June 2203 part 3
June 26th 0325 hours/ Armed Science Vessel Red October, Pallas 2, Asteroid Belt
Admiral Jude Kushnir reviewed the transmission from the Heavy Escort Anastasia again. The techs were busy going over the data, analyzing the wealth of new information that had been gained. Proof that another life form was behind the attacks was undeniable. The actions of Rear Admiral Ryan had cost them the opportunity for study of anything other than sensor data and ruins, but she couldn't waste time fretting over that.
The combined Pan Euro / US Task Force was now deep out system, They had lost two of their combat vessels, and with them 25 percent of the groups' long range launchers. The remaining ships were at less than two thirds of their initial load out of missile. Complicating matters was the indication from the US that if the group was to continue operations, the US Missile Escort Falcon would be off loading its last remaining missiles onto the Interceptors JFK and Franklin. It would then return to the inner system. This would reduce the launchers available to the group by almost 40 percent - down to only 5 launch bays - although the US missile load out would improve slightly.
With no way of knowing what lay farther out in the system or of what may even now be closing in on the ships near Uranus (if anything), there was only one option. Jude keyed in the orders for the 1st Battle Group to return, and sent them to the comm section for transmission to Vice Admiral Avery, with a copy forwarded to the US Space Station at Earth.
With the knowledge that the enemy wasn't China, she also keyed in a request to Euro Headquarters that disclosure of available data be made to the Chinese. The Earth may need all its governments to fight this new foe, and the eruption of a war between them now could be disastrous for them all.
0650 hours/ US Space Station, Earth orbit
Lieutenant Meagan Ryan rubbed her eyes and tried to focus on the monitor. The amount of data that the Interceptor JFK and Franklin had gathered was enormous. She was amazed her father had managed to get his ships this close to both an alien base station and settlement. The sensor's ability to scan for data at these short ranges was much greater than what could be obtained at normal combat ranges. But Admiral Walters had ordered a briefing at 0800 and she needed to get everything she could together that had been analyzed.
The base had sustained severe damage by the time the Interceptor JFK had closed with it, but the weapon system it used had still been operational, and data on the 'missile' when it was deployed was giving great insight into its capabilities and design. The JFK had also managed to pick up active emissions that appeared to be part of a sensor and targeting system. It was based on entirely different principles of operation, and would merit a great deal of study.
Also scanned was the surface of Titania, and what were definitely alien structures and creatures. The resolution of the creatures was very poor, as they seemed to be poor heat emitters, somewhat transparent to radar, and the light gain on a moon so far from the sun made enlarging the visible light pictures very grainy. The dust and debris from the strikes on the planet made things even worse. What was most important was simply that they were alien.
But possibly the most important information that had been gained, was what the close range scans DIDN'T show. Although the alien nature of the base and settlement made the last conclusion uncertain, it seemed impossible for the base, settlement, or two large unarmed vessels to have facilities capable of building or maintaining the two (now) Alpha Class vessels or the base, let alone the two large vessels that had been scanned and destroyed. Somewhere, there had to be facilities capable of building and maintaining all of them.
And if a moon incapable of doing that merited two Alpha Class vessel and a defensive base station, Meagan dreaded what would guard the facilities that COULD build them....
June 30th 1500 hours/Mobile Construction Ship Zhuang, Ceres Colony, Asteroid Belt
Vice Admiral Zhu Rongji listened as the engineers aboard the Zhuang went over the work list for the coming month. All combat ships of the Tung Group would be down for one week each over the coming month. Apparently the design teams back on Earth had come up with a sensor system they felt would be able to compete with the European's. Each of his ships would have the new equipment installed as quickly as possible. The hasty nature of the work, and alterations to the ships' layouts bothered Zhu though.
The Cruiser would see some of her internal magazine space filled with the necessary equipment, and her armor was substantial enough that the arrays would make little difference in her protection. It should vastly increase her force projection if the sensors work as well as the engineers say it will.
The Missile Frigates and Attack Frigate are smaller, and internal space is at a premium in their designs. Work to fit the sensor systems internally would take months per ship out here in the belt. So a 'compromise' had been made. The engineers called it a 'field expedient' design. That would be the nice way to say 'cobbled together'.
The equipment would be housed in the space allocated to the inner most protective baffle. Instead of a gap to allow for expansion of superheated gasses and particles, it would be filled with the sensor equipment. Which meant the sensor array would be in a rather vulnerable position. The Attack Frigate mounted considerable plating and baffles and only one long range missile bay, so the long range sensors would be fairly safe, and their loss would only slightly decrease its (alas, limited) combat effectiveness. The Missile Frigates' refits had already necessitated a decrease in the number of baffles to accommodate the two long range missile bays, so the sensors on these ships would be particularly vulnerable. Loss of these new sensors would severely impact the long range combat designs.
Not having the sensors at all would leave him at a great disadvantage though. A vulnerable system was better than none at all. He signed the work orders.
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Overview
To those who noticed the big typo in June part 1, sorry and it’s fixed. (My wife has already chastised me for posting after work without allowing her to proof read.)
I will also apologies for the large number of typos in the early months. My lunch breaks & stand by time were when I wrote them, and my workstation only has WordPad - no spell check. I don't plan on going back to fix them any time soon as I would rather keep writing than fixing.
With that done, on to the meat of the month...
China had planned on going to Saturn, but successfully rolled to develop the Ya, and felt it was worth stopping the Tung Group for the refit before they left. His refit really is a desperate one, as the Zhuang can only work on 4 HS a month - so it had to be a one HS project on each ship. I OK'd the four projects for one construction complex as they wouldn't exceed capacity, and he would have to put an entire group down for two months (1 for refit, 1 for shakedown), for a really less than ideal fix. It kind of stretched the rules to let him do all this, and stop mid month, but China had been left on the back burner for a while and I figured he could use a break.
The Free Spacers also managed to develop the Ya in the same month, but were in no position to capitalize on it. The oldest girl just added it into the warship designs she was looking at and kept saving her cash (so to speak). She picked up a little extra money providing convoy escort for the Euro that month, so her mom could free up ships.
The Euro and US (my wife and oldest boy) worked together again this month - sort of. They were both sure if they went looking for their "Alpha Class" target, they would eventually find it. They were also sure it wouldn't likely be alone. Whether it would be with Chinese ships, or alien, it would probably have buddies. Neither wanted to try and take on a couple of advanced ships alone, so they teamed up. But not without friction and deceit.
Each wanted the other to bring a ship with science instruments, in case they ran into something to do with a warp point, or some other situation they would be beneficial in. The Euro wanted the US to bring the Discovery; the US wanted the Euro to bring the Red October. Neither wanted to risk their last armed science ship. So in the end neither did.
The US got a lucky random event (Crack Leader discovered), and the oldest boy asked if he could just move Jack Ryan up to BG +1. I saw no reason not to, and it furthered the story and his attachment to the character, so I ok'd it. (I must have been in a really good mood this turn.)
But my wife had the senior admiral, even if only BG +0, and wouldn't give the US the initiative roll (she wanted to be able to roll for advancement if a battle occurred, and didn't want to give the oldest boy the chance to get a BG +2 admiral if he got a lucky advancement roll). This caused more than a little grumbling, especially when the battle occurred.
The battle saw a bunch of bad rolls from all sides (Patrol CT 17 got one hit out of 8! launches, the base and CT 18 got one each before they were destroyed. At least 7 of the launches had 70% chances of hitting. The Mary QoS was BG +1 and only got one hit in 6 launches) The only lucky roller was the little EX Falcon - with three hits on CT 17 in 6 launches, most with 20% or less to hit odds. It then went on and got one last good roll and made its advance to BG +1 (which everyone thought only appropriate). First time (only time?!) I've ever seen someone do a victory dance because their EX made BG +1.
The oldest boy must have also been the one who did the most research on the sensor tables, as he made sure to get into scan distance of everything he could (the base, colony, FT's). He passed it off as wanting to use his lasers and save missiles during the fight. Afterward when mom wasn't around, he brought it up and asked for the info he wanted based on turn notes from the battle.
Notably - Tech data on Plasma Torpedo d/t base launch
Facilities on the planet (PDC, SA, RDS)
General systems on the FT's several times over - he took his time destroying them. Notably SYM
He must have been a little miffed with his mom on the admiral issue, as he shared NONE of this info.
Both I and my wife were surprised when the oldest boy decided to genocide the colony. When asked he was very straight and to the point (surprised me actually). 'They never attempted contact, always fired first, and I'm not negotiating for something that's already mine'.
For those curious for the ship designs that took part, here they are...
US Task Force 1 (Admiral Jack Ryan BG +1, Navigator)
Interceptors Mk IIa JFK , Franklin (BG -1) CT 16HS
[2]A A A H Mgs Qa Ya Lb Ra (cpCp) [6/1]
Missile Escorts Raptor , Falcon EX 7HS
[2]A Hs Qa Ra (cp) [4/1]
Pan Euro 1st Battle Group (Admiral Elizabeth Avery BG +0 - commanding)
Heavy Escort Anastasia CT 16HS
[2]A A A H Mgs Qa Ra Ra Ya (cpCp) [6/1]
Attack Escort Victoria , Mary QoS (BG +1)
[2]A A A A Hs Mgs Ya Ra Qa (Cp) [6/1]
Nemotian Patrol Group 1
Patrol Corvettes 17 , 18 CT 16HS
[2]S S A A Hs (BbS) Qa Mg Ya (cpCp) Pta [6/1] gig x3
Defense Base Mk0 #3 (BG -2) BS0 15HS
Colony Ships 3 , 4 FT4 30HS
[2]A H H A H H Qv (x15) H H H H H H H Qa (Cp) [2/1]
Once again, thanks for reading.