In mid-September 2092, an Eastasian Jinan class jump ship returned to Earth from the direction of the Washington jump point. As two more Jinans were in orbit and the fourth was stationed on the Los Angeles jump point, that meant that unless the Alliance had established an off-world shipyard, all of their jump-capable units were in the Sol system. None of their warships returned, which meant they were still in the Washington Nebula without jump ship support, although it was possible the alien jump gate network extended for some distance. However, if that was the case why would they need the jump ships in the first place? Some Oceanian analysts speculated that the warships may have been destroyed and the jump ship was the only survivor, while others pointed to the recent Oceanian problems with maintenance and believed the jump ships were simply returning for overhauls and, like Oceania, the Alliance had not planned ahead for the scheduling of that maintenance. Admiral Nelson realised that Oceania was in serious need of intelligence regarding the out-system activities of both the Alliance and the Union but there were still no resources available for building scout ships.
Oceanian Colony Report ? January 3rd 2093
Earth ? Admiral Marcus Nelson (Research 30%, Production 30%, Shipbuilding 10%, Mining 10%, Wealth 10%)
Population 1200m
Annual Wealth: 41,600
Shipyards: 7/20
Research Facilities: 43
Commercial Freight Facility: Yes
Maintenance Facilities: 10,000 tons
Construction Factories: 798
Fighter Factories: 260
Ordnance Factories: 200
Fuel Refineries: 400
Mines: 635
Financial Centres: 60
Ground Force Training Facilities: 10
Mass Drivers: 1
Fuel Stockpile: 4.9m litres
Earth Mineral Situation
Boronide 12,276 Acc: 0.1
New Scotland ? Rear Admiral Elizabeth Miller (Research 35%, Production 25%, Wealth 15%, Pop Growth 15%)
Population 9.1m
Annual Wealth: 315
Maintenance Facilities: 6000 tons
Construction Factories: 45
Mines: 44
Mass Drivers: 1
Fuel Stockpile: 2.3m litres
New Scotland Mineral Situation
Duranium 45,334,240 Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 32,012,520 Acc: 0.6
Mercassium 32,012,960 Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 42,598 Acc: 0.3
Sorium 18,710 Acc: 0.4
Uridium 4,284,152 Acc: 0.9
Gallicite 10,073,530 Acc: 0.9
Inverness ? Captain Lily Walters (Mining 20%, Wealth 15%)
Colony Cost: 2.0
Population 6.8m
Annual Wealth: 234
Mines: 67
Mass Drivers: 2
Infrastructure: 1470 (Max Pop 7.3m)
Inverness Mineral Situation
Duranium 22,846,540 Acc: 0.9
Tritanium 975,885 Acc: 0.1
Boronide 1,308,470 Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 3,310,835 Acc: 0.6
Uridium 7,594,471 Acc: 0.4
Corundium 12,873,480 Acc: 0.1
Birmingham Asteroid Colony ? Captain Samuel Ryan (Mining 30%)
Automated Mines: 180
Birmingham Mineral Situation
Duranium 55,685 Acc: 1
Neutronium 31,797 Acc: 0.9
Sorium 25,653 Acc: 0.9
Uridium 27,897 Acc: 0.9
Midway Staging Post
Construction Factories: 8
Mines: 34
Mass Drivers: 3
Infrastructure: 1120
London-A II Terraforming Project
Five Terraforming Ships in orbit. Estimated 2 years to completion of terraforming.
London-A II Mineral Situation
Sorium 6,175,225 Acc: 0.5
Uridium 3,674,889 Acc: 0.4
Corundium 31,460,880 Acc: 0.1
In March 2093, the resource situation eased slightly when Oceanian scientists increased base mining production to twenty tons per mining complex per annum, a twenty-five percent improvement in productivity. With all one hundred and eighty Oceanian automated mines deployed on the asteroid mining colony in the Birmingham system, a limited but regular supply of both Duranium and Sorium was making its way back to Earth. This also allowed fuel refineries to operate on a part-time basis, permitting enough fuel production to maintain stockpiles at around five million litres while still allowing some freighter and colony ship traffic between Sol and Edinburgh. In addition, the sixty-seven mines on Inverness were producing enough Duranium and other minerals, and dispatching it to New Scotland via mass driver, that all non-carrier overhauls could be carried out at New Scotland, reducing some of the demand on Earth?s limited mineral stockpiles. Sacremento transported a small amount of fuel to New Scotland, which allowed one geological survey ship and three gravitational survey ships to resume operations.
On April 2nd, Pueblo scanned a newly built Eastasian ship of 7500 tons and detected a jump gate construction module similar to those in the two Brunel class construction ships being built by the BAE systems shipyard. The lead ship, Brunel, was almost ready to launch but it appeared the Alliance had been the first to deploy such a ship. However, for some reason the new Eastasian ship remained in orbit so Oceanian Intelligence theorised that although the ship itself was ready, the Alliance may not have built enough jump gate components to begin construction of their first gate.
Brunel was completed on April 9th 2093 and immediately broke orbit to head for the Sol ? London jump point to begin work on Oceania?s first jump gate. The required five jump gate components had already been built by Earth?s construction factories, using 600 tons each of precious Duranium and Sorium, and were loaded on to three North Carolina class freighters to be transported to the jump point. The construction was scheduled to start within a month and was likely to last six months, although with an expert commander this could be shortened. Nineteen days later, the first two Iowa class fuel harvesting stations were completed, along with a Hercules class Tug. The tug attached its tractor to an Iowa and began the long journey to the Oxford system where the harvesting base would be deployed in orbit of Oxford IV, a gas giant with 3.3 million tons of Sorium in its atmosphere. Each base was expected to produce 360,000 litres of fuel per year, using up 180 tons of Sorium in the process.
In mid-June, the Eurasian Union built two of its own jump gate construction ships, although all of their seventeen known freighters were away from Earth at the time so they remained in orbit. In late June, the Eastasian construction ship left orbit on course for the Los Angeles jump point. This seemed a likely target for the Alliance as its freighters had been shuttling in and out of Los Angeles for years. At least one Eastasian mining colony must have existed in the system, although no Oceanian ship had visited Los Angeles since the treaty with the Alliance. The Alliance also had an asteroid colony in the Mars-Jupiter belt and another suspected colony somewhere beyond the Chicago jump point, based on the amount of freighter traffic in that direction. The sudden activation of their so far dormant construction ship presumably meant they finally had a sufficient supply of jump gate components.
On July 26th, the tug Hercules delivered the first Iowa class Fuel Harvesting Station to Oxford-IV. The Iowa began work immediately, extracting gaseous Sorium from the atmosphere and converting it directly into fuel. A second Iowa was already en route to Oxford, under tow from a second Hercules class Tug, and a third awaited pickup in Earth orbit. Three more Iowas were under construction. Depending on the skill and efficiency of their commanders, each Iowa was expected to produce anything from 360,000 to 470,000 litres of fuel per year. If a sufficient number of Iowas could be built and towed into place, they would provide a significant portion of Oceania fuel requirements.
Eastasian Interlude #2
Akagi class Destroyer 5100 tons 320 Crew 625.6 BP TCS 102 TH 320 EM 0
3137 km/s Armour 4-26 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 27
Magazine 180 Replacement Parts 5
Nuclear Pulse Engine (8) Power 40 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 120,000 Litres Range 52.9 billion km (195 days at full power)
S4 Box Launcher (45) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
HN-43 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 43.2m km Resolution 20
Haiying Anti-Ship Missile (45) Speed: 17500 km/s End: 45.9 minutes Range: 48.2m km Warhead: 6 MR: 10 Size: 4
ASS-48-20 Search Sensor (1) GPS 480 Range 4.8m km Resolution 20
ASS-480-80 Search Sensor (1) GPS 4800 Range 48.0m km Resolution 80
Thermal Sensor TH1-5/100 (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m kmKongo class Destroyer 4000 tons 421 Crew 451.6 BP TCS 80 TH 240 EM 360
3000 km/s Armour 4-22 Shields 12-300 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 16
Replacement Parts 5
Nuclear Pulse Engine (6) Power 40 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 28.1 billion km (108 days at full power)
Beta R300/12 Shields (8) Total Fuel Cost 96 Litres per day
15cm C2 Visible Light Laser (4) Range 96,000km TS: 3200 km/s Power 6-2 RM 2 ROF 15 6 6 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S03 48-3600 (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 3600 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Pebble Bed Reactor (3) Total Power Output 9 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Sensor S20-R16/100 (1) GPS 320 Range 3.2m km Resolution 16
At the Changchun ? Hangzhou jump point, ten Eastasian ships waited for the aliens. Almost two years previously, the jump ship Xiangtan and the geological survey vessel Naka had entered the Hangzhou system and had been hailed as soon as they arrived. The two ships immediately left the system, without their sensors having time to come online, and Naka had been dispatched to warn Alliance headquarters of an unknown presence in the Hangzhou system. Reinforcements were sent and eventually Xiangtan returned to Hangzhou in the company of two Akagi class missile destroyers, only to find two 9800 ton ships guarding the far side of the jump point. After initial tension, both sides began attempts at communication and remarkably achieved complete success within three days. The aliens, who called themselves the Tanagra Republic, were seven foot humanoids with recognizable facial features but otherwise totally different to humans. Their ?skin? was a bony, knobbly exo-skeleton, covered with sharp ridges. In both appearance and demeanour they were visibly militaristic, even more than the Alliance, with their grey and black uniforms plainly designed for intimidation rather than comfort. Negotiation lasted for several weeks with the Alliance representatives seeking a non-aggression pact or at the very least a non-intercourse relationship. Unfortunately, the Tanagrans had recently surveyed their home system and found only the single jump point that connected to Changchun, making that system their gateway to the rest of the universe. However, the planned future Alliance capital of Xuzhou, which was also a dead-end system, connected to the rest of Alliance territory via Changchun and therefore the Alliance commander, Rear Admiral Chang Xiu Guo, had been specifically told by his superiors that the security of Changchun was vital and could not be compromised. The Tanagrans had only two planets in their system, one of which was a gas giant, so they could either remain in their system while their homeworld?s resources ran dry or search for resources beyond their solitary jump point. With such diametrically opposed positions, there was little chance of any agreement. After nine weeks of fruitless effort, with neither willing to compromise on the sovereignty of Changchun, Xiangtan and her escorts pulled out. Xiangtan and the other Jinan class jump ship in the system were both out of spare parts so they were forced to head for home for overhauls, leaving four Akagi class missile destroyers and six Kongo class destroyers guarding the jump point. Three Jianghu class cruisers were in the adjacent system of Kunming as backup but they were too large to be escorted into Changchun by the Jinans. Once the new Han class jump ships were ready, a stronger force could be brought into Changchun but for now the destroyers had to hold the line. If necessary the ten destroyers in Changchun could retreat as an alien jump gate was located at the Changchun ? Kunming jump point, but there was no matching gate on the far side so if they left they could not return without jump ship support.
At 21:52 on July 27th 2093, a single 3000 ton Tanagran ship appeared 40,000 kilometers from the Changchun side of the jump point. Well aware he was taking his nation to war but unable to let the alien scout see the composition of his force and then return through the jump point, Rear Admiral Chang Xiu Guo gave the order for the six Kongo class destroyers to open fire. Despite the relatively high quality of several of the destroyer crews, they were not used to operating as a fleet and the sudden appearance of the Tanagran ship plus the admiral?s order to open fire caught them off guard. Not even one ship opened fire as ordered. Meanwhile the scout headed for the jump point at 2800 km/s. With the admiral screaming at the ship commanders, one of the Kongos finally opened fire with its four 15cm lasers, hitting the Tanagran 12,000 kilometers from the jump point. Faced with no shields and paper-thin armour, the lasers cut deep into the alien, inflicting considerable damage. A visible secondary explosion tore through the hull and the ship glided to a halt. Before Admiral Chang could order a cease-fire, a second Kongo blasted the cripple to pieces. Should he survive any actual attack, rather than another scouting attempt, Admiral Chang resolved to put his crews through a full fleet training exercise so they will respond more quickly to his orders in the future. For now though he could only hold his force in position, ready for any further Tanagran incursions. Although the Kongos had shield generators, Admiral Chang decided not to order them to raise shields because of the fuel costs associated with long term use. So far from home, fuel was a previous commodity and the single scout was likely not an indication of an imminent attack. Besides, their armour provided far more protection than their relatively light shields.
Four hours later, the Tanagrans launched an all-out assault. Eighteen ships appeared in groups of three, each group scattered around the jump point at distances between 6000 and 48,000 kilometers. Although all were 3000 ton ships, which suggested that was the extent of Tanagran jump drive technology, one ship in each group was noticeably different from the other two, marking them as the jump ships. Outnumbered 2-1 but with a limited opportunity to open fire before the sensors of the attacking ship stabilised, Admiral Chang ordered his ships to select individual targets, trying to disable as many hostile ships as possible before they could fire. The six Kongos targeted their lasers on the two closest groups of ships while the Akagis each armed fifteen of their forty-five missiles and targeted ships from the third and fourth closest groups. All the Tanagran ships began converging on the jump point at 2100 km/s, although there was no sign of any active sensors.
As before, the Eastasian response was not instant, with the various ships taking between fifteen and twenty seconds to react. All but three of the Tanagran ships were on the jump point when four Kongos open fired at point blank range, each hitting its target with all four lasers, and Amagi, one of the four Akagi missile destroyers, launched fifteen missiles. Two of the alien jump ships, designated the Papalote class, suffered internal damage based on the venting of atmosphere and the Eastasian active sensors monitoring the attack determined that their armour was strength-3. Two of the non-jump ships, designated the Chante class, each suffered four strength-6 hits without losing any atmosphere. Assuming the lasers all hit different locations, that meant that based on the armour penetration characteristics of lasers, their armour was at least strength-4. Despite the attack, the aliens remained on the jump point, obviously waiting for their sensors to recover so they could retaliate.
Seconds after the first attack, twelve of the fifteen missiles launched by Amagi struck one of the Chante class ships and blew it to pieces, although it required a couple of secondary explosions to complete its destruction. The other three missile destroyers, Akagi, Shinyo and Zuiho, each launched their own fifteen missile salvos while the two remaining Kongos fired their lasers and hit two Chantes, one of which suffered minor internal damage. Five more secondd passed and the second wave of missile salvos struck their targets, obliterating two Papalote class jump ships and damaging a Chante that survived fourteen hits from strength-6 warheads. All the Akagis prepared new salvos but in such a confused engagement the lack of fleet training meant that except for Shinyo, which was continuing to fire on the same ship, it took precious time to select targets designated by Admiral Chang on the Kongo.
Thirty seconds after the transit of the Tanagran ships, the first four Kongos completed the recharging of their lasers and fired again. Both targeted Papalotes exploded and the armour of the two Chantes was finally penetrated by laser fire, inflicting at least some internal damage. Shinyo launched her second salvo at the damaged Chante and blew it to pieces. The remaining two Kongos fired their second point-blank salvos at their targeted Chantes, one of which still failed to penetrate the armour and the other only appeared to inflict minor internal damage. Although the more fragile Papalote class jump ships were being hit hard, with four already destroyed, the Chantes were very resilient for their small size and although they lacked shields, their armour was probably strength-5. Two had been destroyed by missile fire while four more had been damaged by laser fire. Still there was no response from the Tanagran ships, although if they also suffered from a lack of fleet training they might not have been able to open fire even when their sensors came back online.
Remarkably a few seconds passed without any Eastasian fire as the six Kongos were recharging weapons and the Akagis were still locking on to new targets. Forty-five seconds into the battle, two Kongos fired for the third time, finally destroying their targets, while Akagi and Amagi launched their second missile salvos. Another pair of Kongos had ready charged weapons but were suffering from command delays in selecting new targets. The missiles fired by Akagi and Amagi smashed into the last two Papalote class jump ships, destroying both in a cascade of detonations. Zuiho launched her own second salvo then a Chante exploded under laser fire from a Kongo and a second received significant internal damage.
Finally the Tanagrans responded as two Chantes each launched salvos of eleven missiles each. At such close range there was barely time to detect the missiles, let alone fire at them. Fortunately for the Eastasian ships, the Tanagran missiles were relatively slow at 11,000 km/s, which gave the Alliance ships a chance to evade them. Amagi was struck by five missiles, each with strength-8 warheads. Her armour barely absorbed all the damage and it could have been much worse if the hits had been concentrated in one location. Kirishima, a Kongo class destroyer, was equally fortunate, surviving four hits without internal damage. As the Tanagran missiles were striking Amagi and Kirishima, the salvo of fifteen Haiying Anti-Ship Missiles from Zuiho obliterated a Chante, leaving just six Tanagran ships, one of which was severely damaged. Shinyo launched again, as did three of the surviving Chantes, firing eleven missiles each.
The battle was becoming very confused as the Eastasian ships tried to target and destroy the surviving Tanagran ships before they could fire their missiles, or at least disable their fire control systems, while the Chante class ships tried to get their missiles away as quickly as possible. Akagi was hit by five missiles, three of which hit in roughly the same location, allowing the third to inflict internal damage. Four box launchers and an engine were damaged. Zuiho was hit six times, also losing an engine and two of her launchers. The Kongo class destroyer Haruna suffered five hits, none of which penetrated her armour. Shinyo?s return salvo annihilated a Chante and two Kongos scored laser hits on two more, although the damage was mainly absorbed by the thick Tanagran armour.
More eleven missile salvos were launched by the four relatively intact Chantes, while the fifth seemed to be out of the fight. From their firing pattern it seemed the Tanagrans had over-estimated the effectiveness of their slow missiles with their powerful warheads, firing only a portion of their missiles at once from each ship. Once the results of the first salvos were seen, they launched the remaining missiles at the same targets. The rapidity of their fire suggested that all the missiles were in box launchers, like their Eastasian opponents.
Amagi was struck just twice from a salvo of eleven missiles, which was fortunate given the state of her armour. Even so, the damage took out an engine and penetrated to the bridge, killing Captain Shao Hiu Xia. Akagi was hit far harder, taking seven hits that blasted through her armour and inflicted massive internal damage, including the loss of four more engines, five more launchers and her fire control system. She too lost her commander, Captain Xiao Xia Yong, during the destruction of her bridge. Zuiho received five hits, losing three engines, five launchers, both her search sensors and her fire control. Finally Kirishima was hit three times, taking damage to a laser, two reactors and two engines. In return, the crippled Chante was destroyed by laser fire from Hiei.
Before the Eastasian ships could fire again, the four remaining Chante class ships suddenly spewed life pods and self-destructed. Admiral Chang surmised they very likely had only twenty-two missiles each and with no way to return to Hangzhou after the loss of their jump ships, self-destruction was presumably preferable to the capture or scanning or their ships.
Akagi and Zuiho were now combat ineffective as they both had major internal damage and neither could launch their remaining fifteen missiles without their fire control systems. Shinyo was intact and had ten missiles remaining while Amagi had minor internal damage, including the loss of one of her eight engines, and had fifteen missiles on board. Kirishima had lost two of six engines, two thirds of her reactor capacity and one of her lasers, severely reducing her capability. Haruna had significant armour damage but otherwise full capability while the other four Kongos were completely intact. Two hundred and ninety-two Eastasian crewmen were killed during the battle, most of them on Akagi and Zuiho.
Very little was learned about the two Tanagran ship classes during the battle. Both ships were 3000 tons with a max observed speed of 2100 km/s. The Papalote had strength-3 armour while the Chante?s was at least strength-4 and probably strength-5. Active sensors had detected box launchers and High Density Duranium armour on the latter type, which combined with the slow speed of the Tanagran ships and missiles suggested that the Alliance had a tech advantage, at least for the moment. More worrying was the strength of the attack. Given the recent development of Tanagran jump drive technology, they must have designed and built the attack force based on their first jump drive design, which suggested they could build a lot of ships quickly. That in turn suggested the Tanagrans would likely begin replacing those ships as soon as it become apparent they were not returning.
Despite his victory, Admiral Chang could see little point in remaining at the Changchun-Hangzhou jump point. His force was significantly reduced in capability from the one that began the battle and he believed the next Tanagran assault would be stronger than the first. Therefore, he gave the order to pull back to Kuming where the three Jianghu class cruisers would reinforce his five combat capable Kongos. All the Akagis plus Kirishima would have to return to Earth for repair or reloading. Unfortunately there were 410,000 Eastasian colonists on Xuzhou Prime which would be cut-off once the Tanagrans moved into Changchun, along with two Hegu class colony ships that were trapped in Xuzhou when the last Jinan class jump ship had to pull out. Chang hoped that the Alliance would be returning to Changchun in greater force before the Tanagra Republic could survey the system and discover Xuzhou.
Steve
