There was considerable recrimination within the Western Intelligence and Diplomatic communities over the loss of India to China. No one had seen the overall Chinese strategy until it was too late to do anything about it and now China was a bigger threat than ever. In hindsight, the decision to stay out of the Indo - Islamic War on the basis it posed no threat to Western interests was viewed as parochial and short-sighted. In future, the West would take a keen interest in any major conflict and take a more Chinese approach, seeking opportunities rather than merely assessing threats. With the conflict in India now over, tensions around the world gradually fell back to their pre-war level and the multitude of active sensors were deactivated
On September 20th 2022, the European archaeological team on Mars discovered details of Microwave Focusing, a key component in a weapon designed to destroy electronic systems. The information was passed on to the United States. A week later, Federation scientists completed research into increasing mining production to 14 tons per complex. They traded this new technology to Russia in exchange for geological sensors and improvements to beam fire control range and speed.
The wishes of Europe's military leaders were finally answered in early October with the design of the Invincible class destroyer. The Invincible was faster and more heavily armed than any other warship and had longer ranged fire control and active sensors. Retooling of the European shipyard would take five months, at which time two destroyers would begin construction.
Invincible class Destroyer 2800 tons 323 Crew 275.5 BP TCS 56 TH 75 EM 0
1339 km/s Armour 1-17 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 18
Annual Failure Rate: 62% IFR: 0.9% Maintenance Capacity 61 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP
Magazine 168
Nuclear Thermal Drive (3) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 32.1 billion km (277 days at full power)
S3 Missile Launcher (6) Missile Size 3 Rate of Fire 90
F120-40 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 12.0m km Resolution 40
TNM-2 (56) Speed: 11700 km/s End: 21.4 minutes Range: 15m km Warhead: 3 MR: 10 Size: 3
S120-40 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 12.0m km Resolution 40
Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m kmOn November 18th 2022, the Russian Federation became the first state on Earth to completely convert its industry to Trans-Newtonian technology. Its three hundred conventional industrial complexes had been transformed into one hundred and forty construction factories and one hundred and sixty mines. The Russian Federation also had the world's foremost fire control and sensor experts. With the threat of Agni-10s in Chinese hands the Western powers had to improve their chances of shooting down Trans-Newtonian ICBMs, which meant revisiting the technology exchange embargo in force against Russia. With the new spirit of realpolitik that pervaded Western capitals, Washington and Brussels held talks on potential technologies that could be of interest to Russia yet would not affect the strategic balance if they ultimately fell into the hands of the Asian Federation. Unfortunately, most of the technological lead of the West over Russia was in the form of weapon-related technologies, such as railguns, faster recharging capacitors or torpedoes. The only possibility was the European Union's recently completed improvement to its financial system. The United States had not yet achieved similar progress so it agreed to exchange the shield technology it was developing for the Union's financial technology. The two countries then approached Russia with a proposal to pass on the same improved wealth generation in exchange for improvements in tracking speed for beam fire controls. With the increase in production due to a completely Trans-Newtonian economy and the associated increase in costs, the Russian budget was in deficit so they agreed to the deal.
In early December the European archaeological team on Mars discovered alien technical information on mining production, allowing the EU and US mining operations to increase their efficiency to the same level as the Asian Federation. Within a few days one of the European cybernetic teams recovered an ancient installation designed to modify the Martian atmosphere. This Terraforming Installation, as it quickly became known, was put to work producing a greenhouse gas to gradually raise the temperature of Mars. Unfortunately, the two million colonists on Mars were completely inadequate for the number of recovered installations and only a skeleton crew was available. The Terraforming Installation would therefore only operate at twenty percent efficiency until more colonists were available and that would only happen once additional areas of the alien city had been restored. The Santa Maria class colony ships had sat idle for many months waiting for the cybernetic teams to locate such areas, so far without success. One option was to construct additional infrastructure on Earth and transport it to Mars but the Union lacked any type of freighter and that was likely to remain the case for at least a year. The only European shipyard was retooling for Invincible class destroyers and even after that task was completed the capacity of the shipyard would have to be increased to allow for the construction of freighters. Later the same month, the Islamic Alliance completed a new meson base and a second heavy assault division.
On January 3rd 2023, the Japanese Alliance launched a fourth Kongo class destroyer, taking its total warship strength to four, equal to the United States and the Asian Federation. At approximately the same time Russia developed nuclear thermal missile drives and began work on a Trans-Newtonian ICBM that would eventually bear the Western reporting name of the SS-29 Satan II.
SS-29 Satan II
Missile Size: 8 MSP (0.4 HS) Warhead: 10 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 6900 km/s Endurance: 14 minutes Range: 5.6m km
Cost Per Missile: 3.1667
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 69% 3k km/s 20% 5k km/s 13.8% 10k km/s 6.9%
Materials Required: 2.5x Tritanium 0.6667x Gallicite Fuel x625Economic Situation on January 3rd 2023
United States - Vice Admiral Rolf Purdom (Research 35%, Mining 15%, Shipbuilding 15%)
Population: 501m
Wealth: 9847
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3700 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 8
Conventional Industry: 155
Construction Factories: 500
Mines: 474
Ordnance Factories: 60
Fuel Refineries: 10
Maintenance Facilities: 10
European Union - Fleet Admiral Eva Tellez Pelayo (Res 30%, Prod 15%, Ship 10%, Growth 10%)
Population: 615m
Wealth: 12094
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3000 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 8
Conventional Industry: 102
Construction Factories: 477
Mines: 520
Ordnance Factories: 60
Fuel Refineries: 40
Maintenance Facilities: 6
Asian Federation - Fleet Admiral Lai Cui Zhen (Research 35%, Wealth 20%, Growth 10%, Shipbuilding 5%, Mining 5%)
Population: 2844m
Wealth: 33518
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3000 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 9
Conventional Industry: 307
Construction Factories: 400
Mines: 400
Ordnance Factories: 27
Japan – Tai-Sho Yamahata Takakazu (Research 30%, Shipbuilding 15%, Pop Growth 10%)
Population: 437m
Wealth: 4301
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 2700 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 5
Conventional Industry: 242
Construction Factories: 162
Mines: 160
Ordnance Factories: 20
Maintenance Facilities: 9
USAN – Almirante Luzia Alcoforado (Research 25%, Prod 20%, Wealth 15%, Pop Growth 15%)
Population: 503m
Wealth: 5676
Shipyard: 1 Slipway of 1000 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 3
Conventional Industry: 15
Construction Factories: 110
Mines: 160
Fuel Refineries: 15
Russian Federation – Marshal Helen Belkin (Research 30%, Prod 20%, Growth 20%, Shipbuilding 10%, Wealth 5%)
Population: 271m
Wealth: 5586
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 1500 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 4
Construction Factories: 140
Mines: 160
Fuel Refineries: 2
Islamic Alliance – Caliph Barakah Abbas (Shipbuilding 25%, Mining 20%, Growth 20%, Wealth 5%)
Population: 613m
Wealth: 6319
Conventional Industry: 42
Construction Factories: 17
Mines: 17
On February 18th 2023, the United States launched its first pair of Portland class freighters. The two ships immediately began shuttling back and forth between Earth and Mars, transporting the recovered alien installations to the United States. So far US cybernetic teams had restored a research facility, ten mines, seven automated mines, two construction factories, an ordnance factory, twenty-one thousand tons of Duranium and 1200 tons of Tritanium. A month later, the Union of South American Nations became the second state on Earth to transform its entire economy to Trans-Newtonian technology.
The Japanese Alliance deployed its fifth Kongo class destroyer in early April, giving it the strongest mobile military force in the solar system. The other powers finally started taking notice of the Japanese build up. The United States, which had become accustomed to the supremacy provided by its four Lexington class destroyers, was building a second pair of Portland class freighters and was not ready to begin an arms race with the Japanese. Nevertheless, its ship designers began considering the next generation of American warships and the new systems that would be required. The European Union had already begun construction of two 2800 ton Invincible class destroyers which had a delivery date of January 2024. The Union's senior military commanders were confident they would be more than a match for the Japanese Kongos. The Asian Federation was in the early stages of the planning process for its first missile armed warships but lacked many of the required electronic systems. As a short-term measure they laid down two more meson-armed Luda class destroyers. Although the Russian Federation was considering building a warship it had no intention of getting involved in an arms race with the larger powers while the USAN was quietly building up its economy and staying out of the way. The Islamic Alliance was bent on vengeance for its recent humiliation but did not even possess a shipyard.
On April 28th, the European Union completed its transition to Trans-Newtonian technology and the five hundred and twenty European construction factories began building a second shipyard. In early May, the US Candela Briseño Aguirre Archaeological Team found information on Mars that allowed more efficient use of infrastructure on colony worlds, reducing the cost of colonization by five percent. Two weeks later, the same team discovered further improvements in mining technology, increasing the annual production rate of US mining complexes to 16 tons. Both new technologies were passed on the European Union, which was benefiting considerably from the Mars treaty with the United States and the ever-increasing expertise of the Aguirre Archaeological Team.
The United States built two more Portland class freighters on June 29th 2023. No more Portlands were planned because of the time required to load and unload the ships. Instead, the US was developing a new cargo handling system designed to reduce the load and unload time of a Portland from ten days to two days. Once the new system was available, the four Portlands would be retrofitted. On Mars, the Missy Mandato Cybernetic Team located a further 21,000 tons of Duranium, taking the total on the planet to 42,000. With a further 2500 tons stockpiled on Earth, the United States' supply of Duranium was secure for the foreseeable future. The United States completed the conversion of its industry to Trans-Newtonian technology in August 2023. Like the European Union, the United States planned to build a second shipyard but first the US Naval Academy would be doubled in size.
After the formation of the Asian Federation, the new state continued building the Indian-designed Agni-10 ICBM. By September 2023, one hundred and twenty Agni-10s had been built, enough to equip all twelve Federation missile bases. The Federation's ordnance factories then began construction of the TL-15 Anti-Ship missile, which was the same size as the Agni-10 and had the same strength-6 warhead but sacrificed a small amount of speed to increase its range. The TL-15 could be launched from existing Chinese-designed missile bases but before India joined the Federation, its scientists had developed a launcher specifically for the Agni-10. The Asian Federation had now incorporated that launcher into a new design that was larger than any existing warship, including the two ships of the European Invincible class that were still under construction. The Jiangwei's missiles would have twice the warhead strength of any Western or Japanese missile and the ship's electronic systems were longer- ranged than those of the Bayern II, Kongo and Lexington classes and equal to those on the Invincible class. Retooling for the Jiangwei would require six months. The fifth and sixth Luda class destroyers were launched on October 24th, at which point two of the existing Ludas returned to Earth for an overhaul.
Jiangwei class Cruiser 3500 tons 408 Crew 324.5 BP TCS 70 TH 100 EM 0
1428 km/s Armour 1-20 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 24
Annual Failure Rate: 98% IFR: 1.4% Maintenance Capacity 58 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP
Magazine 224
Nuclear Thermal Engine (4) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 25.7 billion km (208 days at full power)
Agni Missile Launcher (4) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 180
J120 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 12.0m km Resolution 40
TL-15 Anti-Ship Missile (37) Speed: 8300 km/s End: 30m Rng: 14.9m km WH: 6 MR: 10 Size: 6
K120 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 12.0m km Resolution 40Even as the Asian Federation was designing its first missile-armed warship, the Japanese Alliance was laying down two improved Kongo class destroyers. The Kongo II was almost fifty percent larger than its predecessor and forty percent faster. A fifth launcher was added and the magazine capacity doubled. More importantly, the five launchers were a new model with a forty-five second reload time compared to ninety seconds for the original Kongo. The Japanese had also developed two new missiles for the Kongo II. The Kaga-3 Anti-ship Missile was an upgraded model of the Kaga-1 with the same warhead and a more powerful engine while the Kaga-2 Bombardment Missile was slower with a much larger warhead and was intended for use against ground targets. With the Asian meson cannon able to target PDCs anywhere on the surface of the Earth, the Japanese had decided to keep their deterrent safely out of range.
Kongo II class Destroyer 3000 tons 318 Crew 301.5 BP TCS 60 TH 100 EM 0
1666 km/s Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 15
Annual Failure Rate: 72% IFR: 1% Maintenance Capacity 63 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP
Magazine 215
Nuclear Thermal Engine (4) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 30.0 billion km (208 days at full power)
S3B Missile Launcher (5) Missile Size 3 Rate of Fire 45
FC75 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 7.5m km Resolution 25
Kaga-2 Bombardment Missile (10) 5000 km/s End: 50m Range: 15m km WH 6 MR 10 Size: 3
Kaga-3 Anti-Ship Missile (60) 11700 km/s End: 21.4m Range: 15m km WH 3 MR 10 Size: 3
A75 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 750 Range 7.5m km Resolution 25During the last three months of 2023, the four US Portland class freighters made five trips to Mars, during which they transported components of a research facility to Earth where they were reassembled. By the end of the year the new research facility was operational, giving the United States nine facilities to match the Asian Federation. While the European Union only had eight research facilities on Earth, they had restored three more on Mars. Unfortunately, they had no freighters to transport them to Earth and could not man them on Mars due to the restrictions on population, currently at 3.8 million. As the USA had recently developed a cargo handling system, the Portlands remained in Earth orbit so they could be converted to the new Portland II design, which would dramatically reduce their loading time.
Portland II class Freighter 3750 tons 123 Crew 152.5 BP TCS 75 TH 75 EM 0
1000 km/s Armour 1-21 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 750% IFR: 10.4% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP Max Repair 15 MSP
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5
Nuclear Thermal Engine (3) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 24.0 billion km (277 days at full power)The first two Invincible class destroyers were delivered by the European Union's main shipyard on January 5th, 2024. Invincible moved into an orbit 200,000 miles from the Earth and Charles de Gaulle headed for Mars, allowing the Bayern class ships to return home for an overhaul. Two more Invincibles were laid down. Later the same month, the United States finally responded to the military build-up by the other powers by beginning to retool its shipyard for what would be the largest spacecraft designed by any power. The Arleigh Burke class missile destroyer had eight launchers for Poseidon II missiles and a thick belt of armour that would resist heavy fire from any opponent. Its electronic suite was the equal of the latest European and Asian designs and superior to that of the Japanese.
Arleigh Burke class Missile Destroyer 4250 tons 368 Crew 402.5 BP TCS 85 TH 125 EM 0
1470 km/s Armour 4-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 16
Annual Failure Rate: 72% IFR: 1% Maintenance Capacity 118 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP
Magazine 266
Nuclear Thermal Engine (5) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 21.2 billion km (166 days at full power)
Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 60
MFC-2 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 12.0m km Resolution 40
Poseidon II (133) Speed: 7500 km/s End: 50m Range: 22.5m km Warhead: 3 MR: 10 Size: 2
AGS-2 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 12.0m km Resolution 40On March 1st 2024 the United States completed its second shipyard and immediately began expanding its capacity. Meanwhile, the Asian Federation had been investing heavily in improving its research capabilities and its research facilities were now twenty percent more productive than its rivals. It had also completed the conversion of its industry and was now working on its own second shipyard.
In July 2024, the Candela Briseño Aguirre Archaeological Team made yet another discovery, learning the secrets of High Density Duranium armour. The new armour material would allow less of a ship's mass to be devoted to the hull or alternatively provide more armour protection for the same mass. The following month European Union scientists developed nuclear pulse technology that generated sixty percent more power than nuclear thermal technology. The new technology was incorporated into an engine that would power the next generation of European spacecraft, the first of which was the Atlas class freighter. To maintain parity with the United States and the Chinese, the European Union had to start transporting installations from Mars to Earth and that required a freighter. The United States already had eleven research facilities, one of which was built on Earth and the other two transported from Mars. The European Union only had nine. In addition, infrastructure could be built on Earth and transferred to Mars, allowing a larger population. The European Space Force had a long term plan for a naval base on Mars, where ships could be maintained, and perhaps one day even constructed, away from the prying sensors of other powers.
Atlas class Freighter 3700 tons 123 Crew 176.6 BP TCS 74 TH 120 EM 0
1621 km/s Armour 1-21 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 740% IFR: 10.3% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP Max Repair 20 MSP
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5
Nuclear Pulse Engine (3) Power 40 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 24.3 billion km (173 days at full power)In October 2024, Earth's background radiation finally returned to the level of early 2022, prior to the Indo-Islamic War. The same month, Japan launched its first two Kongo II class destroyers and the European Union launched its third and fourth Invincible class destroyers. On Mars the European Union archaeological team, lead by Alexa Förster, discovered technical information that would lead to more agile missiles.
Economic and Military situation January 3rd 2025
United States - Vice Admiral Rolf Purdom (Research 35%, Mining 15%, Shipbuilding 15%)
Population: 523m
Wealth: 10458
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 4600 ton capacity, 1 Slipway of 2000 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 11
Construction Factories: 551
Mines: 555
Ordnance Factories: 62
Fuel Refineries: 60
Maintenance Facilities: 10
4x DD Lexington, 4x FT Portland, 2x GEO Spruance, 25x Missile Base
European Union - Fleet Admiral Eva Tellez Pelayo (Res 30%, Prod 15%, Ship 10%, Growth 10%)
Population: 647m
Wealth: 12943
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3900 ton capacity, 1 Slipway of 2500 tons capacity, 1 Slipway of 1000 tons
Research Facilities: 9
Construction Factories: 524
Mines: 600
Ordnance Factories: 60
Fuel Refineries: 40
Maintenance Facilities: 6
4x DD Invincible, 1x FF Bayern II, 2x FF Bayern, 4x COL Santa Maria, 2x GEO Montcalm, 1x PDC Vanguard, 10x Missile Base.
Asian Federation - Fleet Admiral Lai Cui Zhen (Research 35%, Wealth 20%, Growth 10%, Shipbuilding 5%, Mining 5%)
Population: 2920m
Wealth: 35045
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 4000 ton capacity, 1 Slipway of 1400 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 10
Construction Factories: 520
Mines: 520
Ordnance Factories: 49
Maintenance Facilities: 13
GFTF: 2
6x DD Luda, 6x PDC Jianghu, 12x Missile Base
Japan – Tai-Sho Yamahata Takakazu (Research 30%, Shipbuilding 15%, Pop Growth 10%)
Population: 462m
Wealth: 4628
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3700 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 5
Conventional Industry: 55
Construction Factories: 220
Mines: 270
Ordnance Factories: 30
Maintenance Facilities: 11
2x DD Kongo II, 5x DD Kongo, 6x Missile Base
USAN – Almirante Luzia Alcoforado (Research 25%, Prod 20%, Wealth 15%, Pop Growth 15%)
Population: 531m
Wealth: 6107
Shipyard: 2 Slipway of 1900 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 3
Construction Factories: 120
Mines: 180
Fuel Refineries: 15
Maintenance Facilities: 5
3x Missile Base
Russian Federation – Marshal Helen Belkin (Research 30%, Prod 20%, Growth 20%, Shipbuilding 10%, Wealth 5%)
Population: 290m
Wealth: 6097
Shipyard: 2 Slipways of 3300 ton capacity
Research Facilities: 4
Construction Factories: 150
Mines: 160
Fuel Refineries: 5
Maintenance Facilities: 5
1x GEO Udaloy, 3x MDS Kirov, 2x RS Krivak, 15x Missile Base
Islamic Alliance – Caliph Barakah Abbas (Shipbuilding 25%, Mining 20%, Growth 20%, Wealth 5%)
Population: 648m
Wealth: 6799
Shipyard: 1 Slipway of 1000 ton capacity
Conventional Industry: 16
Construction Factories: 28
Ordnance Factories: 9
Mines: 28
Maintenance Facilities: 1
1x PDC Hufuf, 3x Missile Base
The Asian Federation launched two 3500 ton Jiangwei class cruisers on February 9th 2025. At the time of their launch they were the largest armed spacecraft ever built, surpassing the 3000 ton Japanese Kongo II. Within six months they would be overshadowed by the 4250 ton Arleigh Burkes, under construction by the United States. The situation in near-Earth space was becoming eerily similar to the years leading up to World War I when Germany and the British Empire raced against one another to build a series of larger and more capable dreadnoughts and super-dreadnoughts.
Five days later, Earth's deposits of Corbomite ran out. This did not cause any immediate alarm as all nations had substantial stocks of the little-used mineral but it did trigger a number of investigations into the long-term resource situation. Although there were still substantial supplies of Duranium, the most commonly used mineral, several others were running out fast and different nations began to consider alternative sources of supply. However, the only body in the solar system that could be colonised relatively easily was Mars and the United States and the European Union still maintained an exclusion zone. Several countries began to suspect there were substantial mineral deposits on Mars and that was the reason for the Western blockade. The alternative to searching Mars for minerals was to build automated mines and place them in less hospitable locations. Automated mines required considerable investment so several governments, notably the Asian Federation and Japan, began examining whether building the mines or attempting to drive the Western powers from Mars would be the less expensive option.
Earth Resources
Duranium 339,328 Acc: 1
Neutronium 19,663 Acc: 0.5
Tritanium 5,537 Acc: 0.1
Boronide 13,595 Acc: 0.6
Mercassium 5,395 Acc: 0.9
Vendarite 1,926 Acc: 0.1
Sorium 41,573 Acc: 0.59
Uridium 83,921 Acc: 0.1
Corundium 15,730 Acc: 0.4
Gallicite 11,004 Acc: 0.24
On May 4th, the Russian Federation deployed its first warship, the Moskva. While smaller than the newer warships of the major powers, the Moskva relied on the superior fire control and sensor tech of the Russian Federation. Its Top Pair active sensor and Top Dome fire control system had a range of over fourteen million kilometres, twenty percent greater than any other warship, and its SS-N-32 Starburst missiles were fast, long-ranged and carried the same warhead as the primary US, European and Japanese missiles. Unlike the more numerous close-orbiting warships of the larger powers, the Moskva was dispatched into a high orbit ten million kilometres from Earth.
[Moskva class Destroyer 2500 tons 293 Crew 254.5 BP TCS 50 TH 75 EM 0
1500 km/s Armour 1-16 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 16
Annual Failure Rate: 50% IFR: 0.7% Maintenance Capacity 64 MSP Max Repair 36 MSP
Magazine 116
Nuclear Thermal Engine (3) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 36.0 billion km (277 days at full power)
OTR-90 Missile Launcher (4) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 120
Top Dome (1) Range 14.4m km Resolution 40
SS-N-32 Starburst (28) Speed: 10000 km/s End: 37.5m Range: 22.5m km WH 3 MR 10 Size: 4
Top Pair (1) GPS 1440 Range 14.4m km Resolution 40Shortly after the launch of the Moskva, the Russian Federation resumed its technology exchange with Japanese after a break of several years. Although the relationship was still frosty, both sides needed technology possessed by the other so the exchange was based on mutual benefit rather than mutual respect. The Japanese passed on technical data for improved missile warheads to the Russians in exchange for upgraded beam tracking technology.
The European Union finally deployed its first freighters at the end of May 2025. They immediately set to work transporting infrastructure to Mars and bringing home a variety of recovered alien installations. While the European Union had concentrated on building up a population on Mars, as permitted by the available infrastructure, the United States had been content to use Mars purely as a research location and a source of installations to be transported back to Earth. Even so, the US had found a considerable amount of infrastructure on Mars that would support a population of just under three million. What the US hadn't found was any maintenance facilities that could be shipped to Earth to support the growing size of US ships. With the first two Arleigh Burkes due in late June that need was becoming acute. As the European Union had restored more maintenance facilities than it needed, the two nations agreed to exchange the US infrastructure for eight European maintenance facilities. The four US freighters began moving the maintenance facilities to Earth.
Arleigh Burke and her sister ship Mitscher were delivered to the US Navy on June 29th 2025. In the months after their keels were laid, the US developed a faster firing version of their standard missile launcher so a new version of the Arleigh Burke class was designed that incorporated the new launcher. The primary shipyard of the United States would require just five weeks to retool before construction began on the next two ships.
Arleigh Burke - Flight II class Destroyer 4250 tons 368 Crew 418.5 BP TCS 85 TH 125 EM 0
1470 km/s Armour 4-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 16
Annual Failure Rate: 72% IFR: 1% Maintenance Capacity 123 MSP Max Repair 30 MSP
Magazine 266
Nuclear Thermal Engine (5) Power 25 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 21.2 billion km (166 days at full power)
Standard II Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 30
MFC-2 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 12.0m km Resolution 40
Poseidon II (133) Speed: 7500 km/s End: 50m Range: 22.5m km Warhead: 3 MR: 10 Size: 2
AGS-2 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 12.0m km Resolution 40As a result of the war with China in 2019, the Japanese Alliance had taken a very militaristic approach in terms of shipbuilding. By late October of 2025, the Alliance Space Navy had five Kongos and four Kongo IIs in service, giving it more warships than any other power. Japanese scientists were working on increasing fire control and sensor range for the next generation warship, which would be a variant of the Kongo II. The Japanese private sector had become concerned about the lack of emphasis on long-term economic planning, particularly as Earth had recently run out of a second mineral - Vendarite. Because of this concern, a consortium of Japanese corporations constructed a civilian space centre and built a geological survey ship, based on a proposed future design for the Japanese military. To avoid causing an international incident, at least for the moment, the Japanese issued an edict that Mars and its moons were out of bounds to all traffic, military and civilian. It remained to be seen whether the survey ship would comply. Initially, it surveyed the Moon and then headed for Venus.
In November, the European Union laid down its first non-missile warship. The Trafalgar class was the fastest spacecraft even built and had nine 10cm Advanced Railguns that could generate a volley of forty-five small projectiles every ten seconds. Although its primary function was to provide a close-range defence against missile attack, it would be a formidable opponent at close range. The Trafalgar was being built in the Blohm & Voss shipyard, a secondary yard with a single slipway of 3800 tons capacity. The primary BAE Systems yard was building the fifth and sixth Atlas class freighters. A third European shipyard, Chantiers de l'Atlantique, had two slipways of 1000 tons but had not yet begun building any ships.
Trafalgar class Destroyer Escort 3750 tons 493 Crew 297.6 BP TCS 75 TH 240 EM 0
3200 km/s Armour 1-21 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 27
Annual Failure Rate: 112% IFR: 1.6% Maintenance Capacity 50 MSP Max Repair 20 MSP
Nuclear Pulse Engine (6) Power 40 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 24.0 billion km (86 days at full power)
10cm Advanced Railgun (9x5) Range 10,000km TS: 3200 km/s Power 3-2 RM 1 ROF 10
Railgun Tracking System (1) Max Range: 20,000 km TS: 3200 km/s
Pebble Bed Reactor (6) Total Power Output 18 Armour 0 Exp 5%
SR Missile Detection System (1) GPS 10 Range 100k km Resolution 1On November 22nd, the civilian Japanese geological survey ship completed a survey of Mercury and set a direct course for Mars. The ship was emitting a transponder signal that was visible to every sensor in the Sol system so the militaries of all the major powers were immediately aware of its intention. The ambassadors of the United States and the European Union visited the Japanese prime minister and representatives of the other nations within the Japanese-led alliance and reminded them that their two nations had declared an exclusion zone around Mars. Although privately the Japanese prime minister fervently wished the geo survey ship had abided by his government's restrictions, he informed the ambassadors that the ship was civilian-built and the Japanese government had no authority to prevent it traveling wherever it wanted to. In addition, he stated that the Japanese administration believed the exclusion zone set up by the West was illegal and therefore could not legally halt the geological survey even if he wanted to.
After conferring with their respective governments, the ambassadors returned and explained to the Prime Minister that there was no way for the EU and US to tell if the ship was civilian-owned or part of the Alliance Space Navy. In any event, any ship, whatever its origins, approaching Mars would be fired upon. They reminded the Prime Minister of the Incident in 2021 when the Russian survey ship Udaloy was damaged as it attempted to breach the exclusion zone. Although no lives were lost on that occasion and the Udaloy was not seriously damaged, the ambassadors could not guarantee a similar outcome if a similar incident took place.
To emphasize their seriousness, the United States and the European Union redeployed their forces in case the Japanese decided to force the issue. The United States had the Lexington class destroyer Yorktown in orbit of Mars while the Lexington, Arleigh Burke and the Mitscher were in Earth orbit. Saratoga and Valley Forge were both undergoing an overhaul. Confident that its missile bases would guard against any hostile action close to Earth, the United States sent all three ships from Earth orbit to join Yorktown at Mars. The European Union had the Invincible class destroyers Charles de Gaulle and Admiral Lutjens in Mars orbit, the destroyer Giulio Cesare and the frigates Rome and Bayern in Earth orbit and the destroyer Invincible and the frigate Madrid under overhaul. Giulio Cesare was dispatched to join her two sister ships at Mars while the two frigates remained in a 100,000 kilometer orbit of Earth.
It would take sixty hours for the geological survey ship to arrive at Mars so the government of the Japanese Alliance went into emergency session to decide on a course of action. All four Kongo IIs and three Kongos were available with two more Kongos in overhaul. The officers of the Alliance Space Navy were confident their ships could match the United States and the European Union if it came to a fight and believed that with the probable exception of the latest two American ships, their warships were individually superior. While welcoming the confidence of their military, several members of the cabinet urged caution, concerned that even a victorious battle would weaken them severely, opening up the possibility of a Chinese attack. The more hawkish members suggested a military escort for the survey ship, believing that a show of strength alone would end the Western blockade. They argued that the West would not go to war for the sake of mineral deposits on Mars when there were likely to be many other sources of minerals within the solar system. A third faction urged the Prime Minister to send Japanese warships to intercept the survey ship well short of Mars and avoid a confrontation.
The Prime Minister had already contacted the Japanese consortium responsible for the survey ship but they insisted the ship was unable to communicate and could not be warned off. Whether that was true or not no one in the government or the military could tell but the ship was ignoring all hails, whatever their source. Twenty-four hours after the incident began, the survey ship was just outside the orbit of Mercury, having passed close to the Sun after surveying Mercury on the far side. The remaining 164 million kilometers to Mars would require 36 hours. To maintain their options until they decided on a firm course of action, the cabinet decided to send the seven available Japanese warships towards Mars. The Western allies, seeing the departure of the Japanese ships from Earth orbit, were becoming very concerned that a major battle might be hours away.
With the Japanese warships almost halfway to Mars, the Japanese cabinet reached a decision on how to proceed. Rather than escort the civilian ship straight into a confrontation, the Japanese government issued a statement that they supported free movement of shipping anywhere within the solar system. However, if any government decided to attack or interdict ships in international space, the Japanese Alliance would withdraw that support and would regard any foreign shipping as a legitimate target for seizure or attack. In other words, if the Western powers attacked the Japanese survey ship, the Japanese would attack the European and US freighters and colony ships traveling between Earth and Mars. This satisfied the Japanese hawks who saw the move as a retaliation against Western threats while the more conciliatory cabinet members regarded it as exerting strong diplomatic pressure without resorting to an immediate confrontation.
Unfortunately for the future of global stability, the Western powers had far more to hide on Mars than the Japanese suspected. While substantial mineral deposits, which had become the internationally accepted reason for the exclusion zone, might not have provided sufficient justification for triggering an international crisis, the alien ruins with their wealth of undiscovered technology and numerous abandoned alien installations were a prize worthy of concealment. After hearing the Japanese statement the European Union recalled its cargo fleet, which had recently left Earth for Mars, and held its colony ships at the Red Planet. The US freighters were already in near Earth orbit.
The main Japanese fleet halted sixteen million kilometers from Mars, outside of Western sensor range and waited for the survey ship to arrive. The other powers began preparing for a possible confrontation. The two Jiangwei class cruisers of the Asian Federation left Earth orbit for deep space, ensuring they were out of sensor range, while the single Russian warship maintained its ten million kilometer orbit with engines powered down to a minimum to avoid thermal detection.
The civilian geo survey ship continued toward Mars despite repeated warnings from the allied warships and at 18:58 on November 24th the European Invincible class destroyer Admiral Lutjens fired a salvo of six TNM-2 anti-ship missiles. The missiles were traveling at 11,700 km/s and the small survey ship at 1250 km/s. All six struck their target. The sensor blip of the survey ship vanished abruptly to be replaced shortly thereafter by life pod beacons. Admiral Lutjens moved into rescue survivors and found only seventeen from a crew of ninety-three. The President of the European Union personally informed the Japanese Prime Minister of the incident and promised that the survivors would be repatriated once the European destroyer returned to Earth. He expressed deep regret that the ship had ignored so many warnings and hope that relations between Japan and the West would recover in time. The Prime Minister was in no mood to hear European platitudes and warned the President that Japan would ensure the destruction of a defenceless civilian survey ship did not go unpunished.
to be continued...
Steve
