Author's Note: From this point on, Martian naming conventions are used for systems in the Martian sphere of influence. 70 Ophiuchus - Fujian
Altair - Guangxi Zhuang
Barnard's Star - Tianjin
Delta Pavonis - Anhui
Epsilon Indi - Shanxi
EZ Aquarii - Sichuan
Gliese 651 - Fuchou
Gliese 674 - Jiangxi
Gliese 832 - Jilin
GJ 1224 - Heilongjiang
Groombridge 34 - Liaoning
Herschel 5173 - Zhejiang
Luyten 205-128 - Jiangsu
Luyten 347-14 - ShandongThe map below shows the Martian sphere of influence in June 1905
30th April 1905Fifty-one hours after the destruction of Weifang, Yantai is attacked by the same fleet of twenty alien ships. She sends an emergency request for assistance to the war cruisers in Shandong but the broadcast cuts off within twenty seconds. Given the distance between the two attacks and the elapsed time, the alien attackers must have been capable of a speed of at least 9000 km/s. Despite the loss of both gravitational survey ships, Zhong Xiao Shen keeps his two war cruisers on course for the Fuchou jump point, seeing that chokepoint as his best chance of defending the remaining ships of his expedition as they attempt to run for home.
4th May 1905Unaware of the events in the Shanxi chain, Martian survey operation continue in the Sichuan chain. Zhanjiang, a gravitational survey ship, transits an ancient jump gate in the Jiangsu system and enters Jiangxi. The primary is a red dwarf, less than one third the mass of Sol, with eight planets. The innermost planet is an ideal habitable world, the only one discovered so far apart from Mars. Even Earth and Venus are not habitable for Martians due to the high oxygen content in their atmospheres. There is a war cruiser squadron in Jiangsu but it is very short on fuel and would be unable to return to the tanker waiting four jumps away in Sol it was to investigate the new system. Therefore, Zhanjiang is ordered to approach the first planet and ensure it is not already inhabited.
11th May 1905Zhanjiang arrives in orbit of Jiangxi-I without incident. With no sign of an alien presence, she and her sister ship Yichang are ordered to survey the system
13th May 1905Changsha and Dongguan rendezvous with Taizhou at the Shandong - Shanxi jump point. The three ships enter Shanxi and head for the Tianjin jump point, taking news of the alien attack home to Mars. Xiangtan and Xiamen remain at the Fuchou jump point, preventing the aliens from following the unarmed survey ships and the war cruiser leader but now unable to retreat due to their lack of jump drives. Zhong Xiao Shen and his crews will hold until relieved.
27th May 1905Taizhou and the geological survey ships arrive in Sol and refuel at the tanker waiting on the Tianjin jump point. As soon as the Emperor hears of the destruction of the two Martian survey ships, he orders the commander of the Imperial Fleet, Shao Jiang Cheng You Qiao, to avenge them immediately. The eight Jianghu class battlecruisers, all of which have now been refitted to the B model, cannot even enter Tianjin due to the lack of a jump gate or a large enough jump ship, which leaves the eighteen Imperial war cruisers. Xiangtan and Xiamen are already deployed in Shandong and Shaoguan and Shenyang are in Jiangsu, guarding the survey ships in that expedition. Fuzhou is guarding the mining colony on the comet Huixing, Qingdao is guarding the fuel harvesters in Jupiter orbit and a further three war cruisers are currently undergoing overhaul, which leaves nine available. Shao Jiang Cheng orders all nine to leave Mars orbit immediately. Taizhou is the only jump-capable ship available to escort them through the three jump points that lie between Sol and Shandong. One of her two sister ships is with the expedition in Jiangsu and the other is undergoing overhaul.
28th May 1905After an update on the state of the Empire by Prime Minister Arthur Balfour, Queen Victoria complains that there are too many systems with similar names, making it difficult to keep track of events. Although the Prime Minister explains that the systems are usually named after the astronomers who originally charted their primary star, the Queen declares that tradition will have to change immediately and informs Prime Minister Balfour that systems without easily recognizable names should be renamed after something more familiar, such as the great cities of the Earth. Wagging her finger at Balfour, she warns him she doesn't want to hear any more about Gliese this or Gliese that, or stars with numbers for names. While the Queen does not have the constitutional power to order her government to carry out her wishes, her status is so great they are usually carried out anyway. By the end of the following day, the British Empire officially changes the names of many known star systems in line with the wish of Queen Victoria.
30th May 1905HMS Adventure and HMS Fearless complete the gravitational survey of Cape Town without finding any new jump points. This is the fourth dead-end system in the Victoria chain and British options for exploration are being rapidly reduced. Victoria itself has four jump points, leading to Sol, Melbourne, Edinburgh and Bombay. Edinburgh is a dead-end while Melbourne connects to two other systems, Kapteyn's Star and Khartoum, which are also both dead-ends. The only route out of Victoria is now through Bombay, which has three additional jump points leading to St Petersburg, which is unsurveyed, Proxima Centauri and Paris. The last system connects only to Cape Town, which has now been confirmed as a dead-end as well. Which leaves St Petersburg and Proxima as the only potential routes out of the Victoria chain. As Proxima also connects to Sol that is hardly ideal so British survey efforts will concentrate on St Petersburg.
12th June 1905The Taizhou class war cruiser leaders Hangzhou, Xinhui and Yancheng join the Imperial Fleet. Hangzhou is dispatched to Shandong to support the fleet of Imperial war cruisers that left Mars sixteen days ago. Taizhou is currently the only jump capable ship with the fleet, so if she were damaged that would strand a good portion of the Imperial Fleet.
18th June 1905Taizhou and nine Imperial war cruisers rendezvous with Xiamen and Xiangtan at the Shandong - Fuchou jump point then, under the overall command of Zhong Xiao Yu You Yuan, all twelve ships enter Fuchou in search of vengeance. After checking the area around the jump point is clear of alien ships, they head for the wreck of Yantai. Forty-one hours after entering the system, twenty 800 ton contacts are detected closing from the rear at 10,000 km/s. Martian tactical computers assign them the designation of Jolochoi class. The Jolochois are three point five million kilometres away so the Martian ships lock their weapons and wait for the alien vessels to move within range of their 20cm Ultraviolet Lasers. The Kaifeng class Imperial war cruiser is equipped with six lasers and a single fire control system, so each cruiser targets a different alien ship.
Zhong Xiao Yu is well aware that this will be the first combat engagement for the Imperial Fleet since the time of the An Shi rebellion, more than a thousand years ago. He is concerned about the overall level of training for his crews as the Imperial Fleet relies more on Martian racial and technological superiority than regular battle drills. Yu has argued in the past that the Imperial Fleet should engage in same type of fleet training exercises as the human ships but the reaction of the vast majority of the Martian officer corps was predictable. Let the barbarians play their wargames in their toy ships. They were no match for the might of the Imperial Fleet. With that in mind, Yu is content to keep his ships on the same course and let the aliens do the manoeuvring.
The Martian ships open fire at 245,000 kilometres, although at that range there is only a minimal chance of a hit. Three
Jolochois suffer a single strength-1 hit each. Fifteen seconds later, with the range at 170,000km, a second volley is fired. A total of nine strength-2 hits are scored across five different alien ships. Jolochoi Twelve, struck three times and left drifting in space, begins streaming fluid from its hull. Normally a damaged ship would stream atmosphere so the source of the fluid is a mystery. The Imperial war cruiser Zhengzhou changes targets to Jolochoi Thirteen. The third Martian volley, at 95,000 kilometres, is much more effective. Seventeen lasers score strength-4 hits on seven different ships, five of which begin streaming fluid as well. Three of those five are crippled and cannot maintain their pursuit. It appears the alien ships may be using some form of fluid in the same way as the Martian ships use air, perhaps indicating a race that evolved underwater.
The alien ships open fire at 60,000 kilometres with a weapon that ignores the armour belt of the Imperial war cruisers and inflicts internal damage. Shijiazhuang suffers seven strength-1 hits, losing a laser and her ECM system and taking severe damage to her fuel storage, which sends all of her fuel spilling into space and shuts down her engines. The single fuel storage module appears to be a significant weakness. Five seconds later the Imperial war cruisers respond, destroying two of the alien fast attack craft, one of which is destroyed by Shijiazhuang, and damaging several more. The Jolochois hold position 60,000 kilometres from the wounded war cruiser and fire again, destroying two of her lasers and a reactor, while the other war cruisers open the range. Zhong Xiao Yu orders his ships to reverse course in an attempt to save Shijiazhuang. Confusion reigns as the fleet tries to maintain close formation while changing direction and for the moment the range to the main body of the alien force remains constant at 109,000km.
Both sides fire their next volley simultaneously. Six Jolochois are blown to pieces by the massed laser fire of the Imperial war cruisers. Shijiazhuang suffers damage to an engine, triggering a cataclysmic strength-80 secondary explosion that completely obliterates the ship. Zhong Xiao Yu orders another course change away from the alien force, even though the first was not completed. Nine Jolochois remain mobile. Three are crippled and unmoving. Ten seconds after the destruction of Shijiazhuang, Jiangnan is hit once by what the Martian tactical computers have now decided is some form of meson-based weapon. The war cruisers complete their fifteen second recharge cycle and fire again. Five Jolochois die, included three that blew apart due to large secondary explosions. Return fire is ineffective as almost all of the surviving alien FAC have internal damage. All five Jolochois within 100,000 of the war cruisers are annihilated by the next Martian volley, leaving a pair of cripples that are picked off at long range.
Twenty alien craft have been destroyed for the loss of Shijiazhuang. No wreckage remains from the alien ships, which is unexpected. However, traces of organic debris are detected in the battle area, leading to the startling conclusion that the ships might have been living creatures rather than spacecraft. The eleven remaining Martian ships head for the only real estate in the system; three terrestrial planets orbiting Fuchou-B. Twelve hours after the battle, Taizhou's EM sensor detects active sensor emissions over a billion kilometres away on the far side of the primary. The Martian ships change course and head for the new threat. The alien ship maintains a reciprocal course at 1100 km/s.
At 575 million kilometres, Taizhou detects emissions that indicate the alien has strength-600 shields. Even Martian self-confidence is slightly deflated by this development as the shields of the Jianghu class battlecruisers are only strength-150. Nevertheless, Zhong Xiao Yu keeps his fleet on course. He has ten Imperial war cruisers under his command, with a total of sixty 20cm lasers. At the very least he intends to move within active sensor range and determine what he is facing. Once within three hundred million kilometres the size of the alien vessel is confirmed as 60,000 tons, almost twice the size of a Jianghu and nearly the same mass as his entire fleet. The tactical computers designate it as Bolchoi class. Well aware that no reinforcements will be forthcoming any time soon and loathe to leave the system, Yu decides to press on. The Bolchoi is apparently slow-moving so he believes that if it has similar weapons to the small attack craft his own ships will be able to attack it from outside it's weapon range. If it is missile-armed however, then his ships could be in severe difficulty. He makes a note to recommend some form of anti-missile escort should be designed to accompany the war cruisers.
As the Martian fleet moves within one hundred and fifty million kilometres of the Bolchoi, nine new ships are detected. Designated as Mozlir class, they are 5700 tons and following fifty million kilometres astern of the Bolchoi at 1542 km/s. The Martian force is now significantly out-massed but maintains its course. Zhong Xiao Yu sees an opportunity to defeat the enemy in detail before the faster second force catches up with the leading 60,000 ton vessel. To avoid any more confusion over course changes, Yu gives his a crews a simple order. Follow the alien vessel at a range of 200,000 kilometres. This is within the weapon range of his own ships but well outside the weapon range of the Jolochoi class fast attack craft. Until he sees what he type of weapons are carried by the huge alien ship, he intends to proceed carefully.
There is no missile attack as the Imperial war cruisers close the range and they move to within 200,000 kilometres. Unfortunately, due to the high ECM of the Bolchoi the Martian beam fire control cannot achieve a good enough solution for accurate weapon fire. Well aware of the confusion that is about to ensue but unable to see any other course of action, Zhong Xiao Yu orders his ships to move to a range of 120,000 kilometres. The confusion will be heightened by the serious overcrowding on Jiujiang, which picked up the survivors from Shijiazhuang and is already suffering problems with its life support, so he orders that ship to move independently. Taizhou, Xiamen and Xiangtan are also reacting a little slower than normal as they have been out in space nearly fourteen months and the Taizhou and Kaifeng classes are intended for deployments of less than a year.
The Martian ships are all slow to respond to the change in orders. The crews are not used to being in a combat situation, especially so close to a behemoth of unknown strength, and are not trained for manoeuvres as a fleet. Ships come to a halt as they try to coordinate and the alien battleship closes in. As the range drops to 177,000 kilometres, Zhengzhou gets a lock and opens fire. One of her six lasers scores a strength-2 hit. Moments later, twenty Jolochoi appear on sensors en route from the alien ship. The Bolchoi was apparently carrying them in a hangar bay. Zhong Xiao Yu orders his ships to concentrate fire on the Jolochois. Trying to change fleet movement orders will just confuse things even more so he leaves in place the order to move to within 120,000 kilometres of the Bolchoi. The Imperial war cruisers will fight the Jolochois at a range of the enemy's choosing.
Chaos reigns as the two sides open fire. Kaifeng blasts a Jolochoi out of the sky, followed a few second later by Wuhan. Fire from the Jolochois concentrates on Jiangnan. She loses her active sensor and a reactor but two lasers and both engines survive hits. Jiangnan retaliates by destroying one of her attackers, then Xiamen and Lanzhou score simultaneous kills. Jiangnan continues to take fire. Despite surviving three more engine hits without loss of power, one of her lasers is damaged, her fire control is knocked out and critically her fuel storage is destroyed, rendering her unable to move. Jinan and Zhengzhou each destroy a Jolochoi. The fast attack craft are holding at 60,000km, a range at which the 20cm lasers of the Imperial war cruisers inflict strength-6 hits. Jishou scores her first kill then Wuhan her second. The Jolochoi are being massacred but the survivors continue to attack. Jiangnan is hit four times but only one causes damage, wrecking part of the crew accommodation. Two more FACs die.
The eight remaining Jolochoi suddenly switch targets to Taizhou, the only jump-capable ship in the Imperial force. Her jump drive is hit but remains operational. Both engines are struck by meson detonations and one is destroyed, creating a small secondary explosion. Taizhou is at half speed so Zhong Xiao Yu orders her to run for the jump point. It will take time to respond though and the Bolchoi has already closed to within 114,000 km of Taizhou, Jiujiang, Jiangnan, Xiamen and Xiangtan. The other six war cruisers have responded to orders and are maintaining a 120,000 km separation.
Four FACs are destroyed in quick succession and Jiujiang, Xiamen and Xiangtan get underway and join their sister ships. only two of the last four Jolochoi have active engines and they don't appears to be firing. Instead, they run for it, passing the approaching Bolchoi. They don't get far. The Bolchoi continues to bear down on Taizhou, which has still not got underway, and Jiangnan, which is unable to run due to the loss of its fuel. All the Kaifeng class war cruisers, with the exception of Jiangnan, which has lost her fire control as well as her fuel, open fire on the Bolchoi.
The Bolchoi opens fire on Taizhou at a range of 59,000km, inflicting six meson hits. Taizhou loses her jump drive but more importantly her fuel storage, leaving her dead in space. The fuel storage on the Imperial ships is proving to be a serious design flaw. A second volley from the Bolchoi arrives five seconds later and Taizhou explodes. Jiangnan only survives for another fifteen seconds. The meson weapons on the Bolchoi appear to be faster firing but shorter ranged than on the Jolochoi. Zhong Xiao Yu theorises that they may be some form of point defence weapon.
The nine surviving war cruisers continue firing from 120,000 kilometres. The Bolchoi shields are regenerating almost as fast as they are being damaged but they are very gradually reducing. Yu considers trying to get his ships closer so they may increase their accuracy and inflict more damage per shot but he is seriously concerned that a failure to react quickly to orders could result in his ships ending up within weapon range of the Bolchoi. After over an hour of constant fire, the powerful shields go down and the great ship begin streaming fluid as more and more hits penetrate the interior. Finally, Xiangtan strikes the fatal blow and it vanishes from sensors.
After picking up the survivors from Taizhou and Jiangnan, the Imperial war cruisers had for the nine Mozlir class ships, now thirty-six million kilometres away. Without a jump ship they cannot get home, although they could retreat through the jump gate to Shandong, so Zhong Xiao Yu is determined to complete the destruction of the alien forces in Fuchou. Even if a jump ship was available, they could not get home without help as fuel levels are at 36%. The war cruisers were designed to operate within Sol and their lack of range is a significant problem for interstellar exploration.
Since the destruction of the Bolchoi the Mozlirs have held their position, not attempting to either attack or withdraw. They finally start moving when the Imperial ships move within three million kilometres, perhaps indicating weak sensors. At 90,000 kilometres the war cruisers carry out a pre-planned course reversal and open fire. The Mozlirs appear to have minimal armour, slowing down and vanishing from sensors after only a few hits. The battle is over in less than a minute. Zhong Xiao Yu orders his ships to head for the three planets orbiting Fuchou-B to look for any more signs of an alien presence. They find nothing. Leaving the wrecks of two Imperial war cruisers and an Imperial war cruiser leader in their wake, the nine ships head for the Shandong jump point.
29th June 1905The war cruiser leader Hangzhou arrives in the Shandong system and contacts the war cruisers at the Fuchou - Shandong jump point. They are down to 24% of their fuel and there has been no further signs of alien activity so they pull back into Shandong and set course for Hangzhou, waiting on the Shanxi jump point. By the time they arrive, fuel is down to 13%. They transit into Shanxi and run out of fuel halfway to the Tianjin jump point. Hangzhou presses on alone to summon assistance. Life support failures continue on the three war cruisers carrying survivors of the lost ships.
15th July 1905Hangzhou arrives in Sol, bringing news of the battles in Fuchou and requesting fuel for the nine Imperial war cruisers. There are still no jump-capable Martian tankers, although a small 11,000 ton design is under construction. Instead, four survey ships, each with one million litres of fuel storage, are sent out from Mars to join Hangzhou. After learning of the events in Fuchou, the Emperor instructs the commander of the Imperial Fleet, Shao Jiang Cheng You Qiao, to conduct an inquest into the design of the Imperial War Cruisers and recommend changes.
25th July 1905An expedition of five Royal Navy ships arrives in Madras, a system adjacent to Proxima Centauri. The only two routes out of the Victoria chain are through St Petersburg, which is being surveyed but no jump points have been located thus far, or Proxima, which is not ideal because it also connects to Sol and would therefore require the Royal Navy to secure two of Sol's jump points. Even so, as insurance against St Petersburg being yet another dead-end system, the scout cruiser HMS Sapphire, the geological survey cruiser HMS Minerva and the gravitational survey cruisers HMS Adventure, HMS Fearless and HMS Pathfinder have been assigned to survey the two systems beyond Proxima, starting with Madras.
12th August 1905The nine Imperial war cruisers that survived the battles in Fuchou arrive in Mars orbit. Tianxia gives them a heroes welcome. Zhong Xiao Yu You Yuan is promoted to Shang Xiao and receives the Imperial Star from the Emperor. The other ship commanders are awarded the Combat Medal. Shang Xiao Yu is granted a private audience with Emperor Guangxu so the Emperor can hear details of the battle first hand. Shortly thereafter, the Emperor informs Shao Jiang Cheng that the Imperial Fleet should begin training exercises immediately.
The aliens encountered in Fuchou are named the Kongjian Shengwu by Martian xenologists. Based on the after action reports and analysis of some recovered organic debris, the xenologists believe the Kongjian Shengwu 'ships' were in fact space-dwelling creatures of some sort. Therefore, it is unlikely there will be a planetary population somewhere to be attacked. They may just be a space-going menace that will have to be eradicated wherever it is encountered.
18th August 1905Tianxia launches its first two jump gate construction ships. One ship is dispatched to build a jump gate at the Sol - Tianjin (referred to as Barnard's Star by the British Empire) jump point. The other remains in Mars orbit for the moment.
21st August 1905In Jiangxi, the system with an ideal habitable world for Martian physiology that lies at the end of the chain Sol - Tianjin - Sichuan - Jilin - Jiangsu - Jiangxi, a gravitational survey has been completed. The system has eleven jump points, three more than Sol, which puts the habitable world at the centre of a galactic crossroads. A geological survey is continuing. While the results so far are less spectacular than the gravitational survey, one of the gas giants has forty-six million tons of accessibility 0.9 Sorium and a moon of the sixth planet has over 400,000 tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium. Once jump gates are in place, this distant system will become the focus of Martian colonization efforts. The Emperor and Shao Jiang Cheng agree that the jump points will remain unexplored until a significant base has been established in Jiangxi.
27th August 1905The scout cruiser HMS Alexandra and the geological survey cruiser HMS Eclipse arrives to support the Royal Navy survey effort in Madras. A new jump point is discovered with an existing gate so HMS Alexandra moves to investigate. She arrives seven hundred and fifty million kilometres from an orange K4-V primary, which is orbited by seven planets, only one of which is a gas giant. The system is named Berlin. Four of the terrestrial worlds have atmospheres and acceptable gravity, including one with identical gravity to Earth and a nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere with almost identical atmospheric pressure, albeit with only one quarter the level of oxygen. Despite the low surface temperature of -36C, Berlin IV is a much better terraforming prospect than humanity's only extra-solar populated colony on Victoria-B II.
Berlin II (colony cost 2.00): 0.59G, 11C, Nitrogen - CO2 0.35 atm
Berlin III (colony cost 2.00): 0.52G, 13C, Ammonia - Methane 0.16 atm
Berlin IV (colony cost 2.00): 1.00G, -36C, Nitrogen - Oxygen 1.01 atm (0.05 atm of oxygen)
Berlin V (colony cost 4.81): 0.29G, -125C, Nitrogen - Oxygen 0.08 atm (0.01 atm of oxygen)
Discussions begin on Earth with regard to the idea of changing the direction of the British Empire's colonization effort. Any change would not be possible for some time though due to the lack of jump gates on leading to Berlin. There would also be the question of whether to move colonists along the route Sol - Proxima - Madras - Berlin, which is five point nine billion kilometres, or through Sol - Victoria - Bombay - Madras - Berlin, which is nine point four billion kilometres. The former is significantly shorter while the latter hides the fact that the British Empire is colonising systems beyond Proxima. A geological survey in Berlin will be necessary before any final decision is taken.
13th September 1905A jump point is discovered in St Petersburg. The survey is more than two-thirds complete so fears were beginning to grow that a route through Proxima would be the only option for the British Empire. HMS Emerald transits the new jump point, expanding the territory of the Empire by one more system. She emerges close to an unremarkable red dwarf with seven unremarkable planets. Even so, the new system, named Toronto, has great value as it could be the start of a route out of the Victoria chain.
23rd September 1905HMS Minerva is approaching the second planet of the recently discovered Berlin system when she is suddenly struck by fifty-four small missiles, each with a strength-1 warhead. She attempts to reverse course and engages her active sensors. Five seconds later she is hit by a second wave of fifty-four missiles. Her sensors detect four ships within range. Two are in orbit of the planet, eighteen million kilometres away, and both are in excess of 17,000 tons, a 17,600 ton ship is eighteen million kilometres beyond the planet and a fourth ship, 8800 tons in size, is thirty-two million kilometres beyond the planet. Their signatures don't match any known Khaghan or Martian technology so HMS Minerva's tactical computer classifies the aliens as a new race. Based on the names available to the computer for classifying hostile ships, it designates them as Dunkerque, Clemenceau, Richelieu and Suffren classes respectively. There is no population signature on the planet.
A third wave of missiles hits, finally penetrating her armour, and HMS Minerva loses her primary fuel storage tank. Fortunately she has a much smaller secondary tank which survives. Confusion reigns on the survey ship, which remains stationary in the face of enemy fire. Fortunately, there is no fourth salvo, at least for the moment. Her commander, Captain Lucas Carroll, orders his tactical officer to return fire, although he doubts HMS Minerva's four torpedo launchers will be much use against the tonnage facing him. It takes twenty-five seconds to open fire and the ship is still not heading for the jump point. Captain Carroll vows that if he survives, he will ensure his crew has the training to respond more quickly in future. Four Mk I Whitehead Torpedoes head for the Dunkerque class at 24,000 km/s. HMS Minerva's second salvo is launched fifty seconds later and a third after another fifty seconds. She is also finally underway toward the jump point.
The scout cruiser HMS Alexandra is on the Madras jump point. She transits briefly into Madras to request assistance from the four survey cruisers and then transits back into Berlin. HMS Adventure, HMS Eclipse, HMS Fearless and HMS Pathfinder all head for the Berlin jump point at maximum speed. HMS Sapphire, a second scout cruiser, is on the Madras - Proxima jump point. She transits into Proxima and heads for the Bombay jump point to warn the rest of the Empire. There are jump points on the Bombay - Victoria and Victoria - Sol jump points so the message can be sent straight to Earth.
In Berlin, HMS Minerva keeps running and firing. HMS Alexandra waits at the Madras jump point. Her C.O., Commander Matthew Storey, is junior to Captain Carroll, and has been ordered to hold position until all the survey ships are assembled. Captain Carroll sees no point in offering up Royal Navy ships in small portions. After launching eight salvos, HMS Minerva ceases fire with twenty torpedoes still in her magazines. There has been no further missile attack from the aliens and Captain Carroll wants to keep a small reserve just in case. Ninety seconds later, HMS Minerva is struck by twenty-five more missiles with strength-1 warheads. She loses her EM sensor and two geological sensors. By this time her armour is almost non-existent. Seeing no further reason to preserve his ordnance, Captain Carroll gives the order to open fire again. It is too late. The next salvo destroys HMS Minerva's primary sensor and one of her two engines, leaving her unable to target her missiles. The eight torpedo salvos already in flight change to onboard guidance to search for targets.
One minute later, she is hit again, this time by fifty-four missiles. The damage is extensive, taking out her second engine, half her torpedo launchers, most of her engineering and crew accommodation and the rest of her fuel storage. She is a sitting duck. With more missiles sure to arrive soon and no way to run or fight back, Captain Carroll gives the order to abandon ship. He is the last one off, setting the scuttling charges before he leaves. Forty-nine of the two hundred and twenty-six crew survive. Thirty-two Mark I Whitehead Torpedoes continue toward the planet. Two million kilometres from Berlin-II, one of the leading missiles is destroyed, presumably by an anti-missile. Thirty seconds later, three of the second missiles are destroyed, then two more from the first wave. The enemy anti-missile fire seems strangely sporadic. Even so, combined with point blank fire from some form of energy weapon, it is enough to prevent any hits from HMS Minerva's torpedoes.
25th September 1905HMS Sapphire arrives in Bombay and broadcasts a warning through Victoria to Sol. The First Space Lord, Admiral Sir John Fisher, instructs her to relay a message to the survey cruisers in Madras, ordering them to hold the jump point to Berlin until he can send those reinforcements, and then take up position on the Bombay - Proxima jump point in order to escort any reinforcements. The Royal Navy's capital ships cannot reach Madras or Berlin so Admiral Fisher recalls the three Town class light cruisers and three Tribal class destroyers from a six month training exercise, orders them refuelled and dispatches them to Madras. He also sends the River class destroyers HMS Thames and HMS Tyne separately due to their slower speed.
8th October 1905Life support fails in the life pods holding Captain Lucas Carroll and his surviving crew.
22nd October 1905A geological survey ships of the Imperial Fleet has made a valuable discovery in the Zhejiang system (Sol - Tianjin - Shanxi - Shandong - Zhejiang). The second planet of the red dwarf B component has high accessibility deposits of all eleven Trans-Newtonian Minerals. The planet has no atmosphere but it is within the acceptable gravity range for Martian physiology and has a surface temperature of -3C. It could be terraformed into a world that could support a significant population, allowing Tianxia to eventually transfer its manned mines to the planet. As with the habitable world in the Jiangxi system, the main problem for Tianxia is a lack of jump gates that would allow the passage of Imperial freighters and colony ships.
Zhejiang-B II Mineral SurveyDuranium 279,752 Acc: 0.8
Neutronium 559,504 Acc: 0.8
Corbomite 915,849 Acc: 0.9
Tritanium 543,169 Acc: 0.5
Boronide 39,204 Acc: 0.7
Mercassium 680,625 Acc: 0.5
Vendarite 165,649 Acc: 0.8
Sorium 1,089 Acc: 0.6
Uridium 7,744 Acc: 0.7
Corundium 23,716 Acc: 0.9
Gallicite 1,046,529 Acc: 0.9
23rd October 1905Martian xenologists finally decipher the language and symbology within the alien ruins on the sixteenth moon of Sirius-B II. Sixteen alien installations may be recoverable. For the moment though, there is no way to transport construction brigades to the moon. Jump gates could be built, although that would take two years and divert the newly built jump gate construction ships away from the Tianjin chain. The other alternative is a jump-capable commercial vessel. Lack of shipyard space has proven the main constraint in this area for Tianxia, although there are long terms plans for such a ship once a large commercial jump drive is developed and a shipyard becomes available.
24th October 1905A Royal Navy task group has been assembled in Berlin, ready to avenge the destruction of HMS Minerva. The scratch force comprises the following:
1x Alexandra class Scout Cruiser: HMS Alexandra
3x Prometheus class Survey Cruiser: HMS Adventure, HMS Fearless, HMS Pathfinder
2x Eclipse class Survey Cruiser: HMS Eclipse, HMS Isis
3x Town class Light Cruiser: HMS Belfast, HMS Edinburgh, HMS Sheffield
3x Tribal class Destroyer: HMS Gurkha, HMS Mohawk, HMS Zulu
3x River class Destroyer: HMS Thames, HMS Trent, HMS Tyne.
The task group includes a diverse range of speeds and weapons. Both classes of survey cruiser are armed with four Mark I Torpedo launchers, which is the task group's primary offensive capability. The Tribal and River class destroyers are armed with twelve and eight 10cm Near Ultraviolet Lasers respectively. The Alexandra class scout cruiser is equipped with four 20cm Near Ultraviolet Lasers and the Town class light cruisers are armed with fifteen Anti-Torpedo Torpedo launchers. In terms of speed, the Towns and Tribals are the fastest at 5000 km/s, followed by the River class at 4000 km/s, the Alexandra and Prometheus classes at 3360 km/s and the two Eclipses at 2520 km/s.
HMS Minerva came under fire when she approached within twenty million kilometres of the second planet, which is currently on the far side of the primary. The task group has its active sensors engaged, which should be able to detect all the alien ships at a range of one hundred and twenty million kilometres. As the Royal Navy force moves within max sensor range of Berlin II, it picks up all four previously detected alien ships in orbit. The task group commander, Commodore John Hayward, is wary of the anti-torpedo defences of the enemy force given his maximum salvo size of only twenty torpedoes. As the alien forces were split up during the engagement with HMS Minerva, he decides to move closer to try to draw some of the hostile ships away from the planet. The aliens refuse to move.
Finally, fifty-six million kilometres from the planet, he gives the order to fire a single salvo to test the enemy defences. The target is the 8800 ton vessel. The other three are all in excess of 17,000 tons. More than two million kilometres from the planet, eleven of the torpedoes are destroyed. Five more are destroyed are one point three million kilometres, four more at 700,000 kilometres and the last one just 90,000 kilometres away. The survey cruisers can launch twelve more salvos at intervals of fifty seconds. Unfortunately, it seems unlikely they would penetrate the alien defences. Unwilling to move close enough for an energy engagement due to the large number of small missiles faced by HMS Minerva, Commodore Hayward decides to pull back to the jump point and request new orders. Admiral Sir John Fisher orders most of the force to hold position for the moment, although three of the survey ships are released to complete the gravitational and geological survey of Madras. The construction ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are ordered to create a path from Victoria through Bombay, Proxima and Madras to Berlin, allowing the capital ships of the Royal Navy to enter the system.
28th November 1905The Imperial geological survey ship Shantou arrives in Fuchou, site of the encounter with the Kongjian Shengwu. Strangely, the wrecks of the two gravitational survey ships, Weifang and Yantai, have disappeared, although the wrecks of the two war cruisers and the war cruiser leader remain.
13th December 1905The Royal Navy launches HMS Belvoir and HMS Blackmorevale, the first two ships of a new multi-purpose class. The Belvoir class is equipped with a new, more efficient jump drive and armed with three 20cm lasers and a single size 20 missile launcher that will be used to deploy large sensor buoys and eventually mines, once they have been developed. Forty passive sensor buoys have already been constructed for deployment by the Belvoir class.
Belvoir class Minelayer 10,000 tons 278 Crew 1277.2 BP TCS 200 TH 672 EM 0
3360 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 38
Maint Life 2.46 Years MSP 479 AFR 133% IFR 1.9% 1YR 109 5YR 1638 Max Repair 140 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 420
MJD-100B Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 10000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Parsons PN7E Magneto-plasma Drive (2) Power 336 Fuel Use 14.35% Signature 336 Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 31.4 billion km (108 days at full power)
20cm C4 Near Ultraviolet Laser (3) Range 256,000km TS: 5000 km/s Power 10-4 RM 3 ROF 15 Barr and Stroud FX-4 Beam Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 4000 km/s Stellarator Fusion Reactor (2) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
S20 Mine Launcher (1) Missile Size 20 Rate of Fire 150
Barr and Stroud FM-2 Minelaying Fire Control (1) Range 42.1m km Resolution 120
Large Passive Sensor Buoy (21) Speed: 0 km/s End: 0m Range: 0m km WH: 0 Size: 20 TH: 0/0/0
Type 3 Active Sensor (1) GPS 5760 Range 42.1m km Resolution 120
EM8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
19th January 1906HMS Revenge and HMS Repulse are refitted with magneto-plasma engines, allowing them to match speed with the latest Royal Navy designs. The other four Royal Sovereigns will receive the refit over the coming months.
Royal Sovereign Mod 1 class Battleship 16,000 tons 361 Crew 2497 BP TCS 320 TH 1600 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 9-56 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/24/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 50
Maint Life 1.83 Years MSP 683 AFR 292% IFR 4.1% 1YR 256 5YR 3840 Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 1
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons Magazine 850
Parsons PN4 Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 23.4 billion km (54 days at full power)
MK 1 Torpedo Launcher (10) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
Barr and Stroud FT-1 Torpedo Fire Control (2) Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
Mark I Whitehead Torpedo (172) Speed: 24,000 km/s End: 79.7m Range: 114.8m km WH: 6 Size: 5 TH: 80/48/24
Type 1 Active Sensor (1) GPS 17280 Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
EM24 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
19th February 1906The first Qiandaohu class Tanker joins the Imperial Fleet. The small jump-capable tanker will allow the Kaifeng class war cruisers and Taizhou class war cruiser leaders to operate at much greater distances from Mars.
Qiandaohu class Tanker 11,000 tons 60 Crew 435 BP TCS 220 TH 640 EM 0
2909 km/s JR 1-25(C) Armour 1-44 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 25 Max Repair 64 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Cryogenic Berths 200
JC11K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 11000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 1
Tsien-320 Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (2) Power 320 Fuel Use 3.04% Signature 320 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 3,000,000 Litres Range 1614.8 billion km (6424 days at full power)
28th February 1906The Royal Navy task group in Berlin has remained at the Madras jump point for four months without any sign of alien ships. As the Tribal and Town class ships had already spent six months on a training course before being deployed to Berlin, their crews will soon start to show signs of fatigue. Therefore, Admiral Fisher orders them to return home for shore leave and overhaul, along with the survey cruiser HMS Adventure and the river class destroyer HMS Trent. A small picket force comprising the scout cruiser HMS Alexandra, the survey cruiser HMS Isis and the destroyers HMS Thames and HMS Tyne, will remain to watch the jump point. Once the chain of jump gates being built from Victoria to Berlin is complete, a more powerful task group including capital ships will be dispatched to the system.
27th March 1906HMS Perseus and HMS Prometheus complete a gravitational survey of Toronto, locating three new jump points. Toronto represents the last chance for the British Empire of finding a way of the Victoria chain that didn't pass through Proxima so the survey results are excellent news. The scout cruiser HMS Emerald investigates.
4th April 1906The deposits of Gallicite on Mars are exhausted, leaving the planet with deposits of only five different minerals and exacerbating a steadily worsening resource crisis for Tianxia. All two hundred and eighty Martian automated mines have been moved to the comet known as Chiang, currently heading sunward through the asteroid belt, but its resources are limited. Mineral-rich planets have been discovered in the Sichuan and Zhejiang systems but no access is possible until jump gates are constructed.
Mars Survey ReportDuranium 81,758 Acc: 0.98
Neutronium 134,062 Acc: 0.7
Tritanium 32,829 Acc: 0.2
Vendarite 21,808 Acc: 0.28
Sorium 5,113 Acc: 0.23
Chiang Survey ReportNeutronium 2,565 Acc: 0.8
Tritanium 8,442 Acc: 1
Mercassium 7,573 Acc: 0.7
Sorium 14,002 Acc: 0.7
Corundium 8,234 Acc: 0.7
Gallicite 4,369 Acc: 0.7
5th April 1906Three new Tribal class destroyers, HMS Amazon, HMS Maori and HMS Saracen, join the Royal Navy.
7th April 1906HMS Emerald completes her investigation of the three new jump points in Toronto. The innermost leads to Boston, a binary comprising a white dwarf and an orange K-class star orbiting two trillion kilometres apart. A good terraforming candidate orbits the B component but it is inaccessible due to the distance involved. Jump Point Two connects to Columbo, a red dwarf system with two planets and sixteen moons. The third jump point leads to the known system of Paris, creating a four system loop of Toronto, Paris, Bombay and St Petersburg.
19th April 1906The new Town class light cruisers, HMS Newcastle, HMS Nottingham and HMS York are launched by the Thorneycroft Orbital Shipyard.
30th April 1906Since the launch of Aimak, the first Khaghan ship with a military jump drive, the Federation has been exploring the systems beyond the second jump point of Darkhan. Darkhan itself connects to three systems in total; Sol, Kharkhorin and Kerait Ordos. A Khaghan survey ship was destroyed in Kharkhorin in November 1904 and the system has remained off-limits since that time. Three Federation battleships currently under construction will eventually take the fight into Kharkhorin but in the meantime Kerait Ordos is the only avenue of expansion. Kerait Ordos has four jump points, comprising the entry point from Darkhan, the planetless systems of Suurin and Tenduk and a red dwarf system named Tosokh, which has five planets and almost four hundred asteroids.
A gravitational survey of Tosokh revealed jump points that led to Shar Ord and Khanbaliq, both unremarkable red dwarf systems. The geological survey of Tosokh by the survey ships Ogadei Khoyor and Ogadei Gurav is almost complete, with Ogadei Khoyor approaching the fifth planet and Ogadei Gurav among the nineteen moons of Tosokh IV. Aimak and three Zanabazar class gravitational survey ships wait on the Kerait Ordos jump point for the Ogadeis to complete their task. As Ogadei Khoyor moves into orbit of Tosokh V, her extremely limited passive sensors detect a strength-141 thermal contact in orbit of the dwarf planet's tiny moon, just four thousand kilometres away. It does not appear to be of the same race that destroyed Ogadei Dorov in Kharkhorin.
Within seconds, the thermal contact breaks away from the moon and heads into deep space at 2350 km/s. There are no other planetary bodies or asteroids further out so the destination of the alien ship is unknown. Ogadei Khoyor attempts to follow but her top speed is 2173 km/s. The alien ship soon moves outside the range of her myopic sensors. Commanding the survey ship is Minghunchi (equivalent to Captain in the Royal Navy) Dampildorggiin Chatagi, the senior officer in the Tosokh system. He takes his ship back to Tosokh V to complete the geological survey and waits to see if the alien ship re-appears. He orders Aimak, almost three billion kilometres away, to turn on her active sensors in case any other alien ships in the system attempt to enter Kerait Ordos. Ogadei Gurav continues her survey of the moons of Tosokh IV. Minghunchi Chatagi is a calm and dedicated officer who intends to finish his mission before evacuating the system and taking his survey squadron home.
1st May 1906Ogadei Gurav discovers forty-two million tons of accessibility 0.9 Duranium and twelve million tons of accessibility 0.8 Sorium on the ninth moon of Tosokh IV, along with several other lower accessibility deposits.
Tosokh IV - Moon Nine Survey ReportDuranium 42,320,000 Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 4,674,244 Acc: 0.4
Corbomite 18,301,280 Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 103,684 Acc: 0.3
Vendarite 763,876 Acc: 0.1
Sorium 11,902,500 Acc: 0.8
5th May 1906The population of Darkhan II has reached ten million. Khaghan freighters deliver maintenance facilities and minerals to the planet, allowing it to base an Arav (squadron) of ten Kublai class fast attack craft.
12th May 1906Tianxia completes jump gates on both sides of the Sol - Tianjin jump point. Tianjin itself does not have any habitable worlds or significant mineral deposits but it is the first step in opening up the universe to Martian expansion and allows the two Zhuhai class tankers to operate within Tianjin.
19th May 1906In Tosokh, Ogadei Khoyor and Ogadei Gurav both return safely to the Kerait Ordos jump point then join Aimak and the three gravitational survey ships in entering Kerait Ordos. The two Ogadeis head for the Darkhan jump point while Aimak escorts the gravitational survey ships into Tenduk before following the Ogadeis. Aimak, Ogadei Khoyor and Ogadei Gurav arrive in Darkhan on June 7th, bringing news of the alien encounter in Tosokh.
The naval forces of the Khaghan Federation are still not capable of long distance operations. Beside the twelve Khan class bases in Venus orbit, the only armed vessels are Aimak, equipped with four railguns, and eighty-six Kublai class FACs that have a maximum operating range of one point four billion kilometres. Three Chakhar class Battleships are under construction but will not be ready for eighteen months. The laying down of their hulls was delayed so that new ion-engine technology could be incorporated into their design, increasing maximum speed from 2000 km/s to 3000 km/s. The first units of an new FAC design, the Kublai II, are also being built but they will suffer from the same range restriction as the existing Kublais.
Kublai II class Fast Attack Craft 1,000 tons 7 Crew 162.8 BP TCS 20 TH 144 EM 0
7200 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 6
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 200% IFR 2.8% 1YR 59 5YR 884 Max Repair 72 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 3
Gurban-144 FAC Engine (1) Power 144 Fuel Use 177.47% Signature 144 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 40,000 Litres Range 4.1 billion km (6 days at full power)
10cm Railgun V2/C3 (2x4) Range 20,000km TS: 7200 km/s Power 3-3 RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jagun-1 Railgun Fire Control (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 3000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Small Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (1) Total Power Output 2.25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (1) Total Power Output 4.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
FAC Search Sensor (1) GPS 600 Range 3.0m km Resolution 100
While the initial encounter was brief and no shots were fired, T'mjn and the Federation Council cannot assume the alien intentions are peaceful. The small vessel that fled the area was most likely a geological survey vessel and probably unarmed. Alien warships could be in Tosokh already, searching for Federation ships. For the moment Tosokh joins Kharkhorin as off limits, at least until warships with interstellar range are available.
13th June 1906Tianxia launches a second pair of jump gate construction ships from the Daoguang Shipyard.
21st June 1906A Royal Navy task group that includes four battleships arrives in Berlin, joining the small force guarding the Madras jump point. HMS Eclipse recently joined the guard force after her survey of the nearby Lisbon system.
Berlin Expedition Order of Battle2x Majestic class BB: HMS Magnificent (flag), HMS Majestic
2x Royal Sovereign Mod 1 class BB: HMS Repulse, HMS Revenge
2x Diadem class CA: HMS Andromeda, HMS Argonaut
3x Town class CL: HMS Newcastle, HMS Nottingham, HMS York
3x Tribal class DD: HMS Amazon, HMS Maori, HMS Saracen
4x Avro Type 504 class Scout
Madras Jump Point Guard Force1x Alexandra class Scout Cruiser: HMS Alexandra
2x Eclipse class Survey Cruiser: HMS Eclipse, HMS Isis
2x River class DD: HMS Thames, HMS Tyne
The Avro Type 504 class Scout is a small single-man craft carried by Royal Navy battleships for scouting purposes.
Avro Type 504 class Scout 240 tons 1 Crew 62 BP TCS 4.8 TH 72 EM 0
14999 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 48% IFR 0.7% 1YR 9 5YR 128 Max Repair 36 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 9
Scout Shuttle Engine (1) Power 72 Fuel Use 133.65% Signature 72 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres Range 11.2 billion km (8 days at full power)
Type 4 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1920 Range 14.0m km Resolution 120
Commanding the expedition from HMS Magnificent is Rear Admiral Jonathan Talbot; an insightful but methodical officer well-liked by his men. Rear Admiral Talbot attaches the two River class destroyers from the guard force to his own task group but leaves HMS Alexandra and the two survey cruisers at the jump point to watch his rear. The four battleships and two heavy cruisers are all armed with the Mark III Whitehead Torpedo, which has a speed of 32,000 km/s, while the magazines of HMS Eclipse and HMS Isis are loaded with the older Mark I, with a speed of 24,000 km/s. The slow speed of the survey cruisers and their slow torpedoes means they are not suited to operating with the battleships and heavy cruisers. HMS Alexandra is also slower than the capital ships and Rear Admiral Talbot does not believe her 20cm lasers will play a part in the coming battle.
to be continued...
