Note: This campaign uses the v6.00 rulesPrologue In 2028, a joint NASA/ESA manned mission to Mars discovered evidence of alien ruins amid the shifting red sands. Fearing that the Americans and Europeans might discover some ancient technology that would radically change the balance of power, the other nations of the world demanded immediate access to all data on the ruins. On Mars, the NASA/ESA team found little but the remnants of ancient structures, possibly millions of years old. There was no technology and nothing to share.
Refusing to believe US and EU claims that their discovery had only archaeological value, China and Russia threatened military action unless all technological data was made public. Tensions escalated rapidly and a fatal miscalculation was made. World War III devastated the globe, reducing every major city to irradiated debris. Those that remained alive, wracked by radiation and disease, struggled to survive in the ashes of civilization.
The new civilization that arose from those ashes was very different than its forebears. Strong centralised military control was necessary to manage scarce resources and ensure all the survivors contributed to the general good. The short-term thinking of the old democracies was cast aside. Future leaders were identified at an early age and indoctrinated to make their first priority the long term survival of the human race. Over decades, as leaders chose members of their own families as future leaders, this evolved into a monarchical system with an Emperor and an Imperial Family. The global nation was officially named "Imperial Terra".
Many religions sprung up in the aftermath of the war as the survivors looked for some reason in the catastrophe. Only fragmentary records regarding the reason for the war had survived but great weight was placed on the mention of aliens as being responsible. Cults arose that either deified or demonised the mysterious aliens. Religious conflicts abounded and occasionally broke into open warfare that was ruthlessly suppressed by the military. To avoid such disunity, the first Emperor created a new religion, setting himself as the immortal protector of humanity while the aliens who started the great war were the demonic enemies of mankind. 'Ancient texts' were uncovered to underpin the veracity of the new belief system and any attempt to discredit them was punished by draconian blasphemy laws. Worship of the Emperor was indoctrinated into all school children while other religions were initially banned and eventually eradicated. Servants of the Emperor who performed great deeds for the Imperium were canonised. When the Emperor died (or "his mortal body failed") and his heir was crowned, part of the spectacular coronation ceremony involved the new Emperor "receiving into his heart" the spirits of all past Emperors so that he could share their wisdom and maintain the myth of immortality.
The general level of technology on Earth fell sharply after the war and rose only gradually in the decades that followed. Over time, as resources become available, scientific research was increased. Somewhat ironically, a career of scientific endeavour was greatly favoured by the Imperial Church and was one route to Sainthood. After almost three centuries, with the population of Earth approaching one billion, Emperor Magnus Aurelius II proclaimed to the world that a great scientific breakthrough had taken place. The new science, known as Trans-Newtonian Physics, would take mankind back to the stars. Existing industry was converted to Trans-Newtonian technology, shipyards were constructed and warships were built to defend the home of humanity. Lower priority ships such as survey ships, freighters and colony ships followed next. By the start of the twenty-fourth millennium, the Empire was finally ready to launch its crusade against the aliens who had tried to wipe out the human race.
Note: Normal TN start with population of 1 billion. Starting tech points assigned manually but without jump point theory. Three NPR opponents. Difficulty 150%Terra Survey ReportDuranium 184,200 Acc: 1
Neutronium 110,000 Acc: 1
Corbomite 82,500 Acc: 0.2
Tritanium 94,300 Acc: 0.8
Boronide 53,900 Acc: 0.4
Mercassium 95,000 Acc: 0.6
Vendarite 50,000 Acc: 0.4
Sorium 150,000 Acc: 0.7
Uridium 52,800 Acc: 0.5
Corundium 60,000 Acc: 0.9
Gallicite 57,100 Acc: 0.6
Imperial Fleet:3x Emperor's Wrath class Missile Cruiser:
Emperor's Wrath, Righteous Fury, Vengeance3x Defiant class Destroyer Escort:
Defiant, Tenacious, Steadfast3x Exidium class Frigate:
Audacia, Exidium, Sanguinarius3x Aquila class Patrol Vessel:
Aquila, Draco, Orcus4x Covenant class Geosurvey Vessel:
Concordance, Covenant, Solemn Oath, Testament5x Minerva class Freighter:
Aequitas, Aeternitas, Aion, Angerona, Minerva3x Vesta class Colony Ship:
Abundantia, Annona, Vesta2x Vulcan class Fuel Harvesting Base
1x Hercules class Tug:
HerculesEmperor's Wrath class Missile Cruiser 15,000 tons 351 Crew 2147.2 BP TCS 300 TH 1200 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 8-54 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/12/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 50
Maint Life 2.79 Years MSP 626 AFR 257% IFR 3.6% 1YR 117 5YR 1749 Max Repair 144 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 770
Terradyne ION-120 Military Drive (10) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 120 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 22.2 billion km (64 days at full power)
Medusa V GMLS (10) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
Romanov Systems RS-100 Missile Fire Control (2) Range 100.4m km Resolution 135
Gladius ASM (154) Speed: 21,000 km/s End: 185.4m Range: 233.6m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 70 / 42 / 21
Reichmann Industries AS-100 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 19440 Range 100.4m km Resolution 135
Pegasus Systems EM-12 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 12m km
Defiant class Destroyer Escort 9,000 tons 207 Crew 1426.4 BP TCS 180 TH 720 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 4-38 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 15
Maint Life 3.1 Years MSP 495 AFR 129% IFR 1.8% 1YR 77 5YR 1160 Max Repair 192 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 655
Terradyne ION-120 Military Drive (6) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 120 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 18.5 billion km (53 days at full power)
Medusa GMLS (15) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Romanov Systems RS-12 Missile Fire Control (3) Range 11.5m km Resolution 1
Dagger AMM (655) Speed: 29,400 km/s End: 13.9m Range: 24.5m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 127 / 76 / 38
Reichmann Industries AMD-12 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 192 Range 11.5m km Resolution 1
Exidium class Frigate 7,500 tons 208 Crew 1239 BP TCS 150 TH 600 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 6-34 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/6/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 32
Maint Life 2.61 Years MSP 310 AFR 150% IFR 2.1% 1YR 64 5YR 961 Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Cryogenic Berths 400
Terradyne ION-120 Military Drive (5) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 120 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 540,000 Litres Range 24.0 billion km (69 days at full power)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (8) Range 180,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10
PanTerra FCB-128 Beam Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4000 km/s
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (6) Total Power Output 27 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Reichmann Industries AS-60 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 10560 Range 60.4m km Resolution 110
Pegasus Systems EM-6 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Aquila class Patrol Vessel 4,500 tons 119 Crew 750 BP TCS 90 TH 360 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 5-24 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 16
Maint Life 2.78 Years MSP 208 AFR 81% IFR 1.1% 1YR 39 5YR 584 Max Repair 96 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 3
Terradyne ION-120 Military Drive (3) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 120 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 37.0 billion km (107 days at full power)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (4) Range 180,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10
PanTerra FCB-128 Beam Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4000 km/s
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (3) Total Power Output 13.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Reichmann Industries AS-60 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 10560 Range 60.4m km Resolution 110
Covenant class Geological Survey Vessel 3,000 tons 53 Crew 432.5 BP TCS 60 TH 180 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/6/0/2 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 0
Maint Life 4.46 Years MSP 180 AFR 36% IFR 0.5% 1YR 15 5YR 219 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Spare Berths 2
Terradyne ION-90FE Military Drive (2) Power 90 Fuel Use 38.18% Signature 90 Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 157.2 billion km (606 days at full power)
Pegasus Systems EM-6 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Geological Survey Sensors (2) 2 Survey Points Per Hour
Vulcan class Fuel Harvester Base 128,000 tons 510 Crew 1964 BP TCS 2560 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 1-226 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 10 Max Repair 30 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 3
Fuel Harvester: 50 modules producing 1200000 litres per annum
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range N/A
Minerva class Freighter 41,650 tons 185 Crew 761 BP TCS 833 TH 1800 EM 0
2160 km/s Armour 1-107 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 11 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Terradyne ION-300 Commercial Drive (6) Power 300 Fuel Use 15% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 14.4 billion km (77 days at full power)
Vesta class Colony Ship 29,100 tons 230 Crew 1202 BP TCS 582 TH 1800 EM 0
3092 km/s Armour 1-84 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 26 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 5
Cryogenic Berths 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Terradyne ION-300 Commercial Drive (6) Power 300 Fuel Use 15% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 20.6 billion km (77 days at full power)
Hercules class Tug 27,400 tons 270 Crew 1099 BP TCS 548 TH 3000 EM 0
5474 km/s Armour 1-80 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 25 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Tractor Beam
Terradyne ION-300 Commercial Drive (10) Power 300 Fuel Use 15% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 43.8 billion km (92 days at full power)
The Pre-Interstellar EraThe early months of the new era of Terran space exploration were primarily concerned with a complete geological survey of the solar system. The results were disappointing. A significant discovery was made on the Moon, which had a deposit of over a million tons of accessibility 0.9 Duranium, plus less accessible deposits of Corbomite, Boronide and Mercassium, while the survey ship Covenant found eight million tons of gaseous Sorium in the atmosphere of Uranus, at 0.8 accessibility. These two bodies provided a supply of two key minerals for the foreseeable future, although in general available minerals deposits within Sol were limited. Mars in particular was completely devoid of any mineral resources
By February 2300 the first human colony had been established on the Moon and a second on Mars, Several months later, the Omegus Freight Corporation, a civilian-owned company, constructed a small freighter of its own design and began transporting infrastructure to the Moon, creating accommodations for prospective settlers. The Emperor introduced a new law so that the Imperium could begin collecting shipping fees from private shipping lines to increase the resources available for the Imperial Navy. Civilian enterprises also set up mining colonies on several asteroids and comets, providing minerals to both the public and private sector. These too were taxed. During this pre-interstellar period, the Imperial Navy expanded in size. Three missile cruisers, three destroyer escorts, six frigates and seven patrol vessels were added to the fleet within the space of thirty months. Additional freighters, colony ships and fuel harvesters were also constructed.
Ad AstraIn June 2302, the first three Constellation class gravitational survey vessels, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Orion, were launched and began a survey of the Sol system. The first jump point was discovered on July 4th, just inside the orbit of Jupiter. A second was located twelve days later two hundred million kilometres outside the orbit of Saturn. To the great concern of Emperor Magnus and the head of the Imperial Navy, Vice Admiral Xerxes Sturm, this second jump point had a jump gate. The Imperium had recently developed jump gate construction technology but had not yet designed a construction ship. The jump gate could only have been built by aliens, although whether constructed during the period of the ancient texts or more recently was unknown. In either event, the jump gate constituted a clear and present danger to the Imperium so Admiral Sturm dispatched a force to guard it.
The Third Star Legion, comprising two missile cruisers, two escorts and four frigates, reinforced by a squadron of four patrol vessels (OOB shown below), took up position at the jump point; the laser-armed ships at point blank range with the missile ships at a million kilometres.
Third Star Legion OOB2x Emperor's Wrath class Missile Cruiser: Relentless, Sword of Retribution
2x Defiant class Destroyer Escort: Adamant, Guardian
4x Exidium class Frigate: Gloriosus, Impavidus, Incepteris, Vindex
4x Aquila class Patrol Vessel: Aquila, Cygnus, Dorado, Orcus
After a month without any sign of alien contact, the newly constructed Constellation class survey ship Perseus was directed to investigate the jump point. Perseus was equipped with a jump drive so she could return if there was no matching jump gate in the far side.
Constellation class Gravitational Survey Vessel 6,000 tons 153 Crew 878 BP TCS 120 TH 360 EM 0
3000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-29 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/6/3/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.13 Years MSP 549 AFR 48% IFR 0.7% 1YR 25 5YR 376 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Spare Berths 1
Gryphonne Dynamics MJ-60 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 6000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Terradyne ION-90FE Military Drive (4) Power 90 Fuel Use 38.18% Signature 90 Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 790,000 Litres Range 62.1 billion km (239 days at full power)
Reichmann Industries AS-30 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 5280 Range 30.2m km Resolution 110
Pegasus Systems EM-6 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
Perseus emerged four hundred million kilometres from a red dwarf star that was quickly identified as Proxima Centauri. The jump point on the Proxima side also had a jump gate. Six planets orbited the star, including three terrestrial worlds, two gas giants and a dwarf planet, along with forty-odd moons and over a hundred asteroids in two sparse belts. The second planet had acceptable gravity, an average surface temperature of -43C and a thin (0.14 atm) atmosphere of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and argon. While hardly a garden world, it had potential once terraformed. Before that could even be considered, the Imperium had to know if this planet was the home of the gate builders. The geological survey ship Concordance was summoned from Terran orbit to conduct a survey. After several days of tension at the highest levels of the Empire, Concordance reported nothing but a few low accessibility mineral deposits. She was ordered to complete a geological survey of the system while Perseus began a gravitational survey.
Meanwhile in Sol, Andromeda, Cassiopeia and Orion continued their own survey. Five jump points had already been located when, in late September, Andromeda discovered another jump point with a gate out at five billion kilometres, beyond the orbit of Neptune. The First Star Legion, with the order of battle shown below, was dispatched from Terran orbit to mount a close watch. As most of the ships had a maximum range of around twenty billion kilometres, the Legion was accompanied by an Ambrosia class tanker. Andromeda was ordered to cease her survey operation and mount a probe of the new jump point once the covering force was in place.
First Star Legion OOB2x Emperor's Wrath class Missile Cruiser: Emperor's Wrath, Righteous Fury
2x Defiant class Destroyer Escort: Defiant, Tenacious
2x Exidium class Frigate: Exidium, Sanguinarius
4x Aquila class Patrol Vessel: Leonis, Squalus, Ursus, Volantis
Unusually, the senior officer of the First Star Legion commanded the Legion from a frigate. Sanguinarius was the first command of Rear Admiral Lucifer Thaddeus before he moved on to a destroyer escort and eventually a missile cruiser. After he took command of the Legion he decided to spend some time back on his old ship. When the alert was raised, the strong recommendation of his staff was to move his flag to either the Emperor's Wrath or Righteous Fury. Thaddeus decided to remain on the Sanguinarius for the duration of the operation, considering it unlucky to change ships now he had made the decision to command from the frigate.
Andromeda transited on October 15th and instantly jumped 4.37 light years to the Alpha Centauri system, a binary with a yellow G2-V primary and an orange K1-V companion orbiting at three and a half billion kilometres. A gate was present on the entry jump point, which was located just inside the orbit of the companion but on the far side of the system from the K1-V star. Alpha Centauri had nine rocky planets, none of which appeared to be suitable for life, and no gas giants. Four orbited the primary and the other five orbited the B component, along with a small asteroid belt. Once more a geo survey vessel was summoned from Terra to investigate. Andromeda remained on the Alpha Centauri side of the jump point.
On October 23rd, after eight days of inactivity, Andromeda detected six 950 ton vessels at almost point blank range. Her captain, Commander Erebus Cruze, ordered an immediate withdrawal and the sending of an alert message though the jump point before cursing the sensor officer who plainly had not been paying attention. The sensor officer did not even have time to make excuses before the ship was blown apart by a salvo of anti-ship missiles. Commander Cruze died instantly when the bridge suffered a direct hit and only 35 of his 153 crew made it to the life pods.
Moments later, the two Exidium class Frigates and four Aquila class Patrol Vessels of the First Star Legion transited into the system, summoned by the late Commander's plea for help. Unfortunately, they had to use the jump gate and their weapon and sensors were seriously degraded by the effects of transit. The six enemy ships, detected on thermal sensors only as active sensors were off-line, were just 10,000 kilometres away but just sat there without taking any offensive action. Two minutes after the transit, the frigate Sanguinarius brought her weapons online and fired the first shot in anger in the history of the Imperial Navy. Rear Admiral Thaddeus had trained his crew well and their professionalism had ensured the frigate's systems were in excellent condition. However, only one beam from her eight 15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Lasers struck the target, inflicting no obvious damage.
Ten seconds later, the Patrol Vessel Leonis opened fire but missed with all four of her lasers. The follow-up shot from Sanguinarius was far more effective. All eight lasers impaled one of the small alien ships, blowing it to pieces. Two more volleys from the frigate accounted for a second enemy vessel. Still there was no response from the aliens. Admiral Thaddeus suggested to his chief of staff that perhaps the small vessels were capable of firing a second missile volley but that their launchers were slow to reload, although that still didn't account for them remaining at point blank range. By now, the rest of the ships had recovered from transit but they were still not responding quickly to orders. Admiral Thaddeus broadcast to all six ships, threatening to have the crews cleaning waste disposal facilities on the Luna colony for the next six months if they didn't open fire immediately. Miraculously, the whole squadron fired at once, obliterating the last four alien ships.
Exidium picked up the survivors from Andromeda. While Exidium's normal life support would be strained in coping with an extra thirty-five personnel, the frigate was designed with rescue operations in mind and was equipped with four hundred emergency cryogenic berths. A minute after the survivors were recovered, the two missile cruisers and the two destroyer escorts transited into Alpha Centauri, after approaching from their original location a million kilometres out fro the Sol side of the jump point. Rear Admiral Thaddeus requested permission from Vice Admiral Sturm to investigate the inner system and locate the base of the alien ships. While none of the planets in the system appeared to be capable of supporting life, the ships had to come from somewhere. After consulting the Emperor, Sturm gave his permission and the ten ships of the First Star Legion headed sunward.
Seventy-five million kilometres from the jump point, every tactical alarm in the fleet starting screaming as seventy inbound missiles appeared at just over a million kilometres, the maximum detection range of the two Defiant class ships. Moments later, the missiles simply vanished from sensors. Rear Admiral Thaddeus ordered a course reversal to give more time to engage any follow-up salvos but none appeared. Theorising the alien missiles were at their maximum range and were probably a single salvo fired by more small ships, he ordered the First Star Legion back on to its original course.
Meanwhile back on Terra, Vice Admiral Sturm was following events based on messages relayed through the jump gate. Concerned by the strength of the alien missile salvos, he ordered the Second Star Legion to abandon its fleet training exercise and move to Alpha Centauri to provide backup to the First Star Legion, even though it would take two weeks to arrive. As that would leave Terra without any ships in orbit except the patrol vessel Draco, which was undergoing an overhaul, Sturm ordered the Third Star Legion to leave its position at the Proxima jump point and return home. A geological survey of Proxima was well underway and there had been no sign of any alien presence. He considered ordering the Third to move directly to Alpha Centauri but the relative position of the jump points meant that it was over a billion kilometres further away than the Second.
Five days after the battle at the jump point, the First Star Legion detected another missile attack. This time a salvo of twenty-one size-4 missiles moving at 35,700 km/s, faster than the Imperium's Dagger anti-missile missile. Ten seconds later a second wave appeared. The outgoing Daggers proved ineffective, with only ten percent intercepting their targets. Just eight of the first wave of enemy missiles were destroyed by the two Defiant class ships. The two frigates and four Aquila class patrol vessels fired their 15cm lasers in point blank defensive mode. Between them they destroyed a further six inbounds. The remaining seven impacted Emperor's Wrath, their strength-8 warheads gouging deep gashes in her armour. A third incoming salvo appeared at the edge of sensor range.
Rear Admiral Thaddeus has already ordered a course reversal to give the Defiants more time to engage but his ships were taking too long to respond. He instructed the escorts to increase the number of missiles with which they are targeting the hostile anti-ship missiles. It would burn through their ordnance more quickly but he saw little other option. Only a single missile from the third wave was intercepted by Daggers and several of the AMMs were simply outrun by the alien missiles. Three more inbounds were hit by lasers and four missed. The other thirteen struck Emperor's Wrath. Her thick armour belt protected her, although it was holed in two places. The third and fourth waves of alien missiles closed in remorselessly.
Emperor's Wrath was hit ten times by the third wave. Her once formidable armour belt was shredded and two hits penetrated. The first damaged an engine, which somehow remained operational, and the second destroyed a magazine. Fortunately the automatic ejection system functioned as it should and the ordnance within the magazine didn't explode. Thaddeus ordered the ship to begin using its Gladius anti-ship missiles as anti-missiles while it still could.
Finally, the First Star Legion settled on its new course back toward the jump point. Although the closing speed of the missiles was only reduced by the 4000 km/s speed of his fleet. Rear Admiral Thaddeus was happy to take whatever small advantages he could. His momentary satisfaction was ended by the appearance of a fifth hostile salvo. Six missiles from the fourth wave were destroyed by Daggers and four by lasers. A salvo of ten Gladius anti-ship missiles by Emperor's Wrath was a defiant gesture but completely ineffective. Eight detonations engulfed the missile cruiser but she continued to live a charmed life. Although her primary sensor and a missile launcher were both destroyed, two engines and a magazine survived being damaged.
Thirteen missiles from the fifth wave survived Imperial defensive fire and the crew of the Emperor's Wrath prepared for the worst. Eleven missiles slammed into the armour belt of her sister ship, the Righteous Fury. Rear Admiral Thaddeus breathed a sigh of relief. There were seventeen dead aboard the Emperor's Wrath but she had apparently survived the salvos directed her way. Now the Righteous Fury had to bear the full weight of the alien onslaught. She was hit fourteen times by the sixth wave and ten times by the seventh. She was less fortunate than her sister and an engine was critically damaged, slowing her to 3600 km/s. Thaddeus ordered the rest of the Legion to slow and keep pace. Still more waves of alien missiles appeared at the edge of sensor range.
Fifteen missiles from the eighth wave struck Righteous Fury. Knowing that her sister ship had survived four similar salvos, Rear Admiral Thaddeus was confident the cruiser would prevail, even if damaged. His confidence was shattered as a colossal secondary explosion from a magazine ripped through the ship, trigging a further explosion from a destroyed engine. Suddenly the entire cruiser disintegrated in a huge fireball. Stunned by the disaster, Thaddeus ordered his remaining ships to resume full speed, knowing he had to abandon the life pods from the Righteous Fury, at least until the hail of alien missiles ceased. Two more waves of incoming missiles were on sensors.
The destroyer escort Defiant, which had far less armour protection than the larger cruisers, suffered ten hits from the ninth wave, destroying her active sensor and one of her magazines. The only active sensor in the Legion now capable of detecting the inbound missiles was on her sister ship Tenacious. The tenth wave smashed into Defiant and she instantly blew up due to two magazines exploding simultaneously. The Legion's anti-missile firepower had been cut in half.
The eleventh wave initially headed toward the wreckage of the Defiant. For a moment, Rear Admiral Thaddeus believed his ships might avoid those missiles as they were plainly originally targeted on the unfortunate destroyer. However, the alien missiles were equipped with their own onboard active sensors and selected new targets. Five missiles struck the patrol vessel Squalus, one of which penetrated her armour and destroyed a single system - her fire control. The destroyer escort Tenacious was hit six times, three of which hit the same place in her armour and inflicted internal damage, including her Reichmann Industries AMD-12 Active Search Sensor. The incoming missiles were now invisible to the surviving ships of the First Star Legion. One more salvo was on sensors before the displays went dark.
Fifteen seconds later, EM sensors in the fleet detected approaching active sensors. There was nothing anyone could do but pray. Tenacious suddenly vanished amidst a maelstrom of explosions, leaving only irradiated wreckage. The First Star Legion now comprised the damaged cruiser Emperor's Wrath, the frigates Exidium and Sanguinarius and four patrol vessels, one of which was unable to target its weapons. Squalus was next to go. One moment the 4500 ton vessel was in formation, the next it was nothing but tumbling debris. The Imperial crews remained steadfast at their posts, each crew member from the captain to the cook wondering if their ship would be next. Thirty seconds passed, then a minute, then two minutes without any sign of the active sensor emissions from the alien missiles. Relief began to spread that at least life would not end within the next few seconds.
Rear Admiral Thaddeus ordered Emperor's Wrath and the three surviving patrol vessels, Leonis, Ursus and Volantis, to head back to the jump point at their best speed. His own Sanguinarius and her sister ship Exidium reversed course to pick up the survivors from the four destroyed ships before following the rest of the First Star Legion. He also ordered all ships to disengage their active sensors. Whatever alien force had attacked them had remained outside sensor range throughout the attack, so he saw no point in giving away their own position by broadcasting active emissions.
At 04:19 on November 3rd, after five days of gnawing tension, the survivors of the First Star Legion transited into Sol. Rear Admiral Thaddeus ordered Emperor Wrath's to return to Terra for repairs as her armour belt was virtually non-existent. Exidium, Sanguinarius, Leonis, Ursus and Volantis took up position on the jump gate and prepared to defend Sol against an alien incursion from Alpha Centauri. The seven ships of the Second Star Legion had already passed the orbit of Uranus and would arrive in support within five days.
The Battle of Alpha Centauri, as it quickly become known, had a profound impact on the psychology and doctrine of the Imperial Navy. The Defiants and their anti-missiles had proven ineffective and the lasers of the frigates and patrol vessels were primarily anti-ship weapon with fire controls designed for that purpose. They too were ineffective in the anti-missile role. The anti-ship missiles on the cruisers and the AMMs of the destroyer escorts had in fact inflicted considerable damage on the Imperial ships, rather than the enemy, due to magazine explosions. What had proven effective was the thick armour belt on the Emperor's Wrath, protecting the ship against a fearsome onslaught. Even the Righteous Fury had survived relatively intact until its fatal magazine explosion. Finally, the long-range firepower of the unseen alien ships had been devastating, allowing them to attack the Imperial Navy with impunity.
Even while the Second Star Legion was still en route to the Alpha Centauri jump point. an official enquiry was launched on Terra. Concerned that the military would not be completely objective due to their recent losses, the Emperor assigned a senior official of the Imperial Church, Patriarch Azrael Antimachus, as the head of the inquiry. Vice Admiral Sturm politely protested on the basis the Patriarch had no military experience but was overruled. The Patriarch appointed two other clerics, the administrator of the Luna colony and sole military officer as members of the board of inquiry. After three days of deliberations, the board made the following recommendations:
1. Anti-missiles should not be relied on for anti-missile protection. They were inaccurate against the high speed alien missiles, required magazine storage that was prone to catastrophic explosions and required considerable logistical support in terms of production and distribution.
2. A new energy weapon was required that could perform in both the anti-ship and anti-missile role without the need for specialised fire controls. The board of inquiry recommended railguns.
3. Strong passive defences were key to the survival of warships and should be emphasised in future designs.
4. A new ultra-long-range strike weapon was needed. The board recommended developing small, expendable ships that could deploy at great distances from a mothership.
The Emperor accepted the recommendations in their entirety and instructed the scientists and shipwrights of the Imperial Navy to begin planning for their implementation.
Twenty-six days after the First Star Legion returned to Sol, the gravitational survey of humanity's home system was completed. Eight jump points were found in total. The closest to the Sun, as yet unexplored, was at 725 million kilometres, while the outermost, leading to Alpha Centauri, was at five point one billion. Only the two jump points with gates had thus far been probed. The survey ship Cassiopeia was ordered to join Perseus, which was already engaged in a gravitational survey of Proxima, while Orion headed to Terra for a refit. With over half the warships of the Imperial Navy deployed at the outermost jump point, the Emperor forbade any further jump point explorations for the moment.
In early December 2302, the Emperor authorised the construction of a replacement for Righteous Fury. Work had only just begun on the technologies necessary to implement the Antimachus Naval Reforms so a new Emperor's Wrath class missile cruiser named Divine Right was laid down. No replacement was planned for the two Defiants and the shipyard that had built the Aquila class patrol vessels had been retooled to construct the Constellation class survey ships. A fifth Constellation class, Sagittarius, was also laid down to replace Andromeda. Three Exidium class frigates were already under construction as a result of an earlier building programme. After the significant expenses of the initial Trans-Newtonian expansion, the Imperium was entering a period of shortages and recession so the Emperor was keen not to indulge in any unnecessary expenses. His priority was new technology and expanding available shipyard capacity in order to construct larger, more well-armoured ships in future Some senior military officers believed that the Alpha Centauri aliens represented a potential species-ending threat and deficit spending was a small price to pay for a larger fleet, even with current technology. However, publicly disagreeing with the Emperor was not seen as a career-enhancing move.
On January 3rd 2303, the newly-repaired Emperor's Wrath rejoined the rest of the depleted First Star Legion at the Sol - Alpha Centauri jump point. Together with the Second Star Legion, the defensive force comprised three missile cruisers, two destroyer escorts, five Exidium class frigates and three patrol vessels. Over two months had passed since the Battle of Alpha Centauri and there was still no sign of any alien incursion.
Two weeks later, a colony was established on Proxima II. 400,000 colonists and sufficient infrastructure was delivered by Imperial freighters and colony ships. The planet was very cold and uninviting with a thin nitrogen - carbon dioxide atmosphere and few mineral deposits but the system appeared deserted and Emperor was keen to stake the Imperium's claim. There were no plans to significantly expand the colony in the near term and the Imperium's few terraforming resources were concentrated on Terra's moon. The gravitational survey of the system was completed shortly thereafter, revealing two new jump points. As the Emperor's moratorium on exploration was still in place, Cassiopeia and Perseus headed home for an overhaul and to give their crews some well-deserved shore leave.
In early July 2303, nine months after the battle, the First and Second Star Legions were withdrawn from the Sol - Alpha Centauri jump point and replaced by the Third Star Legion. It seemed the aliens beyond the jump point had no interest in entering Sol. Even so, no one was willing to suggest having anything less than a very strong defensive force in position, just in case.
On August 21st 2303, the first ship designed under the constraints imposed by the Antimachus Naval Reforms was laid down at the new Asteria Shipyard. Death Guard was a Guard class escort, equipped with six Antimachus Kinetics AKR-3 10cm Railguns. There was some disquiet within the higher echelons of Imperial society when it was revealed the head of the inquiry that recommended railguns as the primary fleet weapon was the major shareholder in a corporation that manufactured kinetic weapons. However, for some reason that information failed to find its way into the mainstream news media. Each AKR-3 could fire a round every 1.25 seconds so the small ship could put out an impressive volume of fire. Due to their physical characteristics, railguns could not be mounted in turrets so they relied on weight of fire for point defence rather than accuracy. Against the missiles launched by the aliens in Alpha Centauri, each Guard class escort ship was expected to destroy two or three inbounds as they reached point blank range. Given that they were half the cost and size of the Defiant class destroyer escorts, before accounting for the cost of the missiles on the larger ship, they were expected to provide a much more cost effective defence. In accordance with the Reforms, the Guard class Escort was protected by an armour belt that was impressive considering the size of the ship. Finally, the design included three separate fire control systems and an extra reactor for redundancy, to ensure a single hit did not cripple the effectiveness of the ship.
Guard class Escort 4,500 tons 125 Crew 750 BP TCS 90 TH 360 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 6-24 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 18
Maint Life 3.52 Years MSP 208 AFR 81% IFR 1.1% 1YR 26 5YR 386 Max Repair 60 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Terradyne ION-120 Military Drive (3) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 120 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 18.5 billion km (53 days at full power)
Antimachus Kinetics AKR-3 10cm Railgun (6x4) Range 30,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 3 ROF 5
Railgun PD Fire Control (3) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 4000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (5) Total Power Output 22.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1600 Range 9.6m km Resolution 100
Reichmann Industries AMD-1 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
Three weeks after Death Guard was laid down, the last three Exidium class frigates to be constructed joined the Imperial Navy. Ultoris and Vindicta were assigned to the First Star Legion while Domitor joined the Second Star Legion. All three Legions now included four Exidiums in their order of battle.
One year after the Battle of Alpha Centauri, Vice Admiral Xerxes Sturm requested an audience with the Emperor. He pointed out that there had been no incursion from Alpha Centauri and the threat from that system could be considered less than before. Consequently, he requested that the Imperial Navy be allowed to investigate the six unexplored jump points in Sol. The Emperor warned the admiral that all aliens were a threat to the survival of humanity wherever they may be but accepted that those in Alpha Centauri could perhaps be dealt with at a time of the Imperium's choosing. Therefore he granted the admiral's request on the condition that the system beyond each jump point should be searched thoroughly before moving on to the next one.
to be continued...[/list]
