore Leon Mitchell, commanding the small squadron, ordered his ships to halt and sent a report via Newcastle asking for instructions. Commodore Cook, ordered them to proceed. Under his own orders to assess the level of threat, Cook wanted to see both the alien reaction to the small three-ship force and to assesses their capabilities if they choose to follow up their warnings with force. Adelaide, Mohawk and Nubian resumed their approach.
A single missile suddenly struck Adelaide, disabling one of her gravitational sensors. Ten small thermal signatures were detected seconds before the impact, although the size and speed of the inbounds could not be confirmed as the three Commonwealth ships were not equipped with sensors capable of detecting missiles. Whether the alien missiles had poor performance or the other nine were merely a warning was unknown. There was no follow-up salvo. The Osmanli commander, Captain Cihan Agar, contacted the Commonwealth ships and repeated his demand that they halt their approach. Once informed, Commodore Cook ordered them to withdraw to twenty-five million kilometres and await instructions, then dispatched Attenborough back through the two intervening systems to the Moat to inform the Admiralty of the situation. Cook requested permission to advance his main force, eliminate the alien picket on N3991 – Olympus JP and the alien squadron on the Olympus - Zeta Herculis JP before advancing into the latter system. He stated his belief that the alien missiles were low-tech given their poor hit rate and that the Commonwealth should strike while it had a significant tech advantage. He also requested additional support, particularly anti-missile units, and ground forces. Unknown to him, the forces need to fulfil some of those requests were already in motion. On June 21st a River class Mobile Jump Gate was towed into position at the jump point from The Moat to HIP 80346. Two tankers and a troop transport moved into the latter system and took up station at the WISE 1741-2553 jump point.
Seven days later Attenborough returned to NN3991 with permission from the Admiralty to destroy the alien ships and to determine the strength of the alien forces in Zeta Herculis. The main Commonwealth task group closed in on the lone Iskenderun stationed on the jump point to Olympus. At sixty million kilometres the Halifax class DDs Fredericton and Winnipeg launched two salvos of twelve Perseus anti-ship missiles. One missile from the first wave was shot down by energy-based point defence. The other eleven all struck their target, penetrating the armour in three locations (based on atmospheric streaming). The second salvo was equally successful and inflicted massive internal damage. The Iskenderun made no attempt to transit or move away from the jump point after the attack, probably due to engine damage. Commodore Cook ordered a third salvo, concerned the ship might repair its jump drive before the Commonwealth ships could close in. A single missile was hit by point defence but the target was destroyed. Fifty-eight very angry and hostile alien survivors were picked up by Attenborough.
As there was no jump gate on the NN3991 – Olympus jump point, it seemed likely that four ships at the Olympus – Zeta Herculis jump point were unaware of the loss of their sister ship. Commodore Cook wasted no time in moving across Olympus and into range of the alien squadron. By July 11th the two forces were fifty million kilometers apart. At least one of the alien ships was known to be missile-armed, based on the salvo fired at Adelaide, but there was no way to determine which one. The assumption was that as ten missiles was a large salvo for a 6400 ton ship, the likely candidates were the two Aydins, although all four could be missile-armed. As the missile firepower of the Commonwealth was relatively light and the enemy task group was stationed on a jump point, the key to maintaining strategic surprise would be eliminating any jump-capable ships. Commodore Cook wanted to retain some ordnance to deal with hostile missile combatants so, based on the events in the previous system, he ordered two salvos fired at the Iskenderun. A third salvo would probably ensure destruction of the ship but would also likely be wasted if the Osmanli ship retained its jump drive after the first two salvos and disappeared into Zeta Herculis. One missile from the first salvo and three from the second were hit by point defence. All the remaining missiles struck their target and eight penetrated the armour. The four enemy ships remained in Olympus so the quick consensus among the Commonwealth tactical officers was that the jump drive on the Iskenderun was disabled.
Fredericton and Winnipeg launched six more salvos, exhausting their magazines. One was targeted on the damaged Iskenderun, two each at the two Aydins on the basis they were the most probable missile ships and one at the Kemer. In total, thirteen missiles were hit by close-range point defence and a total of fifty hits were scored on the four alien ships. The Iskenderun was destroyed, Aydin 001 suffered ten internals and two small secondary magazine explosions, eight missiles penetrated the armour of Aydin 002 and the Kemer received a single internal hit. With no missiles remaining, the Commonwealth task group closed for an energy-range engagement.
Eleven million kilometres from the jump point nine inbound missiles were detected travelling at 13,200 km/s. The task group had formidable point defence and the alien missiles were easily shot down, as were two follow-up salvos. After a break of twenty minutes, nine more salvos arrived and were similarly dispatched. The alien ships remained on the jump point, presumably hoping for assistance, although they had no way to summon help without the ability to jump. The Commonwealth task group halted at 200,000 kilometres and Commodore Cook demanded the surrender of the three damaged alien ships. The Kemer tried to approach but its maximum speed was 3000 km/s and the Commonwealth ships could easily avoid it. Finally, the Dreadnought class battlecruiser Collingwood opened fire with six 20cm lasers and a 25cm spinal laser, damaging the Kemer and demonstrating the Commonwealth task group could destroy its opponents with impunity. With no other option that did not involve suicide, the Osmanli surrendered their ships.
Prize crews boarded the alien vessels and examined their systems. The two Aydin class and lone Kemer used nuclear pulse era technology and were obviously no match for the Commonwealth warships. The missiles of the Aydin were obsolete and would be unlikely to damage any ship with rudimentary point defence. While the Kemer could theoretically cause damage with its railguns, that would only be possible if a Commonwealth ship allowed it into range; unlikely in open space but possible in a jump point assault. Given the low technology of the alien ships encountered so far, Commodore Cook was tempted to press ahead and assault the jump point anyway. However, as the second Resolution class jump cruiser, Temeraire, and two Canadian-built Protecteur class AMM escorts had entered N3991, according to a message relayed by Attenborough, he decided to await the reinforcements just in case a large number of Kemers were waiting on the Zeta Herculis side of the jump point. Meanwhile, a Hercules class tug was towing a mobile jump gate to each jump point in the chain in order to move two tankers and a troop transport towards Olympus. Once the tankers and transports were through a jump point, the tug used the mobile jump gate to transit, the mobile jump gate followed and then the tug towed it to the next jump point in the chain.
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Aydin class Destroyer 6,400 tons 146 Crew 705.8 BP TCS 128 TH 384 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 4-30 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 20
Maint Life 2.25 Years MSP 207 AFR 109% IFR 1.5% 1YR 55 5YR 825 Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 11 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 300
Zana-Suphi ZS-192M Nuclear Pulse Engine (2) Power 192 Fuel Use 68.4% Signature 192 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 10.3 billion km (39 days at full power)
Size 4 Missile Launcher (5) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 60
Keresteciyan Design Bureau KDB-20M Missile Fire Control (1) Range 19.7m km Resolution 120
Melara Anti-ship Missile (75) Speed: 13,200 km/s End: 82.5m Range: 65.3m km WH: 5 Size: 4 TH: 44/26/13
Keresteciyan Design Bureau KDB-20 Active Sensor (1) GPS 4320 Range 19.7m km Resolution 120
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Kemer class Destroyer 6,400 tons 196 Crew 701.2 BP TCS 128 TH 384 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 4-30 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 30
Maint Life 2.29 Years MSP 205 AFR 109% IFR 1.5% 1YR 53 5YR 796 Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Zana-Suphi ZS-192M Nuclear Pulse Engine (2) Power 192 Fuel Use 68.4% Signature 192 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres Range 14.4 billion km (55 days at full power)
12cm Railgun V2/C2 (6x4) Range 40,000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 6-2 RM 2 ROF 15
Zorlu Electronics Industries ZEI-48 Beam Fire Control (2) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 3000 km/s
Pebble Bed Reactor (4) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 36 Range 1.8m km MCR 196k km Resolution 1
Keresteciyan Design Bureau KDB-20 Active Sensor (1) GPS 4320 Range 19.7m km Resolution 120
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On July 22nd the Commonwealth launched a squadron transit attack into Zeta Herculis. Resolution escorted both battlecruisers, Temeraire escorted the two Protecteur class escorts and the two Adelaides each escorted a pair of Tribal class destroyers. There was no resistance. In fact, no sign of any Osmanli ships at all, except for transponder signals from two freighters in the solar system of the B component. Temeraire returned to Olympus and brought through the rest of the task group in a more leisurely standard transit. A volley of abuse soon arrived from the Osmanli homeworld demanding to know the fate of the five ships deployed on the far side of the jump point and the intention of the Commonwealth force. Now committed to aggressive action, Commodore Cook ignored the Osmanli and decided to wait for the tankers before proceeding further.
The Canadian-built tanker Restigouche refuelled the task group on August 3rd. After detaching the two Adelaides and two Tribals to monitor the jump point, the task group moved toward the semi-habitable (for humans) Zeta Herculis-B III. The two transponders detected earlier began running away from the planet in the opposite direction. Six days later a population was detected on the planet with an EM signature strength of 24,000, a little less than half that of Avalon. This was either a fairly small homeworld population or a very large colony. As the task group closed in, an orbital shipyard contact of 400,000 was detected but there was still no sign of alien warships. Commodore Cook demanded the surrender of the Osmanli Devleti for the attack on Adelaide. The Osmanli refused and condemned the Commonwealth’s unprovoked aggression.
On August 10th the task group halted one million kilometres from the planet. There were still no hostile warships on sensors or any other ships except the two retreating transponders. Puzzled by the lack of opposition, Commodore Cook demanded the surrender of the planet one more time before ordered his two battlecruisers to destroy the alien shipyards. While the formation of the Commonwealth was still underway, it would eventually possess the combined shipyard capacity of Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom so additional shipyards were not really necessary and Cook did not want to take the chance of alien warships being launched. The destruction required less than a minute.
With nothing to shoot at the task group had to await ground forces. Ten mobile infantry battalions were already in Olympus en route to the Zeta Herculis jump point but their transport could not jump without the presence of the mobile jump gate, which was heading back to The Moat to await two more troop transports. After a day in orbit of Zeta Herculis-B III, the main body of the task group headed back to the Olympus jump point to await the transports, leaving the escort cruiser Agincourt, the destroyer escort Calgary and the destroyers Comanche and Nubian to watch over the Osmanli population.
Already stationed on the jump point were the two Adelaide class geological survey vessels and two Tribal-M class destroyers. On August 16th their active sensors detected an Osmanli task group, comprising an Iskenderun, a missile-armed Aydin and five railgun-armed Kemers, inbound at a distance of thirty million kilometres. The main body was still three hundred million kilometers away and could not intervene. Commodore Cook realised the Osmanli had probably decided they couldn’t defeat the large inbound fleet so they sent their small force around it in an attempted to secure the jump point and cut the Commonwealth supply lines. As the Adelaides were unarmed, the defence of the jump point was down to the two Tribal-Ms Matabele and Mohawk. They were slightly smaller than the Osmanli ships and outnumbered 7-2 but they were faster and had superior technology. On the far side of the jump point were the tanker Restigouche, a Flower class tanker and an Audacious class troop transport carrying ten battalions of mobile infantry, plus the recently captured Osmanli ships, comprising two Aydin with no missiles, one of which was immobile, and a single Kemer. Adelaide jumped through to warn the unarmed ships to move away from the jump point.
The Tribals could also transit and outrun the Osmanli ships but the Osmanli would then run down the Flower and troop transport. Restigouche had a maximum speed of 3200 km/s and would be able to evade. Once in Olympus the Kemer class railgun combatants would be able to mount a jump point defence against the main Commonwealth task group and potentially cause significant casualties, plus they would sever supply until they were eliminated. Therefore the Tribals decided to defend the jump point. They were faster and outranged the Kemers but to get into range they would have had to withstand the missiles of the single Aydin and they had no sensors capable of detecting those inbound missiles. The alternative was to stand on the defensive on the Olympus side of the jump point and risk being caught at short range by the five Kemers. Even so, that was a better option as they could also engage the missile ship at close range and all the enemy ships would be suffering from jump shock. Matabele, Mohawk and Newcastle transited into Olympus and took up position 200,000 kilometres from the jump point. The unarmed Commonwealth Aydin moved away while the crippled Aydin remained on the jump point, along with the damaged Kemer, which had repaired its internal systems but possessed virtually no armour. The Commonwealth ships transferred supplies to the crippled Aydin so the prize crew could attempt to repair its damage.
At 07:30 on August 16th, the Iskenderun, a Kemer and the Aydin used a squadron transit into Olympus, arriving 192,000 kilometres from the Tribals. Presumably the choice of a squadron transit with fewer ships was to avoid the much longer period of jump shock following a standard transit. The Commonwealth-controlled Kemer and Aydin were close to the jump point. The commander of the small Commonwealth squadron, Commodore Leon Mitchell, ordered his ships to follow the Aydin but to target the Kemer. Mitchell made this distinction because he believed the missile-armed Aydin was key to the engagement but the Kemer would interpose itself and would be dangerous at close range). Mohawk, which had a very experienced crew, fired instantly and scored a pair of strength-2 hits on the Kemer, without penetrating. Unfortunately, Matabele had a green crew and Mohawk was forced to wait for her sister ship to respond to the order to close the range.
Fifteen seconds after transit Mohawk fired her 20cm lasers again and was joined by Matabele. Only one strength-2 hit on the Kemer was achieved. A follow-up shot from Mohawk’s spinal 25cm also missed. Thirty seconds after transit, the Iskenderun fired on the Commonwealth-crewed Kemer, scoring eight strength-2 railgun hits and demonstrating the jump-capable ship was also armed. With the Kemer armour already in shreds, seven of the railgun rounds penetrated, disabling her fire control and destroying an engine and two railgun mounts. Neither side had ships underway. The Osmanli Kemer fired on its one-time sister ship at close-range, inflicting massive internal damage. The Commonwealth Kemer was crippled and unable to respond. Both Tribals fired their 20cm lasers and the Osmanli Kemer received a single strength-2 hit.
Forty seconds after transit, the Commonwealth-crewed Kemer was destroyed by a follow-up salvo from the Iskenderun and Matabele was struck by three strength-5 warheads. The Aydin was obviously in the fight. In response, Mohawk scored a strength-3 hit with her spinal 25cm. Five seconds later the Tribals combined to strike the Kemer four times, still without penetrating its armour. The Kemer turned its railguns on the crippled Commonwealth-crewed Aydin and blew it to pieces. Finally, the Commonwealth ships began moving toward the alien squadron, closing the range to 165,000 kilometres. Commodore Mitchell detached Newcastle, which was acting as a decoy, so his Tribal-Ms could accelerate to their maximum speed of 5333 km/s.
The Osmanli ships split up, with the Kemer heading for the approaching Tribals, the Aydin moving away in the opposite direction and the Iskenderun heading for the jump point, presumably planning to transit and return with a pair of Kemers. Before the Tribals could react, the Iskenderun vanished into Zeta Herculis. Instead, they fired a devastating barrage into the approaching Kemer, inflicting a strength-12 hit from a spinal laser and eight strength-7 hits from the smaller 20cm mounts. The Kemer was plainly badly damaged but returned fire at 27,000 kilometres, scoring five strength-1 hits on Matabele that opened up a hole in the Tribal’s armour.
The Tribals passed the crippled Kemer in pursuit of the Aydin and fired again at point blank range. The Kemer exploded. Targeting changed to the Aydin, now at 89,000 kilometres. Based on the previous engagement in Olympus, the recycle time of the Aydin’s launchers was approximately sixty seconds, giving the Tribals time to fire another volley before facing more missiles. As they closed, the Aydin was struck by a strength-8 from a spinal laser and eight strength-7 hits from the destroyers main batteries. Matabele suffered a single strength-5 hit from the expected missile salvo, which didn’t penetrate. The end was nigh for the Aydin. Both Tribals closed to point blank range, not bothering to demand surrender. Two strength-16 hits and eight strength-10 hits obliterated the already wounded ship. The Tribals moved to 140,000 kilometers from the jump point and awaited the return of the Iskenderun.
Hours passed with no further transit. In Zeta Herculis the main body of the Commonwealth force approached the Olympus jump point. At one hundred million kilometers from the jump point Sydney detected the Iskenderun and four Kemers one hundred and ten million kilometers beyond the jump point and heading out-system. The battlecruisers Collingwood and Colossus, plus the Sydney, were detached to pursue while the rest of the task group moved to the jump point. The assumption among the Commonwealth tactical officers was that the Osmanli commander believed he had taken too long to organize a second squadron transit, especially with the Tribals waiting for him, and decided to run instead in an attempt to preserve his force, not realising the full sensor range of the Sydney.
On August 18th the battlecruisers moved within range, firing a single volley at the Iskenderun and demanded the surrender of the five alien ships. Although the Kemers made desperate attempts to engage the Commonwealth warships, they were slower and had shorter-ranged weapons. Facing complete destruction with no way to even fight back, the Osmanli commander decided to accept the demand from Commodore Cook in order to save his crews. With Commonwealth prize crews aboard, the Osmanli ships headed to the Olympus JP. All known Osmanli warships were now destroyed or captured and the Osmanli shipyards had been destroyed. Apart from the Commonwealth squadron in orbit of the home world of the Osmanli Devleti, all the Commonwealth ships gathered at Olympus JP to await the arrival of additional troop transports. The captured ships were dispatched on the long journey to Avalon.
Meanwhile, life in the rest of the Commonwealth continued. The Rebecca Nicholls geology team completed a survey of an asteroid in the Caerleon system that was already the site of a Commonwealth mining colony. The team discovered an hundred thousand tons of additional Duranium plus deposits of Uridium and Vendarite. The mining colony, founded as the nearest suitable location to emplace automated mines recovered from the Vega ruins, was now one of the best mining locations in the Commonwealth.
Caerleon-A Asteroid #7 Mineral SurveyDuranium 369,800 Acc: 1
Neutronium 59,173 Acc: 0.8
Corbomite 43,035 Acc: 1
Tritanium 220,048 Acc: 0.8
Vendarite 115,600 Acc: 0.8
Mercassium 139,560 Acc: 1
Sorium 192,748 Acc: 0.8
Uridium 211,600 Acc: 0.8
Corundium 24,748 Acc: 0.8
Gallicite 159,148 Acc: 0.8
In Zeta Herculis, the survey ship Newcastle completed a survey of the Osmanli home world on September 20th 2110. Another ideal mining location, although this would be far harder to secure than the asteroid in Caerleon.
Zeta Herculis-B III Mineral SurveyDuranium 472,662 Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 72,308 Acc: 0.6
Corbomite 95,011 Acc: 0.8
Tritanium 67,413 Acc: 1
Boronide 149,511 Acc: 0.8
Mercassium 264,908 Acc: 0.6
Vendarite 77,108 Acc: 0.6
Sorium 103,763 Acc: 1
Uridium 58,259 Acc: 0.7
Corundium 126,505 Acc: 0.4
Gallicite 85,205 Acc: 0.4
On the 22nd of October, a small Osmanli geosurvey ship was intercepted and captured in Olympus, apparently having been on a mission to survey the innermost planet, located twenty-eight billion kilometres from the massive O8-V primary. The Atilay class was very similar in technological terms to the other captured Osmanli ships, although a commercial rather than military vessel. A prize crew boarded the ship and set course for Avalon.
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Atilay class Geological Survey Vessel 6,500 tons 73 Crew 610.2 BP TCS 130 TH 200 EM 0
1538 km/s JR 1-25(C) Armour 1-31 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/3 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 59 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 96 months Spare Berths 0
Akbulut Dynamics JC7K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 7000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 1
Zana-Suphi ZS-200 Commercial Drive (1) Power 200 Fuel Use 7.96% Signature 200 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 347.8 billion km (2617 days at full power)
Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 6.0m km Resolution 100
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
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Four days later and twelve transits from Olympus, the Commonwealth gravitational survey ship Tycho Brae discovered the system of 36 Ophiuchi. Although the borders of the Commonwealth were expanded on a regular basis, this was a system of some note. A trinary with three orange K-class stars, 36 Ophiuchi included two colony cost 2.00 worlds, two more worlds at colony cost 2.16, a fifth world at colony cost 2.69 and two additional planets with colony costs of 3.23 and 4.35 respectively. Three of the best four worlds lacked an atmosphere so would require considerable terraforming while the other had an atmosphere with double the safe level of oxygen. Even so, it was a potentially valuable find should the system prove to be mineral-rich.
On November 3rd 2110 two more transports arrived in Zeta Herculis with twenty additional battalions of mobile infantry, making thirty in all. A River class mobile jump gate was in place on the Olympus – Zeta Herculis jump point and both jump gate construction ships were moving toward the Olympus chain to link the systems leading to Zeta Herculis to the rest of the jump gate network. The three troop transports headed for planet accompanied by the escort cruiser Quebec, the destroyer escort Protecteur and the Melbourne class destroyer Canberra. All the troops were safely on the ground by November 13th and the ground assault on the Osmanli Devleti was launched three days later.
The Commonwealth troops advanced confidently, expecting the ground war to be as straightforward as the war in space. That confidence dissolved when the lead column ran into a well-organized ambush that inflicted heavy casualties on four Commonwealth battalions before the defenders withdrew without loss. The Commonwealth forces reorganized and began a more cautious advance. For the next two months the Commonwealth gradually pushed back the Osmanli in a war of attrition, inflicting casualties at roughly at 2-1 rate. The exception was an unexpected counteroffensive by the Osmanli in late December that pushed back the Commonwealth lines and caused disproportionate casualties for ten days before it was finally halted. By mid-January the Commonwealth had regained the upper hand but civilian casualties were considerable. Commonwealth Naval Intelligence estimated almost 400,000 Osmanli civilians had been killed in the fighting and collateral industrial damage included a research facility, five mining complexes, a fuel refinery and two construction factories.
On January 13th the Osmanli Devleti completed the construction of a planetary defence centre, built into a mountain. The task group in orbit comprised the escort cruiser Agincourt, armed with 10cm laser turrets, Calgary, a Protecteur class destroyer escort armed with a mixture of 10cm lasers and AMM launchers, the Melbourne class destroyer Canberra, armed with railguns, and the Tribal class destroyers Comanche and Nubian, armed with 20cm and 25cm lasers. Those ships with laser weapons would be able to fire through the atmosphere at reduced effect, due to the atmospheric pressure of 0.54 atm, as would the 20cm railguns on the Canberra. However, the Australian-built destroyer’s secondary armament of 10cm railguns would be ineffective. The 7450 ton PDC was an immediate threat and at such close range the Commonwealth ships could not detect missiles between launch and interception so the squadron commander, Commodore Morgan Nixon, ordered the task group to retreat to one million kilometres and ordered Calgary to fire on the PDC with her Huron AMMs. Her magazines held three hundred and forty-six missiles. Commonwealth ground forces would be in serious trouble if the Osmanli were prepared to use nuclear-armed missiles against targets on their own planet.
Twenty-five seconds after the PDC was detected, with the task group still in orbit and preparing to get underway, Agincourt was hit by a single strength-5 warhead. As the damage from the opening enemy salvo was minor, Nixon decided to countermand his initial orders and remain in orbit. He ordered all ships to fire on the PDC, accepting the damage from the enemy missiles in order to avoid causing further collateral damage to the planet by using missiles. 10cm lasers and 20cm railguns were limited to strength-1 hits while 20cm lasers inflicted strength-4 and the damage from 25cm lasers was strength-7. Although the PDC had very tough armour, the volume of fire from orbit was considerable and began blasting away the mountain in which the planetary defence centre was constructed. Fifty seconds after the start of the engagement a small secondary magazine explosion was the first sign of internal damage. At sixty seconds, which was apparently the reload rate of the PDC, Agincourt suffered one more hit. Five seconds later the planetary defence exploded as the mountain was torn apart by secondary explosions. Agincourt had a large hole in her armour but no internal damage and remained on station.
After the brief excitement, the slogging match on the ground began again. As before, the Commonwealth slowly pushed back the Osmanli defenders, inflicting casualties at roughly a 2-1 ratio. Town after town fell to the remorseless advance, causing more civilian casualties and destruction of installations. Two newly trained Osmanli battalions entered the fight in early February, causing a brief surge in Commonwealth losses, but the cohesion of the existing forces was breaking. In a key battle for a major city lasting several days, three Osmanli Devleti battalions were surrounded and wiped out with three more taking significant casualties. Although four Commonwealth battalions were also mauled in the action and 150,000 civilians died, it was the key battle of the war. After that point the Osmanli were in full retreat and the outcome was never in doubt. By the end of March, a further eight Osmanli units had been destroyed. The landing of ten more Commonwealth battalions from a newly arrived Audacious class troop transport was the last straw, The Osmanli Devleti surrendered on April 2nd 2111. In total, between the destruction of the PDC and the surrender, more than half a million civilians had been killed and the industrial damage included five manned mining complexes, an automated mining complex, five construction factories, an ordnance factory, a deep space tracking station and a maintenance facility.
The population of the Osmanli Devleti home world was approximately three hundred and sixty million. Although some installations were destroyed in the fighting the majority were intact and taken into the possession of the Commonwealth. These included nine research facilities, three hundred factories of various types, one hundred and ninety mines, thirty-nine automated mines, almost a hundred fuel refineries, fifty-five maintenance facilities, two ground force training facilities and two deep space tracking stations. Captured consumables comprised sixteen million litres of fuel, twenty-two thousand maintenance supplies and around 50,000 tons of minerals, including two thousand each of Gallicite and Duranium. The planetary treasury added seventeen thousand wealth to Commonwealth reserves. Despite their generally lower technological level, investigation of the Osmanli databases revealed a few areas where they had greater technical knowledge than the Commonwealth. As a result of absorbing this knowledge the Commonwealth gained hangar bays, company-sized combat drop modules and more efficient jump drives. Because the population was still very hostile to the Commonwealth and Zeta Herculis was a great distance from Avalon, it would be a long time before any significant benefit would be gained from the war.
The appearance of the Osmanli species was nightmarish from a human perspective and their physical characteristics made them fearsome in hand to hand combat, which the Commonwealth ground combat forces strove to avoid during the conquest. Even the average Osmanli was seven feet tall, covered in short black fur, with an elongated, wolf-like head, long facial horns and six-clawed hands, with each claw six inches long and razor sharp. Despite the considerable strength of the Commonwealth ground forces, no one was looking forward to pacifying the population, which was understandably hostile to the occupation. To ensure there was no thought of revolt, a task group was stationed in orbit, comprising an Agincourt-M, all four Tribal-Ms, Sydney, Melbourne and the two Protecteur class destroyer escorts. The remaining ships, including both Dreadnought class battlecruisers, the two Resolution class jump cruisers, an Agincourt-M and both Halifax class destroyers headed back to Avalon for an overhaul. Nubian left orbit to run down the two civilian colony ships that had been holding some distance from the planet during the ground war.
While combat was raging in Zeta Herculis, the last of the six Dreadnought class battlecruisers was refitted with magneto-plasma engines. Similar refits were also underway for the Agincourt and Tribal class ships and new engines had been designed for the Halifax and Melbourne class ships. The intention of the Admiralty was to update most of the existing warships before designing any new ships. The M-refits were purely engine replacements with all other components left in place.
On April 11th, operations begin to clear other Osmanli colonies in the Zeta Herculis system. Geosurvey ships had noted very small population signatures on several bodies so troop transports were dispatched accordingly. Five mobile infantry battalions were landed on the fourth planet of Zeta Herculis-B, an airless world with a colony cost of 2.54, and five more on an asteroid in the sparse belt around the star. On the former there was no resistance and a population of 370,000 was secured. On the latter, a civilian mining colony, a defending battalion was present so combat operations began. The two captured colony ships were used to transfer the newly conquered population to the Osmanli home world. Another landing was made on April 21st on the thirteenth moon of Zeta Herculis-B V where a second civilian mining colony was located. A ground assault was required before the colony surrendered.
On April 22nd 2111 the Commonwealth agreed a deal with the Centauri Federation to sell seven captured Osmanli ships, comprising a jump-capable Iskenderun, a missile-armed Aydin, four railgun-armed Kemers and a gravitational survey ship, in exchange for six thousand tons of Duranium. The Centauri were so short of warships following the First Colonial War that even lower tech ships were useful and six thousand tons of Duranium was little more than ten percent of their total stockpile. From the Commonwealth perspective, the Duranium was far more useful than obsolete warships and helping the Centauri Federation provided a small counterbalance to the growing strength of the Japanese Empire. The Commonwealth did not provide details of the origin of the Osmanli ships, except to assure the Centauri that there was no chance the original owner would be searching for them. Their passage through the Sol system did raise many questions among the intelligence communities of the other powers. The seven ships arrived at Asgard on June 10th 2111.
In early June, an ideal habitable world was discovered in Struve 2173, four jumps beyond Altair in what had become known as the Novo Rio chain, named because the chain of more than a dozen systems was connected to the rest of the Commonwealth via the system of Kruger 60, home of the Novo Rio colony that was founded by Brazil but occupied by the Commonwealth. The system was nine transits and more than thirty-six billion kilometers from Avalon so, while a welcome discovery, it was not high priority given the recent Osmanli conquest and the huge amount of logistical and organization work involved in setting up the Commonwealth in its early days.
The chain between Altair and Struve 2173 comprised the systems of Gliese 748, NN4065 and NN4056. A month after the discovery of Struve 2173, the gravitational survey ship Kepler transited a newly discovered jump point in the centre system, NN4065, and entered the system of GJ-1235, where she immediately detected the transponder of a German civilian colony ship. Relations between Germany and the Commonwealth were cordial so the survey ship hailed the colony ship and made its presence known. A reply was soon received from a German colony on the third planet, a freezing world with a breathable atmosphere. The matter was quickly escalated to the respective governments which were keen to avoid any tension. Discussions revealed that Germany had previously explored NN4065, the system from which Kepler had entered GJ-1235 and the two systems on either side, Gliese 748 and NN4056.
Examinations of the respective survey records demonstrated that the Commonwealth reached Gliese 748 first but German survey ships were the first to enter NN4065 and NN4056. Ownership was agreed on that basis, with the Gliese 748 - NN4065 jump point becoming the first common border between Germany and the Commonwealth. However, the Commonwealth had explored beyond NN4056 and found the ideal habitable world in Struve 2173, a system of which the Germans were apparently unaware. Unfortunately, Struve 2173 could not reached without passing through what was now German space. As Struve 2173 was a long way from Avalon the Admiralty did not believe a single habitable world was worth conflict with Germany and probably its ally, the United States, unless it possessed particularly valuable mineral deposits or perhaps an alien ruin. As there was already a Commonwealth geosurvey ship in the system that question would be answered before the Commonwealth pulled back. Germany informed the Commonwealth that two its survey ships were already in what was agreed to be Commonwealth space and they would withdraw as soon as contact was made.
On July 30th investigation of the ideal world in Struve 2173 by the geological survey ship Brunel revealed a ruined settlement and an alien research installation that would double the effectiveness of biological research on the planet. Suddenly, the planet had far more value. Given the vastness of space and the low chance of discovery, the Admiralty decided to attempt to establish a colony in Struve 2173 before the Germans discovered it and then claim it was colonised from a different direction. This would involve moving ships through the German systems of NN4065 and NN4056. Given the vastness of space and low likelihood of detection, this was deemed an acceptable risk compared to the potential rewards. Both gravitational survey ships in the Novo Rio chain were ordered to move to Struve 2173 immediately and search for another route back to Commonwealth space. The creation of a colony was far more problematic. One of the two mobile jump gates in the Olympus chain was recalled to provide a way to move colonists beyond Altair, the last system on the jump gate network. Unfortunately, the mobile jump gate was fourteen transits and almost fifty billion kilometers away, so it would take a Hercules class tug a long time to move it at the maximum towing speed of 1870 km/s. In the meantime, a colony expedition was organised using the four Canadian-built Mackenzie class colony ships, troop transports departed Avalon carrying construction brigades and two tankers were sent to Altair to provide a refuelling stop for all the ships involved.
What remained unknown to the Commonwealth was that the German colony on a moon of the third planet of GJ-1235, known to Germany as Alteruine, was located at a large and valuable ruin suite and the moon possessed an alien research installation that almost doubled power and propulsion research. The proximity of Commonwealth space to one of their most valuable systems was causing some concern among the German leadership.
With the growth in number of colonies in the Commonwealth, a new level of government between the individual planets and the national level was agreed by the House of Commons and the Senate. The first ‘Sector Command’ was established on Avalon and included all colonies in Sol, Barnard's Star, Pendragon and Acadia, the latter having recently been renamed from Kuiper 75 to match the Canadian-founded colony on the second planet of the B component.
In late July, the first Phoebe class maintenance vessel was constructed by fighter factories on Earth. With plans in motion to establish a naval base in 61 Cygni, two jumps from Avalon, the Commonwealth needed a way to move maintenance supplies around without using shipping needed for higher priority tasks. While two different classes of large replenishment vessels were being considered to support battle fleets and survey forces, a small, more flexible craft was required for general duties. The result was the Phoebe, a shuttle-sized vessel that could transfer relatively small amounts of supplies between colonies. As there was a large supply stockpile on Earth, the first Phoebe began a regular run to move the supplies to 61 Cygni.
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Phoebe class Maintenance Vessel 435 tons 4 Crew 48 BP TCS 8.7 TH 32 EM 0
3678 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 17.48 Years MSP 1000 AFR 87% IFR 1.2% 1YR 6 5YR 93 Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Shuttle Engine (2) Power 16 Fuel Use 59.4% Signature 16 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 34.8 billion km (109 days at full power)
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With the combining of the Australian, Canadian and United Kingdom populations, the Commonwealth became the largest of the Solarian powers, although in truth the Commonwealth was no longer a Sol-based power and the Earth was more of a colony with the real capital at Avalon. The amalgamation brought many benefits but one of the disadvantages was less diversity in trading opportunities. With this in mind, the Commonwealth began a program of building up its colonial populations with the aim of maximising trade. By September 2111, both Acadia and 61 Cygni-A III had passed twenty million, Pendragon’s population was already in excess of fifty million and the occupied colony on Novo Rio was at thirty-five million. Attention began to turn to the outer colonies and the emphasis on transporting new settlers from Earth to Avalon started to wane.
On September 8th the gravitational survey ship Warramunga explored a jump point in GL609, the first system found beyond Zeta Herculis, and discovered Lambda Serpentis, a yellow G0-V star with two planets. The second planet, a gas giant, had seventeen moons and remarkably seven of those moons were colony cost 2.00, including the ninth moon which would require minimal terraforming to become an ideal habitable world. It would be some time before a colony could be established as Zeta Herculis was not yet connected to the jump gate network, although both Commonwealth construction ships were engaged in that task.
A naval base was formally established at the colony on 61 Cygni-A III on September 9th 2111. In celebration of the new base the system was renamed Scapa Flow. Sufficient maintenance facilities were in place to handle ships of up to 9000 tons, which included all Commonwealth warships and survey vessels with the exception of the six Dreadnought class battlecruisers. Supplies and fuel were already on site and a squadron of five ships arrived to take up residence, comprising the Agincourt-M class escort cruiser Quiberon Bay, the Halifax-M class destroyers Halifax and Regina and the Tribal-M class destroyers Apache and Ashanti. Scapa Flow is a key crosswords systems for the Commonwealth, linking to:
1) Pendragon, which connects to Avalon
2) Manchu, the primary Manchurian colony system,
3) EV Lacerte, which connects to the United States system of Eta Cassiopeiae and the occupied Eben population.
4) Kruger 60, home to the Novo Rio colony and the starting system of the Novo Rio chain.
5) The Junction, which is the major fork in the Avalon Arm.
By October 2111, the Commonwealth was fully formed, with all colonies and ships from the three constituent powers under the Commonwealth government. The last colony to formerly join the Commonwealth was the Australian colony on Avalon in late September, although much of the industry and population had already transferred to the Commonwealth in previous months. The last ship to be built by the Australian shipyards before the transfer of ownership was the Melbourne class destroyer Hobart, the sixth of her class.
In total, between January 2110 and October 2111, the Commonwealth and its three constituent powers constructed two Halifax class destroyers, two Melbourne class destroyers, a Warramunga class gravitational survey vessel, an Adelaide class geological survey vessel, eight Atlas II class freighters, seven Mayflower II class colony ships, three Ambrosia class fuel harvesters, two Avalon II class terraformers, two Rhodes class asteroid miners, five Rhodes II class asteroid miners and two Phoebe class maintenance vessels. By this point the Commonwealth operated five hundred thousand tons of naval shipping, including survey vessels, nine million tons of commercial shipping and almost ten million tons of civilian shipping. Japan, Russia and the United States each operated naval shipping tonnages between sixty-eight and seventy-three percent of the Commonwealth total. The United States and Japan operated commercial tonnages of seventy-two percent and sixty-one percent of the Commonwealth total respectively. No other power even came close to the Commonwealth in terms of civilian shipping, with the United States being the closest at just two million tons.
Despite the supremacy of the Commonwealth against any single power, it was still vulnerable to an alliance of nations. The combined naval shipping of the United States and Germany for example exceeded that of the Commonwealth while Japan and Russia combined would have a significant advantage. For these reasons, the Commonwealth was keen to conceal its strength as much as possible to avoid and retained the bulk of its warships within the Avalon Arm. Only a small squadron was deployed at Earth. The strategic priorities for the Commonwealth were to weld together the Royal Commonwealth Navy from the melange of different ship designs and combat philosophies of its three founding powers, build up its colonies and associated infrastructure and begin building a defence network to protect the Avalon Arm from the rest of the human powers.
Commonwealth ColoniesAvalon: 948m
Zeta Herculis-B III: 366m
Earth: 300m
Pendragon: 54m
Novo Rio (Kruger 60): 37.8m
Barnard's Star III: 28.5m
Acadia: 22.1m
Scapa Flow-A III: 20m
Vega III: 4.13m
Manchu-B I: 3.90m
Kuiper 79-A IV: 3.45m
Tintagel III: 3.05m
Bedivere-A II: 2.07m
Kuiper 79-B II: 1.39m
Caerleon-A I: 1.48m
Gawain I: 1.11m
Merlin II: 0.93m
Excalibur-A II: 0.85m
V1581 Cygni-B I: 0.69m
Rivalen-B II: 0.63m
Caerleon-B II: 0.23m
EV Lacerte-A II: 0.15m
Caerleon-A II: 0.13m
Mining Colonies (including asteroid miners)
Pendragon-B Asteroid #75: 130x AM
Pendragon-B Asteroid #27: 62x AM
Caerleon-B Asteroid #7: 25x AM
Pendragon-B Asteroid #68: 21x AM
Pendragon-B Asteroid #36: 20x AM
Pendragon-B Asteroid #70: 10x AM
Kruger 60-B VII – Moon 6: 8x AM
GJ 1253-A II: 8x AM
Tempel 1 (Sol): 9x CMC
Kruger 60-A III: 6x CMC
Tempel-Tuttle (Sol): 4x CMC
Bernard’s Star-A I: 4x CMC
Zeta Herculis-B Asteroid #52: 3x CMC
Zeta Herculis-B V – Moon 13: 2x CMC
