Aurora 4x
Fiction => Aurora => Bryan's Fiction => Topic started by: Bryan Swartz on August 05, 2013, 01:04:49 AM
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** OOC Author's Note:**
First things first -- this is a 'community game'. That has so many meanings, it's probably best understood as a 'sign-up game'. It was originally intended for another forum where I have long desired to introduce people to the awesomeness of Aurora, and after some considerable amount of test games(I'm still a newbie and pretty much suck but I think I've got a handle of most of the basic mechanics now) I felt I was ready to start one. And then I thought, why not include the official Aurorians in the process?
The setup is pretty basic, a slightly nerfed conventional start. , United Earth 2025. WWIII having decimated the population after the discovery of the TN elements, a new laughable named agency was formed to head up the remaining fraction of the world's population: SPACE(Strategic Planning Agency for Collective Endeavor).
So, as a sign-up game, it pretty much works like this: to allow more interaction and give readers another reason to follow the story, should they choose, I'll be accepting applications to the GLTC(Global Leadership Training Academy). Successful applicants must supply:
Career Path(Naval Officer, Ground Forces Officer, Scientist, Civilian Administrator)
First Name
Last Name
Gender
Beginning when an appropriate recruit graduates from the academy, I'll post periodic updates on the career arc of each who choose to participate(one per person, for the sake of my sanity and keeping the game moving -- although I'm a slowish methodical player anyway). When one dies/retires/is the victim of an 'accident', a new one(child? nephew? or not) may be put in the queue. Some limited decision-making, based on the rank/situation of the character, is also possible and part of my plans.
I'll be posting the story of humanity's efforts in space here as my own humble contribution regardless, but I've found this kind of thing can help keep interest going(for myself as well as the readership).
I hope you enjoy, and feel free to join the fun if and when you wish!
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I'll take a naval officer, name him Joseph Clark.
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Naval Officer, Jay Cin, Male.
Hope this goes well.
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Naval officer, I name him Ling Hu Zhong. btw, you have my permission to make him like a fool or make him a great hero. Up to you.
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Ken Mckay, Naval Officer.
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Scientist, Karabishi Juishao, Female
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Thanks all for joining!
Your beginning facts and assignments . . .
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark
Age: 24
Commissioned: Jan 1st, 2022
Current Assignment: None
Fleet Movement Initiative: 171
Bonuses: Factory Production(25%), Fighter Combat(10%)
Personality Traits: Conservative, Poor Family, Subjective, Unforgiving
Promotion Score: 111(18th out of 20 Lt Cmdr)
Yes, that's just what we need, a fighter pilot who knows a lot about factory production?!? Perhaps LT Clark chose the wrong career . . . ;)
Cmdr. Jay Cin
Age: 27
Commissioned: Jan 1st, 2019
Current Assignment: None
Fleet Movement Initiative: 168
Bonuses: Logistics(30%), Mining(20%), Survey(10%), Intelligence(10%)
Personality Traits: Faith in others, good motivator, Motivated
Promotion Score: 390(6th of 7 Cmdr)
Lt. Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong
Age: 24
Commissioned: Jan 1st, 2022
Current Assignment: None
Fleet Movement Initiative: 284
Bonuses: Crew Training(25), Factory Production(25%), Fighter Combat(10%), Mining(10%), Fighter Operations(10%)
Personality Traits: Conscientious, Delegates Easily, Methodical, Subjective
Promotion Score: 250(5th out of 20 Lt Cmdr)
Lt. Cmdr. Ken McKay
Age: 25
Commissioned: Jan 1st, 2021
Current Assignment: None
Fleet Movement Initiative: 183
Bonuses: Survey(15%), Fighter Operations(15%)
Personality Traits: Good judge of character, Impatient, Motivated
Promotion Score: 345(3rd out of 20 Lt. Cmdr. )
Unfortunately, scientist Karabishi Juishao has been placed on the waiting list. The RNG was not kind -- we have six scientists, all of them male.
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If it's not too late to join I'll take a Ground Forces Officer: Benjamin Berkley. My internet usage can be a bit sporadic, so feel free to do as you wish with him if you don't hear from me.
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SPACE HQ
Jan 1st, 2025
Be careful what you ask for . . .
Earth's new governor-elect Lena Dungey could not help but consider her place in history, fragile though it was, looking around at her new office. She had barely won with 29. 6% of the vote over three 'more qualified' men, including rival Terrence Forson who was the choice of over 28% and whose help she would need now. Humanity would now look to her as the first director of SPACE and leader of a new more peaceful and prosperous future in what was already being called the 'Trans-Newtonian Age'.
500 million souls. So many problems faced them. Nearly half(44+ million) of the manufacturing sector had no work. The miners were busy, but for all the excitement about the newly discovered TN minerals, it would not take long to exhaust their supply. The report she held just now indicated tritanium was the most plenteous, but also was so difficult to get to that not much would be recovered. The fact that it wouldn't run out for almost 600 years was of little consequence as a result. Corbomite and vendarite were equally inaccessible.
Other minerals were easier to find, and would run out quickly. In less than a generation, all of the neutronium, boronide, and corundium were projected to be exhausted -- eight minerals would be gone within her lifetime more than likely. While there was nothing she could do about it directly now, she looked around the room at Forson, Jayson Riese, and Slick Willie, and made it clear to all of them that humanity's number one priority was finding supplies beyond Earth. This world would not be humanity's sole home long into the future. If hadn't found and prepared to begin exploiting veins elsewhere in the solar system within a decade, SPACE will have grievously and perhaps fatally failed humankind.
Discussion of the direction of research was very short. It was obvious that not enough was known about the TN materials, potential uses, chemical properties, what new industries or manufacturing techniques might be gleaned from them. Other than the fact that they existed and had exotic properties, little else was certain. Dr. Deacon Palmer was clearly the foremost expert in matters of physical materials, and he was given carte blanche with the five research complexes and corresponding millions of support staff at SPACE's disposal to find practical applications, and find them quickly. Even preliminary findings were expected to take nearly four years, the initial target date being the summer of 2028.
It was also clear that the military, though what use it might be in the new age was unclear, needed more leadership. The Navy needed several more staff officers to be prepared for a proper command structure to be in place when needed, and the Army had three of it's fifteen battalions, limited as they were, operating without proper commanders as it was, to say nothing of any future growth.
Director-Governor Dungey's final order of her first day on the job then, was for the industrial sector to work on expanding the academy and ramping up recruitment of the best and brightest to serve in human armed forces. It was the Roman Cicero who said wisely centuries ago, "If you want peace, prepare for war. " Peace was indeed mankind's desire after so much destruction, but it could not be assumed that wish was even possible. Was space empty, or were there even greater threats in it's unimaginably vast expanse? The former conclusion was assumed by many, but as with all assumptions, it was dangerous and unprovable.
Thus the human race moved cautiously into a new era. Lena would not sleep well for some time.
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Wobbly -- it's never too late to join! You've been added to the waiting list -- I don't expect it will be that long. Since I've started the game at this point, you'll get the next guy out of the academy :).
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?AS THE SOLAR SYSTEM TURNS . . .
Such events happen all the time, but it somehow seemed significant that by the third day of the year the comet Crommelin had rounded the Sun and was on it’s long journey back towards the outer reaches of the known system. By summer it was passing through the Kuiper Belt, continuing on it’s 27-year journey. Whipple headed off in the other direction, while Faye and Wolf-Harrington were nearing the end of their latest trip. Such is the rhythm of the universe.
Administrative staff occupied themselves with relatively small goings-on . . . a new promising naval officer was commissioned, without knowing for certain if there’d ever be a ship for her to captain. Captain Louis Meola, Survey Staff Officer, soon developed a serious medical problem and doctors reports came across Dungey’s desk on a daily basis. And there was the long wait –
what would happen with Dr. Palmer’s research team?
Lt. Cmdr. Lucius Patino seems more interested in cultivating political allies than anything else, which may be a wise strategy in these times, positioning himself for future action if there is opportunity.
** January 2026 -- Col. Benjamin Berkeley is commissioned and given command of the 9th Low Tech Infantry Battalion. His notable skills are in Xenology(25%) and Ground Combat(15%). He has the cautious, many social interests, and cold manner traits, and immediately ranks 1st among 12 active Colonels, making him a prime candidate for quick promotion.
** May 2026 – Col. Woodrow Husar’s commission gives the last of the battalions a qualified commander. Naval staff officers is still a severe shortage and will be for years.
2027 BI-ANNUAL REPORT
The population on earth has grown to 522. 8 million, staying steady at about 2. 5% per year, although it's dropping just slightly. The expansion to the academy is set to finish in about two months, and for now one expansion seems that it will be sufficient. And we still have a year and a half or thereabouts remaining waiting for Dr. Deacon Palmer's report.
** Normally I'll put an update here with the position of the various officers and leaders, but as time is running short for the moment I'll post that this evening.
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CHARACTER UPDATES
as of January 1, 2027, current game date
** Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark is 19th out of 23 Lieutenant Commanders. He has failed to distinguish himself even compared to most raw recruits coming out of the Academy.
** Cmdr. Jay Cin ranks 7th out of 8 Commanders. He has paid no attention to 'knowing the right people' and does not appear to have improved his actual performance either in simulations.
** Lt. Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong is 7th out of 23. He has been superior at least to most of the new recruits.
** Lt. Cmdr. Ken McKay ranks 5th.
** Lt. Cmdr. Benjamin Berkeley ranks 2nd out of 14 Colonels, which gives him the distinction of being the lowest-regarded officer to command an armour battalion, the 15th Low-Tech. Not bad at all for a recent graduate . . .
** Karabishi Juishao continues to bide her team in the Academy. One more scientist has been appointed, but there are still no women researchers. Charges of sexism are beginning to be whispered . . .
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The next recruit out of the naval academy if you please :)
Just because I like surprises, I'll take a gender neutral name, and should cut down on wait, heh, not like I'm concerned. How about Sam Baker.
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?3. 3. 2027 – Military Academy finished. For the next year-plus, the miners are charged with stockpiling as many minerals as they can, pending completion of the Palmer team’s research.
In September, Mitchell Aull, a master of the political game, is promoted to Captain and assigned to Fleet HQ as the Intelligence Officer. Three of the seven staff positions there are now filled.
Late March 2028 – As the team was approaching the time to work on their final report, Dr. Deacon Palmer was noted to have increased his expertise markedly in Construction & Production as a result of his work on the project(now a 15% bonus). Although there isn’t enough time left for it have a huge impact, this is expected to accelerate the reports’ arrival by about two weeks.
July 11th, 2028 – The Palmer team’s report was delivered to SPACE HQ the previous night, and this day(and many to come as well) would be spent poring over it.
Lena Dungey and the three deputy directors soon lost their powers of speech, able only to gurgle and blink and grunt in response to what they found. The high-level summary of the report detailed an unbelievable finding and two inescapable conculsions:
** The TN minerals were more revolutionary than anyone had imagined, or could have. Their properties were so revolutionary that:
** Earth’s economy was obsolete. Not merely parts of it. All of it, in it’s entirety. A complete conversion would be required to take advantadge of the fact that
** New technologies in all fields, previously unconsidered and un-thought of, would now be possible.
ECONOMIC RESTRUCTURING
The present economic paradigm was based on large-scale factories which could be adjusted to whatever needed to be built. In order to unlock the potential of TN technology, this way of doing things had to go. The Palmer report detailed the need for dedicated facilities that specialized in a particular branch of manufacturing, taking advantadge of the amazing properties of the new minerals. An astounding increase was possible in what was possible to produce:
** 10-fold increase in mining output from converting factories to mines
** 20-fold increase with conversions to refineries
** 10-fold increase for conversions to either multi-purpose construction factories, ordnance factories, or fighter factories(not that there is any immediate use for the latter pair)
It was clear that whatever was decided, this conversion was absolutely necessary and would need to be a major focus of efforts in the coming years.
In addition, there were many more types of facilities possible. New, modern research labs could be built; orbital shipyards of either commercial or naval focus: automated mines which would require no labor at all, freeing up the work force for other tasks, and many others which would have no imminent value but helpful potentially down the line.
It is clear that it will be rarely if ever that the factories sit idle in the future as they have for over a year . . .
NEW TECHNOLOGIES
The expansion of research possibilities was similar in scale. TN technology provided the possibility of not just a revolutionized present: rather, that was merely the tip of the iceberg. In broad terms, the Palmer report outlined the following areas of potential advancement:
** Rudimentary terraforming possibilities, based either on orbiting vessels or land-based installations
** Potential increases in the efficiency of all manner of production above the incredible gains already described
** Future abilities to mine asteroids or convert fuel from the gases in the upper atmospheres of gas giants
** Improved materials for better armor, and the possibility of kinetic shields on spacecraft
** Space-based weapons of several varieties of significant reach and potential damage, several orders of magnitude beyond the only current try(ICBMs). Some had a ballistic base, others were based on focused energy
** A wide variety of specialized modules for potential spacecraft, including cryogenic transport for colonizing other worlds, advanced cargo and storage systems, orbital habitats, salvaging any derelict spacecraft that might potentially be encountered, and many more
** Improved power-generating technology to allow significant amounts to be produced in small enough size to be useful on a starship
** Higher power output and efficiency than current engine technology could allow for
** Improved sensors optimized for space of various types
** Scanners that could detect mineral deposits and/or gravitational anomalies
** Etc.
Like the Manufacturing Ministry, Reserach & Development had no lack of options to consider.
All of this left Dungey and the three deputy directors quite overwhelmed. They needed to move immediately, but weren’t quite sure what the right direction was, so Dungey ordered the Manufacturing Ministry to concentrate half it’s efforts on upgrading the factories, another quarter each to converting some to mines and some to fuel refineries. That would get some progress moving and hold down demand for action while a more detailed long-term plan was formed over the rest of the month. As for the research team, the top priority had been and still was to find TN minerals beyond Earth. Unfortunately none of the top scientists had particularly noteworthy knowledge of sensors and the associated instruments, so the most talented overall – Dr. Wayne Sabagh – was tapped to lead a team investigating ship-mounted geological scanning packages. All 5 laboratories were tasked over to this effort for the time being, which was expected to take until next May.
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SPACE HQ
August 1, 2028
Executive Order of Director Lena Dungey -- For Immediate Release
Strategic Development Plan
** The Manufacturing Ministry will focus half of our industrial output on converting to the more modern and specialized facilities. Initially, 34% will work on converting 715 of our 1000 units to construction factories; 1% on converting 10 to fighter factories; 3% on converting 50 to Ordnance Factories; 8% on converting 150 to Mines; and 4% on converting 75 to Fuel Refineries. When one of these projects is completed, the remaining capacity will be re-allocated among the uncompleted projects until the entire conversion is complete, but the ratio is designed to allow all of them to complete as close to the same time as possible.
This should result in a more than 7-fold increase to general purpose production, 50% increase in fuel and mineral extraction, and allow a modest but significant ability to produce ammunition and fighters should they be needed. This conversion is expected to take nearly 40 years(Sept. 2066) at current levels of production(1 facility has already been converted and is operating well at the new TN standard as a construction factory), but should accelerate quickly as more and more of the conversion is completed.
** The remaining 50% will be divided into the two most critical needs of new production: more research labs, and an initial shipyard for general exploration and transport vessels. Each of these will require nearly nine years at current levels, but should see the same benefits of increased construction rate as the economic conversion proceeds.
** Given that the geological sensors are expected to be ready several years ahead of the time when there will be a shipyard available to build a ship that can use them, the decision has been made to divide our research efforts for the time being. Dr. Sabagh will retain two of the five labs for his work(this should still allow him to complete the project in a bit under two years, well ahead of it's usefulness). With resources always a concern, Dr. Santo will oversee a single lab investigating ways of improving fuel efficiency, Dr. Palmer will oversee a project aimed at improving the speed of construction yet further, and Dr. Grimmett will be developing a larger fuel storage module aiming at eventually increasing the range of potential ships.
** For his team's monumental and unprecedented contribution at this critical moment in human history, Dr. Deacon Palmer has been awarded the title of 'Pioneer' for his part in revolutionizing human civilization.
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With that many factories and that amount of mines, you will far outpace your mineral output, leading to some serious shortages. I'd suggest equalizing the amount mines and factories, then give whatever's left to ordnance, fuel, and fighter factories.
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August/Sept. 2028(I lost my specifics on this one -- Sam Baker is commissioned. Crew Training 50, Fleet Movement Initiative 109, and he's a skilled young man with lots of abilities. 25% Xenology, 15% Fighter Operations, 15% Terraforming, 10% Political Reliability, 10% Fighter Combat, 10% Intelligence. He also seems to be a bit confused, described variously as Dynamic, Innovative, having many social interests, and having no outside interests. He ranks up to 2nd among LTC's immediately ...
BI-ANNUAL REPORT, 2029
2029 Election Results: Lena Dungey will be back for another term as Governor of Earth, in a bit of a surprise. It was thought that with the outcry from the manufacturing sector(unemployment there is continuing to climb, now at 49.4%) that a change in leadership might appease them. Nevertheless, Dungey is back for a second term and has made some adjustments to account for this.
As painful as it is to do, the new research labs have become a lower priority, reduced from 25% to 10% of available factory space. 10% will go to new construction factories, and the final 5% to speed up work on the shipyard.
At present the economic conversion is set to finish in April 2064(already two-plus years has been chopped off the time) and is just under 1% completed. Dr. Sabagh’s research into geological sensors is slated to finish in July of 2030, with the new shipyard reaching completion in June 2035. For at least the next couple of years, Dungey’s main job will be monitoring the situation and making needed adjustments, but no major devolopments seem imminent.
?Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark – 21st out of 30 Lieutenant Commanders
Cmdr. Jay Cin – 7th out of 10
Lt. Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong – 6th of 30
Lt. Cmdr. Ken McKay – 4th, staying just out of range of a promotion consistently ...
Lt. Cmdr. Sam Baker – 2nd
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 3rd out of 20, he’s been surpassed by some talented recruits
recently, and reassigned to the 2nd Low Tech Infantry Battalion
Karbishi Juishao – Waiting, and waiting, and ...
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Thanks for the suggestion. There aren't enough resources on earth to really justify more mines on this point, when I reach that kind of problem I'll probably just cut back on the conversions but I'm hoping to have more minerals coming in from off-world to supplement sooner rather than later.
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August 2029 – A scientist had to retire due to medical problems, following up a training accident and another medical issue costing two naval officers earlier in the year. Is this just coincidence, or is somebody or something sabotaging the leadership?
Early March ‘30 – Sam Baker is promoted to Commander ...
July 11th, 2030 – Wayne Sabagh’s research team has completed work on the geological survey sensor.
With the shipyard less than four years away from completion, it’s time to work on designing a ship capable of using it.
Dr. Ignacio Bravo takes a few months, until late September, to complete work on a prototype of a large, fuel-efficient engine, and the design is finalized. The Essex-class Geological Survey Vessel is the first human starship design and is capable of 68km/s, a similar speed to the Voyager probes from half a century previous which maxed out at 93 km/s. It is a 3,650-ton vessel requiring 55 crew and possessing a range of 5.5 billion km.
A little over three years yet remains before the shipyard will be finished and construction can commence(current projections are for January 2034).
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A note. You are going to run into a major problem with your current plan; you won't be able to construct wi all your factories, because your mines aren't going to be able to supply the demand.
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JacenHan mentioned that, and when that point starts approaching I'll cut back on converting them(unless I have another source of minerals first).
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?2031 BI-ANNUAL REPORT
Population: 570m, 58.6m unemployed and rising
Fuel: 6.65m liters
Economic Conversion: 8.2% completed(June 2054)
Shipyard: 40% completed(November 2033)
Research Lab: 17% completed(February 2043)
Mineral Stockpiles: Tritanium is the biggest concern, all of the others continue to rise. Tritanium is holding steady at just under 500 tons, there’s still 114k tons left to be mined but progress will be slow due to the very low accessibility. Meanwhile the boronide veins are projected to be depleted in less than five and a half years, though that’s not really as bad as at sounds given that it isn’t being used for anything yet.
In September the research teams of Dr. Brandon Grimmett(a larger fuel tank module) and Dr. Santo Makar(increased fuel efficiency techniques) are due to present their reports, with the other two ongoing projects still three or more years away.
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark – 26th out of 36
Cmdr. Jay Cin – 8th out of 12
Lt. Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong – 7th
Cmdr. Ken McKay – 12th
Cmdr. Sam Baker – 3rd
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 2nd out of 5, CO 3rd Low Tech Infantry Battalion
Karabishi Juishao – still waiting ...
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What is the other site you're posting on btw, if you don't mind me asking?
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Nope I don't mind. It's FOFC(Front Office Football Central), which is part of the Operation Sports community. Long story but basically I used to be an amateur programmer/semi-volunteer customer service & moderator for a company making sports simulations which, despite good intentions, never went much of anywhere(Wolverine Studios). I got involved in the FOFC as part of my work with Wolverine promoting the products I was involved in, and the rest is sort of history.
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?September 16th, 2031 – Dr. Grimmett’s research team completes a prototype for a large fuel storage tank. The space is given to Dr. Palmer’s team(construction speed) to accelerate their progress.
September 25th – Dr. Matar’s team announces new techniques have been discovered which permit a 10% increase in fuel efficiency across the board. His team gets to work on a new engine prototype incorporating these ideas.
November – Tritanium stockpiles have gradually declined, only by a few tons this year but it seems to be increasing. Some(4%) of the industrial capacity is switched from factory conversion to mine conversion to begin addressing this shortfall.
November 6th – The new engine is ready and is incorporated into the Essex and Lexington designs. The range of the Essex class ships is now 6.2b km. Dr. Makar begins work on increasing engine power, and Dr. Grimmett starts a new project aimed at improving the storage capacity for maintenance supplies on starships.
Jan 2032 – Another review of the mineral situation shows the tritanium stockpile has stabilized again, so the new allocations will hold for the time being.
May 2032 – Tritanium is beginning to decline again, so a new larger adjustment is made.
?December 2032 – Sam Baker develops a significant long-term health problem
2033 BI-ANNUAL REPORT
Space has a new Director as the by-laws require Lena Dungey to step down for at least one term after two consecutive tours, and it probably would have happened anyway due to her declining health. 29-year-old Slick Willie was the landslide choice to replace her. He is expected to focus more on factory production and population growth, less on shipbuilding efficiency and mining, in general.
Population: 595.1m(63.5m unemployed)
Economic Conversion: 16.1% completed, which has been enough to well over double production.
Shipyard: almost 90% completed
Research Lab: one-third completed
Mining Report -- All mineral stockpiles are increasing at least marginally. Deposits of boronide(just over 4 years) as well as neutronium and corundium(a little under 7 years each) are becoming critical. With sorium production still significantly outpacing our ability to refine it and 1.27m liters being refined each year(9m now in storage and rising), fuel is not expected to become a concern anytime soon.
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark -- 36th out of 46
Cmdr. Jay Cin -- 10th out of 15
Lt. Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong -- 8th
Cmdr. Ken McKay -- 14th
Cmdr. Sam Baker -- 5th
Col. Benjamin Berkeley -- 3rd out of 27, CO 4th Low Tech Infantry Battalion
Karabishi Juishao -- you know the drill
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?May 21st, 2033 – Another historic day for humanity as the orbital shipyard P&A Group is completed. It can build vessels of up to 10,000 tons, well over twice the size of the Essex and Lexington class ships. The slipway is prepped and construction begins on the GEV Marc Aaronson immediately, to be completed sometime in late February of 2034.
Some of the newly-freed-up factory capacity is used to begin a Ground Forces Training Facility, some goes to speed up work on the research lab.
?Feb. 2034 – Karabishi Juishao is commissioned(finally!!) – Admin rating of 4, 10% bonus in Missiles &
Kinetic Weapons(a low priority field right now, but we have no skilled scientists there so she should be able to get some work from time to time). Personality traits are Innovative and Problem-Solver, which seems quite appropriate.
March 1st, 2034 – The GEV Marc Aaronson is another first for mankind, a vessel built in an orbital shipyard and intended for extended manned missions in space. The honor of the first command goes to Commander Leota Schnepel who is something of a prodigy. Schnepel was commissioned just over two years ago in Dec. 2031, and her innovative approaches to training have seen her rise through the ranks quickly.
Her orders are to take the Marc Aaronson on something of a shakedown cruise, testing the geosensor suites on the dozen known asteroids in the inner system(Mars orbit or closer to the Sun). If all goes well there, the moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars will be the next phase.
The closest target was Itokawa, a very typical ball of rock 2km wide, and the Marc Aaronson soon set a course for it. Meanwhile, the P&A Group shipyard began retooling to build a pair of Lexington-class shuttle transports. It would take almost two months.
The journey to Itokawa was about 53m km, and the Marc Aaronson arrived on station just after midnight on the 10th of March – it had taken a week and a half. Finding nothing there, they moved on to Apollo, and on the 6th of April reached Apollo and reported back – minerals found!
It was a small deposit, a few hundred tons of Corbomite and Tritanium, both easily accessible.
There wasn’t anything we could do with this information – we don’t have the technology to mine asteroids yet, which requires a specialized ship and module designed just for that purpose. But this was evidence that the Marc Aaronson’s sensors were working. On it continued its mission to the other ten asteroids.
April 2034 – Ling Hu Zhong’s political connections have improved(10%)
April 20 – Retooling at the P&A Group yard is complete and the first Lexington-class is begun. It is expected to take just over three months.
June – Dr. Ignacio Bravo’s team has completed work on a lower-power, higher-fuel efficiency technology for engines. He begins work on a new project for Cryogenic Transport. Clearly it will be necessary at some point to exploit whatever resources we find with off-world colonies, and we need some way to effectively transport significant number of colonists over extended distances.
July – Dr. Grimmett’s team has completed maintenance storage research. They move on to the equal boring cargo handling systems. Later in the month, Dr. Palmer’s team completes work on construction techniques, and finds an impressive 20% increase in speed of production! He gets back to work immediately, this time working on Shipyard Operations.
July 28th – The ST Valencia, first of the Lexington class, is completed. A second Lexington is begun, and Commander Claudio Offutt is assigned to the Valencia.
Sep. 9th – The asteroid survey is complete. The Marc Aaronson has been in operation for six months, and used up only about a sixth of it’s fuel. Cmdr. Schnepel also reports a 3% increase in crew operating efficiency in that time. Only the small deposits on Apollo were found, which is not encouraging – but there is no reason to believe that the sensors are malfunctioning at all.
Now it is time for the acid test. Governor-Director Willie makes a personal appeal to Cmdr. Schnepel, making it clear that she WILL find significant deposits on the moon or the inner planets ... or else. Off to Luna first.
From roughly Mars orbit it was almost a two-week journey if the earth stood still, which in fact it was already moving away from them. The asteroids had taken hours at most to scan, but none of them were larger than 6km diameter – the moon is hundreds of times that size, and took over a week for the Marc Aaronson to get complete readouts.
In the middle of the afternoon on September 30th came the news – Luna was barren. SPACE was not amused. They had to begin considering the fact that perhaps the Earth was nearly unique. What if they couldn’t find significant deposits of TN minerals anywhere else? Humanity could be stuck on a ravaged world with no real future, the technology to advance into space but not the supplies to do it with. Such a thing was terrifying – but very possible.
Venus was up next. The Marc Aaronson arrived on station on October 12th, and the sensors churned out an estimate of over three weeks to survey the planet which is nearly the size of earth itself(though much less inviting to humans). On the morning of the 25th came back the full report:
Several TN minerals present!
This was received to much rejoicing. Director Willie congratulated the Marc Aaronson and her commander on their fine work – though he swallowed hard when he saw some of the details.
The size of the finds were simply astonishing ... millions of tons each! But approximately 2 million tons of sorium, similar amounts of corundium, 13 million neutronium, and an obscene nearly thirty million tons of vendarite were extremely inaccessible and extracting significant amounts of them from such an inhospitable world would be virtually impossible. It wasn’t all bad news though – 50% accessible Duranium was available to the tune of nearly 15 million tons ... that alone made it worth the effort as Earth held just over 40k. Almost 22m of boronide, which by now would be completely gone in three years on earth, was a darn nice kicker as well.
Back at SPACE HQ, Director-Governor Willie and his assistants pondered what to do next ...
** OOC: This is the first 'player-character' decision, the current director is a sign-up char from the other forums. I posted a technical briefing on potential options and the costs of colonizing Venus etc. over there: he had 48 hours to reply, almost half of which has now passed. **
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Executive Order of Director Slick Willie
Ocober 25, 2034
GEV Marc Aaaronson is ordered to proceed with the survey of the inner system, and the P&A Group Shipyard is instructed to immediately retool for the Essex class -- at least one more vessel is to be constructed as soon as possible to facilitate faster surveying of the rest of the system, and possibly a third if warranted.
The Ministry of Research & Development is to prioritize developing technologies to enable faster engines, with the goal of rapid deployment of geology teams at an opportune time when the ship surveys are further along. In view of this, Dr. Grimmett and Dr. Bavaro's projects(Cargo Handling and Cryogenic Transport) have been paused for the moment to allocate their lab space to Dr. Santo Makar, whose work in expanding engine capabilities will take precedence for the time being. His current project is expected now to complete in a few months' time, next January.
The Navy has been instructed to develop the facilities and ship designs required to build vessels to move significant quantities of personnel, colonists, and materials off-world. At least one more shipyard will be necessary, so construction of a new Commercial Shipyard is also ordered.
Finally, the Ministry of Industry is instructed to use a small portion of it's capacity to begin producing infrastructure to be ready to deploy wherever it may be needed in the future.
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The other forums?
Also, FINAL-frakkING-LY
YES
And, since I came in late, I should survive long enough for her to end up researching M&K when you go up against NPRs.
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The other forums?
Yes this game started as an idea for another forum I post on(partly as a way of exposing them to the game), then I decided it would be good to do it here as well(not the least of which is that most of you in this thread know a lot more about it than I do). As of now we have 7 participants here and 10 there, so it's going well I'd say.
?November 2034
The ST Vega is finished and re-tooling back to the Essex class begins. Meanwhile the Marc Aaronson reports on the 17th that Mercury is barren and heads for the Mars. The red planet is of extreme interest as the best potential colonization target in the system ...
BI-ANNUAL REPORT
Leota Schnepel(recently promoted to Captain) reports that the Marc Aaronson is just 34 million km out from Mars, and should arrive in less than a week. The journey has been delayed somewhat by the fact that they had to ‘catch’ Mars in it’s orbit, and the planets’ orbital speed is enough to be significant.
Population: 628.7m(68.9m unemployed)
Infrastructure: 13(enough to support about a half-million on Venus)
Economic Conversion: 31.4% completed
Major Construction Projects: Research Lab(80%, spring 2036); Commercial Shipyard(4%, fall 2037); Ground Forces Training Center(27%, Winter 2039)
Mining Report: Duranium is coming up shorter and shorter but not by significant amounts yet and with well over 2k in the existing stockpiles that is not considered a significant concern at this point.
Shipyard Operations: P&A Group retooling for the Essex class is expected to complete in June.
SPACE has now been in operation for 10 years, during which time three ships have been put in operation, orbital shipyard built, the economy is one-third of the way into a complete conversion and of course the leap to TN technology. Future decades look a little brighter than they did before.
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark -- 39th out of 53
Cmdr. Jay Cin -- 13th out of 17
Cmdr. Ken McKay -- 16th
Cmdr. Sam Baker -- 5th, looking like a strong candidate to receive his first command in the next couple of years.
Col. Benjamin Berkeley -- 3rd of 28, command unchanged
Karabishi Juishao -- No assignment as of yet
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Ping OAM47: Sam Baker is to be the CO of the newest Essex-class survey ship. As the first commander of the ship, you may have the name changed if you desire. The temporary name pending your response in the next 48 hours is the GEV George Ogden Abdell.
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Sounds good to me. I personally don't like naming schemes after people when I play, but if that's the style you have it's fine by me, and far from me to make one ship named differently than the others, heh.
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What will happen to my Ling Hu Zhong. Honestly, I wanted to name him King Jong Un, but I guessed that name a character with a real person and make fun of him will be a bad taste joke for us all.
Back to Ling Hu Zhong, I got 10% political favor, so I guess my character will be able to get an attention from the higher up. Good for me. At least, maybe he'll get a job soon. Whatever it is, as a staff or as a captain of a certain starship. A garbage scow? a Tug? a freighter? or a war ship.
Duh, I forgot that I should name him Roger Wilco instead. But it's okay Ling Hu Zhong is the name of a character from a novel.
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He's moving up, just doing it very slowly. Apparently his political connections are his only real asset at the moment.
** There's enough things going on now that I've decided to break updates down to annually instead of bi-annual**
2035
?Jan. 15th – A vital report as the Marc Aaronson completes it’s survey of Mars. Admiral Wilburn Castilleja orders the ship back to earth as Cpt. Schnepel is to accept a staff position at Fleet HQ. It will refuel there, and then begin the long journey to Jupiter.
More importantly, the survey of Mars revealed – nothing. This confirms that Venus is the only habitable inner-system world with resources.
Two days later, Dr. Makar’s team finishes and he emerges from the study with a deeper understanding of propulsion concepts. With Director Willie’s orders clear, his next project will be the Pressurized Water Reactor, which he believes will lead to a quantam leap in engine technology. Even with four of the five available labs being used, this is expected to take over a year.
March 3rd – The Marc Aaronson departs for Jupiter under it’s new CO, Lt. Cmdr. Waldo Politis, having given the crew a well-earned couple of months for shore leave. The journey will take over four months. Io is the first of four moons that will be surveyed, and the hope is there will be
time to scan the massive planet itself as well before returning to Earth.
?June 13th – It’s been a quiet few months after the constant activity that marked the Venus and Mars surveys and the changes at the end of last year. A new Essex-class vessel begins construction, while the Marc Aaronson has passed through the Kuiper Belt but is well over 100 million miles from Io, nearly a month yet of travel.
July – In the first week, the Marc Aaronson passed into the mini-system of the giant red planet. Io was surveyed by the 13th, followed by Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto before the end of the month. The last survey turned up a modest-sized deposit(58k) of Tritanium at 0.5 accessibility, but that was it. It’s a long trip out here, at least at current engine technology, for that.
By the middle of August a report on Jupiter itself was completed. Progress was getting a lot over time, but unfortunately, they had found nothing.
LC Waldo Politis inquired of navigation the possibility of reaching Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, and returning to earth in time. Titan would take over six months to reach, then several more back home, but fuel reserves were more than adequate and it would be achievable in less than the two
years the crew had signed up for. Coordinates were locked in and before the end of the day they were under full power heading for the famous rings of Saturn. Since the Cassini Solstice mission in 2016-17(which resulted in nothing since mankind was too busy fighting each other to be bothered with their spacecraft at that point) no human craft had been this far, and of course this was far further than any manned mission had ever hoped to go.
?Titan was the last option in the solar system for a permanent human colony. Much would depend on the result of this journey.
October – The Ministry of Industry switches over more capacity from converting factories to converting mines, as the duranium stocks continue to decline(now only 1800 tons). Meanwhile, the first run of 100 Infrastructure is done on Earth, more than enough to begin colonization wherever SPACE might wish in the future.
At year’s end the Marc Aaronson was still a month and a half out from Titan, with a number of other important developments expected in the spring.
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2036
Feb. 18th – The Titan mission was complete and a message sent back to SPACE HQ detailing the findings.
21k of decently-accessible duranium(0.6) was found, but that was all. On March 1st, it was found that Saturn itself possesses a nigh-incomprehensible mammoth amount of sorium in it’s atmosphere (45.9mt at 0.7 accessibility) which could potentially be harvested by orbiting ships with the right technology. It was now up to Director Slick Willie to make sense of these findings; the Marc Aaronson set to survey the rest of Saturn’s moons to make use of some more of the remaining mission time, and then make the 8-month return trip to earth. Only Tethys(36.5k Uridium at 0.8 ) was found to contain anything useful.
March – Pressurized Water Reactor(Dr. Sanko Matar) research completed. Work begins on nuclear thermal engine tech(expected time: 2 years).
March 26 – GEV George Obden Abell completed, Cmdr. Sam Baker takes the helm and sets course for Jupiter to finish off the rest of the moons there. The P&A Group yard sets to work adding another slipway so that two vessels can be built at once.
Early April – Tragedy strikes! Director-Governor Slick Willie is killed in an accident under mysterious and highly classified circumstances. He was 33, nearing the end of his first term. Rumors fly as the public demands but does not get answers, and more than a few largely unjustified accusations are thrown about by various people with an axe to grind.
Emergency appointment 32-year-old Jayson Riese, who has been with SPACE since the beginning along with Lena Dungey and Terrance Forson, vows to continue Slick Willie’s policies until the election which is less than eight months off.
Meanwhile, Ling Hu Zhong has been promoted to Commander.
April 27 – Having completed the sweep of Saturn’s moons and finding little, the Marc Aaronson sets course for Earth.
Late July – George Obden Abell begins surveying the remaining Jupiter moons ...
** Carpo – trace amounts of Duranium, Neutronium, Boronide, and Mercassium, only about 420 tons combined.
** Sinope – more trace amounts, 5 minerals and just over 200 tons combined.
In August, Cmdr. Baker sets course for the Kuiper Belt, the asteroid field which provides the last chance for deposits to be found within a reasonable range of Earth.
December – After 20 months on the current tour, the Marc Aaronson arrives back at Earth for shore leave.
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The slow pace, coupled with little in the way of finds has me worried. I really hope the RNG is generous to you when you probe the first few JPs. And that those JPs be close to Earth would help a lot...
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Is it bad that I'm here hoping that we meet an NPR soon so I get research?
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Good, marrying the admiral daughter is the right decision after all. Here we come, the newly pointed commander Ling Hu Zhong. ;D
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The slow pace, coupled with little in the way of finds has me worried.
Me too, with the caveat that I follow the Losing is FUN mantra -- meaning that if we're wiped out in the next decade, it won't depress me that much.
Is it bad that I'm here hoping that we meet an NPR soon so I get research?
If we meet an NPR soon, I don't think your research(or anything else other than sheer disinterest on their part) will save us. It'd be like walking down the street and spotting an insect -- the only way the insect lives is if you decide it's not worth the effort to stomp on it.
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ANNUAL REPORT – 2037
The 2037 election was the most hotly contested yet for a number of reasons. There were eight candidates, the leading ones being former director Lena Dungey and interim director Jayson Riese. The colonization of Venus was a political hot potato, as was the controversy surrounding the death of Slick Willie. ‘Earth First’, ‘No Blood for Duranium’, and similarly simplistic slogans could be heard everywhere, while others argued that is was foolhardy not to take the risk of colonization given the potential rewards.
It was the closest election in history, requiring several recounts to finally resolve. Dungey was challenged by Herbert Duling, who was the only candidate more politically adept than her and brilliant when it comes to mining and logistics as well. In the end though Lena Dungey’s experience counted for more and she won a third term by a fraction of a percent.
To ensure the public’s confidence and avoid a serious split, and because he would be darn good at the job and everybody knew it, she put Duling in charge of the newly-formed Ministry of Colonial Affairs.
It was clear to both of them that Venus was central to the long-term economic future of earth. Yet by itself it would be no panacea. All efforts were focused on the job of colonizing Venus as quickly as possible, and being ready for asteroid mining operations if any significant deposits were found in the asteroid belt. Venus would not provide any answer to the need for more accessible tritanium and the lack of corundium virtually anywhere was disturbing. However, it would potentially provide jobs for many who needed it.
Construction of mass drivers for transporting the minerals between planets begins on earth, as well as that of automatic mines. It was hoped that by the end of her term in 2041, mankind would be ready for it’s first off-world colony.
In the shorter term, the Marc Aaronson had a couple more months of shore leave coming before joining the George Obden Abell in sweeping the belt, where absolutely nothing has been found as of yet but only five asteroids have been surveyed. Meanwhile, the best personnel non-essential to the Venus preparations on earth were organized into a pair of survey teams, one assigned there and the other assigned to the Jupiter and Saturn moons.
The Venus team was led by Lt. Cmdr. Miquel Rater, the JupSat team by scientist Brandon Grimmett.
Mineral Update: Duranium and Neutronium stockpiles continue to slowly decline on earth despite increased effort put into increasing mining capacity. The situation could become critical in the years to come.
Nearly 50% of the conversion from conventional industry is completed ...
Lt. Cmdr. Joseph Clark – 46th out of 61
Cmdr. Jay Cin – 12th out of 20
Cmdr. Ling Hu Zhong – 19th
Cmdr. Ken McKay – 16th, junior member of the Venus geology team
Cmdr. Sam Baker – 4th, CO GEV George Obden Abell, currently surveying the asteroid belt
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 3rd out of 33, same command
Karabishi Juishao – unassigned pending the outcome of the current prioritized research
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February 2037
Navy Purges Officers; 'Budgetary Concerns' Blamed
In reality, Rear Admiral Castilleja doesn't want anybody to think that the youngsters are in charge so he decided to make a point. A BIG, unmistakable point. The junior officers corp was reduced nearly by half, with those he considered useless tossed aside like so much refuse.
Among those who were told their services(ok, their non-services or at best potential services) were no longer required are the following:
Lieutenant Commander Joseph Clark
Commander Jay Cin
Commander Ling Hu Zhong
Consider yourselves pinged, gentlemen. Regens are encouraged, and better luck next time if you choose to do so :).
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Heh, wondering if (when :P ) that would happen. Even more surprised I turned out not be a useless one, though that med condition awhile back will probably come back to be a pain later.
Anywho, while I agree losing can be fun, I do hope this game goes well, if you're introducing it to a new crowd, heh ;)
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Whuuut? Ling Hu Zhong is kicked from the navy? It can't be true :(
Seems that nepotism didn't help him much.
btw, is it 6 years kicking out of jobless officers? if he's out of commission then :
Regen
Naval Officer again : Roger Wilco
But hopefully Ling would be saved by his political connection here.
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Feb. 10th – The Venus team is on site and begins the long process of surveying the planet ..
Feb. 18th – The Marc Aaronson has completed it’s allotted shore leave and joins the effort to survey the asteroid(not Kuiper) belt.
Mar. 11th – Second slipway is complete at the P&A Group Shipyard.
April – Construction begins on a third Lexington-class shuttle, while on the 18th the JupSat team led by Brandon Grimmett arrives on Callisto.
May – Minerals found on the asteroid Doris: 2-3k each of highly-accessible Sorium, Mercassium, and Boronide. A very small find to be sure.
June – New commercial shipyard is ready on earth. It is the Tod & MacGregor and immediately sets to work expanding capacity as will likely be needed for large freighters to be built to ship materials to Venus and elsewhere. Work begins on a third shipyard which may or may not be
needed.
July – The ironically named ‘Venus’ shuttle is completed on Earth and will remain in reserve for any needed transport duties.
Sept. – Another small asteroid deposit: 600+ Uridium on Asia.
December – A major development on earth as research into Nuclear Thermal Engines is completed. All available lab space is switched over to Dr. Bavaro’s work on cyro transport which should finish in February.
Compared to our conventional engines, nuclear thermal engines cost two and a half times as much – but produce a ridiculous 25 times the power! On lab is diverted for work on the CNT-25-4 engine, which is half the size of the ones used on the Lexington and Essex class ships while providing a huge boost in power and actually being slightly more fuel efficient due to the advances the last few years.
By next April, we should be ready to design a new line of ships utilizing this technology.
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About how long do you estimate before we're ready for jump drives?
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Jay Cin II, Male Naval Officer, is ready to conquer the galaxy!
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About how long do you estimate before we're ready for jump drives?
A good question actually and one I was considering earlier today. Jump Theory is in the 'on the radar but not an immediate task' category at the moment. I'd actually like to post the next year's update(which is ready and will be up a bit later) as some of the info that's in it sheds a bit of light on this question, and then answer it more completely.
Jay Cin II has been accepted into the queue, thanks!
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2038
Early Feb. – The JupSat team completes it’s survey of Callisto. They found a major Uridium deposit(2.53mt) but only 0.1 accessible. The team heads to Carpo next. No word yet from the Venus team.
Small asteroid deposits continue to be found, but nothing significant yet.
Feb 26th – Ignacio Bravo’s team completes work on Cryogenic Transport.
March 3rd – The final piece of the puzzle clicks into place as the CNT-25-4 engine prototype is approved for production. Soon afterward, the engineers come up with four new blueprints ...
Essex II - class Geological Survey Vessel
Speed: 1136 km/s(16.7 times faster than the current Essex)
Range: 35.9 billion km(5.8 times further, the entirety of the system is now within it’s reach)
Size: 2200 tons(40% smaller)
Cost: 185(8% cheaper)
Lexington II - class Shuttle Transport
Speed: 1388(17.8 times faster)
Range: 43.9 billion(6.2 times farther)
Size: 1800(43.8% smaller)
Cost: 64.2(6.1% cheaper)
Spruance - class Colony Ship
Twin CNT-25-4 Engines and capacity for 50,000 colonists in cryostasis.
Speed: 295 km/s – Saturn is a 5-6 week trip each way, approximately.
Range: 4.7 billion(there’s nothing habitable that far away, so more fuel would be redundant at this point).
Cost: 654.6, takes nearly two years to build
Size: 16,850
Fletcher-class Freighter
15,000 tons of cargo space for carrying ... whatever, twin engines
Speed: 257
Range: 2.7 bkm – enough to go to Saturn and back nearly twice.
Cost: 180.4
Size: 19,400
The Fletcher was the one that really got debated a lot here. It would be nice to design one that could reach the outer edges of the system but to do that in a reasonable time frame, even quad engines wasn't enough and the cost etc. really started going through the roof ... it was decided that a freighter going that far really needs to wait until the next generation. Crawl before we can walk.
They also wanted to call it the Enterprise. Really, a freighter? No. Just no.
March – Nothing found on Carpo or Sinope. Jupiter is pretty much a dead planet to us, resource-wise.
April – Tod & MacGregor has expanded to 20k capacity.
June – Boronide deposits are depleted on Earth. It’s not being used much right now, and with almost 10k in reserve, it’s not something to get concerned about. Yet.
LC Roger Wilco graduates – Fleet Movement Initative 210, 10% pol. reliability, 15% fighter combat, 20% mining, 10% figher operations, 10% intelligence, 20% logistics. The multi-talented Wilco is expected to do great things, astronomy geek, candid, good judge of character, motivated.
Sam Baker's crew training is now up to 100.
Late August – FT Victoria, first ship in the Fletcher class, completed. Retooling begins for the Spruance class(this would later turn out to be a miscalculation, more freighters should have been built first).
Oct. 20 – Ouellet Shipping lauches Ouellet small class 1 freighter ... it's nearly twice as fast as the Fletcher :(.
Nov – ST Wayne sets course for Titan as the JupSat team will next complete work on the Saturn moons, hoping for a better result than was found in Jupiter. Incredibly, this journey is expected to last only 11 days. They arrive on the 22nd.
Mid-December – The Venus team completes it’s survey, and finds nothing new. This is disappointing, but rather expected. They are sent back to Earth, and from there they will work on surveying the several asteroid finds that the survey vessels have pinpointed so far.
As the year ends, P&A Group Shipyard reports it is ready for the Essex II vessels to begin to be built. Two will be constructed concurrently, the Amerigo Vespucci and the Lief Ericson. Also, ?Sam Baker improves his training again to 125, and Ken McKay’s political reliability is now up to 10%
** OOC: At this point the updates will slow down in pace a fair bit. Partly because the next week or so is heavy on work for me, partly because as more and more things are going on it will take a little longer and I need to be methodical and make sure all the ships and production orders are doing what they need to be doing. I'm also going to change the reporting a bit starting with the next one to make it easier to follow what all is happening on an annual basis.
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Now back to answer the question about jump drives, as I think the Fletcher and Spruance vessels enlighten that. I think we're a generation of tech away from really being able to use jump drives if we had them. Then there's several steps to get there of course(theory, grav survey ship, jump ships, etc.). Optimistically 10, realistically more like 15 years is my best guess. It does depend somewhat on what happens with the rest of the surveying of Sol.
Right now(game date is Jan. 1 of 1939 just as we're updated to) the mineral situation is basically this: with a considerable time and investment, Venus will eventually take care of the duranium problem. But it won't be quick, largely because we have a limited number of automated mines and can't build many more -- corundium is the biggest mineral supply issue at 6.2k(some being used to build automines) and only 600 more to mine on earth. Venus will trickle in what it trickles in at 0.1 accessibility, and here's the rest of what's available:
Isolda -- 42(1)
Erminia -- 792(1)
Yep, that's it. There's now a total of about 7k corundium in existence at reasonable extraction rates. How the surveying goes will determine what course of action is taken(and how imminently important the idea of exploring new star systems becomes).
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Should Roger Wilco jump to apply for the Fletcher captain candidacy? or whatever ship that commissioned recently? How big is the competition to get the job in the SPACE? who is my competitor and what should I do to get the job? He even willing to cheat in the test (reference to Star Quest V, an old game from Sierra), to get him out of his daily janitor job. Tell me if he has even has a chance to get his own ship.
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Sign-up char updates will be later tonight, but the Fletcher already has a not-you Captain :). I will spoiler though that I think you have a very good chance to get your own ship, just not yet.
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Even though my char is military, not political, I put in my vote for "we need to leave the system ASAP, if not sooner*"
*That being said, we of course need to develop the technology to make it feasible to use, too, like engines.
That's typically how I play, though. Generally I have all JPs scouted before even Saturn's moons are fully surveyed. Can't say for sure if it's served me any better than those that fully develop Sol first. Probably depends on your definition of "better".
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I think it makes sense strategically to know more about the surrounding community in galactic terms. My research goals are being governed by the idea that necessity is the mother of invention -- I'm not going for costly projects(with 6 labs, 5k for Jump Theory is a very costly project, TNT is the only one I've done for that much) unless they are deemed critical when there's a lot of more basic research to do in other areas. That's also why(along with the war hangover humanity has) research isn't going into military techs much yet.
Right now it's a case of why go through that when we don't know what's on a lot of the Sol system bodies. If we don't find corundium(and neutronium is a problem also) soon, it's going to be very painful and that could make jump theory come sooner rather than later.
FWIW.
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Cmdr. Ken McKay -- 11th out of 14, junior member of the Venus Geology Team, which is no longer on Venus but transiting back to earth onboard the ST Valencia. From there they will board one of the new, faster Lexington-II transports and survey various asteroids in the inner system.
Cmdr. Sam Baker -- 4th, CO GEV George Ogden Abdell, assigned to surveying the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter orbits.
Lt. Cmdr. Roger Wilco -- 4th out of 42, has a bright future, unassigned but presently 5th in line to receive a command.
Jay Cin II is on the waiting list.
Col. Benjamin Berkeley -- 4th out of 34, still with the 4th Low Tech Infantry Battalion
Karabishi Juishao has yet to be given a research assignment. Space is very limited.
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Oh yeah, I meant to ask that question in my earlier post *facepalm*. What's the likelyhood of making more research labs in the near future. They're pretty expensive, but definitely a good investment. Are we low on the mineral they need besides duranium too?
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First: I like to commision one of your Civvie shipping lines if you can somehow rename it "Space transports International". Maybe later a CEO (govener) of a mining world (mining 20%+).
Secondly: Now that you have engines for it you could build a small fighter squadron with space for 10 people and a geosensor. It would be cheaper and faster then the big ships. The same goes for Jumppoint-scouts saving you some R&D. You can get also more hulls and training for your commanders that way.
With a much smaller transport you could also jumpstart some private shipping given that you etablish a maned colony somewhere, say on Mars. The civ-sector production of infrastructure should then take care of the rest if you go with mars or another low-cost target.
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Oh yeah, I meant to ask that question in my earlier post *facepalm*. What's the likelyhood of making more research labs in the near future. They're pretty expensive, but definitely a good investment. Are we low on the mineral they need besides duranium too?
That's being done. About 10% of earth's industrial production has been dedicated to that since like forever, and it's been upped to 20-25% most of the time recently. Thankfully we aren't low on mercassium, so more and more it's becoming one of the few things we can actually afford to make :). We originally had 5, now are about to finish the 7th, with more coming every 2-3 years at the current rate.
Heph: No problem on the first. Do you have a name you'd like to use? -- I can just put you in as the next admin with 20% mining or something.
I'm completely not understanding what you are after on the fighter thing. I can't fit everything I would need on a 500-ton ship even with a tiny engine(leaving aside the exploity nature of it, at least from an RP standpoint).
Also, what's the point of making a colony on Mars when there's no resources there? Yes I can jumpstart the civilian lines, and maybe they make enough infrastructure for Mars, but I don't need it there I need it on more difficult places.
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The value of civvies for you, apart from additional income, is that the civvies build freigters. Those you can use to transport your Mines to the outskirts of the system with a civ conrtact. The best target is normaly the moon netting the civivies a ton of money which they use to buy more ships to move stuff around.
For the fighters you could go with something like this:
50 ton engine
20 ton fuelstorage (2x small)
25 ton tiny engineering space
50 ton crewquarters
150 Ton geosensor
150 ton jump engine ( 600t displacement at Jump efficiency 4)
In sum that makes a hull with ~450tons depneding on your armor-tech. These fighters should have a 12 month deployment + additional Spareberths for a team of geologists. They are also cheaper then your average survey vessel and can be build in a fighter factory.
Since you can assign commanders to those fighters you can keep your "navy" chars in the loop giving them some experience.
Oh and the name should be "Herman Fox" if male or "Liska Sattler" if female.
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Well on the fighter idea I actually can't do what you have for most of the components. I can't make a tiny engineering space(not researched), the sensors are 250 tons by themselves, ship is at 500 tons without adding an engine or space for the geology team.
I'm not sure(I'm still new), but perhaps I've not been clear enough on exactly how crap our tech level is right now? :)
I think both ideas are good from a gameplay standpoint, but not good from the standpoint of rp which drives a lot of my decisions in this game.
I'll keep an eye out for an appropriate char for you.
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I have build the thing with crappy tech (except armor) here - your right its 50 ton overweight . Anyway i am looking forward to it and Rp comes always first ;)
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** The new format is a shameless ripoff of Paul M, and I think it will work better as it makes it easier to organize events now that we are gradually getting more and more happen each year. For now I'm going to stick with annual updates**
2039 IN REVIEW
Sol Survey Efforts
The Rater team(Miquel Rater, formerly known as the Venus team) departs on the ST Marengo(Cmdr. Pitianello) in late January. They first make for Apollo in their tour on inner-system asteroids with confirmed deposits by orbital scans. With the new engines in place, it takes only 20 hours ...
A decent find was discovered in April on the asteroid Chernykh, with 40k vendarite and 20k+ gallicite. Unfortunately not what we need right now. In June, several minerals were discovered on the Whipple comet, including 11k Duranium and 16k Mercassium. No corundium or neutronium yet.
Sept. 13th – The Leif Ericson and Amerigo Vespucci are christened. Commander Lucas Marini, the brightest young star in the navy at this point, takes the first and head to Uranus to survey that system. The previously unreachable(for a manned mission) seventh planet would take less than a month to approach. Un-freaking-believable. The latter vessel goes to Jon McElveen(previously on the Valencia, which LTC Besler will take over) and heads to Neptune.
Oct. 16th – The report from Uranus is in: 18.2mt of Sorium at 1.0. We won’t lack for fuel in the near future, that’s for sure – though that isn’t our problem at the moment. A search of the moons followed ... a small amount of Gallicite was found on Stephano, and that was it. Sigh. The Lief Ericson went in search of more targets in the outer system ...
November – More Sorium, only 1.5mt at half accessibility, found on Neptune. It’s very unlikely we’ll develop that as Uranus and Saturn seem much better long-term targets. On the 10th, the Neptune moons’ surveys were completed, and there was some much better news. Triton contains 475k duranium(0.8 ), 553k corbomite at 0.9, and lesser amounts of some others. The corbomite find is worth noting because, while it’s not a need right now, we haven’t found it anywhere else in quantity off of earth. It’s not worth the extreme cost of developing right now – but it certainly could be in the near future.
At the same time, a report came in from the comet Borrelly – good-accessibility Duranium(18k at 0.9) and even better Neutronium(44k at 0.8 ) was found along with several others. Borrelly gives us a short-to-medium range solution to the problem of neutronium for shipyard
operations etc. Since there’s duranium there as well, moving automated mines from Venus(though not all of them) seems productive. Orders were immediately sent for a new mass driver and for automines to be split between Venus and Borrelly as soon as a team could be deployed there.
December — Less than a month after it's discovery, the Borrelly deposits got downgraded in importance as the Schaumasse comet yielded ... a number of things, but most importantly 19k corundium at 1.0! Everything else on earth stopped. A mass driver and as many automines as could be hauled by the Victoria were sent immediately.
Commissioned Officers
Jan 27th – Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin II graduates.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 177
Bonuses: 15% Fighter Operations, 10% Fighter Combat, 10% Communications
Personality Traits: Many social interests, wealthy, motivated
A solid officer, not superlative but not bad either.
Feb – Another purge sees two dozen more officers get canned. This time the majority are from the army.
May – Sam Baker’s political reliability is up to 15%.
As it might take a while to get an appropriate administrator, I've drafted an existing low-level one. Herman Fox was commissioned in December of 2034, or just over five years ago. Despite being multitalented, he's done nothing due to the lack of opportunities so far -- and his limitation when it comes to oversight.
Administration: 1
Bonuses: 25% Mining, 15% Shipbuilding + Factory Production, 10% Population Growth + Logistics, 5% Wealth Creation
Personality Traits: Disciplined
Venus Colonization
The first automated mine arrives on March 20th. In July, the mass driver starts shipping back very small amounts to Earth. By the end of the year, Venus sits at 6 automated mines, allowing annual production of a little under 200 tons combined. A very paltry contribution, but we've just started. It has 24 infrastructure, as the freighter has been busy hauling mines(and will be even more so with the new discoveries).
Venus has been shuffled to the back burner, probably for quite some time.
Earth Industry
April 25 – Ground Force Training Facility Completed(Earth)
July – Conventional Industry conversions halted. Still over 27% remains, but it is clear that right now mining will not keep up with industry as it is due to lack of good deposits. Work on the third commercial shipyard has also been paused for the same reason. Rapidly we are running out of things to usefully do. Director Dungey orders an independent review over the last months of the year to evaluate options.
September – Earth inches over 700m total population.
Research
Sep. 25 – Sanko Matar’s team completes marginally useful research on increasing power plant output – while also making the things more likely to blow up if they ever get him in combat. I’m not so sure about that one. Meanwhile, a seventh research lab is completed, allowing Clint Wyche to begin a study on improving fuel efficiency further.
Special Update
As it impacts on multiple areas ...
December -- Following the Borrelly and Schaumasse finds, an interesting factoid is discovered: every single comet surveyed so far(five of them) has yielded results. Most asteroids have not, and those that have were in much smaller amounts. Therefore the scheduled review is delayed and the survey ships(Essex and Essex II's) have been order to expend every possible effort to survey the remaining comets as soon as possible. When their initial scans are complete, SPACE will have some decisions to make, decisions that are likely to be highly painful.
As of now, 5 of 25 comets have been surveyed. Of the remaining twenty, four(Ikeya-Zang, Hale-Bopp, McNaught-Russell, and Brooks) are at an obscene range(15b km or more) but the others should be able to be 'caught' or are incoming. Thirteen of the twenty spend most or all of their orbit within range of the Fletcher-class freighters, so if more mineral deposits are found, it is likely we will be able to act on them.
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What did Sam Baker doing to get that 15% political favor? Wooing the president's daughter or bribing the high command? >:(
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Being awesome, I assume ;)
I'm facepalming right now. I'd totally forgot we hadn't scanned the comets yet! Those should definitely tide us over for a few years until we're actually ready to leave the system.
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Eh, yes and no. They will certainly help tremendously, but won't solve everything.
2041, Part One
Comet Surveys
Jan 3rd – Rater geology time lands on Schaumasse.
Late Feb – Swift-Tuttle surveyed and found to contain 8 minerals at high accessibility(all 0.7 or better), though only a total of 70k altogether. A very good yet fairly small discovery. Six for six ... where there’s smoke, there’s fire.
March 3rd – Wild has 5 minerals, most notably 35k Gallicite and 12.5k Neutronium. A little over 60k altogether.
March 14th – Faye makes it 8 for 8. Safe to call it a pattern, I’d say. 6 more at 0.7 or better, including over 7.5k of the rare corundium. A little over 50k in total.
April 3rd – Herschel-Rigollet is one of the best finds yet, but unfortunately it’s almost to the Kuiper Belt and has another 3b+ km to go before it turns around, so it’ll be some time before we can make use of it. Over 40k of several minerals, and 10k corundium is there.
Just about now, I’m wondering what in the heck is taking the team on Titan so long? I mean, Venus didn’t even take this long and it’s much larger. We can only hope that what it means is that they are verifying in triplicate the size of some enormous discovery ...
May 5th – Enke has about 35k and none of the key minerals are there. 11 more ‘catchable’ comets to survey.
May 17th – Halley’s Comet has about 90k, most notably Neutronium at 18k+. It’s another long-term project as it’s heading out past the Kuiper Belt soon. It’s also the last of the highly distant comets – the rest are inside Uranus orbit – and hopes are high they can be tagged by the end of
the year ...
June 9th – Reinmuth survey complete. Enough mines on there and neutronium would be an ex-issue for a very long time. 164k at 0.7, 350k total a very considerable discovery, most of the rest being corbomite.
June 13th – Tempel-1 is found to contain less than 30k, and the Rater team finishes on Schaumasse, having found no additional deposits.
June 18th – Stephan-Oterma has 25k Duranium, about 105-110k total.
June 22nd – 8 minerals on Crommelin, 16k duranium, 3.2k corundium, a total of about 150k the majority of which is tritanium.
June 25th – Rater geology team arrives on Borrelly.
July 2nd – Neujmin has primarily Neutronium(90k) and Tritanium, about 185k total.
July 3rd – Temple-Tuttle yields a little under 70k, including 5k corundium and about half of it Tritanium.
July 10th – Comas Sola results in 75k or so, including all three key minerals. The Rater team finds nothing more on Borrelly. Comas Sola has the best balance of the three most-essential minerals to be found so far, and the Rater team heads there next.
July 17th – The Rater team finds nothing more on Comas Sola. Wolf-Harrington has no duranium, but some of just about everything else and a total pushing 150k.
July 22nd – Macholz has the big three and a total of 8 minerals, 80k-plus.
July 24th – Wolf has suprisingly little, about 30k and only the Neutronium is particularly needed.
That’s all for the comets except the four extremely distant ones, none of which we need concern ourselves with for many years.
Earth
Feb. 15th – Retooling complete, construction of the CS Antonio Abetti(Spruance-class colony ship) commences at the Tod & MacGregor. It is no longer vitally needed, and will likely see some sitting around after it completes a year from August.
April 22nd – Earth has built all the automated mines we can afford without running corundium reserves too low. All that’s left is to ship them to the best places we can find. A side effect is the only thing being worked on is building more research lab complexes( this will have a huge long-term effect as long as the mineral crisis endures)
May – Corundium and neutronium are now exhausted on earth. We knew it was coming, but it’s still depressing.
The SPACE Executive Board has drawn up a review of the present knowledge of the Sol system geologically speaking, and will be presenting it momentarily.
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?SOL STRATEGIC GEOLOGICAL REVIEW
A. MINERALS & THEIR USES
Duranium – We use duranium in everything we build, as it is an essential fundamental to the construction process. Four to five kilotons a year is the current need: Earth produces 3.3kt, and will only be able to sustain that level for about another five years, maybe six. When it begins to fall(or possibly even sooner), many factories on earth will fall silent for extended periods of time if the supply cannot be replaced. Extreme rationing will result.
Neutronium – Primarily used as a key element in all shipyard perations(building them, retooling, expanding) though not in shipbuilding itself, neutronium is also used for ground force training facilities, mass drivers, and maintenance facilities. Earth’s deposits have been exhausted, and less than 4.5k remains, resulting in all neutronium usage requiring the personal authorization of Director Dungey and only approved in cases of the most urgent need.
Corbomite – Not many traditional industrial concerns use it: financial centres, spaceports, and military academies. A small amount(5 tons) is used in each ship we construct. Earth still has over 16k left at low accessibility, and over 5k stockpiled which would last us for the forseeable future at current expenditures by itself. Corbomite is not a short-term concern.
Tritanium – Required for building construction and ordnance factories as well as military academies. Quite a bit was used initially for the economic conversion, but it is expected to see extremely limited use. It is earth’s richest deposit with over 110k left at low accessibility, and we presently have 2.5k with none being used. As there will be no need for new factories for some time, tritanium is also not a short or medium-range issue.
Boronide – was the first mineral to be exhausted on earth: thankfully we didn’t need much of it. There is 9.5k in the stockpile and a huge reserve of 1.0 accessible on Venus whenever we want more. Mass drivers, spaceports, and terraforming installations require it, as well as a very small(1.5 to 5 tons) on each of our spaceships. Boronide is as close to a complete non-issue as anything could be.
Mercassium – The most essential use is a considerable amount required for research labs, and some also for spaceports. It also sees considerable use in starship construction, with all of our current designs requiring 20-25 tons, with the exception of the Spruance-class colony ships which require over 400 tons each! Fortunately, mercassium is fairly plentiful and accessible on earth. We have 15k in the stockpile with over 20k left to mine. We need to make sure we don’t run low on it if possible, but for the next several years at least there would be no way for us to spend more than we have.
Vendarite – Used in construction and fighter factories only, Vendarite is not expected to be needed for quite some time. There are 6kt in the stockpile, and another 63k available to be mined on earth, the most plenteous mineral aside from tritanium. It’s only 0.3 accessible, but as it isn’t being used at all right now the stockpile should grow gradually for the forseeable future.
Sorium – Sorium’s sole use is a very important one: it is refined into fuel for our starships. Run out, and our fleet will cease to function, so running out is not an option. At present the stockpile is at 7.6kt and growing – the refineries are only using up around half of each year’s yield. Earth has only 7.3k left though, and accessibility is at 0.45 and shrinking. We have time, but not more than a decade probably, to find additional sources.
Uridium – Used in deep space tracking stations, financial centres, military academies, spaceports, and small amounts in starships, uridium is a versatile mineral that is required in small amounts for several different purposes. It is currently our largest stockpile with nearly 21k on hand and another 17 left at pretty good but declining accessibility(0.72).
Corundium – Required mostly for mines, but also used in military academies. Corundium is in dire straits, exhausted on earth and 5k in the stockpile.
Gallicite – Used in modest amount for starships(5-20t each for current designs), but that’s it. With a 20kt stockpile, we’re not all that worried that there’s less than 5k left to mine.
SUMMARY
Clearly our top concerns are duranium(so the economy doesn’t grind to a halt) and corundium(the more we have, the more of everything, duranium included, we can extract). Neutronium, and after that sorium also have to be concerns because we have limited amounts of them and because they are essential to what passes as the fleet. Mercassium is a long-range concern, the rest are just icing on the cake in terms of immediate mining.
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Well operative word is "a few years". My concern is still leaving the Solar System, of course ;D Even with a slow down, though, that's still technically progress. Running out completely is the only wrench that's particularly fatal.
The report there helps a lot putting things into perspective though. I'm running a community game right now and so far the comets have been the California Gold Rush, so to speak. There's always a real problem if one mineral in particular is in short supply. In my game it's Uridium, and in this one it appears to be Corundium. As long as you can get a decent number of mines, I don't think a Corundium shortage is going to be too bad, as long as you retain the capacity to mine a new source once it's found.
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** January 2026 -- Col. Benjamin Berkeley is commissioned and given command of the 9th Low Tech Infantry Battalion. His notable skills are in Xenology(25%) and Ground Combat(15%). He has the cautious, many social interests, and cold manner traits, and immediately ranks 1st among 12 active Colonels, making him a prime candidate for quick promotion.
This is good. Means he's likely to be on the ground cracking open that alien ruin, rather then stuck planet-side on some diplomatic misson. Just got to wait for us to expand a little.
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For the fighters you could go with something like this:
50 ton engine
20 ton fuelstorage (2x small)
25 ton tiny engineering space
50 ton crewquarters
150 Ton geosensor
150 ton jump engine ( 600t displacement at Jump efficiency 4)
These actually work? I'd be worried about my geo-scanners breaking down all the time with that small an engineering allocation.
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B. SURVEY RESULTS TO DATE
Planets(Habitable)
Mercury – Nearly as hot and inhospitable as Venus, the smallish sun-blasted planet is completely barren of useful resources. It’s a useless ball of rock, and likely to remain useless.
Venus – Though the infrastructure cost is massive, the resources there demand some investment. A mine on Venus will result in 24 tons per year. Unfortunately, only 7 tons of that will be the minerals we presently need, part of the calculus which is resulting in a steady downgrading of it’s importance.
Mars – The best terraforming candidate in the system has nothing to avail it except space to live on. Given the current state of affairs, that isn’t even close to being good enough, though it may be worth investing it far down the road simply as another place for our people to live.
Planets(Other)
Jupiter – The huge red planet has nothing to offer, there is literally no way to make use of it.
Saturn – Our best potential source of sorium in the system, at over 45mt it would make fuel issues go away with sufficient investment. That’s a long-term goal, both because we have more pressing issues at the moment and because the technology does not exist to harvest it. If we can find a way in the future however, it would be most lucrative.
Uranus – Another good source of sorium, more accessible but more distant. ‘Only’ 18mt, but when talking about those kinds of amounts the size of the deposit seems virtually irrelevant.
Neptune – More sorium was found here, but only a bit under 1.5mt and at 0.5 accessibility. Saturn and Uranus are much better choices.
Dwarf Planets(1 of 8 surveyed)
Ceres was found to be barren, with the others all located in the Kuiper Belt region.
Habitable Moons(6 of 6 surveyed)
Luna is barren but could be settled if desired. Titan has a small cache of duranium(21k at 0.6) and at 7.0 colony cost is a reasonable place for a refining colony for sorium harvested from Saturn’s atmosphere in the future. Callisto(58k tritanium at 0.5, 2.5mt Uridium at 0.1) was the only other moon to show results and is clearly not worth the price of a colony.
Asteroids(283 of 528 surveyed)
With 53.5% completed, just 17 have been found to contain minerals, or just about 6% of the asteroids so far. Of those 17, just two – both small outer-system moons – have been found to contain 10k or more. Triton is the exception that breaks the rule -- the Neptunian moon boasts over a million tons including almost a half-million Duranium.
It has also proved true that the outer-system asteroids have slightly more likelihood of containing resources, and at higher concentrations.
Comets(21 of 25 surveyed)
All of them have had something, and most of them enough to be worth investing in.
SUMMARY
While it remains possible that the 5 dwarf planets in the Kuiper Belt and the 245 asteroids there and elsewhere will contain more deposits, it is reasonably likely that all the significant deposits have been found, and highly unlikely that what more might be found will make a difference given the size of the rocks left to survey and the distance to reach them. It is therefore recommended that SPACE operate under the assumption that the currently known minerals are the full extent of what exists in our system.
ANALYSIS
It appears that there are enough resources on the comets that, in time, we will be able to dig ourselves out of the current mineral shortages. 75-80k of high-accessibility corundium is potentially available, enough to give us several hundred automated mines. Known sorium is over 100mt, duranium over 600kt plus the 14mt at 0.5 on Venus, neutronium in the 350-400k range and Reinmuth alone(160kt) could satisfy our needs for generations.
This scenario allows for continued progression and hegemony of human civilization. It also would require decades of hard work and hardship to achieve, with nothing but mostly continued hardship on the horizon as more and more miners get thrown out of work. The unemployment rate is already 11.5% and continuing to rise. There is only one hope for a better economic future for our people – another planet in another star system elsewhere in the galaxy.
The best of our long-range telescopes cannot tell us with any confidence the habitability conditions for planets that distant, or even in most cases if the systems even have any, much less what we might find there(if we could reach them). Alpha Centauri, the closest system at 4.24ly away, would take our fastest ships(the Lexington-II class transports) nearly 25,000 years to reach – assuming they didn’t use any fuel of course, the need for which would make such a journey completely impossible. Even quantam leaps in fuel storage, refining, usage, and engine power would not scratch the surface of making such a trip doable.
The only realistic option is a concept which is as of yet only a theory, though one that scientists believe as probably valid though unproven. The extreme forces involved in the formation of star systems are believed to both weaken and warp certain space-time locations to the extent that it may be possible with to open a singularity(i.e. wormhole) at these locations. This is known as Jump Point Theory, wherein it may be possible for a ship to transit from one such point to another nearly instanteously. Many scientists have even gone so far as to theorize that the number, location, and geographic arrangements of these ‘jump points’ in a given system is a mathematically predictable element.
Mankind is then presented with a choice: is it worth the price of investment to research this possibility now, with no guarantee it will be worth it even if ‘success’ is achieved? Director-Governor Dungey wishes to consider advice from all who may wish to give it before making a decision on this matter. The mineral crisis, and these issues surrounding it, is certain to dominate the upcoming 2041 election ...
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These actually work? I'd be worried about my geo-scanners breaking down all the time with that small an engineering allocation.
Unfortunately, that particular design wouldn't work, as a geo-sensor is 250 tons, not 150. However, without the jump drive, space would be freed up for more engineering. Another design could take over jump exploration, considering the small cost of fighters.
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My vote is for JP theory, of course (if I get a vote :-[ ). We can slap some grav sensors on a ship and have it scouting for the actual points while we work on the jump ships themselves, and perhaps next gen engines.
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I'd got with something more like
250 ton Geo/Grav
35 Ton Crew Quarters
25 Ton Engineering Spaces
40 Ton Fuel
50 Ton Engines
In a 3000 Ton Carrier. Carrier should have a recon fighter too, with a jump engine and all three sensor types instead of Geo/Grav, maybe, too.
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Herman Fox votes for jump-point theory and is diverting some of his campaign money to it ;D. He also turns in his application for a position as "Tele-administrator" in case a Mining-colony on a Comet is opened.
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Do we have a character with a name of Herman FOx? ??? ??? ???
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If its not to late I would like to join in.
I dont really care much about the job, just have him do something so he does not get fired in 6 years.
Jedidiah Thone
Male
I hope he is useful.
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No problem you will be added -- can't guarantee a job though but you can always regen if you don't get one.
Do we have a character with a name of Herman FOx?
Yes we do :).
Herman Fox votes for jump-point theory and is diverting some of his campaign money to it
What makes you think you have any campaign money? :P
@Rolepgeek: Carriers require boat bays. We don't know what those are :).
@OAM47: Of course you get a vote, it just doesn't count for much relatively speaking. However, it seems your point of view is carrying it so far unanimously, so you're likely to get what you want anyway.
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Bah. Then research Boat Bays, damnit. You don't need a Jump Engine yet anyway, since we can't even get grav sensors.
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I'm very loud, what can I say :P
Though there's a dissenting vote it looks like. I do like that we have two camps though. As much as I like getting my ideas out there, it's kind of boring if everyone agrees and one group always "wins".
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What makes you think you have any campaign money? :P
;) my coffee and lunchmoney. It mostly went into writing a blog-post and paying for some peer-reviwed articles on jump-point theory.
*laughs* lets just say herman is a office drone in one of the mines.
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Touche.
?2040, Part Two
It was obvious that the Abetti would no longer be needed – Venus was no longer a priority and there’d be nowhere to send colonists. The ship was less than a third finished and construction was cancelled, a tacit admission of years of wasted resources, time and effort, but far better than trying to defend a near-useless ship in the upcoming election.
Lena Dungey also decided not to build new freighters, as improvements in cargo handling techniques were expected to be ready at the end of the year. A new variant could be designed at that time, and a decision made on jump theory. For now, the Victoria would continue to ship as many mines as possible to Schaumasse. The only other major change that was made was the decision to get another mass driver built and prioritize using the remaining corundium to convert as many mines as possible to the automated variety. At the moment, that meant 67 could be ordered. Work on new research labs was prioritized down to 25% capacity as before. Meanwhile the four geosurvey vessels(both variants) would continue to work on sweeping the remainder of the asteroids, and the surface teams would continue following up on any finds as quickly as they could. A third team, considerably inferior in skill and therefore speed as well, was formed to aid in the process, led by LTC Kathy Wheatley. Among its members was LTC Hannah Shepard. There weren’t enough qualified officers to field any more teams, at least without crippling Fleet Headquarters of it’s best ...
Sol Survey Efforts
Aug. 15th – Wheatly team arrives on Whipple, their first assignment ...
Six more asteroids were found to contain insignificant deposits. There are now 49 bodies with resources of some kind in the system. 14, less than 30%, have had their ground team surveys completed. Still nothing from the JupSat team on Titan. Concern and frustration are growing. The asteroid belt between Mars and Saturn orbits has been virtually exhausted, and the original Essex survey ships, lacking the range to push further out into the system, will become obsolete very soon.
Commissioned Officers
?Sept – LTC Jedidiah Thone is commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 171
Bonsuses: 10% Fighter Combat, 10% Mining
Personality Traits: Determined, Intolerant
Research?
Dec. 8th – Ignacio Bravo’s team completes research into Cargo Handling system. In order to have the most efficient(in terms of time, not fuel) freighter possible, his team begins work on a new engine prototype, the CNT-25-5, which is 25% faster and 80% less fuel efficient than the current Fletcher’s design. It will be another three months delay now for that work to complete.
Earth
In December, the last of the original Lexingtons, the Venus – which literally never left earth orbit – is ordered to be scrapped at the P&A Group Shipyard. At year's end the duranium deposits begin to become more difficult to access -- the economic crunch has officially begun. A mine on earth once produced 68 tons -- that's down now to 37.3 tons, or just over half. Many of the comets are more lucrative than that.
There are now a dozen automated mines ready to be shipped off world with 61 more being converted. Even at that, there will still be 230+ standard human-operated mines on earth. Work on new research labs is ongoing but slow, another should be ready sometime in the summer.
Remote Mining Colonies
Schaumasse has a mass driver and almost two operational mines, Venus has one and six operational mines, and Reinmuth will have an operational mass driver soon.
2041 Election
Politics can be a brutal business. The colonization of Venus was abandoned before it rightly could be said to have begun, as the comets have been found to clearly be a much better source of needed resources. Combined with the wasted effort put into the Spruance design, this was a death sentence for the career aspirations of Director-Governor Lena Dungey. She chose to retire from public life rather than accept the ironic assignment to run the automated mining colony with 24 tons of infrastructure accomplishing absolutely nothing that Venus has become. SPACE's first director, Dungey served three terms and is only 37. Hers is a mixed record -- there were many successes, but her failure to detect the comet resources earlier will unfortunately be her most enduring legacy.
There were only two serious candidates for her replacement: Herbert Duling, the current Governor of Venus who narrowly lost in '37, and India Rakes, an incredibly talented young woman who has just about every skill you could ask for and a good amount of political acumen to go with it. Despite being only three years older(27 to 24), Duling's main advantadge is the experience from last year's election and his time on Venus, along with his superlative political skills. These proved to be more than enough as he won a landslide victory with a surprising 59.8% of the vote.
Rakes takes over on Venus, and Duling tapped the best mining mines available for other appointments: Herman Fox is the new governor of the mining colony on the comet Schaumasse, Jarrett Hugh at Reinmuth, and others will be needed soon.
Duling has named Comas Sola and Machholz as the primary targets for investment after the new engines are ready and the Fletcher II freighter design is complete. As short-period comets with several kt deposits of all three essential minerals(duranium, neutronium, and corundium), these are to be the centerpiece of the effort to minimize the coming economic struggles.
His inaugural speech also emphasized the need to pursue all possible options, indicating that Jump Theory is very much on the table though no immediate investment in research was announced.
Cmdr. Ken McKay -- 13th out of 15. Continues to serve on the Rater team, the best and most productive of the three geology teams. At present, they are about three weeks into a survey of the comet Encke.
Cmdr. Sam Baker -- 5th. Cmdr. Baker has commanded the GEV George Ogden Abell for almost five years now, but with the vessel nearing the end of it's usefulness, his future is uncertain as well.
Lt. Cmdr. Roger Wilco -- 6th out of 45. He may have an outside shot at one of the new freighters, depending on how many are built and what happens with other officers. Some new recruits have surpassed him, which has not helped his ambitions any, but he's still a well-regarded leader.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin II -- 22nd. Good enough to be respected, bad enough that he might not ever get to actually do anything.
Lt. Cmdr. Jedidiah Thone -- 42nd ... it's early yet.
Col. Benjamin Berkeley -- 4th out of 22, command unchanged. Steady, seems to have settled in where he's likely to stay.
Herman Fox -- Newly appointed Governor of the mining colony on the comet Schaumasse.
Karabishi Juishao -- This is a new, and in it's own way even more frustrating kind of waiting.
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Lt. Cmdr. Jedidiah Thone -- 42nd ... it's early yet.
Ouch, 42nd out of 45. I hope he has some redeeming qualities.
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Can I get a character as well? Preferably a male naval officer with the name Saburo Matsumoto.
Luna is barren but could be settled if desired. Titan has a small cache of duranium(21k at 0.6) and at 7.0 colony cost is a reasonable place for a refining colony for sorium harvested from Saturn’s atmosphere in the future. Callisto(58k tritanium at 0.5, 2.5mt Uridium at 0.1) was the only other moon to show results and is clearly not worth the price of a colony...
With the sorium harvester module, it automatically converts the sorium on the gas giant into fuel. So if you ever get to the point of making fuel harvesters, make sure you have large fuel tanks on the ships.
As for the earlier suggestion with small geo/grav survey ships, it is entirely feasible as I've used them a couple of times in my games. General layout is:
- Geological Survey Sensors - 250 tons
- Engineering Space - 50 tons
- Crew Quarters - 50 tons
- Engine - 100 tons
With the remainder dedicated to armor and fuel. I made one of these with only Nuclear Thermal Engine technology and High Density Duranium Armor. They had a deployment time of 24 months, traveled at an appalling 400 km/s, but could move at full power for 750 days. Most of that comes down to engine preference.
The big problem with those is that you would need to research smaller fuel containers, which I think you said hasn't been done (and wouldn't be high on the list of required research).
This same layout can be used for gravsurvey ships by just exchanging the geo senors with grav sensors. And while these aren't jump capable, you can just construct a small jump capable 500 ton fighter that can escort these scout ships in and out of new systems. They can also serve as tankers for the sensor scouts if you use all of the remaining tonnage for fuel. They have to be big enough to escort the sensor craft anyway.
Although I do also remember you saying that these may not make sense RP-wise, so whatever you think is best.
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;D As newly approved Governor i swear my alliance to SPACE and the betterment of humanity (as well as my purse). For the coming election period i promise an atleast 15% increase in mine-output with a new shedule for the bots.
Thankfully one can tele-operate today so most of the time i can enjoy the wonders of Earth (mostly World of Warcraft 2).
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And this janitor want to be a captain still wait for his job :-\
And bye-bye Mr. Fox. I hope you can do something to kill the loneliness in a barren, zero human backwater colony. I guess you are the only human living in that place. But don't worry, there are plenty bots for you to kill the time, I guess. ;D
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With the sorium harvester module, it automatically converts the sorium on the gas giant into fuel. So if you ever get to the point of making fuel harvesters, make sure you have large fuel tanks on the ships.
You've been added to the list :). And thanks for this, I wasn't sure how that worked but we will definitely need to do that down the road I expect.
made one of these with only Nuclear Thermal Engine technology and High Density Duranium Armor. They had a deployment time of 24 months, traveled at an appalling 400 km/s, but could move at full power for 750 days. Most of that comes down to engine preference.
Interesting, thanks! I think what we would be missing would be the small size engineering and maybe the fuel tank as well. Probably not going to do it anyway at least for this game, but I appreciate the feedback on the possibility.
I hope he has some redeeming qualities.
Well he's young ... and is a decent fighter pilot(not that we have any fighters to make that relevant) ... and is determined.
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And this janitor want to be a captain still wait for his job :-\
And bye-bye Mr. Fox. I hope you can do something to kill the loneliness in a barren, zero human backwater colony. I guess you are the only human living in that place. But don't worry, there are plenty bots for you to kill the time, I guess. ;D
;) be cautious i could be tempted to request a garrison and some ships for defence :P
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;) be cautious i could be tempted to request a garrison and some ships for defence :P
you should bring your harem, or you'll be lonely ;D
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Your right! Atleast 4 Computers XD. Nah Herman is not the harem type ... . I would guess implementing new code and tele-operation would work from earth - much like we guide the curiosity-rover right now.
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May I suggest building a small patrol craft for us lowly Lieutenant Commanders to pilot? That is, when you start building warships at all.
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You may suggest anything you want. I haven't decided what I'm going to do that far ahead yet.
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2042
Sol Survey Efforts
March -- The JupSat team finally finishes on Titan after well over two years, and finds – nothing. They’ll head to Tethys next.
May 25th – Tethys survey is complete, yielding nothing: this confirms that there is nothing left to be found on the Saturn moons.
July – It has been discovered that an error was made when designing the Essex II – they don’t have enough fuel for a full tour, a fact that has been made obvious during their surveying expeditions into the outer system. Engineers have looked into the possibilities of increasing their fuel storage, and found that a longer-range vessel would be the same size and require just a 2.2% increase in cost of building from scratch. Refitting the GEV Amerigo Vespucci(which returned from it’s recent tour with less than 3% fuel left) and Lief Ericson(which has been cut off just 10 months in and has just enough to make it back itself) would require only three weeks and less than 6% of the cost of a new vessel. The decision was also made at the same time to return and retire the original Essex class vessels, the Marc Aaronson and George Ogden Abell. They served well, but lack the range and espescially the speed to be useful now. Refitting them would cost almost as much as a new ship, as replacing the huge engines completely would be required.
September – Refit to the IIx class and shore leave completed, the Amerigo Vespucci resumes scanning the asteroids.
October 3rd, 8:30 AM – The Leif Ericson makes it back to earth ... barely ... with less than 200 litres of fuel remaining, about 0.5% of it’s normal capacity. That was too close, and had the earth been on the opposite side of the sun instead of in a neutral position at the time, a rescue operation would have been required.
Oct. 15th – George Ogden Abdell returns to earth, and is scrapped at the P&A Group Shipyards.
Dec. 17th – A rare potentially useful asteroid in the outer system has been found: 1998 SN165, cerca Neptune orbit, contains nearly 80kt of high-accessibility minerals. Some is duranium, but most is unneeded gallicite and boronide.
Ground surveys are quickly being caught up: 28 of 54 are now completed. The closest remaining orbital survey is 3.9b km, with only 97(18.4%) remaining to be scanned. In the next few years the job should be completed, and everything being looked at now is a long-term target at the very best, since they are well beyond the operational range of our freighters with current propulsion technology. Only four asteroids with deposits were found this year, a significant decrease from the current rate but the Essex IIx refits did have an impact on this.
Commissioned Officers
Jan. – Sam Baker’s Fleet Movement Initiative rises to 132(which still isn’t any good).
February – It’s that time of the year again: 8 army and 7 naval officers are dismissed.
March – Herman Fox increases Admin. rating to 2.
April – Saburo Matsumoto is commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 157
Bonuses: 25 training, 20% Fighter Ops, 15% Terraforming, 10% Xenology/Fighter Combat
Personality Traits: Callous
Late October – Herman Fox increases admin. rating to 3.
Research & Development
March 6 – Dr. Ignacio Bravo’s research into the new engine is complete, and the engineers finish the design for the Fletcher II freighter. The requirements are that it be able to reach Saturn(in the event of colonizing Titan), utilize some of the new cargo-handling systems for faster unloading, and be as fast as reasonably possible with a 25kt cargo hold, two-thirds larger than the existing Fletcher.
The new design has six engines instead of the standard two, has the two-thirds increase in cargo space and nearly twice the speed at 524 km/s. It costs a little over twice as much as well, but should achieve more than three times the shipping of the original Fletcher with somewhat reduced fuel efficiency. It’s not a massive improvement, but it is an improvement and will be the ship responsible for the shipping duties until significant technological advances become available. It will have a crew of 117, compared to the meager 41 required to man the Victoria.
The P&A Group Shipyard sets to work expanding to the required size of 35,750 tons, nearly twice the size of the original Fletcher as well. As of now we do not expect any of these to be able to be completed until late 2042 at the very soonest.
Concurrently, Director Herbert Duling announced that Dr. Ignacio Bavaro, by far the most skilled scientist SPACE has, would be beginning investigations into Jump Theory. Duling stressed that other fields would not be abandoned, with the majority space going to general research in different fields, but that this was to be the top single priority going forward. Bavaro’s team will have the use of two compounds and a third when it is completed later this year. This is expected to take several years to yield any substantive results, but anything coming from it will be classified at the highest levels. Accordingly, construction began on a secret shipyard to be used only for classified designs. It’s existence could hardly be kept secret – all one has to do is look up from the proper hemisphere to see the materials being assembled – but the details of the work there were kept in the strictest secrecy.
May – Dr. Everette Snuggs’ team completes research into Flag Bridge, a speculative project to be sure but one that shows the general belief in jump theory. It’s a specific type of command bridge intended as a ship-mounted command staff for the task groups in a remote system, which
obviously wouldn’t be useful unless significant numbers of ships were able to get to such a location.
He was chosen again to lead a team researching Replacement Battalion, as it was decided to get a couple of very basic combat research tasks out of the way.
July 21 – An eighth research lab is built, and assigned to the Jump Point Theory team. Much could change, but it estimated the project will take another five years until the s
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2042
Mining Expansion
Jan. 6th – First mine becomes operational on Comas Sola.
March – Machholz reaches aphelion at nearly 900m km and is headed back to earth. The standing orders are for shipments to go to whichever comet is closer, which for a while will still be Comas Sola(in the midst of the asteroid belt and still incoming, a little less than half as far).
Earth
June 21st – Tod & MacGregor has expanded it’s slipways as needed to handle the Fletcher II freighters. The process of retooling for the massive ships is now underway, and the first will not be ready to begin construction until next April. It’s been a much longer process than expected.
Research & Development
July – Long-standing research into Shipyard Operations is completed(Dr. Deacon Palmer). Dr. Wayne Sabagh gets to work another basic combat advancement, Infrared Lasers.
September 27 – Dr. Everette Snuggs’ team completes research on Replacement Battalion. Dr. Harlan Welle gets his first assignment, Magazine Ejection Systems.
** Karabishi Juishao has unfortunately been surpassed by this recruit. It is likely she will remain without work unless missile technology becomes a major need. Welle has a 15% skill bonus, Juishao 10%.
Sol Survey Efforts
August – Another asteroid reveals high-accessibility duranium in the amount of 133.2kt, reported by the Amerigo Vespucci. That’ll definitely be one to mark for the future, espescially if engines can allow shipping of mines that far outsystem in a reasonable time frame. 2005 UQ513 is a rock 6.5b km out, or a bit farther than Pluto. This is the largest duranium discovery in the system five times over – no other deposit is over 25kt.
October – Not to be outdone by the find of the AV a few months ago, the Lief Ericson reports the best asteroid deposit yet on 2004 XA192. 191kt of duranium, more than 50% more than the last discovery, and another 40kt in less needed minerals has been confirmed there. It’s 5.4b distant, about a billion km closer as well which is far from insignificant.
Summary
It was a relatively quiet year. The continued progress on the survey front was one of two primary news pieces. Several orbital and ground surveys were completed, though the teams haven't found anything new in two years, so their progress is really more a matter of beauracratic paperwork at this point. 36 of 62 deposits have been followed up on. Most of the dwarf planets, including Pluto, have now been found to be barren. Only 28 asteroids(5.3%) have yet to be scanned, several of which are in the extreme 10b km+ range, along with a pair of dwarf planets and the four super-long-period comets. The information-gathering phase of our system is very rapidly coming to a close.
The second development was that the fledgling mining colony on Comas Sola is now up and running. There are 6+ mining complexes now operational, a bit more than on Venus which makes it the largest off-world operation. The current yield of nearly half a kiloton is substantial, but much more is needed. This is still but a few percent of what Earth churns out(11+kt annually), but the clock is ticking quickly and the lion’s share of the neutronium and corundium currently being produced comes from Comas Sola. The comet is now outbound between Mercury and Venus orbit, with enough time left to probably set up another couple of mines before the FT Victoria switches over to Machholz, currently somewhat inside Jupiter orbit. In the longer-range picture, long-period comets Crommelin(15.9kt duranium, tons of tritanium, smaller amounts of corundium and others) and Stephan-Oterma(25.3kt duranium, best of anything within range, and ?9kt neutronium) are incoming between Neptune and Saturn orbit, 2b km or so out. The race is on to see if any of the Fletcher II freighters will be ready in time to get significant amounts of mines onto them ...
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?Cmdr. Ken McKay – 15th out of 17 ... being a member of the top geology team has not proved a career boon, at least so far.
Cmdr. Sam Baker – Lately of the Marc Aaronson which was recently scrapped, he is currently awaiting his next assignment.
Lt. Cmdr. Roger Wilco – 6th out of 51. Holding steady at not-quite-accomplished-enough for a command status. There were a number of talented recruits in the past year complicating ambitions.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin II – 26th
Lt. Cmdr. Jedidiah Thone – 44th ... it’s not looking good here.
Lt. Cmdr. Saburo Matsumoto – 19th
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 4th out of 19. The top half of the army officers corps has remained very steady for quite some time.
Herman Fox(3) – Governor of the comet Schaumasse, a less and less important post as time goes on, but he’s improved himself there.
Karabishi Juishao – No assignment, and none likely in the near future.
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What is not enough from Roger Wilco? He did everything he could to get his own ship. What did he lack from taking his own command?
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Ha! I hope Herman will live long enough to take charge of a extrasolar colony one day. The improvements are also a nice touch. Maybe a nice Waterworld could be his next assignment?
Herman sees the post on Schaumasse as pit-stop essentially - a stone of proof if you will. He does his best and works hard with a small handpicket staff to increase output as good as possible.
At the same time he rallies for the quick development of jump-point theory as well as better mining robots to sharpen his profile as forward looking but solid politician. Maybe with an inofficioal private dinner here and there ;) (face it as governor i get paid for this kind of stuff)
@Brainsucker
I think the problem is the lack of available ships. The situation should be better once Bryan gets to gravsurvey-ships. If there are jump-points the Military will surely reconsider and build more ships.
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What Heph said on ship commands. You have to be really good to get a command right now because there is like a 10:1 officer:ship ratio. Being born at the wrong time of history and all that. 50 years from now(assuming we aren't all dead) I expect that situation will have changed significantly.
Sometimes doing your best isn't good enough. Other times, even succeeding isn't good enough, as one of your comrades found out this year ...
2043
Commissioned Officers
?January – Jay Cin II improves his political connections from negligible to still poor(5%).
February – 12 naval and three army officers fired. Among them are two who most definitely were given assignments(even though the game thinks they weren’t): one was Cmdr. Sam Baker. He’d only been without assignment for a few months, but Aurora says 7+ years. *Boggle*
I’ll need to watch this – had I known that would happen I would have been more aggressive in giving him the command of a more ‘junior’ officer instead of waiting for them to come back for shore leave(my preferred method). My best guess as to the reason is that when the ship was
scrapped, it also scrapped the assignment from their ‘history’? This is suggested by the fact that both Essex commanders are the ones who were prematurely ‘retired’. In this case I can just wait to scrap the ships until reassignment in the future, if I remember.
October – Ken McKay’s political reliability is reaching significant heights now(15%).
Earth
April – A ninth research laboratory is completed on Earth. A record seventh concurrent project is begun, this one under Dr. Edward Groat(his first assignment) is the final in the recent series of basic combat projects, Duranium Armor for use on starships as a better defensive material.
April 20th – Construction of the first in the Fletcher II freighter class begins at the Tod & Macgregor Shipyard. It is expected to be finished around Christmas.
November – A new civilian shipping firm has been formed(to do what, I have no idea): Jensrud Transport and Trading.
December 25 – Two days late, the FT Venus is christened on Christmas Day. Commander Chong Vaugh, a new star on the horizon, is named her commander – he was just promoted from LTC in the past week, knocking Tell Perj Jr a peg down the order of seniority. Rumor has it Perj is not taking it well, to put it mildly.
The Venus gets to work immediately assisting the Victoria in the task of hauling mines to Machholz. The Tod & Macgregor Shipyard gets to work immediately building another, but this will immediately multiply the speed of mining expansion ...
Immediately the effect of the new cargo handling systems are obvious, as what takes the Victoria almost a week to unload is done in less than a day.
Off-World Mining
May – The final delivery has been made to Comas Sola, leaving the comet with 10 operational mines. A mass driver and follow-up mines will be sent to Machholz for the rest of the year’s shipping activity via the Victoria. Comas Sola is expected to deliver 700 tons a year overall, and the corundium it produces will be enough to convert one new mine annually. It’s a start, albeit a very modest one. In August, the mass driver on Machholz became operational.
Research & Development
December 11th – Dr. Wayne Sabagh’s team completes research on Infrared Laser. Pioneer Deacon Palmer takes on a most important project, one which more labs will be allocated to over time but he’ll begin with just one. He’s been tasked with finding ways to improve the production of our mines. Nothing could be of more immediate value. Meaningful results will take over seven years without further support though, by which time the usefulness of it will have been somewhat diminished.
SUMMARY
It was a quiet year in surveys with the work nearly done. Another four ground team surveys were completed, bringing the total to 40 with 22 remaining. Both of the Essex Iix’s are en route to super-distant asteroids(12b km and up) with 6.5b now the limit at which everything has been scanned. Only 8 asteroids, the four longest-period comets, and the two most remote dwarf planets remain. Their results are more of a scientific curiosity than anything else at this point.
The focus has switched firmly to the mining efforts. Crommelin and Stephan-Oterma are still outside Saturn orbit, making Machholz still the target for now. It has nearly two mines operational and is just about to clear the asteroid belt. With the Venus now in service, it will not be long before that increases dramatically.
Corundium production is the most important economic indicator right now. It stands at 117 tons annually, enough to convert about 1.5 mines to their automated variants. Two thirds of this comes from Comas Sola. It will still be three-to-four years before Earth’s supply of corundium runs out, so that’s the window we have to get a bigger flow going. Right now, the stockpile of automated mines is at 28 and has gradually grown, but the Venus is expected to reverse that situation. It has not yet been fully decided if the lastest freighter under construction will be the last or if more will be immediately required(likely).
Money is not an issue, as it is increasing faster than we have the resources to spend it. About 60% goes into the treasury each year at this point. There is less than 2.4kt corundium and 2.7kt neutronium remaining, and those remain the crucial factors in the expansion.
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Your guess seems about right. I know there's a thing where the head of a set of staff officers doesn't count as assigned for the past however many years if you move them, be aware of that too. I never really scrap my ships so I can't confirm if this is actually what happened though.
I guess I'll reroll then... put me back in as Alex Rossi.
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?2044
Research & Development
January 8th -- Dr. Cedrick Wormack announced that a smaller Engineering Section ship module had been built, allowing more efficient designs particularly of smaller-end vessels. The lab was re-allocated to Palmer’s work on increasing mining output.
Feb. 16th – Dr. Sanko Matar’s team produced results detailing the possibility of engines with an additional 25% power, up to 150% possible now with new techniques. Dr. Cedrick Wormacktakes the space and begins research into larger fuel storage tanks.
April 20 – Magazine Ejection System research completed by Dr. Harlan Welle and his team. The space is transferred to the Very Large Fuel Storage module project.
Earth
January 28th -- The top-secret shipyard was completed, named the Wartsila A/B & O/Y. I’m assuming that was merely an attempt to confuse. It has a capacity for only 1000 tons, and begins expansion immediately to allow for a reasonably-sized ship should something be
required.
April 1 – Voliva Carrier Company founded(commercial shipping line). Civilians are coming out of the woodwork in a clear vote of confidence for the expansion efforts, but as yet there is really nothing for them to do so it’s a bit premature.
May – Just under a year after the mining outpost was founded, Machholz has surpassed Comas Sola as the largest off-world venture with 10+ mines operational.
July 27th – A 10th research lab is completed on earth. The Jump Point Theory team gets a fourth complex to use, the most that has been devoted to any one project since Trans-Newtonian Technology nearly two decades ago. Revised estimates indicate a final report can be accelerated a few months, due now in January of 2046.
Early August – With over two dozen in place, mine transfers to Machholz are cut off prematurely, in an effort to preserve some to spread out to the other useful comets.
August 29 – The FT Hercules is completed at the Tod & MacGregor Shipyards, the second and for now final in the Fletcher II class. Cmdr. Jung Besler, who has commanded the ST Vega for nearly eight years, is assigned as the best available experienced CO.
It has also been determined that a significant flaw exists in the Hercules and Venus as currently constituted. Namely, they are very short of fuel storage with the Venus having to refuel monthly. A new design, unoriginally dubbed the Fletcher II-x, will have one less cargo handling system –
only one is needed to achieve loading within two days, a perfectly reasonable timeframe – and increase fuel storage 16 times over to 800,000 litres. The new smaller engineering spaces will also be made use of to save on maintenance supply space. The resulting ship is just a hair larger,
actually requires 12 less crew(105 compared to 117), loses less than 2% of it’s speed and has a range of over 33b km, effectively putting the entirety of the system within it’s range.
The Venus is the first to undergo the refitting process, which will be set to begin next year.
Commissioned Officers
Mar. 12th – Karabishi Juishao increases Administration rating to 5, allowing her to supervise effectively even more labs than don’t exist and therefore aren’t available for her use.
Later in March -- LTC Alex Rossi commissioned
Fleet Movement Initiative: 175
Bonuses: Terraforming 20%, Xenology 15%, Logistics 10%
Personality Traits: Disciplined, Dynamic, and Honest
Mid-December – Having turned to politics to increase his standing, LtC Roger Wilco now has considerable backing(political reliability 15%).
Sol Survey Efforts
Eight bodies remain now, three asteroids, Sedna, and the four comets. No new deposits were discovered this year, with eight more ground surveys bringing the total to 48 completed, 14 remaining on that front.
Mining Report
Off-world operations are significant enough now that it’s worth presenting an annual report on the state of things. Each location will list the number of mines and type(standard or automated), the total yield, efficiency(minerals per mine per year), and the amount of corundium since that’s the most critical need right now.
Earth(249 standard/17 automated) – 8.44kt annual yield, 24t efficiency, 0 corundium
Machholz(0S/27.6A) – 1.92 kt yield, 63t eff, 213 corundium
Comas Sola(0S/10.2A) – 696t yield, 65t eff, 75 corundium
Venus(0S/6A) – 177t yield, 24t efficiency, 7 corundium
Schaumasse(0S/1.8A) – 80t yield, 36t efficiency, 22 corundium
Reinmuth(0S/1.8A) – 101t yield, 47t efficiency, 0 corundium
From this it is clear that getting mines off of Earth and Venus as much as possible and to higher-efficiency mining outposts will continue to be a productive endeavor. New mine conversions can be queued up now at a little over four per year, and Earth still has 20 in the pipeline to be converted at this point, a year and a half worth.
The top untapped known sources, in terms of mining efficiency(min. 50t) are:
Swift-Tuttle(71t, 4.36kt corundium) – A long-period comet that won’t be within reasonable range for decades.
Wolf-Harrington(67t, 6.49kt corundium) – Previously overlooked because it lacks duranium, but this was probably short-sighted. Wolf-Harrington is in position to be exploited immediately(280m km, well inside the asteroid belt) and will be added to the short-period comet list along with Comas Sola and Machholz.
Crommelin(66t, 3.18kt corundium) – This incoming comet will be exploited in the next few years.
Neujmin(59t, 1.42kt corundium) – Incoming on a similar vector and distance to Crommelin, it will be exploited as well. Both are about 1.6b km out at this point.
Borrelly(58t, 0 corundium)
Van Biesbroeck(55t, 0 corundium) – We’ll keep an eye on this pair, but for now are focusing soley on corundium sources.
Herschel-Rigolet(54t, 9.88kt corundium) – Another long-period comet that can’t be reached efficiently.
Halley’s Comet(51t, 0 corundium) – Very long-range, and has only neutronium out of the big three.
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2045 Election
11 of the 18 career politicians were able to stand for the Director of Space/Governor of Earth combo, but it pretty much came down the same as four years ago with incumbent Herbert Duling a slight favorite over India Rakes(Governor of Venus). There was a wild card this time around with long-shot Herman Fox(Governor of Schaumasse) also making it to the final ballot. It was closer than in 2041, but Duling again wins with 40.7% of the vote, 36.2% chose Rakes, and a respectable showing by Fox with the remaining 23.1% in a distant third.
The remaining posts were chosen by mining ability:
Machholz – India Rakes
Comas Sola – Herman Fox
Venus – Jarrett Hugh
Schaumasse – Damian Ackley
Reinmuth -- Larry Steckel
Cmdr. Ken McKay – 12th out of 17, laboring on the distant asteroid 1996 TQ66 with the Rater survey team
Lt. Cmdr. Roger Wilco – 5th out of 51
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin II – 20th
Lt. Cmdr. Jedidiah Thone – 40th
Lt. Cmdr. Saburo Matsumoto – 15th
Lt. Cmdr. Alex Rossi – 48th
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 5th out of 19; highly talented recruit Anton Engelhardt dropped him a spot this time around.
Herman Fox(3) – A bit of a promotion from Schaumasse to the more important comet Comas Sola.
Karabishi Juishao – zzzzz ..
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Yay, my guy has moved up in the world. Probably wont help but oh well.
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Herman sat with the CEO of Voliva at the big table custom made from Schaumasses stone. Taking his glass up he toasted "Maybe next time." Some of his campaign-money went into founding this promising company, in turn he got a huge wave of PR.
Voliva could become an valueable asset, he pondered, and they had big plans. For example the ships build by Voliva could transport hardware to the mining outposts reducing the strain on the fleet. They even kept an eye on the recent mineral finds to determine good spots for a purely civilian operation.
What they lacked thought were skilled crews and captains. That was a problem he intended to get solved. Silently he clicked the sendbutton, mailing a list of recent military dropouts and decommisions to his buisnespartner.
Smiling he sat his glass down watching the window-sized display on his wall. Comas sola was a good spot and a step up, he thought as tanksized miners slowly rolled into few each carrying tons of raw ore for the smelters.
((seriosly what the hell? 20%+ ? ))
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Ah I got beaten by an NPC again, duh :-[ I guess Roger Wilco won't command his own ship forever, just like Ling Hu Zhong.
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Re-introduce me as Warren Clark. This is actually Joseph (who was discharged from the service for some reason) using his middle name to get back into space. You might assign him to a civilian ship.
By the way, you ought to colonize the moon and mars, even if only by using the civilian lines (by commissioning them to ship infrastructure there). This is good both from a role-playing perspective (it's economically feasible and people would want to do it) and from a gameplay perspective (flying back and forth to Luna gives your civilian lines a way to make lots of money and expand your economy).
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2045
Earth
Director-Governor Duling began his second term by ordering a couple more mass drivers built to be ready when more comets came in range, and by sending all three freighters to Wolf-Harrington immediately to establish a new mining outpost there. With two weeks, four mines were operational and a governor had been appointed – Francesco Alborn.
Jan. 18th – Tod & MacGregor has retooled for the Fletcher II-x class, and the Venus begins it’s refit. It’s a four-month process to make the necessary changes, mostly just adding the massive fuel storage.
January – Two civilian colony ships, making it three with nowhere to go, launch on Earth. At least the private sector has confidence that we’re going places ... sometime.
March – With almost 10 operational mines, the Wolf-Harrington shipments are discontinued. Earth is down to single digits in the automated mine stockpile, and considerable investments in Crommelin and Stephan-Oterma are desired when they approach as we won’t have a shot at them
again for a while. That means we can’t spend all our mines elsewhere in the meantime.
May 18th – The Venus finishes it’s refitting, and hilariously an auto-warning is dispatched to Fleet HQ that the ship has just over 4% of it’s fuel remaining. Refueling requires half a year’s production from the refineries, but they’ve built up a considerable reserve and this is no problem.
A major announcement by Director Herbert Duling is of considerably more import. In a globally televised address, he outlines a plan to colonize Titan, Saturn’s largest moon. Arguing that this is a venture of vital importance, he stresses the sorium riches of Saturn itself and the strategic value(regardless of what happens with jump theory) of having a refueling and recuperation base outsystem as a bridge to developments in the Kuiper Belt region. Titan is the most advanced potentially habitable location, and as such is best candidate for such an endeavour. Duling also stresses the need for such a moderate-range colonization effort(Saturn is over a billion km away on closest approach) and the experience needed from it before any dreams of a future attempt to colonize other systems could possibly be entertained in the future. He also calls on the civilian shipping firms to stand ready to aid in shipping the first wave of colonists -- they’ll need to do more than ‘aid’ in it, since the Spruance class was never produced –. The Venus is loaded with infrastructure and sent to make preparations for an initial settlement, departing late on the 19th. It’s nearly a month journey one way. The potential for jobs on Titan drowns out concerns that SPACE is bowing to corporate pressure, at least for the moment.
Meanwhile, the Hercules takes it’s turn getting the update to the II-x variant.
June 18th – The first 10 infrastructure are off-loaded onto Titan. This in itself means nothing – there’s 24 still sitting on Venus doing nothing. SPACE officially designates it as a colonist destination and appoints as governor Sonny Dean, formerly in charge of Comas Sola. As it is uncertain what, if anything, the civilians will do, the Spruance class is updated with the latest advances. Designated the Spruance-B, the new design is just under 20k tons, requires 110 crew, and is just a hair slower than the Fletcher II’s at 501 km/s. The main difference is that is has four engines instead of the original two, and more fuel for longer range and higher speed.
The P&A Group Shipyard is just large enough to accomodate the design, but retooling alone will take over a year(and about 350 neutronium). Still, it is considered worth the effort.
July 14th – Jensrud Trading launches a large freighter ...
July – A new politician has emerged who will be one to watch: Alberto Eighmy has a wider variety of skills than anyone currently at SPACE, and is already being tapped by many as a future SPACE director.
Sep. 18th – The Hercules has been refitted, and it promptly refuels and heads to Titan(via Venus first to scoop up the useless infrastructure there).
October – Earth’s population reaches 800 million.
December – Voliva sends a small colony ship to Titan ... the first human colonists are onboard. The Spruance-B project will go forward as a learning exercise if nothing else, but history is in the making! The estimated speed is 600-650 km/s, a little faster than our design. These guys know what they are doing, that’s for certain.
Meanwhile, a new research lab is finished. Dr. Everette Snuggs begins to use it for work on a tiny fuel storage tank, another option for fine-tuning esp. on smaller ships. He’ll need more help on this down the line. We’re now up to six ongoing research teams in 11 laboratory complexes.
December 24th – It was quite the Christmas Eve, as the Lief Ericson reports high-accessibilty duranium on Sedna(the final dwarf planet to be surveyed, over 11b km distant) of 373kt! Additionally, expansion of the Wartsila top-secret military shipyard is complete to 3000 tons, and
it awaits word from the Jump Theory team early next year on any new developments.
Research & Development
Jan. 18th – Dr. Edward Groat’s research team has completed the Duranium Armor project. Dr. Santo Makar gets to work on a new effort to progress basic engine technology in the direction of lower-power, higher-efficiency possibilities.
Commissioned Officers
February – This year’s involuntary terminations of service include LtC Roger Wilco and LtC Jay Cin II.
June – Herman Fox’s admin. rating is increased to four ...
October – Brandon Seymer, an unused scientist, was killed in an accident. This is SPACE’s first untimely death in some years.
November – A naval officer is the second in two months to die in strange circumstances, and conspiracy theorists abound ...
SUMMARY
At year’s end, we are less than a week away from the Voliva colony ship arriving at Titan ... less than two weeks away from a report by the Jump Theory research team. Exciting events are(hopefully) imminent!
Crommelin has passed inside Saturn orbit, with 17 mines now waiting on earth for them to get a bit closer and 14 more in production. Development on Wolf-Harrington has improved the supply situation somewhat.
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@joeclark 77: How exactly would I go about assigning someone to a civilian ship? I see no way to achieve that.
Also, I don't think I agree that colonizing Mars and Luna makes sense from an RP perspective. It's definitely economically viable and I can see the people would want to due it angle, but in what is more or less an economic crisis I think there needs to be some resource available to be exploited. There needs to be a reason to go there. The pro-con analysis pretty much ends up being: should we build some expensive spaceships to go colonize a place so that we can have unemployed workers with nothing to do there and spend some of our duranium on infrastructure for the priviledge? I think not, it's a 'bridge to nowhere' type of concept.
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seems that I wont get a chance to get a job whatever it is :-[
ok put this in : Christopher Blair, nick name Maverick. A Naval Officer, Male. Btw... is there a chance you will have fighter squadron in near future?
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Will do. Regarding fighter squadrons and similar considerations -- military tech is, as I've mentioned in passing, much less important than other areas of research right now for SPACE. The reason is that there's no need for it other than wanting to have a capability if some kind of civil war or other crisis should arise(incidentally we were close to this a few years ago). There being no discernible evidence of alien life of any kind, space-oriented weaponry is limited to basic ICBM launchers.
Events will change this eventually, which could take many forms. If nothing else, sociologists predict that the citizenry will eventually demand a basic level of protection. At the moment, economic considerations are still central and drown out any such concerns.
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Events will change this eventually, which could take many forms. If nothing else, sociologists predict that the citizenry will eventually demand a basic level of protection. At the moment, economic considerations are still central and drown out any such concerns.
This definitely makes sense, but if the civilian sector is already starting to move colonists there, that required protection is probably coming sooner rather than later. If anything, you may just want to look into possibly constructing a troop transport and moving ground units to the colony.
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@joeclark 77: How exactly would I go about assigning someone to a civilian ship? I see no way to achieve that.
I assume he means commercial, you know like freight duty & that kind of stuff.
Also, I don't think I agree that colonizing Mars and Luna makes sense from an RP perspective. It's definitely economically viable and I can see the people would want to due it angle, but in what is more or less an economic crisis I think there needs to be some resource available to be exploited. There needs to be a reason to go there. The pro-con analysis pretty much ends up being: should we build some expensive spaceships to go colonize a place so that we can have unemployed workers with nothing to do there and spend some of our duranium on infrastructure for the priviledge? I think not, it's a 'bridge to nowhere' type of concept.
Where's that lust to colonize the galaxy? Hell I'd move to the moon given the opportunity. There are other reasons besides straight economics & military to do something. Put fuel refineries on the planets if they need employment, or construction factories & the minerals to start building spaceports or pdcs.
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I don't think the lust to colonize the galaxy is a major force(relatively speaking) when unemployment stays over 12% and the future looks bleaker than that. It becomes a lot more significant when fortunes are better.
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Jay Cin III, Male Naval Officer, is ready to command a freighter or something.
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If anything, you may just want to look into possibly constructing a troop transport and moving ground units to the colony.
I agree with this. I don't think it makes sense to not have a police presence on Titan for long, and eventually naval military assets will be needed as well at a basic level for the same reason.
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2046
Colonizing Titan
Jan. 3rd – The first colonists arrive at Titan, which has enough infrastructure to support 70,000 now. 50,000 are unloaded from the Voliva colony ship within a couple days, and it’s official – humanity is no longer bound to earth alone! It’s taken 21 years for SPACE to establish a human colony, and so Titan enters the history books.
January – Jensrud and Voliva have already dispatched trade freighters to Titan, leaping into action to gain economically from the new colony. Interestingly, both of these are a bit slower than our freighters.
Research & Development
Jan. 10th – Exactly one week after the events at Titan, Dr. Ignacio Bravo’s team unveils the most important scientific pronouncement since TN technology nearly two decades ago, and among the most significant ever.
Bravo’s team sets to work on gravitational sensors, an instrument suite required to detect if a jump point actually exists at a potential location. Armed with the information from the previous study, this will actually be a much quicker project and is expected to complete in a year and a
half. Work on jump engines will need to follow this, but getting a vessel ready to survey the potential jump point locations is clearly the first priority.
Aug. 12th – Dr. Cedrick Wormack’s team completes research into Very Large Fuel Storage module. These hold a million litres each, and are useful only on extremely large vessels. One lab was reassigned to Everette Snuggs’ work on the other end of the scale, Tiny fuel
storage tanks. The second is freed up for the next new project, Pebble Bed Reactors. This is a gateway project that may eventually lead to the a new generation of more powerful engines beyond our current standard, nuclear thermal propulsion. Dr. Rosemary Urenda gets her first project lead for this endeavor.
Commissioned Officers
Early May – A bit of a shakeup in the army as Brig. Gen. Willis Hindley is forced to retire for medical reasons. Col. Leland Mesecher takes over his command on an interim basis.
Late June – Ken McKay’s survey skill is up a bit to 17%.
July – Another bump in Ken McKay’s survey skill(18%).
Late September – Captain Louis Meola has died of natural causes. He was Survey Officer at Fleet HQ for over a decade, and was 47 years old. At present, there is not an available Captain to replace him. Claudio Offutt is transferred from the presently virtually-useless post at Operations to serve as his successor.
October – Warren Clark is commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 162
Bonuses: Fighter Ops(25%).
Personality Traits: Dynamic, inflexible and dogmatic.
Late November – India Rakes, governor of Comas Sola, hilariously announced a breakthrough in improving industrial production. You’re on a mining rock, governor ... I think you’re working on the wrong thing.
Earth
Early March – Gallicite is the fourth mineral to be exhausted on earth. With almost 25kt in the stockpile, limited usage, and about 170 tons coming in from the comets each year, this is a non-issue. Sorium will be the next to be depleted, sometime in the next three years.
June – Prospects on Titan lead to a surge in population growth on earth, as public confidence in the future of humanity grows stronger with each passing shipment. (I.e., Herbert Duling now has a 10% pop. growth bonus). Meanwhile, the first mine arrives on Titan, and 50,000 of the 70,000 unemployed there now have something to do.
July – It has become clear that more freighters are needed to keep up with the demand of more colonists being constantly shipped to Titan. With duranium supplies relatively steady at a solid 6kt, it is deemed a worthwhile use and the FT Southampton, third of the Fletcher II-x class, begins construction at the Tod & MacGregor. There begins to be some concern now at Fleet HQ about the sustainability of our fuel reserves, but with Machholz and Comas Sola bringing in almost 400t of sorium per year and over 10kt on earth, it’s not an immediate issue.
Sep. 16th – The Spruance-B colony ship begins construction, which will take nearly two years at the P&A Group Shipyard. It is rapidly becoming obvious that this is more of a ‘proving we can do it’ thing than something actually needed, as the civilian lines are shipping more to
Titan than we can.
Sol Survey Efforts
March – The GEV Amerigo Vespucci completes the last survey for now, scanning the comet Ikeya-Zang some 14+b km out because they were ‘in the neighborhood’ at one of the more distant asteroids. Ikeya-Zang contains three minerals, the most significant is maximum-
accessible corundium in the amount of over 81kt! This single-handedly more than doubles known deposits, and ensures that as the available sources elsewhere dwindle, there will be a place to go for expansion. It’s likely to be somewhere around a decade or more until Ikeya-Zang
is close enough for convenient investment, but it is still quite welcome news.
It will be decades until the other three extremely distant comets is close enough to bother scanning. The top two ground survey teams are still expected to take some time to finish surveying the distant asteroids.
Mining
November – A civilian mining complex has been established on Sedna. I tell you, these corporations are ambitious! We now have the option to either buy what they produce, or tax the shipping of it. We choose to buy, as this is the richest duranium find in the system and we’re
going to take as much of it as we can get our hands on. This will cost us 250k credits per year, and net us an extra 90t duranium. As we are running an annual surplus of over 13m, this is not at all a problem.
Summary
Titan now has approximately 270,000 citizens at year’s end, and more mines than they can operate. With corporate shipping booming there and elsewhere(i.e., Sedna), there is the first glimmer of hope for the unemployed on Earth, now numbering over 102 million. The growth is slowing, but it’s still rising at 12.46%. Ground survey efforts continue, with 57 of 64 completed.
Mining Report
Earth(220S/31A) – 6.48 kt annual yield, 19.4 efficiency
Machholz(0S/27.6A) – 2.17 kt, 63 eff.
Comas Sola(0S/10.2A) – 827 t, 65 eff.
Wolf-Harrington(0S/9.8A) – 689 t, 67 eff.
Venus(0S/6A) – 172 t, 24 eff.
Sedna(1 CMC) – 90t, 9 eff.
Reinmuth(0S/1.8A) – 88 t, 47 eff.
Schaumasse(0S/1.8A) – 72 t, 36 eff.
Titan(5S/0A) – 16 t, 6 eff.
Duranium – 5.7 kt stockpiled, 2.089 kt annual yield
Neutronium – 2.85 kt, 480 t yield
Corundium – 604 t, 460 t yield
Sorium – 10.13 kt, 426 t yield
Earth’s fuel reserves are at 27.5 million litres and still growing a bit. Long-term sorium is a concern and the refineries consume 790t a year, so it’s definitely in our interest to keep growing the amount of that we produce. As for the others, we could use twice as much duranium as we
are currently producing, and 70% of what we are getting still comes from the dwindling deposits on earth. Neutronium is actually pretty decent for what we need, and we are still ‘catching up’ to the corundium reserves with only about six months supply for converting mines left now.
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I don't think the lust to colonize the galaxy is a major force(relatively speaking) when unemployment stays over 12% and the future looks bleaker than that. It becomes a lot more significant when fortunes are better.
On the contrary, I think that the high unemployment is a very good reason to go. It's the same kind of thing that drove American settlers to go west... there weren't enough opportunities back east, but out west you could claim a piece of land, work on it, and leave a relative fortune to your kids. The first moon settlers might not be doing anything important to SPACE, but they would be farming, developing the land, and other things important to them personally. When the alternative is living in a slum on Earth waiting for a welfare check each month, it would be appealing.
Also from a RP perspective: how are you proposing to stop them from emigrating? Shoot down any civilian vessels that attempt to approach Luna?
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To my mind, the difference in this situation is there isn't that opportunity there. A great proportion(much more than on earth) would have nothing to do because there's no manufacturing work, so unemployment would be higher. I'm definitely willing to consider other ways of doing things and shift some resources to Mars and Luna if need be but right now I just don't see the risk/reward there was with the migration to the American West which was spurred by opportunity and the potential for resources. There's just risk, and no reward -- in fact things will be worse on the moon than on earth unless a ton of stuff is shipped that earth needs which cripples earth and that doesn't make any sense to me either.
If anyone else(or you some more) wish to weigh in please do so. I'm going to ask about this on the other forums as well.
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I tend to focus production on earth (currently with 3000+ factories) and ship some other stuff to my other colonies. If i get the right materials i like to invest in exponential growth with more automines to further my production. If you are lucky you find a fitting world with the right materials behind the jump-points.
A slightly different approach would be to build some financial centers on earth to ease the unemployment. Thos then produce enough surplus for you to buy more minerals.
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To my mind, the difference in this situation is there isn't that opportunity there. A great proportion(much more than on earth) would have nothing to do because there's no manufacturing work, so unemployment would be higher. I'm definitely willing to consider other ways of doing things and shift some resources to Mars and Luna if need be but right now I just don't see the risk/reward there was with the migration to the American West which was spurred by opportunity and the potential for resources. There's just risk, and no reward -- in fact things will be worse on the moon than on earth unless a ton of stuff is shipped that earth needs which cripples earth and that doesn't make any sense to me either.
If anyone else(or you some more) wish to weigh in please do so. I'm going to ask about this on the other forums as well.
I hesitate to keep replying, because I don't want you to think I'm muscling in on your game! This is all up to you, of course. From my point of view, the reward to the individual -- especially to those who go early -- is that you can claim say 100 acres, build a dome, grow food, raise a family, and leave the land to your kids, with the expectation that in decades to come it'll only increase in value. This is as opposed to living in a multi-story apartment building and unable to even afford to get married.
Your comment about "shifting resources" and "crippling earth" again makes it look like you're roleplaying a communist empire. What I propose is that individuals (civilians) would move their own resources. The civilian lines will generate wealth, build new ships, and generate their own "infrastructure" as well as giving you tax revenue on all this activity. Assuming you are roleplaying a free civilization, this would be a net gain for the economy and societal wealth, not a drain on The People's resources. The game as programmed reflects this -- all you need to do is drop a few units of infrastructure on Luna or Mars to get it started, and the civilian shipping lines will take over.
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Also you could look at it this way. The unemployed deals only with workers not working in the "new" economy which means they are available for the new economy. They may be working in traditional civilian industries that still use things like Iron, Aluminum, and so on. Its kinda like how you look at a nation in the world (on wikipedia or CIA World Factbook) and you see a information for the number of people available for military service. For example, the USA has about 73ish million people available for military service. Is the military remotely that large, hell no (only around 1.5m), are they employed... well, mostly, 85 to 90% are in some way employed. Look at the Aurora unemployment numbers like that. You have X number of people available for service, you only need Y, so you have a lot of people left over. They are only unemployed in the sense that they are not working for you (a government centric way of looking at it but oh well) but other then that most of them are leading full and productive lives.
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Interesting stuff to think about. joeclark, don't worry about muscling in or anything like that. Yeah it's my game, but really part of the point of this is that it's 'our' game, which is much better than if it was my game as I get to have valuable feedback about it which makes it a lot better in my opinion rather than one person making what often tend to be very predictable decisions.
I don't view things as communist right now, mostly free but undecided if that's really a good idea. I can say that this is going to be a major issue in 2049 elections as there's a lot of opinions on both sides(pro here, and anti on the other site). What that means to me is that right now I think the winner, if it stays this way, is going to be someone who is willing to make a compromise solution.
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For the growing settler situation you can do this: Research the logistics line with lowered col-costs. Once you hit 25 mil. You can put the civ-transports on hold. The civ-shippinglines will import anyway infrastructure you produce on earth and the titanians will start to produce some. The lowered col-cost mean that you need less infrasturcture by the million thus lowering the strain.
now for some Rp:
Herman Fox stared bewildered at the bags in front of him. In the age of information the E-mail and now inaproprietly called "Instant" Messages were the modus operandi for most folks. Yet there it sat - mail (heck one could call it Fan-mail) written on ultra light paper.
The private shipping-lines were working wonders! An interplanetary mail-system who would have thought of that! If this grows further, he though, titan could export much more metals, textiles ... wines.
"Maybe i should buy more shares." he muttered to himself as hie fished out the first letter.
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Cmdr. Ken McKay – 13th out of 17, still working on geology survey
Lt. Cmdr. Jedediah Thone – 42nd out of 53
Lt. Cmdr. Saburo Matsumoto – 16th
Lt. Cmdr. Alex Rossi – 46th
Lt. Cmdr. Warren Clark – 17th
Christopher Blair & Jay Cin III are on the waiting list in the Academy ...
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 5th out of 22
Herman Fox(4) – Governor of Comas Sola
Karabishi Juishao – Still sitting around and getting paid to do nothing at all ...
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2047
Mining
January – Earth had over 30 mines sitting ready, and with Comas Sola inside Jupiter orbit and Crommelin incoming at a little over 1b km, it was time to get a few of them moving. The goal at this point is to get Comas Sola up to 20 mines, then put at least that many on Crommelin. The Hercules kept making shipments to Titan, while the Venus switched to comet duty.
August – It’s uncertain how he’s done it, but reports from Comas Sola indicate that the recent mining investment is paying off even better than expected. Gov. Herman Fox has found some revolutionary technique to dramatically increase productivity(Mining Bonus up to 35%, by far the best among SPACE officials). At around the same time, with 20+ active mines on the comet, focus switched to first development on Crommelin, now just under a billion kilometers away. By the end of the month, the latest mass driver was active there. Alberto Eighmy
received his first job as the governor at Crommelin ...
Commissioned Officers
February – The Navy has it’s first new captain in roughly a decade, as Commander Lucas Marini, long with the Lief Ericson, has been promoted. He’ll be the new Public Operations officer, with Sammie Sreaves moving over to Operations.
Jedidiah Thone is among this year’s dismissed officers.
May – Herman Fox’s administration rating is up to 5. He’ll be qualified for pretty any post imaginable for the forseeable future.
July – LtC Christopher Blair is commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 145
Bonuses: 100 Crew Training, 15% Diplomacy, 10% Terraforming, 10% mining.
Personality Traits: History Buff
With this set of skills, perhaps he should have been a politician, but the ability to train crew effectively should see him have a successful career.
September 23 – A medical problem has been reported for Warren Clark.
October – LtC Jay Cin III is commissioned and is considered the best officer to come out of the academy in years.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 108
Bonuses: 150 training, 25% Survey, 20% Fighter Combat/Espionage 10% Political Reliability
Personality Traits: Weak
Instantly by far the most talented Lieutenant Commander, it’s only a matter of time before he’s given a promotion and a command won’t be far behind that.
Earth
February 20 – Another research lab is completed, making it an even dozen now, and becomes the fifth assigned to Dr. Bravo’s work on gravitational survey sensors.
March 25 – The FT Southampton is set for duty. It heads out for Comas Sola immediately, and the fourth Fletcher II-x(the FT Custer) is begun.
Research & Development
March 23 – Dr. Clint Wyche’s team has completed research on increased fuel efficiency, another 10% improvement has been made. With the amount of traveling the freighters are doing, a new engine with this technology is a priority for them of course, and Wyche sets to work on that.
June 30 – Gravitational Survey Sensors research is complete. As much as it is desired to get a ship going for the next ‘acid test’, surveying the potential jump point locations, it was only sensible to wait a bit with a new more fuel-efficient engine underway. Bravo agreed to allow Wyche’s team to use his considerable allotment of research space to speed up the project, allowing it to be completed less than three weeks later on July 18th.
An interesting side effect of this was that the research community appears to have galvanized more completely behind Director-Governor Duling(Pol. Reliability up to 25%, highest we’ve seen for a politician so far). More importantly though, a fourth in the Fletcher freighter variant was designed(the II-xe) and refits scheduled to begin as soon as possible(the Custer won’t be finished until early next year). The more efficient engines allow them to carry less fuel(700k liters instead of the previous 800k for the same 2-year duration).
Even more noteworthy was of course the finalizing of the Coontz class of Gravitational Survey Vessel. Only one is planned, since that is plenty to survey the 30 jump locations and it will have no purpose once that mission is completed. It is very similar in size to the Essex, 2250 tons which is well within the 3k capacity at Wartsila. It requires a choice crew of 32 for which there will undoubtedly be fierce competition, and is among the fastest ships yet designed, just a hair slower than the Lexington-II transports at 1377 km/s.
Construction of humanity’s first ship to be classified military-grade began immediately, expected to take just under 8 months. The GSV Hopeful(somebody slap those beauracrats for this name) will be a highly sought-after post.
One of the labs was re-allocated to the Pebble Bed Reactor project, with the remaining five staying with the jump point tree of research. The next priority was working on the ‘jump engines’ themselves, which required three specific aspects of design. With Ignacio Bavaro again heading up the team, jump radius as the easiest of the three projects was begun.
September 23 – Pioneer Deacon Palmer has made a report on groundbreaking research that will improve the output of all mines(automated or standard) by 20% instantly! This is a huge development. He’ll next turn his attention to hopefully improving the efficiency of our refineries ...
It’s become clear that more transports are needed to shuttle all the VIPs/politicans around to the various mining colonies and for other potential purposes. The plan at this point is to use the Lexington II’s which are plenty fast and have more than enough range, and finish the mothballed third commercial yard to use for the purpose of building a few more, then scrapping the original Lexington’s. This will basically erase the small increases in the neutronium stockpile that have been achieved the past few years.
SUMMARY
The last few months of the year were pretty quiet. Titan continues to grow, now at about 610k total population. Almost 250k of those are needed to take care of the food and environmental needs. Steady but slow investment due to the distance of Crommelin continues, a little over six mines operational now. With the year’s mining advances, the supply of corundium is now sufficient to convert almost ten mines per year, a nearly acceptable rate. At the same time, Machholz(one of the better duranium sources) will exterminate it’s supply in about a decade. Hopping from moderate source to moderate source is a losing game over time, and while it’s necessary for the time being, it will become less effective and more expensive as time goes on.
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Jedidiah Thone did not get dismissed, he merely went back to school.
Bring him back as a Civilian Administrator, maybe he will have a good mining skill.
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2048
Everybody in the know at SPACE knew this year would be defined by the jump point surveys ...
Jump Point Survey Efforts
March 28th – The GSV Hopeful clears the Wartsila docks. Less than a week later Cmdr. Chong Vaugh arrives, transferring to the ship and handing over command of the FT Southampton. He’s an experienced officer, graduating the Academy in ‘42 and since has been at the helm of the freighters Victoria, Venus, and now the Southampton. This experience and his convenient proximity to Earth at the time earn him this command over the more talented, younger Gregorio Granberg who is at this moment near Titan.
April 1st – April Fool’s day is no laughing matter as the GSV Hopeful sets course for Jump Point #6, the next one ‘ahead’ of Saturn in it’s orbit. It will then head to 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 in turn, completing the circuit of the inner ring before heading further outsystem. It was a journey of just over two billion kilometers, and would take two and a half weeks.
April 18, 7:05 AM – The Hopeful arrived on station and began scanning the jump point location. They soon reported back that the scan itself would take another week or so, according to the onboard computer.
April 26, 4:00 PM – Just moments after the turning of the hour, the Hopeful had some rather unhopeful news: there was no active singularity at Jump Point #6, and they were proceeding to #5. Although disappointing, we had been told that most of them would like not contain active possibilities. Still, until one is found, there is a sense of worry about the validity of the entire exercise.
May 21, 7:44 PM – Another report from the Hopeful ... success! A jump point has been found, and it has also been discovered that it is closer than anticipated ... inside Jupiter orbit!
Scientists are not certain why it is so far from it’s expected location, speculating only about the unpredictable nature of space-time. But the evidence cannot be denied that it exists, the scanners test gravitational anomalies dozens of different ways to verify all aspects of the space-time distortion. The jump point is a mere 737m km away from the sun at a bearing of 216.
While the survey proceeds, Director-Governor Duling put the apparatus of SPACE in motion. Operation Uncertain Hope was a go. The next step was probably the most intimidating and certainly the most demanding from a resource point of view. It was expected that the required technology to build a functional jump engine would be ready by 2050, and everything else needed to be prepared.
Uncertain Hope was the(rather cheesy) name given to the design and deployment of a new class dubbed the Pioneer (with apologies to Dr. Palmer). The mission was astounding: to explore a jump point and whatever system lay beyond it. The specifications were considerable. Assuming it worked, the ship would emerge in a star system of which we would have only the vaguest knowledge from long-range telescopes. It would need to be prepared for anything, including an extended duration of stay to make vital recordings of whatever was found.
Geosurvey and gravsurvey suites would be essential to scan both for any further jump points in the new system and test for any resource deposits. In addition, equivalently sized thermal and electromagnetic passive sensors would need to be designed and built. Nobody knows what’s out there, and all possible information would be needed. The vessel would need fuel-efficient engines capable of reaching a reasonable speed – if not, it might find itself in a paradise but be too far away to discover it. This would also be an espescially long-term mission, with the commander given authority to explore as far as may be deemed necessary and/or fruitful. A 5-year commitment would be required from commander and crew for extended traveling, which in turn would imply substantial fuel reserves. And of course it would need a ‘jump engine’ large enough to open a wormhole for all of this vital equipment to navigate the jump. Engineers estimated such a ship would need to be multiple times larger than the current survey ships, probably at least 6000-6500 tons, and possibly as large as 10,000. Wartsila set to work immediately expanding from the current capacity of 3000, which clearly would be absurdly inadequate to the task. There could be no doubt the cost would be considerable, but was there really a choice? Multiple research projects would be required to prototype the optimal components. There was much to be done ... and hope seemed to shine a bit brighter with the pursuit of a challenging and potentially rewarding goal.
Two of three ‘regular path’ projects that were using multiple labs had one each taken from them to allow these prototype instruments to be designed. Clint Wyche(EM 5-3 Sensor Suite), Elwood Tousaint(TH 5-3 Sensor Suite) headed up the new teams. A new engine would be needed as well but that was best kept until the completion of some of the efficiency-related research that is presently ongoing. Tousaint has never headed up a project before, and is not the most skilled for the job, but as the only scientist SPACE has yet produced with a talent for Sensors & Fire Control, it is hoped he will improve through this experience.
Early September – The inner-most of the three circles of potential jump point locations has been completed: only the one has been found to contain an active jump point. The GSV Hopeful has been underway for just under five months, and moves out to begin investigating the second circle.
October 24th – Another confirmed jump point by the GSV Hopeful! This one is at a distance of 3.6b km, bearing 304. That places it squarely between Uranus and Neptune orbits, some five times further than the first one. For the time being these are known simply as Jump Point Alpha and Jump Point Bravo, respectively. An interesting, if probably coincidental, fact is that Bravo is nearly exactly the same distance from Alpha as it is from the sun itself.
Fleet Operations
January 11 – The FT Custer clears the Tod & MacGregor Yard, which immediately readies to install the new engines on the freighters. That work will begin later this year.
June 22nd – The FT Hercules returns to earth for shore leave, and is the first to undergo the refitting process to the new, more efficient II-xe model. It’s a four-month process, costing about half as much as a new ship for each. That’s a pretty penny to spend on some relatively minor upgrades, but HQ deems it worth it for using 11% less fuel.
June 28th – In a highly embarassing miscalculation, the FT Victoria under the command of Cmdr. Jon McElveen comes up about a week short of Earth, having run out of fuel. The ship is a relic at this point and is probably nearing the end of it’s useful service, but the FT Custer is less than two weeks away and inbound, and it is retasked with getting the
Victoria enough fuel to finish the journey.
July 9th – Refueling mission is complete, and the Victoria is back underway.
July 13th – The first official colony ship(the corporations have already built five of them) is finished. Dubbed the CS New Beginnings, it sets out to take it’s first 50,000 colonists to Titan, which is nearing a million now. The P&A Group Shipyard retools for the Lexington II class, and at the same time works on scrapping the Vega and Valencia. They’ve served well, but their time is up.
August 9th – The ST Vega and ST Valencia have been scrapped on Earth.
October 20th – The FT Hercules becomes the first of the freighters to be refitted. The Venus, already a month into it’s allotted shore leave which will now be extended significantly, takes the next spot.
Earth
May -- The factories have ‘caught up’ with the corundium supply. The rate of conversion would need to be indexed to the available supply being produced, which right now is a little over a dozen per year – except that’s about how fast the 11.7 million workers assigned to the task are able to convert them anyway. The supply has caught up with production just in time.
September -- Construction begins on a few more mass drivers to ensure enough are available for the next round of comet-based mining colonies.
Commissioned Officers
May -- Jedidiah Thone is commissioned!(again)
Administration rating: 1
Bonuses: Wealth Creation 30%, Population Growth 5%
Personality Traits: Risk-taker
Money and people we have, though the winds are changing. Still, the prospects for a risk-taking politician are never great.
December -- After just over a year in the service, Jay Cin III has been promoted to Commander!
Research & Development
March 3rd – Ignacio Bavaro’s team completes research into Maximum Jump Radius(50k km). The base level for squadron size is three ships, and that’s their next project. However, Sanko Matar, the best propulsion scientist alive today, switches to take over at this point with Bavaro taking over his work on reduced-power engine technology.
May – Santo Makar research skill is up to 45%, accelerating progress on the jump engine projects. Meanwhile, the factories on earth and pumping out more than ever before thanks to Herbert Duling’s supervision(increases Factory Production to 10%).
June – A 13th research lab is completed and assigned to one of the existing projects that recently lost space(Pebble Bed Reactor).
December 1st – The next step has been unveiled by Dr. Santo Makar, who has completed research into Jump Drive – Maximum Squadron Radius. The most important jump drive technology, efficiency, is up next and will take until late summer next year.
December 5th – Our first thermal sensor, the TH 5-3 Sensor Suite, has been successfully prototyped by Dr. Clint Wyche’s team. Only after the project was completed was it discovered a clerical error had been made in the blueprints: the intended size was 250 tons, these are 150-ton sensors. Back to the drawing board for Dr. Wyche. A similar mistake had been made on the electromagnetic sensors, and work on that prototype was canceled in favor of the desired size there as well.
Colonial Developments
August 1st – Crommelin is up to 20 mines, and shipping efforts briefly switch to Comas Sola which is on close approach again, upping the prescence there to 25. That was a quick effort, completed by late August, and it was then time for the next phase of comet exploitation.
Corundium is no longer considered the most critical mineral, with duranium still depleting rapidly on earth and mine conversions sustainable at a passable rate. With that in mind, the comet Borrelly was next on the agenda at less than 700m km and incoming. Van Biesbroeck, Neujmin, and Stephan-Oterma are incoming after it, so there are plenty of targets.
Mid-August – The CS New Beginnings unloaded it’s 50,000 colonists and headed back to Earth.
September 20th – The mass driver on Borrelly has been activated, under the leadership of newly appointed Governor Carroll Westcott. SPACE has now run out of people to appoint who have any notable mining skill, and is just taking the best administrators available to put in charge of the colonies. Hopefully they’ll learn.
September 23rd – A bizarre but positive report arrives from Sedna, the second-to-last of the geological surveys to be ordered. Immediately after being dropped off, the Rater team reported a large deposit of uridum(almost 180k, fairly good accessibility at 0.7) and that there was no use spending any more time there. A rock that size(1600 km diameter, about a seventh that of earth) and they only needed hours to find that much and conclude there was nothing left to find? Bizarre, and they head off to the Ikeya-Zang comet next for the ‘final’ survey for the time being, but the civilian complex there will now be sending us uridium as well.
Figures that it’s the mineral we need least – the uridium stockpile on Earth is over 35kt, by far our most plenteous, and has very limited use(not a gram is currently requisitioned for any ongoing project). They might as well have told us they found a treasure trove of quartz or pumice, for all that good it would do. Actually, those we might have been able to sell.
Mid-October – The team originally known as the JupSat geology team, led by Dr. Brandon Grimmett, has completed it’s final survey and is headed back to Earth.
December 14th – The JupSat(Brandon Grimmett) Geology Team arrives back at Earth and is disbanded. Meanwhile, the Vega II and Valencia II transports are completed at the Tod & MacGregor, and a third pair is begun.
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I think the annual updates are getting too long and technical/recitation of events as it were. I'm thinking of either making them shorter time frames or summarizing more, or maybe both. Any ideas would be welcomed.
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Feel free to summarize parts of the updates. As time goes on a LOT will be happening.
As for Jedidiah. I see a job for him, after all he is a risk taker.
He wants to colonize either Mars or Luna and build a bunch of financial centers. He believes that under his leadership he can take advantage of the more traditional resources to create a financial powerhouse to fund any further expansion of the human race into space. (he does have +30 to wealth creation). Even better once those planets are terraformed to perfect conditions for humans to live in. Also the financial centers use uridium which means that we now have a use for that stuff. Unfortunetly I dont know what our supply of Corbormite is like.
But in the future we will need the money and the people. Jedidiah is just thinking ahead.
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I vote one lab gets set aside for research into railguns and/or missiles.
What? It'll have to be done sooner or later, and having one lab, and the scientist in it, increasing their research bonus, will be helpful.
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2049 Election
Term limits strike again and Herbert Duling is ineligible to run again. There are plenty of qualified candidates though in a crowded field. India Rakes, Governor of Machholz and Venus before that, has nearly a decade of experience and has finished second to Duling in the past two elections, last time in a close one. Also returning from ‘45 is Herman Fox, experienced as a comet governor and a successful one, maximizing outputs on Comas Sola after a term at Schaumasse.
Three new candidates have also emerged. Damian Ackley is an industrial and sociological genius and has done competently at Schaumasse to increase his mining acumen, the well-rounded skills of Alberto Eighmy(governor of Crommelin) are well known to anyone, and despite his limitations, the post as leader of humanity’s first human colony at Titan makes Sonny Dean a long-shot candidate as well.
India Rakes’ combination of skill, wit, and experience was enough to earn her the victory as expected. What was less than expected is how well Ackley did(24.4% to Rakes’ 27%) and how poorly Fox(20.8%) and Eighmy(14.9%) did compared to their expectations going on. Dean was credible for a first election with 12.9% to round out the field.
Policy Review
Every new administration will tweak this a bit, adjust that a bit, but this transition was more noteworthy than most. Public pressure and debate about freeing up colonization opportunities was growing, and starting to become a real issue – the kind of issue a successful politician needs to get out in front of. The view of the corporations had been made more than clear in their rush to Titan. Additionally, the mineral crisis has mostly abated. Corundium production is at a rate sufficient to convert over a dozen mines a year for the next 12-15 years or more, which would be enough transform almost all the existing mines on earth. And even at current levels, duranium supply is nearly equal to it’s demand. Within a few years, the MRD(Ministry of Resource Development) estimates SPACE will have the very welcome decision of how best to invest a surplus.
Incoming Director Rakes boldly declared humanity to be entering a new phase, wherein we would no longer consider ourselves citizens of earth, but members of an interplanetary republic. The most striking of the proposals was her 2% Initiative. Beginning immediately, 2% of the annual duranium yield would be dedicated to building infrastructure for colonizing habitable but unsettled worlds that were not deemed to serve a strategic human interest. SPACE would provide the initial survey and governmental basics, while providing whatever equipment needed for an starting settlement of 100,000 colonists. An additional shipment of half that number of volunteers would be provided if needed, but beyond that it would be up to each colony and corporate shipping to take over the rest, and they would grow or stagnate depending on what the market determined.
For 2049, that meant 52 infrastrucure would be dedicated to the task, more than enough to get basic supplies to the obvious two first choices, Luna and then Mars. A combination of habitability, distance, and any available mineral resources would be the criteria used to determine what would be settled first.
Coinciding with the 2% Initiative was a plan to expand the Army for the purpose of basic police protection in the colonies. Anytime a colony reaches a million civilians strong, it was deemed proper for a basic force to be sent there. Unfortunately, we lack the capability to do this at the moment, so researching a means to transport a battalion to various worlds has been deemed a research priority.
It was also noted that fuel reserves have stagnated and are beginning to decline. There is no immediate danger with approximately 26m liters available, but with new ships being contemplated and built and Earth just months away from depleting the sorium deposits, the situation is not going to get better on its own. Accordingly, development of a way to harvest to sorium in Saturn’s atmosphere, thereby making full use of the Titan colony, has also become a research priority.
It is expected that civilian administrators will continue to see increased opportunities with new colonies sure to form with this plan. Both types of military officers are also expected to be in higher demand over time, though the research career path remains crowded as progress on building new laboratory complexes continues, but at a painfully slow rate.
Key Governor’s Assignments
As is SPACE policy, the top votegetters in the election get the most prestigious/developed posts.
** Frmr. Dir. Herbert Duling – Titan
** Damian Ackley – Machholz
** Herman Fox – Comas Sola
** Alberto Eighmy – Crommelin
** Sonny Dean – Wolf-Harrington
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Current Naval Assets
After nearly a quarter-century, Space has several active classes of vessels, with more on the way.
Coontz
Role: Gravitational Survey
Size: 2,250 tons
Crew: 32
Maximum Speed: 1377 km/s
Range: 81.7b km
Ships: GSV Hopeful
Essex II-x
Role: Geological Survey
Size: 2,200 tons
Crew: 35
Maximum Speed: 1136 km/s
Range: 71.9b km
Ships: GSV Leif Ericson, GSV Amerigo Vespucci
** Both vessels are essentially now glorified shuttles, with only three comets remaining to be surveyed and none for decades.
Fletcher
Role: Freighter
Size: 19,400 tons
Crew: 41
Max. Speed: 257 km/s
Range: 2.7b km
Ships: FT Victoria
** Obsolete, but still helpful.
Fletcher II-x
Role: Freighter
Size: 36,350 tons
Crew: 105
Max. Speed: 515 km/s
Range: 33.2b km
Ships: FT Venus, FT Southampton, FT Custer
** The Venus is currently refitting to the more efficient II-xe variant
Fletcher II-xe
Role: Freighter
Size: 36,150 tons
Crew: 100
Max. Speed: 518 km/s
Range: 32.8b km
Ships: FT Hercules
Lexington II
Role: Shuttle Transport
Size: 1,800 tons
Crew: 20
Max. Speed: 1388 km/s
Range: 43.9b km
Ships: ST Wayne, ST Marengo, ST Vega II, ST Valencia II
** The Lexington-II remains the fastest ship developed to date. Two more are currently being constructed to bring the total to six vessels soon.
Spruance-B
Role: Colony Ship
Size: 19,650 tons
Crew: 110
Max. Speed: 501 km/s
Range: 33b km
Ships: CS New Beginnings
** The New Beginnings is the most expensive ship constructed to date, costing nearly 730 thousand credits and requiring just shy of 22 months to build.
Overview
In all, the SPACE Navy currently fields 13 ships weighing 198.1kt and requiring a combined 3.74m liters of fuel storage capacity. 748 crew are required at any one time to serve on these vessels.
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Cmdr. Ken McKay – 14th out of 18. He’s now spent a full dozen years with the Miquel Rater geology team, from Venus to comets to asteroids and now on Ikeya-Zang more than 14 billion kilometers away from Earth. This is the last survey needed at the moment, and one wonders what is in his future when it’s through. At 49 years old, he’s no spring chicken. His role has been minor but important to the future of humanity.
Lt. Cmdr. Saburo Matsumoto – 20th out of 53. Clock is about ticked out on his future.
Lt. Cmdr. Alex Rossi – 41st. He’s got a couple of years left at least, but nobody expects anything from him.
Lt. Cmdr. Warren Clark – 13th. Dogged by health problems, his future is uncertain.
Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 12th. He’ll probably make it as a career officer eventually. Probably.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 7th. One of the best and brightest, he is expected to receive his first ship command in the next few weeks. He's the kind of guy who has 'Future Captain' basically stamped on his forehead.
Col. Benjamin Berkeley – 7th out of 23. A number of new recruits have passed him up, and Ben could find himself out of a job if this trend continues. He’s been a battalion commander for 23 years, but the possibility of ‘early retirement’ is no longer a remote one.
Herman Fox(5) – Third place finisher in each of the past two elections, Fox remains on Comas Sola. Is he stuck in a rut, or doing what he was born to do?
Jedediah Thone(1) – Unassigned for now, but he’s new. There’s time for him to make the right kind of friends.
Karabishi Juishao – Who is she again?
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Nah ;) Herman is preparing the big Stricke. As soon as i can think of something fitting i tell post some rp. Also Comas solas isnt the worst place ^^. Hmmm maybe i should aim for sector Govener.
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Herman watched over the papers his newly appointed PR advisor's placed on his desk. The latest elections had gone according to plan ... well the one that said he wont win. For now it meant a secure base of power in the system but the new Collonies on Titan were gaining momentum. This upshot Ackley was also someone to watch.
According to his "everything as usual" plan he would invest more into civilian shipping, the 2% initiative coming at the right Moment.
The latest projections said that there was enough TN-metals in Sol for the next years but after that the future was uncertain. Atleast the push to jump-point theory had paid of and the Brass was planning a jump-ship .... "A jump ship?" Herman pondered and flipped through the tabs of his browser searching for something. There it was! A proposal by one of the post-docs in the jump-point theory project, not 3 Weeks old.
The post-doc argued that a big and efficient jump-engine could take years to design especially do the field-expansion circuitry which was needed to propel a small group. On the other hands the computer models said that a small engine could move a small object for minimal costs.
An idea was forming as Herman gazed out of his screens to comas solas. In his Vision he himself could be the first Ambassador to the stars, broadcasting from the new frontier. All he needed was a jump ship build faster and earlyer then anything SPACE had in mind. A small interstellar taxi - his approval ratings would go through the roof!
Slowly he took up his little black book and called an old friend in the Airplane-industry.
After over 3 hours of talking Herman slumped back into his comfy chair, his Friend had promissed to "look into it".
Doing such an endeavour was certainly a risk especially under the Nose of SPACE his mind the idea was solid. Picking up the book again he sighted: "And now for the crew."
OOC:
Ok i propose the following Fighter (or better if you have the tech) to be build in secret:
Proposed Taxi class Fighter 495 tons 10 Crew 32.6 BP TCS 9.9 TH 8 EM 0
808 km/s JR 1-50 Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 14.94 Years MSP 21 AFR 3% IFR 0.1% 1YR 0 5YR 3 Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 1
J600(1-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 600 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 1
7.5 EP Nuclear Thermal Engine (1) Power 7.5 Fuel Use 17.15% Signature 7.5 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 21.2 billion km (303 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
The research points should gravitate around 200Rp max if you have the small crew, fuel and engineering spaces already.
The fighter itself is intended to take a peak at the systems behind Alpha and Bravo. Once done SPACE can certainly asses the value of those systems and send its cash-cow into the more promising one.
Also are we playing with real stars or can we get the entire "Black hole" stuff?
/OOC
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I prefer NOT to use real stars, because I like the occasional nebula or black hole. However, you have to come up with a good naming scheme for them, because default names always kind of suck.
Can you slim down that fighter any more to fit a bigger fuel tank? Be sure to remove the bridge (you don't need it for a ship < 1000T). You might also take away the engineering space, that would be risky but a small risk is acceptable in an experimental space program, no? I'm guessing your jump drive is 150T, so you should be able to put a 50T gas can and a couple of 1HS engines, plus an engineering space, for less mass than you're using. What's taking up all that tonnage? Is it a big, fuel-efficient engine? That's usually a good design strategy on a freighter but in this case I think you'd be better off with a smaller 1x power engine and just take ten times as much fuel... we're still talking small quantities.
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Actually i would say its the armor, its still the conventional stuff which i used for the design. It clocks with 2.8 HS thus 140 tons!
And yes the fighter would have 150 ton normal and another 150ton Jump drive. The Nuc-thermal drive is on highest efficiency. If you want to fit more stuff you can also shave some weight and go with less efficient engines.
Anyway i guess Bryan has some superior Tech for the drives ...atleast less fuelconsumption. I tried permutation of my design with optimised weight:
Proposed Taxi - Copy class Fighter 380 tons 6 Crew 32.6 BP TCS 7.6 TH 10 EM 0
1315 km/s JR 1-50 Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 76% IFR 1.1% 1YR 3 5YR 49 Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 2
J400(1-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 400 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 1
10 EP Nuclear Thermal Engine (1) Power 10 Fuel Use 98% Signature 10 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 24.2 billion km (212 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
1/3 (!) or 120 tons is armor! The rest is compromised of a 100 nuc-thermal engine without eff-mod and a 100 ton Jumpengine. Also it has no engineering, a normal fueltank, 1 small and 1 tiny crew compartment.
Buuut its bryans game and in the end he has the last word. If Hermans plan works: Success! If not: Deal with it in RP and get demoted :P
*edith*: if i get through withn the plan and the thing is build call it the UC (United Collonies) "Ducttape"
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We are playing with real stars, sorry to disappoint. If ever I do an 'alternate history' or fantasy kind of game it would make more sense to not use real stars in that event, at least from my pov.
Your proposed idea is something I'm going to put some thought into before I make a decision(the game has progressed a whole 8 days into 2049 so far, so there's time :)).
Edit: Just wanted to add that since I can't design a jump engine yet, a situation that won't change until at least the next research project gets done in late summer and I think I need to do one more as well, there's time for myself and Herman Fox to ponder options.
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Ah, I never realized how heavy that conventional armor is! Duranium armor is only 500 RP so I guess I've never started the game without at least that.
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May I suggest fast tracking it in the research? Lighter weight freighters are going to do more for your fuel efficency then FE engines. Besides with those Jump Engines your researching, It'll probably cost you more then 500 extra RP to build Jump Engines for conventional weight ships.
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I'm pretty sure black holes generate only in real stars, and nebula only generate in non-real stars.
At least, unless Steve has changed it since I got that information.
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Duranium armor has been researched as of a couple years ago. We did all of the basic combat techs(i.e., all the 500 rp ones). However, I can't figure out how to add it to a ship in the design screen, all I seem to be able to change is the thickness(armor rating).
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The armor gets assigned normaly on design. You can hit the "Copy design" and then the "New amor" Button on the lower part of the design window. After that all you have to do is to refurbish your ships.
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We interrupt your regularly scheduled freighter micro-management to bring you this special news bulletin: as expected, Lt. Cmdr. Saburo Matsumoto was 'encouraged to pursue other employee opportunities' in mid-February of 2049.
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2049 ANNUAL REPORT
Overview
The launching of the 2% Initiative led to the first equipment being offloaded onto Mars and Luna in the first weekend of February, with the Southampton handling the Mars trips and the Hercules taking care the Luna duty. James Earl Jones V was installed as the governor of Luna(now just a five-minute trip from Earth), while it was one of the original four SPACE political appointees, 45-year-old Terrence Forson, who got his first official assignment on the ‘red planet’. The civilians got the first shipment of colonists onto the moon in less than a week, while the CS New Beginnings got involved to jumpstart Mars, then the private sector took over there as well. That’s now a trip of two to four days each way, depending on where the planets are in their respective orbits.
Within a month, the convoys to Titan had virtually stopped, leading to a number of untimely deaths as infrastructure did not keep up with the growing population for a few weeks until matters balanced themselves out again. Not a serious loss in the grand scheme of things, but you can’t tell that to the victims’ families. The 2% Initiative gained a few small, but very vocal, critics due to the scandal. As it was resolved quickly and far more were quite happy with their new homes, at least initially, it was expected the matter would blow over ...
As all of this was going on, the GSV Hopeful identified a new jump point, designated Charlie. This one is slightly closer than Bravo, and on the opposite side of the sun, 3.2b km away bearing 104. There are three more locations to survey before the Hopeful moves to the outer ring.
In just over a quarter, the moon eclipsed Titan with one and a half million colonists! The rush was insane – even the most optimistic backers were surprised at how earnest the desire was to settle the barren rock. That was early July, and by the end of the month two new shipping corporations(Everton Shipping & Logistics, and three weeks later Presnar Freight) had been formed. As is SPACE policy, no subsidizing was countenanced. They will succeed or fail on their own.
As if that wasn’t enough, July also featured an unprecedented discovery by the Hopeful. In the final survey of the middle ring of jump locations, not one but two were found in close proximity! The scientific community is puzzled, as they did not think this was even possible.
Delta is the closest jump point other than Alpha, 2.68b km and a bearing of 25, inside Uranus orbit. Just outside that orbit is Epsilon, 3.1b km at a bearing of 31. The two are just 519m km away from each other, a fact that could prove to be of considerable importance in the future. The Hopeful proceeded out to the Kuiper Belt for the final ring of a dozen locations ...
From a fleet perspective, the bustle of the last few years quieted down considerably in the fall. With all four of the large freighters refit to the II-xe class, the Victoria was scrapped and shipping had caught up with production of mines on Earth. Additionally, with survey operations complete, there just wasn’t much left to do. A new mine will be sent off to Titan(when population permits) or a comet(when a new automated one is converted about once a month), but other than that it is very quiet.
Colonial Developments
Two new comets were added to remote mining operations this year. On January 9 the mass driver on Neujmin was activated(Derek Latch dispatched as governor) and on July 12(more stuff happening in a crazy-busy month) the one on Vanbiesbroeck, a near-perfect job for Delois Woznicki(see bio in the next section of this year’s report) to cut her teeth on. Machholz depleted it’s supply of vendarite early in February, a nearly complete non-event than nobody cares about. By Thanksgiving, the Hopeful was headed back to Earth for shore leave, needing refueling and some time off before scanning the final eight locations.
Colony populations at year’s end:
Earth – 870m
Luna – 3.26m
Titan – 1.81m
Mars – 1.45m
Three-quarters of a percent of the population now lives somewhere other than Earth ...
Commissioned Officers
January 1 – Jay Cin III takes command of the FT Hercules.
March 1 – A new political star on the rise officially joins SPACE – Delois Woznicki. Genius-level ability in mining, espionage, and shipbuilding to go along with strong political skills(only Duling is better) and industrial production. The only thing she needs is experience. Unfortunately for her, just days before the Mars appointment had already been made.
Mid-May – Col. Ray Hoel becomes the best army officer to be produced by the Academy since top-ranking colonel Anton Engelhardt over four years ago. Hoel is expected to take command of one of the infantry battalions when the current tour is up in 2051.
June – Alberto Eighmy’s political connections have increased(20%), continuing to demonstrate that he’ll be a serious challenger in the decades to come.
Research & Development
February saw the arrival of more good news from the Jump Theory Team. Dr. Santo Makar’s expertise is growing by leaps and bounds. His specialized skill is up to 55%, nearly now the equal of Ignacio Bavaro(60% in Energy Weapons). The difference is that Power & Propulsion is a much more useful field to us. It is not an exaggeration to say he is now our most important researcher, and will likely remain so after this phase of development is completed.
** July 24 -- Jump Drive Efficiency(4) was completed. Squadron Size is the final of the three jump engine projects, a report currently anticipated in early spring of next year.
** September 25 -- 30% Engine Power(higher-efficiency) completed(Ignacio Bavaro). Cedrick Wormack(Troop Transport Bays) takes over the space.
** October 26 – TH 5-5 Sensor Suite(thermal sensors) work finished(Clint Wyche). Sorium Harvesting Module gets the additional space.
Earth
For the second year in a row there is news on April Fool’s Day: Sorium is depleted. At current supply levels, we are now producing half of what we refine each year and will be able to sustain current refinery output for 20-25 years before seeing a dropoff. In five years’ time, uridium will(irrelevantly) be the next mineral to be depleted. In less than two decades, only vendarite and tritanium will remain on our homeworld.
Two days later, the ST Sussex and ST Starlight are finished at the P&A Group, and a final pair of Lexington-II’s begun.
April 29 – A third commercial shipyard, dubbed the Vickers-Armstrong Shipyard, is finished in orbit at Earth. New slipways will be added immediately, with the goal of taking over the role that the P&A Group currently is filling, the ability to construct multiple small vessels at once to fill accessory roles. Another commercial yard is immediately begun, as Director Rakes wants to plan ahead for the future as much as possible at this point. It will not always be obvious ahead of time when a new shipyard will be needed: this one will serve as a buffer of sorts. Also, the few remaining conventional factories that were set to be converted to refineries have that work restarted: nothing has been done in the last decade or so with other priorities, but it has been deemed time to finish it now. Earth now has six ongoing industrial projects.
Mid-July – The shipyards all benefit from the experience of Director Rakes, who has become more adept at certain personnel matters, resulting in faster operations.(5% Shipbuilding Bonus).
July 20 – The ST Hipparchus and ST Endymion are finished on Earth, completing the current set of shuttles at eight.
October -- Another research lab has been finished, and Shanon Pateson’s first project is to begin work on a Sorium Harvester module, the goal of which is to find a way to extract sorium from the atmosphere of gas giants such as Saturn. She’s just there to lay some groundwork, a more experience researcher will be taking over the project down the road.
November 20 – Refinery conversions are complete on Earth. Between the remaining 250+ conventional industry and 75 refineries, production is now over 2 million liters annually. Initial work begins on a second military-grade orbital shipyard, for the same reason that the fourth commercial yard is being built – it’s best to be prepared.
By year’s end, duranium production on Earth is under a kiloton for the first time. Over 60% of the total supply, which still gradually increased over the past year to 2.67kt, now comes from other sources. In terms of fuel, SPACE has set a policy for production goals to be 80% of the maximum usage of the fleet, though that is less important with a huge reserve such as we have. At present the reserve has stagnated between 26-27 million litres for the last few years, though with reduced naval activity it is expected to start growing again for the next few until there is more for the ships to do. Peak operations for the current fleet year-round would consume 1.85m liters, meaning current production levels of 2.1m liters are more than enough at about 112% or so of maximum demand. A reserve of five years’ worth will be maintained, but again we are well ahead of that at 14 years worth for the moment. Right now there is clearly no urgent need, but it’s worth revisiting the fuel situation periodically to make sure we do not run out, and the long-term goal of moving refinery capacity off of Earth so as to allow the sorium there to be used for jump drives and any other purposes that may arise is still important.
Sol Survey Efforts
March – The Rater team has completed it’s work on Ikeya-Zang, finding nothing. Their work is now complete.
July 25 – The last of the geology teams is disbanded on Earth, officially bringing an era to an end. It was just shy of ten years ago that the Lief Ericson was officially christened and began the surveying of the system. Though progress often seems slow, in the big picture a lot has been accomplished in a relatively very short period of time.
October 19 – Another jump point has been found, the first in the outer ring, designated Jump Point Foxtrot. That’s six now. On a bearing of 65, it is 5.1b km from the sun, or 700m km outside Neptune orbit but closer than all but the nearest Kuiper Belt objects.
Fleet Operations
February 18 – The FT Venus completes its refit, Southampton will be up next.
March 5 – The Southampton returns to earth from getting the Mars colony set up, and begins it’s turn refitting at the Tod & Macgregor.
May 11 – The New Beginnings returns to earth and stands down, the decision having been made that there is no need to ship new colonists to Titan(which would require a lot more infrastructure being sent at SPACE expense). At almost 1.5m strong, the colony will see significant numbers added just through the natural process of life at this point.
May 18 – Fleet HQ is puzzled where the miscalculation was – a technical error on the part of the refueling crews during their last leave is expected – but it has become clear that the ST Marengo is not going to make it back to Earth on their current reserves. The Amerigo Vespucci is dispatched to make a fuel transfer immediately. It is however expected that the shuttle will be forced to drift helplessly for at least a month before they can be reached, as they are presently nearly 7b km away ...
June 21, 0800 – The Marengo runs out of fuel, and while it made excellent time, the Amerigo Vespucci is yet a little over two days away.
June 23, 1230 – The Amerigo Vespucci rendezvous is complete, and soon both vessels are on their way. An embarassing moment for the Fleet(such as it is), but no great harm was done. There’s nothing comfortable, for certain, about running out of gas over three billion kilometers away from home.
July 3 – The Southampton is underway again, the third freighter to be refitted. The only one remaining is the Custer, whose return trip from Titan will be completed at the end of the month. For now, the Southampton will take over the duty of getting standard mines to the colony.
July 28 – FT Custer is the last to begin refitting to the II-xe variant of the Fletcher.
October – Most of the freighters and the rest of the fleet are now idle as SPACE enters a quieter time after the flurry of activity. Every couple of weeks a new mine heads to Titan aboard the Southampton or to Vanbiesbroeck on one of the other freighters, but other than that the traffic is nearly all civilian.
November 22 – The FT Custer is the last to be refitted. The obsolete and unneeded FT Victoria is to be scrapped now.
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2050 ANNUAL REPORT
Operation Uncertain Hope
March 9 was the most significant date this year, marking the completion of research into Jump Engine Squadron Size by Sanko Matar’s team, a significant milestone. The next step is a crucial one, specifying final capabilities for the jump engines and standard propulsion engine that the vessel will need. After poring over various options, it was determined that the upper end of the initially estimated size range was most likely, close to 10 kilotons.
Current efficiency technology requires that a military jump drive be one-quarter the size of the ship it is opening a wormhole for. The MJD 50-3a will require 100 crew members to service by itself, and take considerable effort to prototype.
Also needing consideration is the fact that while there is some duranium required, the primary mineral needed to build it is sorium – almost 230 tons. This is the first industrial application of sorium to be found, and building the required ships will further drain the amount available to the refineries. The Saturn Harvesting Project just became that much more important.
Standard propulsion also needed new engines designed. The engineers estimate that there will be room for about 4kt of engines, allowing for twin 2,000-ton engines to be the most fuel efficient configuration. There was a rather lengthy discussion about how much power to shoot for, a debate that largely centered on speed vs. fuel economy. The choice was made to sacrifice some fuel for speed in this instance, given the huge distances that will need to be traveled. Making more trips to refuel would just eat up more of the reserves. The massive CNT 40-50c will be about 20% more fuel efficient than the Fletcher-class freighters, and allow for a much higher top speed which should be about 1000 km/s, possibly a little faster. This would allow for a journey across the width of a system similar in size to ours of in about four months.
Makar will head up the jump drive prototype team, with one complex reserved for the standard propulsion engine team and Dr. Ignacio Bavaro. It is expected to take about a year for these to complete, at which time the Pioneer class will be finalized. The other obstacle is expanding the Wartsila Shipyard to the required size to build it. At present, capacity is just over 6kt, so it is well on its way, but it will likely take some months, maybe even a year or two longer than the research teams. After that, retooling of the yard will be necessary before construction can begin, which is estimated to take a full two years on it’s own. There are still many uncertainties, but current estimates are that the first operational vessel is extremely unlikely to be ready before 2055, and could very well require most of the decade before it is underway. Most of the technical obstacles are in the rearview mirror though, it’s a matter of time and hard work by millions remaining before the job is completed if all goes well.
Most of the balance of the year was spent reviewing highly routine reports and in a fair degree of boredom and frustrating anticipation for Director India Rakes. A new recruit would be commissioned, another mine sent to Titan or Stephan-Oterma, the colonies continued to grow, medical issues, the occasional very minor adjustment to industrial allocations on Earth, civilian corporations produced new ships from time to time, etc., but in each case her job was only to keep the beauracratic machinery moving. The most significant development was the improvement in mining efficiency on several outposts brought about by increased skill of the civil servants. Herbert Duling, Jarrett Hugh, Carroll Westcott, Delois Woznicki, and Francesco Alborn all had noted improvements. These allowed the supply of duranium to stabilize and even(very marginally) creep higher late in the year. As for Rakes herself, she spent the time improving her political connections(20% now) to give herself a better shot at re-election. Ever the politician, as the job requires.
A few days before Christmas, on December 21, Uncertain Hope moved one step closer to completion in the year’s most significant development. Dr. Ignacio Bavaro’s team completes research into the CNT-40-5c engine that will power the Pioneer class. It is also determined that the vessel will require 750k liters of fuel for its extended tours: this is a bit more than the current freighters, but a bit less than the original Fletcher II design. In about three months, the final design piece of the puzzle is expected to click into place, with all the kinks worked out of the massive jump drive.
Colonial Developments
Venus is next on the hit parade for the 2% Initiative, though it’ll take some years to get enough to set up a basic colony there, probably about five years. Mercury will be next, followed by the four habitable moons of Jupiter. Initial deliveries result in no activity, as expected. Meanwhile Luna, Mars, and Titan all grew steadily or better, with a total of over 16m now living beyond Earth by year’s end. On June 3, a second civilian mining complex has been activated on Sedna. We gladly will continue purchasing the output, which is now over 200t duranium along with almost that much uridium.
Fleet Operations
The FT Victoria was scrapped on January 3, with the rest of the year’s news decidedly routine. A mass driver was activated on Stephan-Oterma in February, with new recruit Burt Stonerock(seriously, that’s his name. You can’t make this stuff up) escorted in as the initial governor. The next couple of years will see available mines go to the highest duranium concentration of any comet(over 25kt). A sizable amount of sorium(almost 17kt) is also available.
Commissioned Officers
February – With the improvements of new recruits, it is now expected that Col. Benjamin Berkeley will be out of a job at the first of the year. Early retirement is strongly encouraged.
March 4 – Jay Cin III has increased his Fleet Movement Initiative to the slightly less pathetic 114.
July 8 – Christopher Blair has some new friends(political reliability now 10%).
Early August – Santo Makar continues to improve, now possessing a 60% bonus to his research efforts.
Late November – Jay Cin III increases crew training skill to 175.
Research & Development
March 6 – Dr. Elwood Tousant announces that the EM 5-5 Sensor Suite(Electromagnetic Sensors) has been successfully prototyped. Unfortunately, he managed not to learn a darn thing about the field in general during the process. The space is now the third complex to be added to the Sorium Harvester project, which is still slated to take another five years.
Jump Point Survey Operations
March 23 – The GSV Hopeful leaves Earth again on what is expected to be it’s final mission: there are eight more jump locations to scan. It would be May before they arrived, nearly a 50-day trip from Earth to the outer reaches of the system.
November 14 – For the first time in well over a year, a new jump point is found! Jump Point Gamma is 5.9b km out, bearing 258. The Hopeful has only two locations remaining to survey ...
Earth
April 1 – For a third year in a row there is April Fools’ Day news: Vickers-Armstrong has added a second slipway. The shipyard goes silent, part of a general order for no new non-essential shipyard operations to conserve duranium as the stockpile continues to be slowly depleted. The only active shipyard at the moment is Wartsila, which continues expanding it’s way to 10,000 tons capacity.
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We can forget that ping ... SPACE beauracracy decided to retire Col. Berkeley, claimed that he had not received an assignment in the past 18.2 years(nonsense). Ahem. He served honorably for 20 years, I don't care what they say, and is worthy of remembrance.
You may regen if you wish.
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As to the matter of Herman Fox, there were many factors in his favor concerning the proposal. He's got a certain amount of clout based on his position(distant but steady third among SPACE politicians behind Duling and Rakes), there is limited security at the completely inactive fighter factories, and costs would be minimal.
However, the plan did run into a couple of fatal snags. One: there's no place to put the fighter. Boat bays haven't been researched(I believe I've mentioned this before :)). Secondly, research complexes are hard to come by and constantly scrutinized, and prototyping even a small jump drive is not cheap. Running the numbers, about 400k man-years. To achieve something like this, he would need to call in a fairly astronomical number of favors.
Problem is, he doesn't have any(political reliability: zilch, one reason he hasn't done better in the elections). So, in RP terms, he got a blunt message back from his 'aerospace friend' saying what he wanted couldn't be done and pointedly encouraging him to 'use the proper channels, lest you get one of us fired, or worse'.
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2051 ANNUAL REPORT
Overview
All eyes were on the completion of the jump drive research in March, but that report wasn’t due for a month and India Rakes had to deal with a conference call she’d just finished with Luna Governor James Earl Jones V. He’s reported some serious unrest on the colony, with the citizens lamenting the ‘lack of military protection’.
Isn’t that just like a civilian? Clamor for new worlds to settle, then whine about the crime after you get there. They were told they would be on their own, were they not? One couldn’t go around acceding to the demands of every segment of society, but from what Jones has reported, this isn’t likely something that will go away.
It was quite fortuitous that the clamor didn’t get too loud before the jump drive prototype was finalized on March 10 by Santo Makar’s team. At this point, Operation Uncertain Hope entered its final phase. The Pioneer class was finalized by the engineers, and it was discovered a considerable and fairly costly miscalculation had been made. Specifically, the maintenance requirements for the jump engine had been underestimated by several factors. Adding the required supplies meant something had to go to keep the ship at the maximum size of 10kt. Some fuel went, some crew space went, and the final deployment time could be set no higher than 49 months – almost a full year less than that of the original specs.
Final operational details:
Size: 10,000 tons(right at the jump drive limit)
Crew: 240
Speed: 1000 km/s.
Fuel: 600,000 liters
Cost: 1.004 million credits, the first ship to cross this threshold(50% more costly than the
Spruance-B colony ship)
Build Time: 20 months
So it hadn’t gone perfectly. Or even close to it. But there was nothing for it now, the only alternative would be to make the ship bigger, redesign an even larger jump engine, wait another year for it, etc. – that wasn’t going to happen. This was good enough. Or at least, it had better be. Wartsila Shipyard was still expanding at 8300 tons currently, so it would be some time before retooling could commence. In the weeks that followed, it was also decided(far too late) that expanding the horrifically inadequate state of Earth’s maintenance facilities had to become a priority.
The research team switched to working on a commercial jump drive, the reasoning being that it was pointless to explore if there were no way to exploit anything that might be found. Therefore a commercial ship, henceforth to be known as the North Carolina class jump ship, had to be designed and capable of escorting the freighters through the jump process. While the plan was initially to retain some cargo capability, it was eventually decided to minimize the size and cost of the vessel to what was needed for jump capability only.
In late May, the North Carolina specifications were nailed down:
Size: 19,200 tons
Speed: 520 km/s(a hair faster than the Fletcher II-xe, powered by quad CNT-25-4 engines, the most efficient available)
Fuel: 250,000 liters
Range: 34.3b km
Crew: 133
Cost: 378k
Build Time: Just under a year, 50-51 weeks give or take
The P&A Group would take the rest of the year to retool to the new ship design, but it would still be finished years ahead of any Pioneer so there was no rush. This left Rakes with another major decision: with the jump research done for the moment, what would be done with the laboratories that had been used for it? Some went to existing, underfunded projects, while two more were begun: Improved Terraforming Rate(Dr. Clint Wyche) and Fighter Production Rate(Dr. Curtis Gloster, in his first project lead assignment!).
** Note: See the R&D section of your report for a prognosis of the current research policy.
Most of the late summer and full was then spent observing closely the progress at Wartsila. On November 9, retooling to the Pioneer class finally began and the finish line seemed that much closer, with estimates now pretty locked in on the timeline. Sometime between Christmas 2052 and New Year’s(i.e., right on the eve of the election!!) the retooling should be complete, which would put the first operational vessel in the second half of 2054. For better or worse, this phase of human advancement should be completed by the middle of the decade, and SPACE will know what we’ve got(if anything).
By the end of the year, considerations for the Office of the Director were mounting. The steady but incremental increase in duranium continued, now just a hair under 3kt per annum. Long-term sources were needed, and that will mean going to the edge of the system. There are a couple of notable asteroids, Sedna obviously could do with some official mines to keep the civilians from charging us for it all, and of course the nearly half-million tons on Triton would be a great source. Or should we simply go for the less accessible but far easier to reach 14mt on Venus?
Then there was the unrest on Luna, which has now reached 77% and is showing no signs of turning around. It’s all well and good to say they got themselves into this, but not helping them out of it was not an option(and not just because Governor Jones won’t stand for it). There are over 11 million on the moon, and they have far too many friends and relatives on earth to just ignore them and allow the colony to go to pot.
Of course there was absolutely nothing that could be done immediately: the technology to get military help to the moon(or in some cases to get the military help, period) does not yet exist. A series of executive orders that essentially admit a failure of foresight on the part of SPACE dramatically redrafted research policy(again, see the R&D supplement). Any non-critical projects using more than one complex were reduced to one, with additional resources diverted to the Troop Transport Bay project. Two more research projects were also begun, Boat Bays(Dr. Brandon Grimmett, famously the lead on the JupSat Survey Team), and Active Gravitational Sensors directed by Elwood Tousant.
Additionally, it is becoming clear that more and more stress is going to be put on the industrial capacity of Earth. More and more things keep popping up that MUST be done NOW(with no possible way to do them even ‘reasonably soon’). There simply isn’t anything to be done about this at the moment, because the limiting factor is still mineral resources. Having more factories without the raw resources to supply them would be worse than pointless. Stephan-Oterma is nearly to Mars orbit on its path away from the sun now, and for the next year at least it will continue to be the recipient of whatever automated mines are produced. After that though, there will be many hard decisions. Funny how these moments always seem to coincide with an election year ...
Commissioned Officers
January – Captain Ellie Camble is promoted to Rear Admiral. Shortly afterwards, Kendall Muratore is promoted to Captain to take her place. Muratore is a veteran commander at 40 years old, and has a varied history with commands on survey ships, freighters, and transports to his credit.
Early January – Herman Fox’s Factory Production is up to 25%.
February – This year’s officer purge claims 13, including Col. Benjamin Berkeley and Lt. Cmdr. Alex Rossi.
Research & Development
February 1 – Deacon Palmer’s team completes research increasing fuel production per refinery to 24,000 liters(+20%!). He’ll now take over the Sorium Harvester Module project from Dr. Shannon Pateson, who got it to about a quarter completed. This leaves two complexes empty, one goes to Dr. Brandon Grimmett for a study into Garrison Battalion(needed for the colonies), and the second is added to the Jump Drive research.
Right now the research teams are entering another phase of cleaning up relatively quick but not particularly essential projects. One never knows when a particular branch of technology, such as the two above, might be needed and so it is prudent to have a basic level of knowledge even in those areas which are not a major focus. There are a record 8 ongoing teams in the 15 laboratories. The rule of thumb being used to decide how many laboratories are being used is to ensure any project is completed in less than five years. This allows for what is deemed a reasonable balance between making progress in the ever-increasingly difficult demands of scientific advancement, and developing the minds of tomorrow in case they are more urgently needed(i.e., having a constantly improving scientific ‘bench’ of experienced project leaders).
At present levels of research difficulty, technology, and scientist skill, this means 1-3 laboratories are devoted to each project.
July 17 – Dr. Everette Snuggs’ team completes its report on Tiny Fuel Storage Module. The Fighter Production Rate team takes over the space, and Snuggs takes over for Brandon Grimmett on the Garrison Battalion project.
July 30 – Pebble Bed Reactor research complete(Sanko Matar). He’s assigned to looking for further ways to improve fuel efficiency. A research gap is expected now, with nothing further expected from the existing teams until spring or summer of 2053, nearly two years down the road.
A major shift at the end of the year occurred in research priorities as mentioned in the Overview. Specifically, this relates to military priorities. The general pattern of deciding ‘what is the best thing to research next’ has been a combination of value and cost. Nothing over 5k RP has been researched yet, to keep it within a reasonable timeframe as discussed above. Military technology, being a non-issue up to this point, has only been researched when it is 20% or less of the cost of the least expensive ‘domestic’ or ‘economic’-focused technology. This has been done to simulate it’s low priority on SPACE’s radar screen. With the issues on Luna, this has been shifted(particularly as it relates to basic ground unit technology and the ability to transport said forces) from 20% to 50%. This means from a relative point of view, the focus is not as strongly on the domestic sector but that’s still where it is long-term. In the short-term, there’s some ‘catching up’ to do as basic military technology in many areas is still unknown. A rather unavoidable side effect of all this is the fact that badly needed economic techs will go unresearched while cheaper and equally necessary in their own way military technologies progress, at least for a time.
Jump Point Surveys
The final survey is completed in early February, and the Hopeful begins the journey back to Earth. SPACE now has yet another ‘expensive shuttle.’
Earth
February 13 – New research lab on Earth. Dr. Shannon Pateson begins a new project on developing a jump gate construction module for ships. A jump gate could potentially allow ships to transit a jump point without the use of a jump drive, significantly easing transport between systems. Kind of putting the cart before the horse, but it was deemed the next priority.
May – Fuel reserves are climbing again, reaching 28 million for the first time.
October – Voliva launches the first ever luxury liner, a ship to essentially ferry tourists to the colonists. They now have the largest single human fleet, with 17 vessels and rising.
Fleet Operations
July – Titan also has reached its full target complement of 25 mines. It is basically on it’s own at this point. The only real naval activity left at this point is shipping an automated mine to Stephan-Oterma, now about at close approach, every month.
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2052 Annual Report
It was an election year filled with looking ahead to the future much more than it was about current events. While construction began in the first week on the JS Velociraptor, first in the North Carolina class, the most notable event was the summer completion of Troop Transport Bay research, and the subsequent design of the TT Portland:
Size: 4300 tons
Crew: 35
Speed: 581 km/s(1 CNT 25-4 efficiency engine)
Fuel: 60,000 liters
Range: 36.7b km
Cost: 137.5(6-7 months)
This was a perfect first job for the Vickers-Armstrong Yard, which immediately began building a pair of them. They’ll be ready early next year, well before the time that we’ll be prepared to actually transport troops. Meanwhile, work continued on various fronts, and stability on Luna continues to decline(52% at year’s end)
Colonization
It will be several years before a sufficient amount of infrastructure is up and running on Venus, but the corporate ships responded this year with the first-in colonists. Apparently the harsh environment is not going to scare them away, though it remains to be seen when(if ever) enough of a colony will be present there to make it self-sufficient.
There are now more than 43 million humans living somewhere other than Earth, 4.5% plus of the total population.
Commissioned Officers
Early January – Joe Tycho has improved his research bonus to 20%. Hard work such as this is rare in an unemployed scientist, and gives him a better shot at getting into the action as it were down the road.
February – I’m completely befuddled as to why, but there were no officer terminations this year. Some certainly qualified for it ...
Mid-June – Light dawns on marble head! Elwood Tousant finally managed to wrap his mind around some Sensors & Fire Controls concepts, increasing his bonus to 10%. He’s now our foremost(i.e., only) expert in that field.
Late June – Sonny Dean’s administrative rating is up to 3.
Late July – Sonny Dean’s Factory Production Bonus is up to 20%.
Early August – Jay Cin III’s Fleet Movement Initiative is up to 154.
Late August – Herman Fox’s Admin. rating is up to 6.
Private Sector Activities
Early February -- Tolles Transport & Logistics becomes the sixth civilian shipping line. By April 1, they had their first freighter in operation.
November 10 – Another shipping line. Forbius Carrier Ltd. What else is new. However, since Voliva and Jensrud are each larger than the others combined, those are really the only two that matter right now.
Resource Development
May – With 28 operational automated mines, Stephan-Oterma is now the largest mining operation outside of Earth. A further half-dozen or so are planned.
Research & Development
** June 28 – Troop Transport Bay research completed(Dr. Cedrick Wormack). He moves on to researching general increases in the combat strength of our ground forces. Additionally, Ignacio Bavaro is assigned to 10cm Laser Focal Size, and Eva Vadnais(first project) to Turret Tracking Speed 2000 km/s. An obscene 11 projects are now under way.
** July 1 – With a new research lab now available, Harlan Welle begins looking into improving missile magazine ordnance storage efficiency. Also, somehow previously overlooked, the terraforming team has an extra lab and that was taken away to allow Karabishi Juishao to work on Magazine Ejection Systems, the chance that a magazine will eject it’s ordnance if hit(otherwhise it explodes). A mind-boggling 13 different research projects are now underway, with only the Sorium Harvester Module and Active Gravitational Sensors still warranting more than a single laboratory. This leaves just under half the scientists still unemployed ...
Earth
November 18 – The JS Velociraptor is complete, and provisionally assigned a CO.
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A new decision point has been reached. With the advent of space-based weapons on the horizon now, what should SPACE's combat doctrine be based on right now(carriers, boarding craft, PDCs(fighter/missile/etc.), beam weaponry, long-range missile engagement). Feel free to hold forth with any opinions, I'll probably need more help in this area than most others.
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Beam ships, considering the low tech level and mineral problems. It's also cool to read about.
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I vote for railgun-PD. It realy depends how vast your researchbase is. Missiles are heavy on minerals while each other weapon has its pros and cons.
If you need range quickly go with particles the punch is decoupled from the distance. The con is the steep cap requirments. On the other end of the spectrum are Carronades. Again energy hungry beasts (space flamethrowers) but with less range and a hell more punch. Carronades only need there calibres researched.
You can use both in a combined approach building a ship with a couple of small, quickcycling particles and the biggest Carronade you can find. This combination means that you get two weapons for the price of one essentialy. Its achilles heel are Missiles.
I normally go with rails, they make better PD then Lasers because they can "hit" 4 times in a single shot. The lack penetration though makes them medicore as headon engagement weapon so i combine them with some missiles.
(Also dont forget to herman fox's planned little trip to the stars.)
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Go with your strengths. Energy weapons if you got a scientist there, missiles if you got a kinetic/missile guy.
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(Also dont forget to herman fox's planned little trip to the stars.)
Did you possibly miss my post on this?(5 up from yours I think, between the '50 and '51 reports)
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** OOC Note: I’ve been thinking for a while now about how to keep the thread updated with periodic overviews of how the key indicators are doing. I’ve come to the following plan, which is to update naval assets, populations, research, etc. in a once every four years report. Here’s the first one, as always feedback is a good thing if there are any particularly strong opinions. My goal was to have it in a sensible and consistent order, so that you can skip to the parts you care about and use it for easy reference should that be desired.
STATE OF SPACE, 2053
**Yup, it's the SoS Report. Insert dumb joke here. Really, go ahead.**
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
** Key: Location(population).
CF = Construction Factories
CI = Conventional Industry
OF = Ordnance Factories
FF = Fighter Factories
REF = Refineries
RL = Research Labs
AC = Academies
MF = Maintenance Facility Size
** Note: I don’t have mines here as I think those are best included in the mining section.
IA. Populated Colonies
** Note: For the purposes of this report, ‘colony’ means ‘anyplace where people live’ and ‘outpost’ means ‘anyplace where there is SPACE-operated industrial equipment’. Obviously there is some overlap, in which case a location will appear in both lists.
Earth(895.6M, 322 CF, 253 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 16 RL, 2 AC, 2.4kt MF)
Luna(29.18M)
Mars(9.00M)
Titan(4.85M)
Venus(20k)
IB. Outposts
Earth(129 SM, 12.9 efficiency, 2.99 kt annual yield) – Uridum is set to deplete next, in mid-2057
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff., 234t)
Venus(6 AM, 24 eff., 208t)
Stephan-Oterma(35 AM, 40 eff., 1.68kt yield)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 56 eff, 2.04kt) – just under 8 years of duranium remains
Comas Sola(25 AM, 65 eff, 2.63kt) – vendarite will deplete in about 17 months
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 66 eff, 1.78kt) – less than 3 years of vendarite left
Borrelly(12.8 AM, 58 eff, 1.16kt) – Less than 8 years of sorium remains
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 857t)
Wolf-Harrington(9.8 AM, 67 eff, 906t) – Less than 3 years of gallicite
Neujmin(9.8 AM, 59 eff, 694t) – Just over 3 years of corbomite
Schaumasse(1.8 AM, 36 eff, 94t)
Reinmuth(1.8 AM, 47 eff, 113t) – 8+ years of duranium remaining
As can be seen, we are fast approaching the point where Earth will no longer even be the largest supplier of minerals in total, never mind the fact that none of the most important ones are found there. More than half the mines have already been converted to automated and transferred off-
world, a process that will definitely continue.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Four categories have been established to guide our mining efforts.
** Tier A are minerals that have a supply of 20k or more on Earth in stockpiles and are in minimal demand. This combination of high supply and low usage means they are a complete non-concern and no thought needs to be given to developing further resources. Their presence is considered merely a bonus, and not that much of one.
Uridium(40.7kt), gallicite(28.2kt), and vendarite(24.4k) are at present Tier A minerals.
** Tier B consists of minerals that either see moderate or higher use, but have supplies expected to last at least a decade, or else see minimal use but have less than 20kt in reserve. In this case, it is important to review the supply each successive SoS report, and their presence is marginally notable, but developing further supplies does not need to be a priority.
Mercassium(25.8kt) is primarily used in research labs, and at the rate of less than 1kt per year. Low-use substances corbomite(15.5kt), tritanium(17.9kt), and boronide(14.8kt) also fit here.
** Tier C are minerals that see considerable use, but where supply is presently sufficient to current needs. They bear close watching, but expanding production is merely a low-level priority at present. Careful monitoring of the current supply levels for C and above materials is mandated.
Corundium has just been moved here, as supply has moved past the rate at which earth is using it. With only 316t in the reserve and well over 800t consumed each year, it still teeters very much on the edge. Current annual yield is 979 tons.
The second Tier C mineral is sorium, holding steady between 10-11kt for several years now. With massive fuel reserves(31.5m liters and rising) it is a long-term but not short-term concern. Production is 1.42 kt per year, which sounds like a lot but is actually about 65t less than the refineries consume.
** Tier D are minerals that are ‘bottleneck’ materials: that is, a lack of them makes increased economic activity of some kind impossible. Naturally, these are the most vital economic priorities that SPACE will focus it’s policy on for the next term.
At present, it will be unsurprising that neutronium(3.83kt, 1.36kt yield) and duranium(4.48kt, 2.98 kt yield) are the Tier D materials. To really be comfortable in economic terms and support significant economic expansion, both amounts would need to be doubled if not more.
ID. Income
Taxes: 22.06M credits
Colonist Fees: 3.05M
Trade Goods Tariffs: 1.33M
Export Tariffs: 1.27M
Tourism Fees: 460k
Total: 28.17M
The tourism industry is just getting off the ground, but over a fifth of our income now comes from various taxes and fees associated with civilian shipping. Over two-thirds of our current operating expenses could be funded by this alone!
IE. Expenses
Installation Construction: 4.16M
Research: 3.10M
Shipyard Expenditures: 1.19M
Mineral Purchases: 501k
Ground Unit Maintenance: 101k
Maintenance Facilities: negligible
Total: 9.05M
We’re still printing money, but research is gradually growing as a percent of expenses(34% now) and of course there would be a lot more shipyard operations had we the mineral resources to do so. Finance continues to be a total non-concern.
II. SHIPYARDS
** For now, and until stated otherwhise, all orbital shipyards are at Earth. One of each type remains under construction. Except where noted, they are presently inactive.
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(1 slipway, 36.4kt capacity)
P&A Group(2 slipways, 20kt capacity)
Vickers-Armstrong(2 slipways, 10kt capacity)
** Building 2x TT Portland
IIB. Naval(Military) Yards
Wartsila A\B & O\Y(1 slipway, 10kt capacity)
** Building JSC Intrepid, first of the Pioneer Class
III. Industrial Activity
IIIA. Earth(at present, there is no construction capacity beyond our homeworld)
** Research Lab(34% of factory capacity) – Ongoing, one every year and a half, roughly
** Mine Conversions, Standard to Automated(33%) – Ongoing, one every 4-5 weeks
** Maintenance Facility Expansion(18%) – An additional 7.6kt planned, March 2059
** Naval Shipyard(5%) – December 2058
** Commercial Shipyard(5%) – January 2057
** Mass Driver(5%) – 2 more by July 2054
IV. Research Projects
** The game is more specific than this, but I felt it was a useful RP element to have more general dates the further out a project is from completion.
** Garrison Battalion(Everette Snuggs) – May/June 2053
** Sorium Harvester(Deacon Palmer) – Q3/Q4 2053
** Active Gravitational Sensors(Elwood Tousant) – Q4 2053
** Boat Bay(Brandon Grimmett) – Q4 2053
** Laser Focal Size, 10cm(Ignacio Bavaro) – Q4 2053/Q1 2054
** Ground Unit Combat Strength(Cedrick Wormack) – Early 2054
** Turret Tracking Speed, 2k km/s(Eva Vadnais) – 2055
** Magazine Feed Systems, Efficiency(Harlan Welle) – 2055
** Terraforming Rate(Clint Wyche) – 2055
** Magazine Ejection Systems(Karabishi Juishaou) – 2056
** General Fuel Efficiency Techniques(Santo Makar) – 2056/2057
** Jump Gate Construction Module(Shannon Patteson) – 2057/2058
** Fighter Factor Production Rate(Curtis Gloster) – 2060-2062
We’ve got several projects on the horizon, and others much further from completion.
V. Active Naval Assets
(Number of active ships, size per ship, crew per ship, top speed, fuel per ship, designed role)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k, gravitational survey)
GSV Essex(2, 2.2kt, 35 crew, 1136 km/s, 60k, geological survey)
FT Fletcher II-xe(4, 36.2kt, 100 crew, 518 km/s, 700k, freighter)
ST Lexington II(8, 1.8 kt, 20 crew, 1388 km/s, 30k, transport shuttle)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k, large jump ship)
CS Spruance-B(1, 20.0 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k, colony ship)
Totals: 17 vessels, 205kt, 905 crew, 3.79m liters of fuel
Available Crew: 65.1k
VI. Active Army Assets
** Low-Tech Armour Division(5)
** Low-Tech Infantry Division(10)
Total Soldiers: 15,000
VII. Civilian Shipping Corporations
** Voliva Carrier Co.(22 vessels, 3.82m credits annual income)
** Jensrud Transport & Trading(15, 1.68m)
** Everton Shipping & Logistics(4, 440k)
** Presnar Freight(4, 80k)
** Ouellet Shipping(4, 150k)
** Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, none)
** Forbius Carrier Limited(0, none) **Current wealth is 2m credits, second only to Voliva. I’d expect them to get in the game soon**
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Addendum: I forgot a section.
VIII. SPACE Leadership Prospectus
** Naval Officers: 25 of 78 assigned(32.1%)
** Ground Forces Officers: 15 of 33(45.5%)
** Civilian Administrators: 16 of 24(66.7%)
** Scientists: 13 of 24(54.2%)
Overall: 69 of 159(43.4%)
Times are good for politicians and researchers: it's the high-water mark observed so far for both. Once military research catches up times will get tougher for the scientists, while growth in political opportunities will be scarcer in the future as well with most of the best resources in Sol now tapped. Gradual growth in the number of ship commands is expected, and with the colonies in need to boots on the ground, the best path to immediate service might be in the Army right now.
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what is state of space?
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Herman Fox was furious! Not even that damn Teleoperated Golf-bot on his flaoting Rock could calm him. "Nowhere to put it! My ASS!" the Flick of his arm launched a big rock from the small massdriver as the accelerometers in his suit picket the signal. The virtual clang the projectile made against the decommissioned miner not nearly satisfying.
Another ball was loaded into the makeshift coilgun. One of his great ideas to increase the efficiency. A couple of those were set up in the mining-tunnels and launched cartloads of ore to the smelters. In the microgravity of the Comet it was far better then having the bots do the hauling.
"400 thousand years!" Another angry swing, this time the solid slack projectile left a deep crater. "Bullsmeg!". Still unsatisfied he threw is golf-club against the panoramic screen which responded with a silent "thud" undisturbed by this show of aggression.
That imbeciles in space must have been up to him. India always had her eyes on everyone, not that he wouldnt do the same in her position.
Sometimes he wondered if his people-skills were just lacking, out here he was one of the best admins but the upshots on the outer Colonies gained more influence quickly. The moonies even had the guts to protest and demand "Military protection". Protection from what? Stray Space Hamsters? Ridiculous.
On the other hand there were also secessionist movements on the Moon and the other colonies. Maybe he could spin that to his advantage.
Pouring himself a glass of whiskey he sat down brooding. He still could get a place on the new Jumpship of Space he reasoned, not the political bang he had hoped for but still better then nothing. Also sol was kind of boring, strolling into a new neighbourhood would be fun. Who knows maybe he could make a claim on a world outside of Sol starting his own little colony.
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Ah, good writing Heph. If only I have the capability to write a story in English :'(
Plus my Christopher Blair stuck in the officer pool. Waiting for a job. He just an unemployed skilled pilot who want to go to outer space. Poor him, as he want to imagine himself to be the famous "Christopher Blair" from an old game called Wing Commander. But now, he can only experience the space through his computer game. Yes, he play the old game Wing Commander again and again while waiting for a job.
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Plus my Christopher Blair stuck in the officer pool. Waiting for a job. He just an unemployed skilled pilot who want to go to outer space. Poor him, as he want to imagine himself to be the famous "Christopher Blair" from an old game called Wing Commander. But now, he can only experience the space through his computer game. Yes, he play the old game Wing Commander again and again while waiting for a job.
My guy Jedidiah Thone is also stuck doing nothing. He is playing things like Sim City 4 and a few Strategy games to keep going.
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But at least he can't get fired, so he's guaranteed to be able to sit around until he's old and grey :).
Still unsatisfied he threw is golf-club against the panoramic screen which responded with a silent "thud" undisturbed by this show of aggression.
This was great stuff, as were the 'stray space hamsters'.
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2053 ELECTION
**Note: I changed the way I generate the results to be slightly less predictable for this round. One still has to be a top candidate to win, however.
There were 16 technically qualified to challenge incumbent India Rakes. The issues on Luna had seriously strained her credibility and political capital. The 2% Initiative, initially a political masterstroke, was now blamed as an overreach. She is still a significant political force, but her allies have thinned and some sense blood in the water(in practical terms, this meant a 20% reduction in her voting bloc). None are more poised to take advantadge of this than Herbert Duling of course, eligible to return from Titan and the unquestionable favorite.
Duling had used his time well, and his list of achievements, accomplishments, and connections was incredible. The field was the same five that made up the ‘49 ballot, but this time he had what would likely be a decisive edge. Rakes, and Herman Fox(Governor of Comas Sola) were overmatched challengers, with Sonny Dean(Wolf-Harrington) barely on the radar screen. However, Duling was not the only one who had been busy. His top foe was expected to be the Governor of Crommelin, Alberto Eighmy, though he was not considered to have all that much of a chance either.
There were points in the campaign when Director Rakes did better than expected, but her liabilities proved too much to overcome. Herbert Duling returns to Earth for a third term as director, taking 26.4% of the five-way race. Alberto Eighmy(22.1%) edged out Rakes(21.0%) for second place, with Fox taking fourth(17.2%) and Dean(13.3%) showing a disappointing and distant fifth, even for such a long-shot candidate. All of them will be governing true colonies with five settled bodies now available.
Earth – Herbert Duling
Luna – Alberto Eighmy
Mars – India Rakes
Titan – Herman Fox
Venus – Sonny Dean
The lower-level administrators were assigned new posts in most cases, based on their skills(esp. mining of course)
Policy Review
** After reviewing the SoS report, and the supplements describing options for further resource development, it was clearly time for a shift in mine deployment priorities. Stephan-Oterma was at 35 automated mines, the largest locale off of Earth, and at that rate it would deplete neutronium in 25 years, duranium and sorium in less than 60. There are very limited options left for mining both neutronium and duranium, in fact only two(Borrelly and Neujmin) in the entire system with potential for significant expansion without draining their reserves excessively quickly. The heyday of comet strip-mining will be coming to a close soon, which means more effort will need to be put into locations with only one essential mineral. This, in turn, implies more mines will be needed for the same output. Even at current levels of production, mines will not be sufficient to even maintain current levels for long. Perhaps Operation Uncertain Hope will provide a solution to this eventually. Perhaps it will provide nothing, and we cannot assume the former is more likely than the latter as there is no way of knowing.
The most glaring priority was clearly just increasing the raw number of mines deployed, as critical now as ever. By executive order, Duling reclassifies corundium back to a Tier D priority and classifies increasing the supply to a level that will support a 50% industrial commitment possible. There’s no practical reason to go beyond that as other priorities need to be able to go forward even at a reduced rate, and with the state of duranium there’s no point in entertaining the possibility of more factories being built in the forseeable future.
The new direction came to be known as the Maximum CD Plan – maximize corundium, then maximize duranium. A little over 1.2kt of corundium would be needed annually, an increase of about 225t from what is currently available. An in-depth review of known deposits and deployed mines was not encouraging. The single most effective thing to do would be massive investment in the comet Ikeya-Zang, which contains well over half the known reserves(not including Venus at 0.1 accessibility of course) at over 81kt. At 13.9b km distant though, this is not possible: It’s a journey of nearly two years round-trip for our freighters. Decades would literally be required.
A number of existing mining outposts have supplies that will last at present in the 12-20 year range, so investing more in those would be shortsighted as it would just accelerate the issue. However, for the time being, the desired level could be reached be reallocation of mines to the comet Schaumasse, which has 19kt at maximum accesibility and less than 2 operational mines, and doubling the amount on Wolf-Harrington(from just under 10 to 20). Schaumasse has duranium and Wolf-Harrington neutronium, so some of what is lost in transferring mines there will be recouped.
That’s Phase One, which will be implemented immediately. Phase Two calls for the development of a series of stopgap sources. While overall mining production will be lost in the shift to ‘single-source’ locations, that is deemed necessary and therefore acceptable. The target production has been upped to a quarter higher than what is strictly needed(1.5kt) for the purpose of providing a buffer against shortages when deposits are depleted in specific locations.
Comet Faye(Faye(7.66 kt at 1.0, neutronium at 10.4kt, sorium 9.67kt, 650m km)
Asteroid Prokne(7.3kt at 1.0, 485m km)
To date ignored because of the lack of duranium(in the case of Faye) and the lack of anything else at all(Prokne), these would extend production another decade. Another three-plus years can be gained with the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which also has 5kt of sorium and is incoming 2.2b km away. That’s it for Phase Two though.
Phase Three requires the development of Swift-Tuttle(6.5b km and rising, another 3-years supply plus almost 20kt duranium) and then Ikeya-Zang itself. It is hoped(but not really expected) that more advanced engines will be available for that, otherwhise it will be highly painful in terms of travel times.
Duranium will be easier to deal with once corundium is increased. Mines that can’t be transported in a timely fashion can simply be dumped on Venus for half accessibility, and there are good reserves in the outer system on the order of millions of tons. It’s just a question of how long it takes to develop them.
In order to support these activities, an exception is made to the general moratorium on new ship construction. Two more freighters will be built, with the potential for another pair if it is deemed warranted. As can readily be seen, the mineral situation is highly fluid and complex, and becoming more so.
** As much of a political football as the 2% Initiative has become, it is something akin to Pandora’s Box – one cannot simply abandon Luna or the other colonies. Hanging onto them meant pursuing a military path to some degree, as chaos threatens on the moon and the others wouldn’t be long to follow.
** Luna would continue to be a primary short-term focus, with battalions to be shipped there as soon as the technology becomes available. Current estimates expect that to be before a full-scale revolt, but not by all that much, in early 2054. As a showy but actually inconsequential move, as least as far as Luna is concerned, he announced an expansion to training facilities on Earth to begin immediately. Practically speaking of course, this will take several years to complete with other competing industrial priorities, but just the fact that it was being invested in created support in some quarters, while accusations of phony, disingenuous leadership in others ...
** Lauding the merits of the 2% Initiative while deploring the poor execution of it, Duling announced that it would continue – stressing the jobs created in the shipping business and downplaying colonial conditions. It is probably not coincidental that this argument only works with the 95% plus of the population that still lives on Earth. Colonials are still second-class citizens, but if their numbers continue to grow ...
** A narrower focus for research efforts was announced as well. Taking primary importance would be matters of policing the colonies via improvements in ground combat technology. Along with this, investment in space-based weapons would not be set in stone yet, as there wasn’t anything that could really be built until another round or two of research. The scientists were directed to consider more energy-based weaponry than ballistic however, for the simple reason that the mineral shortfalls didn’t need any help. SPACE policy for the moment is that space-based weapons systems decisions will be based on the most cost-effective(in terms of building and maintaining), as all that’s necessary right now is to have a basic policing capability. Should anything resembling a major fleet action be required, we’ll need answers to questions we
haven’t thought of yet.
** Earth’s industrial priorities remain mostly in place. There hadn’t been any intention of moving them at all, but upon further reflection Duling decided it would be better to continue maxing out the corundium supply, up to maximum of 50% of capacity and reduce the research and general-purpose pools if necessary. Right now there was no reason to set it higher than 40%, which was just about at the level of supply.
** Operation Uncertain Hope has been put on the back burner in terms of the public consciousness, but only because right now it’s simply a waiting game. Wartsila has begun production of the JSC Intrepid, which will not see the light of day until late summer 2054 at the earliest. It is still a highly anticipated event, but the malcontents on Luna have made it seem less important.
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Cmdr. Ken McKay – 13th out of 17. He will remain as CO of the ST Endymion for another tour.
Lt. Cmdr. Warren Clark – 15th out of 53. Expected to be dismissed this year.
Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 10th. Nearing the end of the road, but not there yet.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 3rd. Another tour aboard the FT Hercules, and still in strong position to make Captain.
Herman Fox(6) – After two tours on Comas Sola, he gets his first true colony governorship at Titan, a posting which will also allow him to make use of the mining advances he pioneered. But will it be enough to allow him to achieve his ambitions?
Jedidiah Thone(1) – Still unassigned at 25 years old, but next in line to receive a new outpost.
Karabishi Juishao – Leading a team investigating improvement in Magazine Ejection Systems, her first project lead after nearly two decades in waiting. It remains to be seen what she will do with the opportunity.
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Madness! This was Madness! Having a cruise on the freighter from earth to Titan was uncomfortable but this?
The Transport he had to use to one of the outlying Titan-cities was little more then a Motorglider! Nylon drawn over Carboncomposite and ABS spars formed the wings. The cabin hanging under them similarly was made of Carboncomposites but plated with thin petrochemical materials. Driven was the Airplane with a fuellcell which powered a big propeller in the back. Yet the Bird didnt carry any fuel but only bulging tanks of liquid Oxygen and drew in methane from the thick lower atmosphere of the Moon.
Quickly they zoomed past the enormous "Penguins", hydrogen liftet Airships, that swam in the cloudy weather on stubby fins. They carried the minerals from the Mines back to the makeshift Spaceports which were leveled and bulldozed over Icefields from the early days of the Colonisation.
The looming ridge of the Xanadu mountains was gone for the third day now and the Kraken-sea (noone sane said "mare") was in sight. Back in the old days such a lake of hydrocarbons would have been a wet dream on earth but was obsolete now. Thorium reactors, solar, wind, geothermals and a few Fusion-generators delivered plenty of power for transportation and everything else on earth.
The stuff had use for the Titans though mostly as feedstock for the plastics-industry which delivered most everything on this barren world. Classical metals and stones were in short supply that for sure so the titans opted for petrochemical solutions.
Soon enough the computers picket up the signal of "Titan settlement 443" on the SPACE derived charts, "Theias Gardens" according to the thin Pilot. Like all of the titans cities it was a collection of Tents and cylindrical Tanks on the surface. Atleast half of them were spun, resin-inforced carbon-fibre tents and domes with unfathomable purpose. Others were made from Plexi-glas and similar transparent plastics held up again by beams made of Carbonfibre. In those one could make out little parks and Forests planted after the initial farming went subsurface.
The little plane with Herman and his pilot nudged gently downwards and soon slid over the rockhard ice reversing its trust to come to a standstill. From there they were towed by a small robotic car into the hangar which was cut into the Ice of the moon. Gently a door made of fabric closed behind them as they slid into an Airlock. Hot water washed over them to remove any lingering Hydrocarbons after which the room was pressurized with additional oxygen.
After days in the cramped flyingmachine the doors finally opened with an pneumatic "whoosh". Herman stepped out with his best smile on his face. He was greeted by the city-council, man and woman clad in synthetic clothing which made his own Suit, made from of cotton, look out of place. Nevertheless the greeting was warm and a short speech was made.
Afterwards the troop went to visit the true city. Laying under the Ice hundreds of tunnels and caverns were cut, padded with polymerefoams made in giant factories on the shore of the Kraken sea.
A couple of Fusion and nuclear generators ringed the subsurface-city, each suspended in a bubble of water. Herman quickly realized that this was indeed the cooling water of the reactors themselves used to create heated fish and kelp-farms to feed the hungry population.
Between those and the maincity were the "Fields" kilometer long tunnels for greenhouses, neat grids on over 20 layers reminiscent to the old saltmines on earth where the first "colony" simulations were held.
The morgue was also there, 3 depreasured tunnels with frozen Bodies in polystyrene boxes, a few thousands by now waiting either for trial or return to earth in the empty colony ships.
The living areas were far happier. Once a tritium-stripmine the big sinkhole of the early days was again covered by a thick layer of ice held by titanic supportbeams made of metal and carbonaloys, making the area invisible from above. Under this frozen roof billions of tiny LEDs shone, projecting a clever fake sky.
Below the titans had erected a small city of Prefab-buildings not higher then 3 or 4 stories on the Westside of an artifical lake. The rest was ringed by pines and Ash. Upon Asking Herman learned, yes they were indeed rootet in artificial topsoil. Even some deer stalked the area and the calls of birds filled the air. All grown and slightly altered in vats to maintain the fragile balance of the biome.
Naturally this beauty came to a big price, 2 of the bigger reactors were used only to cycle coolant through canals in the thick polymeric insulation and to power the weathercontrol system.
Hermans first tour was ended in the "new" mines a few kilometers out by tunnel-tram. A broad shaft leading down to the very ocean of titan from were reverse osmosis plants drew water, filtering the brine for various metals, chief among the TN material SPACE needed.
The Absurdly big 2500 tons of a civilian Nuclear thermal Motor hang aboth him as he stepped to the edge. Drawn up for repairs and repositioning in the next days the once Mighty Motor would cut another shaft down the frozen Skin of titan to the very sea.
"Madness! This is Madness!" Herman thought.
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Hurrah! Finally a research project. Even if it is unimportant.
I'll probably make a thing about her finishing the research when the time rolls around. Why ejection systems and not, say, warhead strength? Or agility? Or, for that matter, railguns?
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@ Rolepgeek: The why is mostly relative cost of the research.
I think it's basically impossible for Herman Fox to ever be happy. This is actually quite a welcome thing to discover, since it means I don't ever need to bother myself with trying :P.
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Thats not true ;) He can be happy even enjoy his work. Complaining is just his hobby. Once he gets attached to his job or a place he will defend it no matter what.
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Did this die?
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No, not dead at all. However, I haven't had much time to play this week. Hopefully I'll have a new update for the next year of gametime in the next couple days.
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(ooc: Well while we wait i just add some RP nothing consequential just some fluff.)
The new Morning was ... cold and wet. Well it was one of the better mornings, since Herman decided to stay at "Theias Gardens". Currently he stalked one of the long farm-tunnels for some good wood. At 15°C and 70% humidity the Bamboo the titans were growing flourished in all its grace.
The bamboo not only produced a good chunk of oxygen but also was one of the few natural materials in the city. Unfortunately most of the titans didnt considered it as such but used the wood to create Carbonfibers by pyrolyses. They also ate the sprouts adding to the surprisingly diverse cuisine.
Herman thought felt not well within the confines of his "Plastic cell" not that the Cube cut for him wasnt luxurious but it lacked some homeliness.
In the last weeks, with the help of one of the local architects he had designed himself a nice set of living-quarters. Using the colonies construction bots he excavated a block roughly of 10 Meters in length, width and depth. The cave in the ice was then padded with insulating foams and paved with panels that held the Ice-walls cool while the inside was heated to welcoming 25°.
"Carpenters" from the city then added columns and struts which in turn supported the grating that would make up the 3 floors and the walls of his new home. Installing the necessities of live was its own little adventure and the first things to go in were a big shower and a fully automated kitchen. A hammock made from hemp replaced the bed for the time being.
Luckely these circumstances were invisible from the lowest, the "Office" floor which gleamed with new hardware. Thick white tiles made up the ceiling, glowing warmly they illuminated the great once open space while the transparent sheets of plastic divided it into a waiting area and his "official" Office.
It was refreshing to do some hard work once in a while, Herman thought as he cut the Bamboo-stems with a handheld laser. The Wood would make a nice addition for the Upper two floors while glass, steel and concrete, imported from earth were still on theyr way. The giant piece of grass groaned and fell down, picking it up Herman pushed it on the small motorised sled those Amonia engine wasnt running at the time. Soon these stems would turn into panelling, struts and flooring for his new home.
Leaving the small underground Forrest his cellphone rung informing him that the lunch with the City-council would soon starts. He smilled, lunch was an good idea.
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I'll just pop in here to mention that the next year is completed, writeup will be up tonight or tomorrow.
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2053 ANNUAL REPORT
All four freighters were immediately sent to Venus to load up the six mines that were there and transfer them to Schaumasse as the initial action of the Maximum CD Plan. Three of them carried infrastructure as the 2% Initiative investment for the year, and all of the shuttles were fanned out over Sol as the bustle of reassigning administrators and beauracrats dominated activity as it always does immediately after an election.
For the first time, the most significant development of the year had absolutely nothing to with anything SPACE did, any policies enacted by the returning director, or any such thing. Beginning in February, for reasons that are still unknown and may forever remain so, a major depression hit the private shipping corporations. Populations on all colonies consistently slightly outstripped infrastructure(ironically not including Venus until late in the year, but everywhere else). Director Duling could only reiterate SPACE’s position that the colonists were on their own – he couldn’t have made up the slack even had he wanted to, it would have required several times more freighters than are at his disposal.
Shipping just plain fell of a cliff – almost overnight, it dropped to less than a fifth of previous levels which had been sustained for years since the early stages of the Titan colonization. Soon there were for all intents and purposes only two active firms(Jensrud and Voliva) and the majority of their shipments were miscellaneous trade goods – spices, plastics, recreational drugs, and the like. Virtually all of the civilian-produced infrastructure, and there wasn’t much, went to Luna.
Unquestionably, the ‘gold rush’ of colonization is over, at least for now. Nobody knows for sure why, and the 2% Initiative has been called into serious question in many quarters, while others argue it is all the more essential now to support new markets for earth’s colonists and products. Many of these proponents suggest prioritizing the Jovian moons as their proximity to each other could lead to a new boom in shipping activity. No official word has yet come from SPACE on this.
Meanwhile, an adjustment to the Maximum CD Plan was soon made. One factor that was not sufficiently foreseen was how much production would drop off on Earth as Duling took the helm again: his factory production skills are only 10%, with mining, wealth, logistics, and ground unit
construction being his primary strengths. Rakes was better in industrial(20% to 10) and shipbuilding(5% to 0), so output on Earth declined. A side effect of this was a lowered goal in terms of corundium as the factories would produce a couple fewer mines per year. Maxing them
out at the 50% dedicated space would now require 1.19 kt, so the goal for the first phase was to up the production rate to 1.43kt or thereabouts, a bit lower than the previous estimate. By early summer, over 1.2kt had been reached and the process of sucking mines off of high-efficiency comets ceased as corundium supplies on earth began to creep upwards again. By year’s end, it was nearly 1.3kt, and both neutronium and duranium(over 3kt by year’s end for the first time ever) were increasing on earth as well, the first time that all three have been on the rise(though notably this comes partly due to limited shipyard activity). The mineral picture hasn’t looked better in over a decade, largely thanks to the activities on Sedna.
The year’s big research news came in two parts. The first was the completion of the Garrison Battalion project by Dr. Everett Snuggs and his team. For the first time, ground combat technology has leapt into the TN age, over a quarter-century after its discovery. Garrison Battalions have no attack capability, but utilize new techniques, equipment, and weaponry to achieve incredible increases in combat effectiveness. Simulations to date detail that despite being only including 5,000 men each, one-tenth the size of the active divisions, each battalion would be equal to four Low-Tech Infantry and better than three Low-Tech Armour divisions on the battlefield in defensive roles. The cost is also equal to a full infantry division(but well worth it, of course).
Training began immediately for the first battalion, which will be immediately field-tested on Luna. It was expected to be ready early in 2054, but finished ahead of schedule. Earth’s #2 in command, Brigadier General Abel Rosinski, arrived on Luna via the first of the Portland Troop
Transports with the 16th Garrison Battalion in early December. Unrest there was approaching critical levels with stability less than 30%, but by year’s end that was up to 37% and climbing with just the one unit in place. More battalions would be continued with the goal of having a few on Earth and one on each occupied colony as soon as they could be trained up. It’s the first expansion of army capabilities in SPACE’s nearly three decades of history, most welcome and according to many observers long overdue. It hasn't completely pacified the colonists though -- they want naval assets as well. The army should be able to keep them from causing havoc, however.
Secondly, and probably even more significant, was the September 18 unveiling of the Sorium Harvester Module report. The second-most impressive achievement of Deacon Palmer’s distinguished career(after TN technology of course) it brought with it a new round of ship design. The Oliver H Perry class, hereafter known simply as the FH Perry class, was initialized with the goal of extracting enough sorium from Saturn’s atmosphere to render planet-based refinery operations obsolete and preserve other sorium sources for industrial uses such as jump drives. Obviously the Perry would not need to refuel as it would be providing its own and then some, and with Titan close by it could have shore leave there. This meant it would be the first vessel to be deployed with someplace other than earth as it’s base, another step into the galaxy for
humanity. That also meant that speed is a virtual non-issue: it shouldn’t need to go anywhere, once on station.
Specs were finalized as follows:
Speed: 254 km/s(the slowest ship in the fleet by far) – twin CNT-25-4 efficiency engines
Size: 18.95kt
Fuel Capacity: 350,000 liters
Harvesters: 6, estimated at about 275k liters harvested per 2-year tour
Range: 48.5b km, a mere academic curiosity in this cae
Crew: 98
Cost: 405.5(just over a year)
8 of these could completely replace current fuel production. The plan is for six to be built immediately, which would allow conventionally mined sorium to be used for other purposes such as jump drives. However, ‘immediately’ is a bit of a relative term in this case of course. It would be a six-month process for retooling the P&A Group Yard to build the first, putting the first ship into service at approximately late winter/early spring of 2055. Before the decade is out though, planetside refineries are expected to be a part of history. Naval officers received the news with much excitement, as it meant a considerable increase in the number of available commands, and duties for the shuttle transports as well which will be required to ferry commanders to Saturn from time to time.
Earth
January 14 – The two Portland class troop transports are completed. For now, no more are planned to be built.
May – Earth crosses the 900-million threshold in population.
Early October – The FT Ute, fifth in the Fletcher class, is completed. A sixth, the Yellowstone, is now under construction. The freighters are mostly quiet for now, but it won’t be long until development of the outer system begins, and they will be needed then. Lt. Cmdr. Ali Mandujuano, notable for her ability to brown-nose at extremely high levels(as in, better than any current politician, which is saying a lot) and little else, is the Ute’s first CO.
Commissioned Officers
Early February – Jay Cin III’s training skill is up to 200
Late February – This year’s purge claims 20 officers, 14 of them navy. Warren Clark is among the victims.
Late April – Jay Cin III now has a 225 training skill.
May -- Pioneer Deacon Palmer made a substantial leap in his skill to 45%. This is enough to accelerate the completion of the Sorium Harvester Module a few months, now due in early fall.
Late August – Herman Fox increases factory production to 30%, a true achievement considering he doesn’t currently, nor has he ever in his career, oversee a single one.
Early September – Alberto Eighmy’s political reliability increases again as he is already thinking about the ‘57 elections.
Late September – A new scientist joins the fray, Julio Kuchler, who has a 20% skill in Sensors & Fire Control, a field of moderate and increasing importance as of late. This makes him instantly our top expert in the field, and he takes over Billie Allington’s work on Beam Fire Control Range.
Research & Development
** May 25 – Following the completion of Garrison Battalion, a new projects was begun on Beam Weapon Fire Controls(new addition Billie Allington)
** September 18 – Three research labs are freed up by the completion of the Sorium Harvester Module project. Particle Beam Range(Wayne Sabagh), Small Cryogenic Transport(Everett Snuggs), and Meson Focal Size(Joe Tycho in his first assignment) claim the available space. There are now a dizzying 15 active research projects, as the feverish rush to ‘catch up’ on weapons tech continues.
** November 18 – Two research projects are completed concurrently: Boat Bays(Brandon Grimmett) and Active Grav Sensors(Elwood Tousant). Edward Groat(Alpha Shields, our first investigation into kinetic shields), Deacon Palmer(10cm Microwave), and Grimmett(15 cm Carronade) begin new research into basic weapon systems. The weapons technology holes are starting to get filled in. Sometime around the end of the decade it is expected that there will be enough information to consider prototyping the top candidates for initial weapons systems.
** December 18 – Ignacio Bavaro’s team completes research into 10cm focal size lasers. Meson focusing technology is his next project.
Maximum CD
July saw the establishment of the first asteroid mining colony on Prokne. By the end of the month, new administrator Jedidiah Thone was on site along with an operational mass driver and the first automated mine. The sole purpose of this outpost was to add to the corundium supply.
Late September – Within the span of a single week, Sedna is expanded from 2 to 4 civilian mining complexes, making the distant dwarf planet a primary contributor of duranium at nearly half a kiloton per year.
Quite interestingly, one could argue that the best good news and bad news both came from areas completely out of SPACE's direct control. First time that's happened, and I'm not sure what to make of it.
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** This update contains both in-character RP and out-of-character issues. I'm posting it because it's the first time the communication issue has come up, and because it may well affect a certain player character(Jay Cin III currently ranks 2nd among Commanders)**
SPECIAL REPORT: LOOKING FORWARD
** Operation Uncertain Hope **
The JSC Intrepid is two-thirds completed, and has long since past the point where the bustle of activity at Wartsila can be concealed from the public. Mid-summer, just half a year away, is the estimated date of completion. Already there are some issues arising.
A highly classified memo has circulated to top SPACE officials, co-signed by Director Herbert Duling and acting Chief of the Navy Admiral Harley Artley. It details that with the improving mining outlook an additional two Pioneer-class vessels have been authorized pending a successful test jump by the Intrepid, and emphasizes the vital importance of their role. They will venture into unknown territory without the ability to communicate what happens when(if) they arrive. A series of standard operating procedures have been established for Pioneer commanding officers to follow when and if jump point transits are successfully conducted:
** The top mission priority is to gather basic information on whatever lies beyond all 7 Sol jump points as quickly as is practicable. This is Phase One of exploring the immediate galactic neighborhood.
** Jump ships will transit back as soon as basic readings can be verified, for the purpose of sending a transmission to Fleet HQ detailing what is found, and then proceed back into the new system if warranted.
** Any system with a habitable body or bodies(defined as a habitability of colony cost 5.0 or better) will have those bodies surveyed, as well as any targets of opportunity on the way from the jump point to these locations that don’t require significant diversions to reach. If a system does not contain any habitable bodies, it will be ignored at least until the completion of Phase One which will give SPACE a rudimentary picture of what these systems(if any and reachable) contain in terms of colonial prospects.
** If any unforseen circumstance occurs, a report must be made to Fleet HQ immediately for further deliberation by high command. No jump point surveys will be undertaken in these systems until the completion of this initial phase. In the event this is not possible, ship commanders have full discretion.
** No jump point surveys will be undertaken until this phase is completed. The first goal is to gain basic knowledge of the environment.
** OOC Note: From a game point of view, nothing that has not been reported to SPACE HQ will be reported in the thread. The exception to this will be if a signup character is commander of one of these vessels, in which case they will receive updates via private message including any decisions that might need to be made if there’s something I deem a close call. There is very much a fog of war here, I’ve always had a fascination with the Pony Express and the dangers faced by the riders in merely delivering a message prior to the invention of the telegraph in the 1830s. etc. It’s been said that there is nothing quite so much like God on earth as a general on a battlefield: well, the commanders of the Pioneer science vessels, in a sense, have a far greater responsibility and authority than that. Theirs is very much the role of the enterprising explorer – to boldly go where no one has gone before. In the hands of them and their crew literally lies the fate of humanity, they can answer to no-one because there is no way, other than going back through the jump point, to transmit a message – and many imaginable situations will not allow for that eventuality.
Naval Politics
All of this leads to another issue, about who will command the Intrepid and future ships in the class. SPACE naval tradition has, to date, informally ‘held’ that the most crucial/advanced ships being led by the top officers of Commander rank – hence why the JS Velociraptor, lone example of the North Carolina class, is led by Cmdr. Gregorio Granberg, who would presently be first in line to take the Intrepid by that method. Some are arguing that due to the importance of the mission, a Captain should be assigned. Typically Captains have thus far been reserved as staff officers, but that’s more a matter of necessity so far to see that Fleet HQ is fully staffed. The debate over whether this is a time to break with informal tradition or whether such times require more urgently holding to tradition has, as of yet, been undecided.
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Is there still room for one more? I mean I just started reading this (on page 3) but I am already thrilled to become a part of the story :)
Naval officer, male
name: Conor Zavier
Preferably age around 26 (my real age)
Thanks in advance! :)
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There's room for more definitely. You'll be added soon, thanks!
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There's room for more definitely. You'll be added soon, thanks!
Thank you! I remain hopeful he won't have dumb, rigid or some other traits :D
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I am working on doing a sort of video diary for my guy to celebrate his first assignment. I am using KSP as a proxy.
Problem is my shuttle keeps exploding on launch right now.
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Done. Here is a "video diary" of Jedidiahs trip to the asteroid.
Some unusual things had to be done due to the lack of civilian transport and other pressing matters. Cant say he was to thrilled to see what he was going up in.
feature=youtu.be
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2054 Annual Report
On March 6, retooling for the Perry class was completed, and construction of the first pair of fuel harvesters begun at the P&A Group Shipyard. Incidentally, this is the first significant industrial use of boronide we have yet discovered. The first ships are due out in late winter/early spring of next year.
This was merely an afterthought with the completion of the Intrepid expected in just under three months. But within a week, the Navy and SPACE itself had been rocked by some shocking news. The expected commander of the historic first voyage, Commander Gregorio Granberg, was dead after what appeared to be an accident. Given his position, foul play was highly expected, and a highly public investigation immediately ensued. Accident remained the official, and highly suspected, explanation as no conclusive evidence was found to indicate otherwhise – but those below him in the pecking order were under heightened suspicion.
Granberg’s death left two men essentially neck-and-neck for the command of the Intrepid – Jay Cin III and Dan Spengler. There was hardly a sheet of paper between them, with Spengler the more talented officer and Cin the more experienced. He moves into Granberg’s spot aboard the JS Velociraptor for the moment.
By May, Jay Cin III was the clear choice. His conduct, both publicly and privately, had been above reproach during the investigation, clearly swaying his superiors in the Navy’s high command(**political reliability increased to 20%**). It is amazing how everything is falling for him this year – almost like it was arranged. It is indeed fortuitious tha he has not made Captain like some would have expected by now, and gotten stuck in a staff officer role as a result.
On July 1, the Intrepid was launched, culminating a long process that began in March of 2042, over 13 years ago, when Duling first authorized jump theory research. At the same time, instability on Luna was also eliminated, and governor Herman Fox had his first increase in friends in high office(political reliability to 10%). Nobody cared – this would be a moment long remembered in the history of humanity, regardless of how it went.
Jay Cin III was in command as anticipated. His good showing the past few months and experience over the fresher, more talented Spengler proved decisive. Being considerably skilled(25%) in survey operations didn’t hurt his case any either. It seems he is a perfect fit for the job – one of the most important jobs in the history of mankind.
Everybody knew the next step, with high command both in the navy and in the SPACE officer of the director hanging on every update from mission control. The Intrepid set course immediately for its obvious destination – Jump Point Alpha. It was nearly 850 million km, a distance they would cover in just under ten days. The ten longest, tensest, and most exciting days anyone could remember. The extranet exploded with pirated images of the ship, most attention focusing on the obvious redundancies in its communications gear seen by protrusions from the hull in numerous locations and the bulge around the massive jump drive.
Passing just by Venus on the first day of it’s journey, what limited observations the colony there could make were studied in minutest detail. After that, all that could be gleaned were from the official reports. Mars orbit was cleared late on the 4th, with close(at a safe distance) approach to the dwarf planet Ceres in the asteroid belt taking place just before midnight on the 6th.
At 1600 hours on July 10, Commander Jay Cin III reported to command that all systems were green, and final drills had been completed without a hitch. It was time for final approach and calibrations. He and the 240 men and women, the finest in the Navy, would all be dead in three hours if navigation was not precisely correct. If it was, and the scientists were right – their place in history could hardly be overstated.
At 1842 hours, the jump drive was fully powered up, and the order was given. There was no flash of light, no rift opening in space, disappointing many fans of various popular science fiction imaginings. All the external systems of the escort ships could detect was a barely discernible ripple, like the outline of something somehow invisible against the background of space, and a faint bluish-tinted glow. And then the Intrepid was gone. Nobody saw it move – it simply wasn’t there anymore.
Seconds seemed like eternities, and all that anyone could do was wait.
They had only to wait about ten minutes. The Intrepid reappeared, announcing a successful jump to Epsilon Eridani! Mankind was no longer bound to Sol – the galaxy was now within our reach(theoretically). What’s more, it appears it is a system worthy of further investigation. Key elements of the classified report relayed to Earth within minutes:
** The Epsilon Eridani star was a class K2-V, 2.64b km away from the jump point into that system. Three-quarters the mass of our sun, and a quarter of the brightness.
** Six planets orbit the star, only one of them a terrestrial, with three gas giants and two super jovians.
** Smaller bodies are plentiful, with 89 moons and 268 asteroids in the system. The second planet(terrestrial) and the third(a gas giant) were both extremely close to the star(300m km), about a months journey from the jump point for the Intrepid. Each has a moon with habitability
of 2.0, similar to Mars/Luna. Both would be investigated.
** The physical effects of the jump on personnel were intense but brief: basically vertigo combined with nausea. It was not pleasant, but within a couple minutes of emerging into ‘normal space’ it dissipated. Long-term effects will need to be studied, but its doubtful such things will deter SPACE from exploring opportunities of this magnitude.
And then the Intrepid was gone again, for how long nobody knew for certain. There was only the long wait.
Research & Development
** February 18 – Cedrick Wormack’s team completes research into Ground Unit Combat Strength, having discovered new techniques and training regimens to increase combat effectiveness by 20% across the board. This is expected to be the only research news of the year.
Dr. Wormack gets back to work immediately, considering further advances in the same field.
Maximum CD Plan
Late February – With comet Faye approaching, a mass driver heads its direction and a new colony is founded there for further diversification. Faye is the final available inner-system source for corundium. Provisional governor Russell Salvucci, a graduate of the Earth Academy last November, is by far the best choice and in position by the end of the first week of March. He has a minor skill in mining, which will aid production a bit. Faye of course has neutronium and sorium as well as corundium, so it’s not a one-trick pony, so to speak.
In May, with the delivery of a fourth mine to Faye, the ‘C’ part of the Maximum CD plan is completed. A mass driver is dispatched to Triton, the Neptunian moon which is the next target for increasing duranium supply. With this action, official investment in mass outer-system mining is under way.
October 27 – Provisional governor Riley Awad arrives on Triton. SPACE is starting to drag the bottom of the river for outpost administrators now.
By year’s end, there are four operational mines on Triton. A modest, but important start.
Commissioned Officers
There was no officer purge this year, and this fact may have saved Christopher Blair’s hide – he was 5th in line to receive a command at the deadline and already over six years unassigned since his graduation.
Mid-June – Karabishi Juishao has upgraded her skill to 15%. For some reason it was also the summer of Derek Latch(governor at the minor outpost on Reinmuth), who was constantly reporting some breakthrough or another.
August 25 -- Lieutenant Commander Conor Zavier joins the fray.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 128
Bonuses: Political Reliability 20%, Mining 10%
Personality Traits: Arrogant
Assessment: His greatest skill by far is knowing the right people, and it should be enough(in terms of having a successful career, not necessarily in being a good officer). He’s in the top third of all LtCs immediately.
Early November – Ken McKay increases training bonus to 25
Mid-November – Ken McKay’s Fleet Movement Initiative is up to 209
Late November – Jedidiah Thone has developed some mining skill(5%)
Late December – The man just won’t stop -- Ken McKay’s Fleet Movement Initiative is up to 259
Earth
Early May – A new research lab is finished on Earth. 17 laboratories, and a 17th project commences. Mike Manaya’s first task is Microwave Focusing.
Late May – The 17th Garrison Battalion is completed. Brigadier General Angela Bankson is dispatched to Titan with them.
July 20 – The FT Yellowstone is completed on earth, expanding the number of freighters to six. It will be assigned to close-Earth duty, shifting mines around as needed and moving any extra that are converted beyond what the other five freighters can haul to Triton over to Venus.
November 27 – 18th Garrison Battalion is completed on Earth, shipped off to Mars with CO Brig. Gen. Dolph Stallone
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So Christopher Blair is still saved. I thought he's already get purged.
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Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 8th of 50, first command is aboard the ST Wayne.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 1st of 14, CO of the historic mission of the JSC Intrepid. Presently out of contact in the Epsilon Eridani system.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier – 14th.
Herman Fox(6) – Governor of Titan.
Jedidiah Thone(1) – Governor of Prokne(first asteroid governor in human history! :P)
Karabishi Juishao(MK 15) – Researching Magazine Ejection Systems
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Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 8th of 50, first command is aboard the ST Wayne.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 1st of 14, CO of the historic mission of the JSC Intrepid. Presently out of contact in the Epsilon Eridani system.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier – 14th.
Herman Fox(6) – Governor of Titan.
Jedidiah Thone(1) – Governor of Prokne(first asteroid governor in human history! :P)
Karabishi Juishao(MK 15) – Researching Magazine Ejection Systems
Well at least my guy got a first, fits in with his risk taker. I am happy with that. Duno if anyone liked the video or not.
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I liked the SPACE flag at the end.
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The plot thickens a bit ...
2055 Annual Report
The year began with a significant shakeup in the Navy, with Admiral Harley Artley being forced into retirement. At 56 years old he still has four years left, but the younger admiral Ellie Camble is far his superior and everyone knows it. She becomes the first female navy chief. Artley was the navy’s chief for the last four years. Also retiring are Captain Sammie Sreaves(a 24-year veteran of Fleet HQ as a staff officer, 55 years old), Commander Ken McKay(55, 12 years of geology survey service and four more as CO of the Lexington II-class
shuttle transport Endymion, a low-ranking Commander for almost his entire service), Commander Chung Jegede(served with McKay on the Rater geology team, then on the FT Custer and ST Marengo, age 59), and Commander Greg Garza(58, JupSat i.e. Grimmett geology team for 11 years, various ship postings in the five years since, mostly shuttles). The old guard, actually more like the original guard, is beginning to pass into the sunset. A new generation of officers must take their place.
One Christopher Blair benefits significantly, as he was the final LtC named to replace the newly-vacated commands ... In the army, Brigadier General Path Twelve was the only retiree. The oldest civilian administrators are 51, 14 years away from retirement age of 65. Elite scientists retire at 70, with the oldest presently at 51 as well(several, including Deacon Palmer). So SPACE still has some time before en masse retirements kick in.
The admiralty waited a few days to dispense assignments for next tour, as some promotions needed to sort themselves out. Ellie Camble was Communications Officer for the last 18 and a half years since her promotion to Captain, and at 47 still has some life left in her career for certain. She is now the lone admiral, with only five captains, two short of a full staff. The Navy unquestionably needs fresh blood.
In early March, a ‘late’ round of dismissals relieved a dozen officers of their duties, eight naval and four from the army. And then on the 16th, the Intrepid reappeared in Sol space from the Epsilon Eridani jump point. The report was promising, with 94% fuel left, no maintenance issues to report despite being out of contact for several months, and still over three years left on the mission clock. Onward to Jump Point Delta a months journey away, while command digested their report ...
The short version was that a number of considerable deposits have been found, most of them not of the minerals we need or highly inaccessible. However, there is a corundium deposit of a half-million tons, and another of neutronium of a full million, both worth exploiting. No duranium yet though the survey there is far from complete. All in all, quite good news!
In the late morning of April 24, the Intrepid proceeded through Jump Point Delta and then back again. What they found there was far more significant – it held the potential to change the course of human history. The new system was Lalande 21185, which held 219 asteroids, 4 dwarfs, and a terrestrial planet far too large for human colonization, all orbiting a M2-V class star 33 times dimmer than our sun. Also orbiting at close range(just inside the inner asteroid field) was an astounding discovery:
Long-term scanners showed the wrecks of three vessels, two in the 9kt range and one almost 18kt. From a range of 2b km it is impossible to tell what destroyed them or how long ago, but one thing is for certain: we are not alone. This was compelling evidence of advanced life.
This information was classified at the highest imaginable level, and orders given immediately that anyone caught so much as thinking about it without permission would leave the ship immediately via the airlock. Back on Earth, it was obvious something was up by the incredible activity at SPACE, but for now at least security has been maintained. In the end, Director Duling made the decision to pretty much keep on pace with current policies until more systems were explored. Getting a basic handle on weapons research was even more important now, but there wasn’t anything that could be done to speed that up at the moment. There was no way of telling the age of the destroyed vessels. Millions of km from the nearest body and nowhere near the lone planet, it was highly unlikely they broke up in an atmosphere anywhere, esp. given their relatively intact shape(of the wreckage, that is). With one ship, a massive malfunction might be a possibility, but three? Almost certainly they were destroyed, intentionally. The implications of this were ... unpleasant.
The Intrepid headed to Jump Point Epsilon, just a short hop away. There was nothing to recommend Lalande 21185 from an economic standpoint. Cmdr. Cin was commended for jumping back immediately to Sol and not putting his ship, mission, or crew at risk with the tempting possibility of investigating the wrecks.
On the final day of April, JP Epsilon was revealed to link to Van Maanen’s Star. The system has two dozen asteroids and a couple of dwarf planets, the key find being a super-jovian with nearly two dozen moons. Only two of the moons are habitable, and those marginally, a full 2b km from the jump point as well. Again, not worth the effort, and the Intrepid moved on.
The next two jump locations would be Bravo and Charlie: Bravo was a hair closer and became the next to be visited. Before that, on the early morning of June 1, the first two harvesters arrived as Saturn and began successful sorium extraction operations. After a successful test over the course of a few hours, they offloaded most of their fuel at nearby Titan and began an extended tour at the ringed planet. Titan now stands fully ready, with 600k liters from the two vessels and more to come, to be a fully-functional refueling base.
On the 16th, the Intrepid transited Jump Point Bravo, hoping this would be more fruitful than the last pair of jumps. They found Luytens 726-8, emerging about 2b km away as seems to be normative. The first five comets found outside Sol are there, which could be a very good thing if they are as fruitful. No asteroids and only one dwarf planet, but a pair of terrestrial planets, a gas giant, and a super-jovian proved more interesting. The second planet has only a trace atmosphere but is reasonably habitable(2.0) with a very reasonable(in galactic terms) surface temperature of -18.7 celcius. The first planet is as hospitable as Mercury(not at all), and a couple of moons orbiting the jovian are as habitable as Titan or Io/Ganymede, but it’s that second planet that makes this a system worth a second look. Soon it was time for another blackout, as SPACE had been informed and the Intrepid would be gone for another surveying tour.
This time they were only gone about two months, emerging in August with the news that none of the comets had been within range to make investigating them a valuable use of mission time. Worse, the second planet was barren, so unless a further expedition showed more resources, it was not a useful candidate system. As they were already partway there from Earth, the Intrepid headed next to Jump Point Gamma in the outer system.
Barnard’s Star was revealed in the first week of October. Partially counterbalancing the distance of the jump point in Sol was the fact that on the other side, it was only 1.33b km from the primary star. This might even have mattered if it wasn’t a complete and utter pile of crap. 17 asteroids were found, along with a gas giant orbited by 17 moons, two of which were in the over-6 habitability range as the best potential sites. Adios, Barnard’s Star – we hardly knew ye.
The next trip would be considerable. Jump Point Charlie was back across the system, some 9b km from the jump to Barnard’s Star. It would take the rest of the year plus to cover the distance. In completely unrelated news, it is worth noting that total human population rose to more than a billion souls in mid-November, the first time that’s happened since the war which shall not be mentioned.
At year’s end, Triton is at 12 automated mines, Venus is up to 10, and Sedna expanded again to 5 civilian complexes there now. More freighters are needed, or faster, but both require more fuel, so really a lot of things are waiting on getting enough Perry-class harvesters out to Saturn which will be some more years in the making. Given the size of our reserves though, the order is given to build more Fletchers anyway and not wait. If the reserve declines, so be it – 32m liters is a lot. A big lot. The Hyperion, second in the Pioneer class, will come off the line within days.
Earth has over 800t corundium, over 5kt duranium and nearly 6kt neutronium. The line will pretty much held at current expenditures, but we finally have a surplus – and a growing one. That is becoming relatively less of a matter of discussion in the current environment though. Most of the debate at SPACE is still what to about Lalande 21185 and the prospect of advanced life – a debate that has no forseeable end in sight.
Research & Development
** February 19 – Turret Tracking Speed 2000 km/s completed(Eva Vadnais). Railgun(10cm) is her next objective.
** Mid-May – Clint Wyche’s team completes research into improved terraforming rates. He gets to work on Shield Regeneration Rate.
** June 7 – Ignacio Bavaro’s team(Meson Focusing) has presented their report. Railgun Launch Velocity is his next project.
** August 16 – Harlan Welle’s team completes Magazine Feed System Efficiency. They move on to Gauss Cannon Launch Velocity.
** November 14 – Karabishi Juishao’s team completes Magazine Ejection System improvement research(80% success rate). Next up is Gauss Cannon Rate of Fire. This is a significant moment as the Ministry of Research & Development indicates this is the final basic
combat tech that needs to be researched before an analysis can properly begin. So we are now one research cycle(3-5 years) away from doing that.
** December 25 – Everette Snuggs’ team unveils on Christmas Day plans for Small Cryogenic Transport modules, basically in case of emergencies. He then takes over for Deacon Palmer on Microwave tech so that Palmer can turn his C&P expertise to the matter of improving systems at the research complexes themselves for the purpose of improving efficiency and productivity of our scientific teams – something that is of vital importance.
Earth
March 23 – The first two Perry-class Fuel Harvesters gave the Navy plenty of other activity to look after. Another pair of young lieutenant commanders stave off potential elimination as they are the first to head to Saturn as field testers while two more ships begin construction. They are expected on station before the middle of June.
Late May – 19th Garrison Battalion is complete. Venus is the only populated colony without one, and additional battalions will be assigned to Earth. Brig. Gen. Conrad Brocklehurst heads to Venus as the CO.
Commissioned Officers
Late July – Christopher Blair’s crew training is up to 125.
Early December – Herbert Duling’s political skills continue to improve(30% reliability).
Epsilon Eridani – Ship Commanders Log
JSC Intrepid – Commander Jay Cin III
July 11, 2054 – Set course for asteroid #160, which is only about a 10% deviation from ourcourse towards Epsilon Eridani-A.
July 23 – Asteroid #160 reveals nothing. We set course next for a clump of asteroids ‘behind’ the fourth planet in the same solar orbit. There are 26 of them in quite close proximity, almost exactly 10% of the total asteroids in this system, and a lagrange point in the vicinity as well.
Aug 10 – We’ve reached the asteroid clump and scanning begins.
Sep 4 – The asteroid clump is completely scanned, with nothing having been found. We continue in-system to the third planet’s orbit, just a few days journey, to scan the asteroid clump ‘ahead’ of it.
Sep 16 – Having once again found nothing, we head for the third planet itself. The gas giant is the size of Jupiter and has 14 moons, two of which are habitable and one of which is our secondary target in this system.
Sep 20 – EE3 scanning has commenced, and is expected to take somewhere on the order of a month.
Oct 20 – The third planet reveals no resource deposits of any kind, and the moons around it are next to be hit.
Oct 30 – The first moon(habitable, but at a cost of 5.05) reveals the first deposits of TN minerals outside of Sol! Neutronium(2.52mt at 0.1), Tritanium(508kt at 0.6), Sorium(135kt at 0.1), and Uridium(4.67mt at 0.8 ). As neither tritanium or uridium are needed, despite the size of the finds this is not a promising target.
Nov 2 – The third moon also has deposits: uridium(215kt at 0.8 ) and corundium(577kt at 1.0!). That corundium find is highly important of course – efficiently developed, it would end corundium supply issues for generations, perhaps centuries. Epsilon Eridani III is a three-billion-kilometer trips(give or take) for a freighter group from Earth, making it close to five months round-trip. With corundium supplies stable and rising, despite its significance, this find was not deemed important enough to break off and report to Sol high command.
Nov 5 – The process of scanning the tenth moon of III, the best reason to come to this planet, was begun and would take even longer than the planet itself. It is more than two and a half times larger than Earth.
Dec 10 – The tenth moon is a treasure trove of highly unaccessible minerals, unforunately:
Neutronium(48.3mt at 0.1)
Mercassium(26.1mt at 0.1)
Sorium(72.9mt at 0.1)
Corundium(1.74mt at 0.1)
Gallicite(30.7mt at 0.6)
Duranium(109mt at 0.1)
Sadly, the only reason to develop this moon would be in the event of a need for more gallicite. Four more moons to survey.
Dec. 12 – Having found nothing more, we head to planet II, a terrestrial planet better than nine times more massive than earth. The crushing gravity makes colonizing it impossible. It has two moons, the second of which is the most habitable body in this system.
Dec. 17 – Scanning of Epsilon Eridani-A II begins, and we’ll be here a while. Over a month and a half, given the sheer size of this thing.
Feb. 6 -- Good news: EE II contains every TN mineral, only planet found other than earth. Bad news: all are at 0.1 accessibility. At least 24mt of all but tritanium(57 kt). Not that it matters. If they were more accessible, there’d be no need to consider other sources of minerals. Ever.
Feb. 8 – Primary target scanning begins(second of two moons of EE II).
Feb. 15 – Scanning of the moons is complete and we begin the journey back to Sol jump point to
present our initial report.
Neutronium: 1.02 mt at 0.9
Mercassium: 2.30 kt at 0.6
Vendarite: 331 kt at 0.6
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Well this is quickly turning to a nightmare. My character has only the arrogant and brown nose traits and he is good in mining...
So what can I expect? I guess a command of a mining ship? :D
Let's hope there will be one soon or it's a reroll for me :)
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Don't underestimate the value of being a brown-noser. Crew training is probably the only thing more valuable in getting the attention of the Navy brass :). The greatest brown-noser in the history of SPACE is Cmdr. Ali Mandujuano, has skills nearly as useless as Zavier's -- and she's halfway up the Commander rankings as of the current date, just over six years out of the Academy and one of the youngest among her peers at that rank. Sometimes being a great brown-noser is just what you need to get the opportunities required to develop your skills :).
On the mining ship, none now, none being contemplated, none will be contemplated for the forseeable future. It's basically a useless skill, congratulations :).
Duno if anyone liked the video or not.
My computer didn't want to play it, unfortunately. I don't think its youtube, its just my computer being stupid. Getting a new one next month which among other things will be faster, which won't hurt for aurora any.
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2056 Annual Report
As the Intrepid finally approaches Jump Point Charlie, the Hyperion is cleared for operations and heads out to Jump Point Foxtrot, naturally with the meteoric Commander Dan Spengler assigned as her CO. This pair of jumps will complete initial perusal of the Sol jump locations.
Five days later, the Intrepid reaches Teegarden’s Star on January 16. It’s a very close jump point, just 326m km away from the extremely dim M6-V star. There are 28 asteroids, six planets, and a couple dozen or so moons. None are less than 8 or worse habitability. Sigh. Jay Cin III heads his vessel back to Earth for some well-earned shore leave, well short of the maximum stay but they need to await further instructions from SPACE HQ on what to do next, which won’t be decided until the Hyperion reaches its objective. It is, however, abundantly clear that Epsilon Eridani is our best chance at finding either a reasonably close colony in another system, or a better system further out(via a second jump from there).
On March 10th, the Hyperion makes its jump, and finds Sirius. Siriusly. A binary system, with Sirius A as the primary star and Sirius B the secondary one. A is much larger but also dimmer than our sun, B is relatively tiny orbiting at 20 times the distance earth is from our star, on the order of 3bkm. We are 1.8bkm-plus away, bearing 358. One apparent effect of the binary system, according to our calculations, results in jump point survey locations being very far away(3.5b km for the inner ring).
More importantly, there is some sirius(sorry) potential here. A has two planets. First is a terrestrial with a hilarious 60 colony cost due to the 1450+ surface temperature, the second is a 2.0 habitable terrestrial with a 2.0 habitable moon. It also has 86 asteroids. B sports a dwarf and a gas giant – the gas planet has 23 moons, two of which are 2.7-3.1 habitable and two more in the 4.5-5 range. It’s not as nice as Epsilon Eridani, but better than anything else we’ve seen. The Hyperion will investigate further.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, an oversight is noticed. A big one, that was noticed some time back, but the current maintenance facilities are not nearly large enough to allow the Intrepid to do a full overhaul. It’s decided that the process of enlarging them needs to be dramatically accelerated, and so most of the effort currently going to mine conversions is switched to building more maintenance capacity. Transitioning sooner wouldn’t really have been feasible anyway, due to the need for mines and minerals – but there are some who aren’t buying that explanation.
Shortly after the Hyperion jumps, a report reaches the director’s desk about a certain Mitchell Feeser, recent graduate of the Academy. He’s considered the finest naval officer talent that humanity has produced since the founding of the agency, and is definitely one to watch.
In mid-June, the Hyperion returned and the news was not good. A further investigation might be warranted in the future, but the habitable bodies were all barren. The first phase of jump point investigation was now complete, and there were a few inescapable conclusions:
** The discovery of the wrecks in Lalande 21185 makes preparedness for a likely inevitable first contact all the more urgent. Weapons research needed to continue, should the worst happen.
** Locations suitable for human colonization appear to be rare. Attention should perhaps be given in the near future to terraforming technology. An analysis of terraforming prospects for known habitable bodies has been ordered for the upcoming SoS report.
Finally, a more thorough investigation of Epsilon Eridani was in order, for a number of reasons. One, if duranium could be found, its proximity would make it a good first target for extra-solar colonization – it might be worthwhile even if that isn’t the case, though on a longer time scale. Two, if any of the gas giants or super jovians had sorium, a refueling base could be established in-system. Third, if there were any more jump points reasonably close to the one to Sol, exploring those could possibly provide a system ‘close’ in travel time even if it was two jumps away.
Such an operation, however would require multiple ships operating independently of each other with coordinated activities. That would require a new task force, which would require a command ship with a flag bridge. The possibility of updating the North Carolina class was considered and rejected, since the maintenance capacity and cost required would be considerable. A new design for a minimal command shuttle was assembled and then rejected, because it would require the use of the Wartsila Shipyard, presently at work with the third vessel in the Pioneer class. So there’s was little to be done for now. The best that could be achieved immediately was to send in the Intrepid again, the Hyperion could replace it when the mission time was up, and eventually the navy could work towards a more sizable fleet dedicated to the task.
Commissioned Officers
Early February – Herman Fox’s Pop Growth bonus is now up to 20%.
Mid February – Jedidiah Thone makes a substantial improvement in mining to 15%.
Mid-October – Christopher Blair increases crew training to 150.
Early Nov – Conor Zavier takes well to his first command, developing a training bonus of 25.
Mid December – Director Herbert Duling ups factory production to 20%, giving himself a much better position in the election which is just a couple of weeks away now.
Sirius Survey
Ship Commander’s Log
Commander Dan Spengler
JSC Hyperion
April 21 – Sirius A II is barren. Not the news we were looking for.
April 25 – The moon is barren as well. We head to Sirius A I since we are here anyway ...
June 4 – Sirius A I has 75mt-plus of duranium, 41+mt gallicite, both are 0.1 accessibility. Pshaw. Back to Sol for more orders.
Research & Development
** April 6 – Joe Tycho’s team completes research on Meson Focal Size. Lab space goes to Palmer’s work on research speed.
** April 20 – Julio Kuchler’s team announces Beam Fire Control Range report – a third lab goes to Palmers work, which should be sufficient.
** June 27 – Wayne Sabagh’s team(Particle Beam range) presents their report. Julio Kuchler takes the space to work on improving Thermal Sensitivity of our sensors.
Earth
Early April – A second pair of Perrys are completed and head to Saturn, work proceeds on a third pair. The afore-mentioned talent earns Feeser one of the new commands.
June 10 – Research Lab completed. Joe Tycho is back after a short break and takes the space for a project on Turret Tracking Speed, hoping to achieve a 50% increase compared to present capabilities. This was assigned because it isn’t a specific weapon path but will benefit numerous weapons systems.
October 5 – FT Apollo is finished, and Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier is assigned the interim command.
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Wow, this escalated quickly! :D I am both glad and sad that he didn’t get expelled from the force :) This might be very interesting yet!
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier was not a pleasant fellow to be around. He was actually so unpleasant that most of the people around him soon grew to despise him and the rest kept their distance. But nobody did really go into full scale confrontation with him because what Conor lacked on the side of manners he had in connections. A lot of connections.
When Conor was born in the Zavier family his father spoiled him beyond belief. As the family was one of the largest private mining companies in the world (Zavier Mining Corporation) he had everything that he ever wanted and more. But he didn’t like his father despite all the wealth and gifts he got as a child. They were both very strong, self-centered personalities and both took it very hard that they should not have complete control over everything. And as there was nowhere where Conor could really start anew on Earth without the shadow of his father following him he quickly decided to go for the Navy career.
The studies on the Academy were really hard for him as had no practical knowledge or interest in the subjects other than quickly getting through them and, if possible, getting his command and proving his worth. This caused much resentment between the teachers but Conor had been only on the best schools and was quite bright despite his lack of interest so he always managed to pass with lowest score possible or slightly above without having to try at all. His only really good marks came from areas of command, tactics, crew training and, which surprised many, geology and mining. In the last two he was more than brilliant, rest assured that his background helped him a lot, and some of his essays and works earned much attention even between the top scientists. His theories about future of mining in space and needed equipment and ships for these tasks were both daring and visionary. However, much to his dismay, they were purely hypothetical as the current doctrine of space exploration under the oversight of SPACE had no room for such applications. His protests were always loud and many times over snarky but it was no place for a cadet to change that.
What also bothered him was that his reputation kept with him despite him being in the Navy where he believed he would be only one of the anonymous mass. His teachers treated him many times with too much respect and he could feel that his name was whispered when he walked the halls. He hated it but he wasn’t as careless as to stand up against it. Many great men got ahead because of strong support from someone around them or, more than often, behind them.
And so did he when he got his first, albeit interim, command on a brand new ship called Apollo. Unimportant assignment it may have been but an assignment none the less. And he would be a fool to reject it. Dozens of Lt. Commanders never even got such a chance. What did it matter if it was work of his father or maybe some of the commanders that looked for a favor from someone his father could influence? The chance was here and he was going to take it no matter what.
And so he began his real career.
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Done. Here is a "video diary" of Jedidiahs trip to the asteroid.
Some unusual things had to be done due to the lack of civilian transport and other pressing matters. Cant say he was to thrilled to see what he was going up in.
feature=youtu.be
Although I didn't like the idea of Aurora being depicted by Kerbal Space Program, the video itself is good! :)
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If it makes you feel better, he's about to be demoted(he only got a freighter slot because most of the more deserving officers were off somewhere else on assignment).
STATE OF SPACE, 2057
I. Imperial Holdings
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(973.2m, 322 CF, 253 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 18 RL, 2 AC, 6.8k MF)
Luna(36.11m)
Mars(9.58m)
Titan(5.09m)
Venus(approx. 90k)
Mars has only grown by a half-million in the last four years, Titan by 200k. Luna kept growing for a bit(up almost 7m) but has stalled now as well. The civilian shipping halt has left Earth just continuing to grow. Our homeworld is up more than 77m, with total human population now at 1.024b(up 9.1%).
IB. Outposts
Earth(77 SM, 1 AM, 11.4 eff, 1.84 kt yield) – uridium set to deplete in 3.1 years
Titan(25 AM, 6 eff, 243t)
Venus(7 AM, 24 eff., 233t)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff., 1.75 kt)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 56 eff., 2.41 kt) – duranium(2.8 yrs)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 58 eff, 2.09 kt) – neutronium(4.6 yrs)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 942 t)
Triton(21 AM, 30 eff, 756 t)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 59 eff, 1.73 kt) – corundium(7.2 yrs)
Wolf-Harrington(13.8 AM, 60 eff, 994 t) – vendarite(9.1 yrs)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 138 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 726 t)
Neujmin(9.8 AM, 49 eff, 576 t)
Borrelly(9.8 AM, 58 eff, 851 t)
Faye(4 AM, 48 eff, 240 t)
Reinmuth(1.8 AM, 47 eff, 101 t) – duranium(7.1 yrs)
Sedna(5 CMC, 16 eff, 1.06 kt)
Total Production: 16.68 kt annual yield, a 5.8% increase or almost a full kiloton per year. The total amount will eventually fall as the comets deplete – the most important thing is keeping the key minerals coming in.
Earth has just over half the mines it did four years ago, and has now been reduced to a relatively minor contributor. The expected depletion times have actually been delayed due to the rapid rate of conversion and shipping of mines off-world(at least, until the switch to maintenance facility work last year). It won’t be long until more mines have to be built and the economic focus switches from converting standard to automated to actually adding new mines.
A few minor minerals on comets were depleted, but nothing worth noting. That will change in the coming years, but losing Machholz’s duranium won’t hurt as much with the growth on Triton and Schaumasse that was achieved.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles and Production
Tier A: Uridium(45 kt), gallicite(31 kt), and vendarite(29 kt) are joined by tritanium this time(24 kt)
Tier B: Mercassium(27 kt), corbomite(18 kt), and boronide(19 kt) remain as before. Boronide is seeing more use as a primary component of the fuel tanks used on ships for the navy, but as of yet the stockpile continues to grow.
Tier C: Corundium(1.87 kt) is growing rapidly with the temporary, recent decline in mine conversion; sorium(12.1 kt) is growing as well and will grow a lot more as the Saturn harvesting operation picks up steam.
Tier D: Neutronium(5.99 kt) and duranium(5.35 kt) supplies have never been better, but continuing to grow them is essential. There still isn’t enough for a significant economic expansion.
ID. Income
Taxes: 24.16M
Export Tariffs: 115k
Trade Good Tariffs: 115k
Tourism Fees: 80k
Total: 24.47M
Taxes on civilian shipping don’t bring in a tenth of what they did four years ago. As a result, though direct citizen tax income rose by over two million credits, total income actually shrunk by 3.7 million, over a 13% decline. The good news, I suppose, is that it can’t fall much further – and still dwarfs spending. Just over one million credits comes from the colonies – over 90% is from Earth.
IE. Expenses
Installation Construction: 4.16M
Research: 3.51M
Shipbuilding: 1.82M
Mineral Purchases: 1.25M
GU Maintenance: 134k
GU Training: 83k
Shipyard Modifications: 61k
Maintenance Facilities: 10k
Total: 11.02M
For the first time, there is cause to be just the slightest bit concerned about the financial side. SPACE still made more than twice what it spent, but with the decline in income and a spending rise of almost 22%, there is definitely a need to ensure that trend does not continue indefinitely.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commerical Yards
Tod & MacGregor(1 slipway, 36.5kt capacity)
P&A Group(2 slipways, 20kt capacity)
** Building 2x Perry-class fuel harvesters
Vickers-Armstrong(2 slipways, 10kt capacity)
** Building 2x Lexington II-class shuttle transports
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila A/B & O/Y(1 slipway, 10kt capacity)
** Building Pioneer-class jump scout
III. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IIIA. Earth
** Maintenance Facility Expansion(50%) – to 10kt, expected to finish in early December
** Research Lab(25%) – one per two years or so at the current rate
** Mine Conversions(10%) – about 3 per year
** Ground Force Training Facility(4%) – 2065
** Naval Shipyard(4%) – spring/summer 2061
** Mass Driver(4%) – summer 2058
** Commercial Shipyard(3%) – 2059/2060
** A new run of infrastructure for the 2% initiative typically siphons off 2% production for 8-10 months.
IV. Research Projects
** Jump Gate Construction(Shannon Patteson) – January 8
** Fuel Consumption Efficiency(Santo Makar) – January 13
** Plasma Carronade(Brandon Grimmett) – March 12
** Ground Unit Strength(Cedrick Wormack) – March/April
** Alpha Shields(Edward Groat) – June
** High-Powered Microwave(Everette Snuggs) – June/July
** Shield Regeneration(Clint Wyche) – Summer 2058
** Railgun Velocity(Ignacio Bavaro) – Summer 2058
** Microwave Focusing(Mike Manaya) – Summer 2058
** Gauss Cannon Velocity(Harlan Welle) – Late 2058
** Figher Production(Curtis Gloster) – Late 2058/Early 2059
** Gauss Cannon Firing Rate(Karabishi Juishao) – Late 2058/Early 2059
** Research Rate(Deacon Palmer, only project with multiple labs(3)) – Winter/Spring 2059
** Railgun(Eva Vadnais) – Winter/Spring 2059
** Thermal Sensor Sensitivity(Julio Kuchler) – 2060/2061
** Turret Tracking Speed(Joe Tycho) – 2061
The research teams haven’t been heard from that much the last couple years, but this shows why. There’s a number of projects due to complete in the next few months, and several more next year.
V. Active Naval Assets
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex Iix(2, 2.2kt, 35 crew, 1136 km/s, 60k, geological survey)
FT Fletcher II-xe(7, 36.2kt, 100 crew, 518 km/s, 700k, freighter)
ST Lexington II(8, 1.8kt, 20 crew, 1388 km/s, 30k, transport shuttle)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k, large jump ship)
FH Perry(4, 18.95 kt, 98 crew, 263 km/s, 350k, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(2, 10kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k, colony ship)
Total: 28 vessels(nearly doubled from 17!), 426.7kt, 2.1k crew, 8.61m liters fuel
Available Crew: 71.9k(+ 6.8k)
Nine current ship classes(we had only six before). It’s getting a bit crowded. Overall, the navy basically doubled in the last four years. We’re at about 32.5m liters and holding steady, but that number doesn’t seem quite as huge as it used to.
VI. Active Army Assets
** Low-Tech Armour Division(5)
** Low-Tech Infantry Division(10)
** Garrision Battalion(6)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 780,000(4% increase)
VII. Civilian Shipping Corporations
Voliva Carrier Company(26 ships, 310k annual income)
Jensrud Transport & Trading(16)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(4)
Presnar Freight(4)
Forbius Carrier Limited(1)
Oullet Shipping(1)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3)
55 total, just up from 52 four years ago, but Voliva is the only active one left. They effectively have a monopoly on the virtually non-existent industry, which generates just 5% of the income it did in our last report. Voliva has more cash on hand(516k) than the others combined. Meanwhile, 350,000 colonists sit in colony ships with nowhere to go. What a mess the corporations have created.
VIII. SPACE Leadership Prospectus
** Naval Officers: 33 of 72 assigned(45.8%)
** Ground Forces Officers: 21 of 33(63.6%)
** Civilian Administrators: 18 of 26(69.2%)
** Scientists: 16 of 28(57.1%)
Overall: 88 of 159(55.3%) – up a full 10% from 45 last report
19 new positions were created, while the overall number of leaders remains exactly the same as it was before. The outlook is declining for researchers as more focused and expensive projects lie ahead, but for the other three branches it definitely appears that growth opportunities will continue to be strong. SPACE continues to need more than a few good men and women to keep the wheels moving, and early dismissals are unquestionably on the decline.
IX. Terraforming Review
After reviewing the situation, there’s less to say about this than I expected. The only place we've found more hospitable than, say, Mars or Luna, is Sirius-A II. The atmosphere there is almost 40% as thick as Earth's, has no dangerous gases, and just needs a bit more oxygen to be breathable. We'd need to siphon off some nitrogen at that point since the temp is about 64 celcius, but a colony cost under 1.0 could be achievable. It'd never be a new Earth, but would require relatively minimal investment, espescially if duranium could be found in-system.
Due to the travel time involved, that is at best quite a long-range concern and will depend on many factors whether or not it actually ever happens.
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2057 ELECTION
Herbert Duling was obviously the favorite, espescially after his December Surprise shoring up his most glaring weakness. A win would net the 43-year-old a record fourth term as director. Eighmy was in poor health, a fact that prevented him from even making the final ballot this time: a similar fate kept Sonny Dean out. This left only two challengers: India Rakes and Herman Fox, both of whom were about equally dark horses. In reality, this election was over before it began. Duling has become virtually unbeatable.
As it was, he ran a near-perfect campaign to eliminate any doubt quickly. All three candidates acquitted themselves very well in fact. Duling had 39.2% of the final tally, with Rakes(31.8%) beating out Fox(29.0%) for second. Once again there were no surprises. The only real news was the fading away of Eighmy as a serious challenger due to his health issues, and the emergence Fox as more of a major player in SPACE politics.
Policy Review
Most things stay as they are, as one would expect with the incumbent director returning. Exploration is still waiting on survey operations from Epsilon Eridani which are expected to take some years. The improved mineral situation though does allow for some modest increase in activity, which for the moment will take the form of overdue modernization of some navy elements. All the shipyards could do with adding slipways, but for now the P&A Group is the only one that actually will get to do that.
More critically, a number of ship classes will get upgrades transitioning to duranium armor from conventional. Naturally the freighters will benefit the most from this. The benefits, by class, will be as follows from the lighter armor:
Fletcher freighers – 1700t lighter, 1.4b km longer range, 22 km/s increase in speed(518 to 540), even about a .5% decrease in cost to boot
Lexington shuttles – 200t lighter, 174 km/s increase in speed(1388 to 1562, even with more fuel added)
The Spruance(colony ship), Essex(geosurvey), and Coontz(gravsurvey) also need to upgrade and would see fairly similar benefits, but that will not be done for some time as the shipyards will be otherwhise occupied. The shuttles and freighters comprise the majority of the fleet, and so they will be given priority.
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Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 2nd out of 50. He’s made enough of a name for himself that minor promotion to one of the Portland troop transports is imminent, another small step up the ladder.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 1st out of 17 – Survey operations are continuing in Epsilon Eridani.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier – 10th. He’s been reassigned to a shuttle transport command more befitting a man of his (lack of) experience. Still, he’s got a job. Half of the officer corps still doesn’t.
Herman Fox(6) – On to the troubled colony of Mars, where his mining prowess will be completely wasted. Still, his influence has never been higher after a close third in the most recent election.
Jedidiah Thone(1) – Considered the most inefficient administrator in all of SPACE, his skills in creating income still have the beauracracy hoping he’ll learn in other areas. Mining skill certainly has improved as well, allowing him to remain in the game as he transitions from Prokne to what is currently the least important outpost of them all, the comet Reinmuth.
Karabishi Juishaou(MK 15) -- Midway through a study on Gauss Cannon firing rates. A modestly successful scientist so far.
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Jedidiah Thone(1) – Considered the most inefficient administrator in all of SPACE, his skills in creating income still have the beauracracy hoping he’ll learn in other areas. Mining skill certainly has improved as well, allowing him to remain in the game as he transitions from Prokne to what is currently the least important outpost of them all, the comet Reinmuth.
I had to lol at that one. What do you expect when you use an administrator outside of his skill set. The Beauracracy should use his skills and solve the aforementioned problem of income using his abilities. Put him on Mars or Luna with a bunch of Financial Centre and let him terraform it to a hab cost of 0. SPACE will never have financial difficulties again. ;)
I dont see why he is so inefficient, he did boost his mining skill REAL fast.
Also a comet is a promotion over a mere asteroid, he is overjoyed by this new challenge even if its still not something he is suited for. Fortunately for you all KSP does not have any comets for me to make a video with. Not that this was the end, I have a video of the beginning mining ops to finish yet.
What is at that comet anyway, anything interesting? Also, how do you see how much crew you have available for ships. I have not been able to figure that out?
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If it makes you feel better, he's about to be demoted(he only got a freighter slot because most of the more deserving officers were off somewhere else on assignment).
It didn't. I started to root for him. Please keep him safe! :D
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Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair – 8th of 50, first command is aboard the ST Wayne.
Cmdr. Jay Cin III – 1st of 14, CO of the historic mission of the JSC Intrepid. Presently out of contact in the Epsilon Eridani system.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier – 14th.
Herman Fox(6) – Governor of Titan.
Jedidiah Thone(1) – Governor of Prokne(first asteroid governor in human history! :P)
Karabishi Juishao(MK 15) – Researching Magazine Ejection Systems
Oh WOW, I haven't go online for a few days, and my Maverick has his own ship already. Yippi!!!!!
So what is ST Wayne? Well, I guess it is a shuttle. Hmm... what is a shuttle? a colony ship that bring people from earth to colonies?
And WOW again, I'm about to get a troop transport. Christopher will be very very busy transporting troops I guess.
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The shuttle is the Lexington II class transport shuttle, which are for ferrying dignitaries. I.e., moving politicians around after elections when nothing else needs to be moved with them.
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2057 ANNUAL REPORT
The major news of 2057 was that, beginning in the first months of the year, civilian shipping picked up steam again. Just as mysterious as its decline was its sudden reemergence, with the reasons for the increased activity completely unknown. Regardless, infrastructure espescially and also colonists flowed again all year long, with the resurgent profitability of intra-system trade highlighted by a new firm, Abair Shipping, which began operations in May.
SPACE’s investment in Venus was completed this year, with another 35 units of infrastructure taking the planet to 100k supported population. Mercury is next on the hit list, and will take a few more years before we head out to the jovian moons.
Civilian expansion also continued at record pace on Sedna. An incredible five mining complexes were added, doubling its output to over a kiloton of duranium! Sedna now approaches 30% of our total intake on that score.
Otherwhise, the year was filled with a lot of personnel shuffling, new appointments, and a number of new research projects completed and ships built. It was a busy year, but a lot of minor things getting done, nothing of dramatic importance other than the developments in civilian activity. No new word yet from the Intrepid, which has been out of contact for a year and a half in Epsilon Eridani and is expected to return next summer at the lastest due to mission time requirements for maintenance.
Commissioned Officers
Administrative assignments are usually blah, but it was worth noting that Titan was handed out to Delois Woznicki. At 29, she has emerged as the top potential rival(really, only potential rival) to director Duling, but lacks the experience to manage a settlement of Earth’s size. Titan is her first full-fledged colony, having handled the important mining outpost on the comet Machholz with excellent results for the past few years. It will be interesting to see how she performs there.
Meanwhile, Alberto Eighmy has been demoted to the comet Comas Sola, an important position but generally below someone of his stature, and Sonny Dean will be stationed at the moderately-important comet Wolf-Harrington – a return to his most recent assignment prior to Venus. Unless their health improves, both men are finished as contenders for the directorship.
Elsewhere, Cruz Luscombe gets his first assignment(comet Borrelly). On the other end of the scale, for all of Derek Latch’s recent improvements, he will be unemployed due to poor health, a major setback for a promising career. The navy has a switch at their top ship command, with the more experienced Anton Ericson taking over for Dan Spengler on the Hyperion. It seems Spengler can’t catch a break.
January 16 – Lt. Cmdr. Christopher Blair has been promoted to Commander! As new commands have not yet been reassigned pending the return of various ships from outsystem activities, his lot is much improved by this. Instead of a troop transport, he’ll be among the freighter commanders for this next tour. The meteoric Mitchell Feeser is much higher rated, but he hasn’t completed his mandatory year of service yet, and so Blair as the #2 gets the nod.
Early March – 13 officers are dismissed, 11 from the navy. With expanding opportunities, new ships, etc. this is expected to be the last culling of this size, though a few more may go in a year or two.
Early April – Captain Lucas Marini, longtime Public Affairs officer at Fleet HQ, has been killed in an accident. Anton Ericson’s tour aboard the Hyperion is short indeed, and a shuffling of commands is now done as Dan Spengler retakes the post there. Ericson is just 35, a full decade younger than any of the other four current captains.
August -- Shuffling of commands due to new ships, promotions etc. sends Christopher Blair to the Amerigo Vespucci(Essex II-class geological survey vessel). It’s a temporary reassignment, but a nice opportunity.
Late August– Dr. Rosa Suda is ready for work, and is twice the expert in Missiles & Kinetic Weapons(MK) that any of our current researchers are. She’s a welcome addition and will have priority in any new tasks in that field.
Mid-September – More shuffling occurs, and a couple of officers are shipped out to Saturn so that more experienced commanders can return to earth. Always on the move it seems, Christopher Blair is one of them.
Research & Development
** January 7 – Small Jump Gate Construction Module research is complete(Dr. Shanon Patteson). She starts work on increasing factory output – she’ll need help with that down the road, as the initial completion date is more than 12 years out.
** January 14 – Santo Makar’s team presents it’s report, showing an increase in fuel efficiency techniques(0.7 liters per EPH). Instead of adding the space to Patteson’s work, as would normally be sop, as our top propulsion scientist he begins work on nuclear pulse engines, the next generation of baseline engine technology. The nuclear pulse concept involves a much more efficiently managed reaction, resulting in less wasted energy.
** March 13 – Brandon Grimmett’s team has completed research into Plasma Carronade technology. His team begins work on Mobile Infantry Battalion, the next progression of ground combat units which will provide the first TN-based offensive capability to our armies.
** March 30 – Ground Unit Strength research is finished. Each man in the new units is now as effective as approximately 14 were pre-TN technology.
** April 2 – Cedric Wormack’s team completes work on general increases in ground unit combat strength. He gets to work next on a big project, Improved Command and Control. This is an investigation into the systems and logistical techniques needed to build another level of administrative authority for SPACE – Sector Command. Such a structure would provide political and administrative oversight of all worlds and outposts in a system, and the office of the director would be moved to this location.
This is now a third project in desperate need of additional lab space. Once some of the less elite scientists finish their current projects, that shift will occur.
** June 13 – Alpha Shields completed(Dr. Edward Groat). Improved Construction Rate gets the lab space.
** June 23 – Microwave Focal Size(Everette Snuggs) is completed. The space goes to Improved Command and Control(Cedrick Wormack).
Earth
February – A third garrison battalion unit is trained on earth, and some of the existing infantry divisions are converted into cadres(personnel and equipment used as a starting point to reduce the cost of new unit training). The Armour divisions will remain to give earth’s ground forces a limited offensive capability. For our garrison battalions, this effectively reduces cost and training time to just a third of what it was originally.
March 20 – With the completion of the latest pair of shuttle tranports at the Vickers-Armstrong Shipyard, refitting all of the Lexingtons to the new II(d) standard with double the fuel and duranium exteriors instead of the heavier conventional materials begins. It’s cheaper than building a new ship, but only by about a third. Each set of refits will take a little over three months, putting the total time of all ten vessels at a little shy of a year and a half.
April 27 – A third pair of Perry fuel harvesters are finished an en route to Saturn.
June 7 – The first two Lexington II-d refits are completedeted.
Mid-July – The refit of the Apollo begins, the first of the freighters to undergo the process. It’s expected to take nearly six months each.
September – With the completion of the third and final Pioneer-class vessel, a new ship is designed by the engineers – the Belknap-class command shuttle.
Size: 2.0 kt
Crew: 50
Speed: 1250 km/s
Range 79.1b km
This is the first ship to have the classified module known as the ‘flag bridge’, mobile command and control for multiple task forces. Logistically, it is a requirement for SPACE to be able to effectively coordinate efforts in another system, as anything close to real-time communication with Fleet HQ is not possible. Retooling efforts begin at Fleet HQ immediately, and construction of the first ship is expected to begin before the end of the year.
September 18 – The JSC Excelsior is completed, and Chong Vaugh named as the CO.
November 5 -- Another round of refits for Lexington II-d are completed.
Mid-November – Voliva launches the first civilian fuel harvester. Looks like they are intending to steal some of the Saturn fuel! The bastards! Of course, there’s plenty for everyone, but still – the bastards!! However, it seems they are headed for the more accessible but also more distant and less plentiful concentrations in the atmosphere of Uranus.
December 1 – Maintenance facility expansion is completed on Earth, and the Hyperion begins an overhaul. With capacity now available for it, Duling orders the first expansion of Earth’s industrial production in decades. The rule of thirds is reinstigated: a third of capacity goes to new research labs, a third to general-purpose, and a third to addressing industrial needs, either in terms of mine conversions or factory conversions. Most will still go to the mines, but the order is given to gradually convert 53 more conventional industry to construction factories. Total economic conversion is still just under 75% complete, and this will up that number to 80% over the new few years under the current plan.
December 18 – Retooling is finished and the first Belknap-class command ship begun at Wartsila.
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I dont see why he is so inefficient, he did boost his mining skill REAL fast.
By inefficient, I refer only to his administration rating. Everybody else has at least a 2. Everybody else. So that's part of the reason he hasn't gotten a better assignment. There are 1.8 automines(the least anywhere, hence my comments about it) and a very small amount of duranium(a few hundred tons, which is why it hasn't gotten more investment). The most interesting thing about it by far is that it is a major long-term source of neutronium(almost 170kt at 0.7), and there is also a lot of corbomite and lesser amounts of gallicite, boronide, and vendarite, none of which we particularly care all that much for at the moment.
Available crew is on the Teams/Academy tab of Population & Production. It is a total non-issue, at least so far, in my experience.
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Heph, aka Governor Herman Fox: you have been pinged. Check your inbox, a request of considerable importance requires your response.
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By inefficient, I refer only to his administration rating. Everybody else has at least a 2. Everybody else. So that's part of the reason he hasn't gotten a better assignment. There are 1.8 automines(the least anywhere, hence my comments about it) and a very small amount of duranium(a few hundred tons, which is why it hasn't gotten more investment). The most interesting thing about it by far is that it is a major long-term source of neutronium(almost 170kt at 0.7), and there is also a lot of corbomite and lesser amounts of gallicite, boronide, and vendarite, none of which we particularly care all that much for at the moment.
Available crew is on the Teams/Academy tab of Population & Production. It is a total non-issue, at least so far, in my experience.
Ah, so that explains it. Really bad administration rating. How did you manage to get a administration rating of at least 2 for everyone. Half my governors usually have admin ratings of only 1 (right now in my current game its 1/4th of them). Not that its a problem since no colony requires more then 1 right now other then Earth.
In my current game I also seem to have 224,000 crew available. I can see how that would really be a non-issue. I would have to build around 1,000 ships to use that all up.
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(OOC: Communique received, Response is send.)
Herman Fox(6) – On to the troubled colony of Mars, where his mining prowess will be completely wasted. Still, his influence has never been higher after a close third in the most recent election.
Moving around like this was annoying. Worse yet his talents werent of use here in the big Citytents of Mars. The Planet wasnt a beauty, not even a hidden one. In Contrast to the warm cavern cities of Titan, Mars was more condensed with a clot of tents centered around Meridian bay. New London to most, "Tardis Town" to others ... freaking Brits.
His new quarters were well chosen thought. The central Strut of the "Maintent" (long ago the biggest one) served him as vantagepoint - low 10 storied buildings filling the 3Kilometer diameter of the Tent from edge to edge.
Solar power and few buried Thermoelectric Powerplants - essentially giant piles of plutonium equipped with the newest version of the Peltier-Element - created the power needed for the "Districts".
Farming was done in its own tents made from cloth. Inhaling the thin Marsian atmosphere they bulged under the positive pressure of 1 standard Atmosphere carrying theyr own weight. The hum of giant compressors filled them only to be slighly muffled by birch, Russian firs, American Aspens and Sequoia in the Center producing oxygen for the colonists. Others harbored Chinese Kiwi, wheat, hemp and a full basket of other vegetables. Even a healthy population of Sheep and cattle roamed in a few tents.
An odd thing about Mars was its McDonalds Restaurant, the sole user and by some convoluted Tradelaw Monopolist on all cattle of Mars. Being the biggest opening of the franchise in the entire Solar system it occupied 2 blocks, had its own offsite slaughterghouses, farms and Employeehousing.
Breaking with the traditional Model they also served "Quality" food, still mostly burgers smoothies and fizzle but designed for the higher echelons of the Marsian society.
Production was mostly done subsurface and "mining" created new craters in the martian soil far outside of the tents. Since the Commercial sector owned most of the traditional mining, Hermans decisions and enactments were words in the wind so he delegated those tasks. Keeping the poor happy and the rich pleased was enough of a task on itself. Dealing with unions, delegations, snobby CEOs and petitioners had become Hermans exhausting dayjob. Dozing in his chair he almost overheard the ring of the Red Telephone ...
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No colony in SPACE requires greater than 1 besides Earth either. As to the admins, one I think that's been one good aspect of what the Academy has churned out(most of them have started higher), and two since most of them have jobs, a few who started at 1 aren't there anymore.
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2058 ANNUAL REPORT(truncated)
The first half of the year turned out to be a whole lot of blah, to the point where there really isn’t much to headline. The February promotion of Col. Anton Engelhardt to being the youngest Brigadier General by a full 15 years was probably the highlight of it all. He was shortly afterwards dispatched with a garrison battalion to the newest colony on Mercury to lead policing efforts there ...
In May, Earth reached the one billion mark in total human citizens.
And then June arrived. Still no sign of the Intrepid, which had been growingly suspected of having a mechanical failure in Epsilon Eridani. As it had now passed the the end limit of its mission timeframe, the Hyperion was sent for a quick investigative long-range scan of the
system.
In the early morning of June 11, the Hyperion returned to Sol space. Shortly afterwards, a brief public statement by SPACE’s press secretary indicated that Director Duling would be taking the unprecedented step of a brief public statement on the Intrepid’s situation later that evening ...
Earth
January 5 – The Apollo is finished with the refit process, and tasked with the first infastructure deliveries to Mercury while the Yellowstone takes it’s place getting the new lighter armor.
January 21 – Another set of shuttle refits is finished, and another pair begins.
Early March – With small pockets of colonists arriving on Mercury and the infrastructure shipment complete, Derek Latch is sent as the first governor after over a year cooling his heels.
April 7 – Last set of Lexington refits is completed, and work begins on a new pair to once again expand the shuttle fleet.
April 9 – A research lab completed, and added to the efforst on the Nuclear Pulse Engine.
Mid-April – Earth’s mass drivers are back up to the desired 25kt annual capacity, and work begins on a spaceport to expedite shipping operations.
May 13 – A fourth pair of Perry’s is constructed. Given a marginal level of inaccessibility in Saturn’s sorium(0.7), each has been found to produce about 100k liters per year, or a little less. Given this, at least 15-20 are needed so there is a lot of work to do yet before earth’s refineries can be shut down.
Civilian Operations
Early January – A second fuel harvester is launched by Voliva – looks like they are serious about getting an independent source of fuel. Interestingly, their design is about three times as large as ours(60 kt-plus) and also much slower(just 100 km/s). It’ll take them most of a year to reach Uranus at that speed ...
Commissioned Officers
Early April – Herman Fox’s continuing improvement efforts have resulted in an increase in Shipbuilding skill(20%).
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2058.6.11.19.0
SPACE HQ
New York
Duling’s statement was brief, and the director did not take any questions after highlighting a few main points:
** The Hyperion’s scan of Epsilon Eridani had revealed the existence of wreckage 2.7b km from the jump point in that system. The wreckage is believed to be the remains Intrepid, which is presumed lost along with all on board, including Commander Jay Cin III, one of the navy’s best.
This announcement was briefly delayed in part of out of respect for the next of kin of the 241 who served on mankind’s first ship capable of interstellar travel, the first starship ever, to coin a phrase.
** In keeping with SPACE’s commitments, the highest level of transparency and forthrightness would be maintained on the investigation into this disaster. At present the circumstances and causes were unknown, and Duling stressed the need to avoid rampant speculation and jumping to conclusion(not that anyone expects the various conspiracy theorists on the extranet to actually comply with this).
** In order to honor the brave men and women aboard the Intrepid, properly steward SPACE’s resources, prevent future reoccurences, and honor the trust of humanity in their efforts, SPACE will be undertaking an investigative mission which will launch within days. To maintain the promised level of transparency, a number of high-ranking officials from all branches of the service will be sent to independently verify the results of the mission. It will involve all three SPACE-operated jump-capable vessels: the JSC Hyperion, JSC Excelsior, and the JS Velociraptor. The Velociraptor and and Excelsior will transit the jump point back and forth to keep communication lines open between Fleet HQ, themselves as the jump point ships, and the Hyperion which will journey to the wreckage for a close-range scan to verify its identity, search for any possible survivors though that possibility is known to be remote, and to ascertain the cause of this tragedy.
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Jay Cin IV reporting for duty, hopefully he leads as interesting a career as III, although a longer one would be nice too.
Can't wait to see what SPACE can find out from the wreckage of the Intrepid.
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Ok so some really important stuff is happening(in Aurora). Unfortunately I lost some of the writeup I think in getting my new PC going, which also had its issues -- hard drive was a dud so I'm still using the old one while that is rectified. All of which is to say regular progress will continue but I don't know how soon that will be, probably will end up summarizing Operation Post Mortem sometime this weekend and then getting into the reaction to it after that which is the current game date. I'm unlikely to progress the game much until the computer issues are sorted, but it won't take that long -- having a brother who does this stuff for a living build the thing helps :). In the long run the new system is going to be much better for the game, its just annoying me right now.
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Can you tell me about the Essex 2 Starship where Christopher command? and where it went? I don't know where to start when I want to write about his story.
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Ok, I think everything is working now. We'll see, but aurora is fine, hard drive is fine, etc.
As to your question Cmdr. Blair, the Essex was the second line designed by the SPACE Navy(after the Lexington transports), and is mostly obsolete now. It's original mission was gravitational survey, from back in the days when our goal was to find resources off of Earth in Sol, the very beginning of human expansion into space(not that we've expanded all that far yet in galactic terms, mind you, still limited to our own system). Anyway, they are now glorified transports and therefore they hang out at Earth and play pazaak or euchre or poker or whatever until those rare occasions when somebody is needed to ferry a VIP somewhere. Of course Blair's been moving around a lot so he's been sitting around on lots of different ships, not just the Essex II's :).
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** OOC Note: I intended to write a dramatic speech/press conference at the end of this, but after several drafts I couldn't get it the way I wanted. I'm not that comfortable with writing specific dialogue/speeches, etc. so I just decided to leave it as a summary and put the rest of that to the reader's imagination.**
OPERATION POST MORTEM: TIMELINE
** July 30, 2058 -- The JSC Hyperion reaches the wreckage and makes a thorough close-range scan. No signs of life or anything out of the ordinary in the sector of space other than the destroyed ship. The decision is made to scan a nearby jump point location for possible point of entry into Epsilon Eridani before returning to Sol.
** August 2 -- Halfway or so to the jump survey location, a massive active gravitational sensor is detected, about 250-300m km away(note: I'm still getting used to accurately measuring distances and am not that good at it yet). The Hyperion immediately changes course to rendezvous with the other ships at the Sol jump point. The other ship moves to intercept, and is much faster, easily closing the gap.
** August 3, 5:34 AM -- Two flights of 10 missiles each are detected in close proximity to the Hyperion. Less than ten seconds later, the ship is destroyed by six to seven impacts. Almost half the crew makes it to lifepods, but these have only a two-week reserve of supplies and nobody can make it that far. On board are 240 crew, Commander Dan Spengler, and official observers Gov. Herman Fox and Gov. Cruz Luscombe.
The Velociraptor and Excelsior are ordered back to Earth immediately. They couldn't reach the lifepods until twice the two-week time expired, and could do nothing about it if they got there with no cryogenic storage, recovery apparatus, etc.
Director Herbert Duling secretly pauses several research projects to get the top scientists to SPACE HQ to assist in a group studying the sensor logs and other aspects of these events
** August 11 -- With the Excelsior approaching Earth, time is up and a press conference called at SPACE HQ. Flanked by Chief of the Navy Ellie Camble, Chief of the Army Sterling Silvers, and several of the top scientists, Herbert Duling explains the fate of the Hyperion, though some details are left out(and the wrecks in Lalande 21185 are still classified discoveries as well).
Duling summarizes the mission, commends the heroism of the men and women of both ships(Intrepid and Hyperion), and then turns his attention to SPACE's response to these events. He stresses the strength humanity has shown in unifying after decades of war and successfully pursuing peace in the last 30+ years, he emphasizes that the attacks in Epsilon Eridani were ted were completely unprovoked and conducted by an enemy that was either unwilling or unable to communicate with our ships. Despite humanity's well-earned distaste for war, war was indeed upon us once again, with our foe an alien race of some kind with technology far beyond our own current capabilities.
** Facing this new threat would require a single-minded focus. A shift in priorities was required. The 2% Initiative and all further interstellar explorations were halted for the time being, with the Ministry of Resource Development confident that enough resources were available in Sol so long as it remained secure to supply humanity's needs for decades to come. It was no longer possible to view long-term economic prosperity as the only goal -- that must take somewhat of a back seat now.
** The top priority to pursue is to know our new enemy: intelligence. Citing the universally recognized need for this, from both BoG(Board of Governors) and the scientific community, Duling announced that SPACE's approach would be to first increase sensor capabilities in Sol.
** Development of a sensor buoy, and if needed a carrier vessel to deploy them at all seven Sol jump points.
** Expansion of deep space tracking stations on Earth and deployment of smaller ones at least on Titan and possibly on other colonies.
** Basic passive sensors would be deployed as soon as possible on all SPACE-operated vessels, military or commercial grade.
** A shift in research focus to improving our relative technology level in sensors and propulsion(espescially reducing thermal emissions to become less visible to the enemy's passive sensors) as a top priority. Economic techs were still important, but less so in comparison now to what the military would need.
** A full weapons review, which was still a couple years away, would be conducted as soon as possible with an eye to defense of Sol first.
CLASSIFIED BRIEFING
Sensor logs indicate that the Intrepid was destroyed in similar fashion to the Hyperion. Only one enemy vessel was detected, but it was capable of a top speed of over 6k km/s, four times that of our fastest ships, and the missiles which destroyed the Hyperion were tracked at speeds of at least 20k km/s, possibly closer to 30k.
It seems likely that they aliens destroyed our ships to keep us from something in that area of Epsilon Eridani, given that both vessels were attacked in the same general area of space. Perhaps a jump point to a more important system, since they don't seem to have moved and earlier investigation of the inner system brought no indications of an alien prescence in the system, though all this is merely educated guestimation. We just plain don't know. What we do know is they appear to be powerful enough that they could wipe us out on a whim if they chose to do so -- at the speed of their vessels, they could have already reached Earth if they'd wanted to and knew where the jump was.
The internal conclusion of SPACE is that most likely our technological primitiveness is actually an advantadge in this case: we are as threatening to them as a man might consider an insect to be. You don't go out of your way to kill an insect where it lives, you just swat it away if it annoys you, then go back to what you were previously doing. Most likely we are essentially beneath their notice, unworthy of significante effort. Furthermore, the wrecks in Lalande 21185 indicate it is very possible that we may have stumbled into the middle of an interstellar war between multiple alien species. In this case they would have bigger problems to deal with, espescially if they were on the losing end of that battle. The assessment at the moment is that there are almost certainly at least two alien species operating in known space because of that, possibly more(if the ship in Epsilon Eridani doesn't belong to either faction involved).
In any case, our best chance at survival is in getting better intelligence and developing the ability to wage war in space, regardless what the enemy decides to do or what their undetermined motivations are. A diplomatic solutions seems highly unlikely given their 'just attack' stance against the Hyperion and presumably the Intrepid as well, but if one is possible it will be best served by not again provoking in Epsilon Eridani an enemy we have no way of hurting at present.
The sensor buoys at the jump points and tracking stations on Earth that will be built are to some extent political measures -- it won't do any good if our naval combat capability isn't up to the task. However it is also true that the Navy needs better intel in order to intelligently design ships which have the best chance of defending humanity against the alien threat.
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A lone radiosignal echoed through empty space towards the earth jumppoint. Messages and last wills of the hyperion survivors, from officers, crewman and engineers. Among them was also the speech of Herman Fox soon to be ex-govenor ...
"My dear Solarian citizen. Wether you are on mother Earth, Titan, Mars or even in the garnisson of a Comet, i applaud you. You reached for new worlds, first in Sol now in the unknown regions of space. You came a long way, and i am honoured to have walked an important bit of it with all of you. For a long time i worked for you always pushing borders were i could. I have seen many wonders of your ingeniousness, great cities, forrest under domes of ice, even floating bubbles of live in the clouds of Venus, all of those inspired me. Inspired me to give my best, to push my own intellect and to take charge.
Today it looks as we have to part ways. I and the rest of these formidable crews stare into the bleak face of death, yet we see the lights of numberless stars in its eyes. Space is dangerous as we learned today, harsh radiation, vacuum, accidents and yes Aliens too.
In our search of peace and knowledge we come unprepared for the those less peaceful then us. The fire of nuclear warheads engulfed our proud ships, ripped the sleek duranium hulls into shreds. Yet we endured war in the past and learned from it, not everyone out here may be hostile, i am sure there are those that are enlightened by peace as well.
Wether we meet friends or enemies, i hope Humanity will go in and great them with open hands. We can shake appendages with them or divert attacks but we should always do it with peace in mind.
I trust the capable People of SPACE to come up with the best strategies to prepare our future missions. Mister Duling i especially trust you to even the path for Humanity in the near term. Make the people of Sol part of the greater Intergalactic Community, nurture their spirits after the loss of our souls, give its greatest minds the most challenging problems so they can go on proudly with their heads held high.
Citizen of Sol there is still a long way ahead for you, keep being Awesome, keep creating Wonders! Theres so much to see for you. Now at the brink of death i can see the goal, glittering in the eyes of death. My people, i proudly give you the Stars and the whole universe."
Gently the camera turns running over the Exchausted faces of the 7 sharing the pod with Fox before its lenses capture the light of countless galaxies beyond the glass of the Lifepods port window.
In the cramped lifepod, far away from earth, Herman finaly found the paradise he always hoped to retire in. It was different, no tropical world, yet knowing to have done his best till the very end even seeing new worlds up close gave him inner peace. His life has been good, far better then he often had admitted, his travels and jobs all suddenly seemed to have prepared him for this. Now he could rest and when he woke up in a new world go on a far greater journey.
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Suddenly, Missile technology rises in importance. Slightly.
Oh yes, and right now the way missile racks are made and used is that they line the outer part of the ship, when they're being stored. In case if emergency, small scale explosives blow off the plates covering them, and then larger scale 'soft' explosives(or the missiles themselves) blast them away from the ship, since the containment mechanism is attached to the outer plates.
Of course, if a missile is hit directly, there's an issue. Thus the failure chance.
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Great speech Mr. Fox, although I'm surprised a bit that you met your end with such peace. Unfortunately nobody got to hear it, as there is no 'camera' or advanced communications equipment in the lifepods, only automated beacons. :(
2058 Annual Report(conclusion)
It is one thing to make a fine speech, and another to back it up. Looking at the research picture, there was one decidedly inconvenient fact: the next generation of engines is in fact still coming, but not for almost three years. In other circumstances, that time might have been somewhat shortened by adding a few more labs, and building any new classes of ships delayed long enough to wait a couple of years for it. The present political environment demanded action, and there was too much else going on to just yank the rug out from under all of the other research projects in order to rush the engine tech. This meant there was really only one choice: get moving on designs that would cease to be state-of-the-art before their maiden tour was even completed. Wasteful, yet unavoidable. Given the growing size of the navy, SPACE was now on a path where refitting will be a constant process for at least the next decade, and perhaps indefinitely. Currently nearly six million are employed at the shipyards, more than 20% of those in the planet-based construction sector and more than any other industrial concern -- they will be quite busy, and those numbers will only grow.
Another result of the growing and more military-oriented navy is the establishment of contracts with a number of firms to provide the necessary components. SPACE turned to GEI (Gradient Electronics, Inc.) for another first: a line of active sensors for use in the new buoys which would be stationed at jump points. A good amount of debate went into how large the buoys should be, how much to invest in each one, but in the end the Sentinel 275 was chosen. This suite is capable of detecting the smallest of missiles almost 150k km away and more importantly a ship of any size 1.37 km out, the maximum range of the suite. Of course a design with a higher resolution could increase the range of ship detection without the missile capability, but this should be more than enough distance to find anything entering the jump point and some missile capability was also desired in a small package.
Secondly, JPS(Johnson Propulsion Systems) is favored for work on manuevering thrusters needed to maintain position relative to the jump point for the buoys. The JPS NT-15 will thankfully not require much development effort as it is by far the smallest and least powerful engine to be put into space to date.
HISS(Hyabushi International Sensor Systems) was contracted for a trio of projects, the small declassified active, thermal, and electromagnetic systems for use on commercial ships such as the shuttles and freighters.
Each of these needed laboratory space and a project lead, and several lesser-known scientists found themselves switched over to a new project or out of work for the time being. Among them was Joe Tycho, whose work on increasing turret tracking speed was among the deprioritization casualties. Most of the space, however, came from taking resources away from existing projects. This slowed down needed economic research in most cases, but there simply was no easy choice. Most of the new projects would not take long(two to three months) to prototype, with available space shunted into the more involved Sentinel 275 when possible.
Earth's industrial priorities also changed immediately. Work on a new academy for the leaders that would be needed for the new responsibilities(mostly ships) and deep space tracking stations began at once, with economic investment dropping from a third to a fifth to allow for this requirement. Shipyard priorities changed as well, with expansions required to the larger commercial yards to allow for the refits which would make all vessels somewhat larger. In the case of the Perry fuel harvesters, it was also clear that they simply weren't big enough for the growing needs of the navy. Much higher-capacity harvesters would be required before long, so the P&A Group began an indefinite expansion immediately upon completing it's third slipway.
In mid-November, the new commercial sensors were all ready and the yards began retooling for the three primary classes of refits: Fletcher III-class freighters, Lexington III-class shuttle transports, and Perry II-class fuel harvesters. The shuttles will begin their refits before the end of the year, while the others will take longer to prepare the shipyards for that to begin. The Perrys are the lowest priority, as once a deep space scanner is deployed on Titan, their sensors will become merely a redundancy. In terms of cost, the shuttles are now a third more expensive, with the freighters seeing a much smaller comparative increase(about 6%). Speed impacts are largely marginal, with the shuttles again seeing the biggest reduction(down to just under 1400 km/s).
Later in the month, the Sentinel 275 is finished, and the new sensor buoy design finalized and dubbed the Forestal.
Size: 288 tons
Max. Speed: 347 km/s
Maintenance Life: 28+ years
Crew: 10
It is just a fraction of shuttle size, a little faster than the Perry harvesters but well short of the freighters. The first few will be able to make their assignments on their own, but for effective deployment another class will need to be designed to ferry them around. That will probably wait until the next generation of engines, however. The fighter factories on Earth are sufficient to produce about three per year, so it will take five years to build enough to man all of the jump points. Technically, this is SPACE's first 'fighter' class ship, though it is of course anything but a fighter.
By the end of the year, only one of the basic weapons techs remains to be finished. Completion of that is expected late next year, with lab space juggled to ensure it will roughly coincide with the finalizing of the theoretical work on the nuclear pulse engine. Work has begun on a weapons review that will be presented to the Director at that time, and there will be some critical decisions to be made. Meanwhile, it appears that the aliens in Epsilon Eridani have no intention of entering Sol yet. Humanity can only hope that we continue to be irrelevant to them at least until the point where we have the capability to confront them ...
Research & Development
** September 8 -- Fighter Production Rate(Dr. Curtis Gloster)
** September 30 -- Gauss Cannon Launch Velocity(Dr. Harlan Welle)
** October 8th -- JPS NT-15(Rosemary Urenda). The engine is now ready, but the sensors are still two months away.
** October 10th -- HISS thermal commercial sensors completed(Dr. Delmer Ytuarte)
** November 8th -- Late as usual, Dr. Elwood Tousant's team has finished the report on the HISS commercial gravitational sensor array.
** November 10th -- HISS Thermal sensor array(Dr. Billie Allington) is the final piece of the puzzle for the commercial refits.
** November 23 -- Sentinel 275(Dr. Bessie Wallander) is completed. With this, the new sensor buoy design can be finalized. The lab space is reassigned, split fairly evenly between the remaining basic weapons techs and accelerating other critical projects.
** December 1 -- December 1st -- 10cm Railgun(Eva Vadnais)
** December 1 -- Gauss Cannon Rate of Fire(Karabishi Juishao)
Commissioned Officers
Late September -- Dr. Karabishi Juishao increases expertise to 20% in Missiles & Kinetic Weapons.
Early October -- Herbert Duling's political reliability increases to 35%. As has happened every time so far in his career, he has successfully navigated the Epsilon Eridani crisis in the minds of humanity.
Early November -- Jay Cin IV is commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 155
Bonuses: 15% Terraforming, 10% Operations
Personality: Arrogant, Calm, follows orders without question
Outlook: He's definitely not what HQ is looking for right now(despite his respect for the chain of command), and debuts at the very bottom of the officers list. The one positive is he's joining at a good time, with naval opportunities expected to continue to grow.
Mid-November -- As India Rakes continues to improve her skills in the wake of the year's revelations, Derek Latch(governor of Mercury) demonstrates that SPACE was indeed right to limit his appointments in the wake of failing health. Not yet 40 years old, Latch is found dead of natural causes. Salvador Loving is dispatched to replace him.
The big-picture takeaway here is that Duling and Rakes continue to tighten their grip on the SPACE administrative beauracracy. It's really hard to imagine anyone challenging them in the near future.
Earth
October 4th -- A fourth commercial shipyard completed, to be known as ENDM(Estalerios Navais do Montego). There is no construction currently planned, but it immediately expands with a goal of 20kt capacity, filling a middle ground between the smaller Vickers-Armstrong yard and the two larger yards(P&A Group, Tod & MacGregor)
November 6th -- The first of the now-obsolete Belknap-class command ships is finished. It will now be not only the first, but the only. Fleet HQ didn't even bother assigning a CO this close to new tour assignments in a couple of months.
December 15 -- The Custer refit is completed, and retooling begins for the Fletcher III, the freighter class redesign with sensors included. It is estimated that the Tod & MacGregor will be ready for the first refit late next summer.
December 19 -- The first pair of Lexingtons begin the process of getting refitted with their new sensors. Each is expected to take a little under three months.
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Brigadier Generals Dolph Stallone and Angela Bankson hit mandatory retirement. That leaves the Army with just five generals left, and it is expected that a colonel or two will be promoted soon to make up the slack. Both had served since SPACE's inception 34 years ago, and there are a rapidly dwindling few who can say that. The army also loses two of its top three colonels for the same reason, so it's definitely a changing of the guard.
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 11th out of 15. Expected to remain in charge of one of the Perry harvesters out at Saturn, where he's been for just over a year.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 11th out of 47. He's still among the better shuttle commanders, awaiting a chance at something more noteworthy.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 47th. Barring a major improvement, his fate is sealed without significant naval expansion. That's coming, the only question is whether it comes fast enough.
Jedidiah Thone(1) -- Back on Reinmuth after an important if minor role in the Epsilon Eridani crisis.
Karabishi Juishaou(MK 20) -- With Dr. Suda now taking over the field lead and no missile tech in the queue until the formal weapons analysis planned for late next year, Dr. Juishaou is a credible scientist but one with a very uncertain future.
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Great speech Mr. Fox, although I'm surprised a bit that you met your end with such peace. Unfortunately nobody got to hear it, as there is no 'camera' or advanced communications equipment in the lifepods, only automated beacons. :(
Private camcorder ;)
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Couple of questions.
Jedidiah Thone(1) -- Back on Reinmuth after an important if minor role in the Epsilon Eridani crisis.
What did he do? I looked back and could not find him mentioned.
Also, could we make a family? Like lets say Jedidiah is married and has some kids coming of age old enough to serve or something.
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He was an official observer, on the Excelsior IIRC. Chosen because of his personality, the whole risk-taker thing.
As to the other idea, I'm making another thread for comments on that.
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2059 ANNUAL REPORT
Call it the calm after the storm. 2059 was a pretty quiet year, for which most everyone was very thankful. The 'excitement' of '58 is not generally preferred by sane people.
The army goes with experience, promoting 48-year-old Joann Altschuler as it's most recent brigadier general to fill the vacancy, while it was decided they could make do with six generals and so a seventh was not needed.
The year's biggest news was the deployment of the first Forrestals, as the first one takes up station at the Epsilon Eridani jump point on April 27th. A second is added later, and a third is en route to the Lalande point by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the first sensors are deployed on a pair of shuttles in March, and 2059 sees most of the shuttles refit and the harvesters less than a month away from finishing their run of refits. The freighters will take much longer, and the Tod & MacGregor begins the long process of adding a second slipway to speed up the process, but that will take over two years to finish.
The private sector continues to do our work for us, placing four more mining complexes on Sedna for a total now of 15. That's over 1.6kt, somewhere in the range of a quarter of our duranium supply, from that rock alone. Almost 4 million credits a year now goes to that worthy investment. At this rate, it will soon be the top line item in our annual budget.
Automines continue to be shipped out to Triton, which is now in the low 40s. The mineral crisis, which lasted over two decades, can be decisively declared to be over. Shipyards are now free to make whatever expansion/construction is deemed necessary, Earth's industrial capacity is expanding(and would expand faster were it not for the need to pour resources immediately into laboratories, deep space scanners, new shipyards, etc.). SPACE has reached a clear transition, much more economically viable now and sustainably so for decades, probably centuries, but the alien threat has taken center stage.
The expected weapons review and implications of it is now on everyone's minds, expected about a month into the new year ...
Commissioned Officers
Mid-January -- The meteoric Mitchell Feeser is now promoted to Commander, and immediately tapped by HQ as their top captain candidate despite his relative lack of experience. It's possible he could skip any kind of military ship command entirely.
Daniel Watters is commissioned
Fleet Movement Initiative: 121
Xenology: 25%
Espionage: 10%
Personality: Courageous, delegates easily, optimistic, subjective
Outlook: Other than having the 'right stuff' personality-wise, he's one of the worst recruits in a long time. We lack the technology to make his Xenology bonus useful. A generation or two from now he'd probably be very valuable in that way. At this moment, there isn't much hope for him.
Early March -- Five naval officers are dismissed.
Late September -- Olad Mrtav commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 317
Bonuses: Survey/Fighter Combat/Communications 10% each, 25 Crew Training
Personality: doesn't accept change easily(wrong profession for that, buddy!)
Outlook: Olad has enough skill that he's currently next in line for a command. A natural career path will have someone of his modest ability probably making Commander eventually -- if he applies himself.
Research & Development
June 11 -- Research rate increased(Deacon Palmer). The more efficient storage equipment and techniques immediately accelerate every project ongoing, as well as freeing up the two laboratories that were being used by Palmer's team. He'll take over work on improving the construction rate of our factories(previously led by Shannon Patteson and a third finished). Elsewhere, Joe Tycho gets back in the game with resumption of his work on improving turret tracking speed after nearly a year's hiatus, and Elwood Tousant starts a project focused on improving EM sensors.
Earth
Early August -- Freighter refits begin. New research lab built, Dr. Edward Groat gets to work on reducing thermal emissions from engines.
Early December -- The third Forrestal is completed and heads to the Lalande 21185 jump point, with Olad Mrtav in command.
Mid-December -- Duranium on Machholz has been exhausted. From time to time various minerals have dried up, but this is a significant development as it is the main reason for the 27+ mines on the rock. There are still significant deposits of neutronium and corundium there, as well as mercassium and sorium, so for now no diverting of mines will occur.
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Early December -- The third Forrestal is completed and heads to the Lalande 21185 jump point, with Olad Mrtav in command.
Yes! Got me a lucky one. Are ship designs posted anywhere? I thought I remember reading about it earlier, but a quick search didn't turn up anything. Also, does Mrtav have knowledge about the classified wrecks in Lalande 21185 or is that above his clearance?
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No, he doesn't know about that. As far as ship designs, I haven't posted the actual design details but there's a summary every four years in the SoS report.
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Update -- I'm writing up new SPACE policies based on the weapons review, and it's taking a lot longer than I thought it would. That's partly due to RL interruptions and partly due to thinking through more different options than I expected. I should have that up early next week and then get through the rest of 2060.
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STRATEGIC REVIEW
On January 6, the Nuclear Pulse Engine was completed(Dr. Sanko Makar), and revealed to result in a 60% power increase over a similar nuclear thermal engine. On the 28th, Particle Beam research was finished([/b]Eva Vadnais[/b]), paving the way for a strategic review of SPACE's current military stance, readiness, etc. The primary mission remains the defense of Sol, with secondary objectives given as gathering more intel on the alien(s) and expanding human presence beyond our home system.
TECHNOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
There is precious little information available on the aliens, but there were a number of pieces of information gleaned in Epsilon Eridani: they utilize ships capable of at least 6.5k km/s, and missiles capable of 15-30k km/s, and have vastly superior sensor systems. It must be stressed at this point that they may have other vessels/weapons systems far different in capability than these, but we can only operate on the basis of the information that we have.
There are a number of good arguments in favor of energy weapons rather than kinetic. Firstly, the top two weapons scientists are both in the energy field: Ignacio Bavaro and Eva Vadnais, though a number of decent if lesser minds are developing in kinetic weaponry. Secondly, they are re-usable: there's no ammuntion to worry about building. Third and finally, they make for the best jump point defence as closer ranges are their forte, espescially due to higher rates of fire.
The most obvious form of defense would be to field a weapons system capable of shooting down their missiles. This is impossible with any kind of energy-based system, due to the fact that the best tracking speed we can muster is capable for our fire control systems is 5k km/s, or at best a third of their velocity. In an offensive role, beam weapons would be limited by our completely inadequate propulsion technology: namely, that we would have to occupy well over half a ship's volume with nothing but engines to even match the speed of the enemy ships. Unless we build such ships which would have very little space for the weapons systems themselves, there would be no way to prevent the aliens from simply firing their missiles at us from out of range, then retreating to load more, and so on with impunity. That is, unless they were guarding some crucial objective that they didn't want to retreat from, but in this case we are the most obviously the ones on the defensive.
Missile-based systems don't fare much better: our best anti-missile projections are that we would have, at best, a 6% chance at a successful intercept. It is, however, the only option that currently holds out any hope of destroying enemy ships. A reasonably sized anti-ship missile could presently be designed with a projected 20-25% hit rate against ships of the speed the aliens were observed traveling at.
GROUND FORCES
It is expected that the lion's share of protection responsibilities will lie with the Navy, and that the army will still be called upon largely in a police role as is presently their sole duty. However, as soon as better offensive capabilities are discovered, more units will be trained up for the goal of occupying strategic objectives by force should the need arise. At present, maintenance of ground forces consumes less than 0.4% of annual income, so the cost is hardly a concern at this point and being ready for all contingencies is certainly desirable.
NAVAL FORCES
The time has come for the SPACE Navy to essentially split into two branches: a commercial branch and a combat branch. The decision is made to design military ships relying on both energy and missile-based variants for a number of reasons. One is to get used to the various components required, how much space they will require, etc. Given the technological gap, our current weaponry is expected to have little to no effect on the enemy in a serious confrontation, and yet the political situation clearly demands action. Building multiple types of ships gives more flexibility and basically punts a number of decisions down the road.
NAVAL DOCTRINE
Given our present near-complete inability to defend against the aliens known attack abilities, present thought favors a high number of small vessels in the hopes that those not initially targeted by an enemy fleet will be able to fire and damage the enemy before coming under fire themselves. There will not be anything in the way of centralized command or sensor vessels, as the enemy would likely destroy these quickly crippling the fleet. Rather, each ship will be expected to operate on its own. This is far from an optimal solution, but the only one presenting itself. This also means a carrier-based fleet is for now out of the question, as a carrier would simply be an easy target for alien missiles.
ENERGY-BASED WEAPONS
It is still desired to utilize SPACE's natural talents and develop a focus on energy weapons over time. But that still leaves the question of which energy weapons? The conclusion of analysts is that there is no way to insulate ourselves against the possibility of not choosing the 'optimal' system(s) -- it all depends on what enemies field and trying to research them all can only result in mastering none. Further, early projections by the scientific community indicate a specialized, layered approach to ship weaponry and defense is far more likely to be effective and flexible than a one-size-fits-all philosophy focused on just one weapons system.
The laser is an obvious choice, with as good of a damage-to-power ratio as any weapons system available. Only the plasma carronade is equal in this, and it is larger and much more costly. Range is a virtual non-issue at the moment as all of the systems far out-range our fire control capabilities.
The meson cannon fits by far the best among the energy-based weapons prototypes as a point defense type of weapon. Meson particles ignore shields and armor, and the cannon has minimal power requirements like the laser, though with minimal damage and half the range.
Thie size and cost of the particle beam rules it out as a serious option, as does the plasma carronade.
One final option deserves special mention -- microwave. The high-powered microwave is designed to deplete enemy shields and damage electronic systems, essentially blinding them but not destroying them. The most obvious use to this would be as a first step to capturing enemy ships, something we will definitely want to do sometime down the road as part of our attempts to learn more about them.
MISSILES & KINETIC WEAPONS
It seems a certain amount of diversification will be necessary. Since missiles are basically a combat requirement for us right now, a modest amount of research will be invested in making them better, at least until we can 'catch up' to the aliens, if we can, in other areas. A second reason is the CIWS, which has been deemed necessary for commercial vessels for political reasons. As it utilizes gauss cannon technology, that will also need to have a certain amount of research dedicated towards it.
MILITARY GOALS
** Finishing up the deployment of Forrestals at all jump points with a reserve and a new class to serve as a 'carrier' to ferry them around Sol as needed.
** Research will focus on propulsion and sensors/fire controls first, particle beams and meson cannons second, with a modest investment also in advancing missile technology/gauss(for CIWS) and general advancement/economic improvements, etc.
** Refitting of all vessels except the Perry harvesters(which don't need speed as much) to take advantadge of the newer, more powerful engines as well as CIWS. The # of CIWS will vary based on the size of the ship, but all vessels including commercial will get at least one as SPACE is committed to at least the appearance of protection of its personnel. It is the only weapons system that has been declassified enough to permit mounting it on commercial vessels.
** Design and construction of planetary missile bases, primarily for the purpose of pacifying the public.
** Design and construction of two classes of military ships, as small as practicable: one based on missiles and another emphasizing beam weapons. Particle beams will be used for long-range, anti-ship duty and meson cannons for short-range, anti-missile duty.
** New/expanded shipyards as deemed necessary to meet and stay ahead of current needs.
** For political reasons, further interstellar exploration comes last. However, it is presently the navy's top priority internally. It has been decided to name the effort the Fox Plan, an homage to Herman Fox who pioneered(ahead of his time to the point of impracticality) the idea of sending small, expendable ships in first as explorers. There will be more detail on the Fox Plan as the time for it approaches.
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2060 Annual Report
It was another quiet year, as various research projects took center stage. The first order of business was to get a new line of commercial engines going, the WP NP-100 as it was designated(WP standing for WawaPincus, the manufacturer). Also our first weapons systems, manufactured by the KKC(Kimmel-Kiewit Corporation), which will be the CIWS I. All further refits were put on hold, since there's not much point in doing it twice ...
On March 15th, the first Forrestal arrived on station at the Lalande 21185 jump point. All of the jumps leading to systems known to have alien presence are now being monitored for incoming threats. Around the same time, orders went out on Earth to queue up an additional 25 conversions of CI to CF, which when finished will leave us with an even 400 factories.
April brought the completion of the Baltimore-Marine Shipyard, the second naval facility. Also, the 50th automine is on its way to Triton. After reviewing the situation, it has been decided to keep investing there at least until the freighter refits with newer, faster engines have been completed.
Noteworthy advances also were reached in August(Mobile Infantry Battalion, the first offensive combat unit under the TN revolution) and December(Improved Command & Control, allowing the construction of Sector Commands). The facilities required will take some time to build, and resources were allocated to let the completion coincide with the 2065 election. Mobile Infantry is twice as effective in defense as in attack, but they are still far superior to traditional armour formations in attack capabilities.
Commissioned Officers
March -- James Earl Jones V improves Shipbuilding up to 40%.
Mid-April -- James Earl Jones V increases mining to 10%, a surprising resurgence for him after years of not really going anywhere.
Early July -- Joe Tycho's admin rating increases to 6.
Early August -- The first medical problem in memory has surfaced for the seemingly invincible Herbert Duling. He's not eligible for re-election anyway, but if this illness proves serious he may find himself relegated to a fairly minor post.
Mid-August -- 32-year-old Rey Hoel is the latest General to be promoted.
Late November -- Tell Perj Jr. increases Fleet Movement Initiative to 306.
Early December -- Joe Tycho 's Pol. Rel. up to 10%.
Earth
MId-April -- Another Forrestal is completed and heads to the Lalande jump point. There are still 16 needed but they are put on hold pending research space for new thrusters to be designed.
Late September -- Earth has now depleted Uridium deposits.
November 11 -- Research lab finished(21 now). Eva Vadnais gets to work on increasing the recharge rate of our capacitors.
Research & Development
** May 23 -- KKC CIWS I prototype completed(Dr. Rosa Suda). Though it is completely defensive in nature, this marks the first human space-based weapons system. The space is diverted to the JPS NP-24, a new manuevering thruster for the Forrestal sensor buoys. Vadnais takes the project due to a lack of qualified propulsion scientists.
** July 17 -- JPS NP-24 research completed(Dr. Eva Vadnais) and construction begins on updated Forrestal-b buoys. The freighter engine, WP NP-200, will be developed next. Everett Snuggs gets the call on that one, expected to take a year and a half.
** Late July -- Dr. Rosa Suda has improved her expertise in M&K to 40%, a marked increase in our ability to research in that field.
** Late August -- Sensors & Fire Control gets a boost as Dr. Bessie Wallanders's expertise is now up to 25%.
** September 23 -- Rosemary Urenda's team completes the prototype of the WP NP-100, our primary commercial engine(for non-freighters). This allows the redesign of the harvesters and shuttles to proceed, though the shuttles will have to wait to begin the process until after the coming election as they are otherwhise occupied at the moment.
** October 5 -- Thermal Sensor Sensitivity(Dr. Julio Kuchler) is increased. He'll next work on the most vital matter of increasing the tracking speed of our fire control systems.
** Early November -- Kuchler, our top sensors scientist, is now up to 40%. We have a reasonably good scientist in all key fields now.
** December 8 -- After finishing Improved Command & Control research, Dr. Cedrick Wormack moves on doing similar work for the Army, researching Brigade Headquarters which allows for a proper command structure a level above battalion commands.
Civilian Activities
Late July -- Jensrud gets in the fuel business, launching their first harvester.
Late August -- Sedna expands again, 16 complexes now.
Mid-November -- Sedna up to 17 complexes.
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Wow, its not dead :) Yay!
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Wonderful. My character is now useless, due to Rosa Suda.
Greeeeaaat.
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Not useless ... but certainly less useful :(.
Wow, its not dead Smiley Yay!
Shh ... keep it down
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STATE OF SPACE, 2061
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.059b, 394 CF, 191 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 21 RL, 2 AC, 4 DSTS, 11k MF)
Luna(30.5m)
Mars(25.81m)
Titan(15.11m)
Venus(190k)
Mercury(less than 5k)
Due largely to changes in colonization policy, Luna has actually shrunk by over 5 million, but the other colonies have grown dramatically. Non-essential(in a strategic sense) locations such as Luna and Mars are now used as a source for colonists once they reach the 25m threshold, leaving only natural growth to increase their size. Total human population is now at 1.13b souls, a increase of over 10% in the past four years that has been concentrated on Earth as one might logically expect. With the 2% Initiative dead for the time being at least, it is likely that Earth and Titan will be the largest sources of continued growth.
IB. Outposts
Earth(73 SM, 181 CI, 9.6 eff, 1.178 kt) -- 7.6 y of mercassium, 9.3 y of duranium, though those dates continue to increase slightly with mine conversion
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 234t)
Sedna(17 CMC, 16 eff., 3.264 kt)
Triton(50 AM, 30 eff, 1.89 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.88 kt)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.81 kt)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 58 eff, 1.914 kt) -- neutronium(1 y)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 942 t)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 59 eff, 1.734 kt) -- corundium(3.3 y)
Wolf-Harrington(13.8 AM, 60 eff, 1.14 kt)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 132 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 660 t)
Neujmin(9.8 AM, 49 eff, 635t) -- corundium(5.9 y)
Borrelly(9.8 AM, 58 eff, 682t) -- sorium(5.1 y)
Faye(4 AM, 48 eff, 266t)
Reinmuth(1.8 AM, 47 eff, 115t) -- duranium(4 y)
Total Production: 18.48 kt, an increase of 10.8%. The continued expansion of Sedna is of course the main factor here.
Currently under consideration is the possibility of relocating mines from Comas Sola to Wolf-Harrington or Faye when the neutronium runs out there, but the comet still has corundium, sorium, and duranium, so it is far too valuable to consider abandoning. Whatever is decided, it will be a minor point as there are many other active sources.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Continued expansion and diversification of the economy has led to reclassification of some minerals. It is possible, perhaps even probable, that in the future we will reach the point where Tier A materials no longer exist.
Tier A: Gallicite(34 kt), Vendarite(33 kt), Tritanium(28 kt), Boronide(23 kt), and Corbomite(22 kt)
Tier B: Uridium(51 kt) and Mercassium(28 kt). Uridium is still highly plentiful and likely to remain so, but coming under considerable use now both industrially(spaceport, military academies, the ongoing work on the sector command) and in the navy(extensively used in the fabrication of the various sensors).
Tier C: Sorium(13.3 kt) and Corundium(5.76 kt). Production continues to outpace usage for both, but neither is at a 'safe' level either.
Tier D: Duranium and Neutronium are both holding pretty steady at 6 kt, with ample production to support operations at the expanded factory sector and the ever-increasing demands of shipyard tasks. Further economic expansion will soon be halted as their supply is once again the limiting factor.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 26.7 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.17 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 35 k
Total: 30.87m(+26.1%). The resurgence in civilian shipping has played no small part in this increase, accounting for well over half of it.
Balance: 449.2m. Almost 15 years of present income in the bank. Money is not a problem for SPACE.
IE. Expenses
Research: 4.81m
Installation Construction: 4.77m
Mineral Purchases: 3.86m
Shipyard Operations: 1.59m
Shipbuilding: 1.31m
GU Maintenance: 113k
Fighter Production: 89k
Maintenance Facilities: 72.5k
GU Training: 35.9k
Total: 16.67m(+51.3%)
Research is now the #1 item on the budget(by a hair), which given present circumstances would seem entirely appropriate.
The growth due to diversification and greater mineral resources sheds light on the fact that while money is not an issue now, it could well become one. Spending has reached more than half of income(54%) for the first time and that share is expected to continue to grow. Some voices are concerned with the amount of money being shelled out to Sedna, and our reliance on it(23% of the budget and growing). However, there is really no choice, as the obvious fact of the matter is that we can't replace the level of production that we are getting from Sedna any other way. We have the money, so we might as well use it.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(1 slipway, 41.8 kt capacity)
** Adding another slipway, March 2062
Estalerios Navais(1, 23.2 kt)
** Adding another slipway, November 2061
P&A Group(4, 21.4 kt)
** Retooling for the Perry III-class fuel harvesters, January 2 2061(tomorrow :P)
** Building 3x Perry II harvesters, February 2061
Vickers-Armstrong(3, 10 kt)
** Adding another slipway, February 2061
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 10 kt)
Baltimore Marine(1, 1.82 kt)
** Capacity expansion, current target is 5 kt
III. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IIIA. Earth
Research Lab(34%) -- January 2062
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- 26 queued, May 2065
Sector Command(10%) -- Winter 2064
Factory Conversions(10%) -- March 12 2061
Deep Space Tracking Stations(6%) -- July 2061
Ground Force Training Facility(5%) -- Spring/Summer 2063
Naval Shipyard(4%) -- Early 2070
Commercial Shipyard(4%) -- Mid 2068
Military Academy(4%) -- Early 2067
Spaceport(4%) -- December 2062
Maintenance Facilities(4%) -- 20 in the queue, 2073
Forrestal-b -- 19 left, Mid-2067
IV. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
** SPPI NP-396M(first missile engine)(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late March/Early April 2061
** Turret Tracking Speed(Joe Tycho) -- Mid-late August 2061
** Improved Construction Rate(Deacon Palmer) -- Late November 2061
** Laser Miniaturization, 25% Size Reduction(Ignacio Bavaro) -- November/December 2061
** Terraforming Module(Clint Wyche) -- November/December 2061
** WP NP-200(next-gen freighter engine, Everette Snuggs) -- January 2062
** Reduced Thermal Emissions(Edward Groat) -- June 2062
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Delmar Ytuarte) -- August 2062
** Emergency Cryogenic Transport Module(Brandon Grimmett) -- Winter/Spring 2063
** Planetary Sensor Strength(Bessie Wallander) -- Spring 2063
** EM Sensor Sensitivity(Elwood Tousant) -- Summer 2063
** Brigade HQ(Cedrick Wormack) -- Winter 2063/2064
** Beam Fire Control Tracking Speed(Julio Kuchler) -- Winter 2063/2064
** Maximum Engine Power(Santo Makar) -- Late 2064
** Capacitor Recharge Rate(Eva Vadnais) -- Late 2066
The next generation of ships has many more components which need to be prototyped, and this will be the focus of the new administration's research efforts.
V. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher II-xe(4, 36.2 kt, 100 crew, 518 km/s, 700k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IId(2, 34.7 kt, 100 crew, 540 km/s, 700k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher III(1, 36.4 kt, 106 crew, 515 km/s, 700k fuel, freighter)
Forrestal(4, 0.3 kt, 10 crew, 347 km/s, 5k fuel, sensor buoy)
Forrestal-b(1, 0.3 kt, 10 crew, 347 km/s, 5k fuel, sensor buoy)
ST Lexington IId(4, 1.6 kt, 20 crew, 1562 km/s, 60k fuel, transport shuttle)
ST Lexington III(10, 1.8 kt, 26 crew, 1388 km/s, 60k fuel, transport shuttle)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry II(10, 19.2 kt, 104 crew, 261 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)
Total: 47 vessels(+67.8%), 535 kt(+29.4%), 2.84k crew(+35.2%), 10.8m liters fuel(+25.4%).
Available Crew: 78.7k(+9.46%)
Fuel -- 36.9m liters, 3.5m on Titan.
Most of the growth in the past four years came in the small Forrestal and Lexington classes, though a number of Perry harvesters were also built. Still, by any measure the Navy continues to expand at a rapid pace, and now has 11 distinct ship classes(excluding different versions of the same base class), more than double what were present a decade ago and several times the number of ships that were in service then. Crew continues to be a complete non-issue, and fuel reserves continue to slowly expand despite the increased demand, partly because most of the ships are usually idle.
VI. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Low-Tech Armour Division(5)
** Garrison Battalion(18)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 340k(-56.4%)
Leaner but more effective, the army will soon have moved fully into the TN era.
VII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Voliva Carrier Company(34 vessels, 2.34m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(18, 990k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(4, 240k)
Presnar Freight(4, 240k)
Abair Shipping(1, 80k)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, 80k)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, 210k)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 160k)
Total Vessels: 67(+21.8%)
The recession is indeed over, but nothing has changed the dominance of Voliva. With Jensrud getting into the fuel harvesting business lately, they seem the only firm capable of mounting any real challenge, and they have a lot of work to do. Although the gap is closing, there are still more civilian than official vessels operating in Sol space.
VIII. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 50 of 76 assigned(65.8%), +20%
** Ground Forces Officers: 22 of 38(57.9%), -5.7%
** Civilian Administrators: 20 of 25(80%), +10.8%
** Scientists: 15 of 31(48.4%), -8.7%
Overall: 107 of 170(62.9%), +7.6%
Times are good overall, mostly because of the growth in the Navy. For the second four-year period in a row, 19 new positions were created overall and nearly 2 of 3 professional leaders has a job, with prospects remaining strong except for the scientist corps which is crowded and highly-competitive(good for SPACE in the short-term, but not good for developing new talented minds).
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Will do. FYI there is a sign-up thread which is the best place to post those types of requests. I will also need a name, unless you wish me to use whatever one the game comes up with.
2061 ELECTION
The 10th in the annals of space, this year's contest was historic in that it would be the last one held prior to the completion of Sector Command, at which point the director of SPACE and governor of Earth offices would be split. It was also notable because of those who aren't on the ballot. Aside from Herbert Duling(ineligible), there is also 32-year-old phenom Delois Woznicki who unfortunately excels highly in smaller settlements but hasn't yet learned the required skills to translate her abilities to qualify for as large a responsibility as Earth. Ditto for the much older Damian Ackley.
Combining those absences with the failing health of Alberto Eighmy, the other top potential challenger, and it was expected that India Rakes would have an easy campaign, taking over the directorship much as she did when Duling had to abdicate a dozen years ago. There were five names on the ballot, but she had an overwhelming advantadge over each of them. As one might expect, very little effort was put forward by most of the candidates. The only one who took it seriously at all was ultimate long-shot Sonny Dean, but he didn't have the backing to make a credible run having barely made the ballot to begin with. Less money was spent on this campaign than any other in SPACE's history by a long shot, to the delight of much of the public. Rakes returns for another term easily, as expected:
India Rakes -- 29.1%
Jarrett Hugh -- 20.4%
Alberto Eighmy -- 17.3%
Sonny Dean -- 17.2%
Larry Steckel -- 16.0%
Rather more concerning is the fact that none of those with the talent to succeed Duling, Rakes et al have managed to put the whole package together thus far in their early careers. When that pair retires in around 15 years, hopefully the picture will have changed.
POLICY REVIEW
SPACE has a long list of projects that are just going to take time, mostly revolving around getting a combat fleet up and operational and the continual march of technology. There isn't much for Rakes to really do there other than manage the situation, and no major changes are expected. In reality, her political future will likely be determined more by what happens with Duling's health than anything she does in the next four years.
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RETIRING OFFICERS
** Cpt. Mitchell Aull -- Intelligence Officer at Fleet HQ for the past 34 years!, since 2027(before there even was a Fleet)
** Cmdr. Judson Carlberg -- Almost 27 years experience as a commander, seeing time on almost every major ship class
** Cmdr. Chauncey Macewen -- Almost 12 years on geology survey, the last 13 split mostly between shuttles and freighters. Steady but unimpressive officer.
No retirements are anticipated in the next few years in the other fields.
CHARACTER UPDATES
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 12th out of 15. Another tour at the Saturn harvesting fleet is expected.
Lt. Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 11th out of 53. Could see a promotion to something other than a Lexington shuttle, but that has not yet been determined.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 44th. Not going anywhere yet.
Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 50th. Pretty much useless.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 25th. He'll be relieved on board the Forrestal and sent back to a shuttle command soon.
Jedidiah Thone(1) -- Leaving Reinmuth, he gets the slightest of promotions to be governor of the comet Faye.
Karabishi Juishao(MK 20) -- Currently unassigned, the 47-year-old researcher is the second-ranking missile scientist and is expected to see only sporadic activity.
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Go Conor! 8)
Looking forward to more updates, your sporadic activity is driving me insane. MOAR! ;D
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Glad you are interested enough to mildly whine about it :). Unfortunately its unavoidable with how busy I am this time of year(and I've been catching up on some much-needed sleep), but progress is being made through the next year in the game. It will continue.
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** The official story here is an inglorious pile of happy horse manure. In actuality, the fighter combat bug which I had forgetten about reared its head, which leading to astronomic promotions scores, completely messing up the career path. Therefore I needed a reason to permanently abandon fighters or this type of thing would continue to happen. The text is a lame and transparent attempt to justify this, but no more fighters will be built for the duration of the story.
2061 ANNUAL REPORT
39-year-old Chong Vaugh was promoted to Captain to start off the year. He'll take over as Communications Officer, having no skill whatsoever but he was best suited to being a ship commander so it'll take him some time to settle in. This puts the navy back up to five captains, still two short of a full complement.
Meanwhile, the Engineering Department put together schematics for the Iowa-class Orbital Fighter Base. Technically, it isn't restricted to orbit, with the manuevering thrusters able to propel it at 16 km/s, but at that speed it might as well be(a trip to the Luna, which takes 4 minutes for a Lexington shuttle, would take the Iowa class nearly 7 hours. Even Mars would take on average half a year, so any trip to outer system is pretty ridiculous to contemplate). For now it's only capability is to perform periodic maintenance on the Forrestal sensor buoys, but it is expected to possibly have more uses down the line. Two are planned, the first of which should be in service by late 2062.
Size: 6 kt
Crew: 108
Hangar Capacity: 3.5kt
CIWS: 2 arrays
Maintenance Life: 4.63y
A carrier to ferry them back to the Iowas will be needed soon as well.
In March, the first Forrestal reaches the Teegarden's Star jump point, with Tell Perj Jr. at the helm. Less than a week later however, the pair at the Lalande 21185 jump point reported a horrific accident: a small electrical explosion on board one of the buoys which killed a few of the crew as well as the CO, Commander Marjorie Riner, a very solid officer for nearly two decades now. High Command ordered all the Forrestals back to Earth pending an investigation.
It was eventually determined that the effort to make the buoys so small(less than 300 tons) had inevitably resulted in insufficient safety safeguards. Even though it was a bit of PR disaster, the Forrestal line was redesigned in favor of a larger version.** It was decided to keep the same sensor and just go with larger twin 150-ton thrusters and make the thing capable of delivering itself on station, eliminating the need for the carrier for the time being and cancelling the Iowa project. Due to the distances required, these will be made with a standard engine configuration, not the more common high-efficienty, low-power variant. Fuel use will be considerable, but tolerable given the small size of the ships(estimated about 750t each).
In happier developments, by the end of March the new Defender missile prototyping was ready to begin, with the following final specs:
Size: 14.5 tons
Speed: 13,700 km/s(about 10x the speed of our fastest ships, twice the recorded speed of the enemies in Epsilon Eridani)
Range: 77.3m km
Manueverability: 15
Hit %: approximately 33-34% vs. the information we have on the aliens
As mentioned before, this is strictly an anti-ship weapon. Against the known enemy missiles it would hit only about 8% of the time.
In July, the Forrestal II design was ready:
Size: 650 tons
Crew: 15
Speed: 3692 km/s(more than twice as fast as the Lexington transport shuttles)
Maintenance Life : 9+ years
Fuel: 50k(this allows a range of 20.4b km, more than what is required)
The Forrestal II can reach any jump point in the system from Earth within a month.
It was time for the next wave of combat systems research: electronics for the planetside missile bases. Dr. Billie Allington gets to work on the GEI SSS 200m, a massive 1000-ton suite that can spot a 3000-ton enemy ship at the maximum range(77m km) of a Defender. 40 crew members will be required to man it. She'll need a lot of help on this project, but it will start with just the one lab. Of course we don't really know if this is way too 'big' or way too 'small' or if the range is anywhere close to useful much less ideal, but based on SPACE's current best guesses, this is what they're going with. It probably doesn't matter much anyway, since as has been said already, if they attack, we're probably sccrewed no matter what.
With the finalizing of the Defender missile prototype in late November, an initial order of 200 is queued up. This won't take long, with the current fifty ordnance factories capable of churning out a few hundred Defenders per year.
2061 was quite a year. An accident causing the scrapping of one design(the Iowa OFB) and the redesign of another class(Forrestal upgrade), but with all that chaos a lot of progress was still made. The Defender missile system components are nearly finished, sensor packages are on the way, harvester refits have made significant progress, the first notable economic expansion in decades was completed and mines are flowing to Triton again. Several new Lexington III-class shuttles were also built and the last of those needed to meet the navy's needs are now under construction. Refits to the next generation of freighters are expected to begin in the first month of the new year. And yet there is, as always, so much to be done ...
Commissioned Officers
Early January -- New naval appointments are out. Cmdr. Christopher Blair is to take one of the Portland-class troop transports, and Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav will have a shuttle command assigned.
Mid-March -- Six officers are dismissed this year, three from the army and three from the navy. Far more critically, Dr. Ignacio Bavaro was forced to retire mid-project. Bavaro is the preeminent mind in Energy Weapons, and has contributed as much to human research as any one person over 46 years since SPACE's inception in as distinguished a career as one could imagine. He will definitely be greatly missed. Only four other scientists have reached the 60% skill level(maximum) that he achieved. He was 57, and leaves Eva Vadnais(40%) as the top energy weapons specialist.
Late November -- Eva Vadnais has taken well to the task of being the top energy weapons scientist, increasing her skill to 50%.
Earth
February 15 -- The last 3 Perry II's are completed. It'll take just over six months for them to refit to the new Perry III design.
March 5 -- Factory conversions are complete for now with 400 TN factories now on-line. The quarter of capacity devoted to economic investment will now be split between converting conventional industry to mines, and converting those mines to automated for shipping off-world. Earth has just over 50 mines, the desired minimum amount, so for the first time in decades new mines are required. Economic conversion from pre-TN facilities is at over 82%, but still not completed. The net result is about a 50% increase in the number of mines that will be exported, back up to about 9-10 per year. A small amount is also diverted to add five fighter factories to the existing ten.
May -- A new freighter are ordered for the first time in several years, as keeping the mines going while refits occur is probably not going to be possible with the current fleet of seven. The Aegir is expected to be ready early next year, about the time of the new engine which will allow the freighter refits to begin.
June 10 -- The first Mobile Infantry Battalion is ready for duty, with Sterling Silvers naturally taking command of it.
Late July -- Baltimore & Marine Naval Shipyard begins construction of the new Forrestal II sensor vessels.
August 1st -- The first of the fuel harvester refits are completed, and another trio head to the shipyard for their turn at the refit.
November 18 -- The first of the new, larger Forrestal II's is complete and the process of getting sensors out to the jump points begins again. With the reshuffling of commands due to scrapping the older ones, Tell Perj Jr. will take the first watch at the Epsilon Eridani jump point. The fastest human ship yet devised will take just under two days to get there.
Research & Development
** Mid-March -- With the retirement of Bavaro, it is decided to leave his project (reduced-size lasers) in limbo for the time being. Rosa Suda begins work on the Defender MLS, a launcher for the Defender missile system for which the missile engine is currently being prototyped. HMI(Heavin-Medline Industries) is contracted both for the launcher itself and the HMI 30, the magazine which will store the missiles for the missile bases. Jarabishi Juishao takes up that project.
** Mar. 30 -- The first-ever missile engine is completed(Dr. Rosemary Urenda).
** July 23 -- JPS NP 240t research complete(Rosemary Urenda), the new small engine for the Forrestal II. The lab is added to the Capacitor Research Rate project(Eva Vadnais, which will speed it up to a more reasonable completion date in some three years time).
** August 1 -- Defender missile launch system is ready(Dr. Rosa Suda). She begins work next on the missile itself.
** August 19 -- Turret Tracking Speed(3000 km/s) completed by Joe Tycho's team. Another step toward being able to field useful beam weapons.
** November 26 -- Deacon Palmer's latest project is complete, increasing factory output across the board by a sixth to 14 tons per factory per year. Mineral supplies will definitely come under increased pressure now, and he'll begin work on making the mines more efficient to compensate.
** November 28 -- Just two days later, Rosa Suda's team has finished prototyping the Defender missile. Lab space is diverted to Palmer's just-begun project and that of the new sensor project by Allington to speed those up.
** December 2 -- The third research project to complete in about a week is Terraforming Module(Clint Wyche). He'll stay in the terraforming field and work on increasing the output of potential terraforming operations.
** December 4 -- December 4 -- A new research lab is completed, and the second of the two active search sensors, the GEI MSS 140, will begin it's prototype phase. As all of the sensors scientists are presently occupied, Rosa Suda gets the call to begin it as the top available researcher. It's been quite a start to the holiday season on the researching front.
Colonial Developments
March -- Venus colonists have ventured far ahead of infrastructure, threatening massive casualties(tens of thousands). With a couple of months however, though thousands had died, supply shipments alleviated the difficulties. Such are the perils of being at the whims of capricious firms with no higher duty than their financial bottom line.
Mid-November -- No new civilian ships have been seen in some time, but a new firm is founded anyway: Clevette Shipping Line. There are now nine of them, but only the biggest two are worth noting.
Mid-December -- Clavette Shipping launches their first freighter.
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What do the Lexington shuttles do?
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They move VIPs around. After elections for admin, every two years for naval tours, they get important people where they need to go. In between, they ... uh ... take up space. A Lexington III shuttle transport is basically a commercial engine, basic sensors and life support/quarters. No frills.
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At least Karabishi is doing something. :(
Why not just not assign officers to fighters?
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Well one could Rp that the shutles also shutle delegations, experts etc. around the place. A shame about the bug. Ts 3000 is good. How fast are your Turrets atm? Instead of trackingspeed research missile tracking would be better i think thought.
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Turrets currently have 2k tracking. 'Missile tracking'? What do you mean by this?
At least Karabishi is doing something.
Employment is under 50% in the Research Division(and likely to fall over time). It could be worse, truly it could :).
One could of course just not assign officers, but then a bunch of commands aren't available to move people up the chain, and I don't like the idea of not having anyone in charge on a vessel/ship. It's not like there's anything crucial that can only be done by sub-500t craft, I really think it won't be a big deal other than a hassle to get the sensor ships moving again. I actually prefer having to build everything in a shipyard and skipping the fighter factories.
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I mean the "Max tracking time Bonus vs. Missiles" line in the Sensor research.
A shame thought about the fighters :( hmmmm. Cant you edit the Bonuses of those officers somehow?
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No edit way that I know of.
On the research, as always it is a complex situation, but right now the next tech in that branch of the tree is 20%, costing 4k RP. 4k is pretty hefty(we've researched nothing higher than 5k). Turret tracking speed is cheaper, and the enemy missiles are so fast that it wouldn't help that much. If we were on the cusp of being able to hit them it'd be different, but ... max tracking speed is now 5k. So if you increase 20% it's 6k. And the missiles move at 2.5 to 5 times that. We're so far away from being able to hit them that it's irrelevant, at least for now.
That's my story, and I'm sticking to it :P
BTW since I'm here to post anyway, we are now in August. Next year should be up rather sooner than the last update took :).
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glad to hear
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2062 ANNUAL REPORT
A new challenge presented itself in 2062 on the minerals front, where a new crisis must be averted. The mines shipped to Triton over the past several years have created a situation where duranium is now rising steadily, despite a surprising lull in civilian investment on Sedna. However, neutronium is declining just about as fast, down to just over 5.3kt now. When the deposits on Comas Sola were exhausted in February, space diverted all new mines away from Triton and to Reinmuth, which has the largest deposit in the system at over 160kt(excepting Venus where it can only be extracted in trace amounts). Going forward, that plan will be diversified to include several other comets that also have significant deposits of the vital mineral used in almost all aspects of military-related construction. As of now the stockpile's decline has been slowed but not eliminated, and this will be the primary economic focus for now with demand expected to only continue to increase.
SPACE also completed a number of important research projects. The WP NP-200 engine, used for freighters and other large vessels, was finished in mid-January. Unfortunately a clerical error that was not discovered until August delayed retooling the Tod & Macgregor yard for refitting the freighters, but the new Fletcher IV will be a significant improvement:
The big question was how many engines to give it. The ship could be made somewhat smaller and somewhat faster, but given the need to reach very distant locations, three of the new Wawa-Pincus designed engines were given, a total size equivalent to the six smaller engines that the current freighters possess. The result was a notable speed boost, even after the new defensive weapons systems were added.
Size: 36,900 tons(half a kiloton bigger than the Fletcher III)
Crew: 162(56 more, a major investment)
Speed: 813 km/s(+298!)
Range: 51.2b km(+18.6b)
Fuel: 650k(-50k -- the larger engines are more efficient in multiple ways, allowing for a near doubling of fuel efficiency, 6.2% compared to the previous 10.6%).
Of course, it will also take a few more months to build, a total of over a year. This is expected to be the last freighter refit for some time. Only one actually made it to the Fletcher III class, the rest are still one of the Mark II variants. The modernization is much needed, well worth the cost, and can't happen soon enough. The journey to Triton, which presently takes three to three and a half months, will now take two months or a bit less. The deposits on Oort cloud objects are now within reasonable travel range. Other than the most super-distant comets, the entirety of Sol can feasibly be developed.
All of the first-gen space combat systems except for the sensor suites have been finished. Those will not all be finished until 2066, so there will be a bit of a lull. The R&D Summary details the specifics on the numerous prototyping phases that were completed, and by the end of the year investment began again in new general research avenues.
A third development was the completion of a number of industrial tasks. The initial run of Defender missiles, Deep Space Tracking Stations, Ground Force Training Facilities, and the first Spaceport for Earth were all completed. These allowed remaining projects such as the shipyards and maintenance facilities to see increased funding. In naval concerns, four Forrestal IIs are now operational, and the harvester refits will be finished within the next month. It was a good year.
By year's end, SPACE decided the situation was stable enough to seriously(though still secretly) entertain priorities for an eventual return to interstellar exploration. It has now been more than three full years since the return of the surviving ships from Epsilon Eridani, and will be many more before a human spacecraft fires a jump drive in any direction, but it is inevitable that the effort will be made again as soon as practicable. A study group returned with the a series of policy directives completely revamping the exploratory approach.
The Pioneer-class jump scout will not be the vehicle for future explorations. Instead, a carrier vessel will be designed which will monitor operations from the point of the initial jump in-system under the direction of a navy admiral and serve as HQ for the efforts in a system. This carrier will contain a flag bridge for effective command management, enough supplies for a 5-year tour, and docking bays for smaller vessels which will carry out the exploration activities. Geosurvey, Gravsurvey, and salvage vessels will be needed.
This approach will allow for minimal risk, as only a relatively small vessel will be exposed in the event of an enemy attack. Standing orders will be for the carrier to retreat back through the jump if alien presence is detected, stranding support vessels in system if necessary. Those who volunteer for these missions will be required to willingly accept that risk. Using smaller vessels also minimizes the chances of detection, since their detectable emissions will be much smaller than that of the Pioneer.
With what we now know of the aliens, several technologies that we do not possess yet are considered to be minimum essentials, without which SPACE will not proceed.
** Geological sensors can be developed(at a very great cost, twice that of our most expensive research tasks to date) which are capable of not only scanning for resources but also alien ruins. Any evidence of how they live, culture, technology, etc. is valued by the navy to the point where it would be impossible to put a price on them.
** Salvage modules for the purpose of similarly investigating any alien wrecks such as those found in Lalande 21185 are also needed for the same reason, and are not expected to require quite as high an investment.
Due to the amount of resources required and the other vital priorities, SPACE does not expect a mission to be ready anytime this decade. A tentative, and quite likely flawed, goal of being ready to resume exploration by 2075 at SPACE's 50-year anniversary has been set.
Finally, in order to conserve resources and improve efficiency, SPACE is delaying new naval tours for another year until the end of 2063. In this way, the elections and redeployment of military personnel will not happen at the same year and stumble over each other, so to speak.
Earth
January 10 -- The Tod & Macgregor completes a second slipway.
Mid-January -- Another round of Perry refits are completed.
Late April -- The first round of 200 Defender missiles has been completed.
June 11 -- Another first for SPACE as a spaceport is constructed on Earth. As of now, none of the colonies are deemed to be in need of one, so the 20 factories that were working on it are divided between other projects.
July -- Total shipyard workers cross the 10m threshold.
Mid-August -- A clerical error is discovered which mistakenly had the Tod & Macgregor Shipyard continuing to expand its per-slipway capacity(good idea) instead of retooling for the freighter refits(much more needed). The situation has been corrected, but the refitting process will not be able to start now until next year.
Mid-October -- Earth has expanded to five Deep Space Tracking Stations, sufficient of our current needs and providing a much stronger and more thorough ability to detect anything hostile that might be out there. This announcement has a considerable calming effect on the population, though that's really all it does for now as there's no sign the aliens have come into Sol or intend to.
November 2 -- The fourth of the new Forrestals is completed and heads out to complete the pair at the Epsilon Eridani jump point.
Late November -- A second Ground Force Training Facility is completed on Earth.
Research & Development
** January 12 -- The WP NP-200 engine, for use in freighters and other large vessels, is complete. Team leader Everette Snuggs will tackle another vital project, the missile fire control suite needed for an effective missile system. A new contractor, RSJ(Ramsey, Sheetz, and Johnston) has been awarded the deal given their expertise in similar lines of work. The RSJ MFC 81-60 is smaller than the other electronics, 'only' 350 tons.
** May 9 -- Karabishi Juishao finishes HMI 30, missile magazine. Joe Tycho takes over the reduced-size lasers project abandoned when Bavaro retired last year.
** June 23 -- Thermal Signature Reduction(Dr. Edward Groat) has been finished. All new engine designs will include this, which causes less heat to be produced in space by ship engines, and therefore drops the range at which they can be detected. These initial advances constitute a reduction of one-fourth in the normal emissions.
This is a very high-priority branch for the navy, but getting a working prototype of laser-based weaponry going is even more important at the moment. Uihlein-Bechtel Optics Solutions was really the only worthy player in the field. The UBOS 10-1 IR Laser gets the long-sidelined Wayne Sabagh back into the game ... at least for a week or so. Everything in the laser system is very barebones and elemental tech, and it isn't expected to take long.
** July 2 -- The laser is ready, now it needs a support system. Power to begin with, as it's based on energy not ballistics. Here we turn to General Electric, one of the few major corporations to survive(in a greatly lessened state) from pre-war days. Based on the same pebble-bed reactor technology that drives our engines, the GE PBR 1500 is a 25-ton power plant that actually produces energy 50% faster than our laser can use it to recharge, at a price of 4k credits and requiring just a single crewperson to operate. It's a quick project for Rosemary Urenda, expected to take just over a month.
** August 10 -- GE PBR 1500 power plant research is complete(Rosemary Urenda). The RSJ Bullseye 5k, an initial beam weapons fire control, is next on the docket. 5k is the tracking speed, normal size with a minimal 10k range. No available SF specialists, so Curtis Gloster will take a few months and iron out the kinks there.
** August 23 -- Grav Sensor Strength 12(Delmar Ytuarte) has now been completed. Next year EM sensors are expected to hit their next generation and that's when a sensor redesign will be contemplated, no point in doing it halfway. The next item on the agenda is the final piece of the laser weapons system puzzle: a turreted deployment. Sinclair Development Corp. has successfully pitched the SpearPoint series, the first of which is the DL-50, which allows for matching our maximum fire control speed of 5k km/s and two lasers per turret. 17 crew, 7k credits. Newcomer Glenda Alioto gets the call to head up that project.
It's worth taking a moment here to explain the turret situation. Any energy-based weapons system needs to match tracking speed: it's no point in having a weapon capable of higher tracking speed than the software(fire control) can handle for example. Similarly, the weapons system is limited by the speed of the ship. If a ship can't move and turn fast enough, it can't keep a target in the firing arc of a weapon mounted on a hardpoint directly to the ship's hull. This is where turrets come in handy, particularly in a situation like the present one where the enemy has a major speed advantadge. By putting a sufficient amount of gearing mechanisms into the turret design, it is capable of being more agile than the ship itself and therefore matching our current technological fire control limit of 5k km/s. Building a combat ship with anything close to that speed right now would be very difficult if not impossible, but there is a cost(increased materials, size, etc. taken up by the turret component).
This covers all the immediately needed prototypes with one research lab yet free, allowing for a new general research project to begin. Edward Groat gets to work after a brief pause on the next stage in reduction of thermal emissions.
** November 5 -- New research lab is finished and added to Groat's team on reducing engine emissions.
** November 8 -- SpearPoint DL5(Glenda Alioto), the turret project, is now finished.
** November 10 -- RSJ Bullseye 5k(Curtis Gloster) completed. Delmar Ytuarte takes the recently vacated laboratories for work on improving the range of our beam fire control systems.
Commissioned Officers
Late April -- On distant Triton, Herbert Duling ups to 40% politial reliability. It seems nothing can stop him from preserving his political capital, not even health problems and a distant posting.
Early May -- It was destined to happen eventually. Mitchell Feeser becomes the navy's sixth active captain. Just 27 years old, he's over a decade younger than any of the others. He'll take the vacant post at Operations. A few days later, Kendall Muratore becomes the navy's second Rear Admiral. The 51-year-old Muratore is very accomplished, but no threat to Ellie Camble(55) as the navy's chief.
July 10 -- An accident has claimed the life of young, incompetent, and completely useless Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Watters.
August 23 -- Mr. Derick Pinegar(34, some health concerns, experience in most major ship classes though he has never served on a freighter) is the navy's most recent Captain. Fleet HQ now has a full set of staff officers, as he takes over at Intelligence.
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2063 ANNUAL REPORT
There was a new development from the Office of the Director almost immediately. The last four harvesters finished their refitting runs, after which two decisions were made. With an estimated 1.2m liters of fuel able to extracted from Saturn now per year, that was deemed a sufficient amount and the 75 refineries on Earth were shut down. Concurrently, the need for a ship capable of moving fuel from Titan to Earth(and elsewhere) as needed was clearly seen. Having a tanker was a thought in the back of many minds for years but now moved to the front. The Iowa design team was redirected to this new project, resulting in the following specs:
Size: 9.8kt
Crew: 53
Speed: 1020 km/s
Range: Basically unlimited(just under 1.8 trillion km)
Fuel: 6 million liters
Cost: 604k
They aren't cheap, but one is plenty to do the job for now. The plan is to build two, just for redundancy's sake, and station one at Earth, one at Titan. The ENDM yard will function perfectly for this, and is presently idle. Both are slated to come off the line in a little under two years' time.
February brought a bit of bad news, with the loss of young sensors scientist Glenda Alioto who just got her feet wet last year on her first project. Medical difficulties forced her retirement from active service, and there aren't nearly enough sensors and fire control specialists(while at least four in logistics for example, go constantly without work as they aren't needed).
On March 10, retooling was finally finished at the Tod & Macgregor and the Custer and Yellowstone became the first freighters to begin refitting to the more modern Fletcher IV standard. It was a busy year already, and then civilian operations on Sedna began expanding again in May.
September brought the retirement of youngish Captain Derick Pinegar, who had been improving quite a bit in his post at Intelligence. This surprising development led to the promotion of 48-year-old Jung Besler, long one of the better ship COs in the Navy.
November saw a shift in mining deployment, as two previously untapped comets(Wild and Wolf) will now see investment due to both having over 10kt of Neutronium at conveniently accessible locations. This has the minor advantadge of further diversifying the cocktail of less-critical minerals that will be regularly inbound to Earth. Three more mass drivers are ordered on Earth to ensure there are plenty to be deployed in such situations in the future when they are needed. Jayson Riese and Philomena Huber were dispatched as their first administrators.
The Forrestal IIs continue to deploy, with the Sirius node getting it's first guardian on December 15th. Six down, only one to go(Barnard's Star remains unguarded, though there's no reason to suspect alien activity there). A key strategic objective of SPACE for both public relations and military reasons, the increased surveillance capability in Sol space will be all but complete by the next election in a year's time.
It was a very good year for SPACE. In addition to the highlights here, the more detailed reports relay a number of scientific advancements, some of them quite important, and the graduation of a new naval prodigy from the academies.
Research & Development
** February 3 -- Cryogenic Transport: Emergency Size has been completed(Brandon Grimmett). Among many useful choices, he will next work on the equipment and organization needed for a Construction Brigade, a military unit dedicated to working on planets that don't have factories. This is deemed particularly necessary for getting basic army facilities up and running on remote outposts, for example. The makeshift structures presently used in places like Luna, Venus, etc. are notoriously unworthy.
** April 7 -- Planetary Sensor Strength(Bessie Wallander) has been increased, further extending the reach of the deep-space tracking stations. The Construction Brigade project receives one of the laboratories, leaving one for a new project. Wallander takes over for Rosa Suda's sensor team so that Dr. Suda can look into Implosion Fission Warheads, with the promise of delivering a bigger bang for the buck on impact than our standard nuclear warheads can.
** Early August -- Dr. Elwood Tousant's team finishes their work on improving EM Sensor Sensitivity. New EM and gravitational sensors are now set to be designed. The Sentinel 27-6 suite, for use on the Forrestals, is 25 tons smaller yet possesses 15% greater range. Tousant gets to work on it immediately.
** October 7 -- 24th Research Lab is ready. Slowly but steadily the research directorate grows. The second generation of commercial-grade sensors is our next priority, with Curtis Gloster taking the actives first in lieu of a sensors specialist.
** Late December -- A significant breakthrough by #1 sensors researcher Julio Kuchler's team results in the possibility of better beam fire controls, on the order of 60% higher tracking speeds. Redesigned fire controls and turrets are indicated immediately. This new capability should render our beam weapons capable of hitting the enemy ships we've encountered, though they are nowhere near good enough to threaten their missiles yet. The RSJ Bullseye 8k is Kuchler's next objective.
** December 30 -- Just ahead of the new year, Dr. Cedrick Wormack's team has completed all the specifications for Brigade Headquarters. These will give the army a much more proper organizational structure, and training the necessary personnel for the first HQ begins immediately. Each one will take well over a year, so this is a long-term modernization.
Wormack and his two laboraties next turn their attention to Salvage Modules -- this is the first concrete step towards renewed exploration efforts down the road.
Earth
Early February -- Mobile Infantry training finishes on Earth. At this point there will simply be a wait until the new HQ units are ready.
April 11 -- A second slipway is complete at the Baltimore-Marine SY. Two Forrestals at a time can now be built there. Another one is queued up and there are now ten vessels being built in Earth orbit by over 10.5 million workers. It's a good time to be part of the SPACE navy ...
Colonial Developments
Early March -- Duranium has been exhausted on Reinmuth. There's wasn't much there to begin with, so it's not a major loss and was inevitable once more mines began to be sent.
Late May -- Sedna's first expansion in a year and a half takes it up to 18 civilian mining complexes.
July -- Neutronium is under 5kt, still dropping by around 100t a month.
Late July -- Another expansion on Sedna to 19 complexes.
Mid-October -- Sedna has 20 complexes now, contributing over 3kt duranium and 2.3kt-plus of Uridium per year.
Commissioned Officers
Mid-March -- Five officers were dismissed this year, four from the army and only one from the navy. One side affect of the increased stability in the officer corps is that officers who might have been dismissed early ten years ago are now sometimes promoted. The quality of the senior officers as a whole has definitely decreased some.
Late July -- Herbert Duling has upped factory production to 30%. If his health wasn't a concern, and it still is, you could just go ahead and pencil him in for the 2065 election right now.
Late October -- The latest prodigy emerges from the naval academy. Shad Gullo is considered to be every bit the talent that Mitchell Feeser was seven years ago: we'll see if he makes Captain rank as quickly or can beat Feeser's time(6 years, 1 month, and 5 days). That's getting it done and is a high mark. Gullo is a training prodigy(200 skill), and his greatest strength is skills in a wide variety of areas, particularly surveying and diplomacy(20% each), and he also possesses some quality political connections(10%). Shad immediately takes the latest Forrestal command, the vessel having been readied for launch literally during his graduation ceremony, and heads forthwith to the Luyten 726-8 jump point.
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COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Retirements
** Cmdr. Jon Mcelveen -- a typical solid naval CO, he saw action on most major lines
** Cmdr. Louis Pitianello -- ditto, both served at the Commander rank for nearly three decades
** Cmdr. Annette Bugay -- Not nearly as accomplished as the other two, Bugay nonetheless was steady, ending her career on a high note with FT Southampton the past six years.
Among the three promoted to replace them was one Conor Zavier. Shad Gullo has not, of course, put in his mandatory year to be eligible yet.
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 5th out of 19. Leaving idleness on the Portland troop transport, he'll be taking command of one of the Forrestal II sensor vessels. An important but equally tedious assignment, unless the worst should happen.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 19th. A promotion from freighter duty to one of the harvesters at Saturn has been indicated.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 40th out of 56. The expansion of the Navy has gone just far enough to get him a posting on one of the Lexington-III shuttle transports.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 16th. He's earned a promotion from the bottom rung with the shuttle he's been on for almost three years, and will be heading to a freighter assignment onboard the Ute.
Jedidiah Thone(1) -- Governor of the expanding mining outpost on the comet Faye.
Karabishi Juishao(MK 20) -- Presently inactive.
Waiting List
** Jeff Hughes/Ricardo Bloise(jameskiller98)
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2064 ANNUAL REPORT
Another productive year of gradual progress for SPACE. With each one that passes the alien threat seems further in memory, less urgent, less foreboding, to the point where some convince themselves it was merely imagined. Those more sober-minded are able to remind themselves that we still exist only because they have chosen to allow it.
In the first week of the year, a medical scare involved Rear Admiral Kendall Muratore(53), who checked himself in for an extended medical stay. This triggered speculation that he may not be able to serve long enough to ever succeed Camble as Chief of the Navy. The next few months were filled with various steps up the ladder of science with the prototyping of combat systems best detailed elsewhere.
In October, the first two of the Iowa tanker class is deployed, and the navy turns it's attention to modernizing troop transports. The Portland(single battalion capacity) is upgraded which will not require a great deal of effort and can be easily handled as an initial 'breaking-in' job for the now Oregon Shipbuilding yard.
However, with the new Brigade HQs it would also be desired to transport an entire brigade at times. That would require a much larger ship. Dubbed the Arleigh Burke, the Brigade-level transport has twin CIWS batteries, a pair of cargo handling systems for reasonable loading times, twin WP NP-100 engines, and Mark II commercial sensors.
Size: 17.8kt
Crew: 136
Speed: 563 km/s
Range: 38.2b km
Cost: 553k
ENDM will retool to get an initial pair of these in production, scheduled for deployment around the end of 2066.
By the end of November, the last Forrestal IIb sensor boat had been deployed to the Barnard's Star jump point, and the robotic arms at the Baltimore-Marine Shipyard fell silent. In terms of surveillance and early warning, Sol was now as safe as SPACE could make it -- bringing new urgency to the eventual goal of expanding our reach outwards.
Finally, on December 15th, another historic moment was reached with the completion of Sector Command in London. Administrative staff and equipment was in place, await the results of the election just a half-month away now.
Research & Development
** January 12th -- Eva Vadnais completes her report, which allows for the doubling of recharge rates on the capacitors of our beam weapons. That means a new round of laser development. The new UBOS 10-2 IR Laser can fire every 10 seconds instead of every 15.
** January 28th -- After just over three weeks, Vadnais has completed work on the new laser. A new turret, the SpearPoint DL8, will now be prototyped with the more rapid-firing weapon and faster-tracking firing controls in mind. It's roughly 25 tons larger due to more gearing being necessary to attain the more agile tracking mechanisms.
** February 13 -- Everette Snuggs has completed his latest project, the missile fire control system RSJ MFC 81-60. He's next been tasked with the new commercial electromagnetic sensors.
** February 21 -- Dr. Curtis Gloster has finished the first of the next-gen commercial sensors, the HISS Mark II GravSen suites. He moves on to the thermal sensors next.
** March 3 -- Elwood Tousant's team has finished the testing phase of the Sentinel 27-6 sensor system. A new Forrestal IIb variant has been designed implementing the newer electronics, and while the last several to be built will get the updated system, the others won't be refit until they come in for shore leave. Lighter, faster, and requiring 13 crew instead of 15, the IIb is superior in every way. Retooling will take less than a month.
Wayne Sabagh is back for a new task, this time looking into extending laser wavelengths into the visible light spectrum.
** March 5 -- Julio Kuchler returns with final blueprints for the new beam weapon fire control, the RSJ Bullseye 8k. He and Tousant take over a couple of projects being run by non-sensors scientists, and Karabishi Juishao gets her biggest task in a while, looking into improving Missile Agility.
** March 25 -- Joe Tycho finishes work on reduced-size lasers(with massively higher recharge times, making them of dubious practical use). It's time to get a workable Meson Cannon system up and running. Wheaton Technologies was tapped for the prototype WT Excalibur 102.
** April 2 -- Mark II Thermal Sensors(Julio Kuchler) have been finished. He sets to work in further improvement in thermal sensor technology.
** April 4 -- Mark II EM Sensors(Elwood Tousant) are finished, completing the next generation of commercial electronics. Appropriate adjustments are made to the Lexington, Fletcher, and Perry classes. In the process, it was discovered that it had somehow been overlooked to upgrade the engines on the Lexington shuttles. Grrr ...
** April 8 -- The new SpearPoint DL8 laser turret is now ready(Eva Vadnais). Vadnais will now direct her efforts to a 12cm laser, more powerful than our current 10cm builds.
** June 20 -- Nearly forgotten in the latest rush in weapons and sensors, Dr. Santo Makar has reported on increased engine power(175%). His pair of labs will next be devoted to Gas-Cooled Fast Reactors, the next potential breakthrough in reactor power.
** September 13 -- 25th Research Lab is finished. Rosemary Urenda begins work on a 10% power boost for power plant reactors.
** October 2 -- The first working Meson Cannon prototype(WT Excalibur 102) is ready. As with the laser, a turret is needed for it, but that will have to wait as the Reactor Power project grabs up the vacated space.
** December 23 -- Dr. Clint Wyche completes his latest zero-fanfare project(terraforming improvement to .0015 atm). Genome Sequence Research, from which it is hoped to gain a further concept of genetic engineering and what TN technology might hold in that vein, will be his next goal.
Commissioned Officers
Early February -- Dr. Karabishi Juishao is trying to get some outside help in getting more consistent involvement. She's added 5% to her previously non-existent political reliability.
Mid-February -- I don't know what has gotten into Joe Tycho, but after making another major breakthrough his skill has rocketed to 55%, making him the new clear top dog in energy weapons(weapons of any kind, actually). Also, new researcher Adolfo Walth appears to be the heir apparent to Edward Groat, already with a 15% skill in Defensive Systems. It's been a good month for R&D.
Late March -- Jedidiah Thone increases admin. rating to 2, qualifying him for any job less complex than Earth. It's taken him long enough.
Early April -- Dr. Rosa Suda, tops in the MK field, has improved a bit to 45%.
Mid-July -- Joe Tycho's administrative skills, already way more than adequate, have increased to 7.
Early November -- Relentless brown-noser extraordinaire Cmdr. Ali Mandujano has been promoted to Captain. There is no open staff officer slot for her, and the navy is not yet ready to divide command(it is planned to seperate into a civilian and military task force, but not until ground-based anti-space defenses are ready to be produced ). She'll remain on board the JSC Excelsior for the remained of her tour, by which time the situation hopefully will be different.
Late November -- Less than 13 months after being commissioned, Shad Gullo is promoted to Commander.
Mid-December -- A couple of key scientists improved themselves, including Dr. Rosa Suda(55%) who has become the first elite Missiles & Kinetic Weapons specialist in the history of SPACE.
Earth
Mid-February -- The fifth harvester group is formed, upping our total to 17 ships. Another group of four is planned, which should bring production to about 2m per year, considered sufficient for the time being.
Early March -- The Custer and Yellowstone have completed refitting, to be followed now by the Hercules and Southampton. Their refits will include the new Mark II gravitational sensors, which they hopefully will never have to use.
March 13 -- The first Forrestal II arrives at the jump point to Barnard's Star and activates it's Sentinel gravitational sensor array. Redundancy and backup still needs to be built up with additional vessels, and continued monitoring of the situation, but Sol is now being fully and sufficiently policed. SPACE has high confidence that anything attempting to arrive, or anything hiding currently here that tries to exit or approach, will be spotted. The first phase of defending Sol has been achieved, and it is a day for some celebration!
March 25 -- Retooling is finished for the Forrestal IIb, and the third Military Academy has been completed. With the naval academies hard-pressed to churn out enough quality officers lately, and beauracratic candidates declining in quality for some time now, this is most welcome news.
May -- As neutronium continues to decline, expansion of the Tod & Macgregor slipways has been suspended. Larger freighters will be needed, but not in the near future and the supply is getting too close to the critical point. Wartsila also ceases it's expansion, but the Baltimore Marine and P&A Group yards continue on.
August -- With neutronium now under 4kt, expansion at the Baltimore-Marine yard is suspended as well.
August 3 -- The fifth commercial shipyard has been completed, named simply Oregon Shipbuilding. There's no 'Oregon' in Earth orbit, but whatever. Normal procedure would be to add one more yard as a security against future needs, but with the present state of neutronium that idea is shelved.
August 10 -- The first four Lexington IIIb(with top of the line commercial sensors and new nuclear pulse engines) have finished their refits, and they'll take the most remote locations as the shuttles fan out ahead of the upcoming election.
October 20 -- The first two of the Iowa tanker class are ready for active service. One heads for Titan, with the second remaining at Earth. Meanwhile, Crommelin is the second outpost to report that Corundium deposits have been exhausted this year.
December 1st -- A third naval shipyard is ready for operations, Yokohama Dock Co. Construction on a fourth begins immediately.
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STATE OF SPACE, 2065
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.149b, 400 CF, 137 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 25 RL, 3 AC, 5 DSTS, 13.8k MF, 1 SP, SC)
Luna(34.55m)
Mars(32.06m)
Titan(16.56m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(4.49m)
Mercury(less than 5k)
40 years old and still growing strong. Earth has added 90 million, with noticeable growth everywhere except for Mercury. Venus has exploded, adding more than four million to a population of less than 200,000 just four years ago. Titan was expected to grow more, but saw under 1.5 million added due to slow infrastructure shipments, even with the investment of a deep-space tracking station. Total human population has reached about 1.24 billion, about a 9% increase.
There are still vestiges of pre-TN economic concerns hanging around. At the current rate it will take at least a decade to convert all of the remaining conventional industry.
IB. Outposts
Earth(49 SM, 137 CI, 9.1 eff, 1.03 kt) -- 5.1 y of mercassium, 7.1 y of duranium. Maintaining at around 50 mines until our homeworld is bare, which right now would take almost half a millenium(tritanium)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 207t)
Sedna(20 CMC, 16 eff, 5.38 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 30 eff, 2.95 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.48 kt)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.42 kt)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 50 eff, 1.5 kt) -- gallicite(5.1 y)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.13 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 52 eff, 1.34 kt) -- boronide(8.0), gallicite(9.8)
Borrelly(15.8 AM, 58 eff, 1.15 kt) -- sorium(0.1)
Wolf-Harrington(13.8 AM, 60 eff, 994t) -- vendarite(0.9)
Reinmuth(11.8 AM, 37 eff, 550t)
Neujmin(10.8 AM, 49 eff, 761t) -- corundium(1.6)
Faye(10 AM, 48 eff, 664t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 138t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 660t)
Wolf(5 AM, 26 eff, 156t)
Wild(5 AM, 34 eff, 204t)
Total Production: 21.71 kt, an impressive 17.5% increase in annual yield! Some of the larger comets actually saw significant drops with top administrators suffering medical setbacks, but continued civilian investment in Sedna, expansion of operations on Triton and several smaller outposts, and new mining operations on the comets Wolf and Wild were able to dwarf those losses.
The recent exhaustion of corundium on a number of bodies(with Neujmin set to join them) is only a minor concern, as Earth's stockpile continues to grow.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A & B materials continue to be in a high state of flux due to the fickle nature of shifting economic priorities.
Tier A: Uridiuim(59 kt), Vendarite(38 kt), Gallicite(35 kt), Tritanium(32 kt), and Corbomite(28 kt)
Gallicite should have an asterisk here. Quite a bit was used in the defender missiles, but the stockpile still grew and that's the only major usage with none planned in the next year or so.
Tier B: Mercassium(27 kt), Boronide(25 kt). Mercassium declined for the first time, raising a bit of a red flag. Boronide is being used more with the increase in shipbuilding, as it is required for fuel tank technology. However, should a shortfall ever occur, Venus has 21mt of the stuff, and it can be virtually picked up off the surface there.
Tier C: Sorium(16.7kt), Corundium(7.42 kt). Sorium is quite safe at the moment, with planetside refineries no longer consuming it the stockpile is rising quickly. Corundium is less certain, and will be watched fairly closely the next few years.
Tier D: Duranium(5.87 kt) has fluctuated up and down, with more investment still needed to indulge in constant full-capacity shipbuilding. Neutronium(3.75 kt) has nearly stabilized but has largely ground shipyard expansion operations to a halt. No non-essential goals are proceeding while more resources are found.
MRD requested an analysis of all known sources of neutronium to ensure our situation is sustainable. Approximately 375kt exist in reasonably high-accessible and good concentration sources in Sol. One of the moons in Epsilon Eridani has almost three times that much by itself ... but it might as well be on a black hole for all the good that information does us. The present situation is sustainable for perhaps as long as close to a century, but not indefinitely.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 29.4 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.45 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 65 k
Total: 33.91m(+9.8%). All sectors saw modest increases.
Balance: 499m(+50m)
IE. Expenses
Research: 5.86m
Installation Construction: 5.82m
Mineral Purchases: 5.03m
Shipbuilding: 4.05m
Shipyard Operations: 1.11m
GU Training: 201k
GU Maintenance: 168k
Maintenance Facilities: 77.3k
Total: 22.32m(+33.9%)
Shipbuilding and training of ground units both more than tripled, and continued growth is expected as the military ramp-up will only intensify. In a decade or two, finances may yet become a real issue.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 58.1 kt capacity)
** Refitting to Fletcher IV(x2), February 2065
Estalerios Navais(2, 23.2 kt)
** Retooling for the new Arleigh Burke troop transports(brigade), late summer 2065
P&A Group(4, 36.7 kt)
** Expanding in preparation for larger harvesters, target of 50-60kt. Still a number of years out
** Building 4x Perry III harvesters, March 2065
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Building Lexington IIIb(1), late January 2065
Oregon Shipbuildilng(1, 10 kt)
** Refitting to Portland II(1), February 2065
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 10 kt)
** Idle
Baltimore Marine(2, 3.64 kt)
** Refit to Forrestal IIb(1), January 8 2065
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 1 kt)
** Idle
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Two active training facilities
** Brigade HQ(April 2065)
** Brigade HQ(Early 2066)
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(33%) -- January 2065
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 22%) -- 10-11 per year
Naval Shipyard(14%) -- Early 2067
Mass Driver(14%) -- 1/4 left, January 25, 2065
Maintenance Facilities(14%) -- 6 in the queue, October 2065
Mine Conversions(conventional industry to standard, 3%) -- 10+ per year
V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
** GEI MSS 140 -- active grav missile search sensor(Bessie Wallander) -- March 2065
** Beam Fire Control Range - 16k(Delmar Ytuarte) -- April 2065
** Mining Production(Deacon Palmer) -- Q2/Q3 2065
** Thermal Reduction -- 50% Emissions(Edward Groat) -- Q3 2065
** GEI SSS 200m -- active grav search sensor(Billie Allington) -- Q4 2065
** Construction Brigade(Brandon Grimmett) -- Early 2066
** Implosion Fission Warhead(Rosa Suda) -- Early 2066
** 10% Reactor Power Boost(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2066
** Salvage Module(Cedrick Workmack) -- Late 2066/Early 2067
** 12cm Laser(Eva Vadnais) -- Late 2066/Early 2067
** Thermal Sensor Sensitivity(Julio Kuchler) -- Mid-2067
** Genome Sequence Research(Clint Wyche) -- Late 2067/Early 2068
** Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor(Santo Makar) -- Early 2068
** Increased Missile Agility(Karabishi Juishao) -- Mid-Late 2068
** Visible Light Laser Wavelength(Wayne Sabagh) -- Late 2068
There have been consistently 15-16 ongoing projects at any one time the last few years, as increasing costs per project have eaten up the laboratories that have been produced to enter the system. The majority of projects now require two, and a single lab has become the exception rather than the rule.
Most, but not all of the initial combat system prototyping has been completed. It is still an ongoing process as systems are becoming obsolete very quickly, at times before they are even ready! This is slowing down already, and will continue to do so as the cost of improvement continues to rise. For the most part, it is simply a function of how 'behind' SPACE was and is in terms of combat technology.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher II-xe(4, 36.2 kt, 100 crew, 518 km/s, 700k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher III(2, 36.4 kt, 106 crew, 515 km/s, 700k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
SB Forrestal II(11, 650t, 15 crew, 3.69k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
SB Forrestal IIb(3, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexington III(17, 1.8 kt, 26 crew, 1.39k km/s, 60k fuel, transport shuttle)
ST Lexington IIIb(6, 1.8 kt, 28 crew, 2.78k km/s, 60k fuel*, transport shuttle)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(17, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)
* A beauracratic oversight led to more powerful engines and the same amount of fuel. A further modification, the IIIc, increases to 250k with somewhat reduced speed for the endurance.
Total: 73 vessels(+55%), 770 kt(+44%), 4.62k crew(+63%), 27.1m liters fuel(+151%).
Available Crew: 85.7k(+8.9%)
Fuel Reserves -- 37.8m liters total(+2.4%)
The navy continues to grow by leaps and bounds. The two Iowa tankers can carry more fuel than the entire fleet combined four years ago held. This makes it easy to see why the economy became stressed to keep up the last couple of years.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Mobile Infantry Battalion(6)
** Garrison Battalion(17)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 115k(-66%)
The army has fully made the leap to TN tech, and the shrinking is over. Once the troops on Earth are fully organized into brigades, significant growth in the force is expected.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Voliva Carrier Company(37 vessels, 3.48m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(17, 700k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(2, 80k)
Presnar Freight(3, 100k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, 90k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, 70k)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 120k)
Total Vessels: 72(+7.5%)
Total Civilian Income: 4.64m(+6.9%)
Voliva now has a near-complete monopoly. Abair & Folbus have ceased operations and all of the other competitors have shrunk while Voliva Carrier Co. showed a near-50% increase in their take, to a 75% market share in 2064. For the first time, there are more SPACE vessels(73) than civilian(72) in Sol space.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 81 of 92 assigned(88.0%), +22%
** Ground Forces Officers: 29 of 41(70.7%), +13%
** Civilian Administrators: 22 of 27(81.5%), +1%
** Scientists: 15 of 31(48.4%), --
Overall: 147 of 191(76.9%), +14%
31 of 40 new positions added were in the navy, and it continues to be difficult to find enough civilian administrators as well. The scientific establishment, meanwhile, has for the most part more talent than it can use. It remains to be seen whether the recent increase in recruitment efforts will be enough to fill all needed positions.
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2065 ELECTION
There was a record turnout this year, for multiple good reasons. It was historic, with the inauguration of Sector Command. It was predicted to be the closest race in SPACE history for other reasons as well. The slight favorite was ailing Herbert Duling(51) due to his incomparable range of experience and unmatched political skill. His health and the mining expertise of incumbent India Rakes(48), combined with the fact that she'd managed not to make any major mistakes last term, gave her about a 40-45% chance of staying in power according to most handicappers.
And then there were the usual disappointments. Delois Woznicki hasn't yet learned the management skill to run Earth, much less the whole system, and Alberto Eighmy will be on the ballot, but his health is even rose than Duling's. The always-solid Jarrett Hugh is probably the third choice, followed by mining savant Larry Steckel, newcomer to the ballot Riley Awad, and Sonny Dean who unfortunately never learned the political part of politics. Seven in all on the ballot, but really it's between Duling and Rakes with Hugh having a puncher's chance if they both embarassed themselves.
The also-rans were the ones to embarass themselves. Dean and Awad didn't even really put forth a serious effort. Steckel made some headway with his focus on mining, but was considered too weak in other areas, and Eighmy's health continued to be his achilles heel. A series of gaffes ensured Hugh would not challenge the expected leaders.
So it was down to Duling and Rakes, and first the first time anyone can remember, Duling was out-campaigned by a smart, aggressive incumbent. It came down to less than a million and a half votes, but Duling was defeated in the directorial election for the first time in his career, 30.1 to 28.8%. The rest of the contenders:
Larry Steckel -- 11.5%
Alberto Eighmy -- 10.2%
Jarrett Hugh -- 10.1%
Sonny Dean -- 5.1%
Riley Awad -- 4.2%
Most notable here was a strong showing by Larry Steckel in placing third.
** This is the first upset I've had, albeit a mild one, and made this election a lot of fun to do.
POLICY REVIEW
Rakes had campaigned on a mining focus with a number of industrial priorities having been wrapped on Earth the last few years -- spaceport, sector command, shipyards, academies, etc. This was an emphasis in her re-inauguration speech. The share of the industrial sector devoted to economic investment would rise from 25% to 40% or more, with as many mines produced as could be without overrunning corundium resources. New mines would be split evenly between development of corundium deposits and develoopment of neutronium/duranium. Research would continue to constitute a third as the onward march of science was the only way to combat the alien threat in the long-term.
The one sticking point was the 2% Initiative, which has become controversial again as some as proposing reinstatement in the face of the fact that expenses are growing four times as fast as income over the past decade. As tempting as the idea was, it's an issue that has bitten India Rakes in the past, and she could not afford to be seen as doing anything that could take away from investment in military defenses.
The director also announced that construction would begin immediately on a new class of installation, the Ticonderoga-class plantary defence centre. The Ticonderoga would be deployed on remote outposts or very small, not strategically essential colonies. Housing a single garrison battalion, commercial-grade sensors, and a single CIWS battery, it was little more than a visible, physical reminder of SPACE's commitment and authority. Only 16 MPs would be required for each facility, weighing just under 3kt. Far larger and more robust facilities are planned for Earth, core colonies, and major mining outposts, with more details promised on those within two years. There were many quarters viewing this announcement as a political move to appease the growing dissatisfaction with the lack of concrete military assets in place, and efforts here will be closely watched.
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2065 ANNUAL REPORT
As planned, it was a year filled with a return to expanding mining operations. Wolf-Harrington was chosen as the first place to invest mines, as corundium and neutronium are both found there. With Comas Sola and Machholz both set to run out of corundium in the next decade however, it was desired to not have a third comet run out that soon so within the first quarter focus switched to Faye for further development. Distant comets Herschel-Rigollet and Swift-Tuttle also have both minerals available but are over 7b km away, ruling them out when a closer source was available.
On March 4, such concerns were interrupted for a somewhat surprising state funeral. Sonny Dean, Governor of Venus died of natural causes. He was 55, and had a long, very respectable administrative career. He was never charismatic enough to make serious inroads in any directorial election, though he appeared on the ballot in several due to a wide range of skills.
Later in the month, another objective was complete as Harvester Task Group 6 was completed and underway for Saturn, clearing the P&A Group Shipyard on March 29. The next day, the first Brigade Headquarters was ready for operation, with Major General Sterling Silvers the obvious choice for the job.
April brought more health problems for Rear Admiral Kendall Muratore. Sources inside the Navy indicate the 54-year-old veteran may be 'asked to retire' when the current tour is up at the end of the year.
The mining focus returned in May with the first of two expansions of civilian operations on Sedna. Then in early June, Deacon Palmer produced a report on improved mining production techniques. Combined with effect of much better high-level supervision of urgent issues due to the formation of Sector Command, production of existing mines has increased considerably this year. By August, neutronium levels were creeping back up, though corundium was only just keeping pace with the increased demand of nearly two automines a month coming out of the 180 factories devoted to the task. Director Rakes held the line of any changes to the current spending profile, as reaching the long-established 'safe zone' of at least 5kt would help in terms of a strategic reserve and promoting public confidence.
Virtually every month having something to say this year, September chimed in with initial production of the first two Arleigh Burke(simply Burke hereafter) class of brigade-capacity troop transports initialized at the ENDM Shipyard. Deployment is expected in the early months of 2067.
By the middle of November, Faye had reached the target goal of 25 mines, becoming one of the larger mining outposts from virtually nothing less than two years ago. The Ministry of Resource Development prioritized moving Neujmin and Reinmuth up to at least that level(25-30, the comfortable range for a major comet-based outpost). Those two are the largest good-yield neutronium sources in the system at over 80kt each, and have 11-12 mines at the moment so production should at least be doubled. It is believed that will be a sufficient amount to allow shipyard operations to resume on a larger scale. Incidentally, at about the same time, support personnel for the massive research laboratories passed construction workers for the #1 industrial concern on Earth for the first time(both at about 26m each). Shipyards operations are #3, just over half at about 13.9m employed.
That increased neutronium will not come a moment too soon. With a couple of finished prototype tests being presented in early December, the navy was down to just one more project, expected next year. At that point, construction of major military assets, both planet-based and ships for a combat fleet, will be ready to begin.
SPACE promised major mining investment and delivered on that promise. Meanwhile, four of the new bare-bones Ticonderoga PDCs were finshed as well and await transport and assembly. A new remilitarized age is on the horizon, and even the most optimistic human cannot claim to know for certain where that will lead ...
Commissioned Officers
Early February -- Karl Mattey(24) becomes the youngest Brigadier General to be promoted since the formation of SPACE.
Mid-March -- Jedediah Thone, GU Construction Speed to 10%. Meanwhile, only a single army colonel is dismissed after no military officers were fired last year. It's all hands on deck with expanding opportunities and need for qualified personnel.
Late June -- Jedediah Thone GU Construction Speed up to 15%. I'm not sure why he's working so hard on that this year -- there aren't a lot of ground forces being built on his asteroid(Prokne).
Late August -- Cpt. Ali Mandujano's brown-nosing skills reach new heights(45%). Or depths, depending on your perspective.
Early September -- New civil servant Ricardo Bloise graduates the academy.
Administration: 3
Bonuses: 20% Shipbuilding, 10% political reliability/mining/logistics, 5% Factory production/population growth.
Personality: Talented musician.
Outlook: Good enough to be a little below average right away, better than most are coming out of the academies. It's over three years till the next election in '69, so unless somebody else retires or croaks, that's when he'll get his first assignment.
Colonial Developments
Mid-February -- Sorium on Borrelly has been exhausted, but this is not a cause for concern with the refineries on Earth being shut down.
Early August -- Vendarite deposits have been exhausted on Wolf-Harrington.
Late August -- Sedna expands again to 22 complexes.
Earth
Mid-February -- Two more freighters finish the refit process, with half of the eight in the navy now upgraded.
March 6 -- The latest run of mass drivers is completed.
July 3 -- Both Portlands(troop transports) have finished refitting.
October 7 -- A second brigade HQ is finished on Earth. A third is in training, and three is considered enough for current forces. Additonal garrison battalions, for use on colonies and outposts, is now the top priority again.
Research & Development
** March 28 -- GEI MSS 140, the new active-grav missile search sensor, is completed(Bessie Wallander). She'll turn her attention to the SITG ThermoScan 102, a fairly massive 850-ton thermal sensor suite intended for passive military-grade detections.
** April 24 -- A report extending the range of beam fire controls to 16k km has been filed(Delmar Ytuarte). Elwood Tousant begins work on the final military-grade sensor, the SITG Emdar-30 for use in passive EM-based detection scans.
** June 8 -- Deacon Palmer finishes work on improved mining efficiency. Improving Shipyard Operations is Palmer's next goal.
** August 1 -- Dr. Edward Groat's team has come back with a considerable breakthrough, noting a 50% reduction in thermal emissions is now possible. He wants to take the concepts still further, and is given permission given the importance of the field to our future reconaissance efforts. He'll need another lab down the road, as two won't be enough to get what is our most expensive project to date -- six million credits the required expenditure -- done.
** August 18 -- A research lab is finished and added to the Thermal Emissions Reduction team.
** December 5 -- Billie Allington's team completes the trial of the GEI SSS 200m, the primary military anti-ship active sensor system. This leaves only the passive sensors before the navy is ready to begin building major military installations and ships. Harlan Welle takes one lab to put a new CIWS system incorporating the latest fire controls through its paces, and the other is devoted to larger meson cannons(12 cm focal size), under the direction of Wayne Sabagh.
** December 9 -- Courtesy of Elwood Tousant's team, passive EM sensors are now available. The thermals are expected by early summer of next year at the latest. Tousant will need more assistance down the road on this, but he gets started on the next round of fire control speed improvements(3k km/s).
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** It should be noted here, as I forgot to put it in the 2065 report, that there were a number of solid-to-good naval recruits who came into the system last year, bypassing a lot of veterans. None of them were in Gullo/Feeser genius-level category, but one was very good and several moved well up the Lt. Cmdr. chain immediately.
RETIREMENTS
As anticipated, it was mutually agreed for Rear Admiral Kendall Muratore to accept early retirement. It's only five years early, and best for all concerned given his failing health of late. The 55-year-old Muratore is a veteran of more than 30 years active service, making Commander rank within just over a year. He spent almost an entire decade as CO of one of the original Fletcher-class freighters before making Captain in 2051. After a brief stint at Public Affairs, he led Fighter Ops(no, there weren't any, stop interrupting the story). His health began to trouble him shortly after his promotion to Rear Admiral in '62. He's served the navy well, and retires with honor and distinction worthy of that service.
** Cmdr. Miquel Rater -- Assigned to lead the top geology survey team less than 18 months after his graduation, Miquel's most lasting legacy is undoubtedly his 12+ plus years of service during the inital period of surveying in Sol. It was about halfway through this period that he was promoted to Commander, but he lacked the skills or political connections to make it any further up the command chain. Rater spent most of his CO assignments on board freighters, with brief stints aboard shuttles and the last couple of years on one of the Forrestal sensor buoys. His retirement will be temporarily delayed until he can catch a shuttle back to Earth.
Leota Schnepel(55) is promoted to be the new second Rear Admiral, leaving a spot open for Shad Gullo at Captain. It took him just two years, two months, and three days -- just about as fast as it is possible to climb. However, he's at the bottom of the heap now among Captains, and unless he shows more initiative than he has so far to improve his natural skills, he won't be going any further anytime soon.
Commissioned Officers Update
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 6th out of 23. Blair will spend at least one more tour on board his Forrestal post at the always-vital Epsilon Eridani jump point. It has become less tense in recent years, with a decade nearing since the destruction of the Hyperion.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 23rd. Several others have been promoted to Commander since Zavier, and all have surpassed him. He'll remain on board one of the harvesters at Saturn for another tour.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 52nd out of 68. Nothing but shuttle commands in his future as far as the eye can see, unless something breaks.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 18th. Another tour on board the Ute is forthcoming.
Jedidiah Thone(2) -- After tours on Reinmuth on Faye, he's back to Prokne for a few years.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- Awaiting his first opportunity.
Karabishi Juishao(MK 20) -- Needs to distinguish herself soon if she hopes to join the elite. Her current project on Missile Agility is a great opportunity, but it hasn't happened yet. Juishao is 52 and still in excellent health, so it seems likely she's got a lot of work yet ahead of her before she's done.
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Ack -- due to a miscalculation on my part ... specifically, forgetting to account for Harvester Group 6 ... Oled Mrtav will not be remaining on the Ute for another tour. Rather, he will be getting a small promotion to one of the harvesters.
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Woo!
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My character is so useless its not even worth continuing to point out his worthlessness.
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Well you can always give your chars some RP if Bryan allows, i really enjoyed playing Herman fox and making up some locations. Just give your people some dayjobs, newsquibs on the radio etc.
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Another possibility, if you want you can do early retirement and have a new character added. Depends on how truly disgusted you are with him :)
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I will go with early retirement and I will give some RP to the next guy that I get.
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No problem there. Just post in the sign-up thread whenever the urge descends, and include anything specific you want(what level talent, etc.). No point in maintaining a char. you aren't interested in :).
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2066 ANNUAL REPORT(truncated)
A rather large bit of administrative news from the Navy to start off the year served the purpose of satisfying the public that SPACE continues to be serious about combat directives and preparing the way administratively for that orientation. The Navy was split from a unified command into two distinct task forces for the first time. Ellie Camble, the more senior of the two Rear Admirals, heads up the new Sol Defense Fleet(SDF), while Leota Schnepel takes command of the Sol Support Flotilla(SSF). As of now, the SDF consists only of the Forrestal II-class sensor vessels, but it will be growing soon.
During the disbursement of naval officers, there were a growing number of valid complaints. It seems the officers didn't appreciate crowding in some cases a dozen or more into the cramped room of a single crewman. And so, in the never-ending list of overlooked necessities, the Lexington has been redesigned again to the 3d which contains six spare rooms. If more than six VIPs need to be transported, additional shuttles will be sent. Hopefully they'll be ready by next tour ...
In late January, ballistic technology specialist Rosa Suda increased to a 65% skill bonus, the largest yet seen. Dr. Suda has not yet reached her 30th birthday, and yet is now considered the most brilliant scientist in post-war annals of SPACE. This fact pretty much ensures that missile technology will be a notable priority for the forseeable future.
A month later, the Ute and Venus completed their refits, leaving only two more freighters to complete the process. And March saw the sudden and surprising investment of colonization efforts on Mercury. For nearly a decade less than 5,000 have eked out an existence there, a number that was multiplied several times over in weeks. Later in the month, specifications for Construction Brigades capable of setting up needed facilities on worlds with a factory were completed. Such things were certainly noteworthy, but really only minor preludes to what happened a couple of monhts later.
On May 3, the final system needed for space-based combat clicked into place with Dr. Bessie Wallander's trials of military-grade passive thermal sensors. The culmination of nearly eight years of effort since Herbert Duling's historic global speech on the heels of the Epsilon Eridani crisis, this announcement meant that SPACE was finally ready to build its first generation of combat facilities and ships, taking war-making capability into space and putting some teeth into human naval operations.
Research & Development
** February 20 -- Dr. Suda wraps up work on the Implosion Fission Warhead, prompting calls in the navy for a new missile to take advantadge of the additional explosive yield. It is eventually decided to hold off until Karabishi Juishao's work on missile agility, though it is nearly three years off yet, is completed before crafting a new generation.
Suda decides to pursue improving launcher reload rates.
** March 26 -- Construction Brigade plans have been finalized(Dr. Brandon Grimmett). With the Burke transports already in production, the first Brigade enters training immediately. The Army always overestimates the required time, but has the first one finishing sometime in fall of 2067. Grimmett next applies himself to Hangar Decks, an improved version of Boat Bays for servicing small vessels on a ship.
** May 3 -- Thermal sensors are completed(Bessie Wallander). Planetary sensor strength is her next objective, which will require a third lab once one becomes available.
Commissioned Officers
Late April -- Some most welcome news as top electronics researcher Julio Kuchler marginally improves to 45% expertise.
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So what kind of naval ships are we going for at first?
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That's what the next update is about :).
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SPACE SOL DEFENSE INITIATIVES
SDI(Sol Defense Initiatives) is SPACE's #1 strategic objective. As such, the primary focus of the industrial sector will be shifted to construction of new missile bases for planetary defense. A 'ground-up' prioritization will be followed, with defensive capabilities on Earth and the colonies considered more important than projecting power into space, which is a secondary goal.
PLANETARY-DEFENSE CENTERS
Ticonderoga-class Outpost
As previously discussed, the Ticonderoga is the most basic level of defense. These are to be deployed in two instances: any colony with less than 10 million population and no strategic value(i.e. Mercury), or a mining outpost that does not have considerable quantities of a vital mineral resource and is for that reason not considered a long-term necessity.
Mercury along with most of the mining outposts in Sol will receive Ticonderoga Outposts.
** Barracks for a single Garrison battalion
** Commercial-quality sensor suite.
** Minimal official presence.
** 2.95 kt, 16 crew, 87.5k cost
Tennessee-class Missile Base
Deployment of a Tennessee-class facility represents a larger investment in colonies of significant population with no strategic value other than their populations(Luna, Mars) and/or major mining outposts(Sedna, for example). There are two versions of the Tennessee, with the Tennessee Light used in situations such as Luna where passive sensors are not necessary due to coverage by deep space tracking stations on Earth. They should be strong enough to deter a 'recon in force' but not a major attack.
** Barracks for two Garrision Battalions
** Military-grade passive sensors(except for the Lt variant)
** Military-grade active sensors
** Five Missile Lauchers(Defender), six volleys each
** 7 feet of duranium armor(upgrade from the basic 5 for the Ticonderoga)
** Two CIWS batteries for a(very) basic element of defense
** The Tennessee Lt. is 12.1 kt with 214 crew and a cost of 951k; The standard Tennessee is 13.3 kt, 254 crew, and 1.1m credits cost.
Alaska-class Missile Base
The Alaska is intended for major planetary defense. Initially, only Earth and Titan, SPACE's most strategically important activity centers, will receive this level of investment.
** Barracks for a full combat brigade
** Military-grade passive sensors(two of each for redundancy)
** Military-grade active sensors(again, two of each)
** 25 Defender Missile Launchers(18 volleys each)
** 14 feet of duranium armor
** 18 CIWS batteries for defense
** 60.7 kt, 1030 crew, 5.2 million. An Alaska installation is a major investment, more than 5 times the price of the Pioneer, previously our most expensive endeavor, and 70% larger than a Fletcher IV freighter.
Because of the previously-discussed issues that make energy-based weaponry totally ineffective(at least for now) against known enemy capabilities, missile-based ships will be the backbone of the initial combat navy. The major combat doctrine issue to be resolved is whether to make each ship self-sufficient and able to operate independently if needed, or to have a number of ships rely on dedicated sensor ships painting targets for them. The latter would be far preferable given the current required size of active sensor suites, but our inability to defend against enemy missile attacks in any meaningful way pushed it out of mind. Two ship designs were thrown together with this in mind: the Nimitz-class missile boat and the Brooklyn-class beam ship. The Nimitz will carry Defender missile launchers, similar to the Tennessee missile base, and the Brooklyn meson and laser turrets.
Their primary purposes are two-fold: first, a public demonstration that SPACE is making progress towards a real combat navy, and secondly, the ability to test, as much as is possible, various logistical and combat necessities. There will be a considerable amount of 'wasted' resources in the sense that current sensor electronics components are already obsolete(equally effective and 30% smaller versions are already possiblke), but it remains a top SPACE priority to get assets into service, however inefficient they may be. Final specs on the Brooklyn and Nimitz await only the testing phase of the new 200-ton Phoenix engine, the primary military-grade propulsion system that is awaiting lab space to be developed. Fuel efficiency has been tossed to the wind(125% power modifier) in an effort to get the most speed that can reasonably be achieved.
It is expected to be quite some time(probably decades) before an equilibrium is reached wherein the initial waves of research advancements slows down to the point where our ability to build things can catch up with it and a modicum of stability can be established.
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2066 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2/Conclusion)
Matters continued on much as they had before, except that nearly half of Earth's factories were now devoted to building bases for planetary defense. Still even at that, the first Alaska was not due to be ready for about three years. Meanwhile, with limited research set to complete in the second half of the year, many of the reports to the Director's office were not particularly consequential.
In early May, 36-year-old Nick Cuffie became the eighth active navy Captain, the most the branch has ever had at one time. On August 17, the maintenance facility expansion to 15kt was finally completed, as was the first run of 10 Ticonderoga-class facilities, ready to be deployed but lacking the means to do so as of yet(Construction Brigades and Burke transports to take the brigades to their destinations).
Days later, probably the most significant news of the latter half of the year came, as neutronium crossed the 5kt threshold again, this time in the positive direction. Capacity expansion at the Tod & Macgregor resumed immediately, and at two of the naval yards a couple months later.
Colonial Developments
Mid-May -- Corundium deposits on Neujmin have been exhausted. This will not be an issue anytime soon -- Earth's stockpile will grow considerably with most resources diverted to building army bases, not economic investment.
Late November -- Sedna expands to 23 complexes. Duranium outlook has never been so secure, reaching nearly five figures(10kt) on Earth by now.
Research & Development
** May 30 -- Harlan Welle's latest project(KKC CIWS II) finished.
** July 10 -- The latest laboratory complex is completed, and work begins on the Phoenix military engine(newcomer David Gruis).
** November 15 -- Rosemary Urenda's team completes work into increased reactor power(10%) with equivalent explosion risk. She'll take over on the Phoenix 40 military engine test phase. Billie Allington takes a couple of labs for work on the GEI MSS 180, second-generation missile search sensor which can detect enemy missiles an estimated 40-80 seconds out. Naval command believes that number needs to be stretched to at least five minutes, but that would make the required electronics prohibitively large so the march of technology will first need to have its effect.
** Early Dec -- Joe Tycho reaches some rarified air, upping his expertise to 65%. If only the sensors and fire control branch could develop a couple minds at this level ...
Commissioned Officers
Early October -- Daniel Watters graduates the naval academies!
Fleet Movement Initiative: 162
Bonuses: Fighter Ops(30%)
Personality: Determined, good motivator.
Outlook: Skill in Fighter Ops effectively is obsolete now, but his talent in the field is promising for other development. Command considers him a Top-10 LtC immediately, and he is expected to at least make Commander based on his natural skill. Beyond that, it's anybody's guess.
Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav's political reliability rises to 10%, allowing him to creep closer to promotion.
Earth
Late September -- Four shuttles are brought up to the Lexington III(d) standard.
Sept/Oct. -- For several weeks, the jump to Teegarden's Star goes unguarded as both ships require maintenance at the same time. It is presumed uninhabited, but still a matter for increased concern.
October -- The Baltimore-Marine and Yokahama naval yards resume capacity expansion, as rising neutronium stockpiles are considered sufficient.
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2067 ANNUAL REPORT
To begin her mid-term, Director Rakes re-institutes the 2% Initiative, citing the large and growing duranium stockpile as evidence SPACE can easily afford it. The four habitable moons of Jupiter(Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are all that remains to settle. All have a 5.75 difficulty, making them slightly less hostile than Titan. Callisto will be first as it has some limited mineral utility(58kt Titanium at 0.5, 2.5mt Uridium at 0.1). The plan at present is to ship a few mines there to boost the economy, eventually.
A mass driver is sent to each of the four moons, and an initial shipment of 125kt of infrastructure sent to Callisto, along with another 70 kt for Io. Ricardo Bloise and [/b]Rufus Ke[/b] are sent as administrators for the respective prospective colonies ...
On January 26, the Salvage Module research team(Cedrick Wormack) finishes its work. The Salvage Module is one of the primary objectives needed to properly pursue exploring interstellar space again, allowing for gathering intel from wrecks should we come upon any.
A ship capable of deploying the salvage module effectively would have to be larger than any current SPACE vessel operating: it would need to be 50kt or more, even if not equipped with its own jump drive. A freighter-size hold would be required to carry anything that might be found, and the salvage module itself is 10kt, costing 200k credits and requiring 80 crew members to operate.
In the opinion of Director Rakes, it is pointless to worry about designing and/or building such a ship right now, until it gets closer to the time when the other required priority tech, improved geological sensors, can be researched.
At the end of April, the Phoenix engine is finally ready and after much debate the two initial combat ship classes are finalized. Future versions are expected to be much smaller and more specialized, but for now this is what the navy has come up with.
Brooklyn-class Gunboat
Armament: 4 SpearPoint DL8 dual-laser turrets, 2 Excalibur 102 Single-meson cannon turrets, with a firing control assigned to each pair of turrets.
Power: 12 PBR 1650 Reactors
Size: 15.15 kt
Speed: 2376 km/s
Fuel: 2m, 20.2 b km range(98 days)
Crew: 415
Cost: 1.88m, 2.33y
Nimitz-class Missile Boat
Size: 13.95 kt
Crew: 373
Speed: 2,437 km/s -- both just over a third of known enemy ship speeds
Armament: 5 Defender missile launchers, 6 volleys each
Cost: 1.89m, 2.49y
Only Wartsila is close to being large enough to accomodate these ships, but it is still a bit small at 12.5 kt.
Less than a week later, on the second of May, there was more big news as the first Construction Brigade was readied on Earth. Soon a three-ship convoy headed for Stephan-Oterma: the FT Hercules(carrying required minerals and the equipment to assemble a Ticonderoga base), a Portland(with the garrison battalion) and a Burke(carrying the construction brigade to assemble the base).
By the middle of June, a second brigade is ready and en route to Machholz, which was just outside Mars orbit and a much smaller trip. By the end of the month, everything was in place there with the construction brigade headed for Stephan-Oterma still almost two weeks out. Brigadier General Karl Mattey on Machholz reported in that assembling the base would take over six months, into the early weeks of 2068. Clearly the process of getting proper bases set up on all of SPACE's outposts in Sol space is an undertaking that will be measured in years, if not decades.
By the middle of October, Wartsila is ready to retool for the Nimitz-class missile boat. That will take almost two years, the first ship another two and a half, putting the first vessel in service sometime in late 2071. Much may well have changed by then, but the process of getting a proper navy put together is off to its first halting start. With the other shipyards far too small as of yet, it is unclear if any of this generation of Brooklyn gunboats will even be constructed before a more efficient design becomes available.
It was a most eventful year. Most of the shuttle refits have been completed, construction of minor military bases on Stephan-Oterma and Machholz has commenced, the initial test boats of both missile and energy weapons have been designed, and two moons of Jupiter were colonized. The militarization of Sol has begun.
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
Early January -- 44-year-old Christopher Sonders becomes the eighth active Brigadier General, as the army officer corps is growing as well.
January 14 -- Ricardo Bloise officially moves into his makeshift command post, as it were, on Callisto, which presently has enough infrastructure to support 30,000 people and a
mass driver, but no industrial equipment or colonists.
March -- Alberto Eighmy, not heard from in quite some time, has managed to gain some more influential friends(political reliability 35%). In terms of playing the political game, only Duling exceeds him. ... too bad his health has not permitted him to be as active.
Late March -- The first officer dismissals in three years see four army and two navy officers released.
Early May -- Starved for leadership with the only two free officials set to take posts on Europa and Ganymede in coming years, SPACE is excited to see the graduation of Roxann Harshberger from the academies. She has notable skills in population growth, terraforming, and logistics, but no known political connections. Harshberger is considered a candidate for a relatively important posting immediately, ranking in the top half of administrative candidates.
Early August -- Karabishi Juishao sees a modest increase to 30% skill.
Mid August -- Must be something in the water, because Juishao has another, more useful epiphany. She's moved up to 40% now, nearly doubling her knowledge about half a month!
Early October -- A stellar new naval recruit, Parker Lanzi, with very good training marks and some skill in logistics and survey, bolsters the naval officer ranks.
Late November -- The Navy now has nine Captains with the promotion of 36-year-old Rocco Lett. Soon it is eight again as Anton Ericson(46) is promoted to Rear Admiral, giving the navy three active admirals. The Navy then creates what is really an honorary position given her impending retirement, as Ellie Camble is dubbed the first Senior Rear Admiral in SPACE history.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** January 16 -- Dr. Eva Vadnais finishes work on a 12-cm focal size laser project. Upgrading the laser weapons to the next generation is best saved until Tycho's work on wavelength is finished in a couple of months, so she instead takes over work on increasing focal size of the meson cannon, which was started by Wayne Sabagh.
David Gruis gets another crack with the GE PBR 1650, prototype phase for a slightly more efficient reactor using the increased power option.
** January 26 -- The Salvage Module is completed by Cedrick Wormack's team. His next project(Tiny Engineering Section) is not nearly so momentous, simply an effort to allow more fine-tuning in ship design.
Lacking an appropriately specialized scientist to take the project, Everett Snuggs is assigned to begin work on the next improvement in EM Sensor Sensitivity.
** March 15 -- Joe Tycho's team completes research on visible light laser wavelengths, allowing for the next generation in laser weaponry to commence prototype phase. The UBOS 12-2 VIS has a third greater damage than the previous IR lasers, and extends range to 80k km. Tycho will take a month to test it out.
** April 1 -- David Gruis finishes work on the newest power plant(GE PBR 1650), having learned nothing in the process.
** April 20 -- The new laser is complete, and turret testing begins. That will take a bit longer, a few months.
** April 28 --The Phoenix 40 military engine(Rosemary Urenda) is finished. A third and final lab is now added to EM Sensor research(Everett Snuggs).
** May 21 -- Better thermal sensors(sensitivity 8) have been discovered by Dr. Julio Kuchler. He sets to work developing the SITG ThermoScan 104, which is a hair stronger and 200 tons(nearly a quarter) smaller than the current military-grade standard ThermoScan 102. Rosemary Urenda takes the remaining lab to investigate continuing improvements in her series of projects on increasing plant reactor power(and explosion risk).
** June 3 -- A newly-finished research complex is added to the recently-formed team investigating increases in reactor power(Urenda).
** August 10 -- The new laser turret(SpearPoint DL8(b)) is ready, courtesy of Joe Tycho. Improved focusing for meson cannons is his next objective.
EARTH
February 2 -- The first two Arleigh Burke-class brigade-capacity troop transports are under way! They'll be going nowhere though, until there are Construction Brigades for them to transport, which is expected to happen this summer. SPACE can only guess at how long it will take a brigade to set up the bases once on-site ... there are almost certainly logistical problems that will arise which can only be guessed at from the current vantage point.
Meanwhile, many of the shipyards are silent ... for now.
Mid-February -- The final two freighters complete their refitting, and all of them are now more or less at the modern standard. Only the Vickers-Armstrong yard continues on with refitting the shuttles.
July 3 -- Earth finishes a mass driver to replace as backup the one sent to Callisto. The space is devoted to an expansion of the maintenance facilities at humanity's homeworld, which are just a hair too small to accomodate a Brooklyn at the moment.
July -- The last of the oldest Lexingtons have completed the refit process. The rest will go much more quickly. Completion of the process is expected next year, well ahead of the 2069 electoral cycle.
September 28 -- Maintenance facility expansion on Earth completed, now at 15.2kt.
COLONIAL AFFAIRS
Early February -- First-in colonists land at Callisto, with Io soon following suit.
July 11 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga begins the assembly process.
Early October -- Suter Shipping Services joins the civilian shipping fray.
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My first thought was "Wow, that's a gunboat?".
Guess I'm just used to gunboats being FAC sized. I assume they are designed to operate jointly, the Brooklyn providing PD with the Nimitz providing offensive missiles?
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Lt. Commander Watters puts in a formal request to command either a Nimitz class Missile Boat or a Brooklyn class Gunboat.
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The terms 'gunboat' and 'missile boat' simply denote 'ship with guns' and 'ship with missiles' at this point. SPACE intends to firm up terminology/roles/standardized size ranges once our technology improves enough to be substantially relevant and more stable. Neither of them is designed for PD, because there's no way to design PD right now. Enemy missiles are 15-30 km/s, and our best fire controls are now at 8k -- an anti-missile missile attempt would have, at best, a 10-12% intercept chance. This is why there isn't a central sensor ship designed -- there would be no way to protect it.
The Brooklyn is just a 'proof of concept' ship(jump point defense is it's only possible combat-effective role), while the Nimitz at least has a chance(probably an infinitesimal one) to do some damage to the enemy in sufficient numbers(which we won't have). More than anything else, they are a 'get something out there' PR exercise, and the Director also knows that an incomprehensibly small chance is still a chance :).
Fleet Command has heard and gotten a good laugh out of LtC Watters' request :P. The Lieutenant Commander is hereby reminded that all military-grade ships require Commander or higher rank, and that Lieutenant Commanders must learn their way up by first serving on commercial vessels. Speaking of which, LtC Watters will be receiving his first command shortly.
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What about poor Conor? No command yet?
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Conor has had commands for over a decade(since '56 continuously). However, I was dead-certain that I'd posted a char update here a couple of nights ago ... which obvioiusly isn't here. So blah ...
RETIREMENTS
It is as clear a changing of the guard as their could be. The Chief of the Navy and Chief of the Army are both retiring to start 2068, and both are the most recognizable and accomplished heads of their respective branches that SPACE has ever had.
** Senior Rear Admiral Ellie Camble is the standard by which all future naval officers will be judged(6824 promotion score). Ironically, she retires just as the navy is about to begin deserving the name. SPACE was just over three years old when she graduated the academy in 2028. She was a senior officer before there were any notable ship commands and therefore never received one, taking just over four years to reach Captain rank in the summer of '32. After 18 of her 22 years as Communications Officer as Fleet HQ, she was promoted to Rear Admiral. Since 2055, she has served impeccably as the navy's top officer. She will be succeeded briefly by Rear Admiral Leota Schnepel(57).
** Major General Sterling Silvers took less than 16 months to rise to the top of the Army in June 2028. A little over a year later, he became the first, and only until now, Major General in SPACE. He has overseen the modernization to TN-tech in the ground forces, commanding low-tech armour divisions for over two decades, and the first brigade for the past almost three years since the reorganization took place. A few can say they were more skilled, including his successor Brigadier General Abel Rosinski(58), but none approach his visibility and/or reputation. The Army was not called upon to do much of anything during his tenure, but there must always be vigilant men ready to do violence on behalf of humanity if need be. For four decades, Silvers was charged to make sure there were, and he fulfilled his duty well.
There are others stepping aside at this time as well. Health and age are becoming an issue for a number of the more experienced scientists and administrators, but for the time being they all soldier on.
** Brig. Gen. Angela Bankson, a 36-year veteran of the general rank and longtime commander of the garrison on Titan.
** Cols. Roberto Nicastro and Edward Clontz
** Commander Kathy Wheatly, famously of the Wheatly geology team, which she headed for five years until 2045. By that time she was already a senior officer, but despite experience on many different vessels, she never quite made it to Captain.
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 6th out of 26. He still needs another break to get a promotion, and remains at his post doing sensor duty at the jump to Epsilon Eridani. There are few more important jobs in the Navy.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- For the second tour in a row, he is the top-ranking navy officer to not be good enough for a military command. He remains the senior officer in charge of the harvesting operations at Saturn.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 59th out of 79. A good run of recruits combined with very few new opportunities, and time has passed Cin by. He is removed from his shuttle command, and the ink on his dismissal order may already by dry.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 16th. Mrtav gets a slight 'demotion' this time around to the FT Venus.
Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 5th ... headed out to Saturn to earn his spurs as it were on board a Perry harvester.
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Oh sweet. Maybe I'll live long enough to be useful now, even.
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Just a heads up that this will continue -- I've suspended all other gaming activities -- but I don't know when that will be. Last week I worked an unintended personal-record 79 hours and expect to be quite busy for the duration of the winter. I also got sick over New Year's(no, not chemically induced :). Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for dilly-dallying, but the story of SPACE will continue.
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I am glad to hear it. This story is great.
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2068 ANNUAL REPORT
Ganymede saw the lion's share of the 2% Initiative this year, expected to finish up in 2069 assuming the next administration doesn't nix it. In the meantime, there were more economic changes made in the final year of the term. The catalyst was the simple and glorious fact that there is very little pressure on mineral stockpiles. All are rising except for neutronium which is pretty much holding steady -- and that with some commercial yards still expanding that really don't need to be any bigger right now, expansions that could be shut off with little consequence at any time. In face of these facts, Director India Rakes ordered that the one-sixth of the industrial sector devoted to economic improvements switch its focus to two matters: getting ten standard mines set for shipment to Callisto, and increasing the number of factories available on Earth. It is expected that within five years the conversion from conventional facilities, now at 90.7%, will be completed. Also in view is building maintenance facilities for both Callisto and Titan for servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels, and a shipment of fuel to Callisto so it can refuel them. With out-system refueling bases on both moons, there will be less reason for ships to have to return all the way to Earth just to fill up.
Rosinski was promoted to Major General as expected, replaced by Wyatt Pittman(35). This still left the army two generals short of where it was before.
Less than three weeks into the year, Clint Wyche completed Genome Sequence Research. The spectre and possibility of genetically engineering races more suited to various climates and conditions raises a number of ethical issues, issues which SPACE has elected to punt on for now. Breaking the general policy of specialization and the 5-year project limit, with nothing to pursue for now in his field, Wyche is assigned to working on Improved Geological Sensors, the final piece required for resumed exploration of neighbouring systems. With three labs eventually assigned, it is expected to take nearly a decade unless a sensors researcher is available to shorten that time.
On February 10, the eventful start to the year continues as the first off-world military base is established on Machholz. Meanwhile, the first mine is sent off to Callisto.
February 27 was a rough day for the R&D Directorate. Scientist Rosa Suda, the top missile specialist and just barely 30 years old, has died prematurely of natural causes. Harlan Welle takes over her work on reload rates, which was expected to complete in the summer, but this tragedy will have far longer-reaching consequences. Suda was expected to head up a major element of SPACE's weapons research efforts for decades: no scientific mind in the agency's annals reached such dizzying heights so quickly. Karabishi Juishao is now the clear replacement, but does not have Suda's talents and is 55 years old. Welle is 53 and the only other established scientist in the field. Early speculation holds that this may force SPACE to rely more on energy-based weapons in the future ...
March brings the shipment of the first Tennessee(Lt) along with required men and materials to Mars. Construction begins in April, and is expected to take as much as five years to complete. Meanwhile, before the end of the third month, Hank Rohrer(23) is been promoted to captain, less than three years after graduating the academy. Shortly afterwards, the navy has three admirals again with Jung Besler(52) the most recent to make rear admiral. Questionable health makes it an open issue how long she will be able to serve there. Leota Schnepel takes the vacated post at Senior Rear Admiral, where she is expected to stay as head of the Navy for the next couple of tours.
June 8 was one of those days that would be remembered for a while simply because multiple important events happened for whatever reason to converge at once. The final of the three Construction Brigades initially ordered finished its training -- with the timeframe building the off-world bases is requiring, at least two more have been ordered. It was also decided to divert some production from the bases to expanding ground unit construction facilities to enable an eventual third training unit at once. With ongoing construction currently happening on Reinmuth and Mars, the comet Faye would be their first assignment. Karabishi Juishao's report was presented, detailing a 60% increase in missile agility, and she takes over the final stages of the missile launcher reload rate project, started by Suda and continued by Welle when she died earlier this year. A third, and for the moment final, lab is added to the crucial Improved Geological Sensors project. Finally, Asa Hotz was promoted to Captain, and two days later Chong Vaugh(47) was named the fourth active rear admiral, a new high mark. This leaves Mitchell Feeser, just 33, as the top-ranking captain in the navy.
Later in the month, more naval recruits led to more promotions, and in this case the result is extending the career of Tell Perj Jr. who is promoted to Captain! The 49-year-old Perj was a year and a half away from mandatory retirement, but will now soldier on for another decade, having spent nearly three at his previous rank of commander.
Matters were fairly quiet until mid-September, when on the 15th Missile Launcher Reload Rate is completed(Dr. Juishao again in the news here). With this, the prototyping phase for the next generation of missiles can begin. She gets to work on the Defender II, which is expected to increase the hit rate by 6% and the payload by 50%, an estimated 78% increase in combat effectiveness and the ability to fire faster but still an overmatched weapons system.
Engineering also took another look at possibilities for anti-missile ballistics based on the improved agility specs. They didn't expect much -- internal estimates are that the next generation of engines will need to be available before such a thing becomes viable. They were right -- basically the effective chance to hit can now reach 4-8% instead of 3-7%, nowhere near being useful yet.
In October, the Army gets back a new general as Col. Beverly Kisinger, 31, is promoted. Later in the month, the research directorate suffered another loss with Delmar Ytuarte found to be the apparent victim of one of those senseless, seemingly random street crimes. He was prototyping one of the next-generation sensor suites, which will now be taken by the best available scientist, logistics specialist Curtis Gloster. Sensors & Fire Control now has only four active researchers, no better than half of what is really needed right now
It was quite the eventful year: the first Ticonderoga bases were established, untimely deaths of two key researchers, a number of new senior officers in both branches of the military, developments in missile and sensor technology, and continued development of minor outsystem colonies and outposts. The future continues to be promising but uncertain, and clouded with danger.
Research & Development
** January 19 -- Clint Wyche completes Genome Sequence Research.
** Feb. 26 -- Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Theory is published(Santo Makar). Ion Drives are now possible, but the research is prohibitively expensive for the time being. Makar begins work on improving jump drive efficiency instead. Another lab goes to Dr. Adolfo Walth, whose first project lead involves researching a high-density advancement in duranium armor.
** Late April -- Research lab completed and added to the duranium armor project.
** June 8 -- Improved Missile Agility completed(Karabishi Juishao).
** November 21 -- Deacon Palmer presents his report on Shipyard Operations, detailing minor decreases in the time and cost required for expansions, retooling, and the like. He'll next work on increasing the rate at which ships can be built.
** December 8 -- SITG ThermoScan 104, new military-grade thermal sensors, are unveiled by Dr. Julio Kuchler's team. He takes over Curtis Gloster's work on new actives, and Harlan Welle gets back in the game working on new missile launchers.
Commissioned Officers
March -- In a surprising development, given that there were a couple of more qualified officers, Daniel Watters is promoted to Commander.
Early August -- The energy weapons field gets even stronger with Eva Vadnais upping to 55%.
Early September -- Not resting on his laurels even at this late stage, Deacon Palmer has increased his expertise to 60%.
Mid-September -- A tiny increase in Daniel Watters' Fleet Movement Initiative has been noticed.
Early October -- Alberto Eighmy improves to 50% Factory Production.
Mid-October -- Eighmy makes a less-useful breakthrough in Terraforming(10%).
Late October -- Mitchell Feeser improves Operations to 15%
November 12 -- Richard Blade graduates the naval academy.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 146
Bonuses: Fighter Combat(15%), Fighter Operations(10%)
Personality: Narcissistic
Outlook: Not particularly talented, and those skills he does possess are obsolete. No initial command is expected, and he will need friends in high office in order to progress.
Mid-December -- Parker Lanzi, the latest naval prodigy, is promoted to Commander. Meanwhile, Alberto Eighmy continues a strong year, upping mining skill to 20% ahead of the election.
Colonial Developments
February 10 -- Machholz PDC Ticonderoga becomes the first off-world base.
February 24 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga is completed.
Late February -- Sedna expands to 24 complexes.
Mid-March -- Construction of the first off-world military base begins with the shipment of men and materials to Mars(Tennessee-class missile base).
Early June -- The final delivery of the ten mines for Callisto is made, though right now only one can operate at full capacity with the number of workers presently available there. The small amount of mining investment switches back to building automated mines for access of neutronium deposits in various outposts.
Mid-August -- Investment in Neujmin resumes with the first automated mine of the most recent wave being sent there.
November 1 -- Gallicite exhausted on Comas Sola.
Mid-November -- Sedna expands to 25 complexes.
Earth
Late March -- A new naval shipyard, dubbed the KSEC(even naval command isn't pretending to know what these initials stand for, a spokesman simply stated that this four-letter arrangement 'tested well in focus groups') is completed. With five commercial and four naval yards, SPACE is fairly satisfied with current shipyard status. With the other yards expanding for more substantial jobs, KSEC will take over the role of servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels.
November -- -- The shuttles fan out over the Sol system in anticipation of the coming election.
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How is my guy doing? Is he still alive?
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Governor Thone is still alive but has not been heard from much lately. He's had an eventful, though relatively speaking unimpressive, career at various minor outposts. He'll likely get a new assignment like most admins do after an election, but here's his timeline:
2027: Born two years after the formation of SPACE.
October 2048: Graduates GLTC
July 2053: First assignment, named interim governor at Prokne, the first and still only asteroid SPACE has ever invested in. This was during the Corundium Crisis when that mineral was at a premium.
2057: Transferred to the minor comet Reinmuth.
2061: Transferred to another minor comet, Faye.
2065: The circle is completed as he returned to the asteroid Prokne for a second tour.
His most notable exploit to date is definitely his participation in the mission to Epsilon Eridani. It is also worth noting that both Faye and Reinmuth have since become far more significant concerns. Jedidiah Thone has not developed much(admin rating of 2 is tied for last and he's a little better at mining/ground unit construction than when he graduated), but he just hasn't improved the skills needed to make a major success of himself. He's definitely still alive, at 41 years old he is eligible for a family member if such is desired but only just approaching the midpoint of his expected career. Health, the bane of many a beauracrat and civil servant, is still excellent and there's no reason not to expect another two decades of service.
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** Note: A 'SPACE AT 50' retrospective summary is planned for 2075, but right now six years takes a long time **
STATE OF SPACE, 2069
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.250b, 435 CF, 45 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 29 RL, 3 AC, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, SC)
Mars(38.74m)
Luna(37.06m)
Titan(16.78m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(7.12m)
Mercury(3.46m)
Io(200k)
Callisto(120k)
Ganymede(110k)
All colonies grew during the most recent cycle, though Titan and Luna were relatively stagnant as Mars became the most populous colony. The final of the Galilean moons, Europa, will be added to the list in the next year but that is expected to be it for quite some time as there are no other habitable places to go in Sol. The last fragments(4.5%) of pre-TN economic infrastructure are expected to be converted in the next few years.
Total population is at 1.354 billion(+9.2%).
IB. Outposts
Sedna(25 CMC, 16 eff, 8.19 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 30 eff, 3.27 kt)
Earth(50 SM, 45 CI, 8.6 eff, 1.03 kt) -- mercassium(0.9y), duranium(3.3)
Reinmuth(29.8 AM, 37 eff, 1.91 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(8.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.95 kt) -- corundium(3.8), mercassium(6.1)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 354t)
Faye(25 AM, 48 eff, 1.89 kt) -- tritanium(6.5)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 43 eff, 2.03 kt) -- corundium(2.8), sorium(8.6)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.48 kt)
Neujmin(20.8 AM, 42 eff, 1.45 kt) -- vendarite(3.1)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 52 eff, 1.67 kt) -- boronide(2.5), gallicite(3.9)
Wolf-Harrington(16.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.59 kt) -- corundium(7.8)
Borrelly(15.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.28 kt)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 952t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 181t)
Wild(5 AM, 34 eff, 268t)
Wolf(5 AM, 26 eff, 205t)
Total Production: 31.64 kt, a massive increase of just under 10kt per year, or 45.7%!! Much of this is due to increased efficiencies due to the installation of Sector Command, but continued expansion on Sedna and neutronium-focused investments on Reinmuth, Neujmin, and elsewhere also were significant contributors. Corundium deposits are set to dry up soon in several locations which will need to be watched closely, but Earth's deposits increased by about half in the last four years so it is not a short-term concern. The extreme long-period comet Ikeya-Zang(81.7 kt, 1.0 accessible) is the only really long-term solution, but at 13b km distant it is still decades away from being a convenient investment option. Other than trace amounts from Venus's massive reserves, it is the only untapped significant deposit in Sol.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A: Uridium(73 kt), Vendarite(45 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Corbomite(36 kt), Boronide(33 kt)
Boronide is promoted to Tier A with very little ship-building going on recently. This is expected to be a temporary situation.
Gallicite should have an asterisk here. Quite a bit was used in the defender missiles, but the stockpile still grew and that's the only major usage with none planned in the next year or so.
Tier B: Tritanium(38 kt), Mercassium(29 kt).
A modest increase in mercassium eliminated any concern on that front, and tritanium is demoted to B as it is being used on considerable amounts for base construction. The stockpile is still growing, so there's no supply issue at this point.
Tier C: Sorium(24.9 kt), Duranium(14.8 kt, Corundium(11.0 kt). All three rose sharply, with the near-tripling of duranium stockpiles leading to a demotion to this tier. This speaks to the increasing economic stability and strength that SPACE has demonstrated.
Tier D: Neutronium(6.15 kt) has recovered strongly and is slowly increasing, though it is still by far the most critical mineral concern, both short and long-term. Current supplies are enough to support all but the most aggressive shipbuilding activity.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 33.6 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 6.19 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 125 k
Total: 39.90m(+17.7%). The civilian share of the economy grew from about 13-16% this cycle, and it was a very strong growth period for the treasury.
Balance: 564m(+65m)
IE. Expenses
Research: 6.89m
Mineral Purchases: 6.01m
Installation Construction: 3.92m
Shipyard Operations: 2.60m
PDC Construction: 2.00m
GU Maintenance: 274k
GU Training: 199k
Maintenance Facilities: 76k
Shipbuilding: 61.5k
Total: 22.04m(-1.3%)
Contrary to the expectations four years ago, shipbuilding nearly ground to a halt, leading the way to the first overall decline in expenses that SPACE has ever seen. This is expected to reverse itself eventually with the Brooklyn and Nimitz classes entering production along with next-gen exploratory vessels, military and support ships down the road -- but for now it is the economy and the march of technology taking the lion's share of expenses.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 84.1 kt capacity)
** Expanding for the next generation of higher-capacity freighters(approx. 150 kt)
P&A Group(4, 54 kt)
** Expanding in preparation for larger harvesters, target of 70-80kt. Still a number of years out, and waiting for next-gen engines as well.
Estalerios Navais(2, 23.2 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 10 kt)
** Idle
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 14 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz Class, Summer 2069
Baltimore Marine(2, 5.62 kt)
** Expanding Capacity
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 4.05 kt)
** Expanding Capacity, eventually for the Brooklyn class in some years time
KSEC(1, 1 kt)
** Adding a second slipway(February), for use as the new maintenance yard for Forrestals and other small vessels.
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Two active training facilities
** Construction Brigade(Fall 2069)
** Garrison Battalion(April 2069)
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(33%) -- March 2069
Alaska PDC(15%) -- Four ordered, Early 2080s
Ground Force Training Facility(10%) -- Early 2071
CF Conversions(9%) -- 5 remaining on the current run, due in February
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 8%) -- 4-5 per year
Maintenance Facilities(6%) -- 5 remaining, Mid-2070
Prefab Alaska PDC(5%) -- For Titan, Early 2080s
Prefab Tennessee PDC(5%) -- Two more needed, Summer 2072
Prefab Tennessee(Lt) PDC(5%) -- 1 left, Spring 2071
Infrastructure(2%) -- 14 left on final run, February 2069
Prefab Ticonderoga PDC(1%) -- Early 2080s, 11 left for various minor outposts
Mine Conversions(conventional industry to standard, 1%) -- 4-5 per year
V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Improved Meson Cannons -- larger focal size(Eva Vadnais) -- February 2069
** Defender II Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- February 2069
** Thermal Reduction(Edward Groat) -- Late Spring/Early Summer 2069
** GEI MSS 180 -- active missile search sensors(Billie Allington) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Defender MLS(Harlan Welle) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Improved Meson Cannons -- better focusing(Joe Tycho) -- November/December 2069
** GEI SSS 168 -- military-grade active search sensors(Julio Kuchler) -- December 2069/January 2070
** Improved Fire Control Speeds(Elwood Tousant) -- Spring/Summer 2070
** Increased Reactor Power(Rosemary Urenda) -- Summer 2070
** Hangar Deck(Brandon Grimmett) -- Late 2070/Early 2071
** EM Sensor Sensitivity(Everett Snuggs) -- Early 2071
** Planetary Sensors(Bessie Wallander) -- Mid-2071
** High-Density Duranium Armor(Adolfo Walth) -- Mid-2071
** Increaseed Shipbuilding Rate(Deacon Palmer) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Tiny Engineering Module(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Improved Jump Drive Efficiency(Santo Makar) -- Late 2072/Early 2073
** Improved Geological Sensors(Clint Wyche) -- 2076/2077
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
VI A. Ships
TT Arleigh Burke(2, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
SB Forrestal IIb(14, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexingon IIIc(5, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
ST Lexington IIId(19, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(21, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)
Total: 80 vessels(+9.5%), 1.10 mt(+43%), 5.82k crew(+26%), 33.5m liters fuel(+24%)
As has been noted elsewhere the growth of the navy slowed dramatically during this cycle. The commercial needs of SPACE are well-satisfied by the present assets, but as combat-role ships ramp up production, the force is expected to multiply.
VI B. Planetary Defense Centers
PDC Ticonderoga(2, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 2 Bases, 32 crew
Even though they are not ships in any sense, as their primary purpose is defending against space-based threats, planetside bases are still considered part of the navy and commanded by naval officers.
Available Crew: 96.5k(+12.6%)
VI C. Fuel Status
Earth -- 23.9m liters
Titan -- 9.69m liters
Callisto -- 5.33m liters
Total -- 38.9m liters(+2.9%). The tanks continue to grow, but very slowly. There is enough to run every ship in the navy non-stop for less than two and a half years. The plan at the moment is to upgrade to a much larger, higher-capacity harvester when the next generation of engines arrives, which is expected to take a decade or two.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(3)
** Construction Brigades(3)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(6)
** Garrison Battalion(21)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 197k(+71%)
With new Construction Brigades needed to get naval bases up and running as soon as possible, garrisons to staff them, and Earth short of the desired amount of mobile infantry, there is need for new men everwhere. The Army is expected to continue to grow for at least the next decade.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Voliva Carrier Company(48 vessels, 4.61m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(15, 1.04m)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 460k)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, 150k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 120k)
Presnar Freight(2, 110k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, 20k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Total Vessels: 80(+11%)
Total Civilian Income: 6.57m(+42%)
Voliva continues to dominate with a 70% market share, but that's down from 75% last cycle. Overall the civilian sector showed incredible expansion with most competitors expanding either operations or profits, both in the case of top rival Jensrud TT. Ouellet managed to triple their business with only two operational vessels, partly through modernization, and moved into the #3 spot decisively.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 92 of 124 assigned(74.2%), -14%
** Ground Forces Officers: 38 of 48(79.2%), +8.5%
** Civilian Administrators: 26 of 29(89.7%), +8%
** Scientists: 17 of 30(56.7%), -- +8%
Overall: 173 of 231(74.9%), -2%
Merely graduating the academy no longer is a guarantee of a navy command as the output of the GLTC has increased, but opportunities have improved in all other branches and 11 new positions were added in the navy as well. Administrators continue to be in increasingly short supply, but it is hoped that the quality and available candidates will improve now as Sol has nearly reached full colonization.
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With his new promotion Commander Watters reapplies for a command position on the next available warship.
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Admiral Schnepel stifles her laughter and points to the two dozen more qualified Commanders waiting for such an opportunity.
2069 Election
India Rakes is required to step aside for a term, leaving Herbert Duling as the expected, prohibitive favorite. Rakes will take over as Governor of Earth for the next tour in a supporting role. Duling's health has not significantly improved, and at 55 the possibility that he could be forced into retirement at any time is a very real issue.
Additionally, the remaining members of the original contingent at SPACE HQ, Terrence Forson and Jayson Riese, both are retiring at age 65 and struggling health. This leaves the agency with just a single spare candidate. Forson was a long-time contributor to important positions such as Mars and Sedna before through the mid-50s, while Riese spent most of his career watching from the sidelines, his highlight an 8-month tour as interim director in '36.
While the other 27 administrators remain in service, health is an major issue for many including almost all of those on the final ballot. Alberto Eighmy continues to be a prime example, as the Governor of Mars has skills second only to Duling but is in very poor health that has not improved over time. Delois Woznicki is still very talented and still has not learned how to manage on a large scale.
This leaves only Mercury's governor, Jarrett Hugh, and Eighmy as realistic challengers to Duling. The final ballot features a total of seven names this year. Duling's brand appears to have shattered. While once he couldn't put a foot wrong politically, he had a very poor campaign this year and the ailing Eighmy made a serious run at the Directorship. Last election's surprise third-place finisher Larry Steckel had a brilliant, near-perfect campaign, but still doesn't have the base of power to seriously threaten the top challengers.
Faced with only very flawed choices, 248 million electors chose as first-time Director the ailing 44-year-old Alberto Eighmy, with a thin margin over Duling of 17.6% to 16.9%. It is the smallest plurality that a winning candidate has ever received, and Eighmy's directorship is anticipated to be a shaky thing on multiple fronts. Duling is headed to Mars, where he will attempt to find some way to recover from consecutive close defeats in the last two elections. The rest of the results:
Larry Steckel(15.7%) -- Luna
Jarrett Hugh(15.0%) -- Titan
James Earl Jones V(13.9%) -- Venus
Burt Stonerock(10.7%) -- Mercury
Riley Awad(10.2%) -- Io
Hugh and Awad are both in good health, and their showings were extremely disappointing. The larger question to come out of this election is the vital need for more qualified administrators, as health and aging issues become more pressing with each passing year and the electorate clearly could not rally behind any one candidate.
Policy Review
Although most of the branches would do fine without it, an academy expansion is ordered from three to four in order to up the search for new qualified administrators. Beyond that though, there are no changes made. Under the circumstances, Eighmy needs only to survive(physically) his term for it to be labeled a success.
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Civilian Character Update
Jedidiah Thone(2) -- A modest promotion to a more significant comet(Crommelin) leaves Governor Thone at somewhat of a career crossroads.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- His first regular assignment after a two-year interim stint at Callisto has the ambitous young beauracrat heading to the comet Faye, which has become more important in recent years due to neutronium investment. He'll first oversee the final stages of the Ticonderoga-class observation base that is expected to be completed in the next few weeks.
Karabishi Juishao(MK 40) -- The tragic loss of Dr. Suda last year has made Karabishi invaluable to SPACE as the only notable mind in the ballistic weapons and related fields. She is currently finishing up the Defender II prototype, and is expected to be very busy for the final decade and a half of her expected career. Unless another young missile scientist comes along though, it is an open question how valuable her legacy will really turn out to be ...
Malik Kaine -- Waiting list
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2069 Annual Report
The most significant practical change with Eighmy moving into the Director's Office is that he is more adept at factory production, less adept at mining, which means more will be produced with less resources. With the dizzying number of industrial needs on Earth, this may not be a bad thing.
Other than that he is standing pat, even to the point of not acting on a couple of minor policy changes that are currently pending and recommended. As his hold on power is tenuous at best, Eighmy intends to fight only those battles which need fighting, politically speaking. Before the first month of the year was out, pessimistic physical evaluations of two key personnel further weakened the state of things as SPACE's top leaders continue to face medical struggles. Governor Herbert Duling(Mars) and Dr. Julio Kuchler(top sensors scientist) were the affected men. Both will continue in their current assignments, but both have poor prognosis in the long-term, particularly troubling in the case of Kuchler who is only 36.
Meanwhile, the first colonists arrive on Europa as a long-standing project is completed: the 2% Initiative has nowhere else to go. Every habitable rock in Sol has been colonized, and what's more all of the colonies have maxed out their existing infrastructure, some exceeding it. At this point, colonial growth(just over 100m total pop. at the moment) is up to the private sector. SPACE sees no compelling reason to make any further investment.
By March, with a few relatively minor reports detailed in the department summaries, Ticonderoga-class bases were operational on Reinmuth and Faye, and all three construction brigades focused on Mars. Even so, it was still expected to take an additional year and a half for completion of the first missile base there.
May brought the completion of the first of the behemoth Alaska-classes bases on Earth. They require a captain in command, and Asa Hotz is appointed. Just weeks later in early June, Wartsila completes retooling and the first Nimitz enters production.
In August, a second Tennessee(Lt) is begun on Luna with the graduation of a fourth brigade from training.
October brought news of a significant oversight. The previous presumption with little thought directed to the matter that missiles would be transported in the Fletcher freighters proved ... hazardous. Only by quick thinking were a number of accidents avoided. It became obvious that a dedicated ship type would be needed to transport ordnance, which probably should have been obvious but it was overlooked. Once again Engineering worked quickly, and the collier was born.
Tarawa-class Collier
Size: 6.4kt
Crew: 85
Speed: 781 km/s(just a bit slower than the current Fletcher freighters)
Cost: 573k(15 months)
Maint. Life: 4.12 years
Missile Storage: 180 Defender IIs
Defenses: 1 CIWS II Battery, standard commercial-issue sensors.
It could have been made bigger or smaller, but at present has enough space to resupply 6 Tennessee or Nimitz, and nearly half of an Alaska base. The size was determined by the fact that the largest available military shipyard, Baltimore Marine, can accomodate no larger a vessel right now.
Retooling is expected to take about six months, so the first Tarawa should enter service by the end of 2071. Only the Mars base is expected to be operational before then anyway, so consequences shouldn't be too drastic.
Less than 48 hours before the new year, there was one final bit of significant news. SPACE's longest-running major project, the industrial conversion from convention to TN facilities, has finally been completed as the last factory has its equipment repurposed for mining use. In one fashion or another, the economic conversion has been underway for 40 years, nearly as long as SPACE has been in existence as an entity.
This also means a slow-down in deployment of new mines and factories, as they will now have to be built from scratch which takes considerably more time and resources.
2069 saw the economic conversion completed, acceleration of missile base construction, completion of the 2% Initiative and with it full colonization of Sol, final refits of the shuttles, new military-grade sensors completed, many relatively minor research advancements, new missile systems readied for service, and of course the birth of the Tarawa Collier ship class. A lot of things were wrapped up, and the focus for the future is all the clearer for it.
Colonial Developments
January 10 -- Reinmuth completes Ticonderoga-class base.
February 4 -- Faye completes Ticonderoga.
Research & Development
** February 11 -- 12cm Meson Focal Size completed(Dr. Eva Vadnais). Reassigned to improving Turret Tracking Speed, for which she will need another laboratory complex.
** February 16 -- Defender II(Karabishi Juishao) prototype is completed, and ushered into production immediately as the old Defender missiles, none of which were so much as loaded into a magazine, are scrapped. Juishao will now work on a new missile launcher for ship-based Defender IIs.
** February 25 -- The vital sensors field gets a boost as the once-maligned Elwood Tousant improves to 35% expertise, making him the clear #2 behind Kuchler.
** February 28 -- Research lab completed and added to Turret Tracking Speed.
** Early May -- Edward Groat, tops in Defensive Systems, improved to 35% expertise as he wraps up his present assignment. On the 23rd, Engine Thermal Reduction to 35% is announced. A Damage Control System, for use on repairs 'in the field', is next up and leaves one complex unaccounted for. On-again, off-again Wayne Sabagh gets set to investigate lasers in the near-UV range. There are now 18 active projects, a number that continues to creep slowly upwards
** August 9 -- Defender II MLS(s) prototype is completed(Karabishi Juishao). She'll next work on Levitated-Pit Implosion Warheads -- I don't have the faintest clue what all that means, but it promises to improve explosive yield of our missiles significantly.
** September 13 -- GEI MSS 180, the latest in military-grade missile search sensors, is finished(Billie Allington). The labs are redirected for the moment to the Levitated-Pit Warhead and Near-UV Laser projects.
** September 20 -- Defender II MLS(p) is completed(Harlan Welle). Allington's gets back to it with work on improving active sensors(the next generation of thermals is ready and EM is being researched at the moment), but there will need to be a bigger investment of lab space eventually.
** November 26 -- A new research lab is completed and added to Active Grav Sensor Strength, but a third will be needed.
** Early December -- Meson Focusing Technology is improved by Joe Tycho's research team. This allows for a third lab to go to the active sensors team, while Tycho takes over the Near-UV Laser development, which has been led by Sabagh up to this point and is less than 10% completed.
** Mid-December -- Dr. Julio Kuchler's team completes the GEI SSS 168, second-generation active search sensor. Kuchler relieves Billie Allington(active grav sensors), and Wayne Sabagh begins work on a new meson cannon(WT Excalibur 124) taking advantadge of recent improvements.
One lab is diverted from the active sensors for Allington to work on a new prototype for a more space-efficient missile fire control system(RSJ MFC 72-60). This is the final step toward a new generation of missile bases and ships, though there is still much to be done on the energy weapons side of things.
Earth
February 24 -- KSEC Shipyard expands to two slipways, officially taking over as the maintainer of the Forrestals.
February 26th -- Refitting of the Lexington shuttles to the most modern and spacious(6 VIP capacity) IIId variant is completed.
May -- With the duranium stockpile still increasing, it is decided to keep increasing construction factories on Earth from the current 450 to a total of 500.
Mid-December -- Mercassium becomes the latest mineral to be exhausted on Earth, with duranium set to join it in about three years' time.
Late December -- A maintenance failure forces one of the sensor boats at Epsilon Eridani to come home for resupply several months ahead of schedule.
Commissioned Officers
Late March -- The navy dismisses a single officer, the first such action in a number of years.
Late May -- Conor Zavier increases Fleet Movement Initiative to 137.
Early August -- Jedidiah Thone increases Factory Production bonus, now at 5%. Irrelevant now, but it's useful in building a resume for more important assignments.
Early August -- A new administrator graduates the academy, which is notable only because there is at least a backup now with all the current beauracrats assigned to posts already.
Mid-October -- Dr. Justin Stdenis, unimpressive enough that he'd never had a project lead, is the latest scientist to die before his time.
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Retirements
Captain Claudio Offutt -- Claudio spent almost his entire career as a Captain, taking less than five years to reach the rank in early 2035. He was a survey officer, mostly at Fleet HQ, for the last 35 years and will not easily be replaced in that capacity. A man who served well for a long time, he never had the connections or varied skills required to make it further.
Major General Abel Rosinski -- Objectively the best army officer SPACE has ever had, Rosinski was more than able, made general rank in less than four years, spending most of his career as the second-in-command to legendary Sterling Silvers. He has been Chief of the Army for only a single two-year tour.
Brigadier General Conrad Brocklehurst -- A 30-year veteran of general rank, Brocklehurst spent a number years in policing duty on Venus before returning to Earth to head one of the modern brigades. Limitations in training skill kept him from advancing any further up the chain.
Colonel Rickie Drexler also retired this year.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 6th out of 29. Basically treading water as a number of officers have passed him by, keeping up with promotions. Another tour awaits at the important Epsilon Eridani point.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 26th. After six years at Saturn on harvesting duty, he'll be shuttling garrison battalions to the new military bases being set up around the system on board one of the Portland-class troop transports.
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 68th out of 88. Still unassigned, and a dozen officers between him and another command. It's a puzzle why he hasn't been dismissed yet.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 15th. In a reversal of his demotion last tour, he's headed back out to Saturn.
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 25th. Watters will now take the helm one of the brigade-level Burke troop transports, responsible for moving the construction brigades around the system as they work on setting up various outposts.
Lt. Cmdr. Richard Blade -- 65th. 10 spots out of a first command, his prospects haven't improved yet.
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2070 ANNUAL REPORT
The expected round of promotions included new Chief of the Army Anton Engelhardt(46, M) being promoted to Major General, Filomena Miga(34, F) Dave Fruth(23, M) moving up to Brigadier General, and the last real prodigy in the naval pipeline, Parker Lanzi(23, M) moving up to Captain.
A new standard in beam fire controls(3k km/s base) is reached on January 27 by Elwood Tousant's team, and this is relevant for two reasons. It allows for a marginal but significant chance of hitting known alien missiles(somewhere around 25% accuracy expected with large suites) and also allows smaller fire controls to be used vs. their known enemy ships, allowing for size decreases or greater range. Fire control development is split into two tracks, the new Bullseye 12k having a 50% increase in speed over the current version, and Ramsey Sheets & Johnson also are developing the Hybrid system which balances speed and range.
On February 3, Rosemary Tallant(24, F) becomes the 10th active navy Captain. From now on, we will note only rear admiral promotions in this space due to increasing number of captains.
In March, the final maintenance facility arrives at Callisto, completing 800t capacity at both refueling colonies. Around the same time, the first pair of Tarawa-class colliers enters production, retooling having been completed at Baltimore Marine Shipyard.
May brings awareness of a need for a new ship class, a supply ship to ferry maintenance supplies between Earth and Titan/Callisto. The Cleveland class is born, which is basically a shuttle with a maintenance storage bay added on.
Size: 2.1kt
Crew: 30
Maint. Storage: 1.04 kt
Speed: 2380 km/s
Range: 92.3 b km
Cost: 136k(just shy of six months)
Yokohama Docks takes the project of getting a pair of Clevelands into service.
In mid-July, the second-ranking officer in the Navy, Rear Admiral Anton Ericson, is forced into early retirement for medical reasons. Anton was expected to be a long-running replacement for Schnepel, so this is definitely a major loss to the branch. Chong Vaugh, also in poor health, is the new heir apparent and Mitchell Feeser is promoted to give the service four rear admirals again. At 35, he is by far the youngest to reach that post.
After a quiet summer and early fall, October brings the training of a 5th Construction Brigade(deployed immediately to assist the one already on Luna) and the first Cleveland enters service, immediately taking 200t of maintenance supplies to Callisto and Titan each.
A quiet year for SPACE, 2070 sees prototyping of new beam fire controls and the development and deployment of the Cleveland-class supply ship as highlights, while the loss of Rear Admiral Ericson certainly was the biggest disappointment. Completing small-scale maintenance capabilies at Titan and Callisto is also worthy of mention. 2071 is expected to bring more activity, with the first Nimitz expected to enter service, the first off-world missile base expected to be completed on Mars, and no less than ten significant research projects slated for completion.
Commissioned Officers
February -- A number of officers, some high-ranking such as Rear Admiral Chong Vaugh, have medical problems diagnosed in a cursed month for military personnel. One exception is Admiral Schnepel, who actually strengthened her position with many new political contacts(25% reliability).
Late March -- Daniel Watters increases Fleet Movement Initiative to 164, a modest increase.
Mid April -- Christopher Blair improves Fleet Movement Initiative to 191.
Late April -- Jedidiah Thone increases admin rating to 3 ... unfortunately for him, Earth requires 4 and Sol Command 5, a recent increase.
Early June -- Thone is in the news again, up to 10% shipbuilding.
Early August -- Two significant skill increases, with Director Eighmy's Shipbuilding skill increasing to 10% with the recent projects(1 Nimitz, 1 Cleveland, and 2 Tarawa's are currently under production). Meanwhile, Dr. Wayne Sabagh ups to 25% in the field of energy weapons.
Early September -- Earnest Joeckel becomes the latest naval prodigy to graduate the academy. He's not as skilled as the likes of Feeser, Gullo, etc., but is considered the equal of the top Commanders right now, particularly in matters of crew training.
Also, Oled Mrtav increases Fleet Movement Initiative to 357.
Early November -- A marginal improvement for Christopher Blair(222 Initiative).
Earth
Mid-January -- The Tod&MacGregor reaches 100kt capacity: it will need at least 160k for the next generation of super-freighters intended for outsystem and/or interstellar shipping.
Spring -- Sedna expands to 26 complexes.
October 1 -- The first of the Clevelands enters service, and a second is begun.
Research & Development
** January 27 -- Fire Control Speed(3k km/s base) has been completed by Elwood Tousant's team. Tousant will work on the Bullseye system first, while Curtis Gloster gets the Hybrid team going.
** July 10 -- Dr. Rosemary Urenda's team completes the next stage in reactor enhancements(+15% power). The GE GCF series is born with two variants(a small 25-ton one like the current models in use, and a 150-ton for larger applications). Urenda and newcomer Reynaldo Darrington take the project leads in the prototype phase for these.
** July 30 -- New beam fire controls are completed(RSJ Bullseye 12k) by Elwood Tousant. He'll next work on improving their anti-missile tracking bonuses, and will need another lab for this which will shortly be available.
** August 15 -- The latest research lab is assigned to Tousant's work on missile tracking.
** September 25 -- Dr. Reynaldo Darrington's first project is complete, prototyping one of the new GCF reactors. Increasing the maximum number of ships per jump is his next goal, and will require at least one more complex in time.
** December 20 -- The Hybrid fire control is complete(Curtis Gloster). The lab is diverted to Darrington's jump research, who reports he will need yet another to finish on time.
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CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE
Jedidiah Thone(3) -- Jedidiah has been the most improved of several small-time beauracrats who have bettered themselves the last couple of years. After minor postings most of his career, he's now a respected middle-of-the-pack outpost governor, but will need to continue to improve if he hopes to gain any type of colonial posting.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- A quite couple of years on Faye for Bloise, who is beginning to smell like a disappointment.
Karabish Juishao(MK 45) -- Juishao has another couple of years in her work on new missile warheads, and remains the dominant face in missile/ballistic technology at SPACE.
Malik Kaine -- Awaiting an appropriate chance at the academy yet.
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Sweet.
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2071 ANNUAL REPORT
As the year began, the happy news was announced that all minerals, even neutronium, were now creeping upward again. Alberto Eighmy has managed at least to keep the machinery running and not screw anything up, somewhat blunting the health concerns so far.
February saw the first significant news of the year with the Mars Tennessee base going operational on the 10th. Two brigades were diverted to Luna with the third sent out to distant Sedna(expanded again to 27 complexes within the previous week). Earnest Joeckel was appointed as the interim CO.
The spring brought some interesting recruits from the academies and various research projects completing. In March, a new round of passive sensor prototyping began and the second Cleveland-class supply ship was finished, and April followed with the first naval purge in some years. Later in the month, the Tarawa colliers were completed and one of them headed to fill the empty launchers on the Mars base. At the same time, two new Burke-class transports were begun to handle the increasing workload in transporting construction brigades around the system.
The summer was extremely busy and productive, beginning on June 8 with the announcement by Dr. Adolfo Walth that for the first time in decades an advancement in ship armor has been reached, in the form of a high-density version of the current duranium armor. Estimates indicate about a 20% reduction in weight and space required, with the same investment of duranium. A modest improvement, but nonetheless worth noting, and the new HD armor will be integrated into all new designs.
Harlan Welle gets to work on a new prototype, an upgrade of existing CIWS systems to take advantadge of new, faster tracking speeds. Also, [/b]David Gruis[/b] starts off work on increasing capacitor recharge rates, a project which is really mostly intended to get him some experience in the hopes of developing the power & propulsion scientist into a more productive leader. For now, the one lab leaves the project woefully understaffed.
The total number of active research teams is now at a record 20, largely due to six 'small' prototype development phases going on.
July brought better planetary sensors, but that news was soon forgotten as two days later on the 23rd SPACE had inaugurated the first human space-capable combat navy with the launch of the first Nimitz-class missile boat. Recent graduate Chance Perj has interim command with precise orders to do absolutely nothing beyond basic crew drilling until an experienced commander is appointed at the end of the year. A second Nimitz is begun immediately as well, which will probably be the last of this version as many components are already obsolete compared to SPACE's best technology. It was, however, not deemed prudent to design a more modern version until the next generation of active sensors becomes available(1-2 years yet).
Meanwhile, Yokohama Docks is at 10.7kt, some 4kt+ away from being ready to support a Brooklyn-class construction.
The second half of the year was not nearly as newsworthy. 2071 was a very eventful year for SPACE, with the deployments of the first Nimitz as well as the Tarawas and Clevelands keeping the navy busy, while leadership and scientific advances were too numerous to summarize. The thickness of the appendices in this year's report has rarely been approached for this reason. '72 has a moderate amount of research coming but aside from that and the election it is expected to be quieter.
Commissioned Officers
Late January -- Judah Thone commissioned in the Navy.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 199
Training: 75
Bonuses: Terraforming(20%), Survey(10%)
Personality: Embraces change, Enterprising, Pessimistic
Outlook: A moderately-talented officer, Thone is fairly middle-of-the-pack among current LtCs and is expected to be appointed to a command at the end of the year. He's fairly well-balanced, useful for ship commands or specialized teams.
April -- Herbert Duling increases his record-setting political connections(45%).
April 3 -- The first naval purge in several years sees nine officers relieved of their non-duties. Among them is Jay Cin IV.
April 12 -- Rosendo Hoglen(M, 22) becomes the latest Brigadier General.
Late April -- Jedidiah Thone increases population growth bonus to 15%.
Early May -- Dr. Everette Snuggs is up to 50%. He's prototyping new EM sensors for now, but has joined the elite class of scientists with this advancement and will be able to command appointments in Logistics & Ground Combat. Unfortunately this will be of limited use since both he and fellow LGC stalwart Brandon Grimett are both facing retirement later this decade at 67 years old each, though Cedrick Wormack has a little over a decade left.
Mid-May -- More news from former director Duling as he announces breakthroughs in ground unit training speeds(40%).
Early June -- Top Defensive Systems researcher Edward Groat has progressed to 40%.
Late July -- Again Duling is in the news, this time with a terraforming breakthrough.
Early August -- Ronald Dunkin is the latest naval prodigy to be worthy of remembering. With solid political connections and genius-level ability to train crews under his command, Dunkin is expected to do great things.
Late September -- Daniel Watters also sees a small increase in Initiative to 210.
Mid-November -- Missile research got a significant bump as Harlan Welle made a major personal breakthrough, nearly doubling his effectiveness to 25%. He's now a serviceable #2 behind Juishao in the field.
Early December -- Duling again, now increasing Mining to 50%. He's the runaway favorite in '73 now, poor health or not.
Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Jung Besler has made a breakthrough in training techniques(up to 275), and has now surpassed Chong Vaugh as the top candidate to replace Schnepel. The final decision on that appointment will be made in just 20 days ...
Shortly afterwards, the other admiral Mitchell Feeser made a significant jump in Operations, but he's still well behind Besler and Vaugh for the time being.
Research & Development
** February 18 -- Hangar Decks are now available, courtesy of Brandon Grimmett and team. Next up in Logistics is an Ultra Large fuel storage module(5m liters, for use in tankers etc.). This is now a second project in need of additional lab help.
** Early March -- Everette Snuggs has completed an increase in EM Sensors(Sensitivityx8). One lab each is diverted to aid the Darrington and Grimmett teams, bringing all current projects up to full funding. Snuggs gets back at it with next generation of military EM suites, the SITG Emdar-36, 20% more powerful and 10% smaller than the current iteration at 225t.
** April 15 -- A new turret is complete thanks to the work of Wayne Sabagh. Curtis Gloster takes on prototyping the next generation of civilian-grade thermal sensors.
** April 29 -- A new research lab is completed and devoted to improved civilian-grade EM sensors, under the direction of long-idle Shanon Patteson.
** June 30 -- Rosemary Urenda's team finishes the new GCF reactors. She next takes over the capacitor research project, which Gruis led without distinction or much progress either for four weeks.
** July 15 -- General-purpose EM sensors are now ready(Curtis Gloster). Gruis takes on another basically 'make-work' task, diving into more efficient maneuvering thrusters(25% power).
** July 21 -- Bessie Wallander's team completes an increase into Planetary Sensor Strength, effectively increasing the range of our deep-space tracking stations by a third. Maintaining the same two labs, she'll next direct research into increasing the range of our beam weapon fire controls.
** August 1 -- The new civilian EM sensors are now available(]b\Shanon Patteson[/b]). Wayne Sabagh is back in action now to investigate larger, more powerful lasers.
** September 26 -- Eva Vadnais and team have increased turret tracking speed, allowing for more efficient use of space via less gearing required. She'll investigate advances in meson cannons with her pair of labs next.
** November 5 -- New missile fire controls have finished the prototype phase(Billie Allington) and are ready for use. Wayne Sabagh's laser research claims the lab space.
** December 13 -- Deacon Palmer's team unveils a 16% increase in shipbuilding speed, reducing the expected completion time of the second Nimitz by nearly six months.
For his final contribution, he will research a module capable of building a highly classified device colloquially known as a 'jump gate'. If constructed, it is believed this device would allow for ships to navigate a jump point without the aid of a dedicated jump engine. It seems a fitting end to a fantastic career.
** December 18 -- Tiny Engineering Sections are now available for fine-tuning ship designs, thanks to Cedrick Wormack. He'll next investigate a topic once thought to soley be the domain of science fiction: ship-to-ship tractor beams. Should a catastrophic maintenance failure be experienced, they may well be necessary in the future, and it has been theorized that orbital facilities could be moved to differing locations with their use as well. More resources will be needed beyond the lone initial lab he begins with.
Earth
April 25 -- The two Tarawa-class colliers are finished. Judah Thone gets one of the interim command assignments, and missiles are quickly shipped to Mars.
May 23 -- An expansion to the army training facilities on Earth has been completed, allowing for three units to be trained at once. Another construction brigade is recruited immediately.
Early July -- A third slipway is added to the KSEC Shipyard, tasked with all Forrestal operations, and a fourth is begun.
July 29 -- The last of the Tennessee missile bases has completed prefabrication on Earth, and more resources are diverted to the Alaskas which are now expected to be finished by the middle of the decade.
August 3 -- The initial run of Defender II missiles(1000 of them) is completed on Earth.
Mid-October -- The long journey to Sedna has finally been completed, and construction of a the Tennessee-class base over 11 billion kilometers out from Earth has begun.
December 20 -- A new construction brigade is finished on Earth, the sixth with a seventh in training. It will be sent to Sedna, but that deployment was delayed due to the impending reassignment at the end of the eyar.
December 28 -- Earth's second Alaska-class base is finished in the waning days of the year.
Colonial Developments
May 3 -- Another complex comes on-line on Sedna(28 in total now).
** A couple of mineral deposits of minor importance were also exhausted this year, one on Crommelin and another on Neujmin. Vendarite and Boronide, both with considerable stockpiles available, were affected.
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Behind Jessica the flames died down as one of the Robots turned a few oil-dripping patties. Working the Register she barely noticed the things that happend in the kitchen where 2 Dozen employees and as much machines worked in concert. It was a silent night with just 50 tables to service in the marsian McDonalds on this Wednesday. Soon she would end her shift, take her "free meal" slip and go home for good.
"frakking Furries!" Tom one of her Coworkers manning another register suddenly spoke up.
"What?" a bit shocked Jessica turned.
"They are almost as bad as Aliens. No culture, no pride in theyr godgiven humanity and those frakking freaks would abandon us real humans if they had the chance to go native. Just look art those fuzzy idiots!"
Silently Jessica followed Toms glance to one of the tables situated near the windows on the left side. Sure enough there was a couple with children. She sporting a snowwhite blacktipped pair of Fox-ears and a matching tail that wagged behind her while her companion wore a broad collar and a animal themed Tshirt. The children were pretty normal though, a bit hyperactive as children were today, playing with the toys of theyr Happymeals.
Jessica remembered them now. The Woman had ordered theyr stuff, DoubleVeggieburger with Hot sauce, Veggiesticks, 4 Cheesesburgers, 2 Happymeals with Chickenburgers, 4 Flurries with chocolate-sauce all in all very unhealthy and 35.67 . Jessica shook her had, her training as cashier was intruding on her private thoughts again.
The tail and the ears weren't cheap animatronic augmentations, she continued to think, instead they were labgrown tissue with many tweaks that allowed them to be integrated into the body without rejection, in other words expensive as hell. Maybe a Weddinggift? she monologued internally leaning on the counter as she remembered Tom.
"You know your a racist and an asshole." Jessica said calmly but annoyed.
"Yeah no. Seriously those arent even humans anymore how can I be an racist? And that little bitch shouldnt be allowed to breed. God knows what they will do to the poor children they already have. They should take them away and give them to a good christian home."
Jessica glanced over angry voicing her disapproval. "You should stop badmouthing our customers, dickhead. And besides shes a Vixen if i recall the term."
"Vixen huh? So your one of them now or what? Do you have a thing for animals or just her tail? You know Jesus can still save you." he returned snidely.
Jessica stared at Tom shocked again, a roll of coins clenched in her fist.
20 Minutes later, just 10 minutes after her shift would noramly end jessica found herself in the office of her Supervisor.
"You broke his nose! Twice!" Mr. Esher said.
"Hes lucky it wasnt 3 times." Jessica replied murmuring.
"For frakks sake! You broke his nose in front of customers! With a roll of coins!" The big man shouted furrowing his forehead while he ignored her remark. He also did a weaponsgrade doublefacepalm a second later covering himself up with both of his black hands.
"You know that will be all over the web. I wont be able to save you." he said much calmer.
"I know." Jessica replied standing uneasy in the little room.
"I dont understand it Miss Sattler. Why would you do such a thing?"
"He offended and slandered our customers."
"Is that so? You could have filled in a complaint form, it would have been his third. I would have booted him personaly but instead i have to give him a week off and extra pay. So why again?"
"Well he also..." Jessica lowered the her voice with each word. "he also offended me."
"And you pommel him to near death for it?"
She looked up "I ... I ... yes sir."
Esher sighted. "I dont like it but McDonalds Policy has it that i have to fire you."
"Yes Sir." She answered sad.
"Leave you uniform and we will send you your last paycheck." he sighted again sitting down behind his table. "You are dismissed".
"Ok." She turned and walked towards the door tears in her eyes for a job she didnt like but very much needed. She only stopped as Eshers voice was heard again.
"Which customers?"
"Table 18 Sir. The family." She replied.
Behind her a few clicks echoed.
"Was it worth it?"
"It was." she smiled.
"You may go." Mr. Esher said more friendly.
On the way home, taking the long scenic route through Tardis town, Jessicas Phone started chiming. First it was a alert on her name forwarded by a webcrawler she used. Sure enough the Video went Viral almost instantly gathering the 60.000 view already. A few steps later she received an Email from her Landlord telling here to vacate her small appartment within 2 weeks.
Her insurance didnt boot her but thanks to the video doubled her rates since she was recategorized as "aggressive personality".
The sportsclub she attended also canceled the contract between them, while a wave of new comments in her Blog pilled up in the background.
"What will you do?" Elain Sattler asked from the screen. Her daughter, just in a pair of panties and a bra was sprawled out on the couch. It was day two after Jessica was fired, the call of her Mother had just woken her a few minutes ago.
"Dont know. Well actually packing my stuff i think?" Jessica replied while cuddling one of her old plushies. Her broad hips and a lush pair of Breasts confined by C-cups rested on the warm piece of furniture, yet the girl felt uneasy. Brown hair hung in strands in front of her eyes as she looked up begging to her Mother.
"Sure dear you can always stay with me again." The older thinner Woman replied in a tone only a Mother can muster. "But i mean what about a Job?"
"You know how hard it is. There isnt much to do here on Mars." Jessica sighted and pulled herself up. "And with the MD controlling half the agrisector i am screwed anyway."
"I could get you a job in administration dear."
Jessica stretched her stout body which measured nearly 1 Meter and 60. She glanced at the screen. "No Mom you know how i think about that."
"But you have to get a job!"
"I still have time before i consider brownnosing some Bureaucrat. I am not just a piece of overpaid eyecandy! And they would still try to screw me anyway!"
Groaning Jessicas mother gave her a stern look. "You know i do actual work here and the pay was good enough to give you your education."
Strong calves kicked a pillow against the big flatscreen in the corner of the singleroom apartment."I know Mom you keep mentioning it."
"And rightly so!" Elain said with half played frustration. "So when will you come over?"
"I take a shower and pack a few things. I will be there for lunch. "
A few Days later someone rang at her door.
"Comming" Jessica shouted surprised. "if you are here for the rent i alr ...". she stopped mid-sentence as she opened the door to a burly man in uniform.
"Miss Sattler?"
"Ye .... i mean yes? Am i arrested? Is it because i broke that assholes Nose?" She tried to stay calm.
"No." The man said hesitating for a second but then flipping over his pad to show her the screen which replayed the fight from different angles. "Although most of our recruits and a few seniors liked your performance. You broke that nose twice, dislodged his shoulders and the kick to his nads was classic. I am Private Walker from the SPACE Navy, HR division."
Jessica smiled at the Uniformed man quite irritated. "Oooookey but what you want from me?"
"Well to be blunt we want to offer you a job."
Jessica looked around and then back to her empty flat flabbergasted. "Well since i just made my last coffee you can come in and we talk about that."
Sitting down in the Kitchencorner Jessica poured two cups of instant Mocca. "Since i pull ... have pulled a few graveyard shifts its rather strong."
"Its quite alright Miss Sattler." the Private took the coffee and gulped half a cup.
"So why is the Military after me? Surely you have enough cantina personal."
"Heh that for sure but we are actually looking for new recruits."
"And you want to recruit me?" She raised a brow.
"Sure do." he said plainly taking another sip. "Truth is you are without direction at the Moment. Also our crawlers lighted up like chrismastrees as soon you 'lost' your old job. You fit some of our criteria to a T."
"Criteria like what?" she took her Mocca with a bit of real Milk, which she had gotten from restaurant.
"Well first of you are Marsian. We have quotas regarding Non-earthers in the Military. Its also good for the PR and our interviews with your ex-coworkers showed that you stand up for your principles. Education, organisational skills, handtohand-combat score all looking good - essentially the Navy thinks you fit right in."
"So they send a recruiter directly to my address?" She asked still wondering but with a spark of interest in her voice.
"Ah thats normally not our standard approach." he smiled. "Actually it was the recommendation of your old boss that brought me here."
Jessica looked up from her Cup "Go on."
Starting of the new Char with a bit more Background. I will flesh her out further soon and if Bryan allows a bit of the World and MARS in particular as well.
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"Here we are, on Mars of all places". Judah thought to himself while sitting at his desk for his first assignment "Assigned to HR on Mars tasked with recruiting... who the hell am I suppose to recruit here? Dirt farmers? A janitor? Compared to earth there is nobody here. This is going to be a terrible assignment. But its a nice change of pace at least, I get to do something other then classes."
Tosses a mini basketball at a mini basketball hoop on the door, misses badly. "Damn Mars gravity, still not used to it."
Looking at the stack of files on his desk. "Sigh... apparently the even with a mere 39 million people there are still enough people for SPACE to dredge up from the bowels of society. Lets see if this stack is full of former convicts this time. We don't have that problem on Earth that's for sure."
Suddenly the door swings open with a crash as Sgt Artarga barges in.
"Colonel! Some messages for you!" Sgt Artarga bellows.
"Well hand them over sargent. Judah replies slightly annoyed.
"Aye sir! The message on top deals with a potential recruit. There's a very entertaining video with this one" Sgt Artarga states as he hands over the data-pads.
"Really?" Reply's Judah with a bit of surprise. "I usually don't see videos until the recruit goes into training then then its usually in the line of "look what this twat did, lol, isn't it hilarious!"". Judah states as he plays the video.
"Hmmm, different. Now Sargent, before I feel sorry for the guy that just got beat do you know what triggered this?" Judah starts reading comments waiting for the reply.
"Well Colonel, it appears that the individual who just got badly broken had just been badmouthing some customers in the name of Jesus if the story and comments are correct. He was calling them damn furries or something saying they were an abomination to Jesus Christ and an affront to Christianity." Says Artarga.
"Indeed that seems to be the case according to the comments." Replys Judah. "It is truly unfortunate that some of my fellow Christians even after all this time still don't understand the actual teachings of tolerance that Jesus preached. Its not like they are merely living their lives in a free society. Sometimes people like that really concern me for the future."
"What do you mean sir? Are you concerned about the girl or the guy?" Asks Artarga.
Judah glances away from the data-pad. "You don't need to worry about what I mean sargent, as far as the two, please tell me we are to try and recruit the girl and not the guy."
"Aye sir, we are to try and recruit the girl". Reply's Artarga.
"Good." states Judah. "So, how did we find out about her?"
"Well" began Artarga. "She comes heavily recommended by Mr Esher".
"Who the hell is Mr Esher" Inquires Judah inquisitively.
"Mr Esher is one of our volunteer recruit agents, he used to be in the Navy and was going to be on the same mission as Herman Fox until a last second crew change. Shortly after that incident he left the army and moved here. Ever since he has helped us by going to some of the schools looking for recruits." Replied Artarga.
Judah thinks for a bit. "So Artarga, what do we know about her?"
"She is well educated and a hard worker. Also is a very good fighter." Says Artarga.
"Is that all we know?" Asks Judah.
"What else do we need to know?" Asks Artarga.
"What about her family? Do we know who the mother and father is?" Asks Judah.
"Only the mother sir, we don't know who the father is." States Artarga.
"Great!" Exclaims Judah. "I gota recruit someone we know nothing about. Where is Private Walker?"
"Private Walker is in the gym at the moment sir. Its his day off." Says Artarga.
"Well get him, I want to see him today once he settles in. He just back from leave today anyway and everyone else is busy. I want to talk to him about this case specifically" States Judah
"Aye sir" Says Artarga.
"Whats on the rest of these data-pads Sargent?" Asks Judah.
"Usual junk mail. Something for your dad from the Herman Fox estate that you need to pass on to him and..." Artarga gets cut off.
"The Herman Fox estate? What are they asking me to relay to him?" Inquires Judah.
"How am I suppose to know, your father did help finance a lot of his projects after all. They partnered for a lot of things, why else do you think your father was involved in observing that mission? Besides, that thing is encrypted, only your father can open it" States Artarga.
"Good point... this is getting interesting." Says Judah.
"Another message is an upcoming assignment for you." Says Artarga.
"Well this really was a temporary assignment then". Says Judah.
"I am going to go get Private Walker sir" Says Artarga.
"Good, you get on that Sargent" says Judah while looking at the assignment data-pad.
"Sir?" asks Artarga.
"Yes?" replies Judah.
"Its Sergent sir." Says Artarga.
"Sargent Artarga" Judah says while glancing over the data-pad.
"Yes Colonel?" Asks Artarga.
"Pull the door away from the wall Sargent". States Judah.
Artarga pulls the door a bit to the sound of breaking plastic as the broken mini basketball hoop falls to the floor.
"I will fix my accent the day you stop destroying my office every time you slam that door open" States Judah.
"Aye Sir" replies Artarga.
Judah glances at the data-pads.
"Also Artarga, get Private Walker ASAP. We don't have much time to get this done."
"Aye Sir" replies Artarga.
My first attempt at writing actual story, I hope everyone likes it.
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ooc:
First i was :o but then ;D. Looks like i have to write a few more pages tonight. I also like the Judah-Artaga chemistry!
For now just 5 lines of medley.
ic:
Jessica studied the Videos and promo material of the Navy with interrest. Apparently the recruitment-center was at "Curiosity Rock" a small domed city made from Prefabbuildings. The pictures of the commanders all showed them right next to a an oldshool rover which had been awarded a "purple heart" and an "explorers Star" long ago.
Somehow Jessica was serioulsy wondering if she should join.
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RETIREMENTS
Senior Rear Admiral Leota Schnepel presided over the creation of the first element of the combat navy, though she held the top spot for only four years. She spent most of her career as a captain('34 through '66) as Logistics Officer at Fleet HQ. Her only ship command was the Essex-class Marc Aaronson, since scrapped decades ago.
Lieutenant Commander Chiquita McGuffie retires as well.
Brigadier General Joann Altschuler, second in command under MG Anton Engelhardt, is the last of the old guard to step aside. She held the rank of General for the last 13 of her 40 years in the service, commanding one of Earth's combat brigades for the last few.
All of the remaining generals are in their 40s or younger, so the current group should be quite stable for a while.
Overall, a couple of big names leave but not that big a shakeup in the grand scheme of things.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 5th out of 31. Blair seems stuck, almost but not quite good enough to get a promotion to Captain. He has served at the vital Epsilon Eridani jump for eight years, and will now leave that post for the Ticonderoga-class military base on the comet Faye.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 28th. Conor is stuck also, but on the opposite end of the Commander spectrum. Since being promoted eight years ago, the 38-year-old has done very little to distinguish himself. He's been on Perrys and Portlands, and will now take one of the new Cleveland-class supply ships as his next assignement.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 17th out of 95. Another tour at Saturn is indicated.
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 23rd. Doing just enough to be respectable, Watters is one of the new Forrestal COs, headed out to the Van Maanen JP. A relatively unimportant posting as sensor duties go, but you never now when something might happen ...
Lt. Cmdr. Richard Blade -- 68th. 7th on the list waiting for a command shot, and he'll probably eventually get one though it's all but certain. When you are just barely better than Herb Simpson(good political skills, one of the worst Initiatives I've ever seen in an officer), there's just one thing to say. DOH!!
Waiting List
Jessica Sattler, Dirk Blade(down the road), and Jay Cin V are all awaiting their chance in a crowded navy field right now.
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If you were on Mars and wanted to get to the next bigger town you would take a rover or a suborbital. If you were poor you would take the rover. A Rover with over 500 Seats. Mars economy wasnt good enough to support subsurface Maglev like the Moon nor was its athmosphrere dense enough to harbor sizeable aerial vehicles. Admitedly there were a few railways nowadays but the expansion wasnt the quickest. So the Marsians opted for Rovers that could make irregular trips to the Various settlements shipping tradegoods, food and people.
Jessica, like a few hundred of other wannabe Recruits took the Rover sitting in the growded restaurant of the 4 story mechanical beast. On the outside she could see the red clouds rise from the threads that plowed through the sand as she thought back.
Days earlyer.
"The Military!" Elaine asked, looking at her daughter shocked. "Child i can get you a job, even on earth but please dont go to the Military!" The slender Titanian Woman winced.
"Why not Mom?" Jessica shot back to her mother which was so much unlike her. Tall, thin with very petite yet gracefull outlines. "Did you see the benefits? Tax-cuts for the Families, cutting edge Medicin, a steady PAY."
"But for what? They will break you! And then remake you into one of theyr mindless drones. There are studies that say it dumbs you down, makes you aggressive. Is that what you want for yourself? Is that what i raised you for?"
"No you raised me to be assertive, to help people, to make the best of my skills. And i think the Military can give me the opportunity! I can go out with the Construction battalion and build dykes in New Orleans or clear minefields in Afghaistan. Or i could be part of a science Vessel exploring space."
At those words Elaine flinched but returned with a stern expression. "You could step on those Mines, you could be blown up up there. Do you listen to the news? How many private ships and transports explode because of bad maintenance. Despite Woman arent made for space."
"Aww common, you know SPACE is equal opportunity! There are almost as many Woman as Man in Uniform! And when was the Last time anything of SPACE blew up?"
"How long will it till they run into the next Aliens? Or jump into a black hole or next to a pulsar that irradiates you? I want to know that my nerdy little Girl is safe! I want even some grandchildren some day!"
"Mom its not about what you want! And what i do with my womb is my thing. And heck i can get Stemmcells and eggs frozen."
The fight dragged on for a few hours her Mother deflecting and ignoring arguments till both went to bed to cool of neither side satisfied.
A day later Jessica boarded the Rover on her way to Curiosity Rock, Elaine was there too unhappy with the decission but upstanding enough to let her daugter go, including a lunchpaket she made.
Jessica was reading. Since the Military chartered the Rover to pick up new recruits they also supplemented the library of the vehicle with Films and more infomaterial.
*The military had rules on everything* she though unsure if she should be comfortable with that.
Rules were good but in some situations they were constricting. Also they did go in quite some detail. The bedding for example: Not only was the size and type of your bed regulated but also how you had to make it, how much time you need for it, what material the sheets and blankets were, to which form you should shape your pillow (Square and fluffy), how to fold your blankets even down to almost absurd rules like how to position your stuffed animals, that was 90° rotated towards the edge of the pillow, middled in between pillow and the folded Blanket, based of an Ancient case**.
There were Antimilitaristic works in there too, surprisingly, for example the studies her Mother mentioned* as well as rebuttals from SPACE and examples on updated regulations.
"The collected works of Mahatma Ghandi" were right next to Sun Tzu's "The art of War" and Ueshibas "The essence of Aikido".
"Peaceful resolution of conflicts" was an class to be taken by any member of SPACE armed forces, her Pad informed Jessica as she clicked through the categories and primers.
Jessica sighted she was in for 8 hard weeks of "Introductions" and weeding out the ones that werent made for the challenges the Interstellar age presented.
Another day the Rover rolled through the Marsian deserts visiting tents, domed cities and tunneldwellings before Curiosity Rock was reached. The small settlement was an SPACE heritage site, domed and paid by SPACE it was a kilometer and a half in radius with boxy prefabricated building on the outside stretching for a few kilometres further.
From what Jessica had read the site included huge underground facilities as well in which food was grown making this tiny speck on Mars maps mostly self sufficient.
Swept up in a wave of bodies she was moved through security checks and Airlocks finding herself suddenly on the well trimmed lawn under the with Alon*** windows of the Geodesic dome. Next to her were hundreds of young Marsians Man, woman, Intersex and Herms of all Races unified under the Banner of SPACE.
In front of them a big Podium was errected with sizeable OLED screens behind it showing the SPACE flag and assorted SPACE ads.
A loud "Attention" roared sharply over the crowd somehow silencing it immedietly. The words came from private Walker on a mic as Jessica noticed as he continued "Please welcome Colonel Judah Thone."
.....
OOC:
*http://pss.sagepub.com/content/23/3/270
** in the German "Bundeswehr" in the early 2000's regarding a stuffed Lioness
*** Aluminium oxynitride sometimes callad "Transparent Aluminium" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aluminium_oxynitride)
Also not my best. i got a bit of an coldish thing to deal with here.
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I do have another bit coming. Sorry about the wait, college keeps me busy. Sometime this weekend between my twitch livestreams I will have something up for Colonel Judah Thone.
Why he is a Colonel and not a Captain of some description since he is in the navy I don't know.
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Good stuff guys! My part of the story will proceed either this weekend or middle of next week depending on how things go, right now we are exactly halfway through the next year.
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I would love to do a bit about my character but I would like some more info about the JP he is at.
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Sure thing! I really like these kind of questions, they give us opportunity to think about where a character is and what they would be thinking about events in/outside of their life.
The Sol-Van Maanen's Star Jump Point is 3.1b km from Sol itself at a bearing of 18, or 'just east of due north' as one looks at a standard system chart/map. It is the third-closest and was the fifth to be discovered, in July of 2049, just under 23 years ago as of this writing, or when Cmdr. Watters had not yet reached his fourth birthday. In terms of the jump point itself, it is only 519m km away from the jump to Lalande 21185, a very interesting fact that resulted in both jump points being viewed somewhat as 'twins'. Lalande of course was found to contain the first evidence of other advanced(to the point of being spacefaring) life when in April of 2055 three wrecks were found in close proximity to it's primary star. A week later, Van Maanen was explored and no survey activity seriously considered, either now or since. This was due to two reasons:
1). Lalande was obviously dangerous, and by virtue of its close proximity, that makes Van Maanen relatively dangerous as well.
2). It's a relatively sparse system, with only a super-jovian, two dwarf planets, some number of asteroids and no comets. Only three habitable bodies exist(all of them moons of the first planet, over 2b km from the jump at closest approach), none as welcoming even as Titan(9.85 colony cost or higher).
So while very little is known about Van Maanen, none of what is known is encouraging. Sensor duty there could be described as a 'frontier backwater' kind of assignment, though all of the sensor stations have an inherent watchdog importance to them.
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2072 ANNUAL REPORT
Jung Besler is named Chief of the Navy as expected and promoted to Senior Rear Admiral, while the Army names young Col. Cole Callihan(M, 23) as Altschuler's replacement. By late February, with the appointment of another captain, the navy has enough staff officers for a full complement at both task forces for the first time ever.
On March 14th, the Research Directorate loses one of it's most senior and more recognizable scientists as Dr. Everette Snuggs retires with the 68-year-old citing poor health. The most crowded field in SPACE science(Logistics & Ground Combat) can at least shoulder the loss, but it will still hurt as Snuggs was one of three elite members. He is also one of very few public servants remaining from the agency's founding.
Early May brings the completion of Luna Base, and the redeployment of construction brigades to Sedna and Triton, with the latter less than half the distance but still quite a journey at an average distance of 4.5b km. Less than two weeks later, on the 20th, the new pair of Burke-class brigade transports clears the docks and joins the efforts.
A relatively quiet year gets a jolt exactly at the midway point, as it is announced on July 1st that Yokohama Shipyard has reached the required size for the Brooklyn-class Gunboat. This leaves Eighmy in a bit of a quandary though. The Brooklyn is by now obsolete, with better versions of all components now available. Using that design would be decidedly wasteful: however, it would be preferred for the current round of sensor research to be completed. Theoretical active sensor improvements aren't going to be ready until November, and then it would take some time after that to design a new system specifically ... so SPACE has decided to go with what is available now. The Brooklyn '72 design was put together with the following specifications(numbers from the never-built original design in parentheses)
Brooklyn '72-class Gunboat
Size: 13.45 kt(15.15kt)
Speed: 2379 km/s(2376 km/s)
Crew: 356(415)
Armor Plating: 4 feet of high-density duranium(3 feet of regular duranium armor)
CIWS: 1 battery(same)
Armament: 3 Twin-laser turrets, 1 single-meson turrets(1 fewer of each)
Cost: 1.89 m(1.88m), about 22 months
The new version is smaller, better armored, but has less firepower(though much more accurate) as well. Speed and cost are virtually identical. About a year is the expected retooling time, which would put the first one in service for early 2075.
September brings a welcome shift in industrial resources on Earth, as all of the needed Ticonderoga components have been completed, though the construction teams will be busy for some time with larger installations. Most sectors receive part of the newly available capacity to speed up existing projects.
On November 5, Dr. Julio Kuchler announces a considerable breakthrough in active grav sensor abilities. The new developments allow for considerable minituarization and other increased efficiencies. The new specs are included in the R&D supplement.
The final month of the year brought more news of significance. The expansion of Earth's massive industrial centers to 500 construction factories is completed, and that will be the new status quo for now with capacity again being redeployed to further other projects for the second time in just a few months. Then, just two days before the election, the news came that Earth has finally exhausted its supply of duranium. Corbomite, vendarite, and tritanium remain, all of which are minor both in use and need at the moment. Earth has now become virtually irrelevant in the grand scheme of things in terms of mining, the transition to a purely industrial center more and more complete.
Research & Development
** January 10 -- Harlan Welle completes the latest upgrade of the CIWS defense system, and a new research lab is built. Welle will pursue improving efficiency of magazines for better missile storage, and the tractor beam project gets a needed second lab as well.
** January 20 -- Near UV Laser completed, Joe Tycho. Since a larger laser is currently being worked on, Tycho takes over that project from Sabagh: a new generation of laser cannons will be developed with greater punch and range when it's complete. Wayne Sabagh moves on to the final piece of the next generation of meson cannons, improved focusing.
** March 14 -- The SITG Emdar-36 is now ready, and Everette Snuggs retires. Minh Klausner debuts as a project lead, a young one to be sure as the EW researcher is less than nine months removed from the academy. Klausner will investigate improved high-powered microwave concepts.
** November 5 -- While Julio Kuchler completes research into better base active grav technology(sensitivity 16). It's time for a new round of active sensors ...
The GEI MSS 192 is a little more powerful and 20% smaller than the current MSS 180(military grade missile search sensor). The next generation of anti-ship sensors does even better, with nearly a 50% size reduction, and 40% smaller on the new anti-ship missile fire control suites. Kuchler has found a considerable leap in active detection, and new suites for the Forrestal sensor buoys as well as basic commercials will be incorporated in time.
** November 8 -- Levitated-Pit Implosion Warheads are here(Karabishi Juishao). Prospects for anti-missile ballistics are improving(estimated interception chances of about 10% on enemy missiles are now possible), but to really be useful better engine technology is required, so no development of anti-missile systems is expected until then. Juishao moves on to missile agility, and newcomer Elyse Buckler will look into reduced-size launchers.
Commissioned Officers
Mid-February -- Rosemary Urenda's skill increases to 40%, an important development as she's the second of only two quality power & propulsion researchers.
Late March -- Col. Ignace Tegair is commissioned.
Bonuses: 10% Ground Combat, 30% Espionage
Personality: Weak
Outlook: Right now #2 on the waiting list for commands, should get one within a couple of years.
Mid-April -- Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. commissioned.
Bonuses: 10% Political Reliability, 5% Ground Combat
Personality: Good Motivator, Observant, Subjective, Tough
Outlook: Above-average recruit, Palmer will definitely be headed straight down the command career track, no specialized teams for him. A command is expected before the year is out.
Early May -- Herbert Duling continues to amass favors to call in for the upcoming election(50% political reliability). With Director Eighmy continuing to basically sit on his arse, it's not looking good for his re-election chances right about now.
Early August -- Serious medical problem for Cmdr. Daniel Watters, which is expected to affect his career permanently.
Also, Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin V is commissioned.
Fleet Combat Initiative: 114
Bonuses: Political Reliability 20%, Fighter Combat 30%, Fighter Operations 10%
Personality: Methodical, Wealthy Family
Outlook: Clearly he advocates a focus on small craft, and Jay knows how to use his family name to get ahead. These connections place him near the top of LTCs already.
October 1 -- Col. Ignace Tegair takes command of the recently formed 62nd Garrison Battalion.
November 5 -- Jedidiah Thone makes a new announcement in hopes of a better assignment(20% pop growth).
December 10 -- Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler commissioned.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 107
Training: 25
Other Bonuses: Factory Production 30%, Logistics 25%, Survey 20%, Operations 10%
Personality: Imaginitive, Results-oriented, Skilled Orator, Tolerant
Outlook: Very good at pretty much everything that isn't combat-related. More than good enough to get a decent command as soon as the this tour is up(possibly before). Shocked(and pleased) to actually get the very rare Logistics/Operations double!
Earth
March 8 -- A fourth and for now final slipway has been added at the KSEC Shipyard.
August 5 -- The final(for now) and seventh construction brigade is completed. With the shuffling around of commands that is required, Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. is given his first command, one of the mobile infantry battalions.
September 17 -- The latest research lab is finished, and Klausner's microwave research gets a needed boost.
Colonial Developments
Corundium has been reported as exhausted on Comas Sola within the past few days. This would once have been calamitous news, say, a decade ago, but is now merely a footnote as the need is not great right now. Duranium and sorium remain on the comet along with two more minor minerals, so it remains a moderately important outpost.
Mid-August -- The first construction brigade arrives on Triton, and construction of the military base there is underway.
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STATE OF SPACE, 2073
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.358b, 500 CF, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 35 RL, 3 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, SC, 2x Alaska MB)
Mars(46.82m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(42.14m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.02m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(9.58m)
Mercury(7.29m)
Europa(110k)
Io(110k)
Callisto(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
All of the inner-system colonies grew considerably, and while Titan edged up a few hundred thousand, the Jupiter moons have not been invested in at all and remain stagnant. Callisto's mines remain scandalously undermanned. The conversion to TN industry is now complete on Earth.
Total population is at 1.481 billion(+9.4%). About 70% of the growth came from Earth, but the colonial share is still growing. 1 in 12 humans now lives somewhere else, a significant number, but not yet enough to give them a major political voice. In time, however ...
IB. Outposts
Sedna(28 CMC, 16 eff, 7.90 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 28 eff, 3.12 kt)
Earth(50 SM, 6.4 eff, 705 t)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 37 eff, 1.84 kt) -- gallicite(7.5)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.73 kt) -- neutronium(5.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.58 kt) -- corundium(0.8), mercassium(3.6)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 34 eff, 1.42 kt) -- boronide(5.4)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 331 t)
Faye(25 AM, 48 eff, 1.94 kt) -- tritanium(2.3), uridium(8.3), corundium(9.7)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 36 eff, 1.46 kt) -- sorium(6.0)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.15 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 35 eff, 1.21 kt) -- corbomite(5.4)
Borrelly(17.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.28 kt)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.37 kt) -- corundium(5.3)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 808 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 147 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 400 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 306 t)
Total Production: 28.7 kt, 9.3% less than at last report. This is the first decline in mining production since off-world mining expansion first began way back in the late 30s, over 40 years ago! Some deposits were exhausted(it can be seen at a glance that most comets are in the mid-30s efficiency when many were once over 60), but just as important is the fact that Eighmy isn't the mining administrator that his predecessor was. Borrelly, Neujmin, and other locations received some additional mines, but it wasn't enough to prevent a significant decrease.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A: Vendarite(50 kt), Corbomite(44 kt), Boronide(40 kt), Gallicite(40 kt)
Tier B: Uridium(84 kt), Tritanium(40 kt), Sorium(32 kt), Mercassium(27 kt)
A small decline(about 2 kt) in mercassium has resulted in a small amount of concern, particularly considering that a major source(on Machholz) will be drying up soon and production on Triton is starting to dwindle. Every known major source save one in the system has been tapped(more on that source in the election aftermath), and there is only just under 150kt total in known mineable reserves in Sol. That's enough to last just under a century at current usage rates. SPACE projects mercassium to become a more and more vital concern gradually as time goes on.
Meanwhile, sorium joins Tier B as it continues to be used only minimally for industrial concerns and the fuel on Saturn is expected to last millenia.
Tier C: Duranium(17.0 kt), Corundium(15.2 kt)
Duranium has mostly stabilized with the increase in factories on Earth, but it is still slowly increasing. Corundium appears well on it's way to becoming a minor need with the stockpile of the once-crisis mineral growing rapidly.
Tier D: Neutronium(5.93 kt) rose and then declined again with massive shipyard operations and increased ground forces training, both of which will be less needed during the next cycle. Still, it's a vital need and the dominant factor right now in mining considerations. With the considerable production from Stephan-Oterma only lasting a few more years, this will continue to be the case.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 35.6 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.25 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 2.58 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 142 k
Total: 42.60m(+6.8%).
Balance: 619 m(+55m)
Slower growth than the previous cycle, but still a very healthy balance sheet
IE. Expenses
Research: 8.23m
Mineral Purchases: 7.01m
Installation Construction: 3.98m
Shipyard Operations: 3.97m
PDC Construction: 3.02m
Shipbuilding: 1.47m
GU Maintenance: 384k
Maintenance Facilities: 319k
GU Training: 280k
Total: 28.67m(+30.1%)
Shipbuilding became a significant expense again after a lull with more Burkes and the debut of the Nimitz. Maintenance of military vessels(mostly the Forrestals) is becoming more expensive, but is still a very minor expense in the grand scheme of things. Overall, expenses rose sharply but are not yet close to catching up with income.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Expanding for the next generation of higher-capacity freighters(approx. 175 kt, nearly there)
P&A Group(4, 80.2 kt)
** Idle
Estalerios Navais(2, 45.5 kt)
** Idle
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 10 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Second Nimitz in production(March 2073)
Baltimore Marine(2, 11.3 kt)
** Expanding Capacity
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Retooling for the new Brooklyn 72(Summer 2073)
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Three active training facilities
** Garrison Battalions(One in February, 2 more in the summer)
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(33%) -- May 2073
Alaska PDC(28%) -- Two more by mid-2075
Prefab Alaska PDC(15%) -- For Titan, Early 2074
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 10%) -- approx. 7 per year
Mines(8%) -- same rate
Military Academy(5%) -- Fall 2074
V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Jump Drive Efficiency(Santo Makar) -- Mid-January 2073
** Damage Control Module(Edward Groat) -- Summer 2073
** Missile Tracking(Elwood Tousant) -- Early 2074
** Ultra Large Fuel Tanks(Brandon Grimmett) -- Spring 2074
** Larger Laser Cannons(Joe Tycho) -- Spring 2074
** Larger Meson Cannons(Eva Vadnais) -- Spring/Summer 2074
** Jump Squadron Size(Reynaldo Darrington) -- Summer 2074
** Capacitor Recharge Rate(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2074
** Jump Gate Module(Deacon Palmer) -- Late 2074/Early 2075
** Ship Tractor Beams(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late 2074/Early 2075
** Improved Microwave Focusing(Minh Klausner) -- 2075
** Beam Fire Control Range(Bessie Wallander) -- 2075
** GEI MSS 192(Julio Kuchler) -- 2075
** Improved Meson Cannon Focusing(Wayne Sabagh) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** Magazine Feeding Systems(Harlan Welle) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** GEI SSS 128(Billie Allington) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** Improved Geological Sensors(Clint Wyche) -- Late 2076/Early 2077
** Reduced-size Launchers(Elyse Buckler) -- Late 2070s
** Missile Agility Improvements(Karabishi Juishao) -- Late 2070s
** Improved Thruster Efficiency(David Gruis) -- Late 2080s
There are a number of prototypes in the pipeline and 20 on-going projects ... a very busy time right now. A lot of stuff in the '74-'75 time period much like in '71, but not much expected for the coming year, and a few existing projects in need of additional labs as well.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
** Starting with this edition, this is being divided into additional sections that mirror the naval hierarchy. This will hopefully aid both in understanding where a particular commander's posting ranks in the grand scheme of things, and summarizing what parts of the navy are currently growing/being invested in.
VI A. Military Bases
Alaska(2, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 8 installations, 149.1 kt, 2,532 crew
VI B. Combat Ships
MB Nimitz(1, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed combat ship)
Total: 1 ship, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 1.75m fuel
VI C. Military Non-combat Ships
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
SB Forrestal IIb(14, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 21 ships, 33.25 kt, 681 crew, 2.19m fuel
VI D. Commercial Vessels
TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexingon IIIc(5, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
ST Lexington IIId(19, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(21, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)
Total: 65 vessels, 908 kt, 5,584 crew, 32.7m liters fuel
Grand Total: 95 assets(+18%), 1.10 mt(--), 9.17k crew(+58%), 36.6m liters fuel(+9.3%)
Most of the commercial vessels have been in service for decades in some form or another. The growth sector is definitely on the military side right now.
Available Crew: 105k(+8.8%)
VI E. Fuel Status
Earth -- 17.6m liters
Titan -- 13.3m
Callisto -- 10.7m
Total -- 41.6m liters(+6.9%). The reserves continue to grow slowly, outpacing the needs of new ships and fueling existing operations.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(3)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(6)
** Garrison Battalion(32)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 380k(+93%)
The army has grown almost exponentially for over a decade now, and is starting to come close to current needs. There is also an issue of finding enough qualified officers to lead(only six colonels are unemployed as of this writing). One way or another, growth is expected to slow soon.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Voliva Carrier Company(54 vessels, 3.24m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(21, 2.61m)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(7, 730k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 240k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 220k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 125k)
Presnar Freight(2, 70k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, --)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Total Vessels: 99(+24%)
Total Civilian Income: 7.24m(+10%)
Jensrud increased by about 150%, while Voliva's revenue declined by over 30%. For the first time in decades they have viable competition, though still possessing the top spot with a 45% market share, a far cry from the 70% they enjoyed just four years ago. Also making a move is Tolles Transport & Logistics, more than doubling their fleet and nearly quintupling their income to become a credible third firm. Everybody's favorite underdog last cycle, Ouellet Shipping, saw their brief renaissance crumble.
Surprisingly, the civilian sector saw only modest increases overall.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 107 of 147 assigned(72.8%), -1.4%
** Ground Forces Officers: 53 of 59(89.8%), +10.6%
** Civilian Administrators: 27 of 29(93.1%), +3.4%
** Scientists: 20 of 33(60.6%), -- +3.9%
Overall: 207 of 268(77.2%), +2.3%
Opportunities are good in all branches, with the army and administrative career paths taking pretty much anyone with a pulse.
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That recession really killed you in 2053 your civilian income was 6.17 million in relation to that you haven't grown as much as you should have. You have only increased 1.07 million or about 17.3%
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I'd agree, that's not much to grow in two decades. Thankfully money isn't much of an issue as of yet.
** For reasons that are yet classified(but observant and studious followers of the goings-on at SPACE are not expected to have much trouble guessing), this election is considered the most important in several cycles. In practical terms, this meant a doubling of the effect of political reliability in determining eligibility and appointment as more favors than usual were called in. This is only in place for this election cycle, and not a permanent change**
RETIREMENTS
Herbert Robards, Governor of Machholz, faces mandatory retirement this year. Machholz is the best of several comet-based assignments he's held after emerging from two decades of toiling in beauracratic obscurity to receive his first governor posting in the early 50s. His talents were mostly in shipbuilding and the financial sector, and they were largely wasted as he did not have enough ability or connections to garner a colonial job.
2073 ELECTIONS
The field was a tad smaller than usual, with six qualifying for the final ballot. The work put in by Herbert Duling looked certain to pay off, as he was the prohibitive favorite with only Director Eighmy considered capable(and unlikely) to mount a serious challenge. Fmr. Director India Rakes along with Riley Awad, Jarret Hugh, and Larry Steckel filled out a mostly familiar field as many of them have finished distantly behind the winners before.
On the eve of the election it was clear that both favorites had pushed too hard, age and poor health showing in a number of campaigning mistakes and gaffes which left the door open to the other challengers. Rakes ran a fairly good campaign, but it was largely unknown Riley Awad, governor of Io, who hardly put a foot wrong despite being last in the field in name recognition, having appeared only sporadically in the past and never in the last several cycles.
All of that potentially made for a rather suspensful and longer than expected night at the polls but the groundwork put in by Duling was thorough and his overwhelming advantadge could not be overcome. Herbert won his record fifth Directorial election, having spent the last 12 years now out of the office, by the reasonably comfortable margin of 25.9% to Awad's 20.4%. The rest of the field:
India Rakes -- 17.8%
Alberto Eighmy -- 16.7%
Larry Steckel -- 11.3%
Jarret Hugh -- 7.8%
Hugh, who was just embarassing, and Eighmy, finishing 4th as the incumbent, both were big losers on the night.
POLICY REVIEW
While making veiled references to the 'defining challenges' of the years ahead, Duling did have a number of changes to put in place as he reoccupied the Director's Office for the first time since leaving in '61 -- before Sector Command had been finished.
** Development of Halley's Comet. The most famous comet in Sol due to our fascination with it going back to decades before TN physics were even known to be possible, the long-period comet is only a little over 2.5b km from the sun, less than half it's maximum distance, between Saturn and Uranus orbit. A mass driver and administrator will be sent immediately, along with all automated mines produced for the indefinite future. Halley contains almost 30% of the mineable mercassium in the system and is the single largest remaining source(38.9kt) along with over 18kt of needed neutronium and minor amounts of four less vital minerals.
** Acceleration of Academy Expansion. Adding Halley to the list of developed sites, combined with the retirement of Robards, will leave SPACE once again with zero surplus administrators. The possibility that a mining might have to be shut down temporarily for lack of a qualified person to lead it is not remote. More than doubling the investment in the expansion will allow it to be finished this fall, with fewer mines being produced in the interim to compensate. In the last cycle, only two administrators were found -- recruitment must do better during the next cycle to avoid shutdowns.
** Two new ship class were announced. The first Long Beach-class fuel harvester, a long-desired upgrade which is now ready.
Long Beach Fuel Harvester
Size: 79.1 kt
Crew: 411
Speed: 379 km/s
Defenses: 5 CIWS Batteries, basic sensors
Sorium Harvest Modules: 26(728k per year harvested under optimal conditions)
Cost: 1.66m(about 15 months)
A Long Beach will produce more than four times the fuel of a third-generation Perry for just over three times the cost and has upgraded sensors and CIWS batteries. It's slower ... but the trip from Saturn to Titan is only 1.2m km and will take no more than an hour. Speed is a virtual non-issue for these vessels. The Long Beach is expected to be a permanent solution to increasing fuel capacity and reserves ahead of anticipated future needs as the military wing of the navy grows. Only minor changes are expected in forseeable plans.
The P&A Group Shipyard is retooling for the massive new ships, which are more than twice the size of a Fletcher-class freighter, and the existing Perrys will have their equipment repurposed one task group at a time, along with building three more vessels to make all six TGs four harvesters each for a total of 24. The first wave of refits is set to begin sometime around the end of the summer.
** The second new class was the South-Carolina class superfreighter, intended for heavy transport for jobs when a Fletcher or two just wasn't enough to get the job done. They will be most useful for huge transport activities to the outer system.
South Carolina Freighter
Size: 164.6 kt
Crew: 531
Speed: 607 km/s
Fuel load: 2.15m
Defenses: 18 CIWS batteries, basic sensors
Cargo Space: 125 kt(equivalent to 5 Fletcher-class freighters)
Cost: 2.08m(10 months)
The South Carolina will be by far the largest ship in Sol space -- civilian designs have topped out at less than half the size, about 70kt. The massive engines(10 of them) can be detected 16m km away by even our basic commercial sensors.
Two are intended to be converted right away, with construction beginning at the end of the summer like the Long Beach.
** Six new Lexington-class shuttles were ordered to be built, to keep up with the needs of shuttling VIPs around. This will bring the total to 30.
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CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE
Jedidiah Thone(3) -- Probably the most-improved beauracrat during the last cycle(aside from During's surge), Jedidiah has been rewarded with a promotion from moderately-important Crommelin to Reinmuth, the most crucial comet mining outpost SPACE has and the third 'super-site' after Sedna and Triton due to its massive reserves of neutronium.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- Ricardo moves from Faye to Machholz, a minor promotion as he replacing the retiring Herbert Robards. There've been few signs he is capable of greater things, but he's still only 28 ... there's time.
Karabishi Juishao(MK 40) -- Her current work on improving missile agility is the necessary precursor to the next generation of Defender-class anti-ship missiles. The development of that series of weapons seems likely to be Karabishi's most important legacy. At 59, she's now done most of what she will do, and is wrapping up her career.
Malik Kaine -- still waiting, as both administrators to be appointed in the previous cycle were women.
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Ignace Tegair with 30% espionage? Hmm, me thinks that with his relative "weakness" be that physical, social, or mental, he might not be cut out for the marines, but as a member of BLACKSPACE (undercover group dealing with growing anti Earth political, economic, and rebel parties), He might do just fine figuring out things that others want hidden. What do you think?
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It's been an extremely busy RL week. Current game date is July 2073, midway through the year. Not a ton going on so there's a pretty good chance I'll be able to get an update up this weekend.
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2073 ANNUAL REPORT
SPACE noticed one election impact right away: a significant slowdown in production time for everything, both planetside and orbital ship construction. Alberto Eighmy was a director with many flaws, but none to occupy the office have had his mind for getting more done in less time. Add to that new Governor of Earth Riley Awad's very minimal skills in mining and production(he has more of a financial focus, and is also good with the training of new army units) and there was an immediate delay of weeks to months in everything across the board. With a number of major projects completed under Eighmy's watch, and others set to finish in the next year or two, this is at least a relatively painless time for such a transition to occur.
Less than three weeks into the new year, Santo Makar finished his latest project(jump drive efficiency, see the appropriate appendix for details) and the 69-year-old retired to private life. Makar's most prominent achievement was the development of jump theory itself, but his legacy goes beyond that. He laid the groundwork for virtually everything important we know about TN propulsion technology, and the crucial field is expected to suffer considerably in his absence. Rosemary Urenda(40%) is a third less efficient at leading research teams in the field, and there's nobody else that could even be considered good at it. In fact, only one other researcher has any aptitude for propulsion science at all(Reynaldo Darrington, 15%). David Gruis seems to have the gift, but a number of make-work projects have not resulted in the slightest improvement. At 50 years old, Urenda is no spring chicken either. A very real potential crisis is brewing in the power & propulsion field, which SPACE considers one of it's most critical research priorities. Known enemy combat ships(from nearly two decades ago, I might add) travel at a speed that is still nearly three times as fast as the Nimitz and Brooklyn ships, and that's with a huge portion of their mass devoted to engines. If the academies aren't able to recruit new talent in this area, it will have a huge impact both on research as a whole(as more and more labs will have to be poured into less efficient research) as well as a slowdown in the advancement of propulsion technology specifically. This is no small concern for Duling's new administration.
Before the end of the month, there was a small bit of better news as a spare administrator finished the academy and was ready for assignment. He's horrible, but better than having to face the shutdown of an outpost.
March brought the completion of a second Nimitz. Wartsila began a third, with plans to seriously consider a more modern ship after it is completed. A month later, Halley's Comet officially joined the list of SPACE outposts, as the first automated mine came on-line.
The summer was pretty quiet, but a modest buzz was generated with the promotion of a second Major General -- Wyatt Pittman(40, M), the first time the army has taken that step. He'll still remain second in command under Engelhardt. Also, the first beam warship(Brooklyn '72 class) is begun at Yokohama in mid-July.
In October, retooling is finished for the Long Beach and South Carolina classes is finished, but for now no construction will commence. There are fundamental issues being debated within the administration and the navy, and until they are resolved no further activity on these ships will proceed. One thing is certain, a huge drain on duranium and neutronium reserves has ended for the moment.
The rest of the year was quiet -- overall not that much happened in 2073. With bases on Sedna and Triton more or less halfway finished, Titan's massive Alaska-class base set to be ready for shipping in the spring, and many other expected developments, next year will likely be more eventful leading up to the 50-year celebrations in 2075.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** January 17 -- Santo Makar's team finishes improving the efficiency of our basic jump drive technology. They have effectively reduced the necessary size of jump engines by 25%, which will allow for jump ships to either be smaller and cheaper, or to pack on more equipment.
The lab space was reassigned to Juishao's missile agility research, which is now funded at the desired level.
** June 28 -- New research lab completed. Curtis Gloster takes another of the prototype jobs, the new missile fire controls. There are still two awaiting space for a project lead to be assigned.
July 20 -- Edward Groat's team completes blueprints for a Damage Control station, increasing the capabilities of ships to repair themselves away from a colony. This is not considered important for immediate application, but certainly will be needed for future interstellar excursions at some point.
Groat and little-used but fairly talented Alphonse Lambeth, from the Logistics & Ground Combat branch, will sub as prototype leads for the final two sensor suites currently designated -- Groat takes the Sentinel 400, for use on the next Forrestal upgrade, and Lambeth a new commercial sensor.
COMMISSIONED OFFICERS
January 28 -- Malik Kaine is finally commissioned, giving SPACE a 'spare' administrator!
Administration: 2
Bonuses: 5% Factory Production, 10% Wealth Creation
Outlook: Kaine definitely starts at the bottom, among the worst graduates SPACE has seen. They are dragging the bottom right now to find anyone though, so he'll definitely see opportunities.
Late February -- Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian commissioned, 196 Initiative
Bonuses: 10% pol rel., 10% survey
Personality: Inflexible, Dogmatic, Rude
Outlook: Virtually no combat-related aptitude at all. There may or may not be a place for him in the SPACE navy. His reputation as a 'problem cadet' in the Academy won't help matters either. Right now he's about 10 spots below the command cutoff, give or take a couple.
Early April -- 8 Navy officers are released, a sign that the military feels current numbers are more than sufficient.
Late May -- A new general is promoted(Jimmie Atteberry). Command decides it's time for the fourth(and for now, final) combat brigade on earth. Two new mobile infantry battalions are recruited to complete it.
Early July -- Light finally dawns in the mind of David Gruis, who is up to 10% in Power & Propulsion. Still a long way to go, but this cuts the time of his current research by more than four years, and he will now be at least as effective as any general-purpose replacement could hope to be for actually important research.
Late July -- Cmdr. Daniel Watters has finally learned a little something about improving crew abilities(25 training).
Mid-August -- A minor improvement for Karabishi Juishao(up to 45%).
Mid-November -- Industrial production increases on Earth as Governor Awad has learned a couple of things in his first year in office there(20% Factory Production).
EARTH
March 19 -- A second Nimitz-class warship is finished.
Mid-July -- Retooling is complete at Yokohama, and the first beam-armed warship enters construction there(Brooklyn 72 class).
November 25 -- Military Academy expansion completed on Earth(4 operational now). A mass driver is ordered up using the freed capacity to replace the one sent to Halley.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
April 16 -- Halley's Comet officially joins the list of SPACE outposts, as the first automated mine comes on-line. Two more would be added by year's end; a total of 30 are planned.
Late July -- Sedna expands to 29 complexes.
August 30 -- Corundium deposits on Machholz have been exhausted. Another quarter-century's worth of neutronium will keep the mines there in place.
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The unplanned, month-long hiatus has been due to several factors. I had a brief lapse in interest(happens with any project from time to time unforunately, though this is the first one I've had with Aurora), a generally difficult job transition, weather and health stuff, and general lack of focus personally. I'm not sure how things will proceed now but I definitely want to keep the story going as best I can.
RETIREMENTS
Cmdr. Bennett Cadorette -- Most recently of one of Earth's Alaska-class bases
Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III -- Spent his two decades mostly on the harvesters with a couple tours on the FT Hercules as well, but was never able to make a leap.
Cols. Sean Riney, Helen Perales, Dan Yawn, and Jeanne Pont also take early retirement.
Leadership in the upper echelon of the Army is particularly stable right now, with all of the current generals expected to remain in place into the 80s.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 5th out of 34. Blair will move up from his Ticonderoga posting on Reinmuth to one of the Tennessee-class missile bases, but other than that little has changed.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 34th. A minor demotion from his Cleveland command to babysitting the CS New Beginnings, and there seems little chance Conor will ever achieve much better.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 25th out of 100. With five years left to make promotion or face mandatory retirement, it doesn't look like Oled is going anywhere. He's fortunate to hang on to his harvester command.
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 22nd. Another tour at the Van Maanen jump point is upcoming.
Lt. Cmdr. Richard Blade -- 70th. Still on the outside looking in, he's tops on the waiting list for new commands now though. I'd say he's got pretty good shot at getting one and avoiding a cut.
Cmdr. Jay Cin V -- 21st. Moving up in the world pretty quickly, Jay will see sensor duty for his first full tour posting.
Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler -- 23rd, and heading to Saturn for her first full tour.
Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian -- 71st. 2nd on the waiting list for commands at the moment, and probably possessing enough connections and promise to get one eventually.
Col. Ignace Tegair -- 30th out of 45.
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No worries, Bryan! Life happens, and if you need to deal with some stuff then it is important to deal with it properly! Your story and world built here is still fantastic, so take all the time you need.
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Agreed, life is what happens while we make other plans.
Hopefully LtCmdr Blade will distinguish himself in battle and gain some good experience/traits.
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Thanks for the kind words gents. However, I do intend to try to at least post an update each week(even if it's just well, I didn't have a chance to do much) so that forgiving readers can know what's going on.
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Present gamedate is April 10, 2074 -- we are less than nine game-months from the long-anticipated 'SPACE at 50' celebration.
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2074 ANNUAL REPORT
It was a year of industrial transition on Earth, beginning with the completion of a mass driver in February to replace the one sent to the new outpost on Halley's Comet. Mine production and work on the Alaska bases increased, and would increase again in late April when the components for the Titan base were completed.
March brought a number of important developments on the research front, including the retirement of one of the agency's original scientists, Dr. Brandon Grimmett. At 70 years old and in poor health, it was an easy decision. The early part of his career was spent in leading one of the ground-based geology survey teams in the exploration and exploitation of Sol('37-'48), after which he became a leading Logistics researcher, contributing many vital components for ship construction as well as modernization of ground forces. Another of the original minds that formed the initial research community at SPACE's formation, his retirement continues the process of handing the reigns to the next generation.
Two of the three elite Logistics scientists that made it the strongest research field for decades have now retired: only Cedrick Wormack(61) and younger, far less skilled researchers remain.
Aside from shipping the components and minerals needed for the new base to Titan in late April and May, there was not much news in the late spring and summer. Fall passed as well, until a November shakeup in the navy's power structure provided the first bit of hard news in several months. Veteran Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. became the fifth active admiral, a new high, on the 5th. Just two days later, the overall #2 in command, Chong Vaugh, was forced into medical retirement a little over a year ahead of schedule. Then about three weeks later, just before the end of the month, 28-year-old rising star Parker Lanzi brought the number back up to five again.
Such things would often just be footnotes, but given the slowness of the year more than usual was made of them. In the final week of the year, as all eyes were on the preparations for the upcoming festival, the launching of a third Nimitz-class missile boat went virtually unnoticed ...
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** Jan. 26 -- Third-gen. commercial grav sensors(Alphonse Lambeth) and improved missile tracking(+20%, Elwood Tousant) are completed. All three labs are assigned to Adolfo Walth for work on a new composite material for use in strengthening armor capabilities.
** March 5 -- A surprisingly important day scientifically. Dr. Joe Tycho's team announced new, larger and more powerful laser cannons(15 cm focal size). This would have been enough, but top sensors scientist Julio Kuchler announced a breakthrough(55% expertise), AND a new, much-needed power & propulsion researcher joined the fray. Already serviceable with a 15% skill, Alejandro Otteson immediately becomes a potential contributor. Tycho will spend a couple of months hammering together a usable blueprint for the next UBOS laser prototype, while Otteson gets an immediate project, horribly understaffed, to work on improving reactor power output.
** March 19 -- Brandon Grimmett's team completes a more efficient fuel storage tank for very large ships. Each of the massive tanks can hold 5m liters in the same space but using just over half the boronide required for five 1m-liter tanks.
Elwood Tousant begins the next generation of theoretical sensor improvement, beginning with the passive thermals. He'll take two labs for the project and will require at least one more -- considerable investment is needed to improve existing capabilities at this point as all the easy advances have already been made.
** April 23 -- Tousant claims the latest lab complex to be completed, bringing his project up to full funding.
** May 3 -- Foundational work on a 15cm Meson Cannon to match the new lasers is completed by Eva Vadnais. She'll turn her attention to a better microwave weapon while capacitor and focusing technology continues to be developed by others for the next generation of weaponry. A second lab is taken by Alphonse Lambeth for work on improving effectiveness of ground units.
** May 5 -- Joe Tycho finishes work on the new laser cannon, only to discover that a new round of research will be necessary once new capacitors are finished to allow for a faster firing rate. The last couple months were basically a waste of his time, to no small amount of annoyance.
He'll get basic foundational work done on improving turret gearing, a fairly long-term project which there is not space to fully fund at this time.
** June 5 -- Reynaldo Darrington's research team has completed plans for improving the number of ships that can transit with a single jump engine from 3 to 4(including the jump ship itself). Two projects that were a lab short are reinforced, and Darrington gets a make-work job looking into jump engine minituraization.
** September 30 -- Edward Groat's team finishes the Sentinel 400, the latest advancement in active sensors for the jump point detection ships. The new Forrestal III class will have improved armor and twice the sensor range for a slight size increase(650t) and a 19% cost increase to over 95k. Groat will take over work on the composite armour project, and Otteson's work on reactor power improvements gets a boost with a second lab.
** October 13 -- Rosemary Urenda's team has improved capacitors to allow recharging at a rate 50% better than existing technology. She'll next turn her attention to working on increasing fuel efficiency.
EARTH
March 3 -- Two mobile infantry battalions are ready for service.
April 27 -- The Alaska components for Titan have been completed. Needless to say it is a massive project: more than half of the freighters, five in all, will be required to transport it, with a sixth taking the required minerals to be used in the assembly process. Meanwhile, mine construction is further accelerated to about nine per year, and addition funding goes to the last Earth-based Alaska base as well. Initial estimates are that even once all seven brigades are transported to Titan, assembling the base will take over four years.
Late May -- Earth's population reaches 1.4 billion.
Mid-July -- The newest Brigade HQ is ready on earth and the training facilities fall silent, as the officer corps needs to grow before new units can be accomodated.
KEY PERSONNEL
Early May -- Curtis Gloster, the heir apparent to Palmer in the Construction & Production field, increases his skill to 45%.
Early October -- Karabishi Juishaou increases administration to 6.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mid-November -- The Tennessee base is finished on Triton, and the construction brigades there(four of them) will soon depart for Titan and their greatest off-world task: assembly of the Alaska there.
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The next couple of updates will differ from the usual pattern. First, I will be putting together a historical overview of summary of SPACE at 50, which will be followed by excerpts from the keynote address at the celebratory festival by the Director.
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SPACE AT 50: RETROSPECTIVE
AFTERMATH: PREHISTORY 2022 - 2024
Though it is almost unthinkable now as few of us were alive to endure it, humanity almost destroyed itself in World War III, which raged from 2013 to 2022. The war was triggered by the discovery of the TN elements, and was our species' first attempt to deal with that discovery. 93% of mankind was lost in the self-inflicted near-apocalypse, and large sections of the Earth rendered uninhabitable, probably permanently.
The formation of SPACE in 2025 was the second attempt. The fledgling agency had but a fraction of it's current trained leadership then, much less support from humanity at large which was less than 40% of the current numbers. We knew one thing for certain: both unity and a working understanding of the eleven TN minerals would be required for any chance at our survival. We could no longer afford to fight each other.
A NEW HOPE: 2025 - 2028
Lena Dungey was chosen in a narrow election win over three men to head the agency. It was a time of many concerns, as we knew how to harvest the TN elements but not a whole lot about what they could do. It was clear that the deposits on Earth would not last long, in many cases less than a generation. Dr. Deacon Palmer was tasked with a more detailed investigation of TN properties and uses, without which the fledgling initiative was surely doomed to fail. His role was even more vital than Dungey in those early years.
A BRAVE NEW SOLAR SYSTEM: 2028-2040
With the arrival of Palmer's report in July 2028, mankind's place in the universe changed dramatically. Armed with the tools to more thoroughly explore and begin to exploit our system, both space-based naval capabilities and industrial efforts, including conversion to TN-capable facilities, were enacted in what proved to be a very long process. In five years the first shipyard was finished, and a year later the survey ship Marc Aaronson was christened in the early spring of 2034. Another four years and all of the habitable bodies were surveyed. Ground-based teams began follow-up surveys.
This period was also marked by the untimely death of Governor-Director Slick Willie, in 2036. The '37 election, narrowly won by Lena Dungey over Herbert Duling, was a key point and one of the closest in SPACE's history. Dungey's third term made a couple of missteps, an ill-advised colonization of Venus and dumping a lot of time, money, and resources into the Spruance colony ship, which was eventually abandoned. It had become clear by this time that the system's comets were a much better source, and Dungey's political career died an early and ignominous death as a result.
EXPANDING FRONTIERS: 2041 - 2056
Dungey's demise was Duling's gain, and he began the first of many terms as Governor-Director by spearheading the expansion of mining efforts on short-range comets. By the end of that term there were nearly 50 automated mines combined operating off-world, and he launched a bold plan to establish a human presence on Titan. On January 3, 2046, the first human colonists arrived at Saturn's largest moon. A week later, Dr. Ignacio Bravo's team reported on Jump Point Theory, which provided the promise of extrasolar travel. The galaxy could be within our reach.
Two years later, the GSV Hopeful was launched, a survey ship with one purpose: determining the location of any jump points out of Sol space. On May 21, a jump point was found just inside Jupiter orbit, less than 740m km from our sun. Armed with this information, Duling authorized Operation Uncertain Hope, the goal of which was to develop a ship capable of navigating jump points and exploring what lay beyond them. The Hopeful would take another three years, through early 2051, to finish it's survey. It found 7 jump points in all.
2049 brought a new Governor-Director, India Rakes, whose primary policy change was the 2% Initiative, authorizing eventual full colonization of all habitable bodes in our system. Mars and Luna were colonized immediately: others would follow. The other major challenge of her term was dealing with a corundium crisis. It's easy to forget it now, but off-world resource development was slowed for many years due to the relative scarcity of it in the system. Research priorities also began to be shifted as there was a growing demand for naval military capabilities to combat piracy and other undesirable elements in the growing colonies. SPACE was experiencing some fairly acute growing pains.
In 2053 Duling returned as Governor-Director, and immediately began exploiting the comet Faye and asteroid Prokne in an effort to increase the flow of corundium. The first TN-capable ground unit, the garrison battalion, began to be deployed that year. Meanwhile, civilian investment in a fledgling operation on the distant dwarf Sedna added much-needed duranium to the resource pool.
The next year brought the launching of the JSC Intrepid, first of the Pioneer-class 10kt science vessels which were the final product of Uncertain Hope, now completed after six years. Tragedy struck a few months before, with expected commander Gregorio Granberg found dead under suspicious circumstances. Without the expert handling of the situation by replacement Cmdr. Jay Cin III, the resulting scandal could have been disastrous.
The Intrepid launched on July 1, 2054. On July 10 at 1842, it successfully navigated Jump Point Alpha, finding beyond it the Epsilon Eridani system. In two years, assisted the last bit by the second in the Pioneer class, the Hyperion, initial surveys of seven distinct star systems had been completed.
Humanity had reached a new threshold: our reach was now interstellar in scope.
A TRAGIC DISCOVERY: 2056 - 2057
The Intrepid was tasked with a more thorough survey of Epsilon Eridani, which lay beyond by far the closest jump point, to ascertain suitability for colonization or any new jump points which might be found. When it did not return as scheduled, the Hyperion was sent in to investigate in June 2057. What they found changed human history forever.
The wreck of the Intrepid was found a month's journey from the entry point into Epsilon Eridani. Governor-Director Duling immediately authorized a reconnaisance mission under the moniker Operation Post Mortem in a globally televised address on June 11. In the early morning hours of August 3, that mission resulted in the destruction of the Hyperion by what appeared to be two flights of ten missiles each. Governors Herman Fox and Cruz Luscombe, as well as Cmdr. Dan Spengler and the 240 souls on board all perished -- some in the explosions, some in the lifepods two weeks later.
PREPARING FOR THE WORST: 2057-2064
SPACE initiated a series of changes in response to the stunning news that a hostile, advanced civilization had destroyed two of our three science vessels. To protect humanity and its interests as quickly as possible, operations beyond Sol were suspended indefinitely and the Forrestal-class jump point sensor boat was designed. Bases were designed for all of our holdings in the system, some with only sensors and ground troops but others housing defensive missile batteries. The Nimitz-class missile boat and Brooklyn-class gunboat were designed as well for additional combat capability. Research priorities shifted drastically as well, with propulsion and sensor capabilities taking center stage in an effort to begin 'catching up' with what little we know about alien technologies, and minimal sensors and CIWS anti-missile defenses were mounted on all SPACE-operated vessels larger than a shuttle.
By 2062, Earth had completed it's complement of deep-space tracking stations, dramatically improving the range at which any approaching threat would be detected. Two years later, and a pair of sensor vessels were in position at all of the seven known points of entry in Sol space. To date, they have yet to detect any attempt at penetration -- whatever the aliens motives, they seem to have decided to leave us alone.
EXPANDING CAPABILITIES: 2064-2074(PRESENT DAY)
The past decade has been marked by increasing SPACE's reach in Sol, and our potential abilities via continued massive investment in scientific research. Deployment of military bases throughout the system required the Tarawa-class Collier, the Burke-class brigade transport, hundreds of thousands of personnel in the seven construction brigades, and no small amount of time and effort. The Cleveland-class maintenance supply vessel was also deployed, as well as the first three of the Nimitz class for direct combat defense of our system. With the Alaska-class base on Titan set to begin construction, this effort is nearly completed at least in its initial phase. Comets Wolf-Harrington, Faye, Neujmin, and most recently Halley's Comet have received continued investment in mining with a special focus on neutronium, the scarcest vital mineral at the moment. At any given point in time, anywhere from 20 to two dozen research projects are ongoing as SPACE invests about a third of it's expenses in that endeavor annually, though the loss of a number of retiring elite scientists is beginning to have painful effects.
Continual advances in weapons systems, sensors, and propulsion abilities have brought us considerably closer to known alien technological levels. Meanwhile, expansion of the GLTC to four academies has seen the leadership pool grow by leaps and bounds to several times its original size, combating a brief crisis in political and administrative talent though the Army continues to need more officers badly. By the end of the 60s, the 2% Initiative was completed with full colonization of Sol: every habitable system body is occupied. Conversion to TN-capable factories on Earth and considerable expansion of the industrial sector had also been achieved.
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JANUARY 5, 2075
At the beginning of the two-week festival marking 50 years of SPACE history, Director Herbert Duling made the welcoming address to mark the occasion as was his official duty. Much of the speech had the usual flowery language that most statesman reserve espescially for such occasions as this. He was magnimous in the extreme, lauding the contributions of all branches of SPACE and espescially of his predecessors and political rivals. There was more than a bit of rose-colored glasses and revisionist history in all of this. For example, he was hardly going to mention here the still-classified fact that he had seriously considered a coup to remove SPACE's first director, Lena Dungey, as she blundered about with wasteful projects in her third term. Fortunately for himself and humanity, the voters took care of that problem on their own. But this was a time for unity, for celebration, for speaking with one voice.
Such pleasantries having been dispensed with, Duling also sounded a personal note. "As I stand here at the east entrance to USCA(Unified Sol Command & Administration, also known merely as Sector Command), I am reminded of the fact that this building did not even exist 15 years ago. I have been blessed to spend half of my adult life as director of SPACE, but the thing which gives me the most pride and pleasure is not that great priviledge, but the fact that such an office exists at all. Every day this complex is a potent physical reminder of what we have done collectively as a species. We have, through great effort and considerable sacrifice, put aside our divisive past and forged an unbreakable commitment to a unified purpose. We have resolved to never again allow ourselves to believe that self-destructive violence is preferable to finding greater strength in our common future, and have demonstrated that resolve with concrete action. "
Duling then moved on to unveil the plans for the Forrestal III-class sensor boat, the South-Carolina-class Freighter, and the Long Beach-class fuel harvester, all of which would replace their predecessors in those classes. He described also the new Military Modernization Initiative, which had been developed in concert with top military brass. This policy would ensure a reasonable level of operational reliability in official SPACE ships and bases by requiring new construction instead of refitting any time a major change in the specifications was made.
At this point most expected the speech would end and the festivities would resume. Herbert Duling had a suprise for them though. He had the attention of humanity throughout Sol, and didn't intend to waste the opportunity. Besides which, the timing of this had really been determined by science, not himself.
"Since the tragic loss of the Hyperion in the Epsilon Eridani system 18 years ago, we have known that we could no longer capriciously view the galaxy as merely a scientific endeavor or a resource to be used. We have enemies who have declared their intent unambiguously through their actions. There are some who view the fact that they did not follow us into Sol as a sign that they are willing to live and let live -- and believe we should isolate ourselves here, accepting that arrangement. Most of us however, have always known that the day would come when we must honor the hundreds who lost their lives nearly two decades ago in the only fitting way, by resuming our exploration of the surrounding systems in an intelligent and pragmatic way, pursuing peace always but not ceding control of humanity's destiny to anyone but ourselves.
Today it is my duty and priviledge to announce that within two years, the tools to properly fulfill that vision will be within our grasp. Dr. Clint Wyche has labored the better part of a decade on a secret project that I am pleased to make public today: blueprints for advanced geological sensors which will allow us to not only survey astronomical bodies more quickly, but detect the presence of any anomalies on those bodies which may indicate the presence or ruins of alien civilizations. This technology, when available, will enable us to make the most of any exploratory efforts. We must not let fear control us, and we cannot ensure our continued prosperity through the resources of Sol alone. The only responsible choice before us is the exhilirating challenge of expanding our reach into the galaxy with caution and a responsible, humble approach.
What that approach ultimately is will be widely debated in the months and years to come, and it is for that reason I make this announcement today. This decision belongs to all of humanity, and in 2077 your voice will be heard clearly in the candidates you choose with your vote. For now, know that every effort is and will continue to be made to be fully transparent on the options and proposals available to us. "
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Next up will be a more detailed briefing than has been previously presented on the surrounding systems, resource situation in Sol, top options for expansion, etc.
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TO BOLDLY GO: EXTRASOLAR EXPANSION BRIEFING
SECURING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: RESOURCE OVERVIEW
The clearest extremely practical reason to expand beyond Sol is simply that there will eventually be a need for additional resources to sustain the economy. There is, however, no compelling need in the short to medium-term. Corundium is the closest with only the 12kt on Schaumasse qualifying as a significant source, but in a pinch there are smaller deposits to tap and when Ikeya-Zang gets closer, its 80kt will end any needs fairly quickly. Duranium and neutronium, the two most vital TN elements, can easily support another century of activity.
A more visionary approach would however suggest that we should know where additional resources are going to come from when they are needed. Mapping other systems is not a short or inexpensive endeavor. By the time a need arises, it will be too late to go looking for the next mother lode ...
It should also be noted that there are three extremely long-period comets that have not yet been surveyed. However, these are almost completely irrelevant. Hale-Bopp(28.9b km) and Brooks(37b) are not only insanely far away, they are getting farther away all the time. It's not even worth calculating the amount of time it would take for them to get as close as, say, Sedna. We're talking centuries here.
McNaught Russell is nearly halfway back to the sun, but still 20b km away, twice the distance of Sedna. It won't become relevant this century. Ikeya-Zang(12.6b km) has had an initial survey revealing mostly the largest deposit of corundium in the system, and in a few decades it might perhaps be worth the effort to send some mines there. The other three are simply not within the realm of practical possibility, and everything else has been surveyed.
DEFENDING OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY
A far more compelling reason to act and act now is the simple fact that what we now know about the aliens is that they have access to two systems bordering us: Epsilon Eridani and Lalande 21185. SPACE does not know whether the other systems are 'safe', there is no compelling evidence one way or the other. Deployment of naval forces in Sol is seriously complicated by the fact they could emerge less than a week's journey from Earth at the EE jump point any moment -- or at any of six other points of entry. If some of these could be eliminated or mitigated as likely attack avenues by establishing them as free of alien presence, the value of that information could hardly be quantified too highly.
ALWAYS BE GROWING
Finally of course there is the simple fact that the high value of discovery continues, and the recent sensor advances mean that humanity is now ready for this. There may be no 'fierce urgency of now' but there is a fierce urgency to go eventually, and no compelling argument for waiting.
NEIGHBOURING SYSTEM ASSESSMENT
In order of distance from Sol(and therefore ease of reaching), here is what we know of the seven systems surrounding us:
1. Epsilon Eridani(737m km). By far the closest, it is also as we all know the most dangerous.
Habitable bodies: The second moon of Epsilon Eridani-II is the most obvious choice as it is as inviting as Mars or Luna and contains more accessible neutronium than Sol combined(over a million tons). Several other bodies are in the range of Titan or the Jupiter moons, requiring considerably more effort to settle.
Survey status: 3 of 7 planets were surveyed by the Intrepid on its first, unmolested visit. Tritanium and uridium, along with less-accessible corundium and gallicite, were the major finds aside from the already-mentioned neutronium. With more than half unsurveyed, there may or may not be considerably more to invite us. Possibilities for local fuel harvesting and duranium for construction are significant questions.
2. Lalande 21185(2.68b).
Habitable Bodies: none
Survey Status: 5 planets, 4 of them dwarves, a handful of moons and a bunch of asteroids. Danger aside, there isn't much here. No atmospheric sorium harvesting is even potentially present with no gas giants or superjovians around.
3. Van Maanen's Star(3.15b)
Habitable Bodies: The first moon Van Maanen I is the best target, and makes Titan look like a vacation spot(9.85 colony cost).
Survey Status: All we've done is poke our head in. Van Maanen I is a superjovian, so the potential for fuel there and the possibilities for its nearly 20 moons is the main reason to even investigate. The proximity to the Lalande JP(519m between the two) and the known enemy presence there was a strong enough reason to look no further.
4. Teegardens Star(3.2b)
Habitable bodies: 6 of them, most of them similar to Titan.
Survey Status: No further investigation was done, though the jump point is just 326km away from the star in a very small system. There are five of six planets in quite close proximity, with two gas giants among them, and a couple dozen moons to investigate. It would quite likely be worth the effort ...
5. Luyten 726-8(3.6b)
Habitable bodies: Four, two similar to Titan but Luyten 726-8 A II is similar to Mars/Luna, minimal cost. It also has no mineral resources.
Survey Status: Only the one planet was investigated. There are 8 in all, a mix of different types, with a minimal number of moons and five comets, a rarity to find so far outside of Sol space. This is another interesting system.
6. Sirius(5.1b)
Habitable bodies: 7, 6 of which are quite habitable. Two are Mars/Luna range, the other four less so but all much better than Titan or the Jupiter moons. Even better, Sirius A II could be terraformed with minimal expense, needing only a bit thicker of an atmosphere with a little more oxygen to become the closest thing to a second Earth by far that we have yet encountered.
Survey Status: Sirius-A I and II were surveyed with nothing to show for it. That leaves a bunch of asteroids and the Sirius-B star, which has a gas giant boasting 23 moons(four of them among the fairly habitable targets).
7. Barnard's Star(5.9b)
Habitable Bodies: Two, both similar to Titan.
Survey Status: One gas giant with 17 moons. Combined with the habitability issues and distance, this precluded any further investigation.
THE FOX DOCTRINE
This is the name that has been given to the general strategic approach to exploration and expansion, wherever SPACE decides to go. It is named of course for former administrator Herman Fox, one of the martyrs of the Epsilon Eridani tragedy, who articulated the basic concept well ahead of his time.
The central principle guiding the Fox Doctrine is to gain the maximum information while exposing SPACE assets and personnel(not to mention human pride) to the minimum possible risk. Specifically, it calls for the use of small, specialized vessels to carry out the surveys while communicating with and receiving logistics support, fuel, etc. from a larger ship or ships stationed at the entry point into the system. In the event of a disaster, these 'carrier' ships could evacuate, limiting loss of men and materials to the smaller, more expendable craft. This is the opposite of the all-in-one approach of Operation Uncertain Hope that led to the Pioneer science vessel. These smaller vessels would, in addition to being more expendable, also have the capability of being more difficult to detect.
NAVAL COMBAT ASSESSMENT
The known capabilities of enemy ships come from nearly two decades ago, but they are all we have to go on.
Top Speed: 6500 km/s. Nimitz and Brooklyn-class 'warships' operate at 2400 km/s, or less than 40% of that.
Sensors: Considered to be similarly advanced beyond our capabilities, although the gap has likely closed somewhat with the dedicated effort made to improve ours in the intervening time.
Armor/Shields: Completely unknown.
Size: Completely unknown.
Weaponry: Two flights of 10 missile-type objects impacted the Hyperion, traveling at speeds estimated to be 15k-30k km/s. By comparison, our best missile, the Defender II, is capable of 13.5 km/s. The best anti-missile missiles we can design would have about a 8-9% hit chance against such an incoming weapon, and the absolute best tracking speed we can get with our beam fire controls is 15-16k km/s.
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It is now time for all with an interest in SPACE to voice their opinions. There are two essential questions that will need to be resolved by the time of the 2077 elections. Feel free to suggest any approaches that are not listed here.
1. What policy should SPACE take towards the aliens known to be present in Epsilon Eridani and assumed to be so in Lalande 21185? This question is really more about Epsilon Eridani as that's where we were attacked, it's the closest system and best in most respects one as a colonization target.
** Isolationism. This would continue the current policy of avoiding any and all jumps to EE, with the goal of not provoking the aliens further or risking any more loss of life.
** Diplomatic Contact. Under this approach a small diplomatic craft would be designed and deployed, with a team on board using long-range equipment to attempt to establish communication with the aliens and form a basis for possible future peaceful coexistence.
** Recon in Force. Several combat vessels would be sent to attempt to determine further the extent of alien forces in Epsilon Eridani, and if attacked they would shoot back. At current capabilities, this would likely be somewhat of a suicide mission but valuable intel on enemy strength and the practical combat effectiveness of current technology against them would be the primary aim.
2. What systems should be prioritized first for further surveying? There are five with no known enemy presence:
** Van Maanen's Star(3.15b) -- Infrastructure cost would be considerable to get a colony up and running, local resources are completely unknown. Proximity to the dangerous Lalande JP is a significant concern.
** Teegarden's Star(3.2b) -- Infrastructure cost would be considerable here as well, local resources also unknown. The major item in Teegarden's favor is that the jump point is very close to the star and the likely locations for deposits. Required in-system travel would be quite minimal.
** Luyten 726-8(3.6b) -- A binary system with one minimally costly planet(Mars/Luna range). Resources unknown. There are 5 comets present, the only neighbouring system which has any and based on our experience in Sol they are the most reliable source of high-accesibility deposits.
** Sirius(5.1b) -- Another binary. Sirius A II the only planet we've found that could be terraformed in a short time frame. No local resources have been found but most of the potential locations would be around Sirius B, which has not been investigated at all.
** Barnard's Star(5.9b) -- Considerable infrastructure would be required and the distance is of course rather prohibitive. Barring incredibly rich deposits being found, it is an easy system to dismiss.
Currently Teegarden's Star, Luyten 726-8, and Sirius are those being most seriously considered by SPACE brass. Despite the distance, the long-term viability via the terraforming option of Sirius has investigation there as the most popular option currently.
All opinions are desired, but in particular Governors Jedidiah Thone and Ricardo Bloise are in a position to have their thoughts count more than the average citizen or public servant. All requests for more information on anything in particular should be forwarded to SPACE HQ immediately.
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Malik Kaine, a lowly official with little power and even less ability, throws in his ideas for SPACE's coming policies through a series of blog posts and video shorts. He is strongly in favor of reconnaissance of Epsilon Eridani by force. Furthermore, he is pushing for expansion into other systems at the earliest possible time, primarily with a focus on the terraformable planet in Sirius.
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CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE
Jedidiah Thone(3) -- Matters have stagnated recently for the Governor of Reinmuth.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- Ditto for Machholz's chief administrator.
Malik Kaine(2) -- Kaine is considered the best of the three more or less useless beauracrats currently without a posting.
Karabishi Juishao(MK ) -- Roughly a year remains on her work improving lateral thrusters and fins for agility on our missile chassis designs. At 61, Dr. Juishao is approaching the end of a pretty distinguished career.
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Cmdr. Jay Cin V also advocates a reconnaissance in force of Epsilon Eridani, but leaves the choice of colonization to the more experienced civilian officials.
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Commander Daniel Watters advocates for a recon in force of Epsilon Eridani with the intention of collecting intel to build up a fleet capable of winning engagements in the Epsilon Eridani system even if that capability only comes from number of ships involved. He also points out that no other system known to man is as resource rich and therefore ready for colonization as Epsilon Eridani is.
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Ricardo Bloise advocates for exlporation of Sirius and the recon in force action hopefully this increase of security and exploration will lead to more colonization which will lead to more openings for him.
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2075 ANNUAL REPORT
Shipyard activity picked up immediately as six massive hulls began to be formed, the first two South Carolina freighters and four Long Beach fuel harvesters. It was also clear that more larger shipyards would be needed in the years ahead, so two commercial yards(Oregon and ENDM) began expansion operations.
The debate began with great intensity over how to deal with the director's announcements. There was near-unanimous agreement that the more promising systems should be explored and more fully surveyed, but that was about the only thing with a clear consensus. Man on the street interviews revealed almost as many differing opinions as there were respondents, and the elite intelligentsia, etc. were not much more unified. It would clearly be some time before it became evident what direction SPACE would/should take.
Meanwhile, officials were still occupied with the usual concerns from the relatively mundane(such as the 11th mine departing for Halley's Comet and the usual comings and goings of ships refueling, doing maintenance checks, and returning to station) to those requiring more close attention.
An example of the latter was the announcement just eight days into the new year by Dr. Deacon Palmer that he was retiring, having completed plans for the jump gate. It was of course expected that Pioneer Palmer would be leaving soon, but as probably the most accomplished researcher in SPACE history his loss would still be felt acutely. The initial TN research was his doing as well as virtually everything we know about adapting it to large-scale industrial use in shipyards, fleet assets, factories, you name it. In the Construction & Production field there now remain only two noteworthy researchers: Dr. Curtis Gloster(45%, 45) and Dr. Shannon Patteson(30%, 57). While other fields have taken priority as a necessity, it is certainly hoped that a new talent will emerge in the second half of Gloster's career.
As March came to a close, a bit of a historic day arrived when the four brigades from Triton arrived on Titan to begin the work of assembling the first Alaska-class base off-world there. Initial estimates are for it to take more than seven years. The three brigades on Sedna will complete their work in a couple of months, but it will be almost year's end before any transports can arrive for them and well into '76 by the time they make it back to Titan.
May brought more news of importance. Two pieces in fact, on the same day midway through the month. The first Brooklyn '72-class gunboat, the first beam-armed warship of any kind to be deployed by humanity, was completed. At the same time, the final of the four Alaska-class bases on Earth was finished as well. Construction of new naval and commercial shipyards began immediately, as SPACE is strongly convinced they will be needed for the new exploratory vessels. Just days later, a potential new star was born in the scientific community. Elliot Monks possesses outstanding survey skill as a potential leader of a ground team should the need again arise, and is also notable for a considerable ability in Defensive Systems(20%). This makes him equally as skilled as the current #2 in that field, Adolfo Walth, while still more than a decade younger.
The summer brought some developments detailed below, and some that are not. There were a lot of noticed improvements to minor officials not worth mentioning on their own, but the collective effect was seen as significant in the aggregate.
October brought the deployment of the first two South Carolina-class 'superfreighters', though they will not see any immediate use. Two more will be added sometime next year, which should be well more than sufficient for current needs. They are twice the size of any other ship in Sol space, and likely to remain so for the forseeable future. Tankers are dispatched from Titan and Callisto to deal with the drain this and the fuel harvesters will have on the tanks.
The year ended with a significant development in the field of ballistic weapons. On December 20th, Karabishi Juishao completed her latest improvement in missile agility. With this advancement it is the opinion of the navy brass that anti-missile ballistics are nearing viability. Nearing, but not quite there. Estimated impact rates are now in the 13-14% range according to simulations. At least 20% is desired before it is considered worth fielding a system.
It was, however, time for the next anti-ship missile. Multiple missiles, in this case, as command wants to experiment with an alternate missile: slower, but with a larger warhead.
Simulations have indicated that the direct-line successor to the Defender II missile should be slower with more lateral thrusters to take advantadge of the agility improvements. This will be the Defender '76, with a slower speed than existing missiles but boasting a hit rate of almost 45%, about 5% higher. The Defender '76 P will more than double the damage if it hits, but it will hit considerably less often(a hair under 30% is expected). The engines powering each missile will be different but quite similar in size, with the primary distinction being that the P variant is much less maneuverable to allow for the larger explosive yield. Dr. Juishao is expected to spend the next year or more researching these engines before she can work on the new prototype missiles.
Aside from the dramatic announcements and everything else that attended the SPACE at 50 festival, 2075 brought more new talent than has been seen in quite some time, particularly in the Army and research capacities; the beginning of the new generation of missiles as just mentioned; the deployment of the first Brooklyn '72 and South Carolina-class ships; the beginning of the first off-world Alaska base, on Titan; the retirement of one of the great minds in SPACE history, Dr. Deacon Palmer; construction and expansion of shipyard capabilities; and of course, continued expansion of mining efforts on Halley's Comet, which now numbers 19 automines producing over 1.5kt annually. It was quite a productive year at SPACE, worthy of the historic occasion which began it.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** January 8: Jump Gate Construction Module finished by Deacon Palmer's team. The two laboratories freed up were added to existing projects in need of extra space.
** January 21: Cedric Wormack reports that blueprints for the Tractor Beam are now prepared. His two labs will next focus on the next step in the evolution of the TN-capable army: specifications for an assault infantry battalion.
** February 11 -- With a new lab completed, it is time to begin researching the needed technologies for the next exploratory push. The most costly obvious need for the Fox Doctrine to be implemented is a more modern jump drive capable of propelling a ship of 10kt. The MJD 46-4b is designed and Dr. Shannon Patteson begins the work.
** February 21: Dr. Curtis Gloster has completed the latest missile fire controls, which are now ready for use. He'll take over the work on the new jump drive from here on out.
** June 7 -- The first advance in microwave technology in some time is reported by Minh Klausner(improved focusing). Newcomer Ross Dodge will get his feet wet now investigating ways to harden electronic systems against such attacks.
** July 5 -- Julio Kuchler's team finishes the latest active missile search sensors. He'll begin the next stage in theoretical passive EM detection with inadequate support for the time being.
** September 19th -- Bessie Wallander announces the possibility of extending beam fire-control ranges out to 24k km, the inadequacy of which can be seen by the fact that alien missiles traverse that distance in 0.8 to 1.2 seconds. But it's still progress. A naval priority comes next, as they desire a larger version of the Phoenix engine to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the next round of redesigned Brooklyn/Nimitz warships. The Phoenix 100L is expected to result in a 6-7% gain in fuel efficiency and will be headed up by Shannon Patteson, the best available researcher at the moment.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Early February -- Young Rear Admiral Parker Lanzi has increased his training skill, continuing to develop his abilities in an effort to gain on his superiors sooner rather than later.
Mid-February -- Rear Admiral Mitchell Feeser, the clear choice to be the next long-term navy chief when Besler retires, has continued to work on his operations skills in preparation for that post(35%).
Late March -- A new sensors scientist, Ross Dodge, has moderate ability(10%) and is ready to join the fray.
Early April -- One to watch in the army officer corps is recently commissioned Jordon Roettger, who has both skills and political connections to succeed. At the same time, some 12 officers were dismissed. Among them is Richard Blade.
Late May -- Power & Propulsion No. 2 Alejandro Otteson has increased to 20% expertise.
Early July -- Ricardo Bloise improves Wealth Creation to 10%.
Early July -- Burt Stonerock, Governor of Callisto, is suffering a variety of health concerns lately.
Mid-August -- Not resting as retirement approaches, Sr. Admiral Jung Besler announces that logistics abilities have begun to exist(10%).
Early September -- A new star is born in the army. Justin Numbers is considered a savant in terms of battle command, and immediately moves almost to the top of the 'general material' list.
Early October -- A new researcher is available who may well be a significant part of the future. Lena Bohanan(10% CP) also possesses moderate survey skill, and will be in the mix of candidates for any future production-oriented research tasks. Meanwhile, Riley Awad(Governor of Earth) has learned a bit more from running the economy, boosting factory production(25% bonus).
Early December -- Jessica Sattler's training bonus increases to 50.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mid-August -- Sedna's first expansion in some while brings it up to 30 complexes.
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RETIREMENTS
Chief of the Navy Senior Admiral Jung Besler retires having held that post for four years. The bulk of his career, over two decades, was spent mostly at freighter postings, followed by a decade as an Intelligence and then Public Affairs officer. Anytime the top dog in a branch of service retires it is always a loss and a noteworthy event, but Besler was pretty much a caretaker and not much more -- he won't be missed horribly.
Cmdr. Justin Alltop, expected to take command of one of the Alaska-class bases this year, has been forced out due to extremely poor health. Alltop, 47, still had the potential to make Captain, so this is a major personal disappointment for him but his body has just had it. His biggest achievement was commanding one of the Forrestal stations for almost a decade in the early days of their deployment.
Lt. Cmdrs. Lino Roller, Nickolas Morvant, Weston Upthegrove, Sheila Nuzum, and Cassandra Minch were given age-based forced retirement. Col. Owen Baek met the same fate on the army side of things.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 5th out of 35. He'll leave Luna to command a more vital -- and potentially dangerous -- Tennessee-class missile base defending the critical mining operations at distant Sedna. He's been hanging around as a decent promotion candidate for some time now, and if he doesn't make the jump to captain sometime this tour, forced retirement will kick in. A distant posting such as this isn't exactly the thing to put him front-of-mind for the new navy chief ...
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 35th out of 35. With his current ship, the CS New Beginnings, slated to be scrapped, Conor will be moved to one of the Burke brigade transports.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 25th out of 101. Automatic retirement is three years away barring a promotion that does not look at all likely. In his immediate future, a fourth straight tour at Saturn has been decreed.
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 25th out of 35. A third tour at the Van Maanen JP(sensor duty).
Cmdr. Jay Cin V -- 21st out of 35. He'll also stay on sensor duty, at Lalande 21185.
Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler -- 11th out of 101. She'll stay at Saturn for another tour, but appears to be rising with an eye to joining the short list of promotion candidates before long. One to watch, but not that closely.
Bandus Meian -- 68th out of 101. The last of the new shuttle commands goes to him, which basically means he won't do a whole lot but if he doesn't do anything collosally stupid, skill in training the crew under his command might mean a 'real' assignment down the road ...
Col. Ignace Tegair -- 28th out of 51. Another tour of boredom on garrison duty beckons.
WAITING LIST
With his father having been booted, Dirk Blade has been activated early and is now awaiting a suitably talented recruit ...
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Sorry for the gap of time in me being involved. College has kept me busy and a bit stressed. This week I finish with Finals.
As far as Jedidiah Thone is concerned about expansion. He thinks it is best to go the easiest way with the best bets at being productive. An orbital survey of both Sirius and Luyten 726-8 should be undertaken as soon as possible since both have nice planets that we can easily colonize. Luyten is more likely to have significant mineral deposits due to the comets and as such that is the system that should be surveyed first.
As far as the aliens. Leave them alone for now. Once we are able to defend ourselves he proposes a 4th unmentioned option. Make a small and quiet ship with a passive EM sensor to go into systems that the aliens are known to inhabit and find out exactly what we are dealing with. It is not good to go in guns blazing at this point because that puts lives and equipment at unnecessary risk.
So ignore the aliens for now, recon with a small quiet scout ship when we can defend ourselves, then depending on what we find make diplomatic contact or see if we can defeat them.
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To Director Herbert Duling, Chief of the Army and Major General Anton Engelhardt, Acting Chief of the Navy Rear Admiral Mitchell Feeser, Military Brass, SPACE HQ, Lords and Ladies, Aids and Associates,
The mark of fifty years of cooperation within SPACE is an achievement so great and grand, that the words available to me in our language are not sufficient in describing the good that it has brought to humanity. It is the simple fact that without SPACE, we would not be here. Alluding to that fact, it is here that I take up the offer to voice an opinion pertaining the future of not only SPACE, but the direction of our entire species. It is in the words of this letter I was elevated amongst my fellow Officers of Rank to speak on behalf of them, to form one voice for open dialogue.
We face a dilemma, greatest that we as a species has ever stood before: the question of returning to Epsilon Eridani. Is it true that delving into this forsaken system is a dangerous undertaking. We know that should the aliens we found there refrain their passive existence and turn aggressive, it could well mean the end of our existence. The debatable deference of the outcome whether we should, or should not, return to Epsilon Eridani can only be addressed after a dedicated, and solicitous, reordering of the military.
It is in this light of thought that I would like to propose, in my own words and on behalf of the other Colonels, Officers of Rank, a fundamental and all-encompassing shift in future military culture, deployment, and doctrine.
The British Army was described as the most effective military formation in existence in its day. Its achievements were legendary, honors without number, elevating the British Empire to the highest heights of the world powers for a century and more. Yet all of these accomplishments would have been without merit were it not for the British Navy, the catalyst and enabler that forged a nigh invincible singular force by transporting and aiding the most mobile military force to that point in history. The fact that this doctrine became the gold standard for all future military doctrine, for centuries, to be based off of is a testament to the validity and progressiveness of those tactics.
It is with this understanding that the static deployment of ground based military troops should be declined in favor of a more mobile, rapid striking force that can accompany naval vessels and assist in the direct projection of human interests into Interstellar Space and beyond.
The creation of a dedicated Marine Force is vital to the continued survival of our species. Men and Women who are specifically trained for high risk missions entailing the direct capture or elimination of highly defended priority positions is paramount should the need arise to reclaim, or take, a hostile planetoid. In addition, all military vessels that operate beyond systems deemed secure should have a detachment of marines to both protect their vessel’s boarders, and partake in offensive boarding operations should the need arise.
This duel mission of projectable offence coupled with rapid defense in depth assures that should we encounter an enemy force, be that they are faster, stronger, tougher, or a combination, we will have more tactics to choose from. The adage of knowledge is power is a proverb we must remain dedicated to, and with the duel cooperation of Army and Navy, this will allow us the ability to if not destroy an enemy vessel, then to at least capture it, leading to a plethora of knowledge we cannot even begin to imagine.
Academic study into the Art of War is currently being led by Cedric Wormack, a distinguished scientist that has consulted hundreds of military men and women, including myself, regarding a new military force. While the formation of a dedicated Assault Infantry Battalion is necessity itself should we ever need to secure and hold an objective in the short term, these forces are too cumbersome.
Should forward progress pertaining to the objectification, advancement, and final realization of military formations remain the same, we are a decade distant from this proposed vision. I believe that this does not go far enough, we can do better. More funding and allocation of resources to the betterment and development of Army forces should be increased. These increases should be by orders of magnitude, and never hindered until this doctrine is fulfilled.
I close with a poem written by my great grandfather written following the first successful landing of humans on another world, Apollo 11 and its mission to Luna, and how he viewed why the decisions of today effect the reality of tomorrow,
"We, who are the children of our parent's dreams, go forth to discover what they never could. New worlds await not us, but new dreams for our children to live. It is a simple thing living a memory, but to live a dream, that requires great strength and sacrifice. This is what we are, a conduit, a bridge for the next generation to cross. We must build their foundation strong, as our parent's did, for that is our purpose, to live on through our actions, our memory, our service. "
On Behalf of Officers of the Army by the Rank of Colonel, Aids and Associates,
Most Sincerely and Respectfully,
Your Humble Servant and Soldier,
Col. Ignace Tegair, 62nd Garrison Battalion, Army of SPACE and Defenders of Sol
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Had an unexpected issue come up during the year but just about to the end of it, should have it up this weekend and then we'll get into the election cycle.
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After much thought and consideration, I have decided to suspend this project indefinitely. Other interests are occupying my time and I've not been giving it the effort and time it needs to have a reasonable amount of progress and updates. I'm going to save all the files and information with the possibility of continuing at some point, but for now it will be on hiatus.
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After much thought and consideration, I have decided to suspend this project indefinitely. Other interests are occupying my time and I've not been giving it the effort and time it needs to have a reasonable amount of progress and updates. I'm going to save all the files and information with the possibility of continuing at some point, but for now it will be on hiatus.
Bryan,
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this - it has been a very enjoyable story.
Hopefully, at some point in the future, you will pick up and continue - but until then, I just wanted to say THANKS!
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Bryan,
Thanks for all the time and effort you put into this - it has been a very enjoyable story.
Hopefully, at some point in the future, you will pick up and continue - but until then, I just wanted to say THANKS!
Seconded. Thank you for a truly enjoyable experience, and best of luck in all your endeavors!!
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I concur with both of their statements
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It's been about five months, but I've decided to start this up again. I spent some quality time with the files to refamiliarize myself. SPACE went through a systematic organization and computerization upgrade -- which is another(technobabble) way of saying I took the time to some overview deleting of obsolete components, task groups, and ship class designs, and more importantly made a master list of components and affecting technologies so I can get prototypes made in an appropriate timeframe. Occasionally I've fallen behind before -- it's gradually grown over time and I don't expect it to grow too much more, but there's presently 16 active ship classes utilizing 31 specifically designed systems derived from 24 distinct technologies. So yeah, organizing it helped keep things focused a bit.
Community participation, both in and out of character, has greatly improved this adventure in the past and I'm hopeful it will do so again. I had stopped at December 1, 2076, so it was a relatively small matter to finish up the rest of the year once all the organizing was done.
2076 ANNUAL REPORT
Mitchell Feeser is appointed Chief of the Navy as expected. At just 40 years old, he is expected to have a long stay at that position. His first order of business is to formulate the Navy's official positions ahead of the upcoming election. The youth movement continued with Hank Rohrer(31) promoted to Rear Admiral to keep the five active admirals.
The first actual act of Feeser as navy chief was to declare several vessels obsolete and order them to be scrapped. This included both Essex-class survey ships and the GSV Hopeful(grav survey) which were now completely obsolete and haven't been used for anything really in decades, the CS New Beginnings which has never really been needed, the JSC Excelsior(lone remaining member of the Pioneer-class of science vessels), the JS Velociraptor(North Carolina-class commercial jump ship), and the Belknap-class command ship. Some were well-intentioned attempts at filling needs that never really materialized, others have simply outlived their usefulness. Additionally, the Perry-class fuel harvesters were slated to be scrapped over the next few years as the new higher-capacity Long Beach ships replaced them.
On March 12, the first four Long Beach-class harvesters became operational. They then took the six-week-plus journey to Titan, and then over to Saturn where they deployed on April 28. A few days later, the new Phoenix 100L engine was announced to have completed initial testing. The time pressure led to both a skill increase and medical problems for Dr. Shannon Patteson.
It was decided to build another of the current Brooklyn '72 class, waiting until current research on the next generation of beam weaponry is complete before updating that design. The new Nimitz '76 compares as follows to the original:
Size: 10.3kt(26% smaller)
Speed: 2439 km/s(almost identical)
Crew: 273(27% less, a full 100 saved)
Weaponry: 1 CIWS anti-missile battery, 4 Defender Missile launchers(1 launcher fewer; CIWS has 50% greater tracking speed)
Armor: 3 layers High-Density Duranium armor(same protection of more bulky standard duranium armor on the original)
Cost: 1.62m(14% cheaper)
Build Time: 1.9 years(actually a month and a half longer here)
In short, the new Nimitz is smaller, cheaper, can 'see' better, and has less firepower. The Navy intends to continue the trend of downsizing, preferring multiple modest-capability ships over a few huge ones. They also saw a definite need for some new prototypes: A couple more size variations on the Phoenix engine, and a smaller missile magazine.
On June 20, the final three brigades arrive at Titan, and the crews of their transports will take an extended and much-deserved break now after their long journey. It is still expected to take another four years, until sometime at the beginning of next decade, before the base there is completed.
The fall brought another development of major significance: November 5th it was announced that after over a decade, the longest by far invested in any research project, the new and improved geological sensors were ready. This is a big step towards being ready for the Fox Plan, possessing the ability to scan from orbit for signs of past alien civilizations on a body. The next step, probably not ready for a couple years, is finishing the new jump drives.
Just a couple weeks later, word reached SPACE HQ of problems on the Tennessee-class base on Triton. It seems that the staid and stale atmosphere of the missile base is not providing all of the amenities the crewmen need and morale is being significantly affected. Human nature being what it is, they are not robots and diversions are needed. SPACE has only one real option, a recreational ship being that option and the purpose of the new New York-class Luxury Liner. It is considered theoretically possible that a semi-permanent population, housed in what in effect would be 'mobile space stations', could potentially be built and transported to remote mining colonies ... but for now that is a mere speculatory conjecture.
The specs of the new design:
Size: 122.2kt
Crew: 1237
Top Speed: 347 km/s
Range: 23.8b km
Fuel Load: 1m liters
Defenses: 13 CIWS batteries
Cost: 3.56m(21.5 mo.)
They're not small, and they're not cheap. Essentially floating amusement parks with casinos, entertainment(both wholesome and not), the concept is not expected to be politically popular, but it is considered a necessity.
It is also a problem which will get worse before it gets better, as it will take some time to get any into service. The Tod & MacGregor is the only shipyard large enough to handle them, and the cost to retool, then eventually retool back to the South Carolina, will not be a small matter. Try on 3.2 million credits just to get the shipyard ready. But there is little choice. If defending outlying colonies is a necessity, then providing those charged with manning the defenses with what is needed to perform their duty efficiently is also a necessity. The first New York is not expected to be ready until just about the end of the decade(late 2079/early 2080), by which time circumstances on the remote colonies are expected to be rather dire.
The lack of foresight here, esp. on the part of the Navy, could hardly have come at a worse time with the election just weeks away ...
On December 1st, the initial boat of the new Forrestal IIIs heads out to the Lalande 21185 jump point.
The changes in the Navy definitely headlined 2076. A new chief began the year in Mitchell Feeser, obsolete ships were scrapped, the first Long-Beach harvesters and Forrestal III upgrade to sensor ships were deployed, and of course two new major designs in the Nimitz '76 missile ship and the New York Luxury Liner. The new sensors also brought the Fox Plan one step closer to fruition.
Leadership Personnel
Early January -- A fabulous new candidate in the army corps(Gil Milstead) has been found to possess high-level ability both in political contacts and combat command abilities. Milstead is also an espionage genius and has some diplomatic skill.
Late January -- Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade commissioned. 136 Fleet Movement Initiative, 10% Fighter Combat, 15% Fighter Ops, 20% Xenology, 20% Logistics. Mostly useful as a teams specialist, but good enough overall skill that he should be close to receiving a command right away. Candid, energetic, good motivator, tolerant.
Early February -- Cmdr. Conor Zavier's crew training is up to 50 which should be enough to take out of the cellar position among Commanders that he's been laminated onto since being promoted to that rank more than a decade ago.
Mid-February -- Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio is commissioned. 285 Fleet Movement Initiative, 20% Fighter Combat, 10% Survey. Atheist, Doesn't accept change easily, Wealthy Family, talented musician. Very respectable initiative would make him useful in a variety of combat roles. Like Blade, he's almost but not quite good enough for a 'right-away' command.
Mid-April -- With all the extra attention being drawn to the Phoenix engine, project lead Shannon Patteson takes maximum advantadge, upping to 40% skill. Meanwhile, Director Duling irrelevantly increases his terraforming skill to an agency-high 30%.
Late April -- Rear Admiral Hank Rohrer is up to 225 training, putting him on more equal terms with other admirals.
Early May -- The early returns are that Alberto Eighmy's chances of returning to the Director's Office are improving(45% political reliability).
Mid-May: Lt. Cmdr. Harold Graff(213 Initiative, 50 training, many social interests, distant) is commissioned. Graff's health is a concern. His training ability will serve him well if he ever gets a command, which is at best a 50-50 proposition. The lack of other skills make it a serious question mark.
Early June -- With the amount of research currently being done in the field, you can never have enough sensors scientists. The latest is Irma Bartlebaugh, 10% skill, 20% Xenology.
Late June -- Dr. Mike Minaya of the nigh-irrelevant Biology & Genetics field increases his skills to 40%.
August 11 -- The last two, at least for now, of the new South Carolina freighters are completed. One of the interim commanders is Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade.
December 1 -- Cmdr. Jay Cin V gets one the new upgraded Forrestal IIIs and heads back out to the Lalande 21185 JP ... and the process continues with many of the others.
Mid-December -- A couple of mid-level administrators, Weston and Kaczor, have improved their knowledge of factory efficiency. This might even matter if we had factories anywhere but Earth, or a good reason to build such.
December 21 -- A notable new administrator has joined the fray, Ronald Waxman. He has excellent skills in mining and notable secondary abilities in factory production. Could be a good one in time, but should be at least decent right away.
Research & Development
** January 19 -- Wayne Sabagh's team completes Meson Focusing 3. Dr. Sabagh is another of the original members of the research team from SPACE's founding, and he retires now having been a promising energy weapons researcher but never really got much better. He had a moderately successful career of decreasing importance as time went on.
Prototyping the new meson cannon will now be led by Mike Minaya.
** March 4 -- The latest in active sensors is completed(GEI SSS 128, the ship search variant) by Billie Allington's team. The space will diverted to speeding up completion of the new engine, the only thing that remains to be finalized before the next generation of redesigns are ready.
** March 8 -- Magazine Feed Systems have been improved to 80% (Harlan Welle).
** May 3 -- With the completion of the Phoenix 100L engine, a number of changes were made and most of the waiting prototypes received lab space, taking up five of the six available labs. The final lab went to Allington, who will begin laying the groundwork for the next generation of active sensors, though she will undoubtedly pass that work on to a more experienced scientist once more resources are made available for the project. These developments upped the number of ongoing studies to a record two dozen.
** July 18 -- Karabishi Juishao completes the first missile engine, and begins the prototype phase for the standard Defender 76.
** September 16 -- Minh Klausner's team has completed the second new-gen laser.
** December 9 -- 12cm Microwave Research completed(Eva Vadnais). Next up is extending laser wavelengths into the ultraviolet spectrum, one lab for now and she'll need another when one becomes available.
** December 12 -- SPPI NP-35 missile engine prototype finished(Elliot Monks). This allows the final prototype for the slower, higher-payload Defender '76 P missile to be prepared. For now Dr. Vadnais claims the lab for her laser work, and she'll need a third eventually.
Earth
Early February -- Construction begins on the Forrestal III sensor boats. At about three and a half months per Forrestal, replacing the current fleet is expected to take a little over a year with all four slipways at the KSEC Shipyard operating.
Late May -- The newest naval shipyard begins expansion operations, and is named Permanant.
Colonial News
December 28 -- Sedna grows again. There are now 31 mining complexes there. Still almost 63 years of duranium at current production levels, but that clock continues to tick.
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STATE OF SPACE, 2077
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.483b, 500 CF, 50 OF, 75 REF, 40 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(54.63m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(49.24m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.32m, 1 DSTS)
Mercury(12.64m)
Venus(11.74m)
Io(110k)
Europa(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)
The inner-system colonies continue to grow, while there is virtual stagnation in the outer system. Titan was the only one to grow(by a mere 300k), for a total of just 1.7% growth in the outer system. Meanwhile the population of Mercury nearly doubled, leapfrogging Venus as now the 4th most-populous colony. Nearly 9% of humanity, over 146 million of us, now lives somewhere other than earth. Less than 20 million, or 9% of that 9%, lives in the outer system and nearly all of that small fraction is on Titan. Meanwhile, shipyard operations has surpassed construction factory work with more than 25 million employed as the #2 TN employer behind research at 40 million.
IB. Outposts
Sedna(31 CMC, 16 eff, 8.59 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 26.7 eff, 2.65 kt) -- mercassium(9.0)
Earth(50 SM, 6.3 eff, 546 t)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 37 eff, 2.27 kt) -- gallicite(2.2)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(0.5), gallicite(7.6)
Halley's Comet(28 AM, 51 eff, 2.25 kt) -- sorium(2.6), gallicite(6.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.15 kt)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 34 eff, 1.52 kt)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 378 t)
Faye(25 AM, 41 eff, 1.78 kt) -- uridium(3.7), corundium(5.1)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 36 eff, 1.49 kt) -- sorium(1.8), boronide(8.0)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.24 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 35 eff, 1.12 kt) -- corbomite(1.9)
Borrelly(17.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.37 kt)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.4 kt) -- corundium(1.4)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 11 t) --
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 865 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 165 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 327 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 428 t)
Total Production: 31.49 kt, +9.7%. A near-reversal over the last four years, buoyed by the mines being sent to Halley's Comet. It is still just a hair(a mere 150 tons) off the peak back in '69. Neutronium remains the top concern in the short term, and Stephan-Oterma will run out in months. Corundium, sorium, and gallicite will all see multiple deposits dry up in the next several years, but it is not expected to place any strain as those are all minerals will plenty in the stockpile -- for now.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A(rare usage): Vendarite(56 kt), Corbomite(53 kt), Tritanium(45 kt), Sorium(40 kt)
Tritanium moves into the lowest tier as it's seen very little use of late, and the gradually increasing amount of sorium as well for the same reason.
Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(97 kt), Boronide(44 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Mercassium(24 kt)
Two significant concerns here are gallicite, which declined slightly, has a number of sources drying up soon, and will see pretty much constant need for use in missiles. Increasing that amount against a time of war would be preferred, but is not possible right now and that could be a problem. Mercassium stockpiles shrunk by 3kt and that may well continue also with Triton's contribution shrinking with each passing year. Vital to the research laboratories, it could well become a bigger priority next time around.
Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Duranium(16.4 kt), Corundium(16.1 kt)
A slight 600-ton decline in duranium, which looks to be pretty stable. Corundium continues to gradually increase and while the number of sources will shrink soon, there's enough to last quite a while and tapping superdistant comet Ikeya-Zang(incoming at 12.5b km) will likely become an option well before it runs out.
Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Neutronium(9.25 kt)
Although it is up sharply over the period(+3.32 kt), neutronium is now on the decline again mostly due to the incredibly expensive operations of the larger shipyards. Continued investment in Halley's Comet to counteract this is expected.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 43.5 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 5.31 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 5.09 m
Scrap Sales: 567 k
Taxes(civ. fuel): 153 k
Total: 54.67 m(+28.3%)
Balance: 689 m(+70 m)
Tourism is up sharply, double the numbers this year as compared to four years ago. Taxes continue to come in increased amounts from the colonies.
IE. Expenses
Shipbuilding: 10.37m
Research: 9.42m
Mineral Purchases: 7.50m
Installation Construction: 7.00m
Shipyard Operations: 2.53m
Maintenance Facilities: 544k
GU Maintenance: 464k
GU Training: 250k
PDC Construction: 63k
Total: 38.13m(+33.0%)
Shipyard operations are expected to rise considerably in the next couple of years, and for the second straight cycle expenses have risen faster than income. Still a profit of better than 15m per year though, so nothing to be concerned about yet.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Emergency re-tool for the New York class is underway but less than 9% complete. March of '78 is the expected timeframe, so it'll be a while.
P&A Group(4, 80.2 kt)
** Building the second of six planned quartet of Long Beach-class fuel harvesters. This yard will be busy with the for quite some time, at the end of which fuel concerns could be largely a thing of the past
Estalerios Navais(2, 73.8 kt)
** Expanding capacity for a while to reach at least 125kt so it can be used for the New York or similar size vessels.
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Idle. Set at a decent size now to be used for a variety of potential things.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle. Used for the Lexington-class shuttles.
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz '76(second-gen missile ship). Expected to complete around the end of next March.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Building Brooklyn '72(Beam-armed gunship). Completion expected in spring of '78.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Idle
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle. Used exclusively for the Forrestal sensor ships.
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Three active training facilities
** Brigade HQ expected to finish in March. The other two are idle.
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(33%) -- June 2077
Naval Shipyard(25%) -- June 2077
Commercial Shipyard(15%) -- February 2077
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- 8-9 annually
Mine Construction(12%) -- 8-9 annually
V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Reduced-Size Missile Launchers(Elyse Buckler) -- January 6 2077
** Composite Armor(Edward Groat) -- Mid-January 2077
** Defender '76 Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- Mid-February 2077
** Small-size Defender Anti-Ship MIssile Magazine(Garland Sidhom) -- May 2077
** Medium-size Defender Anti-Ship Missile Magazine(Harlan Welle) -- May/June 2077
** Phoenix Engine, 300t variant(Clint Wyche) -- October/November 2077
** Assault Infantry Battalion(Cedrick Wormack) -- Winter/Spring 2078
** Ground Unit Strength(Alphonse Lambeth) -- Spring 2078
** Phoenix Engine, 400t variant(Shannon Patteson) -- Summer 2078
** Reactor Power(Alejandro Ottenson) -- Summer 2078
** MJD 46-4b, Military Jump Drive for use in the Fox Plan(Curtis Gloster) -- Summer/Fall 2078
** Thermal Sensor Strength(Elwood Tousant) -- Fall/Winter 2078
** Turret Tracking Speed(Joe Tycho) -- Winter 2078/79
** Fuel Efficiency(Rosemary Urenda) -- 1Q 2079
** Electronic Hardening(Ross Dodge) -- 1Q 2079
** WT Excalibur 135 Meson Turret(Mike Minaya) -- 3Q 2079
** EM Sensor Strength(Julio Kuchler) -- 3Q/4Q 2079
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Bessie Wallander) -- Late 2080
** Ultraviolet Lasers(Eva Vadnais) -- 2081/82
** Minimal-power Efficiency Engines(David Gruis) -- Mid-2080s
** Jump Drive Minimal Size Theory(Reynaldo Darrington) -- Late 2080s
21 current projects which is fairly typical for the way things have gone with a peak of 24 about a year ago. Seven are prototypes though. The actual amount of general research going on at any one time has not increased that much. More prototypes, more individually expensive, are needed all the time.
As an extreme example, a little while back SPACE looked into the requirements for a jump drive capable of propelling one of the South Carolina-class superfreighters. The prototype phase alone would require billions of manhours. It was expected to be more costly than advancing general jump drive knowledge, which would allow a cheaper, more efficient drive to be produced, and so the idea was scrapped since we don't need such a drive yet. But this is the direction in which research is going. Current expectations are that in a couple decades, we may well be in a situation where more of the development budget is spent on specific application systems than on general advancements.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
VI A. Military Bases
Alaska(4, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(2, 13.3 kt, 254 crew, missile base + sensors)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 12 installations(+50%), 300.6 kt(+104%), 5,080 crew(+101%)
VI B. Combat Ships
MB Nimitz(3, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(1, 13.45 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)
Total: 4 ship, 55.3 kt, 1,475 crew, 7m fuel
Up from just one last time. Slowly but surely, a ramshackle navy is forming.
VI C. Military Non-combat Ships
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SB Forrestal IIb(8, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
SB Forrestal III(9, 650t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 21 ships, 27.65 kt(-17%), 460 crew(-32%), 1.55m fuel(-29%)
The big stories here are the scrapping and deleting of obsolete classes and the transition to the third-gen Forrestals. Overall this had lead to a smaller, but still a bit more effective MNC branch. It will shrink a little further once all of the old Forrestals are replaced.
VI D. Commercial Vessels
TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexington IIId(27, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
FH Long Beach(4, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
FH Perry III(17, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)
Total: 68 vessels(+4.6%), 1.77 mt(+95%), 8,631 crew(+55%), 45m liters fuel(+38%)
A few classes went the way of all flesh here, but the Long Beach and South Carolina were added. The official commercial fleet doesn't have many more ships in it, but it's a lot bigger in size.
Grand Total: 105 assets(+11%), 2.15 mt(+95%), 15.6k crew(+70%), 53.6m liters fuel(+45%)
The total tonnage of Naval assets nearly doubled in the last four years, and the Long Beach harvesters will ensure that it continues to rise. Enlisted personnel have quadrupled in the past decade, and there is now more fuel in ships in service than there is in reserve. A temporary situation.
Available Crew: 127k(+21%)
VI E. Fuel Status
Earth -- 10.6m liters
Titan -- 16.0m
Callisto -- 5.2m
Total -- 31.8m liters(-23%). The first reserve decline in memory, but it's largely due to the amount put into the new massive commercial ships. This should reverse itself once the Long Beach constructions are finished.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(4)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(10)
** Garrison Battalion(34)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 364k(+9%)
** Note: last report's calculation was wrong, incorrectly listing the number as 380k instead of 333k
The available officer corps remains nearly at full employment.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Voliva Carrier Company(57 vessels, 4.94m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(36, 3.13m)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(13, 1.9m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 430k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 160k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 110k)
Presnar Freight(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, 100k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Total Vessels: 117(+18%)
Total Civilian Income: 10.83m(+50%)
Competition has never been healthier in the civilian sector. The 'big two' of Voliva and Jensrud now appear to have a legitimate third wheel in the form of Tolles Transport & Logistics. Voliva expanded their operations by nearly 50%, yet this was only enough to retain a 45 market share.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 122 of 165 assigned(73.9%), +1.1%
** Ground Forces Officers: 61 of 67(91.0%), +1.2%
** Civilian Administrators: 28 of 34(82.4%), -10.7%
** Scientists: 21 of 36(58.3%), -2.3%
Overall: 232 of 302(76.8%), -0.4%
The employment picture here has held steady now for over a decade.
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RETIREMENTS
It is expected that Dr. Edward Groat, 68 and in failing health, who pretty much wrote the book on what we know in Defensive Systems(better armour materials, reduced thermal emissions, etc.) will retire in a couple of weeks when he presents his report on the newest armour upgrade to Composite materials. There are number of others who are in their early 60s but it will probably be at least five years, another research cycle from now, before any of them need to seriously consider being put out to pasture.
Political administration is a different story this time around. The list of retirees is significant and distinguished.
** Jarrett Hugh, currently serving as Governor of Venus, was a candidate in the last three directorial elections, with his best finish a distant second to Rakes in 2061. He served for nearly a half-century on important mining comet outposts early in his career, important colonies later as expansion into the system ramped up, including a couple of tours on Luna. He's been an important if not household figure in SPACE politics for the past couple of decades, and over time developed a well-rounded skill set that served humanity well.
** Damian Ackley has somewhat of a backwater station as Governor of Jupiter moon Europa, but he's seen better times. Back in the comet-mining rush of the 50s, he was in charge of Machholz during its heyday when it was the most important of those outposts, served on Van Biesbroeck as well when operations where expanded there, and more recently has been Governor at Venus, Ganymede, and the crucial mining outpost on distant Triton. He was involved in three elections, finishing third in '45 early in his career, but never developed the management skills required to handle the larger responsibilities of director as SPACE grew. This meant that his best skills(factory production and population growth) went largely wasted.
** Johnna Villicana will be missed far less. She was a paper-pushing beauracrat until the last decade, spending one tour on Venus from 65-69 and minor mining outposts the last couple of cycles.
** Finally, there was the matter of unquestionably the greatest politician SPACE has seen, 5-time director Herbert Duling. He was expected to seek one more term, but there was a lot of speculation as to whether the 63-year-old would want to go through another four years. With the recent New York fiasco weighing on his mind as well as the need to turn over the implementation of the Fox Plan to the next generation, he decided to forgo a chance at a sixth term and retire from public life.
Duling led the way during each of the most vital moments in SPACE's development over the first half-century. The mineral crises in the 30s, the Epsilon Eridani crisis in the 50s, the 50-year celebration and subsequent forming of the basics of the Fox Plan in the 70s -- all were accomplished under his leadership. It is not an exaggeration to say humanity might well have fallen into anarchy and internal conflict again without him. Time passes all of us by, no matter how much we wish to ignore or deny our own mortality. And so it is time now in 2077 for humanity to say a fond farewell to it's greatest statesman, and face an uncertain but brightening future under new leadership.
2077 ELECTION
There are only two people with the skills to approach Duling's political command and wide-ranging abilities. Alberto Eighmy, director two cycles ago from 69-73, continues to be in poor health and is not an optimal choice. The second is not a choice as all: Delois Woznicki continues to be relegated to backwaters as a result of her continued failure to learn how to manage larger-scale concerns. At 48, it is unexpected that she will ever learn, a waste of impressive talent.
As a result of all this it was the largest field seen since the early days of SPACE when everybody was thrown into the pool. What is lacking in great leaders will have to be made up for in an increased number of 'pretty good' administrators. This despite the fact that the requirements are now higher: a level 5(out of 6) is required for the position of Director, level 4 for Earth's Governor.
When all was said and done, Eighmy and the still-energetic India Rakes, both former directors, headed a field of nine candidates. The best long-shot was current Earth Governor Riley Awad. Rakes ran one of the best campaigns of her career, and far better than any of the current contenders to pull off a moderate upset over Eighmy. Full results:
India Rakes -- 20.8%
Alberto Eighmy -- 17.2%
Larry Steckel -- 15.3%
Riley Awad -- 11.0%
James Earl Jones V -- 10.5%
Burt Stonerock -- 8.8%
Russell Salvucci -- 6.5%
Carroll Westcott -- 5.6%
Francesco Alborn -- 4.3%
It was a disappointing showing for Awad.
POLICY REVIEW
India Rakes most recently occupied the Office of the Director from 61-65; this is her fourth term. As she is 60, it will also be her last. A good way to go out, and it allows her to have an unusually unrestrained approach. There are not a lot of major issues though, right now it's mostly a waiting game.
Rakes does implement one notable change. A new high-powered military thruster is ordered to pave the way for the Caldwell class of shuttles, intended to replace the Lexington and be a smaller, more secure transport for VIPs. Continued focus on mining and naval shipyards to support the Fox Plan is anticipated on the domestic front.
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CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE
Karabishi Juishao(MK45) -- Set to finish the new third-generation Defender '76 prototype phase in about a month and a half. At 63 and still in good health, she's likely got one more significant project, maybe two at most, left in her career.
Jedidiah Thone(3) -- Still just a mining colony, but a big upgrade as he moves from Reinmuth to distant Triton, the second-largest mining concern in Sol and the biggest operated by SPACE(civilian-operated Sedna is of course the biggest). He positioned himself well to take advantadge of the retirees. In order to advance much further, he'll need to develop the skills to handle larger endeavors.
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- He remains on Machholz for another tour, a definite disappointment in this political environment.
Malik Kaine(2) -- After nearly four years in waiting, he has his first appointment! It's one of the most insignificant mining outposts around, on the comet Van Biesbroeck(10 mines, several minerals but duranium and mercassium are the most important). Still, the important thing is he now has an opportunity, and a chance to learn skills which could lead to more responsibility in the future.
-
2077 ANNUAL REPORT
Starting off the year SPACE absorbed a significant but not catastrophic loss, helped by the fact that it was expected. On January 12th Edward Groat's team finished the new Composite Armour and he announced his retirement. Engineering analysis indicates that only the combat ships will benefit sufficiently from this new material: the new missile ship was altered, named the Nimitz '76c, and will be able to carry a third more protection with the compressed material in the same space, at a negligible increase in cost and construction time. The commercial sector would see only very marginal improvement, not worth the hassle and cost of refits.
Dr. Groat retires having written the book pretty much single-handedly on defensive systems knowledge. His career spanned almost 50 years, and laid the groundwork for a navy that can have significant capabilities in damage absorption(three progressively better armour materials) and stealth(reduction of thermal signatures of our engines by nearly two-thirds).
Near the end of the month, a sixth commercial shipyard(Howaldswerke/Deutsch Werft, or simply abbreviated HDW in most settings) was finished. The most significant part of this was the transfer of factory capacity to increasing automine production. February saw the latest naval golden child, Emile Jeffcoat, celebrated as he graduated the academy.
In March a new brigade HQ was finished, ready for transport to Titan when the Alaska base there is finished, and mid-month the first Nimitz '76c began construction at the Wartsila shipyard. Then in April eight officers were cut loose by the navy and their newest shipyard, Niehuis van den Berg, was put into service. May brought the lauch of the second quartet of Long Beach second-generation fuel harvesters, and the Army celebrated a new star(Col. Romona Bosh).
So most of the year went, smoothly with noteworthy happenings on virtually all fronts but nothing to really hang your hat on as big news. Small, steady progression. July proved a bit more important, with neutronium running out on Stephan-Oterma(already down 750t this year), and Earth crossing the 1.5b barrier in population. That's triple what it was 52+ years ago at the founding of space, yet not a quarter of it's peak.
After a quiet-ish summer, 22-year-old Gil Milstead made headlines as he was promoted to Brigadier General. Official observers consider him the best officer even at that rank and favorite over Maj. Gen. Wyatt Pittman, presently twice Milstead's age, to take over the Army when Engelhardt retires. Such things are sterile conjecture at this point though, as that is not expected to happen for several years, and many things can change. He's off to a fantastic start though.
In November, things came to a head with the mining operation on Halley's Comet. Despite the concerted efforts, it's clear that the comet will need to take another 'loop' around the Sun -- in this case requiring 75 years for a full journey -- to extract all of it's mercassium, the most plenteous vital mineral. With the deployment of the 41st automine at the start of the month, MRD made the estimate that at current rates it would be exhausted around the time it returns in just over 80 years(finishing the current approach and taking one more complete 'loop'). All other minerals will be finished in less than half that time, and the 41 mines makes it the third-largest outpost, tops among comets by a fair margin. 3.3kt combined is the current mining rate, though that will drop significantly in short order with the depletion of small sorium and gallicite deposits.
For over four years Halley has been the sole target of automine production, leaving the question of what next? At the moment neutronium is the top concern, but any location that offered that in combination with duranium or mercassium was a top priority for new or expanded operations.
Neujmin has a lot of neutronium, but duranium will be exhausted there in about a decade. A little longer, and the neutronium on Faye will be gone, so those options would be of limited use. Wolf-Harrington was rejected for similar reasons. Borrelly(18 automines, over 160 years worth of neutronium and mercassium and 50+ of duranium at current extraction rates) proved a much more profitable target. Others such as Swift-Tuttle and Herschel-Rigolet were too distant, while the very rich neutronium deposits on Reinmuth would yield little else of value ...
Borrelly was the clear choice, and the decision was made to pump up investment there to around the same level as Halley, about 40 automines or a little over double the current level. This will take only about a couple of years, and should help shore up our biggest needs. Thankfully Borrelly is never more than about a two-week journey from Earth at it's greatest solar distance of less than 900m km.
Just before Christmas, another naval shipyard and the last expected to be needed for now was finished. Archaicly and simply named the International, it will add a second slipway, intended also for use in the Fox Plan for small survey/support vessels as was the one completed earlier in the year. The re-allocation of the factory space would prove far more newsworthy in some quarters ....
2077 didn't have any huge developments. Probably the biggest stories were the development of the Composite Armour, Dr. Groat's subsequent retirement, and the switch in mining expansion from Halley to Borrelly. But there were developments all across SPACE, from steady expansion of civilian operations in the system, new shipyards coming on-line, new ships and shipyard expansions, key personnel joining the leadership teams in all branches including the replacement in terms of numbers of the administrative retirees, a few new systems being prototyped by the research teams, etc. The public of course mainly remains focused on the morale oversights on the outsystem bases leading to the exorbitant expenses required for the New York project, as well as all manner of debate, criticism, and demand for more information relating to the Fox Plan. Director Rakes has said only that the New York is an unfortunate necessity, and that once the new jump drive is ready next year, the Fox Plan will move forward at that point ...
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** January 5 -- Elyse Buckler's team completes reduced-size missile launchers(75% size, but double the reload time). At the moment SPACE does not consider this to be a particularly important development, as present naval doctrine favors multiple launches and more missile capacity per ship over lower capacity and a larger 'alpha strike'. Buckler, a young and thus far very unimpressive project lead, learned nothing but she'll get another chance with the Defender '76 P high-yield missile prototype.
** January 12 -- Edward Groat's team finishes the new Composite Armour. This should improve the ability of all our ships to withstand alien weapons down the line, though only military ships will get the treatment: it's not enough of an improvement to make the commercial ships significantly more efficient. A new Nimitz, the Nimitz '76c, is recommended with this superior material. It can carry a four feet of armour instead of the previous three while maintaining exactly the same size. This change increases the cost by a little over 40m, but that's only about 1.3% on a 1.6b+ warship. Survivability is worth a lot more than that.
Dr. Billie Allington commandeers one lab for use in the JPS NP-42t, the new thrusters required for the planned miniaturized Caldwell shuttles. Eva Vadnais finally gets the third lab she's needed for her laser work, and for the third one all of the big projects are in need of a major project lead(all occupied). Modesto Huch takes one to begin work on a smaller, company-sized troop transport bay. Such things will hopefully not be needed for decades, and this project may well be suspended before long for many years, but the space should not go to waste.
** February 15 -- The standard Defender 76 missile prototype is finished and the ordnance factories are fired up again. Karabishi Juishao's next project is improving reload rates of the missile launchers, and she'll use two labs, one taken from Huch's work on troop transport bays which now is sidelined as anticipated.
** May 14 -- Garland Sidhom's team finishes HMI 16, the smaller of the new missile magazines. Huch gets some more time to work on the Small Troop Transport Bays, which he only was able to get about 2% finished earlier in the year. Within a couple days a new research lab is finished, and another 'make-work' training project is assigned. This one goes to talented young Eliot Monks(Defensive Systems). He'll work on improving shield technology.
** June 5 -- Harlan Welle completes HMI 25, the second and larger of the new magazine blueprints. His next task is improving Magazine Ejection Systems, which will again require only a single laboratory.
** October 25 -- Clint Wyche completes Phoenix 60L, a 300-ton military engine. He's got enough skill and clout by now to demand investment in a project in his field, the only one of which is improving terraforming(since cloning/genetic mutation are banned). The 'make-work/training' projects directed by Huchs and Monk are put on hold to free up a total of three labs for Wyche, which will suffice for his current needs.
EARTH
January 27 -- The latest commercial shipyard, Howaldtswerke /Deutsch Werft, is finished. It will expand until it gets to a reasonable size, probably at least 40kt or so. Progress can now be accelerated on the naval shipyard and, of more immediate value, expanding mine production operations. With a little over a third of Earth's TN factories devoted to that goal, they can now turn out a new one in less than four weeks time.
March 1 -- A new brigade HQ is finished, which will serve as the command HQ on Titan once the Alaska base is finished there.
March 15 -- Wartsila is ready for the new Nimitz '76c. Construction begins and is the first is expected to finish in late 2078.
Late April -- The new naval yard Neihuis and Van Den Berg is finished. Another yard is begun and Neihuis will add a second slipway. These are intended for use for the small survey and other utility vessels that will be required by the Fox Plan.
May 9 -- Second quartet of Long Beach harvesters finished.
Early July -- Population breaks the 1.5b barrier.
Late December -- The most recent, and for now final, shipyard is finished(the International)
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
February 15 -- The latest naval prodigy, Lt. Cmdr. Emile Jeffcoat, has graduated the academy. Very high marks in crew training and notable survey skill to go with it. In the current environment he's better right now than 90% of those who are at Commander rank, it's just a question of how long he waits to get his chance.
April 12 -- The Navy cuts eight officers.
Late April -- Long incompetent power & propulsion scientist David Gruis has finally managed to have light dawn on his marble head, and is up to a 15% bonus now. A long ways to go but at least he's marginally useful.
Mid-May -- Col. Romona Bosh is commissioned, one to watch as she has considerable talent in commanding ground forces.
June 3 -- Carl McCloe joins the civilian beauracracy, and he's better than most who have come out of the academy in recent years. He can manage anything short of the director's post itself and has mostly useless skills, primarily terraforming and diplomacy.
Late June -- Jerry Bartholf(Power and Propulsion 10%) is our latest researcher. That's going to be a crucial field for decades, so this arrival is pleasing.
June 28 -- Lt. Cmdr. Emile Jeffcoat has progressed further in his training skill(200), certainly not resting on his laurels.
Mid-July -- Logistics & Ground Combat researcher Alphonse Lambeth, still with most of his career hopefully ahead of him at 36, has improved to a 35% bonus. When Cedrick Wormack retires, which is expected to happen soon, he'll become the top man in that field.
Late July -- Cmdr. Christopher Blair's Fleet Movement Initiative ups to 290. This moves him up a couple spots among his fellow officers, but probably too little, too late.
A couple of key developments in the beauracratic ranks as well. Mid-level Carol Westcott has made some new friends(20% political reliability) in an effort to force her way higher, and little-known Horacio Hufton, governor of the comet Crommelin, has been forced to retire early due to health concerns. Carl McCloe is appointed as his emergency, interim replacement. Fortunately it's close by at the moment, merely a three-day journey to approximately Jupiter orbit. He officially takes office two months to the day after graduated the Academy -- one could not ask for much better than that.
Mid-August -- Riley Awad increases his Factory Production skill bonus to 30%. That would have helped while he was Governor of Earth, but now that he's on the moon it doesn't do a whole heaping lot of good. No factories there, a little late to the party buddy.
Mid-September -- Col. Gil Milstead, just 22, is promoted to Brigadier General.
Late October -- Gordon Semien joins the civilian corps, and he has a couple of notable skills. Administratively he could handle the Director's job, and he also has solid abilities in population growth and factory production. A good man to have around.
Mid-November -- Douglas Greer joins the growing logjam of low-level scientists in Defensive Systems.
December 14 -- Lambeth strikes again, up to 40% now. He's on a roll this year!
Mid-December -- Merry Murray joins the civilian beauracracy. Decent administrator, majoring in wealth creation which is not exactly an area of need as the budgetary reports have always shown.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Early July -- Neutronium supplies have been exhausted on Stephan-Oterma. With more than a generation's worth of duranium and sorium still on the comet, it's unlikely to see a major draw-down in investment(currently the third-largest comet operation with 28 automines) in the near future.
November 1 -- Automine deployment switched from Halley's Comet to Borrelly.
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RETIREMENTS
** Rear Admiral Tell Perj Jr., the navy's second-in-command, has decided to step aside at age 59. He spent 28 years as a Commander, during which he saw action on most classes of ship SPACE has operated, many now obsolete. Sensor vessels, freighters, geosurvey ships back in the Sol mining rush, fuel harvesters, command ships, the list goes on and on. It looked for a long time that he would never exceed that rank, but he had a late-career resurgence and spent four years as Logistics Officer for the SSF, the commercial branch of the Navy. It was a position quite befitting a man of his varied experience. The last four were spent as the SSF head, under Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser.
The four admirals who remain average less than 40 years of age. It should be a stable group leading the implementation of the Fox Plan in the years, maybe even decades to come.
** Tell is the only senior commander to leave the military this tour. Brig. Gen. Christopher Sonders(55) considered retirement but was convinced to stay until the Alaska base on Titan is finished in a couple of years. A number of junior officers who have failed to distinguish themselves in both branches are culled. Cmdrs. Reginald Mapps and Christopher Blair are among them, along with five Lt. Cmdrs. and four army colonels. Blair was a successful CO at sensor duty and then later at some mid-level bases, but never quite got the breaks he needed to reach Captain and move into upper-level leadership in the service.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
** Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 34th out of 35. A minor promotion for him at least this time, as he moves from a Burke transport to a decidedly boring post at one of the Cleveland-class maintenance supply ships.
** Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 26th out of 105. Still just hanging on as a fuel harvester commander, and he won't be that after mandatory retirement hits following this tour.
** Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 27th. He's getting to know the Van Maanen's Star jump point real well, and his fourth tour out there is about to commence.
** Cmdr. Jay Cin V -- 22nd. A third tour at the important Lalande 2118th jump point station.
** Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler -- 14th. A third harvester tour, she moves up to one of the big Long Beach ships.
** Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian -- 59th. Another tour on shuttle duty. Serviceable but unimpressive so far.
** Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade -- 58th. Same story as Meian, he heads to shuttle duty after not really making anything of his interim stay on board one of the South Carolina superfreighters.
** Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio -- 67th. He's got his first command on one of the Lexington shuttles. Time will tell if he makes anything of the opportunity.
** Col. Ignace Tegair -- 26th out of 56. Garrison duty on Earth continues. There are certainly worse assignments.
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2078 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 1)
June Aspinwall, 49, was quickly named the replacement Rear Admiral for Perj. Her experience and political connections immediately make her the new #2 in the Navy behind Feeser. This was almostly completely overshadowed by political unrest. There were loud protestations from some significant minorities about the rapid increase in automine deployment.
The 'Earth First' crowd, using slogans such as 'No Blood for Mercassium!' and 'No Halley in Our Name' wants more resources devoted to the homeworld -- though devoted to exactly what they've not been long on explaining. Fiscally conservative and self-appointed watchdog groups demand to know just what exactly SPACE is getting from all the shipyard activity, citing the New York 'boondoggle' and the new, thus-far unused naval yards as evidence that the political class has lost the thread and needs to be booted. The conservationists have also put in their two cents, usually in the form of long-winded analyses of how off-world mining operations are not giving us the same bang for the buck they used to, and pointing out that SPACE will be in a pretty fix when Sedna starts to exhaust its deposits. Finally, there are the anti-technologists who constantly question just what exactly humanity has achieved by the TN leap, other than ticking off an alien interstellar empire. They prefer that we simply withdraw from the galaxy, show the other races we mean them no harm by abandoning the network of outposts in the system and returning to a simple life on Earth. Generally this is accompanied by blaming the horror of WWIII not on the depravities of human nature, competition among nation-states and international mega-corporations, or overblown misunderstandings between cultures, but on our stubborn and in their opinion breathtakingly arrogant insistence on always seeking advancement whatever the cost.
Director Rakes is not saying much beyond reminding everyone that there will be more detailed news on the Fox Plan later in the year and pointing out that stockpiles all four key minerals(duranium, neutronium, mercassium, and corundium) are declining over the last couple years is a pretty good argument for expanding operations. Patience is running thin in some quarters though, and for the first time in decades internal strife is a major concern. Despite the many voices holding forth in the echo chamber, most just want clear answers and are frustrated with not getting them.
Three weeks into the year, retooling finished for the New York and fabrication of two hulls began. This reminder the administration did not need, though it helped that the second Brooklyn '72 was finished on the same day to partially defuse the impact of the first story.
In February, the decision was made to reduce mine production somewhat and work on expanding ordnance factories to triple their current amount(50 to 150). This was based on the fact that with multiple active missile bases and a few Nimitzes now 'in the field', producing enough missiles to resupply them takes about a decade at current production rates, which High Command considers to be far too long. Some termed this decision as reactionary and proof of Director Rakes' weakness, but increasing readiness while at the same time adding five million new high-paying TN jobs over the next several years was an effective counter to that.
March brought another piece of good news, with the last of the new Forrestal IIIs leaving the space docks. The previous generation has now been completely replaced. Soon afterwards, a sudden illness required the hospitalization of Luna Governor Riley Awad, who you may recall was Earth's governor from 73-77. Doctors say the 54-year-old should return to good health, but will need to be watched closely.
More good news in April with the return of the first tour from the initial quartet of Long Beach fuel harvesters resulting in well over three million litres being deposited in the Titan fuel tanks. With good news to trumpet three months straight, some of the impatience was mollified for a time. The month wasn't done either: later Billie Allington finished the new thruster and the Caldwell-class VIP shuttle was announced:
Size: 950t
Crew: 14
VIP Capacity: 8
Speed: 2210 km/s
Fuel: 500k
Sensors: Basic commercials of all types
Armament: None, depends on stealth
Cost: 150k, a little under six months.
The Lexington is the oldest design presently in service, having been operated in one form or another for 30 years since the late 40s. The Caldwell will allow for much greater stealth, and therefore more security for the VIPs whose skills are so important to the smooth operation of the agency.
The key factor here is that while it will burn through a lot more fuel, the Caldwell has a thermal signature just a shade over a seventh of the Lexington IIId. An enemy would have to be practically on top of it or banging away with active gravs to know it was there. Despite the small size, it is actually 13% more expensive than the current commercial-grade shuttles, but still miniscule in the grand scheme of things.
KSEC is expected to begin production in a couple months. Replacing the entire 30-vessel complement required will probably take through the end of 2082, give or take, a 3-4 year process.
After a relatively quiet summer, the silence became an issue again. Then on August 28, The most important of a record 25 concurrent ongoing projects was announced to have been finished, a bit behind schedule but it's done. Director India Rakes announced that she would be making a major global address regarding humanity's future that evening ...
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
** January 5 -- Another laboratory is finished and Modesto Huch's on-and-off work on Small Troop Transport Bays resumes.
** February 12 -- Cedrick Wormack announces plans for the newest army formation, the Assault Infantry Battalion. As the name implies it an offensive-focused unit. Essentially the reverse of the Mobile Infantry in capability, it is twice as effective on the attack, half as effective in defense. This is by far the most effective invasion formation we can field, and as such the AIB is an important development that will be needed eventually, but not anytime soon.
He'll remain in control of two labs and direct them towards Orbital Habitat Modules. This is a concept that could eventually replace the function that will be served by the New York luxury liners, and in a more politically acceptable manner. Space stations could be built and then towed into position at any unihabitable location where SPACE needs a long-term presence. These would house on site all the essential needs without mobile casinos being required.
** March 7 -- Alphonse Lambeth announces a new round of general improvements in tactics, equipment, and training for the army. This is a 14% improvement, so that each soldier now has the combat effectiveness of 16 pre-TN soldiers.
Eliot Monks and Adolfo Walth resume 'training projects' on improving shield technology.
** April 22nd -- Billie Allington's team has finished the JPS NP-42st, the new max-power, thermally shielded thruster for use in planned Caldwell shuttle which will replace the Lexington. Alphonse Lambeth gets to work on a battalion-sized CDM(combat drop module, a pod for deploying troops in hot spots where taking a day or two to methodically unload isn't an option. This is purely another 'something to do' project.
** June 2nd -- Shannon Patteson's team finishes the 400-ton variant of the Phoenix military engine. Next up will be beginning a project that will need a lot more investment eventually, improving mining output. There are other priorities right now, though, and Patteson isn't yet top in the Construction & Production field, so there won't be any more labs diverted at present.
** August 1 -- Alejandro Otteson completes research on improved reactor output(+20%). This frees up three lab spaces but also creates a need for two new prototypes. Otteson takes the larger power plant, Jerry Bartholf gets his first project lead in going after the smaller one, and Billie Allington gets back in the game by doing some preliminary work on improving fire control tracking speeds.
** August 24 -- A new lab is ready, and a first lead given to one of the glut of young Logistics & Ground Combat scientists, Stanley Kogut. His goal is the design of a Maintenance Module, for use in adding maintenance facility capability to a PDC or space station. It is unclear whether this potential technology will ever be used.
** August 28 -- The long-awaited new military jump drive has been finished, courtesy of Dr. Curtis Gloster
EARTH
January 20 -- Retooling complete for the New York. A year and a half will be required, est. late summer of '79. On the same day, the second Brooklyn '72 is ready. A third will be built while the latest meson turrets are finalized.
May 28th -- A third group of Long Beach harvesters are launched, a full dozen out of the 24 planned.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
February -- Sedna expands again, 32 complexes now.
Late February -- Corundium exhausted on Wolf-Harrington. Neutronium and mercassium will keep the operations there going for decades yet.
April -- The first full tour of one of the Long Beach harvesting groups is completed, and they dump nearly four million litres into the holding tanks on Titan.
Early May -- Boronide on Neujmin is exhausted. This is of very little significance.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Mid-March -- Meanwhile, Emile Jeffcoat, 13 months out of the academy, is promoted to Commander.
Mid-April -- Cmdr. Conor Zavier improves his Fleet Movement Initiative to a slightly less pathetic 164.
Late April -- Jessica Sattler makes a minor improvement in her ineptness in initiative(up to 124).
Early May -- Errol Igoe, Governor at Sedna, has improved his mining bonus to 20% through his experience at the distant cash cow. The result is an increase of about 350t of duranium a year, which will help stem the current decline.
Late June -- Mitchell Feeser has made a few new friends(25% Political Reliability), strengthening his grip on the Navy.
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August 28, 2078
Director India Rakes, live from Sector Command
'Less than three weeks ago, the twentieth anniversary passed of the fateful, painful, and tragic day when Herbert Duling announced to all of us that the worst had happened in Epsilon Eridani. It has been a trying two decades. Deep trauma often lays bare our greatest passions. As we continue our efforts to honor those who sacrificed there as best we can, and move forward boldly into the future as a species, I am pleased to announce that today humanity has taken a major step forward in that struggle.'
'As most of us well recall, it was four years later that the broad outlines of a strategy to renew our push into the systems surrounding Sol were formulated, named the Fox Doctrine in honor of Herman Fox, one of the many both well known and virtually unknown who perished in the unprovoked alien attack. While there are some among us who still believe we should not go at all, such an approach dooms us to nothing but isolation and fear for the indefinite future at best, eventual annihilation at worst. We owe it to our children, grandchildren, and the generations who will come after them to confront the challenge of being a spacefaring people. We must act courageously and wisely. There is no quality future that involves shrinking into the shadows.'
'Recently I received word that the work of one our most accomplished scientists, Dr. Curtis Gloster, has been completed. A new jump drive, significantly smaller than the one the Pioneers used yet able to produce the same magnitude of space-time disruption, has been tested and certified ready. With this accomplishment, SPACE is finally ready after 16 long years to begin to put feet to our plans. The Fox Plan now moves from the planning stage to becoming a reality. I am pleased to be joined by Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser, who has served in that position for three years and many more to come. He is well known to be as talented as any naval officer SPACE has ever known. Chief Feeser will outline the ships that will conduct the first explorations beyond our system in nearly a quarter-century.''
Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser, live from Sector Command
At 43, Feeser is still quite a young man for his position. Only Ellie Camble stands in SPACE annals as a more respected naval officer.
'What I am about to describe to you has been dubbed Operation Renewal. Renewal will be the most complicated operation SPACE Command has ever conducted. Great care and expense has been taken to minimize the danger to the servicemen and servicewomen involved, and to maximize success of the mission. The objective of Operation Renewal is to conduct detailed surveys of any incompletely mapped star system. These surveys will include any evidence of alien life past or present, TN mineral deposits, jump point locations to other systems, and where those jump points if any lead to. '
'For this mission, five new ship classes have been designed, and they will recieve support from sixth already in use. The 850-ton Explorer-class scout will be our first entry into any system without any current human prescence. The Explorer is the tip of the spear, so to speak, and will jump in, briefly scan the area around the jump point, and then jump back out a few minutes later. In this manner minimal exposure to danger by the rest of the ships will be achieved. Slightly larger are two 950-ton vessels. The Frontier-class gravitational survey vessel will be responsible from surveying all potential jump point locations in a system, and the Prospector-class geological survey vessel will investigate any planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc. for any mineral deposits and/or signs of alien life.'
'These three types of utility vessels will be housed in one of two new classes of carrier ships, each 10kt in size. The first is the Gearing Survey Carrier. The Gearing has over half its size devoted to hangar storage, and can maintain two of each class and their crews. Secondly, the Baltimore Command Carrier will house one Frontier and one Prospector, and will serve as the nerve center of the flotilla. It has military-grade passive sensors of the same quality as are stationed on the Nimitz and Brooklyn combat ships, the jump drive required for transit of the larger ships betweens systems, and also quarters and equipment for a command staff to oversee the operation. Finally, an Iowa fuel tanker equipped for extended deployment time, hereafter known as the Iowa XR variant, will accompany the carriers to refuel them. They carry minimal reserves in an effort to maximize hangar space. This leaves the flotilla composition at 1 Baltimore Command Carrier, 1 Gearing Survey Carrier, 1 Iowa fuel tanker, 2 Explorer jump scouts, 3 Frontier gravitational survey vessels, and 3 Prospector geological survey vessels. The Baltimore, Gearing, and Iowa XR carry enough supplies for an extended five-year deployment: the Frontier, Explorer, and Prospector have enough for a two-year sortie from their mother carrier ship.'
'To co-ordinate these efforts, an Admiral on board the Baltimore command ship will be in overall command of the mission and all eleven ships, with two captains to assist him with operational and logistical matters. The flotilla is designed to minimize the chances of detection by hostile forces, and contains minimal defensive and no offensive weapons systems. Both carriers and, under most circumstances the tanker as well, will remain at the jump point of entry into the system being surveyed. Should any hostile act be witnessed, the command carrier will withdraw immediately through the jump. Any of the utility vessels not in close proximity at that time will be considered missing and presumed lost in action. In this manner, a catastrophic disaster such as befell us in Epsilon Eridani will be avoided at all costs.'
Director Rakes
'Thank you Admiral Feeser. I should emphasize that no firm decision has been made on what systems will be prioritized. This administration is strongly of the opinion that such a determination would yet be premature. We have committed to building two ESFs, or Exploration & Survey Flotillas such as the admiral just described. The first is estimated to be operational sometime very close to the 2081 election. It has been my duty to determine that we will proceed, and how, but the next director will decide where.'
'Thank you for time, and may God always bless our common human journey'.
ESF TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Baltimore-class Command Carrier
Size: 10kt
Crew: 284 + 48 for docked flight crews
Speed: 600 km/s
Fuel: 750k(7.5 months)
Cost: 1.42m
Gearing-class Survey Carrier
Size: 10kt
Crew: 158 + 148 for docked flight crews
Speed: 600 km/s
Fuel: 750k(7.5 mo.)
Cost: 1.17m
Iowa XR-class Fuel Tanker
Size: 9.7 kt
Crew: 53
Speed: 1050 km/s
Fuel: 6m
Cost: 642k
Frontier-class GravSurvey Vessel
Size: 950t
Crew: 24
Speed: 1263 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 191k
Prospector-class GeoSurvey Vessel
Size: 950t
Crew: 24
Speed: 1263 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 251k
Explorer-class Jump Scout
Size: 850t
Crew: 18
Speed: 1411 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 92k
Total per ESF: 11 ships with a combined 37.1 kt size, 675 crew, 9.5m litres of fuel, and at a cost to the treasury of 4.74m. This of course does not include the time and cost of shipyards dedicated to the production.
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2078 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2 -- Conclusion)
It is never the case that everyone is happy, and many thought the announcement of Operation Renewal should have come sooner than it did. It was enough to head off any serious fracturing of the support for SPACE though, and allowed things to move forward in a more typically undisturbed fashion. The status of that effort:
Permanant Shipyard(presently at 6.4k) will need to expand to 10kt before work on the Gearing can begun. Meanwhile the Baltimore Marine is retooling for the Baltimore, coincidentally enough, and the Iowa XR will be built at the Oregon Shipyard. The smaller vessels should be ready well ahead of those. It is uncertain which of the bigger ships will be the last to be ready.
**Author's note: After next annual report, which will bring us to a year out from the '81 election, a synopsis of the key contenders for the directorship and their positions on the question of 'where' the ESFs should be deployed first will be presented. The community 'vote' will have some degree of impact on the results if anyone wishes to hold forth. **
September brought a new naval star on the horizon, Nigel Bilski. He is cut from the same mold as Mitchell Feeser in terms of overall talent, the only other recruit yet seen with that talent level. He's good at virtually everything, excellent at training, solid political connections ... 'Born to Win' is virtually tattooed on his forehead. It will be interesting to see how his career develops.
The next month, the 40th automine departs Earth for the comet Borrelly, meeting the goal that was set for more than doubling operations there. Since the ramp-up of shipyard activity following the announcement of Operation Renewal over a month ago, the stockpiles have been monitored closely by MRD. Neutronium levels are holding steady, corundium and mercassium continue to decline gradually, but duranium is fast becoming the biggest concern. The best option for expansion continues to be Triton, but it hasn't gotten any closer: Neptune is still 4.5b km away. Still, there is still 458mt available there, a 500-year supply at current rates. Getting out there will be far more efficient with the South Carolina superfreighters, and they'll finally have a job now. One trip per five automines, so they'll only need a few journeys a year. The current 63 automines on Triton will be cranked up to about 100, and then SPACE will reassess the situation.
November was the busiest month of the year's final stretch. In the first few days, an initial quartet of the new Caldwell shuttles were deployed. A couple weeks later theoretical advances allowing for improved thermal sensors were announced, instigating another shakeup in the current state of assignments, with new commercial and military-grade sensors necessary to take advantadge of the new capabilities. The SITG ThermoScan 121 will be 16% more powerful and 15% smaller than it's predecessor ... each step marking an improvement in SPACE's efforts to gain an advantadge against our enemies. Another week, and the first pair of Frontier gravsurvey vessels cleared the docks, the first tangible success to trumpet in the progression of Operation Renewal. And then in the final days of the month, the first of the Nimitz '76c, sporting the new composite armour, launched from Wartsila Shipyard. Not a bad set of accomplishments for one month!
For December, the only real news was the latest top talent on the army side. Col. Zoe Bean graduates with combat training marks off the scale, and some skill in xenology. The last one is a curiosity since we have no practical xenology experience as a species, and therefore one wonders how we know she is any good at it. Regardless, she rates out as the second-best officer in the service straight out of the academy, so this is very good news for our ground forces.
2078 will certainly be remembered most for the announcement of Operation Renewal and the various activities surrounding it. Secondarily, the efforts to keep increasing mining output with the ramp-up in automine deployment and the gradually increasing numbers of comet deposits being exhausted over time is also worth noting.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** August 28 -- Curtis Gloster took over the work on improving mining outputs, requiring three labs, and some of the 'training projects' were shifted around a bit. By far the best 'odd man out' right now is Garland Sidhom, a decent researcher but unfortunately he's in the nearly-irrelevant Biology & Genetics field, by far the least important of the eight disciplines.
** September 12 -- The Defender '76 P, the high-damage variant that is also slower and therefore less accurate, is ready to go. The ordnance factories switch to producing 60% of the P variant and 40% the standard Defender '76 in order to eventually catch up. The P is also a hair more expensive(about 4,040 credits per instead of 3,870).
Dr. Elyse Buckler unfortunately learned not a darned thing in the process, and she will be sidelined once again.
** October 28 -- Jerry Bartholf's team has finished prototyping one of new power-boosted reactors.
** November 15 -- Elwood Tousant and his team have acheived a breakthrough resulting in the next generation of passive thermal sensor capabilities. Tousant will handle the military prototype personally, while Irma Bartlebaugh takes the commercial variant and another lab is freed up for one of the rookie scientists.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Mid-September -- Oft-derided Delois Woznicki has improved her ability to manage larger-scale endeavors for the first time ... at age 50. She's still a long way from being eligible for director duty, but there may yet be a small sliver of hope if she improves this more.
Late October -- A couple of key R&D developments, with Harlan Welle(Missiles & Kinetic Weapons) and Bessie Wallander(Sensors & Fire Controls) both hitting the 30% bonus line now. Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio's improvement in command skills has resulted in a noticeable Initiative bump to 316.
Early December -- Col. Zoe Bean joins the army as the latest talent in their ranks
EARTH
November 4 -- The first quartet of Caldwell VIP shuttles are prepped and ready.
November 23 -- The first two Frontier gravsurvey vessels are ready, making use of recycled electronics from the original Coontz-class ships, long since dismantled. That was of course the class which originally mapped the seven jumps leading from Sol following the development of jump point theory.
Late November -- The first Nimitz '76c, clad in the latest composite armour, is prepared.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Late November -- Corbomite(on Crommelin) and sorium(on Halley's Comet) are depleted.
Early December -- Sorium depleted on Comas Sola. Duranium remains along with two other less significant minerals, but the entirety of the deposits there will be depleted in less than 18 years.
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I would be remiss if I did not enter an official SPACE response to the fine letter by Col. Ignace Tegair. SPACE is not of the opinion that additional resources should be devoted to an offensive ground attack force at this time. It is believed that such a deployment is only sensible at such time as naval capabilities advance to the point of challenging our enemies. After all, even if we had such a force, we wouldn't know where to send them(we don't know where the aliens live) and wouldn't be able to get them there(because they'd annihilate our transports hundreds of millions of kilometers out or more)!
Having said that, with the recent development of the Assault Infantry Battalion, that process has begun in it's infancy. Other advanced TN infantry options and hierarchical advances are expected in the next couple of decades, though none are in the works right now. It is believed that we will have the capability to deploy such a force before it actually becomes needed.
Regards,
Mitchell Feeser, Chief of the SPACE Navy
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Jay Cin V would like to request a position on an Explorer class or Frontier class when they become available, in order to follow in the Cin tradition of
dying at the hands of alien warships establishing first contact with alien races.
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That's a strong probability. He's a mid-level Commander which is right about where those spots will probably go(top ones take the bases and combat ships). He's got solid political connections, an affinity for small craft, and ineptness at combat(one of the lowest initiatives I've ever seen), all of which suggest such a role. Gotta keep his nose clean for another year though.
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COMMERCIAL CHARACTER UPDATE
Jedediah Thone(3) -- No change yet midway through his most important assignment aside from being an observer in the Epsilon Eridani crisis(governor at Triton). Perhaps he'll gain some benefit from the extra attention as automines will shortly depart for the Neptunean moon ...
Ricardo Bloise(3) -- Governor of Machholz, nothing new here either.
Malik Kaine(2) -- An uneventful first couple of years at Van Biesbroeck
Karabishi Juishao(MK 45) -- A little over a year left on improving Missile Launcher Reload Rates. This may well be her final project.
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2079 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 1)
Hope was on the rise as the year began. Having a specific plan in place, with tangible evidence of its progress as the shipyards were busier than ever before(a record 16 hulls being constructed simultaneously), did wonders as a placebo for public concerns. This was true even for some of those who disagreed with the goals/implementation of Operation Renewal. After two long decades of waiting, there was now the anticipation of results finally coming. MRD had new concerns, with duranium down under 10kt(two years ago it was noted as quite stable, with a 16.4kt stockpile, nearly twice the current amount). All that activity wasn't cheap. In the past year, shipbuilding has far eclipsed research as the top item in the budget, which showed a historically-low surplus of just over 20%, less than 9m. That's still a surplus, and it is expected that the numbers will look more healthy once the initial pair of ESFs are built. But for now, any thought of preparing for the next phase of naval development -- the ships that will be needed to colonize whatever Renewal might discover -- has gone on the back burner. The economics just aren't there to sustain this kind of massive activity for long. All of this has Director Rakes focused on making sure the automine runs to Triton go smoothly. On cue, the first South Carolina superfreighter run ever began the loading process on the first of the year.
January 3 -- Dr. Joe Tycho's research into Turret Tracking Speed is completed, a 20% increase achieved over present capabilities. Giving a man of his age and health another major project is considered risky, but he's not quite at the point of being ready to go yet. For now he takes over the final stages of prototyping the latest Meson turret. This approach has the added benefit of freeing up two more labs for low-level scientists to get a start on new projects. One of these is particularly notable: Ion Drives, the next generation in more powerful starship engines. It will be some time before any result is seen from it. This also pushes current projects to a new high of 27 ongoing.
Mid-January -- Rosemary Urenda, tops in the Power & Propulsion field, has made a minor improvement to her abilities(45%).
Mid-February -- Billie Allington, one of the most politically active scientists, has become even more well-connected(40% Reliability). She'd do better to work on her actually research skills.
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February 18
SPACE Missiles & Kinetic Weapons Research Compound
Location: Classified
At first the only sign was a deafening crash, followed by what appeared to be a minor earthquake tremor. A few minutes later, one of the 15-ton 'mock-up' missiles was found to have come loose from its carriage and crashed to the floor -- crushing the body of 65-year-old lead researcher Dr. Karabishi Juishao into a mangled, lifeless heap. The medical response team was just a formality -- nobody could withstand such a massive blow and live.
Director India Rakes released a statement later in the day. She praised Juishao's long service record and seminal contributions to the advancement of missile technologies, deploring her tragic demise. It was standard PR-speak, and lacked the inspirational capacity that was really needed. As much as anything, what has held her back from further achievement is her propensity to fill the role of the negative reactionary, and that was clearly on display here. An independent review of not just this incident but security and safety procedures at all 43 compounds was ordered.
** OOC Note: A loss of 5M credits to SPACE and the forced idling of one-quarter(11) research labs for the remainder of 2079 will be enforced to simulate the cost of these measures **
Naturally, BOG had a lot to say. Not all of it made any sense. Burt Stonerock(Mercury) stuck his foot in his mouth as usual, referring to such things as 'the cost of doing business' and advocating that SPACE forge full steam ahead. Evelyn Kaczor(Halley's Comet) said similar things in a much more sensible and sensitive manner. . A number of members, both significant and less so, took the opportunistic route by decrying Rakes' 'incompetence' and calling for everything up to and on occasion even including her head. In this group there were Dee Respress(Prokne), Marion Polizzi(Faye), Errol Igoe(Sedna), and noted blowhard/ignoramus extraordinaire Russell Salvucci(Venus). Most managed to follow the wise lead of former and probable future director Alberto Eighmy(Earth), some because they lacked the courage to do anything else, some because they knew calming the public was the right thing to do. Other than lightning-rod Salvucci, most of the troublemakers are minor players. The elite corps of leadership, many nearing the ends of their careers, knew that the people would make up their own minds in a couple of years anyway if they felt major changes were required.
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2079 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2)
The loss of Juishao had at least one more effect that was immediately obvious: it hastened a crisis in the missile-related field as a whole. There is only remaining skilled researcher in the field, Harlan Welle, and he's 64 with retirement looming. He was working on a less essential task(magazine ejection systems) and takes over the work on missile loading processes. The fact remains that advancement in this field, which High Command presently considers crucial to any realistic chance of combating the known alien threat in the near future, will virtually grind to a halt if nobody steps up to fill the void.
As the entirety of the scientific community reorganized to meet the needs of the coming investigation, Rosemary Urenda finished the latest advancement in fuel efficiency techniques. . There was considerable debate in the upper echelons of SPACE about whether to design new engines now. Eventually it was decided it is not worth the cost at the present time -- redesigns and all the subsequent costly refits will wait until Ion Drives are ready, which could well be a decade or more. Urenda meanwhile took over the Ion Drive project, while most of the low-level scientists are out of job for the time being.
Art Weston(Reinmuth) seemed to be the guy rising to the occasion in the aftermath, with noticed improved response to his leadership on the mining colony. A complete lack of important friends in BOG made it unlikely this would mean all that much though in the grand scheme of things.
In March, a second shipment of automines left for Triton, and construction began on the first two Baltimore command carriers. One should be ready in the summer of 2080, the second in the fall. The Gearing won't be set to begin for a few months yet, it looks like that will be the longest holdup. April brings the retirement of another top weapons scientist. Joe Tycho finishes the work on the latest meson cannon, the WT Excalibur 135. Given the current environment and the continued health issues, he retires from public service. It's been an amazing career -- although not as long of one as some, he's reached heights as great as any researcher SPACE has seen in terms of his peak productivity. His body just didn't let him keep it going. Eva Vadnais(62) remains to carry on, but when she retires the energy weapons field will only have a couple of low-level newcomers in place. Better than the missile field can say for itself, but not by much. Later in the month, the first two Prospectors come off the line and the Iowa XR begins production as the ramp-up for Renewal continues.
Throughout the summer progress continued on all fronts, espescially with more ships being completed in multiple categories, details follow as always. By the end of July, SPACE welcomes a potential political star in Augustine Wollner, and the biggest shipyards completed their conversion operations, allowing them to idle and save precious duranium. It's now under 7kt, and unfortunately this will only slow the depletion of the reserve. In early August the first Gearing begins construction, and estimates are that it will finish probably a couple months or so ahead of the '81 election. Then in quick succession the two New York 'casino ships' are finally launched, and the second new civilian shipping firm to enter the fray this year is formed. There's a lot to be excited about. Before the month was out, a third Brooklyn '72 entered service. Command wanted to be ready for the redesign long before now, but we just aren't there yet. Turreted versions of the latest lasers and meson cannons aren't ready, and without them it would only be a minimal upgrade in effectiveness. A fourth of the seven-year-old tech is queued.
The news was mostly positive, and the tragic death of Juishao already fading to a nearly-forgotten footnote in terms of headlines. Then, a week into September, came the news from Faye of a public disturbance at the base there following the arrival of the first New York. Unfortunately this would soon become a much bigger problem than at first it appeared to be ...
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Mid-February -- Fuel efficiency improvements are announced by Rosemary Urenda.
Late February -- Electronic Hardening techniques have been advanced(Ross Dodge).
March 13 -- New commercial thermal sensors are ready(Irma Bartlebaugh).
April 2 -- Joe Tycho finishes the WT Excalibur 135, new Meson turret prototype.
April 13 -- Another research lab is finished, and dedicated to a new CIWS prototype. Elyse Buckler leads the project.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Mid-March -- A second shipment of automines to Triton leaves Earth, as duranium levels fall below 8.5kt, now less than neutronium to make it the scarcest mineral in the stockpiles. The first shipment is still two weeks away from arriving.
April 24 -- A new shipping line, Hayter Container Group, has been formed.
Early June -- Gallicite deposits exhausted on Reinmuth. With the ramp-up of missile production the supply is slowly being drained. This is not a concern yet, but could forseeably become one. Massive neutronium supplies(over 400 years to depletion) will keep SPACE on Reinmuth for a long time to come.
August 20th -- Yet another commercial shipping firm is launched, Sherill Freight and Trading. This would seem to be a good sign for that sector of the economy.
EARTH
March 27 -- Retooling is finished and construction begins on the two Baltimore command carriers.
April 13 -- The Navy jettisons another seven underachievers.
April 15 -- The first two Prospectors are finished.
April 21 -- Retooling finished for the Iowa XR tanker. The first is expected to be ready around the same time as the first Baltimore, next summer.
May 23 -- A second pair of Frontiers are completed, and the third and final duo begun.
July 12th -- Fourth Long Beach group departs earth for Saturn.
July 28 -- The big shipyards have completed their various operations, and are now idle.
August 6th -- Permanant Shipyard reaches the 10kt needed, and begins work on the Gearing survey carrier. This is expected to be the last ship completed, the first to be ready in the fall of 2080.
August 14th -- The two New Yorks are finished and depart for Faye and Machholz, which along with Reinmuth are the worst off of the military bases. Arrival at Faye is expected at the end of the month, and then we'll see how they react to these floating casinos. They had better work.
August 28th -- The third Brooklyn '72 is finished.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
April 29 -- A big year for Rosemary Urenda continues. She's up to 50%, fully in the elite class of scientists now.
Mid-June -- Mitchell Feeser, not resting on his laurels, has improved in training skills(300, a rarely seen level).
Late July -- Augustine Wollner is a potentially bright new star on the political horizon. The good news is solid political connections, skills in wealth creation and logistics. The bad news? He can't effectively manage anything bigger than a mining outpost. Hopefully he doesn't end up being a poor man's Woznicki.
Late July -- Elyse Buckler has managed to gain some measure of skill(10%). Anything she can do to stem the decline in the missile field will be most welcome.
Early August -- Jedidiah Thone irrelevantly increases his shipbuilding to 20%.
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NEW YORK SCANDAL ERUPTS!
By the end of September it was clear that neither were working. Maintaining comfortable conditions in such a large ship over the constantly shifting mass of a comet just a few miles wide ... it was too much for the shuttles and thrusters to handle.
The second New York reached Machholz on September 19th, by which time there was a growing chorus of voices demanding answers on the situation at Faye. It fared no better, and by the end of the month India Rakes had no choice but to publicly address the situation personally. The basic problem is an issue of scale. The casino ships have to maintain a constant relative position in close orbit in order to have regular transportation between the comets and the ship. This presents a problem given the various unpredictable factors: gases in the comets tail, shifting axes of rotation and gravitational forces, etc., as well as the simple fact that the 122kt ship is in the case of Faye(1.77 km wide) about half as big as the actual comet itself. All of this results in the need for constant abrupt maneuvering via thrusters, making life on board the 'casino' actually quite a bit less pleasant than on the surface. A remarkably tone-deaf statement by Rakes indicated that SPACE would 'explore all possibilities' before deciding on a course of action. The inference was obvious and in this case accurate: she didn't know what to do.
The political effect of this announcement was thermonuclear. 'Independent' firm Andersen Accounting estimated the cost of the New York and associated shipyard activities at nearly 6kt of duranium and over 15m in public funds, all of which was now virtually wasted. The fact that the New York would still be a solution on larger bodies smacked of excuse-making and was practically speaking nearly irrelevant. The only place that would even matter was on Triton, all the other outposts are either inhabited, making a relief ship unnecessary, or smaller, making it impossible. Perhaps stationary orbital habitats would fare better, perhaps not. That consideration was equally irrelevant considering it would be years until they could be ready as research was still in its infancy.
Protests began in most major cities, and it was clear pretty quickly that this would not be one of those embarassing moments that would just blow over. Humanity's united front in support of SPACE showed the most serious cracks seen since the founding of the agency, an effect which snowballed as various sub-factions of splinter groups opposed for whatever crackpot reason found a louder voice and more friendly reception in the chaos. Front and center of course was Russell Salvucci, self-appointed spokesman for the disaffected. Over and over again he pounded home the point that it was India Rakes herself who had authored the entire plan of spreading off-world bases throughout Sol in the wake of her most important victory in the 2065 election. Accusations then that it was an opportunitistic and wasteful political stunt were ineffective, but that was no longer the case. The total cost of the bungling now hanging around her neck very much like a millstone dwarfed what was spent on the New York by itself. Protest strikes at official facilities all over the world began to grow, and in some areas all but the most essential services shut down. By the end of October, a little less than two months since the first reports from Faye, some regional blocs were beginning to suggest that perhaps they should govern their own affairs independent of SPACE.
BOG had no choice but to take action. Faced with an imminent 'no confidence' vote removing her from office, Rakes took the only option available and jumped before she was pushed. Her resignation officially took effect on November 4th. A brief statement offering a half-baked, defensive apology and a plea for cooperation to win out over division was almost universally ignored. The only thing for her to do was just go away. The director's office would remain vacant for the time being, with the additional responsibility of any emergency rudder orders -- subject to veto by a majority vote of BOG until a new director is elected -- passing to Earth's current governor, Alberto Eighmy. As the only remaining former director still in the service, Eighmy has as much practical clout and authority as anyone could have under the circumstances.
The present situation represents the most serious internal unrest humanity has faced since World War III, and those few who were alive when that horrific conflict ended were too young to remember much of it. For the first time in decades, fear seems a more powerful force than hope and unity.
** Author's Note: These events are my attempt to RP a reasonable response to the fact that the recreation modules are either bugged or not . Apparently they work on moons and planets, not anything smaller. On a personal level I'm really looking forward to the ramp-up of exploration which will now be delayed, but I also felt things were too 'clean' and perhaps 'pollyanish' in the way things have unfolded the past several decades. Combined with Juishao strategy, such an occurence as this which could be seen no other way than as gross incompetence by the official government, provided an in-game backdrop for a serious problem, unless I hand-waved it away which I'm not predisposed to do. I will say that from here, while anything is possible, inertia will be in the direction of SPACE gradually recovering from the current state of relative disorder. If things go well it could just be a bad memory in a few years that simply delays human progress. If not ... well, civil war is not completely out of the question but would require some fairly disastrous events and soon More likely it would just be a lengthening of the current period of unrest and resulting crippled economy. The previous plan for having the '81 election be a Renewal referendum has also been thrown out the window. The 'echo chamber' malcontents in BOG will have increased clout, exactly how much more depends on events between now and then. It appears the election will instead be focused on a reactionaries(Salvucci et al.) vs. progressives(status quo, more or less) dynamic **
Meanwhile ...
September 19 -- Eva Vadnais has stepped up to 65% matching Tycho's high and filling the void as best she can. This is considered the maximum any researcher can achieve. Also, Alejandro Otteson completes second, larger power plant prototype.
October 10 -- Julio Kuchler's team achieves a new advancement in EM sensors. He quickly sets to work on a new commercial suite using this. Active sensors will need to wait until the accompanying grav advancement.
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A TENSE TRANSITION(2079 Conclusion)
Over the last couple months of 2079, Eighmy emphasized that the people needed to have their say in the next election before any major changes were made. However, there were a number of things that still needed to be done. It was clear that sustaining bases on uninhabitable bodies was not going to happen with current technology. The crews needed to be returned to Earth, and whatever could be salvaged from the bases as well. Unfortunately SPACE does not have a ship capable of such a mission.
With this in mind, the Wickes-class Salvage Ship was reluctantly and unpopularly announced, though nobody had a better idea. Further damage to public confidence was largely avoided by focusing on the fact that SPACE was skimping as much as possible on its design, an all-in-one makeshift approach to limit the cost.
Size: 20.6 kt
Crew: 188
Speed: 486 km/s
Cargo: 5kt
Cryogenic Berths: 1000 capacity
Salvage: 1 module(500t/day)
Fuel: 250k
Armament: Commercial-quality sensors, 2 CIWS batteries
Cost: 682k
It would still not be cheap, but when you need to mount a 10kt salvage system there's a certain cost involved. Privately SPACE views this as an opportunity to get a handle on salvage/rescue operations which will certainly be needed in the future, but this was not the time to discuss that in public.
Several shipyards were shut down due to the striking, protests, etc., including production of the Baltimore, Caldwell, Nimitz, and Iowa XR classes. This meant Operation Renewal was on indefinite hold until order could be restored. Fortunately Howaltswerdke was able to begin production immediately, expected to be finished in just over a year.
As Rakes ignominiously left the scene, only a fraction of the research laboratories were operational and just under half of the factories and shipyards. Both New Yorks were ordered back to Earth to be scrapped.
In the following weeks, a number of adminstrators stepped up and saw their skills flourish. Coincidentally enough, duranium supplies are on the rebound for the first time due to the fact that the far-flung automines have been largely unaffected by the crisis, while the production reductions leave demand much lower than it was. Mostly the year finished in a state of relatively peaceful inaction ... there were a couple of clerical oversights such as a Forrestal not returning for overhaul until a couple of weeks late, etc. ... but nothing that seriously rocked the boat. Not all that much was achieved either, but a quiet recovery would be just fine by SPACE right now. Every uneventful week ends with a few hundred thousand more back to work in the plants, and unrest dipping a bit lower. In a best-case scenario, things could be 'back to normal' in a few months time, though memories and distrust will last longer than that. On the other hand, civilian shipping has declined over the last month, a reminder that there is a long way to go.
November 23 -- The last pair of Frontiers is finished at International Shipyard, and production switches to the Explorer. Even small events such as this are trumpeted by SPACE for all their worth, in an effort to rebuild a strong consensus of support.
December 4 -- The last pair of Prospectors comes off the line.
Mid-December -- Administrator Timmy Sheerin joins the service, another fairly talented guy who majors in small operations unfortunately. Excellent mining ability, some connections and reasonably diverse skillset make him an interesting potential.
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RETIREMENTS
The present chaos lost the services a few officers a tour earlier than they might normally have otherwhise retired, but among the senior officers both branches are still pretty young and stable. The only one to leave this cycle is Brigadier General Christopher Sonders. The navy loses six junior officers, four from the army, and things will continue on much as they have. From a military point of view the leadership is at a very healthy point, much in contrast to the political arm.
Among the navy officers is Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav, who has forced retirement at age 41. Mrtav leaves having spent time on Forrestal sensors, freighters, shuttles, and most recent fuel harvesters. A decent all-around CO, he was never able to break into the upper echelons of the service. Good combat skills but training and other abilities were lacking at the elite level.
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
The new survey ships already built for Renewal have created new job opportunities which move most naval officers up a peg by default, though some of this will go the other way when the bases are salvaged and those leaders are freed up.
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- 35th of 37. One of the new Frontier-class gravsurvey ships is his as he departs short-lived freighter duty.
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 30th. After eight years of sensor duty at the Van Maanen point, he'll remain there.
Cmdr. Jay Cin V -- 23rd. At his request he takes a slightly less prestigious post on one of the new Frontiers, ending six years of sensor duty at the Lalande 21185 jump. This is certain to be a more eventful posting eventually. It remains to be seen whether that's a good thing, family history being what it is ...
Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler -- 14th out of 112. Seemingly stuck near but not quite at the top of this rank, Jessica moves from harvester duty just 1.2m away to one of the Burke brigade-level transports which are stationed on Titan as the Alaska base is assembled there. With the uncertainly of the base network, this may not end up being all that great in the long run.
Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian -- 67th. Another tour of duty on the soon-to-be-outmoded Lexington shuttle.
Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade -- 53rd. He's done just well enough to escape shuttle duty for a slightly less boring post on one of the standard Iowa fuel tankers.
Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio -- 55th. No such luck for Syrus. A second tour of Lexington duty, but he could possibly escape it next time around.
Col. Ignace Tegair -- 28th out of 60. Still with the 62nd Garrison Battalion on Earth.
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2080 ANNUAL REPORT
Thankfully the civilian shipping recession quickly abated at the beginning of the year. The new decade seemed to bring with a new determination and efficiency. Between late January and mid-February Sedna expanded not once, not twice, but three times, adding significantly to the already-massive contributions from the distant dwarf. The timing is of course fantastic, clearly they must have lit a fire under them to profit from the downturn. In this case, it's all for the common good.
There continue to be minor hiccups here and there, two steps forward and one back for most of the early months, but progress is made albeit slowly. At the end of February the first two Explorer jump scouts are finished, and then to start of March the security review is finished. It's a couple months late but that's hard to fault under the circumstances. Juishao's death was found to be a preventable equipment failure, but also an isolated case and no major policy changes were recommended other than a fix for the specific malfunction. Research will now begin ramping up again, but production across the board in all sectors is still only a bit over 55% of capacity and many major shipyard priorities have not been restarted yet. There is much left to do.
The first shipment of the year to Triton leaves in the middle of April, another sign that slowly but surely, progress is being made. Along with a couple of minor research advances finalized in the month, support starts to galvanize around the recovery. People have had time to consider the situation, and there isn't really a good reason not to get behind SPACE again. Another month, and production approaches the two-thirds mark. The Baltimore Marine yard is back in business, with the Baltimore carriers back in production.
By July that's up to three-quarters with a little bit of good news here, a little bit there, mostly just everything getting settled back into a positive routine. By the last week of August, production in all sectors was back to maximum output and the utility vessels for the ESFs were finished as well. Nearly a year after it began, the crisis was finally over -- though not forgotten.
The very next month, there was another tremor as Cpt. Roman Madore was forced to retire unexpectedly due to medical issues. He was one of the solid veterans that make up the backbone of Navy leadership.
A couple of good academy candidates come in the fall, and then November brings the first Gearing Survey Carrier and another quartet of Caldwell shuttles. At the end of the year, the Wickes salvage & recovery ship was finally launched. This was an important public relations moment for SPACE. A smooth maiden voyage is needed, and a successful test before the elections wouldn't hurt. The oldest bases will be taken first, as their crews are under the greatest hardship. That means Stephan-Oterma is the first target, with Lt. Cmdr. Sammie Appelbaum -- stop laughing -- taking the assignment as the best of the recent academy graduates who is still without a command. Unfortunately, the end of the year will come about a week before the ship can arrive ... just a hair too late. Privately Eighmy was pleased with this since it meant the ship being a dud would come too late to affect the campaign, which is why he didn't divert it to Faye or Machholz which are closer.
2080 will have to be remembered as the year SPACE got back on its feet and apparently averted disaster.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
January 24 -- Sedna expands to 33 complexes, then finishes a 34th just four days later.
February 12 -- Sedna adds a third complex in three weeks.
EARTH
February 28 -- The first two Explorer jump scouts are ready.
Mid-May -- New Yorks are scrapped, another healing sign.
Late May -- Baltimore Marine is back in business, with the first carrier set to be ready next spring.
May 30 -- Another pair of Explorers is completed. The first ESF now has a full complement.
Mid-June -- Wartsila is the next shipyard to resume operations with the Nimitz missile boat.
July 8 -- A fifth Long Beach harvester group departs Earth. Only one remains of the originally planned six.
August -- KSEC(Caldwell) gets underway again.
Mid-August -- Oregon gets moving with the resumption of the Iowa XR. The tanker is now expected to be the final element of the first ESF to be ready, probably sometime around late spring of next year.
August 28 -- Last two Prospectors are finished.
September 3 -- With the completion of the last two Explorers, utility craft are finished for both ESFs. The larger ships are all that is needed now.
November 9th -- First of the Gearing Survey Carriers is complete, as well as a quartet of Caldwell shuttles. Cmdr. Christin Dinges(39) is assigned the posting.
December 8th -- The Wickes salvage recovery ship is launched.
December 9th -- A new laboratory is finished.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Early March -- Ricardo Bloise admin to 4.
Early May -- Cmdr. Conor Zavier ups crew training skill to 75.
Late May -- Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian training bonus to 25.
July 7 -- 22-year-old Zoe Bean is promoted to Brigadier General. Evaluations are still that she is the second-best officer in the army behind Engelhardt.
August 30 -- Lt. Cmdr. Zenaida Howse, while not quite on the level of a Feeser or Jeffcoat, is the latest star to come out of the academies on the naval side. She has good training skills already and a few political connections.
Late October -- Col. Rodger Henning, near genius-level in both ground combat and xenology(?), has graduated the academy.
Mid-December -- Nearly irrelevant Garland Sidhom(BG) just got slightly less so with a good jump to 35% bonus.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** April 5 -- The latest in automated defenses, the CIWS '79, has been completed by Harlan Welle's team. It's the first tangible step by the research teams in some time, and gives everyone a bit of a productive jolt. Welle will now finally be able to get back to the missile launcher reload work that still has not been finished.
** April 18 -- Elwood Tousant finishes work on the new commercial-grade thermal sensors. He'll next look at the building blocks of effective combat countermeasures in Electronic Warfare.
** May 10th -- Eva Vadnais finishes theoretical research into expanding lasers into the ultraviolet spectrum. Things are a bit out of balance though in that current-gen technology doesn't have turreted versions yet, so she'll hammer those out beginning with the 'Excalibur' single-meson variant.
** Early July -- One of the new training projects for the young scientists, Douglas Greer in this case, is worth particular mention. He's doing the groundwork for Cloaking Theory, which involves various techniques to mask a ship's gravitational field and therefore hide it from active sensors, though it won't help with passive thermal/electromagnetic detections. Ships like the Explorer jump scout might potentially be equipped with such devices in the future, but it's mostly a speculative project that SPACE could find uses for in the decades to come.
** July 13 -- Vadnais has finished the meson turret, and moves on to the twin-laser one. That'll take a bit longer, six months or so.
-
The SOS report is up next, but before I get into that there's something I've decided to change that deserves an explanation. I probably found all this a lot more interesting than anybody else will, but I thought it was worth sharing.
The starting point was that I've been growing more and more dissatisfied with the research aspect, both how I report the jobs and how I assign them. I've tried to keep a certain level of focused detachment, i.e. not overwhelming things with too much detail. In the Navy, for example, whereas once it was a huge deal whenever somebody got promoted to captain, I don't even mention it now because there's 12-13 of them. There's only five admirals though(I generally set the 'importance' limit at 10 of whatever). In this way I try to make sure everything I report on is something you'd care about if the story of SPACE was reality and you read it/saw it in a news report. The guy who just got appointed to some minor mining colony like Wild or Prokne? Nope, do something worth reporting :).
Anyway, when it comes to research there were only a few scientists at first so they all mattered. Not a ton of projects going on so they were all relevant as well, and assigning them was pretty basic. I followed the '5-Year Rule', i.e. giving out as many labs as necessary to finish something within five years. Usually that was just one, and the exceptions were worth talking about -- things like Palmer getting us started with TN knowledge, others later with concepts like Jump Point Theory, or the push to get Improved Geological Sensors as a centerpiece of exploring again. But eventually I found myself talking about how the fifth-best logistics scientist borrowed a lab from the third-most-important construction researcher to finish some project that wasn't even vital to begin with, and I've had the growing feeling that I'm writing about research just to write about it, not because it adds anything to the story or anyone should conceivably care much about it.
This is one of the things, by the way, that I love about Aurora and espescially the conventional start that I've done here, is that as SPACE grows and gets more complex, I have to find new ways of approaching it. What worked fifty or even thirty years ago often does not work now. After considering the research aspect, I decided on something that it later occurred to me would work well for all four branches of the leadership tree. All skills, instead of getting a stale number, will be divided into three categories:
** Elite(top third of the rating range, for most this is 50% and up)
** Accomplished(middle third, 25-45%)
** Novice(lowest third, 20% and under)
I'm going to use these descriptors when talking about the improvement in a leader, for example Governor Y is now an accomplished financial administrator, or Naval Officer Z has improved his already elite crew training abilities, etc. I like this kind of element much more in trying to craft the story of SPACE. In the case of research though it also serves as the basis for the new paradigm for assigning labs to a project.
** Elite scientists will demand at least 3 laboratories, more if required, and will choose jobs(almost always started by someone else) based on importance and time needed. They will focus exclusively on tech advances, not prototypes. Those are jobs to be delegated to others after an elite has made up the blueprint.
** Accomplished scientists will take 2 labs, and do more complicated/costly prototypes or work on tech advances.
** Novice scientists will use a single lab, working on most of the prototypes and also doing startup work on tech advances. This I imagine as being things like setting up the equipment for the experiments, assembling control groups, doing other low-level tasks as a 'training level'.
In the SOS report I'm only including the prototypes and soon-to-be finished tech advances. I've also listed the accomplished/elite scientists in each field. This results in only 9 of 36(!!) ongoing projects being listed and 13 of 40 scientists. But what's there is what's really important right now. It's a transition time so there's a lot of young researchers working on stuff they'll never finish(30+-year times in some cases listed for completion), but that also means there's a lot of potential for them to improve. Right now it's at a low ebb due to retirments recently, but with more elite scientists there will eventually become less 'training' and more 'major advancements' going on. Another aspect I like about this is scientists doing more work in their specialized fields, it has a more organic feel to what gets done which I think is appropriate to a larger organization. After all, the bigger a ship, the harder it is to turn ...
Anyway, I hope this is helpful to the reader, at least in understanding why a few things will be different in future reports.
-
STATE OF SPACE, 2081
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.618b, 500 CF, 80 OF, 75 REF, 46 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(64.67m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(59.89m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.56m, 1 DSTS)
Mercury(16.83m)
Venus(13.96m)
Io(110k)
Europa(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)
Total Population: 1.791b
The demand for infrastructure in the inner system and the reduced cost of getting it there continues to ensure that the out-system moons remain stagnant. Mercury has nearly surpassed Titan despite the fact that conditions are much harsher there. There are no indications that this will change in the forseeable future.
IB. Outposts
Sedna(35 CMC, 16 eff, 9.41 kt)
Triton(97 AM, 25.5 eff, 3.95 kt) -- mercassium(4.6)
Earth(50 SM, 6.3 eff, 561 t)
Halley's Comet(41 AM, 43 eff, 2.47 kt) -- gallicite(0.5)
Borrelly(39.8 AM, 49 eff, 2.73 kt) -- corbomite(3.9), vendarite(8.2)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 30 eff, 1.49 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 32 eff, 1.38 kt) -- gallicite(4.2)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.02 kt) -- sorium(8.3)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 25 eff, 903 t)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 231 t)
Faye(25 AM, 41 eff, 1.51 kt) -- uridium(0.0), corundium(1.6), neutronium(9.1)
Comas Sola(29 AM, 29 eff, 1.07 kt) -- boronide(4.8)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.10 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 26 eff, 743 t)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 40 eff, 1.25 kt)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 8 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 770 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 9.2 eff, 129 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 291 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 351 t)
Total Production: 31.37 kt, -0.4%. This is a deceptively low number, as things should improve once there is a full-time acting director to oversee operations. The current ramp-up in mine production won't proceed indefinitely though. There are uncertain times ahead.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A(rare usage): Corbomite(65 kt), Sorium(48 kt)
This is a vanishing category, as all minerals are seeing some use and the minor ones increasing in the need. Down to two here, there have been four at least in all previous reports. Both saw the stockpile grow by several kilotons in this cycle.
Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(112 kt), Vendarite(62 kt), Tritanium(48 kt), Boronide(39 kt), Gallicite(36 kt)
Uridium is by far the most plenteous, supplies of it are going through the roof despite significant use in shipbuilding of late. You can practically pick the stuff up off the ground many places in Sol. Vendarite and Tritanium are very safe, just moved up a tier as SPACE is using more of them now. Boronide(fuel tanks) and Gallicite(missiles) are on the decline however. The former can be found in whatever quantity we need easily on Venus if the need arises. The latter is a growing issue, still plenty for now and supplies might stabilize when the latest round of missiles are finished, but two key sources(Halley's Comet and Stephan-Oterma) are drying up soon so that's unlikely. There are multiple sizable finds that could be exploited(five in the 20-45kt range), but sustaining a significant missile fleet and base system will require extrasolar sources in the next century.
Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Mercassium(19.8 kt), Neutronium (12.6 kt), Corundium(9.70 kt)
The decline in mercassium accelerated as the big three minerals become the big four. That's the good news unfortunately, as Triton supplies 390t per year, 21% of the total extracted. It is very possible than within the next decade or two research lab construction may have to be reduced. The good news is that demand should decline a bit, at least for a time, once the harvesters and ESFs are finished next year.
Neutronium is up well over three kilotons, but this is mostly because it's not being used hardly at all. There are no shipyards being built/retooled/expanded, and that's definitely not a permanent situation. Corundium meanwhile has been cut almost in half this cycle. The current rate of automine production is not sustainable, which will complicate efforts to keep supply up across the board. The options for getting more are either low-accessibility(Venus) or long-range(multiple comets). There aren't any really good choices.
Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Duranium(8.13 kt)
Duranium crashed hard prior to the New York scandal, recovered some during it, and is now on a more modest decline. Maintaining the industrial base and kind of breakneck shipbuilding(15-20 at any one time) that's been going on the last few years just consumes an incredible amount of it. Short-term Triton will fit the bill, but in the long-term the greatest concern remains how to replace what Sedna produces when that dries up in a few decades. There just aren't enough mines (the equivalent of 350 there is about two-thirds of the current 528 total in service under SPACE control), and the emergency contingency calls for dumping a bunch of them on Venus which has only decent accessibility(0.5). A couple of Oort-cloud asteroids have considerable(about 100kt) reserves that could be tapped, but there's no way to quickly get that many mines out there.
At the moment, expanding duranium until/unless the current shipbuilding rush abates(unlikely) is the primary goal.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 41.1 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 7.1m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.95m
Scrapped materials: 1.44m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 162k
Total: 54.73 m(+0.1%)
Balance: 719m(+30 m)
Tourism continues to rise, but the shipping industry has been very inconsistent. The lack of a director is the biggest reason for stagnant income though.
IE. Expenses
Shipbuilding: 10.32m
Mineral Purchases: 8.7m
Research: 7.92m
Installation Construction: 5.43m
Maintenance Facilities: 989k
Ordnance Production: 825k
GU Maintenance: 496k
PDC Construction: 56k
Total: 34.73m(-9.0%)
The expense report is virtually worthless, as it was hugely affected by the crisis. Thankfully money has not been a problem to worry about thus far.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Idle
Estalerios Navais do Montego(ENDM)(2, 127 kt)
** Idle
P&A Group(4, 80 kt)
** Building the last trio of the Long Beach harvesters, a project which has taken several years and is scheduled to finish this summer.
Howaldswerke/Deutsche Werft(HDW)(1, 55.3 kt)
** Idle. Most recently built the salvager/recovery ship Wickes.
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Building the first of two Iowa XR extended-deployment tankers for use with ESFs. First is expected done in May.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle. Used for the Lexington-class shuttles.
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Building the Nimitz '76c, second of the class so far. ETA April.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Building Brooklyn '72, fourth of the class. ETA April.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Building two Baltimore Command Carriers for the ESFs, ETA March/May
Permanant(1, 10 kt)
** Building the second Gearing Survey Carrier, ETA early 2082
International(2, 1 kt)
** Idle, used from Frontier and Explorer
Niehuis and van den Berg(2, 1 kt)
** Idle, Prospector and Explorer
KSEC(4, 10 kt)
** Building the fifth of seven quartets of Caldwell VIP shuttles. ETA April
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Three active training facilities
** All are idle for the last few years
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(33%) -- August 2081
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 30%) -- approx. 21/year
Mine Construction(24%) -- approx. 21/year
Ordnance Factories() -- 70 still on order, about 11 per year
V A. PRIORITY RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Note: The research approach has changed somewhat, so only current prioritized projects are listed here. More info on this in the election update.
** SpearPoint DL-12(Twin-Laser Turrett)(Eva Vadnais) -- February 2081
** Orbital Habitat Module(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late Feb/Early March 2081
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Julio Kuchler) -- April 2081
** SITG ThermoScan 121(military-grade sensor suite)(Bessie Wallander) -- May/June 2081
** Terraforming Rate(Clint Wyche) -- November 2081
** Missile Launcher Reload Rates(Harlan Welle) -- Late 2081/Early 2082
** Ion Drives(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2083
** Mining Production Rates(Curtis Gloster) -- Late 2083
** Electronic Warfare(theoretical)(Elwood Tousant) -- Late 2084/Early 2085
V B. NOTABLE SCIENTISTS
** Biology/Genetics
Clint Wyche(Elite)
Mike Minaya(Accomplished)
Garland Sidhom(Accomplished)
** Construction & Production
Curtis Gloster(Accomplished)
Shanon Patteson(Accomplished)
** Energy Weapons
Eva Vadnais(Elite)
** Logistics/Ground Combat
Cedrick Wormack(Elite)
Alphonse Lambeth(Accomplished)
** Missiles & Kinetic Weapons
Harlan Welle(Accomplished)
** Power & Propulsion
Rosemary Urenda(Elite)
** Sensors/Fire Control
Julio Kuchler(Elite)
Elwood Tousant(Accomplished)
Bessie Wallander(Accomplished)
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
VI A. Military Bases
Alaska(4, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(2, 13.3 kt, 254 crew, missile base + sensors)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 12 installations(--), 300.6 kt(--), 5,080 crew(--)
VI B. Combat Ships
MB Nimitz(3, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
MB Nimitz '76c(1, 10.25 kt, 273 crew, 2439 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(3, 13.45 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)
Total: 7 ships(+75%), 92.5 kt(+67%), 2,460 crew(+67%), 11.8m fuel(+69%)
SPACE may soon have the firepower to do something. Not sure what, but something.
VI C. Military Non-combat Ships
ST Caldwell(16, 950 t, 14 crew, 2210 km/s, 500k fuel, VIP shuttle w/8 capacity)
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SC Explorer(6, 850 t, 18 crew, 1411 km/s, 250k fuel, jump scout)
SB Forrestal III(14, 650 t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
GSV Frontier(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, gravsurvey)
SVC Gearing(1, 10 kt, 158 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, survey carrier)
GEV Prospector(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, geosurvey)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 53 ships(+152%), 67.8 kt(+145%), 1,204 crew(+162%), 14.7 m fuel(+845%)
The non-combat portion of the navy exploded, well over doubling between the ships built so far for the ESFs and the transitioning of shuttle duty here from the commercial wing. Maintenance work is definitely a growth sector right now.
VI D. Commercial Vessels
TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexington IIId(30, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
FH Long Beach(21, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
FH Perry III(4, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)
SV Wickes(1, 20.6 kt, 188 crew, 486 km/s, 250k fuel, salvage/recovery)
Total: 76 vessels(+12%), 2.88 mt(+63%), 14.2k crew(+65%), 68m liters fuel(+51%)
Largely the same, with the Wickes added and most of the Perry's replaced by the Long Beach. The Lexingtons are still around but this is to be their last election. When the Caldwells are finished in a couple years, they will be scrapped and the numbers will shrink here.
Grand Total: 141 assets(+34%), 3.04 mt(+39%), 17.9k crew(+15%), 94.5m liters fuel(+76%)
Another major expansion of the Navy. The commercial ships are still the majority across the board, nearly 95% by size, despite the growth of the military sector.
Available Crew: 154k(+21%)
VI E. Fuel Status
Earth -- 9.3m liters
Titan -- 12.1m
Callisto -- 5.2m
Total -- 26.6m liters(-16%) A second straight decline, and the new pair of tankers for the ESFs will put even more strain on the reserves. It remains to be seen whether the almost-finished Long Beach's will be up to the task of recovering it after that or if even more need to be built.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(5)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(10)
** Garrison Battalion(34)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 420k
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Tolles Transport & Logistics(23 ships, 4.65m annual income)
Voliva Carrier Company(68, 4.48m)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(47, 2.99m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(2, 160k)
Hayter Container Group(3, 140k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 96k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 90k)
Presnar Freight(1, 10k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, --)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Sherrill Freight & Trading(1, --)
Total Vessels: 154(+32%)
Total Civilian Income: 12.62m(+17%)
Tolles exploding with infrastructure runs from Earth to Mercury and colonists from the moon to Earth. Despite having only a third of the ships, they have taken the top spot from Voliva, something once thought impossible. A decade ago, Tolles was just an afterthought. They sure aren't anymore after more than doubling their income in this past cycle. The others didn't do as well. Everton was looking to make some noise, but they've fallen off again. There's a full dozen firms right now, but after the Big 3 the other nine might as well not exist -- they have a combined market share of less than 4%.
Overall the civilian sector was up and down, showing marginal growth over the cycle as whole.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 148 of 176 assigned(84%), +10%
** Ground Forces Officers: 62 of 82(76%), -15%
** Civilian Administrators: 27 of 34(79%), -3%
** Scientists: 36 of 40(90%), +32%
Overall: 273 of 332(82%), +5%
The reorganization of the R&D Directorate has been much to the delight of the scientists. Meanwhile, naval prospects have rarely been higher, but a lack of resources has limited expansion of opportunities in the army.
-
RETIREMENTS
Carroll Westcott -- A mining outpost supervisor, Westcott did one tour at Io at the end of his career. By the time he diversified her skills, he was too old and in too poor health to really take advantadge of it. A solid mid-level governor.
James Earl Jones V -- A veteran of a few directorial elections, Jones had tours on colonies like Luna, Venus, and Titan, as well as top mining placements such as Sedna. He didn't play the political game, and it cost him a chance at the top spot. Ironically some of his best work was in the past year in helping with the recovery from his important post on Titan.
Art Weston -- Another solid governor, good mining skills but not quite enough excellence or versatility to be more than a long shot.
Larry Steckel -- For a long time, Steckel has been the premier mining expert in SPACE. Though these skills were wasted on Mars recently, he's bounced around to almost every important post short of Earth in his varied career. Health concerns force him aside a bit early at 59.
Alberto Eighmy -- Perhaps none other than Herbert Duling have been more gifted. Health was the one-time director's achilles heel, and combined with the stress of trying to do two jobs after the Rakes resignation it has compelled him to retire early at 56. Eighmy had a gift of being able to take in all the information available, regardless of the pressures, and see through to the end results. He wasn't a visionary like Duling, but he was exceptionally competent and always had a friend or six he could count on in a pinch.
It's a veritable who's-who of the old guard. SPACE will be in dire need of new civilian leaders to step up and be counted after losing five valuable servants this year.
2081 ELECTION
A new era dawns under Operation Renewal, and it will dawn under untested leadership. There are no former directors even active. Only seven are even eligible for the office -- SPACE has had elections with more names than that on the final ballot! Former Earth governor Riley Awad, presently on Luna, is the biggest name in the field and the early favorite simply on name recognition.
Five were on the final ballot, but only three had a real chance. The real favorite was indeed Awad, who simply has more varied experience and gravitas than the others. Mercury governor Burt Stonerock, the best natural challenger, did himself no favors with his response to the New York scandal, and polarizing loudmouth Russell Salvucci made himself a lot of enemies but even more friends with his scathing attacks on Rakes during that period. He based his campaign on tying Awad to those failings as part of the old, failed leadership. This had some effect but not all that much given most people's settled opinion that the lion's share of blame belonged to India Rakes, not SPACE as a whole.
** Note: Salvucci was given a much wider range of possible popular support for the election, with the most likely scenario a slightly better vote for him than would otherwhise have been the case, but also the possibility for a boomerang effect and bigger negatives. The scandal is still plenty fresh to have an impact here, but due to the effective recovery it is not a dominant, defining issue. **
In the end, the voters made it clear that there were no real winners, only losers. They unenthusiastically elected Awad, the most qualified candidate. He had more than twice the votes of Salvucci, but neither impressed and both Stonerock and Sedna governor Errol Igoe were obviously detested by large numbers. The only one that really did well was Ganymede governor Francesco Alborn who came in a surprising second, but as he's only supervised the one small colony for a single tour, he was considered to be greatly lacking in experience.
Full results:
Awad -- 37.9%
Alborn -- 23.2%
Salvucci -- 18.2%
Stonerock -- 12.8%
Igoe -- 7.9%
POLICY REVIEW
The loyal Awad has a chance to implement his vision for the first time. He and Alborn each have a variety of of skills, neither particularly impressive in any one area but rather more likely to find their impact in a range of smaller influences.
He also has the general outlook that it is better to take a risk than to be overly cautious. Awad wants the situation in Epsilon Eridani resolved sooner rather than later, concurring with the Navy's opinion that regardless of what happens elsewhere, the Fleet will be tied down until that happens. Aside from the obvious technological inferiority we still face, we do not have a jump drive capable of bringing our combat vessels through to the system. In any case, the Navy believes it is best to wait for the Ion Drive and a new generation of missiles, electronics, etc. before a new generation of ships is prepared that will be capable of mounting a credible threat. The new director believes SPACE should be ready to act when that happens, and in that vein has authorized the deployment of a diplomatic ship to the system ...
Ambassador-class Diplomatic Craft
Size: 800t
Speed: 1500 km/s
Crew: 18(+10 for diplomats)
Sensors: Commercial-grade passive EM and Thermal, latest Mark IV version
The mission of the Ambassador is to perform a solo jump into a hostile system, and broadcast friendship messages on all frequencies in an attempt to begin a dialogue with an alien species. To that end, quarters for two diplomatic teams are included. It is also equipped, like the ESF carriers and tankers, with extra supplies for a 5-year stay if required. Awad's goal is to determine, however long it takes, whether there is any chance of peaceful co-existence with the aliens who destroyed our Pioneers back in the 50s. Many, in fact most in SPACE, want and will probably get a military response eventually, but by sending in an Ambassador those of a more pacifistic mind can be mollified, Awad can appear to be doing something about Epsilon Eridani while the next generation of ships is developed, and there is the chance that we could learn more about the alien threat. Any intelligence is greatly valued right now, we still know virtually nothing.
In Awad's mind this need for more information outweighs all risks. Therefore the Lalande 21185 will no longer be considered off limits, but the ESFs will only visit it after they have surveyed the others. Sirius and Luyten 726-8 are considered to be by far the best candidate systems after EE, and they will be prioritized first. Sirius has the easiest terraformable candidate for a 'system hub', and Luyten is the only known system outside of Sol with comets, plus four possibilities for major fuel sources on gas giants/super jovians. Rather than focus on any one system though, the plan is to see what Siriuis and Luyten have, then also survey the other four(Barnard's Star, Teegarden's Star, Lalande 21185, and Van Maanen's Star), which are considered much less promising. Unless a particularly excellent find is discovered, no colonization plan is expected to be hatched until all six are surveyed completely. Epsilon Eridani is of course off-limits until the diplomatic teams have reported back.
Finally there is the issue of the off-world bases. It's clear that building local, static defenses everywhere is not going to be a viable option. SPACE must instead focus more on a mobile defense via the Navy, an approach which places more importance than ever on resolving the Epsilon Eridani situation since the navy will be tied down to Earth unless that system is secured. The Tennessee, both normal and Light versions, are to be eradicated. The Alaska(brigade of ground troops, multiple missile launchers) will continue to be built on any strategic locations with significant population(Titan and Earth at the moment), and the Ticonderoga on less critical populated colonies. Major mining outposts, defined as any which contribute 10% or more of total output, will recieve a DSTS(deep space tracking system). Minor mining outposts will be defenseless, the judgement being that they aren't important enough to be worth the cost of investing in their protection.
LEADERSHIP OUTLOOK
It's an interesting situation in the higher-ups of civilian leadership at SPACE. The military branches are better led than they ever have been overall: the top leaders may not be as good as Chiefs Camble or Silvers, but the depth of quality in the upper reaches is outstanding right now. On the other side of the coin, civilian leadership which is IMO more important -- the navy can only uses the tool the civvies give them, after all -- has never been weaker. Awad is the only administrator left, who would have been considered good enough to be relevant on an agency-wide scale during Duling's heyday, and both he and Alborn have one, maybe two at most terms left. The requirements of leading the colonies grow ever higher, to the point where low-level admins aren't skilled enough to take on tasks like Mercury and Titan. Right now the stage is set for less capable and even more importantly unstable/impulsive/self-seeking leaders like Stonerock and Salvucci to take the reins within the next decade. It's a dangerous time for SPACE politically. We've been both spoiled and blessed with usually great leadership in this arena, but it appears that's about to change and the results may not be pretty.
As already mentioned, the scientific arena isn't any better right now. The only elite scientist who won't have retired in ten years is Julio Kuchler. He's been around for what seems like forever but is only 48, though health is already a concern so even he's not a guarantee.
The development of new leaders has never been more important, particularly with Operation Renewal about to launch and the navy beginning to approach a point where it can consider the possibility of serious combat operations by the end of the century. Exciting time are ahead ... who will step forward to ensure humanity faces them with courage and vision?
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The Ambassador shuttles are unnecessary, as diplomatic teams work from the homeworld and any ship can establish contact with another race. Unless you are planning to use them for another purpose (scouting?) and the diplomatic functions are just for RP purposes.
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Thanks. I know they're unnecessary, but there's no way in the world we'd be able to communicate with them from Sol. It's an RP thing. I assume I don't have to have the team operate from Earth, but if I do then I'll still the Ambassador in just for the RP.
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Happy belated Thanksgiving! Time to get this updated to where we are now, a lot of stuff going on.
2081 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 1)
The year did not get off to a great start. On January 2, with most of BOG is still transiting from here to there all over the system, two dozen Lexingtons on their way to and fro. Today's business was made less routine and more stressful, as the Wickes arrived at Stephan-Oterma. A controlled demolition on the Ticonderoga followed shortly thereafter. It was a small base, but it was not anticipated how completely the explosion obliterated the structure. Apparently the navy is too good at their self-destruct sequences ... there wasn't anything left to salvage.
The expected test of the salvage gear was not needed, so the Wickes simply went back to Earth. Another ship that wasn't needed, but at least it was fairly inexpensive. Adding to the mitigation is that no special shipyard investment was needed to make it, and the argument that it can still be used at some point during interstellar exploration. A few people said a few things they shouldn't have while a few protests erupted, but there was no serious disruption of SPACE business this time ...
Meanwhile adding to the hustle and bustle now was the process of Lexingtons(for the officers) and Portlands(for the garrisons) journeying all over the system to evacuate the no-longer-needed bases. The MRD, referencing the 2081 SOS Report, section IB, identified only Sedna and Triton as being in need of DSTS. Awad also wants to diversify the economy by getting a couple more shipyards of each type up and running eventually -- he wants the eventually refits to Ion drives to go smoothly and efficiently, and they won't with the current number. More shipyards is preferable to constant wholescale retooling, the latter approach being more costly in the long run. In view of these goals, the following changes were made to Earth's industrial allocation:
Research Labs(33-25%)
Ordnance Factories(13-11%)
Mine Conversions(30-15%)
Mine Construction(24-12%)
Commercial Shipyards(new, 18%) -- 2 ordered
DSTS(new, 10%) -- 2 ordered
Naval Shipyards(new, 9%) -- 1 ordered
This is more like the economy used to look before Rakes had concentrated most of it into mines. This is not to pile on, that was likely the best approach at the time, but for now the number of facilities flowing to Triton will decline. At the time of publishing ETAs for these were not set, as incoming Earth governor Alborn is still en route. Once he arrived, the dates were not impressive, given that he is of merely novice skill in factory production while Awad is only average. SPACE is now down to about eight mines produced and converted per year, a little under one lab, etc. It's partly temporary, but the combination of reduced factory access and less expert supervision is a big hit to these efforts. Both are right on the novice/accomplished line in terms of shipbuilding though, and between the two that process has sped up. The first ESF is expected to begin training exercises in early spring.
At the end of the month, with most of the reassignment activity now completed, the relative quiet was disturbed by the sudden hospitalization of Rear Admiral June Aspinwall, the Navy's second-in-command behind Chief Feeser. The 52-year-old Aspinwall is seen as a key advisor, the eldest and in some quarters most respected among the admiralty. Right now the outlook is that she can finish this tour and probably another, but her future is definitely uncertain at this point.
In February, the Ambassador began construction at Niehuis SY. The year was off to busy start. A little over a week later, the new laser turret(SpearPoint DL-12) completing it's testing phase. This allowed for the next generation of the Brooklyn to finally be hammered out. The engineers had a little over a month lead time in this case until the last of the 72s was finished. A nine-year-old design. Incredibly, the passive sensors are the same ones used then -- new thermals will be ready later this year, electromagnetics are in the pipeline farther back -- but the actives are improved and of course the capacitors, power plants, weapons have all seen advances. Combined with the advancements in armor, this allowed for a significantly smaller ship:
Brooklyn 81-class Gunboat
Size: 10.5 kt(13.45 kt, -22%)
Crew: 282(356, -21%)
Speed: 2380 km/s(2379, virtually identical)
Fuel: 1.25ml(1.75, -71%)
Thermal Emissions: 210(269, -22%)
Armament: 2x SpearPoint DL-12 Twin Laser Cannon Turrets, 2x WT Excalibur 135 Meson Cannon Turrets, 1x CIWS 79 Battery. The 72 has twice the lasers and the same amount of mesons.
Tracking Speed: 12k km/s(8k, +50%)
Armor: 5 layers(4, +25%)
Cost: 1.71m(1.89m, -9.5%)
The Brooklyn 81 is smaller and a little cheaper than its predecessor. It doesn't pack nearly as much punch but the faster tracking speed makes it a more effective combatant anyway. This is of course a marginal upgrade, a stopgap version to bridge the time until ion drives are ready.
At the same time, it was announced that Eva Vadnais was the latest top SPACE researcher to end her public career. Along with Joe Tycho she carried the Energy Weapons field for the last couple of decades. It's been a time of great improvement as they've seen the program advance from its infancy to third, nearly fourth-generation weapons and techniques. At 64 years old and already suffering the natural effects of aging, she leaves behind her not a single quality researcher to fill the void. This does not bode well for the Navy's efforts over the next couple of decades.
March began with the launching of the first Baltimore Command Carrier. Only the Iowa XR now remained before the first ESF was complete and Operation Renewal could get underway. On the fifth, two days later, Cedrick Wormack retired. He battled through health problems to finish up his final project, the Orbital Habitat Module. Just one of these massive components would be about 50% larger than a South Carolina superfreighter. Each can house indefinitely 50,000 workers, with shuttles for transportation to normally uninhabitable bodies. It is possible, though seemingly unlikely, that deploying a space station to remote outposts may become a feasible goal. That time is not now, and it won't be soon either.
The 67-year-old Wormack retires having been an integral part of a cadre of top logistics researchers who greatly advanced SPACE's capabilities through practical solutions to the thorny problems of living in an increasingly space-faring age. There are other capable minds to succeed him, not quite like the greatest generation of LG scientists that he concludes, but the field is still in good hands.
Another three days, and the Alaska base on Titan was finished up. It was just one thing happening after another. SPACE headquarters at Sol Sector Command was a constant madhouse. More Caldwells were finished up in late March, a new Nimitz and Brooklyn each were operational in early April. Shortly aftewards, Dr. Julio Kuchler finished his report on considerably improved active gravitational sensors. This set the stage for four new systems to be prototyped: commercial, ship search, and missile search sensor variants, as well as a new missile fire control suite.
On April 18, in the early hours of the morning, the first Iowa XR tanker received clearance to depart its moorings. The preparation was over, it was time for Operation Renewal to begin ...
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
January 12 -- Uridium is exhausted on Faye.
January 21 -- Ticonderoga on Machholz is demolished.
February 10 -- Ticonderoga on Reinmuth is demolished.
February 16 -- Another most welcome expansion at Sedna is finished, now totalling 36 CMCs.
March 8 -- The Alaska base on Titan, after years of construction, is finally finished. The construction brigades are loaded up to head back to Earth.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Late January -- Garland Sidhom has made another leap in his abilities. Too bad he's in biogenetics, but he's nearly doubled his skills in less than a year to nearly reach elite status. At 60, he's got a decade at most to make his mark. Right now he's doing background work on improving the efficiency of shipyard operations. Not exactly what he signed up for. Clint Wyche is still the man in BG, and in that field there's only room for one top dog ...
Accomplished Elwood Tousant(SF) has also made a significant jump. He's a real success story, a guy who was given make-work jobs and didn't make much of them at first back when he was a snot-nosed, nigh-incompetent novice. Certainly a late bloomer, but at 57 and in excellent health he has a lot to offer humanity in the later stages of this century.
Mid-February -- It's almost literally raining Army talent recently it seems. Col. Galen Onken is the latest. He's cut out of the same cloth as Zoe Bean, and many already project that within five years the two of them will be neck-and-neck for the top spot.
Meanwhile, Dr. Cedrick Wormack seems to finally have age catching up with him. He's in the final weeks of his current project, and his health is failing him. Also, Curtis Gloster(CP) and one of the novice scientists in the same field have recently seen noted improvements. Gloster has joined the ranks of the elite now, accelerating his vital work on mining techniques.
Late February -- Dr. Eva Vadnais retires. Newbie Ricky Tsutsui will take the vacated lab to work on the prototype SITG Emdar-44.7, the latest in military-grade EM detection.
Early April -- Despite the health problems, June Aspinwall has developed a minor novice-level affinity for Intelligence operations.
April 14 -- Four more officers are dismissed, three navy and one from the army as well.
EARTH
February 16 -- Niehuis SY has finished retooling for the Ambassador, and construction has begun. A late spring finish time is expected.
March 3 -- The first of the Baltimore Command Carriers is finished. Only the Iowa XR tanker is now needed for the first ESF.
March 23 -- Caldwell x4 finished. The sixth quartet of what has been upped to eight begins.
April 5 -- A new Nimitz 76c is finished, second in the class, fifth Nimitz overall.
April 7 -- The fourth and final Brooklyn 72 is ready. Retooling for the newly designed 81 will require most of the rest of the year.
April 18 -- The Iowa XR tanker launches, completed the first ESF.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
Late February -- SpearPoint DL-12 Laser Cannon Turret finished.
March 5 -- Orbital Habitat Module finished by Dr. Cedrick Wormack's team, and his expected retirement is made official. After dividing up his labs between another pair of novices, there is only one unemployed scientist left ...
April 15 -- Julio Kuchler finishes the new active gravitational sensor techniques. Kuchler needs to take over a new project. It's the first shakeup of the revised R&D protocols. He'll take over work on improving fire control tracking speeds, and a number of other projects are suspended to make room for the prototypes to get underway.
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RENEWAL
April 18 -- By the end of the day, Rear Admiral Hank Rohrer, an accomplished survey officer, had taken command of the first fully-formed ESF and instituted TF ESF Alpha on board the Baltimore 1 Command Carrier! It was a historic moment. His first order of businesses was to begin the first fleet exercises that the SPACE Navy has ever conducted.
Joining him are staff officers Cpt. Shad Gullo(Survey) and Cpt. Asa Hotz(Operations). Under their command are the following assets:
Baltimore 1 Command Carrier(Cmdr. Warner Godzik)
Gearing 1 Survey Carrier(Cmdr. Christin Dinges)
2x JS Explorer(Lt. Cmdrs. Trevor Lerner, Clement Sarrett)
3x GSV Frontier(Cmdrs. Lavern Camel, Elvin Harnett, Jay Cin V)
3x GEV Prospector(Lt. Cmdrs. Marc Cypriot, Fredrick Holcomb, Alfonso Galyen)
This also lowered Earth's fuel reserves to a shockingly low 2 million litres, SPACE has less than 15 million combined in the tanks when Titan and Callisto are added in. Most of Titan's supply was immediately shipped to Earth. It is expected to be a little over a year for the other XR, which will complete ESF Bravo.
April 22 -- Baltimore 2 is ready, and the Baltimore Marine SY is able to go silent.
Late April -- Garland Sidhom is in the news again. He's on an absolute tear and now has elite-level skills as a project lead.
May -- By the first of the month Earth has dipped under 1.25m liters. This is scary territory. The last group of Perrys to be scrapped are inbound just a few days out, and their tanks will be drained beforehand in order to boost the supply. It's not a huge amount, but about 700-800k can be gained there to make sure supplies last until Titan's shipment comes in.
Mid-May -- The exercises are supposed to be for the crew, but Rear Admiral Hank Rohrer has gained a meager amount of operations skill in the process.
May 19th -- The Ambassador is ready. A team of the best and brightest junior expendables were found. The sole representative from BOG, Marion Polizzi, concerned many. This was a lightning-rod of a choice if ever there was one. She has as fine a skill for diplomacy as anyone, but has a wicked streak in her as well. She's the kind of diplomat who will make nice to your face, stab you in the back, then dance a jig on your corpse in celebration. Then again, there's a chance that might be what SPACE needs in this situation ...
Regardless, it's a risky selection. The team will be led officially by Col. Karen Cotsis, though Polizzi is pulling the strings in actuality. Col. Jeff Wiechmann along with Lt. Cmdrs. Jean Rickabaugh and Arturo Calnan round out the group.
Commanding the Ambassador itself, though he's in truth a subordinate on this mission with a duty simply to ferry them around, is Cmdr. Fritz Weinstock. He's not exactly overjoyed by the assignment but as someone who knows how to keep the peace and get things done, he's definitely the right man for the job.
It would only take a little over five days to reach the jump. Final approval was obtained from Fleet Command for the first jump in almost 23 years. After this long, there was no way to know what to expect. It could be years of nothing, or it could be very 'exciting' and brief. The sane ones hoped earnestly for the first option.
May 24, 0328 -- Final approval from the two Forrestals at the point where nothing has ever once been detected was obtained. The Ambassador was enveloped in a bluish hue ... and then disappeared.
And the waiting began.
May 27 -- Triton's base is demolished. A DSTS is already on the way. Only Sedna's remains.
June 2 -- SITG ThermoScan 121(Bessie Wallander) is finished.
June 6 -- Long Beach completed.
June 15 -- Final Long Beach finished, sixth group deployed. Long regarded as the most incompetent researcher in SPACE, David Gruis(PP, 47) has reached accomplished status. He may yet become actually important before he retires ...
Some thought was given to whether the two dozen Long Beach are actually enough. The tanks are at about 13m right now, a concerning situation but most of the ships that need to be built have been built. Still, with another tanker coming next year, another Gearing coming at the end of the year, and who knows what else, the mine shipments are drawing more fuel ... building up a reserve for the future will require massive amounts. They'll be needed eventually for certain, so why wait. Another two groups of four are ordered, and the slipways resume their active state at the P&A Group SY. Ironically when the Long Beach was first proposed, it was considered by some ridiculously massive and far more than SPACE would ever need. About that ...
Another two slipways are ordered as well. With this many harvesters it will take a very long time to refit them all if and when that becomes necessary. With most of the mineral stockpiles stable and duranium slowly edging upwards, Director Awad is gambling that it's an affordable expense. And can we really afford not to do it?
Mid June -- Gallicite exhausted on Halley's Comet
June 19 -- The Ambassador returns. It has been less than four weeks since it jumped out.
DIPLOMATIC MISSION LOG -- EPSILON ERIDANI
May 24, System Entry. Wrecks on the Pioneers are still visible about 1.5b km from the jump, right where they were reported almost a quarter century ago. It was a rather morbid and gruesome sight, an apparently permanent graveyard in space. They had not been touched. Apparently the aliens don't consider our technology worth the effort of salvaging. That's ... well that's beyond words.
Still, they were here to do a job. 25 years after first contact, the diplomatic channels were officially opened. Would anyone respond? Were they even still here to do so?
The answer didn't take long. Within the first day, long-range sensor instruments determined that something out there was receiving the messages. There was no question, they were still here. Somewhere. Probably near the wrecks. But no response was made. Either they couldn't understand us, or they didn't care to reply. Neither was encouraging.
The team was already beginning to sense their mission might well be futile.
June 4 -- Just as the team officially noted that it looked like establishing contact might be impossible, there were a few small signs of progress over the next week.
June 19 -- That was really the only positive note in the log unforunately. Before and after that opening week of June, it was more a situation of one step forward, two or three steps back. On this date, 25 days after the beginning of the mission, team lead Cotsis had to report that they had simply run out of options.
The mission was a failure. The aliens are simply too different, there's no basis for meaningful, effective communication and in the unanimous opinion of the team we are only antagonizing them by further attempts. Cmdr. Godzik had no choice but to accept the verdict and jump back to Sol.
SPACE Sector Command was not pleased at the news, but it was not entirely unexpected either. We made the effort. We tried to attempt peace. They've shown they aren't interested or capable of it repeatedly. There is only one option available. It's been true in a de facto state for a generation, but Director Awad made it official.
Humanity is now officially at war with the aliens in Epsilon Eridani. This cold war can only end with the surrender and/or extermination of one or the other. SPACE's #1 priority is to make sure we win a fight we cannot afford to lose. All other concerns are secondary.
Late June -- With only the Sedna base left to deal with, Awad orders the next step in resolving the base situation. Mercury, Venus, and the four moons of Jupiter are still without any protection. Enough prefabricated Ticonderogas exist to handle all of them twice over. Yes they are basically 'stone-age' technology from the mid-60s, but they are something.
June 25 -- Diplo team arrives back on earth. A mysterious accident kills a junior naval at the same time, around 10 AM GST. The two incidents are probably unrelated, but the intranet goes crazy with conspiracy theorists' unsupported allegations and speculation.
July 1 -- Mercury and Venus have everything in place, and a single construction brigade begins work on each of their respective Ticonderoga bases.
Early July -- Navy Chief Mitchell Feeser adds a bit of Logistics knowledge to his resume, and the last of the Perrys are scrapped.
July 10 -- Io and Callisto begin work on the Ticonderogas there, the other two moons await incoming construction brigades. So far all of them are expected to be finished early next year. Also, research finished on Small Troop Transport Bay, fit for a company, though we have no units that small yet. Alphonse Lambeth led the work.
Mid-July -- RA Parker Lanzi has become accomplished in her current posting as Communications Officer at Fleet HQ.
Director Riley Awad, and to a lesser extent the public, is growing impatient with the continuing 'fleet exercises'. Over the strenuous objection of Chief Feeser and Rear Admiral Rohrer, he orders ESF Alpha to get going and stop the exercises. They want another five months in addition to three already spent in order to get to what the navy feels is a sufficient level of training and coordination. Awad goes apoplectic at that notion, pointing out that this isn't some complicated combat maneuver they're being asked to perform -- it's survey operations. With the current fuel situation, they can't afford to burn more of it up with these training exercises, and delaying the mission isn't an option either.
Combining the concerns for a shakedown run and fuel supply issues, with the rare optimal position of Saturn at nearly the same bearing as the Barnard's Star point, the furthest one in Sol, Awad orders ESF Alpha there first. There won't be a better chance in terms of a good refueling point. Saturn takes almost a 30-year path around the sun, so while it's a very unglamorous place to start it served as a useful compromise and made practical sense with the goal to survey all the systems eventually anyway.
July 15 -- After topping off at Earth, ESF Alpha breaks orbit and heads for Barnard's Star. It's almost a four-month journey, so it'll be late in the year before they arrive. Operation Renewal was officially underway. It was expected to take most of the decade to map the six systems.
July 20 -- Sedna's Tennessee base is the last to be destroyed.
July 24 -- Construction begins on the final two Ticonderoga bases on Europa and Ganymede.
August -- ESF Alpha has passed through the asteroid field and is nearing Jupiter orbit path.
July 27 -- Caldwell finished(x4). Two more groups to go.
Mid-August -- Sedna expands again, now at 37 complexes.
September -- Now roughly midway between Saturn and Uranus orbits, ESF Alpha's progress is agonizingly slow for most observers on Earth.
Early September -- Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian has a less horrible initiative now.
September 25 -- The final DSTS departs for Sedna. Research Lab and Ordnance Factory production are increased to pre-election levels(33 and 13 percent respectively).
October -- ESF Alpha has reached the midpoint between Uranus and Neptune orbits.
Early October -- Dr. Rosemary Urenda has bumped her already elite skills up again. Anything that gets ion drives here sooner is worthy of praise.
** At this point, a power loss cost me notes on what happened for about the next year and a half. I can recreate the major events, just not specific personnel/research stuff. Thankfully Aurora saves constantly. I need to do a better job of doing that myself :) **
Mid-November -- ESF Alpha reaches the jump and departs for Barnard's Star, which was discovered and last visited back in 2055. It's time now to wait ... and hope that humanity has better luck this time around than they did in the 50s.
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** The next couple or so posts will be summary-style, covering the year and a half of details that I lost. **
November 2081 - March 2082
On November 11 2081 ESF Alpha jumped out to the Barnard's Star system after a successful scout by Explorer 1. They were not heard from for the rest of the year, nor were they expected to be. Nobody had any real idea how long it would take to scout a system, and doubtless it would vary depending on the system, but it was assumed a few weeks would definitely not be enough.
SPACE rang in the new year in 2082 with a bit of political debate. Well, more than a bit actually. Gross colonial population had finally reached 10% of the total, and a significant political force they were becoming. Previous proposals to move factories, research labs, etc. to the colonies had never gotten anywhere largely because they were simply wasteful. Earth is a fairly central location in Sol, and why ship more personnel and equipment all over the system than necessary? This time however, the colonials had found an issue with a legitimate argument behind it -- sort of. Their proposal gave birth to the Clemson Controversy.
The Clemson was a proposed tug ship, using tractor beam technology that SPACE has had for a a while now but not used. The proposed ship would be capable of hauling the P&A Group SY, responsible for Long Beach harvesters, to Titan. There it would be closer to Saturn's massive harvesting operation for purposes of refitting, building new ships, etc. Time and fuel would be saved. All of this was very good in theory, but deflected eventually by the fact that Titan was about a million short of the three million workers needed to operate the shipyard. The bigger issue of the colonies would not go away though: they have 10% of the population and only 1.5% of the lucrative TN industrial jobs, those in maintenance facilities and mines on Titan and Europa. The shipyards, factories, and research labs, by far the biggest employers, had 100% of their operations on earth and the colonialists are increasingly unhappy about. Naturally the Earth Firsters love it and want to keep it that way.
Director Riley Awad soon proved that, like most politicians, he paid little head to Hesitations 5:18("all those who remain on the fence shall receive splinters"). He straddled the issue and reinstituted the 2% Initiative. This time however, it would be directed towards terraforming installations. A 3-4 year timeline would be required for each installation, delivered to the colonies as a way for them to both have higher-paying high-tech TN jobs and improve the living conditions at the same time. From SPACE's point of view, it also provided a dry run on establishing best practices for terraforming ahead of the eventual need for them in colonization efforts.
The spring would provide another challenge. On March 9 the last of the Ticonderogas were finished on the moons of Jupiter, and the positive elements of the vision put forward 17 years previous by India Rakes in terms of bases throughout Sol were completed. Of course these bases were also basically two decades old technology wise at this point, and the Alaskas on Earth certainly remain SPACE's best, perhaps only, chance at repelling an alien attack should it ever come. So much has changed that when the redesigns eventually came, it proved far cheaper to build new bases than refit the old ones. Director Awad put SPACE on a path to build new updated bases by 2100, a path that requires about a fifth of Earth's industry for the first several years of that effort. The biggest takeaway from the redesign is that defending humanity is going to require a staggeringly increasing amount of resources in the future. SPACE is really starting to feel the pinch in terms of needing to get colonization beyond Sol going in order to bring in more resources. It isn't that painful yet, but it will get progressively more so as time goes on. Earth's industrial base has not expanded in a long time, and won't be doing so anytime in the near future due to the navy's ravenous and ever-growing need for resources, duranium espescially. The only way out is to find more.
Alaska 82 Missile Base
Size: 22.7kt(53.7 kt)
Crew: 709(1025)
Armament: 25 Defender 76 Missile Launchers, 250 missile capacity(previously 400 missiles, same launchers), half standard and half higher-payload P versions; 4 CIWS 79 Batteries(18 CIWS I)
Sensors: 2 each thermal, EM, and active grav military-grade standard
Armor: 10 layers composite(10 layers duranium)
Troop Capacity: 1 brigade(same)
Cost: 3.53m(4.51m)
The big reduction in CIWS is due to the previous amount being considered extravagantly large. Hopefully we won't ever have to find out if that's correct. Otherwhise the sensors are both much better and much smaller, the missiles faster and more powerful, and the cost down quite a bit as well.
Ticonderoga 82 Sensor Base
Size: 3.7 kt(2.95 kt)
Crew: 24(16)
Armament: 1 CIWS 79 Battery
Sensors: Mark IV Commercial variants
Armor: 8 layers composite(5 layers duranium)
Troop Capacity: 1 battalion(same)
Cost: 198k
Other than upgraded sensors, the main difference is thicker armor and the needed addition of a CIWS battery. Any kind of massed attack would still be a problem, really anything other than an armed scout ship. In that case the support of the fleet would be needed. It's more about the appearance of safety than actual safety.
The necessity of building these bases meant that other priorities like mine expansion, research labs, etc. had to receive reduced priority.
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April - August 2082
It was a quiet spring after the bustle of base-building activity and political back-and-forth of the first few months of the year. It ended up being the calm between the storms however. In June, at almost exactly the same time, ESF Bravo was finished and ESF Alpha returned from Barnard's Star. This lit a fire under Bravo to get their training exercises done as soon as possible so they could get in on the fun. Rear Admiral Parker Lanzi, a bit perturbed that she hadn't gotten the first flotilla, was nabbed to lead Bravo. Among her Frontier commanders was one Daniel Watters.
Barnard's Star Survey Report
ESF Alpha, June 2082
Jump Points
One additional jump point was found in the system, to Gliese 563.2. It's almost directly across Barnard's Star from the Sol jump, a 2.3b km distance, so from Earth to Gliese 563.2 is about 8.2b km.
Geological Survey
There wasn't much to evaluate here, the geosurvey took just over a month. 186kt of sorium was found on the gas giant at the same 0.7 accessibility as Saturn has. This gives the system potential as a refueling point at least. The fifth moon has 636kt of highly inaccessible(0.1) duranium. The other moons and asteroids were found to be completely barren.
No evidence of alien civilizations, past or present, was found.
(http://i.imgur.com/7PCxybn.png)
New System -- Gliese 563.2
This is a rather incredible system. The report was hard to believe until the spectography was analyzed and confirmed. It's a binary system, but a binary of such massive scale as to be inconceivable. The secondary star orbits at an incomprehensibly far 93 billion kilometers from the primary. That is not a typo. Almost 100 billion km. In the diagram below, the asteroid field shown is about six times larger in diameter than the outer one in Sol(the one that contains Pluto, past the orbits of all the planets). Even Sedna is only about as 30% as far from the sun as these objects are from Gliese 563.2 A.
Gliese 563.2 B is a royal tease. It has three terrestrial planets, a super jovian, couple of gas giants, lots of moons ... and the second planet is almost as good as the planet in Sirius for habitation. It's just about 30 degrees too cold, very fixable with the right terraforming. Nothing a little greenhouse effect coudn't fix. None of that matters of course, because it would take a survey ship almost two and a half years just to get there. And that's the good part -- getting any amount of equipment there would be obscenely difficult, and of course it's several times the effective range of mass drivers so any resources would have to be shipped back at exorbitant costs. For the same reason, the asteroid field is a non-starter.
Still, the inner system around A is not a thing to be disregarded. Three terrestrial planets, one of which is a lot closer to Mars/Luna than Titan in terms of being habitable and could be terraformed to be much better -- the biggest problem right now is flouride in the atmosphere that would need to be removed, it would also need more oxygen and some carbon dioxide to up the temperature. A reasonably long-term investment, but the presence of four more gas giants complete with 80 moons makes it very likely to be a good long-term investment.
(http://i.imgur.com/5C82tDy.png)
Back in Sol, ESF Alpha reported 92% fuel, no major maintenance issues, all systems were green so the refueling at Saturn was bypassed and the flotilla headed directly to Luyten 726-8. The shakedown cruise was over and a smashing success, all ships had worked as intended and lived to tell about it.
SPACE was not allowed to celebrate this success for long. In early July, they were rocked by the sudden retirement of Earth governor Francesco Alborn. Alborn had finally arrived on the political scene it seemed, and was considered a very fitting lieutenant to Riley Awad. Unfortunately there are some things medical science still can't fix. An inoperable brain tumor forced him out of office and the rest of his life was sure to be very brief.
Practically speaking this meant various beauracrats had to share in holding things together on Earth for the next couple of years. Factory and shipyard production slowed down considerably, espescially the latter. Humanity was also deprived of a chance to really celebrate the first completely surveyed system outside of Sol, as with the shock of Alborn's tragic departure came a certain amount of uncertainty.
By the time fall arrived, ESF Alpha was in Luyten 726-8, and Bravo on it's way to Teegarden's Star for it's shakedown run. The two flotillas would meet in the 'middle', Alpha taking the jumps to the left of the system and Bravo those on the right.
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** Note: This brings us up to where my log resumes**
September 2082 - June 2083
In late 2082 and early 2083 the biggest issue was fuel. The SDF began training as there were now several each of the Brooklyn and Nimitz classes in service and they needed to be ready should the worst come. the P&A Group SY was constantly busy building more Long Beach harvesters. Every time it looked like there would be enough after another group or two, something new(like the Defender 76 missiles, for example) would come up needing more and the building continued. It was somewhere in this time period that the shipyard was expanded to allow for additional slipways: four at a time just wasn't enough with this level of demand. Most of the time the combined tanks stayed around 12-15 million litres. This was enough to refuel anything that was needed, but not enough for any semblance of comfort level. It's just a fraction of what the navy can go through in a year.
In the spring of 83 both ESFs returned. Bravo set course for the much-anticipated Sirius system, while Alpha headed to Van Maanen. Incredibly, both were due to jump out within three minutes of each other on the same day, leading many in SPACE to bet on who would finish their survey first and therefore get to do the final one in Lalande 21185.
** If I recall correctly, and I probably don't, it was sometime in April that they jumped to the new systems**
Luyten 726-8 Survey Report
ESF Alpha, Spring 2083
Jump Points
Three were found by the time the gravitational survey was a third over with, leading many to think this would be another major hub system like Sol. No more were found after that, but still, three new systems were discovered: Tau Ceti, Lacaille 9352, and Epsilon Indi.
Geological Survey
The key feature of Luyten 726-8 is that it is the only known system outside of Sol with comets. Five of them, four of which are close enough to survey. All were found to contain sufficient quantities of accessible, important minerals to make them worth the price of development.
Comet #1: 5.3 kt neutronium(0.9), 16+kt corundium(1.0), as well as five minor minerals in varying amounts.
Comet #2: 29.8 kt duranium(0.9), 348 t gallicite(0.7), five minor minerals most notably 176 kt of tritanium
Comet #4: 19.7 kt corundium(1.0), some vendarite and sorium as well
Comet #5: 17.9 kt mercassium(1.0) and each of the six minor minerals also
Luyten 726-8 B's system was surveyed first. It was barren except for 1.4 mt(1.0) of sorium on the third planet, a gas giant. That makes this an excellent refueling station, as it's more accessible than Saturn's reserves.
The primary star was found to contain the stuff dreams are made of. The first planet contains 991 kt duranium(0.8), and four minor minerals at lesser accessibilities, a total efficiency of 23 which is not great but ok. Most important though is that this is the best single source of duranium known. It's only a fraction of Venus's deposits but far more accessible, and about twice as big as major sources such as Triton and Sedna in Sol were with similar extraction rates. The rest of the system was barren.
New System -- Tau Ceti
The jump here is astonishingly close ... a mere 32m km away! Even better, this system has everything you could want, save comets. It has a couple terrestrial planets, the second of which is great in terms of gravity and temperature: it just needs oxygen added to the atmosphere. This would be a pretty quick terraforming job, 50 years for a single installation to make it earth-like. Two gas giants, a super jovian, a fair number of moons, and 30 asteroids sweeten the pot. Definitely a big prospect for further surveying.
The distance from Sol to Tau Ceti is 6.5b, but if Luyten 726-8 were settled that distance would become negligible. Even so it's still much closer than Gliese 563.2.
New System -- Lacaille 9352
The jump here is 2.36b out, in the outer edges of an asteroid field containing 100 or so objects. In other respects it's a virtual copy of Tau Ceti. Actually has more terrestrials for possible colonization, it could become a virtual cornocopia of colonies like Sol eventually. The second planet will need a little more terraforming(2-3 times as much) in this case because it has a thicker atmosphere, but temperature and gravity are again right in range. Plenty of potential gas giants for fuel sources.
6.6 b km from Sol. It's a poor man's Tau Ceti, which means it's still very much worth investigating.
New System -- Epsilon Indi
This system grabs your attention right way with the fact that it's a tertiary system -- three stars! Unfortunately B and C are relegated to distant observers. They only have one unimpressive planet between them anyway, but more importantly is that B, closely orbited by C, is a staggering 230 billion km away from the primary star A. Give or take, maybe a little under 230 billion. Hard to be accurate at such a hilariously distant range, which is well over twice as distant as the secondary in Gliese 563.2. And of course it doesn't matter.
A has an observer of it's own, a dwarf that spends it's time 43b km out. Almost four Sedna's away. All the good stuff is under 2b, a very workable margin. Another good terrestrial as the second planet, though not as good -- it's like Mars or Luna, right temp and gravity but it needs an atmosphere. One super jovian and gas giant each with the usual amount of moons for each, so it's still another good system but definitely not in the same category as the first two. About the same distance as Lacaille from Sol as well.
Summary/Evaluation
Things would be much better if the second planet, by far the most habitable one, had the minerals instead. The first planet where they actually are is roughly Mercury in terms of habitability, so it's definitely a case where we'd need to colonize the second planet, putting automines on the first and the comets and a refueling station at the third planet of the B star. That station would typically be only about 800m km away, as compared to the 1.4b km Saturn is in Sol, so even travel times would be better. The drawback is there is nowhere around the B star for a decent colony -- the one terrestrial is about four times more inhospitable than Venus -- so all we could do is slap a DSTS for detection on that and the harvesters would need to travel further for shore leave. It would still be a better scenario all things considered.
Luyten 726-8 has plusses in every category. With jumps to three other promising systems it is strategically important, it has a good if somewhat limited(comparatively) source of fuel, the duranium on A-I could help considerably in stemming the impact of the eventual duranium crash when Sedna goes out of business, and the comets contain enough of the big four minerals to serve at least as a stopgap source to buy some time. No sign of any alien civilizations was found either. There's no question Luyten has leaped to the head of the class in terms of colonization targets.
(http://i.imgur.com/TcZ5HPP.png)
Teegarden's Star Survey Report
ESF Bravo, Spring 2083
Jump Points
For the first time, none were found save the one back to Sol. This is a dead end, which has it's own positives in a way. No alien race has access to it.
Geological Survey
Bravo did not receive high marks for the fact that, noticed well after they returned to Sol, one of the planets was skipped completely. Having said that, the survey was largely underwhelming. The asteroid field is completely useless. Planet I has huge amounts of duranium, neutronium, and tritanium that are all virtually inaccessible. Planet IV is suspiciously similar to Saturn. It has 11.3 mt of sorium(0.7, like Saturn), which is far more than will ever be needed in this system since it doesn't lead anywhere. The third of it's moons is a near-copy of Titan in terms of the cost of living there -- and it has the big find of the system:
24.5 mt duranium(0.1)
24 mt tritanium(0.1)
37 mt boronide(0.1)
640 kt vendarite(0.1)
2.25 mt sorium(0.3)
20.3 mt corundium(0.8)
The last is obviously the most important there. With a sufficiently large mining operation on that ball of rock corundium concerns are history for the forseeable future. A large enough terraforming operation could eventually improve it as well, but it's very cold and would need a crushing atmosphere to heat it up enough so it's never going to be a paradise.
The third planet is also worth developing, not the planet itself but it has three useful moons. The first two have accessible duranium at about 40kt each, which would help greatly in building up the infrastructure the 'Titan' moon would need. The third has 14kt of neutronium, which is always useful.
Summary/Evaluation
Developing the corundium here has to be a long-term objective at least. It will be 24 years before Ikeya-Zang in Sol is within safe mass driver range: it remains to be seen whether it will be practical to develop Teegarden's Star before that. Even if it isn't, that's only 82 kt and would last only decades at best.
(http://i.imgur.com/45dUzYl.png)
Director Awad made a couple of immediate decisions upon receiving these reports. There was no longer any point to having sensors at a dead-end jump, so the Teegarden Forrestals were recalled. He also began the process of the biggest development contract in the history of SPACE: nearly 10 million credits to Akheton Corp. for a jump drive capable of propelling a ship of South Carolina-magnitude. No other development contract has been much more than a third of that, most of the government's general-purpose research is still less. It's about how much was spent to develop Jump Theory and some of the more involved advances so far achieved. It was now clear, however, that colonization beyond Sol was coming. Now that there was proof the resources are there, we needed to be able to move large quantities of equipment through the jumps.
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JULY - SEPTEMBER 2083
On July 9th, Dr. Curtis Gloster, the top construction scientist the last 15 years or so, basically since icon Deacon Palmer retired, finishes new improved mining techniques which should result in a 15% improvement in output across the board. It was no particular leap of technology that achieved this, but rather standardizing of various best practices discovered through SPACE's decades of experience across Sol. At 67, he has decided to retire. So too did Mike Minaya(BG), at age 66. Minaya was a good though not great project lead, but working in a limited field he still had a difficult time getting consistent work.
At the same time, it was notice that a couple others had slipped through the cracks and were continuing to work against medical advice. After the Juishao incident SPACE cannot afford to let these matters continue on. Harlan Welle(only quality scientist in MK) and Shanon Patteson(CP, working on the followup to improve construction rates along with the better mining results) both are forced out as well. Welle was 68, Patteson 65.
This hurt the construction & production field considerably with the two top researchers retiring. By the time the dust had settled, the reorganization had active projects up to 33, and most of the newcomers including a bevy of novice energy weapons scientists had something to work on. The missiles & kinetic weapons field though ... is scary bad. Novice Elyse Buckler, who is 32 and hasn't really developed much, is the only one there is. It's one of the busier fields -- or should I say, it ought to be -- but there's not going to be a whole lot getting done for the forseeable future.
On August 23, another first as the initial ship of the Brooklyn 81 class was deployed. The next month provided a real day to remember. On September 14, Dr. Rosemary Urenda announced that ion drive research had been successful and produced initial proof-of-concept reports and testing. While she moved on to work on the new commercial jump drive, great news in and of itself since that was crucial to the colonization efforts, the ripple effects of this advance were rather seismic throughout major segments of SPACE. It's not every day that a new type of engine comes along: it's been more than 20 years that nuclear thermal pulse was the standard-bearer.
The rest of the Power & Propulsion field suspends their current projects to work on the bevy of engines that will now need to be prototyped. There are six of them, three novice and three accomplished. It's a strong group overall, as strong as in any field. And yet they will find themselves very busy. The new engines needed are as follows. Note that all military engines are thermal shielded(35% emissions), while the commercial engines are not. Initial testing shows an impressive 50% increase in propulsion power, meaning that once these are fielded all ships, espescially the warships, will be that much more effective. Advances in fuel efficiency will help greatly in keeping the increased drain on the harvesters to a minimum.
JPS ID 36 -- military-grade thruster, standard power ratio, 150 tons. Used in the Forrestal sensor vessels and the survey ships(Explorer/Frontier/Prospector).
JPS ID 63 -- military-grade thruster, maximum power ratio(175%), 150 tons. Used for the Caldwell VIP shuttles.
Vertigo 72/108/144/180 -- Four engines of varying sizes(200/300/400/500-ton varieties) for the combat ships, slightly increased power ratio(125%). Some debate was had over increasing this. Fuel consumption increases exponentially with overclocking of the core reactions, but the fact of the matter is that the Navy intends to use the next generation of ships in a more mobile capacity and needs every advantadge it can get. Current designs(Brooklyn '81, Nimitz '76c) use less than 2.5% of their space for fuel. It is decided that the need for more speed is paramount and this round will be designed with 150% ratios. As a result the overall power increase will be 80% over the current Phoenix variants, with a resultant overall speed increase expected to approach that. This won't make us as fast as the alien ships we encountered in Epsilon Eridani in the 50s, but it should bridge a significant part of the gap.
Eagle 60/72 -- It is not worthwhile to use such overclocked engines on survey ships such as the Gearing and Baltimore classes. For them, speed is important but so is fuel efficiency. Therefore the military series of engines is split into two parts, one for combat and one for non-combat ships. These will actually see reduced power ratios to the standard configuration. This will make them more fuel-efficient yet still faster in spite of it. The current engines being used on these ships are 300 tons, so a 250 and 300-ton variety being developed for the Eagle series ensures the navy will have the opportunity to optimize a bit for the next-gen in case a little more space needs to be squeezed in for something else.
WP ID 120/240 -- As before, these are unshielded engines. Prior iterations have used the standard commercial power ratio of 50%. While we can gain much greater efficiencies by lowering it as far as 25%, speed is not irrelevant. At this point though, ion drives make our engines powerful enough that it is thought best to begin reducing the ratios some amount further. This time around a 40% strikes what is thought to be an appropriate balance. These engines are 20% faster and 30+% more efficient than the existing nuclear thermal-pulse varieties.
That's ten engine prototypes needed, and it doesn't include the relatively miniature engines needed for a new round of missiles. The picture clouded even more when the Navy began to consider that issue ...
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** July 9 -- Curtis Gloster finishes improved mining production. He and other top scientists retire.
** August 15 -- Research completed on enhanced efficiency, one-quarter power engines(Reynaldo Darrington).
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
July 19 -- Sedna is up to 38 CMCs now. Just over 43 years now left with this expansion and the improved mining. The clock is ticking ...
August 6 -- A new Shipment of mines to Tempel-Tuttle leaves Earth.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
July 9 -- Researchers Curtis Gloster, Mike Minaya, Harlan Welle, and Shanon Patteson all retire.
July 23 -- New member of BOG: Sara Seals. Good news is she's aleady elite in large-scale management. Bad news ... solid abilities in shipbuilding is the only other skill she has.
EARTH
August 23 -- First Brooklyn 81 finished.
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NAVAL IMPACT -- ION DRIVES
What interested Naval Command even more was how these would change anticipated missile effectiveness. With virtually no progress being made in the field there is no point to waiting for further advances in missile agility, payload, etc. None will be forthcoming in the near future. Therefore one of the most important questions the Navy has ever had to answer is whether or not ion drives change the relative balance of power enough to justify an eventual attempt to drive the aliens out.
BEAM WEAPON DEFENSE
At present our best tracking speed against missiles is 12-16k km/s, depending on how long we've had them detected to better anticipate their future location. Kuchler is presently working on upping that speed to 16-20k km/s, which is just barely passable against an incoming weapon of the estimated 15-30k km/s. A very large fire control required to get the necessary range to ensure the missiles wouldn't cross the entire engagement envelope before there would be a chance to fire, but it was possible.
MISSILE ANALYSIS
Three different missile types were considered here. The standard anti-ship defender 76 has a hit rate a little over 50%, the higher-payload P variant is only about 30% but still considered probably the better option since it has more than twice the punch, and the anti-missile Interceptor, merely a concept at the last evaluation, had an estimated hit rate of just 9%. On the last score we must emphasize that this is a guess based on the rough estimate of enemy missile speed which covered a wide range. About a 20% hit rate is considered necessary to make that a viable weapon system.
Current doctrine, which is a rough guestimate at best, calls for a 70m km range on the anti-ship missiles. The new Defender standard would be better than 50% faster, with a hit rate of 78%! The P variant is almost exactly 50% faster than the previous, and at a hit rate of 48% is considered nearly 40% more effective now in simulations. These missiles travel 19.6 and 17.5 km/s respectively, which puts them in the low end of the range of known alien capabilities. This is a very significant development in the minds of Navy brass -- we are getting close to matching their recorded, quarter-century-old capabilities.
As for the Interceptor concept, it doesn't need nearly the range. Our current missile sensors have the capability of detecting an incoming missile at 2m km. That means a range longer than thatis pretty much useless. Right now we are in the 15-30% hit range for the target speeds for this missile, which isn't great but good enough.
NAVAL DOCTRINE
The current designs of the Nimitz and Brooklyn are based on the assumption that there is no effective defense against alien missiles. The Navy's most recent analysis, summarized above, stipulates that this may no longer be the case. This fact called for a wholesale revision in ship design and combat doctrine. Under the old assumption, all ships operated independently, with their own detection systems since there was no way to protect any kind of centralized 'early-warning' ship. The doctrine called for 'aggressive defense', i.e. multiple independent weapons platforms to overwhelm the enemy with massed firepower before they could destroy us. It was primarily designed to defend against an enemy attack.
Every ship having its own sensors was both highly inefficient and undeniably necessary. Now that there is the prospect of potentially shooting down incoming alien missiles, this reality is changing. The question is, has it changed enough? Practically speaking, that question has to be considered irrelevant at this juncture. With next to no progress expected on the missile research front, the question is really are we prepared to wait another generation before beginning to deal with the threat in Epsilon Eridani. That could easily take 20 or more years. Humanity's growing need to expand beyond Sol makes this an extremely dubious proposition, and the Navy is very disinclined to wait. It is also worth remembering that our knowledge of their capabilities is extremely limited and also 25 years old. There's no way for the Navy to be ready without better intelligence information, and there's only one way to obtain that is to go get it.
We have waited long enough. It is time to set plans in motion to repel them. In order to do this, the Navy will no longer divide it's ships between beam and missile variants, but attempt to use combined-arms theory. This new approach calls for retirement of the Brooklyn and Nimitz concepts, and an initial division into three new classes of ships: a command ship which will have more powerful sensors, increased armor and CIWS defenses, and be protected at all costs by an escort class. These escorts will contain anti-missile weapons systems(meson cannons and Interceptor missiles). This should in theory allow for a staggered approach with a better chance to weaken the incoming salvos at least, and also allow for valuable intel on the effectiveness of both weapons systems. The third class will serve much the same role as the current Nimitz, a missile ship carrying a new missile based on the same principles as the Defender. This has been termed the Exorcist.
All of this requires new prototypes across the board. Sensors of every kind. Reduced-size missile launchers to maximize firepower -- reload time will suffer but this is more than considered an acceptable trade-off. Larger power plants. And of course two more engines, one for each variety of missile. Once the blueprints for the new, larger sensors were hammered out for the sensor/command ships, the general effect of these new changes was to double the Interceptor range and more than triple the Exorcist from the Defender to about 250m km. This does lower the hit chance a bit, it will now have about a 36-37% rate but stand a much better chance of not simply being outranged. The Interceptor will have an effective range of about 4m km, at a simulation-estimated hit rate of 14.5-29%. As many as six volleys could potentially be launched at a single missile wave, though practically speaking that is more likely to be two, maybe three.
This massive initiative was dubbed Operation Frozen Vengeance, the preparation stages of which has begun. They do say it's a dish best served cold ... and what is colder than the void of space? The goal of Frozen Vengeance is to bring battle to the aliens in Epsilon Eridani by the end of the century, aiming to drive them from the system, stop the desecration of the long-dead tombs that are the Pioneer wrecks, and push them away from the doorstep to Sol.
Similarly to the PP field, Sensors & Fire Control cancels four ongoing projects to focus on prototyping the new systems. At least five years expected before all systems are ready and Frozen Vengeance can be turned over to the shipyard engineers.
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SEPTEMBER - DECEMBER 2083
A little of this and that, but no major news in the final few months of the year. SPACE is awaiting word from survey operations in Sirius and Van Maanen, expected fairly early next year.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
September 16 -- Accomplished PP scientist Norris Gunterman moves up yet again.
September 22 -- Riley Awad makes a slight increase in accomplished wealth creation skills. Russell Salvucci and Burt Stonerock have also seen minor increases this year.
November 2 -- Adolfo Walth(DS, 40) is up to Accomplished level now with a nice bump to his efficiency. Currently he's doing early work on a more deflective version of composite armor.
December 15 -- A new sensors scientist(Sung Padro) is not particularly notable on his own, but with him on the case all of the new electronics as well as the new quad-meson cannon turret are in the prototype phase. Half of the engines are still idle of course, and the new missiles will have to wait for them, there'll be magazines for the missiles and new fire controls for the mesons. But a considerable portion of the components needed for Frozen Vengeance are now in the testing phase, enough for SPACE to say things are underway.
EARTH
November 8 -- Assault and Mobile Infantry Battalions finished on earth. Two more Assault Infantry queued up.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
November 18 -- Corbomite deposits exhausted on the comet Borrelly.
December 2 -- Sedna expands to 39 complexes.
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NAVY RETIREMENTS
** Rear Admiral June Aspinwall. A veteran and steady voice, Aspinwall has led the SSF(commercial wing of the Navy) for the past six years. She is respected without being flashy, and will be missed in the admiralty.
** Commander Val Peevy. A fixture on low-level bases or warships the last decade. Peevy will perhaps best be known for having the honor to take out the first ship of the most recent Nimitz iteration, the 76c.
** Commander Conor Zavier. For 15 years after making commander rank at the respectable age of 31, Zavier hovered near the bottom of the rank. This most recent tour he managed to get himself a posting at the Lalande jump on sensor duty, and recent improvements weren't nearly enough to stave off forced retirement.
** Commander Charles Holiday. A similar story to Zavier, he finished his career with a six-year stint at the Sirius JP.
** Commander Tatiana Scheutz avoids the same fate, as she is presently on survey duty with ESF Bravo in the Sirus system.
** 7 Lieutenant Commanders as well.
A sizable chunk of the junior ship COs will need to be replaced, but the power structure at the top is still intact. Due to the number of retirees it will be some while before the Navy replaces Aspinwall. The admiralty will revert to five for a while.
ARMY RETIREMENTS
** Chief of the Army Anton Engelhardt would normally be set for forced retirement at age 60, but he has no wish to leave yet and is still in excellent health. SPACE will keep him on for at least another tour.
** 4 colonels
MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE
Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 39th out of 42. Last known location was gravsurvey duty in the Sirius system with ESF Bravo.
Cmdr. Jay Cin V -- 29th. Gravsurvey duty as well, but in Van Maanen with ESF Alpha.
Lt. Cmdr. Jessica Sattler -- 17th out of 126. Moves from a busy tour ferrying the construction brigades around to one of the Tarawa-class colliers. Her first order of business is immediately taking the final shipment of Defender 76 missiles to Titan. Routine perhaps, but inherently dangerous work with 175 15-ton payloads in her ship.
Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian -- 63rd. Moves to one of the South Carolina superfreighters, where he'll likely see the occasional run delivering automines or prefabricated PDC sections here and there.
Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade -- 55th. A little more activity now as he joins the throng at Saturn on a Long Beach harvester.
Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio -- 62nd. He's on freighter duty with one of the huge South Carolinas as well.
Col. Ignace Tegair -- 28th out of 62.
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January - July 2084
A hole was created in the Navy with the loss of several officers, and the obvious choice as he's the latest prodigy to move up to Commander was Tyrone Marszalek(22). After the reassignments there are only 15 officers without a command. With over 150 ships in operation, naval opportunities are bigger than ever. Two in five are on either a Long Beach fuel harvester or a Caldwell VIP shuttle. The remaining 60% are more diversified. With the week the civilian sector continued to show it's growing strength as a firm with the flagrantly dishonest name of Ridolfi Interstellar was officially founded.
On March 4, another scientist was lost early as Billie Allington was killed in a traffic accident. As she was working on new fire controls and was a solid, veteran lead this is a relatively significant loss. Later in the month it was decided to make another pivot in the deployment of automines. The final shiopment to Tempel-Tuttle is set to leave soon, and corundium continues it's slow decline. Also, the bean counters at MRD have noticed that Halley's Comet will exhaust its deposits a little sooner than anticipated given the recent uptick in production. SPACE calculates that at least one load, 5 automines, should be diverted so as not waste them. Another outpost is to be established using those mines on Swift-Tuttle. Swift-Tuttle is inbound at 6.3b km, well beyond Neptune's orbit and just shy of Sedna's distance, but it's still the best choice. It has good concentrations of a number of minerals, most notably almost 20kt duranium, 4.6kt corundium at 0.8 to continue increasing that supply bit by bit, and overall efficiency of 64 which is right in line with what the best comets could offer in the heyday of the Sol rush. It's another one that will need to be limited probably to about 12-15 automines, but the best stopgap available with Herschel-Rigollet(8.0b now) probably after it.
This is not a cheap operation. Delivering five mines that far and back again, to say nothing of the mass driver, will require in excess of 750,000 litres of fuel. It is still unfortunately far better than any alternative. That final shipment to Tempel-Tuttle departed on April Fool's Day.
Late in April, Julio Kuchler unveiled the new faster fire control technology. These will allow us to reach the 16k or better tracking mentioned in the naval analysis. It comes at a cost though, the new suite which will be tested soon is a full 600 tons. A new advance in planetary sensor strength is his next objective.
On June 2, ESF Alpha returned from Van Maanen and presents its report. The tanker is still a 56% capacity with all other ships fully fueled, and maintenance supply levels are good as well. The mission clock is under three and a half years yet, plenty of time to go visit the final system: Lalande 21185. The jumps are just over 500m km apart, just a week and a half journey. A nice little stroll in galactic terms.
Ten days later, they made the jump to, Explorer 1 having reported that there is a jump gate to Sol on the other side. That's three now, and no sign of who built them. More perplexing is the fact that the wrecks that were discovered in Lalande 21185 when it was initially discovered on April 24 2055 are no longer showing on our scanners. They were too far from the star to collapse into it's gravity. Either a collision with an asteroid ... or someone salvaged them.
Someone that might still be here. There is more trepidation about this system than any of the others. It is very likely that sometime in the last century an alien space battle took place.
As for the system itself, moderate sized pattern, jump is 2.69b out, Two asteroid belts, only place we've seen that outside of Sol. 219 of them in all, so that will take some time. Even with that, it is on the surface the most useless system. Nothing even remotely habitable. A terrestrial that has too much gravity for us to survive on it, four dwarfs with a few moons. Not even a gas giant or super jovian for fuel.
What on earth ... strike that, what in lalande would they have been fighting over here? It's quite the mystery and another one that may never be solved. The most likely scenario though, seemed to revolve around the massive terrestrial planet being the source of the conflict. Perhaps one or both races have different gravitational tolerances.
Van Maanen's Star Survey Report
ESF Alpha, June 12 2084
Jump Points
Two new ones were found, one of them on the second-to-last survey location. This fact kept the ESF in system for about an extra month while it was investigated.
Geological Survey
Van Maanen decided to be dramatic here also, with the last survey being the ninth moon of the first planet, a super jovian that is the only interesting planet in the system. The asteroid field and a couple of dwarf planets had already been found to be barren, there were a couple of other moons with minerals but nothing exciting. One had 1.66mt of corundium(0.1), another 78kt uridium at 1.0 but of course we have an absurd amount of that. This last moon however was far better:
259 kt duranium(0.9)
50kt vendarite(0.5)
783 kt sorium(0.9)
38 kt gallicite(0.6)
New System -- GJ 1006
Small dim M6-V star. Just 515m km from Van Maanen, with another jump gate here!! The mystery continues to confound us. Four dwarves at ranges from 700m to 27b, the last two obviously are just spectators as they are above the 10b limit. 18 asteroids, a terrestrial, a super jovian, and two gas giants so good fuel potential. 57 moons to investigate, and the terrestrial could be terraformed to close to earth conditions at least. A sizable amount of methane would need to be removed from the atmosphere and replaced with oxygen, so it would take some time but this system has good potential. The jump gate also makes one curious.
New System -- YZ Ceti
Compact system, the jump is 1.59b km out which is average for this star, right in the middle of the second ring. Lots of planets here, 3 gas giants, 2 super jovians, 2 terrestrials, 2 dwarves, plus 65 moons of varying sizes. Despite all that nothing is more than marginally habitable. The second planet is best but has a crushing atmosphere with 50x the pressure of Earth's. This definitely won't be a priority to investigate further.
Summary/Evaluation
The most likely use would seem to be an automine operation with a tracking station, perhaps a small population so it could serve as a refueling/maintenance base. We can always use another good source of duranium, and the gallicite would be a nice kicker. A big part of whether SPACE ever develops Van Maanen will probably depend on whether GJ 1006 turns up anything useful.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
January 8 -- Civilian firm Ridolfi Interstellar is founded.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
March 19 -- Dr. Stanley Kogut(LG) has has joined the ranks of the accomplished.
April 11 -- Freddy Salsgiver(EW), only 22 years old, has moved up to the ranks of the accomplished with a major leap recently. Perhaps a new star is being born here ...
April 27 -- Minh Klausner(EW, 33) is a guy who has been in the ok-but-unimpressive category. He steps out a bit with a marginal upgrade that puts him in the accomplished tier.
July 2 -- Michael Reneau joins the admin team. He can manage any size operation well and has a good start on terraforming and financial oversight abilities. Could stand to be more flexible but a decent graduate. Also, Rear Admiral Parker Lanzi now has an elite-level training ability through the experience of leading ESF Bravo.
EARTH
March 23 -- Construction Brigade finished on Earth. With eight of the ten desired now in operation, training is begun on a ninth.
April 1 -- On April Fool's day, the third and final shipment of automines to Tempel-Tuttle departs earth.
May 25 -- New research lab finished.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
April 25 -- Improved Beam Fire Control Tracking finished(max. 16k km/s) by Dr. Julio Kuchler.
May 17 -- A new, fighter-sized engineering section is available. This may be useful on optimizing designs, particularly on smaller ships. Alphonse Lambeth led the development. With the beginning of interstellar colonization efforts clearly not far over the horizon, he'll next devote his time to improving techniques for minimizing the effect of hostile conditions.
May 30 -- The first commercial ion engine is now ready for production, the smaller one(Irving Steinmeyer).
July 2 -- Elyse Buckler has finished the prototype of the Exorcist missile launcher.
July 8 -- The first of the Vertigo series to be finished, the 108, by Norris Gunterman.
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July - September 2084: The Plot Stinkens
July 18, 02:53 AM, GST
A lone explorer, Trevor Lerner in command, jumped into Sol from Lalande 21185 and sent a burst transmission on the emergency band to SPACE HQ. Just minutes before, ESF Alpha's officer in charge, Rear Admiral Hank Rohrer, had ordered this action and a full abort from ongoing survey operations. Key moments from the mission log leading up to this follow ....
June 24, 1900 -- This has to be a record.
First grav survey, just over 12 days in system, and another jump point has been found in Lalande 21185. Interestingly it is almost directly between the Sol point and the star. A few degrees right, and 1.89b km ... less than a billion km travel time between them. Further than the Van Maanen - Lalande gap in Sol but still very close. An important strategic consideration in the system no doubt. Explorer 1 is launched to investigate.
July 1 1741 -- Explorer 1 jumps out of Lalande.
July 1 1753 -- Explorer 1 returns, delivering this report ...
New System -- GJ 1156
Fairly small jump pattern, between the outer two rings and yet just a little over 2b km away. Unitary M5-V, about 180 asteroids in a single belt, fairly close in between the third and fourth planets. The second is a dwarf, but surprisingly habitable, just enough gravity to be useful. There's also a gas giant, super jovian, and a terrestrial. Better than average potential here, we've seen better but also a lot worse.
July 5 -- Two of the Prospectors reach the edge of the outer asteroid field. Nothing yet, but the wrecks were further in. They could still be around and just not seeing us yet ... we have a pretty darn tiny thermal emission on those things for a reason.
July 18, around 0220. Cmdr. Fredrick Holcomb is on the bridge as his Prospector surveys the right side of the asteroid belt.
'Conn Thermal, new contact bearing approximately 078. Designate contact Swiftsure zero-zero-two. Commander ... you're going to want to see this for yourself. Estimate range ninety-five to one hundred million kilometers sir'
The sensor officer's voice quivered, and Holcomb knew something was up. The only way the HISS Mark IV thermal suite could find something that far way was if ... He could see why thirty seconds later as he looked at the readout.
'That's impossible!! Check your gear.'
The diagnostics showed everything green. His wide-eyed crew stared at him, but he wasn't in any more control of himself than they were. It was impossible. At the edge of the asteroid field there was a thermal contact all right, reading 16,000. 1600 would have been huge. 16,000 ... there weren't words for it. Eight times the signature of a South Carolina superfreighter. Twenty-three times the signature of anything else in the SPACE navy. That thing's engines had power beyond imagining. There were only two possibilities: they knew we were here and didn't care ... or they weren't looking for us. Either way, there was only course of action.
'Battle stations! Communications, relay our sensor data to the Baltimore, priority one! Navigation, set course 261 for survey waypoint #1. If they chase us, we don't want to lead them back to Earth.'
It took Rohrer all of about ten seconds to order the abort once they received the transmission. All craft were recalled to base -- if the aliens followed, the Prospectors would be left in-system. There were very specific orders for this contingency.
Back at Fleet Command, there was as much suprise that the alien ship had not attacked Holcomb's surveyor as anything. Once the gamma readouts were analyzed, it became obvious that these were not the same aliens as those that destroyed the Pioneers in Epsilon Eridani. The most likely scenario was that it was an enormous asteroid mining ship of some kind, but either way it seemed obvious this was a far more advanced alien species, and apparently a less hostile or less curious one. With this determined, the contingency order was given.
Prep the Ambassador. Captain Rosemary Tallant was in charge this time, Marion Polizzi and Karen Cotsis joined as veterans of the previous failed attempt, and another pair of junior naval officers rounded out the team. This time there was more optimism: this appeared to be a more willing to listen species, and this was a more experienced, more talented team.
It would still take them three weeks to reach the jump to Lalande, and if all went well almost four weeks for all of the survey craft to get back so that ESF Alpha could jump back to Sol. There were a lot of people having sleepless nights for those long weeks.
The normal goings-on continued, virtually ignored as background noise. The run of Defender 76 missiles was finished, having taken eight years from design to full production run completion. Army chief Engelhardt gained more political connections. A 40th CMC was finished on Sedna, moving the exhaustion clock there under 40 years, and the shipment of mines from Halley to Swift-Tuttle arrived. The ninth group of Long Beach harvesters was launched. Another group of five was begun, as fuel reserves are merely holding steady at 15m.
All of this was greeted with a collective yawn. We had other things on our mind. On August 8, the Ambassador jumped out to Lalande.
Zenaida Howse, just 24, continued her incredible progress, and with recent improvements in her training techniques is now the top-rated Captain only three years removed from the Academy! Yawn.
On the 13th, ESF Alpha jumped back into Sol, having recovered all of the utility craft. The aliens never followed and everyone made it back to Sol safely. That in itself was a huge accomplishment, greeted by muted celebrations as we waited to hear from the diplomatic team.
Progress from Captain Ronald Dunkin in becoming an elite crew trainer. Dr. Jerry Bartholf's team finished testing the new JPS ID 36, thruster for the Forrestal class. Elyse Buckler's group completed the Interceptor missile launcher. Background noise. Static.
Leonel Wessels, heralded as the most talented talented straight-from-the-academy researcher SPACE has ever seen joins the crowd. Accomplished in the energy weapons field and xenology, with decent novice-level political connections. Unlike the missile field, the energy weapons field is recovering quite well from the loss of its top members. Nimitz 76c built, last of the class.
Normally this would be celebrated.
Another two weeks of quiet.
September 15 -- The Ambassador jumped back in from Lalande. Mission failure. They had a few new ideas, took about a week longer than the attempt in Epsilon Eridani had taken, but found even less progress. Again the conclusion was there was simply no way to find common ground with which to communicate. The fear is that all we've done is antagonize them, and the recommendation is to avoid further contact at all costs.
Nobody was foolish enough to argue. Unlike the other race, it appears this time it might be possible to take a live-and-let-live approach. Against such advanced technology, it's not like there's another choice. Engineering reported that engines of such power would take up more than 41kt of space if they were built with max overclocking of the new ion technology. Just the engines. That's bigger than a Fletcher-class freighter. And don't even try to think about how much fuel it would require. Such a ship would be so grossly impractical as to be absurd. The only response in this case was to stay out their way. Anything else would be suicidal.
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As a heads up, I'll start updating the thread again once the forum transition is confirmed by Erik. I don't want to risk losing anything by posting more now.
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I'm glad I left page 26 open in my browser, it and page 25 have been lost during the transition :(
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As a heads up, I'll start updating the thread again once the forum transition is confirmed by Erik. I don't want to risk losing anything by posting more now.
I got confirmation that the DNS servers have been updated as of last night.
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I'm glad I left page 26 open in my browser, it and page 25 have been lost during the transition Sad
I'll repost them, no need to worry about that(other than what other people wrote).
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dangit my speech got lost and I don't have that anymore.
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Dangit, I lost the cache before reading it :P
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As to the general idea I should mention I've decided mostly against it. In general there aren't enough administrators to bench them early via forced retirement. Additionally I find that it adds to the possible storylines and there are 'low-health' admins that have been extremely important, most notably Albert Eighmy. The more/younger requires more academies, which will be done up to a point but for RP reasons and my personal sanity in playing the game as well I like to keep it at a point where the most 'stressed' branch of service has no lower than an 80-90% employment rate. Usually but not always that's the politicians.
Ultimately I think like most things it's an issue that will resolve itself. I.e. several years ago there were barely enough, now(2089) there are about a dozen unemployed politicians. Some will lose their jobs as comets run out of minerals, but more will be created in new colonies/outposts during colonization. All the branches go through cycles where they lose a lot of skilled/highly-ranked personnel, then periods where they don't lose many at all and the quality increases ... it's an ebb and flow basically.
FWIW.
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How about that repost? :p
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Yeah, how about that? :P I have some potentially bad news. I had most of the 2090 SOS done and was planning on getting things going again after the holiday which is always crazy for me at work. This weekend there's time so I intended to start the repost and get things back up to speed. However my new year's present from my computer was a lovely batch of epic fail. At this point I'm planning on attempting to reinstall windows on Friday which is really the last straw since it will not even boot up at this point. If that doesn't work, I'll need a new hard drive and this story will be over. That possibility makes me sad, I really really wanted to finish the story. I'm not really sure what I'll do if that happens, but I will post here other way once I find out if it works.
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Sadface.gif
Don't worry about it, quite normal for Aurora AAR's to go unfinished :P (hell my own attempts never get far enough to be noteworthy)
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I am pleased to announce that I have successfully extracted the essential Aurora files(saved database and the text file holding all my notes) from the fubared HD. That means this story will continue barring something extremely bizarre. When is another matter, I'm going to pull anything else useful off and then I need to format it. If that doesn't work I'll need a new hard drive, so it could be a week or two but the adventures of SPACE appear to have been snatched from the clutches of data fail. In the meantime I plan on finally starting the reposting here and there to get this thread caught up to current events.
To infinity, and beyond!
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September - December 2084
October was another big month. New army battalions were finished, another military engine prototpye tested, and then on the 23rd Reynaldo Darrington certified the WP ID 240, the largest of the commercial engines at 2.5kt. Engineering suddenly became very busy. A total of ten different classes needed an upgrade with the new engines and some other systems improved as well. The '84i' naming scheme was adopted, indicating 2084 technology and the upgrade to ion drives.
Arleigh Burke 84i Brigade Transport
Size: 17.3kt(17.8)
Crew: 127(136)
Speed: 695 km/s(563)
Fuel: 250k(350k)
Range: 57b km(38b)
Troop Capacity: 1 brigade(5 battalions, i.e. 4 + HQ)
Armament: 2x CIWS 79 battery(2x CIWS 71)
Cost: 544k(553k)
This will be a consistent pattern throughout these redesigns, but the impact of the leap to ion drives, and to a lesser extent the advances made in armor, CIWS, etc., is obvious here. The new version is more than twice as fuel efficient which is the most important thing about it: it's 23% faster, yet carries a lot less fuel and gets 50% more range. It's even a hair cheaper, superior across the board.
Portland 84i Battalion Transport
Size: 4.35 kt(4.5 kt)
Crew: 39(43)
Speed: 1379 km/s(1111)
Fuel: 50k(60k)
Range: 45b km(29b)
Troop Capacity: 1 battalion
Cost: 189k(182k)
Same story here, with the minor exception that the new Portland is a hair more expensive than the old one.
Cleveland 84i Supply Ship
Size: 2.0 kt(2.1 kt)
Crew: 28(30)
Speed: 3000 km/s(2380 km/s)
Fuel: 50k(100k)
Range: 99b km(92b)
Maintenance Supplies: 1000
Cost: 143k(137k)
Tarawa 84i Collier
Size: 6.0 kt(6.4 kt)
Crew: 66(85)
Speed: 1000 km/s(781 km/s)
Fuel: 100k(250k)
Range: 66b km(76b km)
Magazine Storage: 1200(1050)
Cost: 577k(573k)
Room for another 25 anti-ship missiles was added, while an unneeded glut of maintenance supplies and other dead weight was culled from the original design.
Wickes 84i Salvage Ship
Size: 21.7 kt(20.6 kt)
Crew: 191(188)
Speed: 829 km/s(486 km/s)
Fuel: 250k
Range: 46b km
CryoStorage: 1000
Cargo Storage: 5000
Salvage Modules: 1 @ 500t/day.
Armament: 2x CIWS 79 Batteries(2x CIWS 71)
Cost: 708k(682k)
In addition to the new engines, the Wickes gets the latest CIWS system and a couple of sensor upgrades that weren't ready when it was originally designed. A third engine was added as well to give it a more respectable speed. As a result this is an exception that is a little bigger and more costly than it's predecessor.
Iowa 84i Fuel Tanker
Size: 8.5 kt(9.8 kt)
Crew: 44(53)
Speed: 1411 km/s(1020 km/s)
Fuel: 5m(6m)
Armament: 1x CIWS 79 Battery(1 CIWS I)
Cost: 394k(604k)
This version slightly reduces the capacity of the Iowa tanks, but with the improved fuel efficiency that is not expected to be a concern. The new huge fuel tanks can handle as much as five of the old very large ones, and at less than 60% of the cost. SPACE taxpayers can see that savings reflected impressively in the new ship's bottom line layout.
Iowa XR 84i Extended-Range Fuel Tanker
Same as the regular Iowa 84i, except:
Size: 8.55 kt
Speed: 1403 km/s
Cost: 404k
This is the version with crew facilities and supplies for a five-year tour to accomopany the ESFs, not the standard two-year accomodations.
Gato 84i Small Freighter
Size: 7 kt
Crew: 33
Speed: 857 km/s
Fuel: 100k
Range: 57b km
Cargo Capacity: 5k
Cost: 182k
For further efficiency it was designed to add a third class of freighter. The Gato is designed for small loads of minerals in various circumstances where a larger load is not expected to be needed. In such cases sending even a Fletcher is inefficient as the fuel used to push around a larger cargo hold is just wasted. The plan here is to have small numbers of each class of freighter, instead of the one-size-fits-all approach that the Fletcher filled for decades. Another engine was contemplated for the Gato, but was considered to not be worth the cost.
Fletcher 84i Freighter
Size: 35.9kt(36.9 kt)
Crew: 153(162)
Speed: 1002 km/s(813 km/s)
Fuel: 250k(650k)
Range: 41b km(51b km)
Cargo Capacity: 25k
Armament: 4x CIWS 79(4x CIWS I)
Cost: 614k(644k)
The Fletcher was the workhorse of the Sol mining rush. Its deployment in the late 40s and 50s was indispensable to the development of SPACE throughout our home system. Since the South Carolina came on the scene it has changed roles to more of a short-range freighter, with the occasional longer run if a small load is called for(a single facility or a small amount of minerals needed to build a base, etc.). For this revision an extra cargo handling system has been added(a total of 2 now) to decrease loading times, yet the cost was still able to be reduced by 30k. This is mostly due to a drastic reduction in the needed amount of fuel.
South Carolina 84i Superfreighter
Size: 163kt(165 kt)
Crew: 487(531)
Speed: 735 km/s(607 km/s)
Fuel: 1.5m(2.15m)
Range: 54b km(38b km)
Cargo Capacity: 125 kt
Armament: 21x CIWS 79(18x CIWS 71)
Cost: 1.99m(2.08m)
The fuel saved here during the coming interstellar colonization startup will be considerable. Even a moderate speed increase like the 21% here will be significant as well. At least weeks, probably months per trip will be saved. As with the other revisions the fuel efficiency here is just over twice the standard South Carolina now in service.
Long Beach 84i Fuel Harvester
Size: 80.8kt(79.1 kt)
Crew: 429(411)
Speed: 445 km/s(379 km/s)
Fuel: 2m(1.5m)
Harvesting Modules: 26(rated at 832k per year)
Armament: 10x CIWS batteries(5 CIWS 71)
Cost: 1.77m(1.66m)
The Long Beach is of course a 'younger' or 'newer' design than most of the others. It also held a bit of a special concern. The recent improvement in mining techniques has led to some ships with particularly skilled COs nearly maxing out their tanks before shore leave. A good problem to have, but in the redesign it was decided that an attempt needed to be made to expand the fuel capacity. As a result, the new version is somewhat larger. These will fare much better than the originals if they are deployed somewhere with more accessible sorium than Saturn's 70%.
After all this some major reworking of the commercial shipyards was needed. The new one being built will service the Portland and Gato when it is ready, probably in a couple years. Vickers-Armstrong, idle since the Lexingtons were retired, will expand to be able to handle the Arleigh Burke. Howaldtswerke is set up to handle the Wickes, Oregon will continue to service the Iowa/Iowa XR classes, and the new Vegesacker SY will handle the Fletcher. P&A Group will have more work than they can possibly handle keeping up with the Long Beach harvesters, ENDM is expanding to match the needed size for the massive jump ships that will be built once the drive is ready, and the Tod & MacGregor handles the South Carolina.
After the Wickes is updated, Howaldtswerke should be able to handle whatever kind of colony ship SPACE comes up with, but this still leaves us a little tight. Another yard really is needed to keep things running smoothly, and is added to the queue. There's always a need for more, it seems. Always.
If you can keep all that straight, you're a better man than I. And we haven't even gotten to the military side yet ... Millions of workers at the shipyards were back at work retooling several of the yards to get ready for new or refit ships.
In November, a change to the optimal ESF loadouts was decided upon. Every system surveyed so far has finished the geological work long before the jump points are finished. It was decided to shift the balance of survey craft from three of each to two Prospectors and four Frontiers in order to balance this out a little bit. The new engines, when ready, will also help, as would better grav sensors but that last part is quite a ways off yet.
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
** October 16 -- Vertigo 144 finished(Alejandro Otteson).
October 23 -- The larger of the two commercial engines, the WP ID 240, has been finalized, led by Reynaldo Darrington.
December 16 -- Vertigo 180 completed(David Gruis). Meanwhile
EARTH
Mid-October -- Two assault infantry battalions enter service. One more construction brigade begins training, and the third training facility will idle now as that is all that is needed.
November 26 -- Another shipment of auto-mines departs for the Swift-Tuttle comet. They won't arrive until well into next year.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Early November -- Recent graduate Timmy Sheerin has now doubled his administrative skills to an accomplished level. He can handle pretty much any assignment short of Earth now.
November 30 -- Burt Stonerock moves into the accomplished tier in factory production, strengthening his resume for a run at the director's office in a month.
Mid-December -- The navy is touting the name of Patsy Demange, recent academy graduate. already accomplished in training, xenology, and factory production ... though im not sure what good the last one will do.
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"Sir! The archaeology team has discovered an alien artefact, engineers are attempting to recover it's data" :
(http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/memoryalpha/images/2/2c/Datas_head.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120302223305&path-prefix=en)
Good thing the database was securely encased inside that thing :p
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Lol!
STATE OF SPACE, 2085
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.75b, 500 CF, 109 OF, 75 REF, 49 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(76.9m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(74.1m, Tennessee MB)
Mercury(22.0m, Ticonderoga SB)
Titan(17.8m, 1 DSTS, Alaska MB)
Venus(16.0m)
Io(120k)
Europa(120k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)
Total Population: 1.96b(+9.5%)
The increasing political force of the colonies can be seen in the fact that populatons on Mars and Luna continue to grow at more than twice the rate of Earth. Percentage-wise, that is, most of the growth in terms of pure numbers of people is still on our homeworld. Civilian contractors continue to bring staggering amounts of infrastructure to Mercury, which has surpassed Titan as expected, growing by over 30% this cycle. Venus continues to grow as well albeit more slowly and there has even been the rare delivery of infrastructure to the moons of Jupiter, though in minute quantities. Colonial population now numbers more than 200 million people, 10.7% of the total. Humanity will likely reach the two billion mark sometime in the next year.
IB. Outposts
Sedna(40 CMC, 16 eff, 11.7 kt)
Triton(117 AM, 23.6 eff, 4.58 kt) -- mercassium(1.8)
Earth(50 SM, 6.2 eff, 515 t)
Borrelly(39.8 AM, 40 eff, 3.70 kt) -- vendarite(1.4)
Halley's Comet(36 AM, 33 eff, 2.17 kt) -- corbomite(9.5)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 30 eff, 1.68 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 32 eff, 1.49 kt) -- gallicite(0.2)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.10 kt) -- sorium(4.1)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 25 eff, 1.07 t) -- duranium(6.0)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 311 t)
Faye(25 AM, 24 eff, 995 t) -- neutronium(4.4)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 29 eff, 1.20 kt) -- boronide(0.5), tritanium(8.5)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.76 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 26 eff, 881 t)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 40 eff, 1.18 kt) -- uridium(8.6)
Tempel-Tuttle(14 AM, 40 eff, 930 t)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 10 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 912 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 7.9 eff, 131 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 452 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 346 t)
Swift-Tuttle(5 AM, 71 eff, 618 t)
Total Production: 37.73 kt, +20%. This is by far a record total amount that SPACE mines are bringing in. Expansion on Sedna and Triton, new productive outposts on Tempel-Tuttle and Swift-Tuttle were the key factors. Swift-Tuttle is particularly worthy of mention as it is the most efficient comet ever developed. That fact will last for less than a decade as a number of minerals are in short supply, but it's certainly a short-term boon. 16 of the 21 comets that don't have a prohibitively long period have been developed now. At least one more, Herschel-Rigollet, soon will be. This is certainly a case of the boom before the crash, but right now it's more than enough to keep the wheels turning. Looking ahead, it is now projected that Comas Sola will be the first to completely run out sometime in the mid-90s. The crash is coming.
IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production
Tier A(rare usage): Corbomite(79 kt), Vendarite(71 kt), Sorium(56 kt)
Supplies of all three rose sharply as they continue to do. It's rather stunning to recall that sorium was once considered a key mineral some decades ago. Now we bank roughly two kilotons a year in the ever-growing storage compounds. Vendarite usage varies greatly, and while it moves up to an A-list material now that may well change by next cycle as shipbuilding for the refits, Frozen Vengeance, etc. will likely move it down a tier again.
Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(127 kt), Tritanium(52 kt), Boronide(37 kt), Gallicite(31 kt)
There is now 62% more uridium than any other mineral in the stockpiles. When Sedna's deposits of it vanish, which will happen sometime around the end of the century, that fact may change. We may have approaching 200 kt of it by then, despite significant constant use, so there is not even the shadow of concern. Tritanium has remained fairly steady over the last couple of decades, and boronide is starting to decline a bit with increased shipbuilding.
Gallicite is the biggest concern here by far. It notably dropped by 5 kt with the Defender 76 missile production run, and while it'll get a relative break here, once Exorcist and Interceptor missiles are needed for the next generation it will be needed in large quantities again. Gallicite is the unquestioned favorite to join the big four minerals, but there is enough of it still that this is not an immediate concern.
Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Mercassium(19.4 kt), Neutronium(17.5 kt), Duranium(16.9 kt)
Duranium has recovered from the recent dive, mercassium is nearly stable at this point and neutronium has steadily risen for about a decade now. The coming massive round of shipbuilding will stress all of them.
Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Corundium(8.36 kt)
Recent development of the new comet outposts to increase supply has served to greatly reduce the decline in corundium, but the supply still shrinks and that fact is likely to continue. This will limit the amount of new mines put out there, but should be enough to allow some to continue. Duranium is very likely to rejoin this tier as shipbuilding activity ramps up again.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 43.1m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 14.5m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 5.3m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 238k
Total: 63.1m(+15%)
Tourism is an overall powerfully growing but also volatile sector of the economy. SPACE expects this to make revenue projections increasingly difficult and inaccurate in the future. Right now planetary taxes make up only about two-thirds of income, a share that is expected to continue to decline, and they are the only real predictable element in the mix.
Balance: 809m(+90 m)
IE. Expenses
Research: 11.7m
Mineral Purchases: 9.89m
Shipbuilding: 7.65m
Installation Construction: 5.76m
Shipyard Modifications: 1.72m
PDC Construction: 1.35m
Maintenance Facilities: 1.12m
Ordnance: 813k
GU Maintenance: 553k
GU Training: 281k
Total: 40.8m (+21%)
Yet again income far outpaces expenses. SPACE expects this situation to become much more unpredictable as well, with greater and greater periodic swings in the needed amount of activity in the shipyards and army training facilities.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Retooling for the South Carolina 84i(June 2085)
Estalerios Navais do Montego(ENDM)(2, 132 kt)
** Expanding to 170kt(unknown)
P&A Group(5, 80 kt)
** Building a tenth group of harvesters(September 2085) and a sixth slipway(same time). P&A has been the busiest shipyard by far, seeing constant activity for over a decade now.
Howaldswerke/Deutsche Werft(HDW)(1, 55.3 kt)
** Retooling for the Wickes 84i(February)
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Retooling for the Iowa 84i XR(April)
Vegesacker Werft(1, 40.7 kt)
** Set up for the Fletcher 84i. The next administration will decide how many to build.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10.8 kt)
** Expanding to 17.3kt or so for use with the Arleigh Burke.
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Idle.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Idle.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Idle.
Permanant(1, 10.1 kt)
** Idle
International(2, 1 kt)
** Building the first of two additional pairs of Frontier Gravitational Survey vessels for the ESFs.
Niehuis and van den Berg(2, 1 kt)
** Idle.
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle.
The lack of activity in the naval yards is due to this being a significant waiting period. Once the new jump drive, military engines, etc. are finished they'll have about as much work as they can handle.
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Three active training facilities
** One idle, the final two planned Construction Brigades are being trained up.
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(25%) -- August 2085. The pace has slowed to less than one per year with the recent diversification and the sudden retirement of Governor Alborn.
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- approx. 8/year
Mine Construction(12%) -- approx. 8/year
PDC Alaska 82(12%) -- Four bases for Earth, to be finished sometime in 2099
Ordnance Factories(10%) -- 41 still on order, about 6 per year
Commercial Shipyards(10%) -- Two more needed, ETA mid-2089
Prefab PDC Alaska 82(5%) -- An upgraded base for Titan, ETA 2092
Naval Shipyards(5%) -- Two ordered, the amount will be under review by the new admin. ETA 2092
Mass Driver(2%) -- Replacement for those sent to the new comet outposts. One left, est. late 2086
Prefab PDC Ticonderoga 82(2%) -- Eight upgarded sensor bases for populated colonies. Two are already finished and being assembled on Mars and Luna, the rest are estimated completed roughly by the end of 2092
Terraforming Installation(2%) -- The new 2% Initiative in operation. First installation is expected ready this November.
V A. PRIORITY RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Quad WT Excalibur 135-16(Meson Turret)(Leonel Wessels) -- February/March 2085
** JPS ID 63(Ion Shuttle Thruster)(Alejandro Otteson) -- March/April 2085
** Eagle 72 Military Engine(David Gruis) -- May 2085
** SPPI ID 525(Exorcist Missile Engine)(Jerry Bartholf) -- September 2085
** GEI GCF 5400(Large Power Plant)(Norris Gunterman) -- November/December 2085
** Eagle 60 Military Engine(Reynaldo Darrington) -- December 2085/January 2086
** Vertigo 90(Combat Engine)(Irving Steinmeyer) -- 2Q/3Q 2086
** GEI MSS 336.7(Active Missile Search Sensor)(Elwood Tousant) -- 4Q 2086
** GEI SSS 336.7(Active Ship Search Sensor)(Bessie Wallander) -- Early 2087
** AKH CJ-90.4(Commercial Jump Drive)(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2087
** MFC 126-1.7(Interceptor Missile Fire Control Suite)(Carl Fosberg) -- Late 2087
** SITG Emdar 132.7(Military Electromagnetic Sensor Suite)(Ross Dodge) -- Late 2087/Early 2088
** Improved Planetary Sensors(Julio Kuchler) -- Early 2088
** Colonization Cost Reduction(Alphonse Lambeth) -- Mid-2088
** SITG ThermoScan 176.7(Military Thermal Sensor Suite)(Sung Padro) -- 2090
** RSJ Sniper 16-72.7(Anti-Missile Beam Fire Control Suite)(Irma Bartlebaugh) -- 2090/2091
** Improved Terraforming Rate Garland Sidhom) -- 2090/2091
A cursory examination of this list shows the massive effort currently being put forward by R&D to support Frozen Vengeance and the Navy's refits/upgrades. Most but not all of the prototypes are either finished or currently being worked on.
V B. NOTABLE SCIENTISTS
** Biology/Genetics
Garland Sidhom(Elite)
** Construction/Production
None!
** Energy Weapons
Leonel Wessels(Accomplished)
Freddy Salsgiver(Accomplished)
Minh Klausner(Accomplished)
** Logistics/Ground Combat
Alphonse Lambeth(Elite)
Stanley Kogut(Accomplished)
** Missiles/Kinetic Weapons
None!
** Power/Propulsion
Rosemary Urenda(Elite)
David Gruis(Accomplished)
Norris Gunterman(Accomplished)
Alejandro Otteson(Accomplished)
** Sensors/Fire Control
Julio Kuchler(Elite)
Elwood Tousant(Accomplished)
Bessie Wallander(Accomplished)
It's a mixed bag right now. The strongest fields are those SPACE needs the most. Things would be far worse if Propulsion or Sensors had a shortage of quality project leads. Energy Weapons is strongly on the comeback trail en route to probably being a great strength for decades, and Logisitics is solid even if there isn't the bevy of geniuses that there has been in the past. The negatives are big though as well. Missile technology is crucial to the effort to combat the aliens and it's a dead area right now. Construction and Production advances are vital to growing the industrial base, getting the most out of our mines, etc., and this is the first time there hasn't been a top-drawer project lead though at least in that case we can say there are a couple of youngsters who might develop. All the gains in recent years have been wiped out by retiring elite researchers, but at least some of them have been replaced.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
VI A. Military Bases
Alaska(5, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
Ticonderoga(8, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 15 installations(+25%), 345 kt(+15%), 5.66k crew(+11%)
VI B. Combat Ships
MB Nimitz(3, 14 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
MB Nimitz '76c(4, 10.3 kt, 273 crew, 2439 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(4, 13.5 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)
GB Brooklyn '81(1, 10.5 kt, 282 crew, 2380 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, beam-armed)
Total: 12 ships(+72%), 148 kt(+60%), 3.92k crew(+59%), 18.5m fuel(+57%)
One more Brooklyn 81 is due to be finished soon, but that will be the last of these to be built. Ironically it looks like this first-wave combat Navy will end up having served only PR purposes, unless the aliens change it up and come hunting.
VI C. Military Non-combat Ships
CC Baltimore(2, 10 kt, 284 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, command carrier)
ST Caldwell(32, 950 t, 14 crew, 2210 km/s, 500k fuel, VIP shuttle w/8 capacity)
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SC Explorer(6, 850 t, 18 crew, 1411 km/s, 250k fuel, jump scout)
SB Forrestal III(14, 650 t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
GSV Frontier(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, gravsurvey)
SVC Gearing(2, 10 kt, 158 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, survey carrier)
GEV Prospector(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, geosurvey)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 72 ships(+36%), 107 kt(+58%), 2.21k crew(+84%), 24.9 m fuel(+69%)
Most of the growth came from finishing up the Caldwell VIP shuttles, with the carriers being added to the ESFs as well. With the coming refits and upgrades I don't see the total numbers climbing much if at all.
VI D. Commercial Vessels
TT Arleigh Burke(6, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
TK Iowa XR(2, 9.7 kt, 53 crew, 1.03k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
FH Long Beach(36, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)
SV Wickes(1, 20.6 kt, 188 crew, 486 km/s, 250k fuel, salvage/recovery)
Total: 61 ships(-20%), 3.98 mt(+38%), 19.5k crew(+58%), 89.4m liters fuel(+31%)
The new Iowa XR tankers were finished for the ESFs, a couple of Arleigh Burke brigade transports added, and of course the continued growth in the Long Beach harvester portion of the fleet. Meanwhile the old Lexingtons and Perrys have all been scrapped now. Out with the old, in with the new, and that process will definitely continue now for at least a decade.
Grand Total: 160 assets(+13%), 4.58 mt(+51%), 31.3k crew(+75%), 133m liters fuel(+41%)
It just keeps growing ... and growing ... and growing ...
Available Crew: 170k(+10%)
VI E. Fuel Status
Earth -- 10.9m liters
Titan -- 8.3m
Callisto -- 5.0m
Total -- 24.2m liters(-9%) A second straight decline, but probably the last one. Given the reduced fuel needs of the new ships and the ever-increasing amount being harvested, it looks like the recovery is well under way.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(6)
** Construction Brigades(8)
** Assault Infantry Battalions(4)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(12)
** Garrison Battalion(34)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 480k(+14%)
The army will reach the half-million mark when the latest construction brigades finish their training. It's interesting that an obscenely higher amount of money is spent on the navy, yet there are 15 soldiers in the army for every 'sailor' in the navy.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Tolles Transport & Logistics(53 ships, 8.62m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(60, 5.32m)
Voliva Carrier Company(77, 4.87m)
Ridolfi Interstellar(3, 1.11m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 150k)
Hayter Container Group(3, 100k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 40k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, 10k)
Total Vessels: 203(+32%)
Total Civilian Income: 20.2m(+60%)
Voliva's ever-increasing ship count and profits and ever-decreasing market share is rather humorous to watch. Once a near-monopoly, they are now third in the sector. The key to Tolles Transport's inconceivable rise, as they doubled their operations again this cycle, has been a strong mix of fuel harvesting from Uranus and infastructure deliveries to the ravenous appetites for that on Mercury and Venus. Newcomers Ridolfi Interstellar are off to a strong start with a primary focus on colonist transport. For every success story there are at least an equal number of failures. 7 of the 13 registered civilian firms are all but defunct.
** Beginning in this report, those with no income at all are removed. This continues the focus on only reporting the most important things. **
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 174 of 196 assigned(89%), +5%
** Ground Forces Officers: 64 of 84(76%), --
** Civilian Administrators: 29 of 37(78%), -1%
** Scientists: 29 of 37(78%), -12%
Overall: 296 of 354(83.6%), +3.8%
BOG has recovered nicely with a record number of candidates, even though most are unimpressive. R&D has actually seen a small decline from 40 to 37 researchers, with retirements outweighing new talent recently. The overall picture has never looked better, with only one in six 'qualified' candidates out of a job.
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As an FYI, I can officially say my hard drive is kaput. It still 'runs' but hangs for several minutes at a time unpredictably on really intensive tasks like opening a file folder :P. This is upon a fresh windows install.
So there's a new one incoming. That will probably take about a week, then I'll need to reinstall windows, all the drivers, etc. so probably the last week of January potentially before I'm ready to 'hit the ground running' so to speak with new Aurora material past 2090.
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RETIREMENTS
None. Definitely a polar opposite of what happened in 81. In this case there are a handful of BOG members in the upper 50s or early 60s, but all of them are in good health. That's good news for almost everybody.
2085 ELECTION
Overall, Director Riley Awad had a highly successful first term. A much better, although far from optimal, first contact in Lalande 21185 saw no ships lost. Operation Renewal has gone extremely well, with some significant new resources and new systems found and all assets working as designed/expected. Most of this is the result of those who came before him, but it's always the man in charge when it happens that gets the credit. Awad was a near-prohibitive favorite to win another term. At 60, it's his final election win or lose.
Luna governor Burt Stonerock was the only serious challenger. Out of nine qualifiers, just four made it to the final ballot. That's the smallest field since the first few elections in the 20s and 30s, half a century ago. Stonerock is a real lightning rod, 'rhetorically undiplomatic' is I believe the polite way to put it. His concept is essentially to tell the whining colonialists to stick it where the sun don't shine, only in less charitable language. For the health of the body politic it certainly was an important vote.
It also, much to everyone's surprise, ended up being one of the closest votes SPACE has ever had. Stonerock's 'plain talk' appealed to far more people than was initially considered(and hoped). Awad looked a little uninspired, a little tired, perhaps unsure he really wanted to do this for another four years. And so it came right down to the wire. The final tally:
Riley Awad -- 33.4%
Burt Stonerock -- 32.2%
Errol Igoe -- 17.9%
Russell Salvuccii -- 16.5%
The status quo held, but barely. The fault lines in SPACE have clearly not healed as much as it has sometimes appeared. There have been many changes in recent years, perhaps too many to be fully and seamlessly assimilated. Meanwhile, it was another stronger-than-expected showing by Errol Igoe, governor of Titan, considered by far SPACE's top expert in shipbuilding. The Clemson project still has considerable backing, and there was no doubt Igoe was the colonial's choice.
POLICY REVIEW
Never afraid to stir things up, Awad almost had that propensity cost him the election. But it didn't, and he was in the Director's Office at Sector Command for a second and final term.
A growing concern was that factory production just didn't go as far as it used to. Mines, research laboratory complexes, nothing is getting built any faster than it was twenty years ago. The relative amount added to the economy shrinks -- adding a lab a year is not as impressive when there's almost 50 as it is when there's 30 in service. Meanwhile the shipyards continue to claim more and more workers and minerals. Believing in a balanced economy as ever, Awad ordered an investment in equalizing the number of workers employed in the factories and shipyards over time, which right now requires a the first significant investment in new factories that has been contemplated in decades. Certainly mineral supply will become an issue with this at some point, but the goal is to be able to switch or pivot wherever production is needed. With the factories 'falling behind', the entire economy suffers. They need to be able to kick out equipment faster during slow times for the navy. Initially it was determined that 168 new factories in addition to the present 500 were needed to match shipyard employment, nearly a 30-year proposition with a 10% investment and the needed factories would grow as the new shipyards come into service. In just a few years Earth has gone from a very concentrated effort on mines and research labs to the most diversified set of efforts ever(12 ongoing projects).
The second was far more controversial. It was announced that, witnessed by two World Court justices, Riley Awad had invoked the little-known and never-used Sealed Order[/I] provision of the SPACE constitution at the end of the previous term. The Sealed Order is a means by which a Director may change major elements of governmental structure and/or procedure, but only if approved by the winner of the next directorial election and a majority of BOG.
The subject at hand was the continuity of government. The Sealed Order laid out several problems with the current arrangement, which had remained essentially unchanged since the charter was enacted 60 years ago:
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At an impasse again for a different reason, hopefully temporary. The last post was about half of one of the previous things I needed to repost. It wouldn't post in it's entirety, and neither will the second half post seemingly no matter how I break it up. I don't know what to do about this for the time being.
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Oh bother.
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STATE OF SPACE, 2085
(SNIP)
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(25%) -- August 2085. The pace has slowed to less than one per year with the recent diversification and the sudden retirement of Governor Alborn.
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- approx. 8/year
Mine Construction(12%) -- approx. 8/year
(SNIP)
Why not build the mines directly as auto-mines, rather then building normal mines and converting them?
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Because I was being an idiot and didn't realize what I was doing. Basically it was a holdover from the time when Earth needed to convert standard mines to automines to move mining operations to places in Sol such as the comets where they needed to be automated. For decades SPACE just kept building mines and then converting them since I didn't notice what was going on. That changed in a update soon to come, if I can get around the forum problems.
In other words, there was no good reason and you're absolutely correct.
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Just tried posting the next update from a different computer, with the same error. I didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try.
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Just tried posting the next update from a different computer, with the same error. I didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try.
Did you try different browsers, java versions or things that could have impact too? Shame if we can't have long nice posts due to some bugs :(
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I tried two different browsers. I don't think it's the length of the posts, it's just certain combinations of characters or something like that. What I'm probably going to do, I've been pondering it, is just try to continue anyway and just comment briefly on anything I have to leave out. It's far from perfect, and may not work if I get a lot of errors, but since it only has happened(so far) with the one section that seems best to me at this juncture.
Thanks much for the suggestion.
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Broke forum is broken, I've had no problems with it, but I haven't attempted an AAR for ages.
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Edit Note(Updated): This is the next section of the offending post, which continues the description on the previous page from some weeks ago about the Sealed Order and SPACE's restructuring. By using italics around a couple instances of the word 'from' I was able to get it to work(thanks to MarcAFK!). This is colossally stupid, but more importantly will likely make this thread able to proceed.
DEFINING THE PROBLEM
1. The constant jetting around for reassigments cost significant amounts of time and fuel. Additionally, it was also not sustainable for a future in which humanity spread to far-flung systems. Change was inevitable, it was only a question of when.
2. The reassignments also posed a security risk. If a clever enemy attacked when the naval reassignments were being done, or a terrorist organization during the political ones, disaster might easily follow. It was frankly stunning that this had not happened already and could only be chalked up to providence or incredible luck.
3. Most officials could be more effective with more familiarity in their tasks. When so many change positions every 2-4 years, the kind of long-term contacts and mutual confidence between the supervisor and the supervised necessary was difficult if not impossible to achieve.
4. Positions were handed out in many cases based on regimented rules, not logic and merit. A key mining outpost, for example, has often been (mis?) managed by someone moving their way up the ladder who doesn't know the first thing about rudimentary automining techniques simply because they were next on the totem pole. Similar problems existed in the military. A new approach was needed to match candidates more intelligently with the needs of SPACE's ever-changing operations.
5. Similar regimented rules often prevented important jobs from being filled. The formulaic requirement of having several officers of a particular rank for each of the rank above has resulted in a lack of sufficient construction brigades because there weren't enough generals to lead them, and staff officer positions going unfilled because of no captains to man them, to use a pair of prominent examples.
It was clearly noted that these procedures had made sense as a starting point when SPACE was founded, but had long outlived their utility. A transition must be made to a government appropriate to the interstellar empire humankind is attempting to become.
A RADICAL SOLUTION
The new proposed approach is a hierarchical meritocracy. It is modeled on the wildly successful approach the R&D Directorate has taken the last few years, an approach which has rightly earned nigh-universal approval. The public at large would still have their control of the situation, it is strongly emphasized, through election of the Director anytime the office came open. Instead of an every-four-years mentality though, an election would only take place when the Director retired or was recalled by popular or BOG vote, either of which could unseat him/her by a 60% supermajority.
Appointments in the Navy, Army, or BOG are now considered semi-permanent. Promotion or retirement are the primary reasons for moving from one posting to another, aside from that officials will remain in position. Promotions happen as needed -- a new ship or ground unit, a new colony/outpost founded, a higher-ranking official retiring, etc. -- and the person appointed is based not on some abstract calculation but a vote of one's superiors. I.e., if a new general is needed the existing generals will vote on which colonel to promote, etc. This operates in a chain, where the colonel position vacated would then be filled as voted on by other colonels, and so on. There will be far less flitting about, because 'lateral moves' will be virtually non-existent. To encourage continuity, anyone who has not been in their current position 2-4 years will be unlikely to be promoted. There are exceptions of course.
Under the new paradigm it was proposed that R&D remain as it is, things are working well there. The Army would remain relatively unchanged. Colonels will be brigade commanders or prospective ones, Brigadier General for brigade commanders, Major General for division commanders(divisional HQs are not yet a thing but are being researched, so it's appropriate for plans to be made), and the highest rank of Lieutenant General is reserved for the senior commander in locations where multiple divisions are deployed. The honorary title of General of the Army is bestowed upon the Lieutenant General in charge of ground forces on Earth. The first is of course Anton Engelhardt, vitality still fending off retirement in his case. All of SPACE's ground forces ultimately report to him.
The other two branches of public service are effectively split into two tracks. In the case of BOG, the two tracks are malleable and converge significantly. There is the mining outpost career path, for those who excel in delving deep for vital TN resources, and the colony career path, for those who are better at managing populations. At this moment there is no place where they really merge completely. Earth as the industrial center has special needs, and both Titan and Callisto benefit from mining and logistic skills as well as those related to financial excellence. In general though while the mining path is less prestigious, it is not less important. New administrators in search of a first posting will tend to stay on the path where they get their first opportunity, but as skills evolve there is a significant chance of crossover.
The Navy would see the greatest change. The present system of eight distinct ranks would be largely done away with, replaced with a new system of ten. Each would generally define an officer's role and authority, not necessarily their overall skill:
Fleet Admiral -- The Navy's top officer, in present case the meteoric Mitchell Feeser. The Fleet Admiral, in addition to being the man or woman to whom all the naval forces ultimately report, personally commands all combat assets in the Sol system.
Admiral -- Top combat commander in any major system.
Vice Admiral -- Combat commander of any expeditionary/invasion fleet or defensive combat forces in a minor system
Commodore -- Commander of a combat task group/military base; Operations officer of a combat TF; Commander of any military non-combat TF
Captain -- Commander of a combat ship; staff officer of a combat TF; operations officer of a military non-combat TF; or commander of a commercial TF
Commander -- Commander of a military non-combat ship; staff officer of a military TF; operations officer of a commercial TF
Lieutenant Commander -- Commander of a commercial ship; staff officer of a commercial ship
Lieutenant -- Pool of candidates for first command. Most will have finished a year of training and experience as an ensign, but particularly talented officers will be fast-tracked here after six months or even in exceptional cases immediately upon graduation.
Ensign -- Recent graduates undergoing mandatory training and experience to prepare them for the responsibilities of command.
The two paths in the Navy are ship commander and staff officers, generally speaking. It will probably be rare for those in the staff officer path to rise higher than Captain or transition over to the ship command wing, but it is possible if they learn the proper skills.
BOG REACTION
There was a certain amount of hysteria, even shock from certain quarters. Even the opponents of Awad's plan though were forced to admit the truth of the assessment that the current setup often worked against SPACE and humanity, rather than serving it as it should. A variety of mostly spurious counterproposals were floated and had holes poked in them even more quickly. In the end BOG and more than enough of the public came to the conclusion that it was a troubling plan except when you compared it to all the others. The devil would always be in the details, but there was no question it was an improvement over the status quo.
The amendment passed quite easily in the end, and was put to an immediate test. Earth was without a governor. Typically that position passed to the second-place finisher in the election, but not under the new arrangement. It came down to three candidates: Burt Stonerock, Errol Igoe, and Roxann Harshberger. Everything of industrial importance pretty much still happens on Earth, and that was the dominant consideration. Stonerock had the best resume as an experienced governor accomplished in both shipyard and factory operations. His age(55, in declining health) was not in his favor though, and neither was the fact that he has made no friends due to his rampaging foot-in-mouth disease. Igoe is a shipbuilding savant but has only limited skill on the factory side, so a much more imbalanced candidate. He was Director Awad's favorite for the job as they share similar personal styles. Finally, there was Roxann Harshberger. Just 38, Harshberger has been on Venus for the last four years and has an overall resume to match Stonerock's.
Harshberger's overall body of work was considered far better for an eventual run at the Director's spot than for Earth: she isn't very skilled in industrial matters. Meanwhile, Russell Salvucci sided with Stonerock due their similar mentality(or lack thereof?), most of the other key players went that way as well due to candid observations that Earth really needs a strong hand on the factory side of things. The remainder really just didn't want to rock the boat, espescially if it meant making an enemy of Salvucci. And so it was that Burt Stonerock was appointed Governor of Earth.
This created a hole on Luna, and it was very quickly concluded that Harshberger was perfect for the job. She's talented in everything the moon needs: terraforming, population growth, and finances. The overall package made it a no-brainer. On it went, with the lesser positions being filled in similar manner. The full list, as an example of how the new policy is implemented:
Luna - Earth: Burt Stonerock
Venus - Luna: Roxann Harshberger
Europa - Venus: Rufus Ke
Triton - Europa: Augustine Wollner*
Borrelly - Triton: Timmy Sheerin
Tempel-Tuttle - Borrelly: Antione Fuss*
Unemployed - Tempel-Tuttle: Antonette Kristek
The asterisks were cases where it was more a candidates political acumen and highly-placed friends who got them the job rather than their actual management skills. This was particularly the case with Antione Fuss -- there was no question that Ronald Waxman was a better, more experienced candidate to take over probably SPACE's most important comet mining concern, but Fuss was better at winning over the right people without doing anything provably illegal.
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** I think it's safe to say the annual report is dead. I don't think I've every had half this much stuff in the 'things that happened at Earth' section. It's a particularly busy time for SPACE right now but part of that is just what will become the 'new normal'. Exploration should pretty much be a constant thing, colonization will bring new challenges, and even if the Navy has no battles to fight there's just going to be a little more of everything. There have been times when it's just been the occasional bit of minor news for a few years with mostly just making sure the freighters keep running.
SPACE is no longer in it's infancy -- she's stretching her legs. So probably 2-3 updates a year I think is what's going to end up happening.**
January - September 2085
Fleet Admiral Mitchell Feeser was the key to keeping the peace in the early months of transition to the new arrangment. There was some necessary upheaval in the Navy, and a fair amount of confusion about what all the new ranks meant. Some had been effectively promoted, others demoted, by nature of the new status of their assignments. By the end of February though, Feeser had put out most of the fires and the skill with which he did so had even previously recalcitrant BOG members calling him an equal match with former Navy chief Ellie Camble as the greatest naval officer SPACE has ever had. That, my friends, is high praise indeed. At 49, he is likely to lead the service for another decade or more.
** February increases in Feeser's political reliability and survey skills in short order; his 'promotion score' is within 100 points of Camble's peak and 1000+ higher than anyone's else's has been **
March was a big month. The new mining governors were increasing supply enough that despite an increase to a moderate level of shipyard activity, most of the stockpiles were holding steady. Sedna added it's second complex this year which didn't hurt matters either. The new meson turret for Frozen Vengeance was finished, and all staff officers except those in ESF Bravo which is apparently still in Sirius had been reassigned. All the needed base and combat ship COs were already on location, so they began their new jobs and in just over two months the navy's power structure was in place. Any major disruption now averted, the attention was turned to the rank and file. By the middle of the month, gallicite was exhausted on Stephan-Oterma in not-so-good news and incoming Earth Governor Burt Stonerock began his duties on the 18th.
There was shipyard news detailed in the Earth notes in early April, and then on the 9th The JPS ID 63, high-powered thruster for the Caldwell redesign, has been finished with Alejandro Otteson serving as lead researcher. The new protocols will definitely result in a smaller number of those, but how many exactly has not yet been determined. The new design is hammered out:
Caldwell 84i VIP Shuttle
Size: 950t
Crew: 15(14)
Speed: 3315 km/s(2210 km/s)
Fuel: 500k
Range: 40.2b km(33.4 b km)
Cost: 183k(151k)
The sensors were only one generation old as this was one of the newer nuclear pulse classes. They were upgraded, the new ion powered thruster added, and a little more maintenance capacity added as well to make sure SPACE's most visible servants have an uninterrupted, smooth flight to wherever they are going. Despite a 50% speed increase, the same amount of fuel will carry the new models further, giving them more than enough endurance. Reducing the total in service will make this version's 30k price increase a much easier pill to swallow -- it should still be a much cheaper operation overall.
KSEC will require just over a month for the retooling. Meanwhile the last of the new engines enters testing. By April 19 all of the Navy's military ship postings were filled, leaving only the commercial openings left to resolve. Two days before the end of the month, that too was completed. Just under four months and the Navy was operating as before, only a little better. There were no holes going unfilled. The initial division of officers by rank:
Fleet Admiral -- 1
Admiral -- 0
Vice Admiral -- 0
Commodore -- 9
Captain -- 19
Commander -- 87
Lt. Commander -- 73
Lieutenant -- 8
Ensign -- 1
Not a lot of spare parts with all the new staff officers, that's for sure. But SPACE was confident the academies would soon rectify that situation.
On May 2, two Frontiers are finished, ready to outfit the ESFs with the new configuration. Two Caldwell commanders are tapped for the positions and their ships scrapped, the beginning of a process that will eventually see 20 of 32 done away with. This will add 10 million liters of fuel to the tanks. It will also cause a temporary stagnation in the lower ranks of the Navy, as that's twenty commanders(now 18) who will need to find new tours of duty. Two weeks later retooling was finished and the first of the new South Carolina superfreighters and Caldwell VIP shuttles were begun.
In about the middle of June the last of two Brooklyn 81s was finished, the final ship to be built of the 'old navy'. Yokohama Docks go silent for the time being. Still having heard nothing from Sirius, and with ESF Bravo gone two years, an Explorer was dispatched to the system to investigate and report back on their general mission status. This was around three times as long now as any other system has taken to survey ...
While that was still ongoing, with the Wickes refit nearing completion, SPACE engineering begins to work on the latest new design: the Spruance 85i Colony Ship. This was around the middle of July. Avid SPACE historians may recall that the original Spruance-B, built in the early days of the Sol colonial rush, was constructed but never actually used. This was because the earnestness of the civilian sector to profit from the process was not accurately anticipated.
There are no such concerns this time around as all jump technology is highly classified. Bringing people to a world outside of Sol will require an official transport.
Spruance 85i Colony Ship
Size: 52.2 kt
Crew: 299
Speed: 920 km/s
Fuel: 550k
Range: 62.4b km
Cryo Storage: 150,000 colonists
Armament: 6x CIWS 79 Batteries
Cost: 2.25m
The most expensive ship SPACE has designed to date, the Spruance 85i will be capable of taking 150,000 pioneers multiple jumps away from their home if need be to colonize new worlds. Obscene amounts of mercassium -- 1.25 mt -- will be needed for each ship, and several hundred kilotons of duranium as well. The cryogenic storage modules, 15 of them,demand the finest tolerances and most careful construction to ensure safety. Estimates are the first will be able to be deployed no sooner than late 2089.
A few days later there was a bit of history as SPACE finished it's 50th research complex -- a far cry from the five they started with a little over 60 years ago. Rounding out the month was the departure of ESF Alpha, which had been docked for about a year. To begin it's second voyage, it headed to Teegarden's Star for a hopefully short visit to clean up Bravo's mess(the fifth planet and it's two moons were never surveyed).
On August 12, the Explorer jumped to Sirius, and within an hour was back with the report that Sirius had been a difficult and complicated survey, but all mission indicators were still green and ESF Bravo would return in the fall with a full report. A relief to be sure that, as many in SPACE feared the worst, Director Awad certainly among them. The same week, five new Long Beach harvesters were finished and after a seemingly interminable run of construction the judgement was made that their are finally enough of them to stop constantly building more. By the end of August the new Interceptor missile was ready and ordnance factories began the initial run of those to get ahead, even though the Exorcist won't be ready for production for some time yet.
In the early hours of September 27, ESF Alpha made the jump to Teegarden's Star. SPACE was soon occupied elsewhere, as in the final hours of the month it was announced that the first-ever terraforming installation was now ready! Transport to Mars is arranged immediately, where nearly 80 million colonists eagerly anticipate the first TN jobs ever on the red planet -- as well as the prospect of improved living conditions, though it will likely be their children or even grandchildren who benefit most from that.
Before it could arrive, on October 8th ESF Bravo finally returned. The much-anticipated, long-awaited survey report on Sirius was finally here ...
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
January 7 -- Sedna finishes a 41st complex.
March 1 -- Sedna adds again, a 42nd.
March 16 -- Gallicite exhausted on Stephan-Oterma.
July 8 -- Boronide on Comas Sola has been exhausted.
August 12 -- A third Sedna expansion on the year.
PERSONNEL
January 23 -- Dante Sawatsky(DS, 31) is the latest to reach accomplished status, earning him a second lab for his work on shield regeneration rates.
April 16 -- A single colonel is dismissed.
May 16 -- Earth governor Burt Stonerock is probably the first accomplished terraformer BOG has ever had. Won't do him a whole lot of good in this assignment of course, but the colonies could potentially benefit from it if he ever reaches the Director's position.
June 5 -- Rufus Ke has reached accomplished status in encouraging new population growth. Don't ask how. Just ... don't ask.
June 9 -- Long-maligned Delois Woznicki improves her administration ability. This will allow her to remain on Mercury, which was becoming a strain too great for her abilities.
EARTH
February 20 -- The first retooling job is finished and the refit of the Wickes begins. It may not have ever done anything useful yet, but it's the first ship to get one of the new ion drives, so that's one small piece of history.
March 16 -- Fleet training exercises resume
April 2 -- Construction of the first of the new class of Fletchers begins. The old ones will be scrapped, as they are so old that they really need to go and it would cost almost as much as a new ship to refit them anyway. The current eight is far more than SPACE needs: three will be built to start, one at a time at Vegesacker Werft.
April 5 -- Oregon finishes retooling for the new Iowa fuel tankers. Due to the change in the tanks, this will be a new build prospect also. The Navy wants two in reserve for it's operations, so four regular and two XR tankers will be built this time instead of two of each. Oregon begins adding a second slipway to support this, while the first of the standard hulls is begun.
May 16 -- Retooling for the new Caldwell 84i and South Carolina 84i is now complete. As feared new superfreighters will need to be built, refitting isn't a practical option. Another four will be laid down at least, and impressively they could be finished in a little over a year. That means an impressive amount of minerals being burned through as well, but there's little option here. A similar story for the much-cheaper Caldwells
June 4 -- First pair of Caldwells are scrapped.
June 11 -- Last of the Brooklyn 81s is built. Second and last of the class.
July 1 -- Fleet HQ sends an Explorer to Sirius to investigate the length of their stay.
July 14 -- The Wickes is finished and retooling begins for the Spruance 85i. It will likely be close to the end of the decade before the first is in operation.
July 17 -- A 50th research complex has been built on Earth. That's still about 10-12 less than the optimal amount for the present scientists. The work must continue.
July 28 -- ESF Alpha leaves for the Teegarden's Star JP.
August 3 -- Sixth slipway completed at P&A Group SY. It will now need to expand a bit for the Long Beach 84i.
August 12 -- Ninth construction brigade is now in service.
August 14 -- Long Beach(x5) finished.
September 6 -- P&A Group has expanded to 80.9 kt for each of its slipways now and begins the process of retooling, which will basically take the rest of the year. That's a bit long to wait so the new 10th Harvester Group heads for Saturn, only four ships as the fifth will remain so engineers can do the refit calculations when the time comes.
September 11 -- A third and final shipment of automines leaves for Swift-Tuttle. So far the mineral stocks are holding up surprisingly well. Duranium is down only about a kiloton, corundium and neutronium are holding steady, mercassium slowly declining but there remains a buffer.
RESEARCH
** April 9 -- The JPS ID 63 has been finished(Alejandro Otteson)
** May 18 -- Eagle 72 military engine ready(David Gruis). For the first time in a couple of years, the power & propulsion field isn't completely occupied with prototype testing.
** June 5 -- Irving Steinmeyer finishes the SPPI ID 105, better known as the Interceptor engine. He's worked himself out of a job for the moment, as Elyse Buckler will take on testing the missile itself now.
** July 4 -- Combat Drop Modules of Battalion size are now ready thanks to the work of Modesto Huch's team. If we ever do find the homes of the alien bastards we'll likely need them.
** August 8 -- Vertigo 72 military engine finished(Alejandro Otteson).
** August 25 -- Interceptor 84i(Elyse Buckler) is finished.
** September 26 -- The SPPI ID 525, aka the Exorcist engine, has finished the prototype phase with Jerry Bartholf as project lead. This gives Elyse Buckler a chance to get back in the game for the next year-plus at least, working on the Navy's new ship-killer. They hope.
-
October - December 2085
Sirius Survey Report
ESF Bravo, October 8 2085
Survey Issues
Sirius itself was the main obstacle. The system is huge. It's the only system yet found where the jump point survey locations are more complex than those in Sol. Each Frontier took nearly a full month instead of less than ten days on station in most systems for each potential location. The pattern was huge as well. On the outer ring it was a month and a half travel, then a month for survey, etc.
The flotilla was also plagued by maintenance issues, far more than Alpha had in all their systems combined. Many began to consider the system cursed. Cmdr. Milo Rhoads, one of the Frontier COs, grew steadily worse and his junior officers had to pilot the craft back the long three-month journey from the final jump survey with him in sickbay. He's been honorably discharged from the service, and one of the other Frontier COs is rumored to be thinking about an early retirement after this tour as well. It just took a lot out of everybody. Crews were at the breaking point by the time it was finished, but they got the job done in the end.
Jump Points
Prolonging the fun was the fact that it was the very last location that yielded the second and last jump point in the system. This required a nearly three-month round trip by the Explorer while everyone waited the second half of that.
Geological Survey
After all that work, SPACE will benefit ... not much if at all. Sirius A I has massive quantities of inaccessible duranium and gallicite. The most habitable planet yet found, A II, has nothing and neither do it's moons. There are a handful of finds in the dense asteroid field, with the only one of real significance yielding 44 kt of mercassium at 0.9. Nice, but not worth coming here for.
Sirius-B, which orbits A at a distance of 3 billion km, was quite naturally almost completely on the other side of the Sol jump. It has a 45-year orbital period and at least 40 of those years would have been a better time to come visit. Go figure. The lone gas giant is barren, which shot all hope of a major insystem fuel source. The most habitable of it's moons, which could at least be put in the Mars/Luna range with some work, has 765 kt boronide(0.1), 9.9 mt sorium(0.1), and 2.06 mt neutronium(0.6). That last part is the only major mineral find in the system. This one moon is the only useful part of the Sirius-B system.
New System -- V577 Monocerri
Mid-range jump a little inside the middle ring, 1.78b away from the primary of two stars. Average pattern size and difficulty, just over half that of Sol.
A System: Two fairly habitable terrestrials, the first planet already has a breathable atomosphere. It's cold(-51 C), making it only a little easier to deal with than Luna/Mars. With a thicker atmosphere it could probably by Earth-like. One gas giant also with a dozen moons and two dozen asteroids. Overall pretty good.
B System: Orbiting at a little under 600 million km, this is a very accessible system. Two terrestrials, neither as habitable as the ones around the primary. Main feature is a close, thick asteroid belt with over 160 objects. Might be some interesting things in there.
An interesting, promising system that is also really far away. Average distance from earth is 10.1 billion, closer to 12 billion by the time you get to the planets around A. Time for the Spruance to make a round trip would be close to 10 months.
No wrecks, jump gates, or sensor evidence of alien presence of any kind.
Summary/Evaluation
It sucked, and there's little reason to go back at least in the near future. V577 Monocerri is just interesting enough to merit a closer look, but there's more interesting places closer. Neutronium is plentiful enough on the comets of Sol for a while to make building a colony to exploit that a little ridiculous. So far only one really good source has been found -- and that's in Epsilon Eridani. Heh.
There's time to find more though. Decades of time at this point. Eventually the extreme habitability of Sirius A-II will almost certainly see us expanding there. It's a ten-year terraforming job for one installation with a crappy governor. It's a dream to the right kind of pioneer. But there's nothing beckoning us there in the short-term.
Back in Sol, a week later on the 15th of October the terraformer on Mars officially went operational. An important moment in history, and one worth examining more fully. Mars has a very thin atmosphere, just 1% as thick as Earth's. It is also cold(-48 C, actually 5 degrees warmer than Luna due to the fact that there is significant CO2 here providing a small greenhouse affect). The biggest problem though is that the air isn't breathable, on account of their not being a hint of oxygen. The first goal then, is to add 0.1 atm, the minimum amount of oxygen to make it breathable. It will be far too high a concentration of oxygen at that point, requiring other gases for the right mix, but enough oxygen for human consumption.
250k is the right amount of population needed. The one will take over 42 years at this point at the current rate to reach the needed oxygen level. Nevertheless, it is a beginning. Things are underway.
On the 27th ESF Alpha returned from Teegardens Star. 318 kt of inaccessible duranium had been found, essentially leaving that report unchanged. Operation Renewal, the focus of SPACE's efforts since the early 60s and therefore lasting two and a half decades, was completed. Humanity had begun to become a spacefaring people, again.
Finishing one goal meant needing to find another. Until the last few years we had visited eight systems and fully surveyed only our own. We've doubled that first number now to sixteen, and have six fully explored. There are two no-fly-zone systems, those occupied by the aliens, and another that we must enter Lalande to reach. That leaves seven to expand our knowledge with.
CONCLUSIONS
** Humanity is extremely fortunate to have developed it's civilization in Sol. Had it happened somewhere like Barnard's Star we would have never reached this point. Sol is unique so far among the systems we've found both in mineral wealth and in being a strategic nexus of multiple jumps.
** Of the five other systems we surveyed, we have found three, two, one(twice), and zero additional jump points in them. 'Hub' systems appear to be quite rare and are therefore to be considered strategically important.
** Mineral resources are not abundantly overflowing, but definitely TN materials are common, nigh-universal. The long-term prospects for expansion and sustaining a growing interstellar empire are good -- if we can keep the aliens either at bay or not actively hostile.
** We need survey teams up and running and we need them as soon as possible. It is obvious there will be more work than they can possibly keep up with. Several of them would be nice.
** The jump gates in the Van Maanen direction are still a mystery. Obviously they were built by somebody however, and the presence of one in the Lalande system suggests it could have been them or a similar race. who moved on. This also bears further investigating.
** The leading candidate by an enormous margin for our first extrasolar colony is Luyten 726-8. It has significant resources in itself, and also provides an excellent location for supporting further exploration with an eventual refueling, shore leave, and maintenance base for the ESFs. It is very likely that at least one of the bordering systems will give promising possibilities.
** SPACE is a very long ways off yet from having any kind of coherent colonization policy. We'll need answers to questions we haven't even thought of yet. At this point though it is necessary to define some things in terms of exploration. Two major points are decided. The first has to do with how far to explore. It is very possible that by continuing to extend humanity's knowledge of those systems in our galactic 'neighborhood' we may come into contact with a more aggressive enemy that will attempt to chase us back to Sol and invade, but that could happen from Epsilon Eridani or Lalande at any time ignorance is not considered bliss. It is still far better to know what is out there than not to. A one-year limit is established, meaning the goal of the ESFs will be to explore systems that are within one year's travel from the closest refueling and maintenance base. Right now this is Earth only, and a distance of 18.7 billion kilometers. Beyond that point, about half the mission time would be spent just traveling and the enterprise would become wasteful. Almost all of the systems we know of right now are less than half that, so we are not yet approaching this limit. When the refits to the new ion-powered Eagle engines are done, that distance will probably increase. Plenty of room yet for increased exploring.
The second issue was a matter of standard operating procedures for the ESFs. For Renewal after surveying a system the flotillas jumped back into Sol and confirmed new orders from Fleet HQ before heading to the next one. This will no longer be practical, as from now on new systems will be found at least two jumps away. The ESFs will be out of contact for longer, and will need to operate independently of Fleet HQ. The Commodore in charge of each will have greater responsibilities. For each voyage/tour they will be assigned a 'route', i.e. a particular system to push beyond. For example, Alpha's next journey will take it to the Luyten 726-8 route, during which they will be tasked with the three new systems it connects to, and the mission will be to push the frontier as far in those directions as possible before returning to Sol. Fuel and maintenance levels will need to be watched ever more closely.
NAVAL DEPLOYMENT
Renewal brought much-needed intelligence to the Navy, and the news was both good and bad. An incredibly advanced alien civilization in Lalande 21185 is not good, but the other systems revealed no new civilizations and no evidence of them other than the jump gates in the Van Maanen 'route'. Teegarden's Star is a dead-end but threats could approach from any of the other six jumps. Intelligence has decided to take the rather unoriginal step of naming the known alien civilizations by using the AI-assigned name of the first detected ship class and then reversing the spelling. Therefore the aliens from Epsilon Eridani will be known as the Ratamli, and those in Lalande as the Erustfiws.
The Navy believes that blockading the jump points is the best way to defend against any potential incursion. Once an alien force gains a foothold in Sol space, they may well be able to simply bombard our positions from distance if they outrange us which the Erustfiws would be very likely to given how advanced their technology obviously is. As a long-term strategic matter, Frozen Vengeance is considered very important since if there is any chance of securing Epsilon Eridani with current missile technology, forces would not have to be divided between the two jumps but could be focused on the Lalande 21185 point. If not, any effective combat fleet will have to be defensive since we won't be as fast as their ships and virtually all weapons development for the forseeable future is going to be in the energy weapons field.
INFRASTRUCTURE NEEDS
Although the beauracrats have put it off for far too long it has become painfully obvious that the Navy is going to need a lot more large(10kt) shipyards than it currently possesses. For Frozen Vengeance at least three will be needed(command ship, defense escort, anti-ship missile escort). It is clear that the Navy must get a blockade of the Lalande jump point up as well, the best chance of thwarting any enemy attack is to meet them when they come in. This would involve armed-to-the-teeth laser/meson ships at the point ready to fire as soon as anything emerged. That's a fourth yard, and then the Baltimore/Gearing survey carrier ships will require two more. Six.
Presently the Navy has four. International and Niehuis were immediately set to expand, a process that will take some years as has been discovered in the past. That leaves only KSEC which will the handle the Caldwell shuttles and Forrestal sensor ships. The Navy will still need a mid-range yard with 6+ kt capacity for the Tarawa colliers and Cleveland supply ships, plus a pair of small ones from the Ambassador, Prospector, Frontier, and Explorer. The current two ordered yards weren't enough, they'd need three and really a fourth should be built against future needs. .
With the completion of Renewal it was also clear that the first need for colonization was to confirm the findings with ground survey teams. It was proposed that the Ambassador diplomatic shuttle would double nicely for this purpose, but it would need larger fuel tanks so a new ship was designed. With the Navy's needs for the shipyards, nothing could be done right away.
Mine production was reduced further to accomodate. In the process it was determined that for decades now SPACE has been building new regular mines, then converting them to automated, a process which costs an eighth more than just building automated mines directly, in both time and treaure. An estimated three kilotons each of duranium and corundium had been wasted this way, along with countless billions of man-hours. Stonerock did a massive double-facepalm when he discovered this idiocy, and loudly corrected it. This sparked a new round of yelling and screaming but nothing much came of it. Sort of like the boy who cried wolf.
With the increasing pressure on Earth's factories Awad decided a strict prioritizing was in order. Research labs would continue to occupy a quarter, replication(mines/factories) another quarter, with the remaining half going to whatever else was needed. Some projects would go with minimal funding but that was just the nature of the beast. Continually expanding research and industrial capability simply had to be a priority. With that in place over time the capability of the 'discretionary half' would also rise. Ordnance factory and commercial yard allocations were both reduced a fifth(10 to 8% each) to allow faster construction of the vitally needed naval shipyards. It would still take until past the end of the decade for the recommended amount to be finished.
On November 10, the first naval shipyard, which had been almost finished, is ready for 'business'. Named C. Mitchell & Co., here after referred to simply as the Mitchell SY, it was planned to expand immediately for the Mitchell and Cleveland classes. After discussions with engineering it was determined a new jump drive was needed for a jump shuttle, whether to carry VIPs or geology teams. The ones used on the Explorers were not big enough for a ship that would end up being well over a kiloton in size. Irving Steinmeyer was tapped for a quick testing job on a new, slightly larger one-ship drive for that purpose, and the Mitchell yard expanded as initially planned.
For the moment that meant five yards expanding at the same time, though that won't last long, a few retooling projects going on, a slipway being added, along with the eight or nine ships being built -- new workers added to shipyards all the time, and the mineral drain was fairly massive.
As December began, a close look at the supplies for the incoming ESFs reveals that they will consume over 1300 tons of maintenance supplies when they dock, over 90% of Earth's current stockpile. Almost all of that goes to Bravo which had all kinds of trouble in Sirius. Nevertheless, it's one more priority that has to be added to the factory workload. SPACE orders a strategic reserve of five thousand tons to be built up. On the 21st, retooling is finished and engineering analyzes the costs for refitting to the new Long Beach 84i. This time the news was better. For a little over half the cost of a new ship the existing harvesters could be refit. With 41 ships in service, the overall savings to the Navy is expected to exceed 32 million credits, and of course the minerals saved are an even bigger deal. The decision was made to bring two groups in at a time, reorganizing the ten groups of four plus a spare into four groups of eight each.
The only real question then was whether to expand from six to eight slipways or increase the size of the yard, which would eventually be needed. It was decided the size increase was more pressing, with a goal of eventually reaching the 160-170 kt range, effectively doubling. The effect on the refits would be minimal anyway, given that it would take three years or so to expand for two more slipways, by which time a sizable portion of the refitting will be completed.
On Christmas Day, a nice present for the crew, ESF Alpha returns to Earth. It was four in the morning, so that they had the day and quite a bit longer to enjoy. It was expected that sometime in early February of next year all would be ready again for a prolonged voyage to the systems beyond Luyten 726-8. There would be a bit of an overlap here as Bravo will probably arrive a couple weeks before Alpha departs. They've got a longer stay ahead of them, of course.
EARTH
October 10 -- 4x Caldwell 84i finished, another four begun.
October 27 -- The third Ticonderoga 82 base departs, in sections of course, for Mercury. The initial run(500) of the new Interceptor missiles is completed. For now the ordnance factories go quiet waiting for Frozen Vengeance to proceed further with more specific details.
October 29 -- The first Fletcher 84i is finished, and another begun.
November 10 -- C. Mitchell & Co. naval SY opens.
December 11 -- First two South Carolina 84i ships are finished. For the most part two is all that has been needed, occasionally a third. The Navy wants at least six, to provide more capability for colonization.
December 26 -- Commercial SY Kaverner-Massa is christened. It was tasked to handle the Portland and Gato classes. The new Gatos were deemed a higher priority.
December 28 -- The first of the new Iowa tankers is ready and heads to Callisto.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
November 5 -- Construction of the third of eight Ticonderoga 82 sensor bases, this one on Mercury is begun.
RESEARCH
** November 23 -- Testing of the new large power plant, the GEI GCF 5400, is completed by Norris Gunterman.
PERSONNEL
December 30 -- Gov. Yadira Desousa has become an accomplished terraformer, obviously a private study matter campagining for a post on Mars or Luna as he's currently on the mining outpost at Halley's Comet.
-
January - June 2086
A few more construction factories have been built, but it is not coming close to the pace at which shipyard operations are currently expanding. That trend is expected to continue for some years to come, since the Navy is just beginning to enter what will be a prolonged period of peak shipyard operation, and the lion's share of the 'industrial investment' sector of Earth's manufacturing continues to go to producing automines so that the mining haul can continue to grow. A painfully slow process, but it continues.
Duranium and neutronium are in a slow free-fall, mercassium continues to decline every-so-slowly, but corundium has actually begun to rebound with the slower mine production. The next mine to be targeted will not be Herschel-Rigollet as anticipated but rather Whipple. A short-period comet, Whipple is never more than a 800 million kilometers away and has probably the best remaining untapped source of mercassium(15.9 kt at 0.7) as well as a decent stash of duranium(11.5 kt at 1.0). Sorium, tritanium, and a bit of uridium are there as pot-sweeteners.
The terraforming on Mars proceeds slowly, with the temperature already raised a fraction of a degree, but enough for the instruments to record it. Oxygen is now almost 5% of the thin atmosphere.
Many significant manufacturing goals are set to be completed late this decade or early in the next: ordnance factories, prefabricated 82-tech bases, the 'final' shipyards currently planned for this cycle of refits and Navy expansion, etc. For now, that makes progress on any one of them slow. It was noticed well after it should have been that Earth is in danger of not having enough mass drivers to keep up with all the incoming packets. This will delay matters a bit, and an emergency shift was made to increase production of them and up Earth's total to a minimum of 10(50kt capacity). To ensure no 'accidents' took place, the inactive one of Venus was picked up as well. Earth will attempt to maintain a full dozen to ensure 10 are always in place. It's an issue that snuck beneath the cracks, and will require currently produced automines to get dumped on Venus just to get some decent use out of them.
On January 17, ESF Bravo returns to Earth. More maintenance issues on the inbound journey meant they were unable to completely refill maintenance needs but by the time they leave supplies should be more than sufficient. More than half of Bravo's ship COs are replaced as they retire due to health issues related to the stresses of working in Sirius. It was a very costly survey, and a reminder of the inherent dangers involved in stretching our legs, galactically speaking.
On the 27th, ESF Alpha is cleared for operations a little early. They break orbit and make for the Luyten 726-8 jump to survey that 'highway'. They will leave Sol space in early April, and may well not return until late in 2090. This is the last Earth will see of them in this decade if all goes well. Most of the same personnel is with them as before. The following day, Dr. Garland Sidhom, standard-bearer for the Biology & Genetics research field and one of only four active elite scientists, had decided to retire from public life at age 65. While BG researchers are not usually of major importance, his legacy will be mostly that of advancing the effectiveness of terraforming efforts at the end of the 70s and early part of the this decade, a period that led up to the recent deployment of the first installation. The field now falls on hard times with only a trio of novices to carry on the torch, and further advances in terraforming are expected to be very rare. Meanwhile, humanity crosses the 2-billion barrier in total population for the first time in well over 60 years.
February begins with the first two groups of harvesters arriving at Earth to unload their fuel and begin the refit process. Total reserve fuel is at about 24 million, it will be interesting to see how well it survives the disruption of the refits. The final construction brigade exits training in the middle of the month. The ten of them number a combined quarter-million, almost half of the Army's total personnel.
In March some shipyard goals were met with the details noted in the appropriate appendix as always, and on April 3, 1532 GST, ESF Alpha jumped out of Sol. By the end of May a notable chapter in the navy's commercial operations passed as the second of the new Fletchers was finished. The old ones will now be scrapped, a ending a long and distinguished service of nearly four decades.
Things had settled down to a somewhat relaxed pace, relatively speaking at least, after the first couple months of the year.
PERSONNEL
January 9 -- Delois Woznicki(57) can now handle any assignment except for Director. Too bad she took so long to get here.
January 17 -- Russell Salvucci, currently posted as Mars' governor, is an accomplished financial manager now.
Mid-March -- BOG welcomes a new member, Lillie Buske. Already capable of managing mid-sized operations, she has a variety of decent starter skills, most notably in logistics and manufacturing.
Late April -- Brig. Gen. Sterling Silvers Jr. furthers his ambitions with another jump in political connections, accomplished now(25%).
Early June -- Cmdr. Chance Perj records a minor increase in initiative.
RESEARCH
January 10 -- Eagle 60 military cruising engine finished(Reynaldo Darrington).
January 29 -- John Dangel(55, LG) pushes for a strong finish to his thus-far unmemorable career by stepping up to the accomplished tier.
February 29 -- Irving Steinmeyer finishes testing the new jump drive for the jump shuttle that will transport the geology teams. Work will begin on it as soon as the next naval yard is finished. The mass driver situation being what it is, that is not likely to be until next year.
EARTH
January 17 -- ESF Bravo returns and begins it's overhaul.
January 27 -- ESF Alpha is cleared for departure on the Luyten 726-8 route.
February 3 -- Long Beach refits begin.
February 15 -- Final Construction Brigade is finished.
March -- ENDM has reached it's goal and is now the largest-capacity SY at Earth at over 171kt. The new jump drives have a size limit of 169+ kt so it is ready to handle anything the new jump ship might throw at it.
March 5 -- A second Caldwell group is finished, one more to go.
Mid-March -- Vickers-Armstrong SY has reached its target size and begins retooling for the new Arleigh Burke.
May 3 -- First Gato finished.
May 26 -- The second and for now last of the new Fletcher freighters is finished
June 21 -- First shipment of automines leaves for Whipple.
June 25 -- First of the refit harvesters heads to Saturn.
June 27 -- Research lab finished.
COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS
February 17 -- Luna's Ticonderoga 82 base is the second to be completed.
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I meant to post this last 'year', it's the lastest galaxy map from the completion of Operation Renewal, late 2085:
(http://i.imgur.com/1G64bdi.png)
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So far so good, mostly. I don't usually spam the thread like this -- even if it is 'my' thread -- but I wanted to see how far it would get before I hit another error. Seems the issues are an exception rather than the rule, if this keeps up it should at least be possible for me to continue in some form. I will have to mess around with the next post some more, as the conclusion of '86 created another problem.
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JULY - DECEMBER 2086
A lot of small stuff happened basically. GoA Anton Engelhardt finally retired, replaced by Gil Milstead who won out over Zoe Bean largely because she is a Mars-native. A lot of stuff about naval refits that wouldn't post even with MarcAFK's 'italics trick'. There were no instances of 'from' in the offending writeup so apparently there's more to that pain in the butt issue :(. Also noteworthy was that ESF Bravo headed out for the systems beyond Van Maanen on November 7th.
Earth
July 5 -- Second pair of South Carolinas are finished.
Mid-July -- First of the Fletchers has been scrapped.
July 25 -- Retooling for the Arleigh Burke is finished. Refits begin on four of the six hulls.
July 30 -- The final group of Caldwells is finished, and scrapping of the old ships begins.
August 9 -- 5 Long Beach refits completed.
September -- Mitchell SY reaches the necessary size for the Cleveland, but refitting is not advised and the first of two new ships begun. Meanwhile expansion continues to prepare for eventual work on the new Tarawa down the road. Also Earth has reached the ten mass drivers it needs.
September 2 -- First group of Caldwells scrapped.
September 8 -- Oregon SY adds a second slipway, and a second Iowa 84i is begun. .
September 10 -- Second and last of the Gato small freighters is finished.
September 14 -- Second of eight Fletchers scrapped.
September 21 -- The second of the Iowa 84i tankers is finished.
October 2 -- Second group of Caldwells scrapped.
November 2 -- Four more Caldwells are scrapped. The fuel from the scrapped ships is starting to replace that of those that have been built, and is keeping reserve levels well afloat.
November 7 -- Another Fletcher is scrapped and ESF Bravo is cleared for departure. They'll head out to the systems beyond Van Maanen.
Dec. 2 -- Another group of Caldwells scrapped. Four of eight groups now.
Dec. 8 -- First of the two new Cleveland's finished.
Dec. 18 -- At Kvaerner Masa SY, retooling is finished and the first of the new Portland battalion transports is begun.
Dec. 20 -- Refits finished for the first four Arleigh Burke brigade transports.
Dec. 30 -- Long Beach refit finished.
Personnel
Mid-July -- Promising CP researcher(Carmelo Constanza) graduates.
August 7 -- SPACE is up to four elite scientists again. The latest is Elwood Tousant(SF, 63) who won't have long at the top due to his age but has made an impressive late-career charge. He's presently finishing up testing on one of the new active sensors, after which he'll have his pick of projects to lead.
October 4 -- Reynaldo Darrington(PP, 38) steps up to the accomplished tier, further strengthing the vital propulsion field.
Research
September 27 -- Elwood Tousant's team finishes the new missile search active sensors. He'll next work on the fire controls for the Exorcist anti-ship missile, as the sensors field is still trying to catch up with all the testing projects.
November 17 -- Reynaldo Darrington has finished research into jump drive miniaturization. It is now possible to do a squadron jump with a 600-ton drive, the previous minimum was over 700 tons.
November 20 -- The Exorcist 85i missile is now ready for production(Elyse Buckler).
Colonial Developments
October 20 -- Venus begins assembly of its new Ticonderoga 82 sensor base.
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** Note: the thread is now officially caught up. Current game date is December 1, 2087. I plan on keeping it that way or at least close. Sometimes it can be difficult to rip myself away from particularly interesting times in the game(the initial voyages of the ESFs were espescially this way given the literally decades of buildup to them) to format my notes into a post **
JANUARY - JUNE 2087
The year began with a bang. Shortly after the annual celebrations of having survived another year, Director Awad announcee he would be retiring at the end of January. It was one of those things which tended to drown out other news in the month. A couple things in the shipyards and in colonial mining operations, ESF Bravo jumped out to Van Maanen on the third of the month, but pretty much the minds of most were on who the new rirector would be.
Official Biography -- Director Riley Awad
Awad succeeded late in his career. An unknown beauracrat until his mid-30s, he made his first noise in being appointed to Governor of Sedna in 2057. Even then it was a distant but important posting. Minor colonies and comet postings covered the next decade plus, as he was sometimes in the election field, sometimes just out of it. Then in 2073 he finished second and got the reward of that accomplishment at the time, the governorship of Earth. He was 49. A tour on Luna proved to not be fortuitous, at least not health-wise. He grew in capability steadily though and once Duling and Eighmy left the scene, he was clearly the best of those left. His six years as Director have been generally well received, with the emphasis on diversifying the economy after the consolidations under Rakes and the controversial use of the Sealed Order to provide a major change in SPACE's continuity and official governmental structure as his most obvious legacies.
Directorial Election: January 30, 2087
Eight qualified, but only four made the ballot. A small field as it's become more and more of lately. Burt Stonerock was the most qualified, but he is also 58, in declining health which will allow him probably only a couple more years of service, and he couldn't spell 'tact'(or use the concept) if his life depended on it. The arrogant Russell Salvucci is always popular when anti-SPACE sentiments run high, but they really don't right now. Errol Igoe and Evelyn Kaczor have a less polished overall resume and body of work than anyone who has held the office since the days of Lena Dungey(impressive bonus points for anyone with any idea who she was). Kaczor is the kind of straight-shooter that could make a fine director someday.
The electorate essentially punted on this one. Stonerock has done a good job in his time as Earth's governor, he's got a balanced set of economic skills, and while he doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut or what to say when he opens it, he is a strong leader unafraid of challenges. He was elected in one of the most one-sided elections SPACE has ever had, a stark contrast to his narrow loss to Awad just over two years ago. The full results:
Burt Stonerock -- 40.8%
Evelyn Kaczor -- 24.3%
Errol Igoe -- 19.0%
Russell Salvucci -- 15.9%
By making this choice, they are essentially giving the others a little longer to distinguish themselves. Another candidate could rise as well of course, and it's also possible Stonerock's health could improve. Salvucci is three years younger but his peak seemed to be during the New York scandal, Igoe and Kaczor a full decade more junior than the new director. Salvucci was definitely the big loser this time around, while Kaczor showed herself a real player in finishing a distant second. BOG then had the crucial task of choosing a new Earth governor.
Stonerock maintans most current economic policies. He's hawkish and aggressive by nature, intending to accelerate Frozen Vengeance as much as possible and let the chips fall where they may. Earth still needs a strong hand in production but logistics are also seen as important this time around with the amount of activity at the spaceport and overhauls for ships, etc. There were several possible candidates, but one stood way apart from the rest. The popular and now qualified Delois Woznicki had no serious rivals -- she's the only one with any logistics ability at all and is accomplished in production matters across the board, decent political connections and a good public manner -- finally the 58-year-old underachiever has hit the big time. She's still in excellent health and should serve as an oustanding governor on our homeworld for several years. In the areas that matter most, the Stonerock/Woznicki pairing in the top two spots in the agency really is quite a strong combination.
Ricardo Bloise moved from Sedna to Mercury, replacing Woznicki, in a mild surprise. Most expected Kaczor, currently on Ganymede, to get that spot. Meanwhile Sedna is taken by Ronald Waxman, one of the finest mining administrators around. It's a promotion he should have gotten years ago, but was passed over for political reasons.
On February 2, the final pair of South Carolinas are finished, allowing for the old ones to now be scrapped and reducing the mineral drain significantly. Meanwhile under Roxann Harshberger's leadership, Luna has now surpassed Mars as the most populous colony again. The right leader, in the right spot, can make a big difference. By the end of the month a couple of the older Nimitzes have completed maximum readiness in their training exercises, another step in getting the Navy up to speed. All of the sensor packages were now either finished or in testing as well.
Lots of shipyard activity as has been the trend lately. By the end of March the new Clevelands were finished with the second of the 84i's clearing the Mitchell SY, and an initial run of Exorcist missiles was concluded as well. By April duranium was up a full kiloton in the two months since the South Carolina's were finished, but that also was due to reduced production on Earth with officials still being shipped around after the election. Once Woznicki arrived things would pick up again.
In the spring, a tenth automine and finally a mass driver departed for Whipple on April 21. That's halfway now to the current target goal of twenty mines on the comet. In May, there was news from Sedna. With new administrator Ronald Waxman in place, it was announced that duranium production had reached five figures -- over 10kt annually. That's just insane. Exhaustion clock is now down to under 25 years. That's horrifying.
On June 12 Delois Woznicki arrived on Earth, completing the transition. Most will be faster but with Sedna in the chain of commands to be replaced it takes a while for even the new shuttles to get out to that rock. Getting Waxman there was vital though. The initial results are that we now have enough supply to sustain current levels(more or less). Less than a week later the final South Carolina's were scrapped, leaving Earth with 34 million litres of fuel in the tanks -- 56 million, by far a record(low 40s was the previous high) combined when Titan and Callisto are added into the mix. The goal is a minimum of 100 million, but it's nice to have more of a buffer than the 15-20 million commonplace for the last several years. Each of the superfreighters carried 2.15m apeice, so they were far from the only factor but a significant one.
Rounding out the first half the year, retooling for the Spruance 85i colony ship was finished on the 29th, and the first, named the CS Forbes, is set to be finished late next year. All that remains for colonization to be viable is the jump ship, for which the jump drive is still being researched.
The 'ion drive era transition', or whatever you want to call it, is somewhere around the halfway point now. Fuel and mineral levels are as healthy as they've been in years. There is generally confidence in current leadership, and SPACE stands less absurdly ill-prepared for the future than it has in quite some time. Of course, that means it's a prime opportunity for the other shoe to drop -- but perhaps humanity will catch a break for once.
Earth
January 2 -- Fletcher, 4x Caldwell scrapped.
January 3 0846 -- Bravo jumps to Van Maanen.
February 2 -- Last pair of South Carolina superfreighters completed.
February 4 -- Another group of Caldwells scrapped.
February 17 -- Five more Long Beach's finish the refit. Five slipways idle while more return from Saturn.
March 1 -- Another Fletcher scrapped. Three to go.
March 11 -- Another group of Caldwells scrapped.
Late March -- Four more harvesters begin the refit process.
March 28 -- Another class update is finished as the second Cleveland clears the Mitchell SY.
March 30 -- Initial run of 200 Exorcist missiles finished.
April 10 -- The first two South Carolinas are scrapped.
April 20 -- Final two Caldwells scrapped. 11 former COs still do not have new assignments.
April 21 -- A tenth automine and finally a mass driver depart for Whipple.
April 29 -- First of the Cleveland's is scrapped.
May 11 -- Fletcher scrapped. Two to go.
May 29 -- Second of the old Cleveland supply ships scrapped.
June 11 -- Last two Arleigh Burke's are refit, and the first of the new Portlands is finished.
June 17 -- Last two South Carolinas scrapped. Fuel tanks hold 34m on Earth alone, a record 56m combined. 100m is the goal.
Late June -- Third of the regular Iowas finished, first of the XR versions begun.
June 29 -- Retooling finished for the Spruance 85i.
Colonial Developments
January 6 -- Sedna adds a 44th CMC. Uridium production has begun to decline now, duranium has about twice the amount though and has not yet begun that process.
Mid-January -- Vendarite exhausted on Borrelly.
Late January -- Sedna up to 45 now.
February 15 -- Sedna is at 46.
February 19 -- Sedna is blowing up, 47 complexes now. 8.2kt of duranium per year, but the exhaustion clock is now under 30 years.
March 30 -- Mercury completes it's Ticonderoga 82 sensor base.
Personnel
Early February -- Russell Salvucci ups factory bonus in an apparent effort to do better with the voters next time, while Commodore Hank Rohrer has increased his novice intelligence abilities. New researcher Edna Hanzel(DS) is more notable for the fact that she immediately becomes a prime candidate for survey duty, accomplished in that task as well as the so-far useless xenology.
Late February -- Deanna Ide is the second promising CP researcher to join the scientific ranks in as many years.
March 20 -- Fleet Admiral Mitchell Feeser has expanded his training skills to legendary status.
April 8 -- The continuing fleet exercises have helped Commodore Ronald Dunkin become accomplished in managing fleet operations as well.
April 16 -- One officer dismissed from the navy and army each. It's become quite a rare thing reserved only for the most incompetent to slip through the cracks at the academies.
May 21 -- A big year for Ronald Dunkin continues as the Commodore is now approaching the elite range in training skill.
June 2 -- Cmdr. Chance Perj ups initiative.
Research
February 19 -- GEI SSS 336.7, the new ship search active sensors, completed by Bessie Wallander. All of the needed sensor prototypes are now either completed or at least in testing.
Mid-April -- Dr. Carmelo Constanza(CP), just ten months out of the academy, moves up to accomplished and takes a second lab. There are presently 28 projects which is the lowest it's been in a long time due to a higher number of mid-level scientists right now. Only the best novices or those needed for specific testing projects are able to get consistent work.
May 9 -- Maintenance module research complete(Stanley Kogut).
May 17 -- The Exorcist missile fire controls are now ready(Elwood Tousant). He'll take over the second half of the testing phase on the fire controls for the meson turrets next.
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JULY - DECEMBER 2087
Even with the increased overall factory output, the shipyards are only moderately busy right now and mineral supplies are holding steady. In late August, a new scientist joins that is of particularly important note. Deacon Palmer III is the answer to many hopes and even prayers, dare I say it. He is the first ballistic weapons researcher to arrive in the 15 years since Elyse Buckler graduated the academy. He's also more than twice as good, good enough to merit a spot at the head of the class to get the next available laboratory complex, though he is still a novice. He'll be watched closely, her every success celebrated regardless how minor. Palmer III could be the one to begin moving the field of missile technology forward again. Ironically while his grandfather was known for construction advances, he'll mostly be tasked with finding better ways of destruction.
On the 29th, Rufus Ke retires from the moderately important position of Governor of Venus. The 'green' pressure-cooker of a planet is just shy of surpassing Titan, both with a little under 18 million population. As for Rufus, he steps down at age 64. He came from nothing, spending over half his career as a paper-pusher before taking the reins at Io in 2067. He's been on middling comets like Comas Sola and Van Biesbroeck, had a tour at Europa, and the last two years-plus on Venus have definitely been the peak of his influence. He's become important, but not indispensable.
As the only available administrator with colony experience and the ability to manage a large endeavor such as Venus, Evelyn Kaczor, presently serving on Ganymede, was a choice that essentially made itself. Antione Fuss used his connections to get himself another move up the ladder, taking the opening at Ganymede and leaving Borrelly where, to be honest, he was virtually useless as a mining supervisor anyway.
A month later, in the last week of September, the massive commercial jump drive is finally finished. It caps off Rosemary Urenda's career -- the propulsion leader retires at age 65. Only three elite scientists now remain. Urenda has been the face of the propulsion field for the last decade-plus after toiling behind others most of her career. A very productive and impressive career, and while the field has several solid leads behind her there are none in the elite category yet.
With this development the new jump ship specs are decided upon by the design teams. It is far different than the original North Carolina which served during the Epsilon Eridani crisis, but will bear the same name.
North Carolina 87i Jump Freighter
Size: 168kt
Crew: 995
Speed: 715 km/s
Fuel: 1.5m(52.9 b km range)
Cargo: 75k
Cost: 3.82m
This ship dwarfs the Spruance for sheer cost due to the price of the jump drive mostly, which is nearly a million credits by itself and requires huge amounts of engineering space for spare parts. ENDM begins the costly retooling process which will take a little under a year.
COLONIZATION -- A NEW ERA DAWNS
With this development it is time for SPACE to decide how colonization will be handled. It will be a few years before the ships are built for it of course, but other preparations need to be made by then. Director Burt Stonerock made what many termed an arrogant series of pronouncements on the subject, but that's a misunderstanding of the man. Arrogance is a better description of Salvucci. Stonerock isn't arrogant -- that would imply he considers his own opinions to be better than those of others and he wouldn't lower himself to imagine other opinions relevant enough to even make such a comparison. He's simply a leader who believes in doing what he thinks is best in any situation, political considerations be damned.
Accordingly, these points have been laid out:
** The colonies will have the same relationship to SPACE as the ones in Sol do -- they are expected to contribute whatever resources are developed to the greater good of SPACE/humanity. This is not expected to be a problem in the short-term, but as the population living off of Earth grows, some sociologists are concerned that a different, less heavy-handed approach will be required to maintain unity.
** Beginning in Luyten 726-8, a 'seeding' approach will be used. The goal is to provide a big investment at first, enough to support a million colonists in a new system and make the colony self-sufficient. Then efforts will switch to a new system while the colony grows on its own according to the whatever the current needs are(both locally and for SPACE).
** With the coming mineral(espescially duranium) crash, though it's still a decade or two off, Stonerock believes a mere token or minor investment is not in the best interests of SPACE. He makes the suprisingly large commitment of setting aside a full 20% of Earth's industrial capacity to building equipment for colonization efforts. Earth's production is to be divided into the following categories, each at a fifth of the total:
** Research
** Industrial expansion(new mines/factories for Sol)
** Military Base upgrades(when needed)
** Electives(miscellaneous, i.e. shipyards, academies, terraforming installations, whatever is deemed needed)
** Colonization equipment
Luyten 726-8 Colonization Needs
As an example of this approach, the following equipment is ordered under this 20% investment for eventual delivery to Luyten.
DSTS
Ticonderoga 82 Sensor Base with garrison btn.
10 factories
10 automines
1 Terraforming installation
6 Mass Drivers(1 for Luyten A-II(receiving), one each for Luyten A-I and each of the four comets that will be tapped)
Infastructure for 1 million colonists(2.0 colony cost, so 400 tons)
6 administrators
A new commercial TF(one captain, one commander, four Lt. Cmdrs.)
50 tons of each TN mineral for startup operations
It is obvious that, particularly in the realm of political administration, the pool of available leaders will need to be expanded. It is expected that the above requirements will be able to be delivered to Luyten by the mid-90s, at which time a new system will be chosen for investment. If this pace(roughly) continues and SPACE is able to add a new system every 6-8 years as is hoped, the current four academies will be woefully inadequate to supply enough bodies for all the needed positions. Two more academies will be built as an initial first step in alleviating this crunch. The jump shuttles and geoteams for them are top priority right now, as it continues to be SPACE's policy not to deploy mines anywhere that surveys are not complete. The sooner that is finished, the sooner production can begin.
Luyten 726-8 A-II, the world where the new colonists will live and work aside from the automine leaders, has been named New Genesis in honor of it being the first world to be populated outside of Sol -- IF everything goes according to plan. As we know, it often doesn't.
With these changes in place, Earth's factories are now running a record 15 different activities, and that's with some(DSTS, mines, factories, terraforming) doing combined work both for Earth/Sol and the colonization efforts. Jump gates are a matter of some contention. It is decided they should be built to any system with a population of 25 million or more, with the additional requirement that they must have all adjacent systems surveyed with no evidence of present alien activity. This obviously isn't the case in Sol, but that's declared to be an obvious exception since (a) it's defended by the navy and (b) any invasion of Sol will either result in the aliens defeat or humanity's defeat. The Navy will not beccommitted to defending outlying systems in the same way. DSTS and Forrestal sensor buoys will be early priorities for developing systems. All of that brings us to the latest design:
Nautilus-class Jump Gate Construction Ship
Size: 65.5kt
Crew: 270
Speed: 732 km/s
Fuel: 550k(49.7b km range)
Jump Gate: Construction in six months
Cost 1.81m
Some very expensive ships coming out of engineering lately. Apparently a subway token isn't enough to get this colonization business going. Vegesacker Werft SY, which handles the Fletcher freighters and is currently idle, is chosen to expand to the needed size.
October brought a return to the more 'mundane'. Mitchell SY reached 6.54kt capacity, a little more than needed for the new Tarawas. Retooling for them last a few months. Most of the SDF has finished training, with only three ships still needing additional work. On the 2nd of the month, four more Long Beach's head to Saturn after their refits. That's 19 of 41 finished, nearing the halfway point. Later in the month, Portland refits are finished. The old Portland II's will now be scrapped. Originally deployed from historic Vickers-Armstrong SY in January of 2053, they have enjoyed a fine tour of service lasting nearly 35 years.
By mid-November, Sedna had built multiple additional complexes, bringing the total to 51 and an astonishing seven built just this year! Also a new civilian firm Elman Freight Services is formed. That's 14 now technically, though less than half are relevant.
Another bullet to R&D was fired on November 26. Having completed the testing on the new Sniper fire controls, Elwood Tousant retires at 64. He was a slow starter but a major contributor at the end of his career, and in one of the most vital fields of study. With Frozen Vengeance testing almost finished and new long-term projects next on the agenda, it's time for others to carry on the torch. This leaves SPACE with just two elite scientists(Kuchler in the SF field, Lambeth in LG).
The year finished in dramatic and cliffhanging fashion, with the final needed testing done on the new thermal sensors. This meant engineering would be busy over the new year transition hammering together designs for new ships that will attempt to give wings -- err, engines -- to our collective desires for retribution ...
Earth
July 5 -- Research lab finished.
July 8 -- Fletcher scrapped, final one started.
July 10 -- Final standard Iowa tanker finished, last/second of the XR's begun.
July 28 -- Another Long Beach refit is finished.
August 26 -- The original Fletcher is officially no more after the last of the ships is scrapped.
October -- Mitchell SY begins retooling for the new Tarawas
October 2 -- Four more Long Beach refit.
October 5 -- 20th harvester refit completed.
October 24 -- The second Portland 84i is finished and the battalion transport upgrades are now finished.
November 28 -- First of the Portland II's scrapped.
Personnel
October 21 -- Venus gov. Evelyn Kaczor continues her gradual rise through the ranks of BOG by increasing her connections marginally.
November 6 -- Col. Elaine Menna graduates the academy, complete with genius-level ground combat command abilities. Pretty neutral mental outlook although she is prone to complacency.
November 7 -- Commodore Parker Lanzi increases fledgling operations skill.
Colonial Developments
August 8 -- Sedna up to 48 CMCs. That's five this year which I think is a record. If this keeps up it could be gone in 15 years, but we'll be able to stockpile a considerable amount of duranium in the interim.
Mid-November -- Sedna expands for a sixth time this year, which I know is a record. 49 CMCs. Purchases are approaching 12 million credits a year, and still rising. Only research is a higher line item in the budget, and not by much.
November 17th -- A 50th(seven this year!) complex on Sedna.
November 21 -- Callisto begins work on their new Ticonderoga 82 sensor base. It's scheduled for completion a year from next Christmas, though nobody really expects it to be finished by then.
Research
** September 27 -- The AKH CJ-90.4, the new massive commercial jump drive, is finally finished by Rosemary Urenda's team. She retires and Deacon Palmer III takes a lab for work on improving the output of ordnance factories. A little construction, rather than destruction, task to begin with despite his chosen field.
** September 29 -- Carl Fosberg finishes testing the Interceptor missile fire controls.
** November 19th -- The latest SITG Emdar version(military EM sensors) have been tested with Ross Dodge completing the work.
** November 26 -- New Sniper fire controls for the meson turrets are completed(Elwood Tousant).
** December 30 -- Bessie Wallander's team finishes the new thermal sensors(SITG ThermoScan 176.7).
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Failures of Imagination
Frank Borman once famously used those words to describe the training accident that killed three Apollo astronauts more than 120 years ago. As the Navy's engineers attempted to hammer out effective ship designs for Operation Frozen Vengeance, they became watchwords again. It seemed that another point in history had been reached where not all the possibilities had been fully considered.
History is a very strange thing sometimes. So many times it has happened that the course of a man, an army, a nation has been governed by an occurence of seeming incredible improbability. Smooth progress often seems rather more the exception than the norm. SPACE has over its history had such periods, but also many where humankind advanced by fits and starts. Great plans can be made and erected only to find they've been built with an insecure foundation, or in the wrong place entirely.
At the beginning of 2088, it seemed that at the moment the most important consideration was a ball of rock, smaller than many regional geological features on Earth, more than 11 billion kilometers away. The history of Sedna itself is an example of both the failures, and successes, of human imagination. It was not discovered until 2003, and less than two years after it was surveyed the civilians began mining it in November 2046 -- more than 40 years ago. This was an achievement beyond amazement at the time, given the very basic state of even SPACE's spaceflight capabilities. Jump Theory had just been discovered and we were in the nuclear thermal age of propulsion. It was the very unlikelihood of it that even made it possible: the Ministry of Resource Development(MRD) had failed to file the necessary paperwork mandating the 1600-km-wide dwarf planet as an official colony, thereby precluding any civilian involvement, because it had been deemed unnecessary: the idea of any private sector group going to the at-the-time astronomical expense of traveling that far from Earth was ludicrous. Ludicrous, that is until it happened. Fortunes were invested in the very speculative enterprise, and where SPACE's imagination failed, theirs succeeded almost beyond measure.
For 41 years and counting, Sedna has been Sol's best source of duranium and the most plentiful outside of Venus. It now contributes almost a third of the total mineral haul and about two-thirds of that vital building block without which any major TN application is flatly impossible. Compared to any other known material, duranium's tensile strength is simply not approached. It is virtually priceless.
As the plans for the new ships were designed, re-designed, and pored over, cracks in the Frozen Vengeance concept appeared. The first was that the new ships would have to be larger and more expensive than originally thought, and with less capability. Engineering was unable to come up with a reasonable design that would allow for more than 3600-3800 km/s, far faster than the current Nimitz/Brooklyn ships but not as fast as was hoped. The meson turrets and fire controls were more massive than had been originally considered and functionally impractical.
At the same time, questions began to be more fully considered as to what would happen after Frozen Vengeance. If the operation failed, there was certainly a marginal risk. Humanity's survival to this point was due mostly to the fact that the Ratamli apparently do not consider us a significant threat. An attack could change that, but what had not been fully considered before was what would happen if we succeeded? An attempt to subdue the entire Epsilon Eridani system was the logical answer. This is where Sedna came in: any such attempt would likely be occuring around the turn of the century, in the middle of what is the expected timeframe for the coming mineral crash. Failure or success would both result in the same problem: a need to divert a lot of resources to the combat wing of the Navy at a time when it will likely be the least affordable.
Faced with these factors, and an revised analysis giving a low chance of success, Burt Stonerock was virtually forced to conclude that continuing the operation would be a clear case of throwing good money after bad. Thirty years after the fact emotions still run high in some quarters, particularly in the Navy, but the economic base to fight and win a technologically inferior war does not yet exist. Without it, beginning the fight is now deemed a fruitless enterprise. A significant amount of research capacity has been diverted to Frozen Vengeance the last few years, but aside from that, there has been little wasted.
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JANUARY - JUNE 2088
With a punitive expedition tabled indefinitely, SPACE still needed to find a more modern approach to defending Sol. Every analysis showed the same problem: the missile bases were good for PR, but might not be good for anything else. The best chance for defense would be at the jump points themselves. If a hostile force ever penetrated into the Sol system, they quite probably -- particularly if the technology gap is as significant as it appears to be -- could simply assault Earth and the colonies at range. Bottling them up with a dedicated jump point defense was the only option that allows some chance no matter what their capabilities. Thus began the planning for the Guardian. A small warship designated as a corvette, it would need a few small systems but nothing requiring a major effort. A full design spec is expected in months.
Back to normal business. To start the year, Lt. Bertha Trammel heads out to Saturn to take her first command on one of the Long Beach harvesters. This is notable only because she has the highest scores in combat initiative ever seen despite being only a year and a half out of the academy. Quite literally off the previous charts, she's redefined what's possible possessing an almost preternatural sense of what her opponent's next several moves will be. It will be interesting to see where this tactical genius takes her in the SPACE Navy.
It was a quiet-ish first couple of months. The first real news at all was completion of retooling for the new Tarawas, with the announcement that theirs would be one of the most cost-effective refits. Only about 40% of the cost of a new ship would be needed. Late February was the timeline here. March began with a major advancement in planetary sensor capabilities(Dr. Julio Kuchler). Techniques effectively increasing the detection range of tracking stations by more than a third are involved, allowing for more advance warning in the case of any approaching threat. His efforts will next be put toward improving our missile tracking techniques in an attempt to make beam point defense a more viable option. A few days later Reinmuth governor Philomena Hubner, a mid-level administrator at best who did not leave a particularly lasting impact, retired at 64. Once among the most important mining outposts, Reinmuth still has 34 automines and is one of the biggest neutronium sources, assuring it will maintain relevance for decades.
New developments continued to come fast and furious in March. The last of the new Iowa XR tankers was finished on March 12, and about the same time the decision was made to cease shipyard expansions. None were vitally needed now -- it would be nice to keep the P&A Group SY expanding as preparation for eventual larger harvesters but far more important was to preserve as much duranium as possible. Meanwhile it was discovered that there was a miscalculation in the jump shuttle: the plans would require a slightly larger jump drive, requiring another round of testing before that design could proceed. More harvesters finished their refits, research was completed on the first of the new Guardian systems, the Venus Ticonderoga 82 sensor base was made operational ... and March wasn't even over yet. Before it was, Dr. Deborah Barnhouse(42) became the first elite scientist in the Defensive Systems field, most notable for advances in armor and thermal emissions masking, in probably a decade or more. Theoretical Cloaking Theory concepts is her current tasking.
April was a busy month as well. The completion of another terraforming installation and deployment to Luna was a big piece of welcome news to start the month. It ended well also, with the finalization of the blueprints for the new jump defense ship:
Guardian Jump Defense Missile Corvette
Size: 1.9 kt
Crew: 85
Speed: 947 km/s
Fuel: 50k(8.1b km range)
Armament: 5 anti-ship missile launchers(Exorcist 85i-S, short-range variant currently being researched). 1 Fire Control each with 4.6 million km range.
Cost: 279k
The Guardian concept is presently planned to be the first and best line of defense against an invasion. Should the worst happen it will launch two volleys of missiles and then retreat. Multiple squadrons are planned on a rotating basis at both Lalande and Epsilon Eridani jump points. Niehuis SY will do the honors, first retooling and then building the first pair of ships while adding slipways to be able to handle several at once eventually. The first will enter production in about two months, late June.
Summer began with the announcement that the plans for the jump shuttle were finalized. Well, two of them in this case:
Caldwell(J) Jump Shuttle
Size: 1.5 kt
Crew: 33
Speed: 2100 km/s
Fuel: 600k(30.5 billion range)
Cost: 243k
The range is not as much as would have been preferred here. This will be used for transitioning VIPs between systems.
George Washington Survey Shuttle
Size: 1.15 kt
Crew: 27
Speed: 1565 km/s
Fuel: 350k(94 billion range)
Cost: 181k
As the name suggests, the George Washington is optimized for deploying ground survey teams. It is smaller and cheaper due to the use of more efficient thrusters, which also allows it to carry much less fuel.
In similarly timed political news, Director Stonerock has improved his terraforming oversight, marginally accelerated work on Mars and Luna. At present Mars has 6.4% of the needed oxygen in it's atmosphere, while Luna which just started has 0.4%. Venus surpasses Titan, the last of the inner-system colonies to do so. Both are about 18 million strong.
On June 24, the first Guardians entered construction. Niehuis SY will also be adding slipways to facilitate faster servicing and construction of the corvettes. While it has not taken the form the Navy desired or intended, this will unquestionably be a better tool for defending the system than what they currently possess. Meanwhile the preparations to colonize Luyten continue as well ...
Earth
January 1 -- Final Portland II transport scrapped.
Mid-January -- Another Long Beach refit completed.
February 26 -- Retooling finished for Tarawa
February 30 -- First New Iowa XR finished and will await the return of the ESFs. Scrapping of the old Iowas begins.
March 12 -- Second and final of the new Iowa XRs completed.
March 24 -- Another five long beach harvesters are refit and make the journey back to Saturn.
April -- Second terraforming installation complete and departs for Luna.
May 7 -- Last of the 'old' Nimitz/Brooklyn navy ships finishes their fleet training. At this point their role is to join the Alaska bases in a last-ditch defense of Earth.
May 28 -- Iowa tanker scrapped.
May 30 -- First of the Tarawa collier refits finished.
June 9 -- Last of the Iowas scrapped.
June 24 -- Niehuis SY begins the first pair of Guardians, along with adding a third slipway. At the moment each slipway can build two per year.
Personnel
June 11 -- Director Stonerock has improved his terraforming oversight, marginally accelerated work on Mars and Luna.
Research
** March 2 -- Planetary Sensor Strength improved(Julio Kuchler)
** March 16 -- The missile fire controls for the Guardian are complete(Carl Fosberg). New miniaturized magazine still needed.
** April 25 -- Elyse Buckler finishes the new magazine for the Guardian corvettes.
** May 15 -- In another development that might be useful someday at best, Dante Sawatzky finishes work on improving shield regeneration abilities.
** New jump drive finished(Irving Steinmeyer). Ready for use with jump shuttle.
** June 25 -- Reynaldo Darrington's research team has developed new ways of increasing the random spread of 'combat jumps' from 100k km to 250k, though it does require a slightly larger jump drive to achieve this effect.
Colonial Developments
March 17 -- Venus Ticonderoga 82 finished.
June 7 -- Sedna expands to 51 CMCs.
Mid-June -- Ticonderoga 82 construction begins on Io.
-
JULY - DECEMBER 2088
On July 6, Bessie Wallander(SF, 52) becomes the fourth active elite research lead and second in the still-strong sensors field along with Kuchler. At present her work is very long-term, working on the next generation of thermal sensors. Her lab space is doubled to four in order to allow it to proceed at a quicker pace, an exception to the usual rule of three. Retooling for the new George Washington survey shuttle finishes in the middle of the month, with an initial pair expected later this year.
At about the same time, a 17th automine is deployed to Whipple and this is determined to be a sufficient quantity. That allows for 35 years of duranium production, about 70 of mercassium. While duranium continues to increase for the time being, nearly at 20kt now which may be a record high, neutronium/corundium/mercassium are all stagnant or declining barely enough to be perceptible. As the best available untapped source in Sol of the first pair of that trio, it's time to develop Herschel-Riggolet. Three shipments of are expected to the comet(a total of 14 automines and a mass driver) which is still 7.7b km distant -- they'll be stashed on Venus until a full order is ready.
August brought more important news. It's not often these days that a new branch of technology opens up, but that happened on the 18th as Alphonse Lambeth finished a report detailing a collection of new techniques for living on hostile words. Effectively this will result in a 5% reduction in needed infrastructure. All of the Mars/Luna types(atmosphere not breathable but otherwhise suitable) will require 190 instead of 200 per million, Titan is down from 700 to 665, etc. This will result in a marginal but very significant in the aggregate savings as colonization proceeds. Further advances are considered inevitable, and will be highly prioritized now in the LG research field. The less infrastructure we build the less duranium we have to expend -- a ton saved is a ton earned. A Division HQ structural protocol for the army is Lambeth's next barrel of fun.
A rash of civilian ships were scrapped about a week later. About a dozen, the most seen to date at any one time, and while they are usually disposed of when a new more modern ship is built almost none were replaced. Half were Voliva vessels. It appears their declining fortunes may be starting to hit them where it hurts. It could be the beginning of a downturn in the civilian sector of the economy as whole however, and that would be a more serious matter ...
The month wasn't done yet. On the 28th the massive retooling efforts for the North Carolina jump superfreighter were finished ... and a surprising effect noticed. . It seems the yard is also capable of building the 'normal' South Carolina superfreighters without retooling. Engineering speculates it is likely possible, if desired at some point, to build a jump capable version of the Spruance, Fletcher, Gato, Long Beach, etc. if warranted and build both versions from the same shipyard, saving on shipyard and retooling costs.
As for the North Carolina itself, two will be built initially at a cost in excess of 7.6 million credits, more than three kilotons of duranium, and lesser amounts of other minerals. It's the front-end effort that's needed though to be ready for the colonization push. By late next year the first should be ready, the final pieced needed to be in place for moving initial equipment to Luyten, should the order be given ...
With the finalizing of the new Sentinel 420.7 sensor package a week into September, a modernized version of the sensor vessels was readied.
Forrestal 88i Sensor Vessel
Size: 650t
Crew: 13(14)
Speed: 5538 km/s(3692)
Fuel: 100k(47.6 b km range)(up from 50k to ensure enough range for large systems)
Sensor Range: 4.6m km(3.2m km)
Cost: 154k(95.6k)
More expensive this time around but significantly higher performance. At the start of October the Krohn naval shipyard was finished to handle them. With the new sensors, engines, expanded fuel tanks refitting is not an option. For the next couple years or so adding slipways and replacing the current Forrestal fleet will keep it busy.
At the end of the month there was a rather ironic political development. Burt Stonerock's decisive leadership has him as a polarizing figure, but one growing in popularity overall. A few important officials have flocked to his cause, which is somewhat humorous given that he's the only director SPACE has ever had get to the Office without a significant amount of this kind of groundwork done ahead of time. Seems he's put the cart before the horse, so to speak.
The last couple months were mostly about the ground geology teams. On November 19th the ball got rolling with the deployment of the first two GW shuttles. As with the diplomatic teams, the selections were made from those not in vital major responsibilities already in their respective branches of service. Several of the best were restricted from this duty in that way. A real discussion point was had with rising star Dr. Elliot Monks(DS, 34) -- it was decided his services are best used in research even though he would be able to strengthen the survey efforts. Selection for the teams gifted eight lieutenant commanders, two lieutenants, and even an ensign(Marcus Zavier) an immediate pass to Commander rank for their service. Other than a pair of out-of-work scientists, the Navy contributed all the team members. It also provided an opportunity to resolve the ex-Caldwell commanders left out of work when that class shrunk. There were nine such individuals previously, none after the reassignments.
While those were being carried out, the first two Guardian missile frigates -- for which the missiles have not finished being tested, much less been built -- were finished. Then the CS Forbes, first of the colony ships, made it's way free from the docks. It was Christmas Eve afternoon when all were assembled. The launch was delayed about 40 hours or so for them to enjoy the holiday with family and friends, and early in the morning on the 26th the two shuttles, four teams between them, departed for Luyten 726-8. Their work was a vital step in assuring full knowledge of the system before mining operations began. Leading the teams are Cmdr. Gloria Synnott, Dr. Edna Hanzel, Cmdr. Chance Perj, and Cmdr. Lena Rackham.
The race was on. Next year should bring the beginning of human interstellar colonization, the next step towards a brighter future.
Earth
July 4 -- Long Beach finished with refit.
July 15 -- International SY finishes retooling for the GW. Two will be built, expected to be finished around Thanksgiving.
August 28 -- Retooling finished for the North Carolina jump superfreighters.
September 6 -- Tarawa refit completed.
September 8 -- New research lab completed.
September 12 -- Another group of five harvesters refit. 30 down, 11 to go.
October 1 -- Krohn SY operational.
Mid-December -- Another Long Beach refit, and two Guardians completed.
December 22 -- CS Forbes finished. Second colony ship begun.
Personnel
August 4 -- Noble Stephson(BG, 27) gives terraforming research a shot in the arm by moving up to accomplished in the biology field and nabbing a second lab for his efforts.
August 9 -- Fleet Admiral Mitchell Feeser is at it again, seeing a minor increase in his intelligence skills.
Mid-December -- Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade made the short list as a long-shot candidate for Logistics Officer in the SLF, one of the openings that came about as a result of the geoteam assignments, but was passed over.
Colonial Developments
Late August -- 12 civilian ships scrapped ... and only one replaced. Half were Voliva vessels.
November 30 -- Sedna up to 52 now.
Research
** September 6 -- The new sensor package(Sentinel 420.7) is ready.
-
JANUARY - JUNE 2089
With Sedna now under two decades supply MRD has been instructed to track duranium usage more closely. An annual report as follows will be presented:
Duranium Production Report
Sedna: 11.1 kt(52 CMCs at 0.9)
Others: 6.06 kt
Stockpile: 21.5 kt
Stockpile +/-:
Forecast:
The +/- and Forecast will show change in the current stockpile and projected 'post-Sedna' readiness, but require a year's change in the numbers first. For now the policy is to maintain a somewhat reduced amount of naval investment until there is confidence there is enough output to sustain basic economic investment.
On January 22nd, the ground geosurvey teams jumped to Luyten, and began their mission confirming deposits there and searching for new ones. Another week, and the testing of the new Exorcist(S) missile, for the Guardian corvettes, was completed by Deacon Palmer III. 200 are ordered which should be more than enough for the initial wave.
Breaking News: Alien Ruins Found!
On February 23, Josef Canterberry's Explorer, part of ESF Bravo, jumped in from Van Maanen with a priority message for Fleet HQ. Just before Christmas last year, while surveying the recently discovered system of 40 Eridani, one of the Prospectors assigned to Bravo detected what they believe to be evidence of a former alien civilization. It appears to have most likely been a relatively small ... whatever it was, and whether through time or more likely hostile action, almost completely destroyed as well. Intel classifies it as a definite alien ruin, a 'Destroyed Outpost'.
Though the possibilities of making any useful discovery might be somewhat slim, there was strong agreement that an attempt must be made anyway. This is another first in SPACE's efforts to learn more about our galactic neighborhood -- indisputable evidence of alien civilization that we can, at least theoretically, study unmolested. This is proof that ours is not the first spacefaring struggle that has ever happened in this part of the galaxy. It will also almost certainly not be the last, but any chance we have of learning from those who came before us and failed is considered invaluable.
Two more George Washington shuttles are begun immediately. The first step is to take a xenology team out there to learn what they can about the site, those who originally built it, etc. If warranted, construction brigades can be sent in later to excavate anything useful.
March brought the next blow to essential mining operations as neutronioum was exhausted on long-running supplier Faye. Two weeks later as April dawned the first shipment of mines departed for Herschel-Riggolet, and the ebb and flow continued. There was more good news from research. A jump in one of our propulsion leads was noticed earlier in the year, but this time it was in the Logistics field. John Dangel(58) has made a major leap to join the elite ranks. There are now five at that status, two in Logistics. He's working on the next step in reducing colonization costs. It's a rather enormous project(20 million credits in total), and he now has five labs to carry on the work. Most of the novices are out of work now with all the high-level research going on. We have 26 projects in 53 labs, marking the first time the average laboratory complexes per project has gone over two apiece. It's definitely a rising tide right now -- the coming years should bring some exciting things. April finished out with a renewed focus on mining from Director Stonerock, who is now an elite administrator in such matters. Output increases were soon seen from all over Sol, which as always is a good thing in general but also double-edged: available deposits will now run out that much faster as well.
The summer began with one of the Army's veteran generals, Rey Hoel, retiring on June 3rd. Stability at the top of the military has been a great strength for years, but such things come and go. Good things were seen in the personal development of a number of top Navy personnel. The middle of the month saw a new civilian firm join the fray, emphasizing the strength of the civilian economy, and completion of the run of Exorcist(S) missiles. It was decided to cancel the final 20 ordnance factories on order. Speed has greatly increased with the current 130 and there will be no need in the near future for more missiles. This is the kind of project that SPACE has in the 'would be nice' category, a luxury that is not really a reasonable indulgence with the focus on future economic viability.
The second quarter closed with an important moment. Another pair of George Washington shuttles were finished, and with them the first-ever human xenology team assembled. It will be led by Cmdr. Clifford Christo, with the other members of the team Cmdr. Gaye Franco, Lt. Cmdr. Allison Kime, Lt. Cmdr. Adolfo Legler, and Lt. Valerie Mclarty. As with the geology teams all are given automatic promotions to Commander rank. Their mission is as vital as it is historic. They will attempt to decipher the ruins on 40 Eridani A-II, learning all they can about the site. When that work is complete, assuming they find anything, construction brigades will be called in to excavate whatever is useful. Should this step be necessary clearly a new jump-capable version of the Burke transports will be needed, another task for the propulsion scientists.
A crucial last six months of the decade awaits. The 2080s will close with initial efforts in colonization as well as xeneological ruin investigation. These efforts will alter the course of human history permanently. Much depends on those who have been chosen to carry them out.
Colonial Developments
Mid-January -- Sorium exhausted on Machholz. Neutronium and uridium remain there, but it won't be long before what was once one of the most productive mining colonies becomes a mere footnote.
January 22 -- The ground survey teams jump to Luyten.
February 11 -- Europa begins construction of it's new sensor base(Ticonderoga 82). Only Ganymede remains. Mars has passed Luna again as more of the colonists are coming from Luna these days, for some reason. It's a constant tug of war with those two.
March 11 -- Tracking station deployed to Mercury.
March 19 -- Neutronium deposits exhausted on Faye. There's several more years of sorium, but mercassium, over a quarter-century's worth, is what will keep the mines running.
April -- The first shipment departs for Herschel-Riggolet. There are now only three untapped short-period comets left in Sol.
April 17 -- Callisto Ticonderoga finished.
June 9 -- Long Beach refit finished.
June 13 -- Dyett Freight Company founded.
Earth
January 30 -- First of the new Forrestals is ready.
March 4 -- Four more Long Beach are refit. The final four take their turn now.
March 5 -- Second slipway added to Krohn SY. A third will be added and another Forrestal as well.
May 28 -- Second of the new Forrestals finished.
June 14 -- Exorcist(S)(x200) finished.
June 27 -- New GW Shuttles ready.
Research
January 30 -- Deacon Palmer III finishes testing of the new Exorcist S missile for the Guardians.
Personnel
Mid-March -- Irving Steinmeyer(PP, 30) moves up to Accomplished. You can never have too many capable propulsion scientists.
April 15 -- Rita Kersey gives Defensive Systems another young researcher with good potential. Not the best timing right now though, she'll struggle to get project approval in the present environment. A full third of the project leads are now unemployed at the moment.
April 17 -- A single colonel is dismissed from the Army.
Late April -- Stonerock elite in mining now(50%), escalating production.
Early May -- Mitchel Feeser improves operations to the accomplished tier.
Late May -- Commodore Ronald Dunkin is now an elite trainer, continuing his improvement in recent years. The 38-year-old is making a strong case to be Feeser's eventual replacement.
June 3 -- Brig. Gen Rey Hoel(60) retires.
June 6 -- Commodore Graham During, not heard from in quite some time, has become an elite trainer.
-
JULY - DECEMBER 2089
On the 8th of July the xenology team departed, it's long journey to 40 Eridani and into history beginning. It's nearly a four-month journey each way. Relief shuttles will need to be sent periodically if it is a particularly lengthy stay as is feared, but it's a small cost considering the potential rewards.
Two weeks later they were still in-system as training exercises began for the first squadron of four Guardians. Many other things would still continue. August began with Hipolito Greig being dispatched to the distant outpost on Herschel-Rigollet, mines still en route. Greig is just five months out of the academy but definitely the best mining administrator among the recent graduates.
The event of the year was definitely August 11, when the two North Carolina jump ships were given launch clearance. This simultaneously lowered the mineral drain the shipyards are putting on the stockpiles and allowed for first steps in colonization. Ground surveys are still not complete, but some equipment can still be shipped in. The first group consisted of a North Carolina jump ship, a South Carolina superfreighter, and a Spruance transport. A GW jump shuttle would follow later with administrators. It soon became obvious that many trips would be required. The second jumpship along with a pair of South Carolina superfreighters departed shortly afterwards. The initial haul was three mass drivers, three construction factories, startup minerals, 150,000 colonists, and enough infrastructure for about 415,000 people. Quite literally the next day one of the geoshuttles in Luyten(Perj & Rackham teams) returned with the news that all comets have been surveyed with no change in the evaluations. The survey of the first planet is still ongoing. Since they are on the same side of the system, they will now proceed to Barnard's Star for verification there.
Within a week there was another bit of important news. The lengthy Long Beach refits are now finally over, and Guardian production could now accelerate with a third slipway ready at Niehuis.
A third terraforming installation was finished at the start of September, and sent to Luna temporarily though it'll be transported to New Genesis eventually. A big development in BOG saw Earth governor Delois Woznicki manage to step up to maximum administrative skill, making the 60-year-old who is still in excellent healthy qualified for and the clear favorite to replace Stonerock whenever he goes. Rather amazing considering she was barely qualified for a minor colony less than a decade ago. Then in mid-October the last of the ordnance factories is finally completed, with the space diverted to other elective tasks.
At the end of October the first colonization group jumped out to Luyten en route to New Genesis, and it was time to get the initial administrators in place there. A steady stream of graduates has swelled the unemployed BOG members to a dozen, a number that will now be cut in half. They'll have to 'rough it' aboard the George Washington shuttle as opposed to the increased speed and comfort of the Caldwell J, but such are the necessities of the initial colonization effort here. Michael Reneau(26), a creative natural leader with a knack for finances and terraforming will be the first governor of New Genesis. There are no major mining talents available -- those naturally already have jobs -- but a couple minor ones are among those assigned to the five mining outposts. Luyten A-I, by far the most important with it's considerable duranium deposits, will be led by newcomer Edison Fredrickson.
At almost exactly the same time, on November 3, Deborah Barnhouse presented her report on Cloaking Theory. There is more work to do before any such device could be successfully deployed, and they are not considered a major focus right now anyway. It did open up a new avenue of research and possibilities for the future however. One potential application is this kind of device could make it safer for scout/survey ships to operate in hostile systems. The main effect was proof of concept demonstration of the theoretical principles involved in hiding a ship's signature from active sensors, and a basic structure for further practical research. That structure involves three avenues: minimum size and efficiency which are similar to the jump drive version of those technologies, affecting the size of ship which can be cloaked, and sensor reduction which defines the amount of protection to cloak affords(a % by which hostile active sensors have their range inhibited). Barnhouse turns her attention to ceramic composite armour, one of two long-term and far more immediately practical and valuable projects in the field of defensive systems.
It turned out to be a big month for the leadership corps, especially in terms of research. By November 10th, Norris Gunterman(29, PP) had joined the elite ranks. He's had a meteoric rise and has the potential now to join the ranks of legendary scientists in the annals of SPACE given how quickly he's reached the top of the profession. Improving capacitor recharge rates, which allows for less delay between shots in our beam weapons, is his present task. This is now six elite researchers, a number not seen in many years.
The year finished quietly over the last several weeks. Humanity's reach continues to spread. Between the colonization groups in Luyten(New Genesis), ESFs Alpha and Bravo which are still out there somewhere, and the xenology team which should have arrived and begin its work in 40 Eridani by now, there are now human operations ongoing in at least four systems beyond Sol. It has become typical for at least as much if not more activity to be conducted in other systems as there is here. Most of it is either unknown or revealed well after the fact, as is the nature of interstellar travel, but it has been an unquestionably historic decade for SPACE. What other secret treasures -- and dangers -- the galaxy holds for us in the decades and centuries to come can only be guessed at from this vantage point.
Earth
July 3 -- Forrestal 88i finished.
July 22 -- Training exercises begin for the first squadron of four Guardians.
August 9 -- Krohn SY adds a third slipway. One more is to be built.
August 11 -- The two North Carolina jump ships are finished.
Mid-August -- Long Beach refits complete, slipway added to Niehuis SY. Work begins on a fourth, and another Guardian enters production. Two of the Long Beach's remain at Earth for eventual transit to Luyten since Saturn is presently directly opposite the system from the jump. The other two head there for harvester duty.
September -- Terraforming Installation finished.
September 25 -- New research lab. Lately advances have been few and far between so it's a chance for a fresh directon.
September 27 -- Forrestal finished. Caldwell J retool begins.
October 25 -- Retooling finished for the Caldwell J jump shuttle. Regular Caldwell is too differen to be built at the same shipyard. Two hulls are begun.
November 1 -- Forrestal finished.
December 7 -- Forrestal finished.
December 11 -- Two guardians finished.
Colonial Developments
July 9 -- Sedna up to 53.
Late September -- Ganymede's sensor base is the last to be started.
September 29 -- Sedna expands to 54.
Mid-November -- Io sensor base finished.
December 11 -- A second shipment of automines leaves for Herschel-Rigollet.
Personnel
August -- Hipolito Greig gets his start on distant Herschel-Riggolet.
August 11 -- A bit of late-career success for Commodore Ali Mandujano, who ups training skill to the accomplished range.
August 12 -- Russell Salvucci(pop growth) and Ricardo Bloise(Wealth) increased skills.
Late August -- Health problems for Evelyn Kaczor(Venus, 48), but they do not appear to be immediately serious.
Early October -- Commodore Emile Jeffcoat gets into the act, increasing training skill(accomplished).
November 4 -- Lena Bohannan(CP, 35) steps up to accomplished, claiming a second laboratory.
November 10 -- Health concerns for Deborah Barnhouse, Commodore Tommy Huntley has accomplished political connections now, and Norris Gunterman joins the elite ranks.
December 14 -- Errol Igoe(Titan) has strengthened his political position marginally.
Research
November 3 -- Cloaking Theory complete(Deborah Barnhouse).
-
MINISTRY OF RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT SPECIAL REPORT
The SOS Report will now be offered every five years instead of four beginning with this year(there is no longer the regular election cycle to follow, and that seemed most sensible). It is 2090, a new decade is upon us and also a new era of colonization. As MRD prepared it's portion of the latest SOS, it was found that the situation was ... well, truly distressing.
Duranium Production Report
Sedna: 11.8 kt(54 CMCs at 0.9, 18.1 years)
Others: 6.27 kt
Stockpile: 27.3 kt
Stockpile +/-: +5.8 kt
Forecast: 51%
When the Long Beach refits were finished and the North Carolina jump ships as well in the late summer, the duranium stockpile began to surge upwards after only marginal savings earlier in the year. The initial forecast shows that despite banking several kilotons this year, at current production and consumption rates we will only be producing just over half the duranium we need post-Sedna.
This was only part of the story. As the SOS will detail, several important duranium sources will be exhausted before the end of the final decade of the 21st century. It is very possible the forecast will drop from half to a third or less at this point. When this became clear, Director Stonerock authorized a new approach to mining operations requiring more specific and detailed oversight. From the early days of SPACE to the present, the mineral resources have been managed in a fairly general way. Supply levels of less than 5kt in any mineral have been considered a crisis point, less than 10kt a matter of concern, and mines generally deployed to improve supply of whatever mineral looked like it was the most vital need at the time, or else to whatever location could provide the largest total haul.
This generally worked well, but is no longer adequate. As the Navy has ramped up, it's ravenous appetite has meant much greater swings in usage. Additionally, the ongoing depletion of sources throughout Sol has resulted in a constantly changing balance of supply. Finally, diversification and shifting industrial priorities have made these swings even more significant.
The methodology used to estimate supply readiness with the duranium report will be extended to all minerals, and used to guide mine deployment and redeployment as needed. It will be a few years, probably until the '95 SOS Report, before MRD has a particularly refined handle on the situation. A strict policy of suspending all non-essential mineral use is in place for the time being.
Post-Sedna Outlook
Forecasts and projections of exactly what the supply situation will look like a couple of years from now are guesstimates at best. Having said that, it is still quite useful to consider the most likely scenarios. At the moment there is still the huge(14.8 mt @ 0.5) duranium deposit on Venus, as well as 439 kt remaining on Triton and a couple of distant asteroids in the 100-200 kt range with good accessibility. It's not a case where SPACE will forseeably run out of duranium completely after Sedna goes dark. The capability to build new equipment and installations will continue. The question is how much, since focusing mines completely on duranium would mean shortages elsewhere and maintenance efforts consume a certain amount as well. At the moment the worst-case scenario is that somewhere around a third to a half of Earth's factories might go silent at some point along with the present moratorium on all non-essential naval construction. Essentially the threat is of a significant depression.
It is expected that SPACE will be able to build it's way out eventually. With enough mines on Venus, Luyten A-I, and any other extrasolar sources that might be found there is little question progress will continue. The transition could be very rough and lengthy(decades) however, given the expense of building automines and the massive amount of them which will be needed.
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We are almost caught up, current game date is May 1 2090 so just a few months and a couple updates out. I've been fighting with the 2090 SOS Report, as it doesn't seem to want to post. I think I'm going to wait a bit since Erik is back and working on the forum issues again.
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STATE OF SPACE, 2090
I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS
IA. Populated Colonies
Earth(1.92b, 542 CF, 130 OF, 75 REF, 54 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 3x Alaska MB, Alaska 82 MB)
Mars(90.7m, Ticonderoga 82 SB, 1 TI)**
Luna(86.5m, Ticonderoga 82 SB, 2 TI)
Mercury(30.3m, 1 DSTS, Ticonderoga 82 SB)
Venus(21.1m, Ticonderoga 82 SB)
Titan(19.0m, 1 DSTS, Alaska MB)
New Genesis(150k, 3 CF)
Io(130k, Ticonderog 82 SB)
Europa(120k, Ticonderoga SB)
Ganymede(120k, Ticonderoga SB)
Callisto(120k, Ticonderoga 82 SB)
** Note: TI is new, stands for Terraforming Installation
Total Population: 2.17b(+10.7%)
Long-standing trends continued in the second half of the 2080s. The share of humanity living on Earth continues to slowly decline, aided by new technology slightly reducing infrastructure requirements in this case. The big news is the New Genesis colony in Luyten 726-8, less than three weeks old as of this writing.
IB. Outposts
Sedna(54 CMC, 14.1 eff, 18.5 kt) -- uridium(9.1)
Triton(117 AM, 20.3 eff, 5.99 kt) -- vendarite(7.2)
Earth(50 SM, 6.2 eff, 781 t)
Borrelly(39.8 AM, 32 eff, 2.29 kt) -- duranium(9.5)
Halley's Comet(36 AM, 33 eff, 2.35 kt) -- corbomite(4.0)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 30 eff, 1.83 kt) -- boronide(7.7)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 25 eff, 1.26 kt)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 15 eff, 745 t) -- neutronium(8.7)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 25 eff, 1.16 kt) -- duranium(0.9)
Titan(25 SM, 5.6 eff, 315 t)
Faye(25 AM, 14 eff, 630 t) -- sorium(6.8 )
Comas Sola(25 AM, 19 eff, 897 kt) -- tritanium(2.7), duranium(4.8 )
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.48 kt) -- uridium(8.4)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 26 eff, 954 t) -- sorium(5.1), duranium(8.8 )
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 40 eff, 1.34 kt) -- uridium(3.2), mercassium(9.5)
Whipple(17 AM, 43 eff, 1.38 kt) -- uridium(0.4)
Swift-Tuttle(15 AM, 71 eff, 1.92 kt) -- uridium(1.0), neutronium(7.7), boronide(9.9)
Tempel-Tuttle(14 AM, 40 eff, 1.16 kt)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 12 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 990 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 6.4 eff, 115 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 490 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 375 t)
Herschel-Rigollet(4 AM, 54 eff, 464 t) -- corbomite(1.9)
Total Production: 47.4 kt(+26%) Sedna has seen an explosion as noted elsewhere. A full one-third expansion of operations, advancements in mining techniques, and improved local management combined for an increase of 58% in the output from the dominant force in SPACE mining operations, despite the beginning of death throes for the uridium portion. Overall the mining sector annihilated the previous high of five years ago by more than a quarter.
IC. Mineral Supply & Usage
** With the new scrutiny being devoted to MRDs mineral assessment, a color-coded approach has been devised with five levels defined, replacing the original four with adjusted definitions. It is strongly emphasized here that the initial evaluation presented is fairly speculatory. Once a few years of supply and usage data come in, MRD will be able to make much more accurate determinations. **
White Status Minerals -- No shortfall is expected in the next century, regardless of expenditures. Essentially this is a level where we couldn't use it all if we tried.
** Sorium(64.4 kt stockpiled, 1.93 kt annual yield). Most current sources are expected to dry up in the next couple of decades, but this is tentatively considered irrelevant since it is rarely used industrially. The most likely scenario to change this probably is the possibility that a strategically important system without local fuel is discovered. In that scenario refineries might be transported there which would result in a massive change in usage. Barring that type of operation though, the status is extremely safe. Stockpiles have grown eight kilotons in the past five years, and consistently since the harvesters were deployed to Saturn decades ago.
** Uridium(150 kt, 8.55 kt). A massive 23-kiloton gain. Over three-quarters of the supply comes from Sedna, so this will stabilize when that expires sometime in the final year or two of the coming decade most likely. The sheer massive amount available makes it difficult to imagine any potential shipbuilding initiative draining it at this time.
** Corbomite(99.4 kt, 4.42 kt). A 20-kiloton gain and over half the supply comes from Triton, which has over half a megaton remaining and will see increased investment if anything due to the importance of it's duranium reserves. Combine that with the fact that it's one of the most rarely-used minerals and it's easy to see why corbomite is considered the safest at the present time. It's highly doubtful anyone alive today will live to see a time when it becomes the slightest concern.
Green Status Minerals -- These are considered safe for the next 20 years or so, but could potentially become concerns in the decades after that. They tend to be high-stockpile but also high-usage substances.
** Vendarite(77.4 kt, 1.79 kt). A healthy rise of 6 kt+ in the last five years, but Triton contributes more than half and when that runs out in the latter half of the next decade there will only be a relatively meager supply coming in. It sees fairly limited use in ship construction, espescially in the survey carriers. Given the magnitude of the stockpile even an eventual slow decline would be a very minor issue.
** Tritanium(59.7 kt, 3.48 kt). Aside from duranium, no other mineral comes in greater quantity. It is used fairly heavily but the greatest need is for ordnance factories which is a rare project and not one currently required. Some ship construction of course and it is used in other factories to a lesser degree, which will pretty much be a constant need for the forseeable future. The stockpile rose 7kt over the past five years, and it has a highly diversified group of fairly long-term sources.
Yellow Status Minerals -- These are those minerals which are generally around the 'tipping point'. There is enough for current needs, no further supplies are expected to be necessary for a decade or so, but not a big enough stockpile or enough current supply for long-term comfort. 'Bears watching' is the general approach here.
** Boronide(37.8 kt, 1.98 kt). Stagnant over the last cycle. There are not many sources, and over 30% of the supply, from Reinmuth and Swift-Tuttle, will go away in the coming decade. As the major building block material of fuel tanks, boronide will be needed in significant quantities indefinitely.
Amber Status Minerals -- These are those which are not yet at crisis point but where the current supply status will require a change, either investment or reduced production, within the next decade. These have a smallish stockpile and will mostly be in decline as well.
The big four minerals have now essentially become the big five with gallicite joining them as a significant concern.
** Mercassium(16.0 kt, 2.11 kt) A decline of 3.5 kt in the last five years. At that rate it would take about 23 years to run out. There are multiple long-term sources, but Wolf-Harrington will deplete around the turn of the century and others may see mines diverted to increase duranium supply.
** Gallicite(19.2 kt, 796t) Falling like a rock(-12 kt) mostly because this is by far the lowest-yield mineral right now. There's just not much coming in. Until that changes further missile production is pretty much an impossibility which greatly limits military options.
** Corundium(8.83 kt, 1.13 kt). Mostly stagnant, up a few hundred tons during the last cycle. It's really a case of limited supply here again, and of course the need for automines will have basically no forseeable end so it's a priority. Even more fun is that among the current sources, only Herschel-Rigollet is expected to still be one in twenty years. New Genesis will bring in more from a couple of decent comet sources around the Luyten system by then, but that's just a stopgap.
** Duranium(27.3 kt, 18 kt). As mentioned duranium is sharply on the rise, but it is still listed here because it's a very temporary situation. Several comets amounting to multiple kilotons in annual yield will cease their contributions in the coming years, followed by the Sedna crash. There's no question duranium will be the epicenter around which MRD's efforts in the coming decades will revolve.
** Neutronium(16.2 kt, 3.16 kt). Effectively stagnant for decades now, neutronium is down 1.3 kt this past cycle. Multiple comets rich in the mineral and the present naval restrictions should keep it from being an urgent issue, though a significant source in Machholz is scheduled to deplete before the end of the decade/century. Additional investment will need to be made before a full naval ramp-up can ever happen though.
Red Status Minerals -- Less than a five-year supply. This is the emergency, immediate-action-required level.
** None at the present time.
ID. Income
Taxes(population): 58.4m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 23.9m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 7.29m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 329k
Total: 89.8m(+42%)
Improved financial administration resulted in considerably less waste, while the tourism sector continues to explode. Taxes on civilian spaceflight operations now account for over a third of all income, ensuring a limitless future in terms of finances for SPACE. The mineral crisis is definitely not reflected in this sector.
Balance: 947m(+136 m)
IE. Expenses
Mineral Purchases: 13.2m
Research: 12.8m
Shipbuilding: 10.5m
Installation Construction: 6.2m
Maintenance Facilities: 1.48m
PDC Construction: 1.34m
Shipyard Modifications: 1.23m
Ordnance Production: 672k
GU Maintenance: 602k
Maintenance Supplies: 153k
Total: 48.2m(+18%)
The hilariously large gap between income and expenses is expected to do nothing but grow as raw materials become more and more of a determiner. Sedna's minerals are over a quarter of current outlays, and when that goes away and as naval operations are minimized, expenses will be only a third to a half of income at most in the projections. If only all of SPACE operations were so healthy.
II. SHIPYARDS
IIA. Commercial Yards
Estalerios Navais do Montego(ENDM)(2 slipways, 171 kt capacity)
** Idle
Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Idle
P&A Group(6, 101 kt)
** Idle
Vegesacker Werft(1, 66.5 kt)
** Idle
Howaldswerke/Deutsche Werft(HDW)(1, 55.3 kt)
** Building CS Pineda, second of the Spruance colony ships
Oregon Shipbuilding(2, 50.7 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 17.4 kt)
** Idle
Kvaerner-Masa(1, 10 kt)
** Idle
IIB. Naval Yards
Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Idle.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Idle.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Idle.
Permanant(1, 10.1 kt)
** Idle
C. Mitchell & Co.(1, 6.53 kt)
** Idle
Niehuis and van den Berg(3, 4.14 kt)
** Adding fourth slipway(October 2090), building Guardian(February 2090)
International(2, 4.14 kt)
** Idle
KSEC(4, 1.66 kt)
** Building Caldwell(J)(x2), April 2090
Krohn(3, 1 kt)
** Building Forrestal(x3), various times
There's a lot of bored workers, a fact that won't change anytime soon due to the mineral crash.
III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES
IIIA. Earth
** Three active training facilities
** All three idle
IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY
IVA. Earth
Research Lab(20%) -- November 2090. Under the division of fifths the rate is one every 13-14 months. Inadequate, but it's something.
Automated Mines(19%) -- About 9/year.
Construction Factories(12%) -- These will be built pretty much indefinitely at this point for industrial expansion & colonization startups. 10-11/year.
PDC Alaska 82(9%) -- A little over two bases left for Earth, late 2098 is the current ETA.
Mass Driver(7%) -- Three remaining, early 2091
Military Academy(6%) -- Summer 2091
Naval Shipyard(6%) -- Final 'reserve' one, mid-2092
Prefab PDC Alaska 82(5%) -- An upgraded base for Titan, September 2090
Terraforming Installation(4%) -- 2091
Commercial Shipyards(4%) -- Also a final 'reserve' shipyard, March 2092
Prefab PDC Ticonderoga 82(2%) -- Final one for the moment, intended for New Genesis. Ready in April.
DSTS(2%) -- July 2090
Maintenance Supplies(2%) -- Still over 1,000 tons needed. Mid-2091.
Infrastructure(1%) -- Mid-2095 for the current run.
A lot of projects are close to wrapping up.
V A. PRIORITY RESEARCH PROJECTS
** Divisional HQ(Alphonse Lambeth) -- October/November 2090
** Ceramic Composite Armour(Deborah Barnhouse) -- December 2090/January 2091
** Capacitor Recharge Rates(Norris Gunterman) -- December 2090/January 2091
** Freighter Jump Drive(Jerry Bartholf) -- Early 2091
** Missile Tracking(Julio Kuchler) -- Early 2092
** Thermal Sensor Sensitivity(Bessie Wallander) -- Late 2092/Early 2093
** Colonization Cost Reduction(John Dangel) -- Early 2094
There's almost no prototyping going on right now, it's all big-picture stuff aimed at the long-term.
V B. NOTABLE SCIENTISTS
** Biology/Genetics
Noble Stephson(Accomplished)
** Construction/Production
Carmelo Costanza(Accomplished)
Lena Bohannan(Accomplished)
** Energy Weapons
Leonel Wessels(Accomplished)
Minh Klausner(Accomplished)
Freddy Salsgiver(Accomplished)
** Logistics/Ground Combat
John Dangel(Elite)
Alphonse Lambeth(Elite)
Stanley Kogut(Accomplished)
** Missiles/Kinetic Weapons
None!
** Power/Propulsion
Norris Gunterman(Elite)
David Gruis(Accomplished)
Alejandro Otteson(Accomplished)
Reynaldo Darrington(Accomplished)
Irving Steinmeyer(Accomplished)
** Sensors/Fire Control
Julio Kuchler(Elite)
Bessie Wallander(Elite)
Overall it's been a great five years for the Research Directorate. Most of the holes have been filled. Biogenetics is weak but nobody really cares. There's a couple of construction researchers on their way up, logistics is a strength again, and the propulsion field has absurd quality depth. Missile research is still the biggest problem, though it ironically doesn't matter quite as much with the problems in acquiring enough gallicite to build any. Another emerging issue is that the vital sensors field is very top-heavy. Kuchler and Wallander are both in their mid-50s so this isn't a problem now, but could become one if no fresh blood emerges.
VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS
VI A. Military Bases
Alaska(4, 59.5 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Alaska 82(1, 22.7kt, 709 crew, major missile base)
Ticonderoga 82(6, 3.7kt, 24 crew, sensor base)
Ticonderoga(2, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)
Total: 13 installations(-13%), 289 kt(-16%), 4.97k crew(-12%)
Two Ticondergoa upgrades remain, and most of the Alaska's are yet to be replaced. The old Tennessee bases have been swept away.
VI B. Combat Ships
GB Brooklyn '72(4, 13.5 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)
GB Brooklyn '81(2, 10.5 kt, 282 crew, 2380 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, beam-armed)
MC Guardian(5, 1.9 kt, 85 crew, 947 km/s, 50k fuel, jump defense missile corvette)
MB Nimitz(3, 14 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
MB Nimitz '76c(4, 10.3 kt, 273 crew, 2439 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, missile-armed)
Total: 18 ships(+50%), 168 kt(+14%), 4.62k crew(+18%), 20m fuel(+8%)
The new Guardians will soon to be ready to take up postions at the jump points, while the others will remain at Earth.
VI C. Military Non-combat Ships
DC Ambassador(1, 800t, 18 crew, 1.5k km/s, 150k fuel, diplomatic jump shuttle)
CC Baltimore(2, 10 kt, 284 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, command carrier)
ST Caldwell 84i(12, 950t, 15 crew, 3.32k km/s, 500k fuel, VIP-grade jump shuttle)
MV Cleveland 84i(2, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 3k km/s, 50k fuel, supply ship)
SC Explorer(6, 850 t, 18 crew, 1411 km/s, 250k fuel, jump scout)
SB Forrestal III(14, 650 t, 14 crew, 3.69k km/s, 50k fuel, jump point sensor vessel)
SB Forrestal 88i(6, 650 t, 13 crew, 5.54k km/s, 100k fuel, jump point sensor vessel)
GSV Frontier(8, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, gravsurvey)
SVC Gearing(2, 10 kt, 158 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, survey carrier)
ST George Washington(4, 1.15 kt, 27 crew, 1.57k km/s, 350k fuel, general-use jump shuttle)
GEV Prospector(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, geosurvey)
CO Tarawa 84 i(2, 6.0 kt, 66 crew, 1k km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
Total: 65 ships(-9.8%), 84.2 kt(-21%), 2.16k crew(-2.3%), 17.2 m fuel(-31%)
The shrinking of the shuttle fleet and the lower fuel required are the big stories here.
VI D. Commercial Vessels
TT Arleigh Burke 84i(6, 17.3 kt, 127 crew, 695 km/s, 250k fuel, brigade troop transport)
FT Fletcher 84i(2, 35.9 kt, 153 crew, 1002 km/s, 250k fuel, freighter)
FT Gato(2, 7.0 kt, 33 crew, 857 km/s, 100k fuel, small freighter)
TK Iowa 84i(4, 8.5 kt, 44 crew, 1.41k km/s, 5m fuel, fuel tanker)
TK Iowa XR(2, 9.7 kt, 53 crew, 1.03k km/s, 6m fuel, extended range fuel tanker)
TK Iowa 84i XR(2, 8.55 kt, 44 crew, 1.4k km/s, 5m fuel, extended range fuel tanker)
FH Long Beach(41, 80.8 kt, 429 crew, 445 km/s, 2.0m fuel, fuel harvester)
FJ North Carolina 87i(2, 168 kt, 995 crew, 715 km/s, 1.5m fuel, large commercial jump ship)
TT Portland 84i(2, 4.35 kt, 39 crew, 1.38k km/s, 50k fuel, troop transport)
FT South Carolina 84i(6, 163 kt, 487 crew, 735 km/s, 1.5m fuel, superfreighter)
CS Spruance 85i(1, 52.2 kt, 299 crew, 920 km/s, 550k fuel, colony ship)
SV Wickes 84i(1, 21.7 kt, 191 crew, 829 km/s, 250k fuel, salvage/recovery)
Total: 71 ships(+16%), 4.97 mt(+25%), 24.6k crew(+26%), 139m liters fuel(+55%)
A couple of the old Iowa's have yet to be retired, but mostly the growth here was in finishing up the new Long Beach harvesters.
Grand Total: 167 assets(+4.4%), 5.51 mt(+20%), 36.4k crew(+16%), 176m liters fuel(+32%)
The fuel number can be a bit misleading since almost half of it is contained in the harvesters alone.
Available Crew: 210k(+24%)
VI E. Fuel Status
Earth -- 43.1m liters
Titan -- 39.9m
Callisto -- 4.83m
Total -- 87.8m liters(+263%!!) An explosion in supply due to two factors: the expansion of the massive harvester operations, and detanking fuel from ships that are now equipped with more efficient ion-based engines. It would appear that fuel problems are over for the moment.
VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS
** Brigade HQs(6)
** Construction Brigades(10)
** Assault Infantry Battalions(4)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(12)
** Garrison Battalion(34)
Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 530k(+10%)
The current force is more or less stable for now, though garrisons will periodically be sent out-system from time to time.
VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS
Tolles Transport & Logistics(89 ships, 13.6m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(77, 8.84m)
Voliva Carrier Company(92, 7.03m)
Ridolfi Interstellar(9, 1.52m)
Hayter Container Group(3, 210k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 160k)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 147k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 120k)
Elman Freight Services(3, 90k)
Dyett Freight Company(2, 40k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, 20k)
Forbius Carrier Limited(1, 20k)
Total Vessels: 285(+40%)
Total Civilian Income: 31.8m(+57%)
The civilian economy has grown to the point where the rising tide is indeed lifting all ships -- well most of them at least. There were only three effectively defunct small carriers compared to six in the last cycle. Ridofli not-truly-Interstellar continues to grow, showing it has designs on joining the big boys, and Tolles is increasingly dominant, with a fleet nearly as large as bloated Voliva. For the second straight cycle, gross income is up more than half.
IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS
** Naval Officers: 214 of 233 assigned(92%), +3%
** Ground Forces Officers: 70 of 80(88%), +12%
** Civilian Administrators: 33 of 45(73%), -5%
** Scientists: 27 of 43(63%), -15%
Overall: 344 of 401(85.7%), +2.1%
It's a good time to be in the military, but prospects for civilians have rarely been bleaker.
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JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2090
With the dawn of the final decade, Director Stonerock was preoccupied with two major issues: the colonization of New Genesis, and the approaching mineral meltdown. It was clear that the struggle for mankind to determine our own destiny would succeed or not based mostly on matters of economics, not naval superiority. In particular gallicite stood out as a concern. Half the pittance of an annual yield was being spent in maintenance of military ships. The ESFs are due back probably late this year or early next, but even if they've discovered massive new sources that will be a long time in coming.
A shorter-term solution is needed, and there is simply no way to justify any more military ships than absolutely required right now. With the Guardians soon to take over jump defense and the new Alaska's going in, the old guard of the Nimitzes and Brooklyns are of only marginal use. They were ordered to be scrapped immediately in order to save what is spent on their upkeep, and get what value can be saved out of them. The rest of the military fleet is really pretty lean. SPACE can afford to lose a few Caldwell 84i VIP jump shuttles, but those don't draw enough to make a significant difference(less than three tons each annually). A decision on those can wait, and isn't that important in the grand scheme of things anyway. Another benefit of dispensing with the 'old war-horses' now rather than later is that their captains can be transitioned into new commands on the Guardians as they are built.
With that decision made, a very busy start to the year soon commenced. The first news took just three days, which is when Commodore Ali Mandujano, the most politically skilled officer the navy has ever had and presently in charge of the Alaska bases on Earth, retired. Mandujano is also highly skilled in logistics, but it was her connections that allowed her to reach the upper echelon of the Navy and stay there, though she was never a serious candidate for the top spot. She first came to prominence during a brief stay at the helm of the Excelsior(Pioneer class) during which she reported on the events of the Epsilon Eridani crisis, then made captain later that year in '64. A brief stay in public affairs, for which she was most highly suited, was followed by nearly two decades as logistics officer for the SDF. The last five were spent on Earth with the missile bases.
Anytime a Commodore retires, it is an important spot to fill. There are presently only nine positions at that rank, but more importantly it is the pool of experienced, proven men and women from which the new Fleet Admiral will be chosen when necessary. Therefore this was an occasion to select who would be that person to join this elite group. There are few bad candidates at this level, but the best by a considerable margin was Rocco Lett, CO of one of the Nimitz missile ships for the last several years and a lengthy tour in communications prior to that. Too lengthy, perhaps, as his age(58) may well have caused the Navy to turn to Rosemary Tallant instead. The Public Affairs officer for the SDF, Tallant is only 44 yet has spent almost two decades in the public eye. She led the failed diplomatic efforts in Epsilon Eridani several years ago, but managed to escape any blame for them. She is trusted by civilians and brass alike, and now Earth's protection is largely in her hands.
On January 6th, the new year still less than a week old, the first colonization group from Luyten came back. New Genesis was up and running, which was good: but an unfortunate snag was hit with the other group. It seems the first group of colonists took almost a full month to unload, meaning the second group just recently left New Genesis to make the journey back to Earth. Apparently it was an engineering screw-up, as nobody had bothered to put cargo loading systems on the colony ships so everything was done with crude, outdated equipment. The time could be slashed to just over two days for a mere 47k to add two loading beams to each Spruance 85i colony ship, just over a 2% increase in the price. Clearly this needed to be done. The Howaldtswerke SY quickly set to work on the retooling, which would take just under a month at a minimal cost of about 69k. A very minor setback, but yet still an embarassing one.
After a few weeks of fairly routine events, ESF Alpha returns more than four years after leaving Earth on February 23rd. The task group reports a successful mission from an operational standpoint, and it's report is relayed to Fleet HQ.
EARTH
January 14 -- Krohn SY finishes fourth slipway, which is all that is needed for now. Another Forrestal 88i is begun.
January 27 -- Another Forrestal finished.
February 15 -- Guardian finished, a total of seven corvettes are now in service.
LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL
Mid-January -- GoA Gil Milstead appears to winning over the right people early(four months) into his time in the new position as head of the Army(Pol. Reliability up to 30%, or accomplished tier).
Research & Development
January 20 -- Meson Focusing is improved to the fourth generation(Dr. Minh Klausner).
Colonial Developments
January 28 -- Throne Trading established, a new civilian shipping line.
Early February -- Determined to not go quietly, Sedna expands again to 55 complexes.
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On January 6th, the new year still less than a week old, the first colonization group from Luyten came back. New Genesis was up and running, which was good: but an unfortunate snag was hit with the other group. It seems the first group of colonists took almost a full month to unload, meaning the second group just recently left New Genesis to make the journey back to Earth. Apparently it was an engineering screw-up, as nobody had bothered to put cargo loading systems on the colony ships so everything was done with crude, outdated equipment. The time could be slashed to just over two days for a mere 47k to add two loading beams to each Spruance 85i colony ship, just over a 2% increase in the price. Clearly this needed to be done. The Howaldtswerke SY quickly set to work on the retooling, which would take just under a month at a minimal cost of about 69k. A very minor setback, but yet still an embarassing one.
. . . Why retool? I would have expected there to be no trouble whatever refitting to the corrected design in the old shipyard, it's a very minor change. In fact, IIRC retooling cost is based purely on the new design, rather than any difference from the old one (unlike refitting); so most of that cost you're paying goes to replace perfectly good equipment with exact duplicates.
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Force of habit: I didn't even check to see if the refit could be done without retooling. My mind isn't used to that concept yet I guess. At least this time the cost was very minimal.
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ESF ALPHA Survey Report
Luyten 726-8 'Route'
February, 2090
Alpha's mission parameters were to survey the three systems extending away from Sol from the hub of Luyten 726-8, and then proceed further in those directions as the situation warranted.
May 2086 - April 2087: Nearly a year was spent in the first system, Epsilon Indi. Tau Ceti was considered to have the best potential of the three systems and so was set to be surveyed last.
Habitability: Good(A-II is a 1.90-cost world, with only a trace atmosphere, right in that Mars/Luna ballpark)
Fuel Availability: Good(A-III, a super jovian, has 16.7mt of sorium at 0.8)
Mineral Wealth: Poor. There are multiple-megaton sources of all minerals, most of it coming from A-I, but almost all at 0.1. Other than a moon with 1.4 mt of 0.6 neutronium, there's really nothing to recommend the system here. There's no need to travel for what can mostly be found on Venus already.
Strategic Importance: Miniscule. With no other jumps found except straight back to Luyten, using the system as a refueling spot is rather pointless.
May 2087 - May 2088 -- Lacaille 9352 was a smaller pattern, but the large number of asteroids meant that the gravsurvey actually beat out the geosurvey by several months.
Habitability: Very Good(A-II is another 1.9 cost world, but has an atmosphere already of appropriate thickness, just a bit more pressure than Earth's. All that would be needed is the addition of oxygen).
Fuel Availability: None. Multiple potential sources ended up barren.
Mineral Wealth: Above average. Like Epsilon Indi all minerals all present in massive amounts of low-accessibility, but there are also some higher-value sites. A-I has 0.4 concentrations of duranium(270mt) and Uridium(155mt). A-II has similar concentrations of those two with the benefit of allowing human-operated mining(lower cost, higher employment). A-III has 2.3mt of boronide at 0.7, and there are multiple interesting moons and dwarves. One has a megaton of 0.9 boronide, another 56kt of duranium and 116kt of vendarite both at high concentrations, a third with 157kt duranium, 95kt mercassium also highly accessible. Yet another has 15mt of 0.5 sorium should it ever be needed industrially. There's enough here to potentially justify either shipping in the needed fuel or mining and refining the sorium, though some minerals like neutronium would likely need to be brought in from elsewhere to support operations.
Strategic Importance: Miniscule. Once again no jumps anywhere but back to Luyten.
June 2088 - May 2089 -- Tau Ceti, the final system off the Luyten 'hub', with the first two leading nowhere.
Habitability: Good. Once again A-II is the best target, a 1.90-cost planet that needs only oxygen added. The atmosphere is thinner than in Lacaille 9352 so it would take somewhat less time to make it breathable.
Fuel Availability: Excellent. It's smaller than most deposits we've found, but based on how long it takes to go through atmospheric sorium that probably won't matter. 416kt on A-V, a gas giant, at a fine 0.9 accessibility.
Mineral Wealth: Miniscule. A-III has 6mt of vendarite at 0.1. That's it, and that's all.
Strategic Importance: High. Three more jumps were discovered, leading to the new systems of Proxima Centauri, TZ Arietis, and Gliese 1. TZ Arietis is the first 'empty' or 'transit' system we've seen: it has no moons, planets, comets, asteroids, nothing. . No bodies of any kind where potential resources could be. It's only possible usefulness is as a system to be traversed on the way to somewhere else. Nevertheless, this is a chokepoint system that could be used as a buffer. Occupying it would place Luyten, Epsilon Indi, and Lacaille 9352 firmly under human control.
June 2089 - November 2089 -- Proxima Centauri was the closest and quickest of the newly-discovered systems. Not much was expected of it, but there was clearly more than enough time to do this survey before returning to Earth.
Habitability: None. There is one planet and asteroids, that's all. The planet's gravity is more than two and a half times Earth's, too massive for any potential colonization effort.
Fuel Availability: None. With only one planet as a terrestrial, there were no sources here.
Mineral Wealth: Subpar. The massive planet has the usual spread that most such bodies seem to: great quantities of nine minerals, all at minimal(0.1) accessibility. Most of the asteroid finds are too small to be worth noticing, but one with 152kt duranium(0.9), 80kt mercassium(1.0), and 147kt vendarite(0.8) bears reporting. Another has six minerals, most in virtual trace amounts of about a kiloton or less, but also 22.5kt corundium(0.9). Overall the picture is still one that doesn't merit major investment.
Strategic Importance: Moderate. Jumps to the new systems of Procyon and Kapteyn's Star were discovered. The latter has an exceptionally habitable earth-like planet that is just a little bit too cold, a 0.8 cost, and terraforming could eventually eliminate even that.
(http://i.imgur.com/mG7lmwU.png)
Outlook
There were no game-changing, dramatic discoveries on Alpha's journey. A few interesting possibilities, but no must-have systems. Further exploration will be needed before a full assessment of the importance of the 'chokepoint' system in Tau Ceti can be made. There's no hurry in deciding where Alpha will be sent next: after a two-month trip back to Earth and refueling, an overhaul will take likely over a year before they are ready to leave again. By that time ESF Bravo will probably be back with more information.
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FEBRUARY - MAY 2090
The next few months were a period of pretty routine goings-on. On March 1st, the cargo group from New Genesis returned, and they had a bit of a layover waiting for enough equipment to justify another trip. There are mines ready, but they are best kept doing something on Venus while the surface geosurvey teams finish their work. At the end of the month the colonization group returned, but they'll wait until refitting over the summer for another journey. April brought the final chapter of the 'old navy', as the Nimitz and Brooklyn warships completing scrapping at various points throughout the month. On the 18th, the cargo group departed for Luyten and New Genesis again with the initial terraforming installation, a little more infrastructure, one mine, a couple more factories, two more mass drivers, and the Ticonderoga 82 sensor base for the colony.
May began with ESF Alpha reaching Earth and beginning it's overhaul, while two officers include Operations officer for the flotilla, Captain Asa Hotz, will now retire. Alpha's next mission will not begin for about a year, giving Fleet Command about that long until sometime in the second quarter of '91 to decide where to send them next. On the 25th, ESF Bravo made a surprising early return, nearly a year and a half left on their mission clock when they emerged from the Van Maanen jump. Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio was on the short list for an open command on one of the gravsurvey ships, but was once again passed over.
Earth
February 30 -- Forrestal 88i finished.
April 4 -- Forrestal 88i finished.
April 5 -- First pair of Caldwell Js, the VIP jump shuttles, are finished.
Early April -- Ticonderoga finished.
April 15 -- The three original Nimitzes are finished being disassembled and scrapped.
April 18 -- The four Brooklyn '72 ships are decommissioned.
Late April -- Four Nimitz 76c are scrapped.
May 1 -- Ens. Misora Hinonami graduates the academy. Only fair health, so she may not have a particularly long career if that doesn't improve. Low initiative(168), but solid in training(100) and a few good connections(10% pol. rel.). Also, the Brooklyn '76s are scrapped, the last of the 'old navy' to be done away with. ESF Alpha returns to Earth and begins it's overhaul.
May 10 -- Forrestal 88i finished.
May 24 -- Forrestal 88i finished. Scrapping of the old ones begins with a spare slipway now.
Colonial Developments
May 7 -- Uridium exhausted on Whipple. Four other minerals, including duranium and mercassium, remain on the comet.
Leadership Personnel
May 12 -- Dr. Ross Dodge(36, SF) moves up to the Accomplished tier. He's probably the
best hope for a top researcher in the next generation of sensors scientists.
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ESF BRAVO SURVEY REPORT
Van Maanen 'Route'
April - October 2087 -- There are two systems off Van Maanen to explore, and YZ Ceti is tackled first before GJ 1002. It's a small system, requiring only a few months for the gravsurvey.
Habitability: Moderate. There's nowhere good, but a lot of marginal places to potentially live. Two planets are in the prohibitively expensive range, including one several times hotter than Venus, but there are eight moons in roughly the 7-9 cost range similar to Titan etc.
Fuel Availability: Good. There are two sources, one with 3.24mt at 0.7, another at 799k but just 0.4.
Mineral Wealth: Utopia. Incredibly, off-the-scale, potential salvation level of rich. First up, the crushing heat of A-I brings with it the best known duranium source, 7.6mt at maximum 1.0 accessibility. There are several 0.1 minerals here, but also 2.4mt gallicite at 0.9 which would solve that issue, vendarite(7.3mt @ 0.6), corbomite(12mt @ 0.5), and boronide(16 mt @ 0.4). All in all a 29-efficiency, very high-yield rock. A-VI, a super jovian, has one moon worth noting, with several large 0.1 deposits but also mercassium at 0.8, almost four megatons. The 10th moon of A-VII, a gas giant, boasts another 6.3mt of duranium(0.9) along with 0.3 concentrations of boronide(4.16mt) and corundium(452kt). A-VIII, another super jovian, has a fine moon as well which I think is the highest-efficiency body we have access to outside of Sol at 41. Another 461kt of duranium(0.8) and 536kt gallicite(1.0) along with three of the more common minerals, corbomite, vendarite, and uridium in somewhat larger amounts. More on exactly how rich this system is in the overall summary.
Strategic Value: High. After GJ 1002 was discovered to lead to no additional systems, it became clear that YZ Ceti is another chokepoint system -- GJ 1002 and Van Maanen could be protected from here. Jumps to 40 Eridani and Gliese 908 were discovered, and those systems explored next.
October 2087 - June 2088 -- Gliese 908 survey operations. The intent was to catch 40 Eridani 'on the way back' as Bravo would journey across the YZ Ceti system back to the Van Maanen point.
Habitability: Good. A-II is the best, a nearly breathable atmosphere but a cost at 2.53 just somewhat too cold(20+ degrees warmer than Luna though, for example). There will be water here when the ice sheet melts if it is heated up enough. There are three bodies in the 4-6 range, three more in the 8-9 range, and another three just over 10 colony cost. That's ten habitable locations, which is the same number Sol has.
Fuel Availability: None. Two gas giants are both barren. The most distant super jovian known, 16b km out, was not surveyed as it was past the limit but it may be worth considering as the three 10+ cost bodies are all in it's orbit. Otherwhise fuel would need to be shipped in.
Mineral Wealth. A-II is not only quite habitable but also worth coming for in terms of resources. A 40-efficiency world, it has four 0.1 minerals including gallicite and duranium, 15+mt tritanium(0.5), 1.3mt neutronium(0.6), 24+mt vendarite(0.7), 14mt corbomite(0.9), and 9.9 mt corundium(0.9). Given the lack of major corundium and neutronium deposits in neighboring YZ Ceti, this is particularly welcome.
Strategic Value: Above Average. Three new systems were found: EZ Aquarii, the empty star of NN 3039, and Groombridge 34.
July 2088 - June 2089 -- 40 Eridani, the other new system off of YZ Ceti. A big pattern, but not much was expected.
Habitability: Above Average. Only A-II, which needs oxygen added only to a thick atmosphere but is at 1.9 already with good temperature and gravity, can be occupied.
Fuel Availability: None. The lone jovian is barren.
Mineral Wealth: Low. A-II has several 0.1 minerals, and there are a number of asteroids that contain resources but most of them don't have much. One has nine high-accessibility minerals, probably the most efficient source ever found at 85, but low amounts of most. Mercassium(17kt) is the biggest. There are a few other similar asteroids, a second one 25kt duranium, a bit of neutronium, and 38kt gallicite among it's virtues. The amounts simply aren't enough to warrant investment in the system.
Strategic Value: Low. While the discovery of an alien ruin on A-II definitely makes the system important for now, once that is excavated there will be relatively little reason to return. The lone new system, 82 Eridani, is another 'empty' one devoid of any resources.
October 2089 - March 2090 -- GJ 1002, the second system leading away from Van Maanen.
Habitability: Good. A-I is a 1.9-cost world, far better than rest. A relatively small amount of methane will need to be drained from it's atmosphere and oxygen added, and then thickened somewhat as it's currently over 25 degrees below the optimal range. A multi-stage but relatively short terraforming project. In addition, there are 11 other habitable bodies, most in the 6-8 range with a couple higher. This is another system where a network of colonies could develop. A full dozen sites makes it a record-setter in that department, yet only the one will have limited cost.
Fuel Availability: Very Good. Three sources: 5.4m @ 0.6, 156 kt @ 0.9, and 154 kt @ 1.0.
Mineral Wealth: Rich. The 21st moon of the third planet, a gas giant, alone makes that distinction. 68mt of duranium @ 0.8, dwarfing the entirety of YZ Ceti by itself. 628 kt of corbomite is an irrelevant kicker. Another moon further out in the system has another 2mt @ 0.5. Unfortunately there is little else, most minerals would need to be shipped in.
Strategic Value: Very Low. As no new systems were found, this is merely a side alleyway in galactic terms, though an important one.
Galaxy Map
The Known Universe as of May 25, 2090
(http://i.imgur.com/bLvdeqv.png)
Outlook
Bravo's finds are revolutionary. The discovery of the first alien ruins on 40 Eridani A-I would be so on their own merits, but as it is they are a mere massively important footnote. A total of over 82mt of high-accessibility duranium was found, along with significant finds of every other major mineral. To put that number in perspective, it dwarfs total usage by SPACE to date and at the projected minimum needs of 15kt per annum, would supply humanity for more than five millenia. Developing those resources will be a very lengthy process, but once done the future of humanity will be highly secure from an economic standpoint. Due to it's status as a chokepoint system, YZ Ceti becomes the top priority. This opens up the question of whether to approach it focusing on an immediate resource grab or a long-term development potential situation.
Overall, not counting the Sol system and the three which are inaccessible due to the alien presence, SPACE has discovered 23 systems and fully surveyed 13 of them. A second question is where to go next. The maximum distance allowed by the 1-year rule(a year travel there and back, resulting in at least 60% mission time on station) is 18.7 billion kilometers. As the route list below shows, in some directions exploration is beginnig to approach that distance:
Barnard's Star - Gliese 563.2: 8.21b
Sirius - V577 Monoceri: 10.1b
Luyten - Tau Ceti - Proxima Centauri - Procyon: 10.81b(another 2.1b to Kapteyn's Star)
Luyten - Tau Ceti - Gliese 1: 11.01b(0.3b less to TZ Arietis)
Van Maanen - YZ Ceti - Gliese 908 - EZ Aquarii: 15.4b(closest, the other two offshoots are almost a billion further)
Van Maanen - YZ Ceti - 40 Eridani - 82 Eridani: 17.26b
YZ Ceti is expected to become the first outsystem base, i.e. the first system with a 10kt-capacity maintenance facility operation to support fleet assets outside of Sol. That is well down the road though of course. Command presently intends to send one ESF out past Barnard's Star to the Gliese 563.2 given that it's by far the closest available unexplored system, with the second heading out through Luyten to the systems beyond Tau Ceti. There are multiple possibilities yet in that direction, but so far nothing has been found to indicate investment any further than Luyten(New Genesis colony) will be warranted anytime soon.
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MAY - OCTOBER 2090
The second and third quarters were filled with a lot of mostly routine developments which are detailed in the departmental summaries as usual. The first substantial news was the departure of the colonization group to New Genesis for the second time on July 3. Their load this time around was another 150k colonists, a deep space tracking station, two more factories, two automines, and a smattering of additional infrastructure. On August 30 the new prefabricated missile base for Titan was finally completed. This set off a flurry of activity as the nine construction brigades on Earth were sent there to get it assembled. The nearly 30 factories devoted to building the components for the base were also retasked. Small accelerations across the board mean that almost all significant industrial projects are now expected to see results and/or completion by early 2092.
In September, the current run of Forrestal 88i sensor vessels completed, leaving only the Guardian jump defense missile corvettes still being built. Otherwhise, the shipyards are quiet. When the construction teams arrived on Titan, early estimates indicated the base would be ready sometime in 2093. The day after this announcement, September 23, Director Burt Stonerock made the anticipated announcement that he would be retiring in a month's time.
In the first week of October, the Guardian phase officially began as the first squadron was deployed to the Epsilon Eridani jump point.
Earth
June 14 -- Forrestal III scrapped, Spruance 85i finished and the first one begins refitting.
June 28 -- Forrestal 88i finished.
July 3 -- Forrestal III scrapped: first Spruance refit finished.
Mid-July -- Forrestal III scrapped.
July 25 -- ESF Bravo arrives at Earth for it's overhaul. They'll finish some time next year as well, close behind Alpha but probably a month or two after the first flotilla is ready.
August 2 -- Forrestal 88i finished, only one left in production.
August 5 -- Two more Forrestal IIIs scrapped.
August 8 -- Guardian(x3) finished. There are now ten in service. A second squadron begins training exercises, the first is finished and undergoing overhaul: it will be ready to deploy after that.
September 9th -- The 14th and, for now, last of the Forrestal 88i are finished. The only ship construction going on now are the Guardian corvettes. The shipyards are eerily quiet on the whole.
October 17 -- Final, fourth slipway completed for the Niehuis SY. Starting with the next run, they will be able to build a full squadron of Guardians simultaneously. For the first time in memory, there are no ongoing shipyard expansions of any kind.
Colonial Developments
June 16 -- Sedna expands to 56.
July 5 -- Europa finishes it's new Ticonderoga 82 sensor base. Only Ganymede's remains.
August 11 -- Sedna expands to 57.
Mid-August -- Another shipment of automines departs for Herschel-Rigollet, expected to be the final one.
September 22nd -- Components for the Titan base arrive, and after an engineering assessment of needed materials, minerals are shipped the next day. Initial estimates put completion of the base sometime in 2093.
Personnel Notes
Mid-July -- Defensive Systems has two elite scientists for the first time ever as Eliot Monks(36) steps up to that level.
August 2 -- Syrus Cassio ups initiative to 425, among the highest in the service now.
August 20 -- Dr. Brandon Leyrer, not at all a household name for good reason, made a surprising breakthrough. The 33-year-old Biology & Genetics scientist is up to Accomplished despite not having been given any projects to direct recently. This would normally merit a reassessment, but there's really nothing for him to work on. He's still behind Noble Stephson, and there's only room for one researcher in the field right now, in terraforming.
September 19th -- Timmy Sheerin, governor at Triton, is up to elite status in mining production. Nearly a 200-ton increase in annual duranium yield from the moon is expected to result. A drop in the bucket, but every little bit helps.
October 22 -- Cmdr. Jay Cin V increases training skill, still considered a novice in that category.
Research & Development
September 23rd -- Dr. Leonel Wessels completes blueprints for a larger, more powerful 20cm laser cannon.
Early October -- Dr. Adolfo Walth finishes work on minituarizing cloaks, a ship of 1.25kt or larger can now potentially be outfitted.
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We are now finally 'past' the forum and computer issues it seems. The thread is caught up to present game date of October 23, 2090, and all sign-ups have been entered in with characters in the game.
Hopefully no further drama with be forthcoming on the technical side.
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((OOC: I seem to recall that Harold Graff was promoted to commander and received a command in ESF Bravo, but I think that post was lost in the forum transfer. If any of the details referenced below are incorrect, please let me know and I'll make the appropriate edits.))
Commander Graff sends the following open letter to a wide audience:
My fellow officers, and all other SPACE personnel,
Over the past 65 years, SPACE has done exceptional work to ensure our species' survival. More importantly, under the leadership of SPACE, humans have started to thrive again. Only a few generations ago people only harvested the resources of Earth but now we harvest the resources of the whole solar system.
However, it is now very clear that the solar system does not contain a limitless supply of resources. Within our lifetimes, humans will exhaust the solar system's supply of some minerals and humans will be back in a struggle to survive. I believe that SPACE must lead humanity on a path toward thriving, but I believe that our current programs will only leave us struggling to survive.
There is a better way! I have personally seen the staggering amount of minerals available in YZ Ceti and I believe that SPACE must make the exploitation of these minerals its highest priority. Now that we know these deposits exist, it would be a shame to not make use of them and it should be a crime to let them fall into the tentacles of another species.
Sincerely,
Harold Graff
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Thanks for the contribution. Pretty much on point -- Cmdr. Harold Graff is CO of a Frontier-class Gravitational Survey Vessel, and he is also part of the ESF Bravo which did the survey of YZ Ceti and nearby systems.
Cmdr. Graff should rest assured that his concerns are shared by SPACE. Establishing operations there is in fact the top priority.
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Finally caught up with the thread, It's a great way to spend the downtime while waiting for turns to process :P
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That won't do, guess I better get off my lazy behind and put some more updates together :P
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OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2090
Burt Stonerock Bio
Nearly four years as Director come to and end now for the memorable and controversial Stonerock. He received his first posting on the comet outpost of Stephan-Oterma just a month after being commissioned in early 2050, and four decades of service later he steps aside. After almost two decades of comet postings he began the first of two tours on Mercury in 2069. While on Callisto in the mid-70s he began to develop health problems, but continued to develop his skills. Burt moved to Mercury in '81, then after just under two years as Earth's governor from 85-87 he was the landslide choice to take over the Director's Office in January of 2087. His legacy is that of being blunt and direct to a fault and a near-complete disregard for the 'political game', a decided rarity among high-level officials. He was responsible for formulating initial SPACE policy in terms of managing the mineral crash and before that, colonization efforts. He had a fairly tumultuous, but overall quite successful, term as Director. Burt Stonerock retires at the age of 61.
SPACE Directorial Election: October 23, 2090
Despite being a year older than Stonerock at 62, Earth Governor Delois Woznicki is still in good health and eligible for the office for the first time. Better late than never was probably never more applicable. Obviously her age meant that, if elected, she'd have a brief term in office. Despite this, she is so much more skilled and qualified than anyone else out there that it seemed a foregone conclusion. There are a total of ten qualified administrators, but a full half-dozen are fairly young with underdeveloped resumes and skills. Only three challengers were on the ballot, familiar names all, but none of them really had a chance despite well-formulated campaigns. This was a coronation, and it was over before it began.
Delois Woznicki -- 54.3%
Errol Igoe -- 18.5%
Russell Salvucci -- 18.1%
Evelyn Kaczor -- 9.1%
Kaczor will move from Venus to Earth to take over as governor on the homeworld. There's nobody with the industrial acumen of either Stonerock or Woznicki so some slowdown is expected, but she has the best balance of factory and shipbuilding skills(25/15). Also notable is Venus's replacement, the relatively young Gordon Semien. Now 33 years old, Semien has a gift for leadership and gets off the Neujmin comet operation at a good time -- it is only a month or two away from depleting it's duranium reserves. Meanwhile a newcomer who is just glad to get a foot in the door will take over there. A win for all concerned.
The day after the election, the 24th, another task group returned from New Genesis, and it was decided that it was time to get basic fueling and transport up and running in the system. In other words, a new task force had to be formed and assigned personnel and ships moved, or at least the ball needed to get rolling. It would be only months before the sensor base was ready, and the population was nearing a third of a million.
New Genesis Support Flotilla(NGSF) was the sixth task force formed. Captain Rocco Lett was the unanimous choice to head it up. A Long Beach fuel harvester and a Fletcher mid-size freighter would make the jump this time, along with of course the Caldwell J VIP jump shuttle that would take the officers through seperately. Sometimes it's just a matter of being around at the right time. Such was the case here for Lieutenant Solomon Curd, a man of only one useful skill. Fortunately, that skill is now needed as he was a year or two away from likely being pushed out of the service. Now a lieutenant commander, Curd will be the logisticis officer for the New Genesis task force. Many a career has been built, or at least begun to be built, on such fortuitious happenstances.
Two more needed to be promoted to Cmdr. for Caldwell J commands. Once again Lt. Cmdr. Syrus Cassio is in the mix as a fairly long-shot, and once again he is overlooked.
Research tidbits dominated the news most of the rest of the year, but on Christmas Day there was news from New Genesis. A week and a half previous the new naval HQ had been set up on the colony, and the ground survey of A-I had been finished with no new results. This marks the completion of survey operations in Luyten 726-8, and clears the way for deployment of automines. Due to the slow speed of the fuel harvester traveling with the group, it will still be nearly two months before the group, which includes the necessary freighter, makes the jump to the system. By the end of the 2092 basic mining operations should be set up on all of the surveyed comets and the big duranium reserves on A-I, a key step towards making New Genesis fully operational.
The two geology teams now inbound to Earth will get some R&R while their GW shuttle undergoes it's maintenance work, and then they will be sent out to YZ Ceti. Confirming the results there is expected to take considerable time, but mining operations cannot begin in earnest until it is finished. That day must come as soon as humanly possible.
Research & Development
** November 3 -- Divisional HQs are now available following a report filed by Alphonse Lambeth. As expected they are considerably expensive, but Earth is in need of two of them and the work will start immediately. The estimated time is nearly two years each. Lambeth will take over work on improving cargo handling systems.
** December 4 -- A relatively inconsequential advance was announced by Lena Bohannan, whose team has completed work on the asteroid mining module. It is expected to literally be a century or two before any asteroid mining ships would be deployed, if ever. Nevertheless the engineers took a look at the specifications anyway. Each module costs the same as a standard mine, so there could potentially be a significant cost savings over using large numbers of automines which cost twice as much. Analysis indicates that for a moderate-sized mining ship(65 kt), there would be some savings over the automine option of about 17%, but when you factor in the need for shore leave and the inactive time that would require it does not seem to be a particularly useful option. For systems with multiple asteroids with significant deposits and no sensible colony sites it might be a good idea, but such systems are certainly going to be rare and none are set to be developed anytime soon.
** December 17 -- Capacitor recharge rates have been improved by Norris Gunterman. Decades down the road, if the economic situation has been stabilized, this may well prove important. For now, it's merely a curiosity. His next project is much more vital. The next stage in power generation, the stellerator fusion reactor, will now have his attention. Most of the work has already been done by more junior researchers, and results are expected in less than two years.
Earth
November 5 -- New research lab completed.
Colonial Developments
November 19 -- As expected, duranium deposits on Neujmin have now been exhausted. As one of the top neutronium producers, it will continue to be fairly important.
Mid-November -- The last of the construction brigades have made it to Titan, where it is expected the new base will be ready sometime in early 2093.
Personnel
Late December -- The tragic, early death of Dr. Kerry Rainbolt, a young scientist who had not yet been granted a project lead, went largely unnoticed. Such things happen unfortunately in the course of human experience, and with the research directorate possessing so many talented minds these days, there are many newcomers who remain on the sidelines.
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There was quite a bit of activity in the early months of 2091, so I decided to split off a couple things.
2091 MRD SUMMARY
Duranium is up a rather astonishing 12kt this year, partly due to the scrapping of a lot of combat ships but at nearly 40kt a sizable emergency stockpile is now forming. This gain is almost exactly the amount coming from Sedna, but unfortunately is not sustainable. Mercassium held steady, showing small increases once the drain from the colony ships ended, while gallicite(1.8kt), corundium(100t), and neutronium(1.9 kt) all moved upwards. It was a very good year on the mining front, but it will still be at least a couple of years before the picture can be reasonably clarified.
Annual Supply as of January 1:
Duranium: 18.3 kt(+1.7%)
Neutronium: 3.24 kt(+2.5%)
Mercassium: 2.06 kt(-2.4%)
Corundium: 1.31 kt(+16%)
Gallicite: 926t(+16%)
Expansion of operations on Herschel-Rigollet provided some much-needed gallicite to help with use in ship maintenance needs, as well as making the corundium flow more secure.
Policy Review
Director Delois Woznicki had some choices to make with this information. It had become clear that a little more shipbuilding was regrettably necessary, which will further stress the system. With a Fletcher-class freighter having been sent to New Genesis, another one would be needed to handle Sol's needs. Additionally, it has become painfully obvious that more jump shuttles are needed. There are four survey shuttles, the George Washington class, and three are always in operation. The inadequacy of this can be shown that a replacement was needed to depart to relieve the shuttle currently in 40 Eridani with the xenology team ten days ago, but none will be ready for a couple months so it will have to stay over it's operational guidelines. With the need for the class expected to only increase in future decades, the choice was made to double the number of vessels from four to eight.
Also, with Herschel-Rigollet having reached it's complement of automines, the next destination for additional deployments had to be decided on. By the middle of the year the full complement needed for the New Genesis start-up would be finished, and the rest would be kept in Sol until the groundwork for YZ Ceti was completed. The uninventively-named asteroid 2004 XA192 was chosen. Nearly a billion kilometers past Neptune orbit(5.4b km total), it's distance was one reason why it has not yet been developed. XA192 will become the second asteroid(after Prokne) to be exploited by SPACE. It holds nearly 200kt of duranium and about 24kt of gallicite, along with lesser amounts of tritanium and boronide. The first shipment of automines should depart before the end of the year, and should aid in the diversification of duranium sources as operations on Sedna continue to tick slowly towards their final years.
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JANUARY - JUNE 2091
The biggest news early in the year came out of research & development, with three new advances in January alone. On the 5th, both Deborah Barnhouse(ceramic composite armor) and Elliot Monks(thermal emissions reduced from 35% to 25%) had their announcements. As if that wasn't enough, the first terraforming installation to be deployed to Titan left that same day. Three weeks later, Jerry Bartholf's team announced that the new 9kt commercial jump drive for use with the Arleigh Burke brigade transports was ready. The new jump-capable specs:
Arleigh Burke 84i(J) Brigade-level Troop Transport
Size: 28.3kt
Crew: 186
Speed: 637 km/s
Fuel: 300k
Capacity: Five battalions/1 Brigade
Armament: 3x CIWS 79 battery
Cost: 710k
For now, Oregon SY will retool in order to build these. The first one should be finished sometime around late summer of '92. Three are expected to be built, which would allow for all six of the regular Burkes to be transported in three task groups of three each if desired.
February began with a bang as well. On the second, the current run of mass drivers which has taken up three dozen factories for years was completed. It was time to count the cost for YZ Ceti, as almost all the equipment for New Genesis has been shipped. The big difference is of course that more infrastructure will be needed to setup the colony there. It would again require several mass drivers(seven in this case, six were sent to New Genesis). Current estimates are that three and a half to four years will be required to built the necessary equipment. It will almost certainly take longer than that to get the ground surveys done in the system, which have not even started yet. It appears that will be the limiting factor on how fast humanity can expand. The total cost is around 7.7m.
The next day, terraforming operations began on Titan, an initiative which deserves it own small chapter in the rundown. This will be a much longer process than Mars and Luna are currently undergoing. The atmosphere here is fairly thick, mostly nitrogen with 5% methane. There's no point in even trying to make the atmosphere breathable here, at least not for a long time. Temperature is the issue here, at -178 celcius it is survival suits and other specialized equipment for dealing with the frigid moon that cause the biggest problems. Adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere to trap more of what little heat Titan gets is going to be the biggest concern for decades, if not centuries. It's already a thick atmosphere(60% thicker than Earth), but if the temperature ever gets good enough(unlikely) the nitrogen and methane can be removed to lessen the pressure.
In the middle of the month, on February 17th, the recently formed NGSF officially went into action. The first freighter and harvester have reached the system. They jumped out with orders to report to their new headquarters. The freighter will be tasked with deploying mass drivers and mines to the five mining outposts in the system: administrators are en route to them already from New Genesis where they have been cooling their heels in preparation for this moment for years. The harvester will naturally make it's way to Luyten B-III, where it will begin harvesting operations. The jump ship reported that second journey will take a further two months, as it jumped back into Sol minutes later on it's way back to Earth.
Another two days, and yet another bulletin as from Ganymede there was word that the last of Ticonderoga 82 sensor bases has come online. Deploying and assembling the entire run of them took less than nine years. The construction brigade is sent immediately to assist on Titan.
There was relative quiet for a couple months, eventually broken by research again on the 27th of April. Dr. Carmelo Constanza announced that improved fabrication techniques are ready, with a projected increase of 14% in output across the board. Now that manufacturing has caught up to mining in terms of technological advancement once again, the pressure on the MRD will only increase.
News has come in bunches this year, and it did so again. On the last day of April, ESF Alpha departed Earth orbit, their overhaul complete. They will return to the site of their most recent explorations, heading to Luyten 726-8, then to Tau Ceti, and then to the systems beyond it. With the focus on YZ Ceti now, their work has become relatively less important to the public eye ...
May also waited until the very end to make it's presence felt. Another task group returned from New Genesis, with a few tidbits on the colony's progress:
Luyten 726-8 Updates(New Genesis Colony)
March 15 -- Automine operations begin on Luyten A-I, the site of nearly a megaton of duranium.
March 28 -- Sensor base is completed. It is noted by Admin. Reneau that SPACE never bothered to send out a CO for it, and that request will be sent as soon as possible. For now, the ten active construction factories will split 25% on new factories, 75% on new automated mines. This is a ratio that will need constant adjustment. Right now the work force is still lacking, with manufacturing going forward at only about a 43% -- and slowly rising -- efficiency. Infrastructure can support more than three times the present population of 330k, and another 150k are inbound from the Sol jump which will aid considerably.
April 25 -- The new colonists, the third such delivery, have been unloaded at New Genesis. The manufacturing sector is now operating at 62%.
April 26 -- Another first is established. The Long Beach harvester assigned to New Genesis deploys at B-III, the first in the system or any system outside of Sol for that matter. Here that will require a three-week trip back to the colony for shore leave bi-annually, a minor inconvenience all things considered.
Back in Sol, ESF Bravo left Earth on June 15 for it's next voyage. It will take the four-month journey to Barnard's Star, then past it to Gliese 563.2. It will be the first visit to the system in nearly a decade by the time they arrive. Another round of exploration is underway.
Colonial Developments
January 3 -- Corbomite exhausted on Herschel-Rigollet
January 5 -- A new terraforming installation headed to Titan, their first.
January 12 -- The colony task group returns from New Genesis. Another 150k colonists will leave with them, along with another mass driver and the rest of the automines needed for the system.
February 4 -- Sedna expands to 58.
February 19 -- Ganymede is the last moon to complete fabrication of it's Ticonderoga 82 sensor base.
May 16 -- Sedna expands to 59 complexes.
May 19 -- The jump ship that brought the freighter and harvester to Luyten has returned to Earth. A tanker and maintenance facilities that Earth no longer needs are next on the agenda, the last four factories that somehow have not been brought to New Genesis due to a clerical snafu, and of course more colonists though those will have to wait as the task group can't take them along with the needed space for the facilities.
Early June -- Sedna expands to 60.
Earth
January 3 -- Two more Forrestals scrapped.
Early February -- SPACE's treasury reports that the balance has reached a billion credits for the first time.
February 23 -- The latest trio of Guardians is ready for service. A third squadron begins it's training period, and another full squadron is begun in the shipyard. It will be more than a year yet before all five planned squadrons have been constructed.
May 13 -- A fifth military academy is finished on Earth. That is all that will be built for now, the supply of manpower will be monitored now for the balance of the decade.
Late May -- It's a few months late, but one of the GW shuttles is finished with the overhaul and heads out to 40 Eridani to relieve the ship standing watch. Better late than never, I think they say.
May 28 -- Just a few days later, the next pair of GW's are finished and a final(for now) pair begun.
June 4 -- Forrestal III scrapped.
Mid-June -- Forrestal III scrapped
Research & Development
** January 5 -- Ceramic composite armour finished(Deborah Barnhouse)
** January 5 -- Elliot Monks finishes work on thermal emissions(reduced to 25%). Shield regeneration and cloak miniaturization will be next up respectively for the two elite DS researchers.
** January 26 -- Jerry Bartholf's team finishes testing of the new 9kt commercial jump drive for the Burke.
** April 27 -- Construction rate improved(Dr. Carmelo Constanza).
Personnel
January 30 -- New administrator Frances Laprade is one to watch. She can already handle anything short of the director's office and has a wide-ranging beginner's skillset. Also, the Energy Weapons field has a new elite man in Dr. Freddy Salgiver. Only 29, he is tops in the field right now. Combined with other developments, there are now no novice researchers with ongoing projects at all. Long-term, that has to be a concern.
Early February -- Cmdr. Harold Graff improves his training skills. They are still considered to be in the novice category though.
Late March -- Jedidiah Thone further improves his accomplished skill in shipbuilding. Unfortunately this will be of no benefit to anyone with the 63-year-old still on Io.
April 15 -- Earth governor Evelyn Kaczor has learned a bit about logistics in her new position.
April 18 -- Four army and three navy officers have been dismissed.
May 1 -- Ens. Misora Hinonami promoted to Lieutenant, and is now available to be given her first command.
Early May -- Cmdr. Jay Cin V improves initiative, currently in the low end of the Accomplished range.
May 28 -- Lt. Cmdr. Misora Hinonami takes her first command, the sensor base on Mars.
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JULY - DECEMBER 2091
On July 13th, there was a little more news on the geosurvey front. While nothing has yet been heard from the teams in Barnard's Star, the other two have finished the overhaul period at Earth and are outbound for YZ Ceti. There are eight bodies, most expected to be large projects and take months to years to complete. That is not to mention that it will take some weeks to get in position, but mining cannot commence until the initial survey is complete. There will be a mix of automining and standard mines in the system eventually, but the richest, prohibitively hot A-I, will be the first to have a team. Director Woznicki has been busy this month as well. After working on her substantial political connections, for what reason I don't know since she's finished her last election, she has developed a bit of skill in population growth, one of her weak points.
On the 28th there was more significant news, with the latest efficiency leap for jump drives being completed(Dr. Alejandro Otteson). SPACE was waiting on this advance before putting into motion research projects aimed at new commercial jump drives. Currently we have operational versions for the North Carolina at the top end, and also for the Arleigh Burke recently developed. Two more are desired, one to fit a jump-capable Fletcher standard freighter, and another to fit the small Gato for smaller runs. The option of a Long Beach-sized drive was considered but rejected, as it is not believed they will need to make jumps often enough to justify the investment. A North Carolina can escort them through the jump when needed, and most of the time they will simply be on station in whatever system they are posted in. Otteson himself will handle the new jump drives. The freighters will have the same cargo capacity but will be significantly slower than their present counterparts, so they will only be used when needed to transport between systems. In the case of the Gato's drive, it will be soley a single-ship drive as the small freighters are too small to mount a multi-ship jump drive given current capabilities.
The very next day another task group returned from New Genesis. This time, however, they will not be going back. The colony has all that it needs. It's time to head to YZ Ceti, which means the long debate about where to settle first, the 'primary' colony in the system, needs a resolution. It's the kind of decision that is made only at the Director's desk.
There are eight bodies in the system that are in the 'marginally habitable range', with colony costs from 6.77-8.65 with current technology. At that level they are hostile enough that there will be some population available for manufacturing work but a minority. Titan, for example, is nearly the low end of that range and has just under a quarter of it's population available for similar duties. All of them will probably be developed eventually, but there are important mineral deposits on a couple of them. Director Delois Woznicki decided not to make the choice on the availability of minerals since automines would need to take the lead early while available population focuses on terraforming and construction(esp. infrastructure). Much later in the system's development, as more people become available a switch to standard mining may well occur ... but that would be a very long-term concern. Given that reality, the fifth moon of the sixth planet, a super jovian, was preferable due to it's already thick atmosphere(nearly twice Earth's) and resulting somewhat more tolerable temperature.
It was decided to go with a compound name for the various locations in the system, beginning with Quarry Hub for that moon as it would serve as SPACE's headquarters and control in YZ Ceti. With that decided, over a hundred sections of infrastructure and a pair of mass drivers departed on a max cargo group the next day. The trip to Quarry Hub is longer than the one to New Genesis, an average trip of about 9.3b instead of 5.7b kilometers. Put another way, it's almost exactly a five-month trip each way, so the process of getting equipment in place will definitely take longer than before. The promise is worth it though, many times over.
After a quiet August, on September 18 a new logistical issue became apparent. With a new squadron of Guardian corvettes readied, the total is now 17 of the 20 planned, and the final three will now enter production. The process of reassigning was slowed because officers needed to be exchanged in multiple systems(Luyten and ESF Alpha which was by now a couple systems away), a situation which revealed the need for more Caldwell J VIP jump shuttles. There are currently only two. The order went out for four more, tripling to a total of six. Efficiently moving personnel from one place to another is a necessity to ensure smooth operations throughout SPACE.
By early October a new commercial shipyard had been finished and maintenance supply stockpiles reached the desired level, as Earth continues to clear up it's backlog of industrial projects. As the calendar reached November, the Guardian project reached a crucial milestone with the deployment of the second squadron, this time to the Lalande 21185 jump. Both dangerous jump points should be under the watch of the corvettes indefinitely from here on out.
The first shipment to 2004 XA192, Sol's latest mining outpost, departed Earth ten days later. It is nearly a three-month journey by freighter, so it won't actually be operational until next year.
The first week of December brought significant industrial news from Earth. Governor Evelyn Kaczor has made a significant breakthrough which will increase production significantly. Over the next couple of weeks, SPACE celebrated a pair of population milestones. Mars became the first colony to reach 100 million, and then within days Earth crossed the two-billion threshold.
Personnel
July 1 -- Luna-born Stella Yon is sent to New Genesis to take command of the sensor base there.
July 28 -- Lt. Cmdr. Misora Hinonami has already improved her training skill, jumping into the accomplished range. Her determination, health issues notwithstanding, is showing through here as she works to build a resume that will allow her to move up in the Navy.
December 6 -- Earth gov. Evelyn Kaczor has achieved a breakthrough in factory oversight, significantly increasing her accomplished ability in that field. A noticeable, if marginal, decrease in required production times is being seen across the board.
Late December -- Dr. Leonel Wessels, currently working on a larger meson cannon, steps up to elite status. There are now a record nine elite scientists who command half the available laboratories between them. Wessels in the second in energy weapons, along with Salsgiver.
Earth
Early July -- Retooling for the jump-capable Arleigh Burke is finished a bit ahead of schedule. The first two of three planned are expected to be finished next May.
August 4 -- Sol is back up to it's complement of two Fletcher 84i standard freighters as the new one is completed.
Early August -- The second squadron of Guardians has completed its training, and returns to Earth for maintenance.
September 18 -- Another four Guardians built, and a fourth squadron will soon begin training exercises.
September 29 -- New commercial shipyard is finished, the Astilleros Espanoles. At least one more will be constructed. Astilleros Espanoles will expand to at least 30kt.
October 4 -- Earth has reached the desired reserve of five kilotons of maintenance supplies. About two dozen factories will be switched to shipyard construction.
October 18 -- New research lab completed.
October 27 -- Final pair of GW's finished.
November 1 -- The second squadron of Guardians is deployed, there is now one at each of the dangerous jumps.
November 5 -- The sensor base for YZ Ceti has been completed. It probably won't be shipped out for quite a while but it's ready now.
November 24 -- The colonization group returns to Earth. The only thing left now is more colonist shipments to New Genesis. They depart with another 30k souls a couple days later.
December 10 -- KCI Naval SY, Kaiser Company Inc. in full, has been finished on Earth and the remaining factories are diverted to the commercial shipyard.
Research & Development
** July 28 -- Alejandro Otteson finishes a significant advance in jump drive efficiency. The practical effect is miniaturization, allowing a jump drive to be less than 17% of a ship's mass instead of the current required 20%. On large ships, this can be a significant savings.
** October 25 -- Elliot Monks is in the news again with the announcement that we can now cloak a kiloton-sized ship. Wrapping up a project on improving shield strength will be his next task.
Colonial Developments
Early December -- Mars becomes the first colony to reach 100 million population.
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**There was a lot to do even though the events of this time period were not particularly dramatic. I also spent some time getting the naval officers into a spreadsheet to facilitate being able to identify promotions more quickly.**
JANUARY - JUNE 2092
The mining outlook shows a more promising picture each year, but there's still plenty of work to do when you dive deeper into the numbers. Duranium stockpiles topped 50kt by the start of the year, and by the time Sedna expires there will likely be enough stored up to last decades. On the other hand production minus Sedna is at 79% of the current need, and only 51% when you take away the other duranium sources set to be exhausted during the same timeframe. Since some of those mines will be redistributed, the actual readiness probably lies between those numbers. Mercassium is the only mineral that continues to decline albeit only by a tiny amount.
Not a whole lot happened until March, when another terraforming facility was sent off to Mars followed by the completion of blueprints for a Fletcher-sized jump drive and the deployment of the first jump-capable brigade transport. The new design is quickly hammered out:
Fletcher 84i(J) Jump-capable standard freighter
Size: 49.1 kt
Crew: 230
Speed: 733 km/s
Fuel: 400k
Cargo: 25k
Cost: 850k
These will be used anytime a single installation needs to be transported to a different system, or when 'mid-size' ships need an escort they are also a much more cost-effective alternative to the massive North Carolina jump superfreighters. They cost more than a third more than a standard Fletcher and the speed is less than three quarters of the original variant so insystem use would only be in case of emergency. Vegesacker Werft SY will be prepared to begin the first of the class before the end of the year.
At the end of March, there was the latest update from New Genesis as well. The population there is up to 830k, with industrial efficiency at three-quarters of maximum. One implication of the results there is already clear: many new colonies, such as the hostile conditions in YZ Ceti, will require a lower number of construction factories to start with since they won't have enough manpower to operate them all. Most of the comets have basic mining operations up and running, and the freighter is working non-stop to get all of the automines in place as duranium is at 18 tons and dropping. From that point on, Gov. Michael Reneau will need to carefully juggle industrial priorities in order to make sure the colony has enough infrastructure but is also expanding mining and production facilities at an appropriate rate. Much will be made of the New Genesis colony's experiences over the coming years and decades, especially in terms of fine-tuning SPACE's approaches to expansion going forward.
On April 8, engineering was busy again with a new design as the Gato jump drive was finalized.
Gato-class jump-capable small freighter
Size: 9.95 kt
Crew: 51
Speed: 603 km/s
Fuel: 100k
Cargo: 5k
Cost: 204k
Again the jump model is slower and costlier than the original. A fair number of these are expected to be needed. Virtually every system SPACE colonizes is expected to either have a surplus of some minerals, a deficit in others, or in most cases both. The Gato 84i(J) will serve as a delivery vehicle for these materials, and scheduling these trips will provide yet another beauracratic task. The smallest commercial yard, Kvaerner-Masa, presently tasked with the Portland battalion transports which are not expected to be needed for the forseeable future, will retool and the first of the class should be in production by about the middle of the third quarter this year.
Another week, and the MRD got some good news with the completion of the Guardian project so far as the shipyards are concerned. The last three were pressed into service, and training exercises will begin as soon as their captains can be relocated from other assignments. With a few shipyards still active, it is a welcome relief to the MRD that this resource drain is no longer required. In the associated reassignments, Syrus Cassio's wait finally ended as he was promoted to Commander of one of the VIP jump shuttles(Caldwell 84i(J) class), while Dirk Blade was considered but narrowly passed over.
On the 25th, SPACE lost a midlevel administrator as Governor Jedidiah Thone's retirement was announced. Thone spent most of his career on important mining concerns, including the first asteroid administrator on Prokne to begin his career, and a stint on Triton in the late 70s. For the past 11 years he has held the relatively quiet colonial posting on Io.
May began with news from Sedna. The completion of a 62nd mining complex there was not worth any particular bulletin, but it was accompanied by a matter of more importance. Gov. Ronald Waxman reported that the beginnings of lost efficiency have now come. Accessibility of duranium is now just slightly down(89% as compared to the 90% it has been at since operations began decades ago). It's just the start, but the long-feared Sedna crash has now officially begun. The exhaustion clock is currently just over 14 years.
The month ended with the departure of what is to be the last group of colonists sent to New Genesis, and a period of shore leave for the crews of the first cargo group returning from YZ Ceti. Before the end of the year the transition of colonization efforts between the two systems will effectively be complete.
June 12 brought more news on the research front, more a matter of future consideration than anything for the present time. Dr. Julio Kuchler has completed theoretical research into electronic warfare, allowing for the creation of ECM and ECCM suites. Practically speaking, ECM works to reduce the accuracy of beam weapons fire against a ship, and the range at which a missile fire control can effectively track the ship. ECCM works to counter these effects. SPACE's researchers will be more concerned with defensive ECM aspects, though no study of them is slated to begin quite yet.
Earth
Early January -- Another pair of Forrestals scrapped.
February 18 -- The third Guardian squadron completes training and returns to Earth for overhaul.
March 23 -- First jump-capable Arleigh Burke is now ready. A second will be ready soon, and the third hull is begun.
April 2 -- The four new Caldwell(J) jump-capable VIP shuttles are now finished.
April 14 -- Last three Guardians completed.
April 25 -- Second of the jump-capable Burke's is finished.
May 14 -- The third squadron of Guardians is deployed. Having finished their training run, they'll join the first at the Epsilon Eridani jump point.
Personnel
February 8 -- Another tiny increase in survey skill for Cmdr. Harold Graff, still definitely in the low novice category(3%).
February 21 -- Cmdr. Jay Cin V improves survey marginally, and is now an accomplished crew trainer as well.
February 29 -- Another tiny bump in Cmdr. Harold Graff's survey skill. The aggregate effect of these improvements is nearing the point of being barely noticeable to a highly skilled observer.
March 23 -- Lt. Cmdr. Dirk Blade has some novice skill in training now.
April 12 -- Commodore Rosemary Tallant's crew training ability is now near the top of the scale. The 46-year-old, presently in charge of the missile bases on Earth, is a serious candidate for the next chief of the navy.
April 25 -- It is announced that Governor Jedidiah Thone(Io) is retiring at 64.
May 26 -- A new administrator joins the cause, one with a solid starter ability in mining, Mr. Harley Reagen. I expect SPACE will need every able hand in that department available for decades, so this is a good shot in the arm for the colonization efforts.
June 19 -- Lt. Cmdr. Misora Hinonami improves initiative into the low accomplished range, and continues to be a top candidate for another promotion once her mandatory two years as a commercial CO are completed.
Colonial Developments
February 10 -- Sedna expands to 61. You would think they would stop building new complexes that are going to be useless in a little over a decade, but apparently the civilians are very short-sighted.
March 15 -- A new terraforming installation is ready and sent off to Mars, which will give the red planet two once again.
May 4 -- Sedna expands to 62nd complex.
Research & Development
** March 23 -- Julio Kuchler has completed work on improving tracking time against missiles, now at a 40% increase. He'll finish up theoretical electronic warfare research that is almost completed next.
** March 27 -- The jump drive for the Fletcher is now ready, and Alejandro Otteson will move on to the Gato version, already mostly completed by Bartholf before the laboratory was required for a more pressing priority.
** April 8 -- The new jump drive for the Gato is ready.
** May 29 -- A new increase in shield strength, designated Gamma level, has been finished by Elliot Monks. He'll spend the next year-plus working on cloaking efficiency, a project about 40% completed by junior researchers.
** Dr. Julio Kuchler completes Electronic Warfare research, and will next focus on fire controls extended the range of our beam weapons.
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JULY - DECEMBER 2092
The constant march of progress continued, August in particular was a buzz of activity for SPACE. It was one of those times when a bunch of different things just happened around the same time. The first bulletin was in the second half of July, as prodigy Norris Gunterman announced a working prototype of a reactor powered by what they are calling 'stellarator fusion'. Don't ask, I have no idea how it works. It is a significant leap forward however. There is currently ongoing research into increasing reactor power in general, so no new specific blueprints will be developed until that is completed. The Navy was most interested in the application of a new engine based on this naturally. The concept, which is all it is at this point, is known as a 'magneto-plasma' drive system. SPACE expects it will be at least a decade, and quite possibly longer, until such a thing becomes reality, and as we know from past experience, prototyping and refitting and all that rigamarole will take years after that. It's coming though. Eventually.
August began with the cargo group departing for YZ Ceti, weighted down by a full load(130 sections) of infrastructure. Then the first pair of Divisional Army HQs were readied a couple of weeks later, though it would be some time before officers could be reassigned. Dorian Shelite was promoted to Major General to take Second Division, with Zoe Bean and Sterling Silvers Jr. narrowly passed over for the spot. There was a lot more going on of less significance, as always check the supplementals for details.
September 6 brought the second shipment of automines departing for asteroid 2004 XA192. They'll be at this for a while, at least 40 are expected to start. At that level gallicite reserves would last for more than 30 years, duranium for more than two and a half centuries, and more than 700 tons a year would be supplied. Two days later the last Guardian squadron entered it's training phase. 20 of the Navy's 28 captains are COs on the corvettes. That number is expected to remain quite static for the forseeable future. Growth opportunities are significant in the ranks of the junior officers(106 Commanders, 91 Lt. Commanders and growing consistently) which is expected to make competition for the captain spots fierce in years to come. Another two days, and the two divisional HQs for the Army were formally arranged with all the officers now in place. At the moment there are only five brigades though, enough for just over one full division. Director Woznicki sets forth a plan to have a full four-brigade division for each billion citizens on a world, with a brigade for a population of 100 million. Every populated world already has a garrison battalion. To put this into place, four more brigade HQs will be needed, and each of the three training bases begins recruiting one immediately. With SPACE stretching it's legs galactically, the Army will need to expand to match. With all that going on in a five-days stretch, the beauracrats were quite busy for a while.
September closed with the completion of commercial SY Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock. Sun will expand to 30k as did the last one. No more shipyards are considered to be currently needed. This allowed the diversion of a full fifth of the factories into other endeavors. Research, colonization, and new investment in factories/mines now occupy almost a third each of the output. That result was far more important than the shipyard itself.
The hits kept right on coming in early October. A week in and there was the return of the colonization group from Luyten. They had much to report from the New Genesis colony. The population there had reached 1.03 million, with the industrial sector reporting in at almost 93%. The only remaining step was to move in Forrestals from the jump to Luyten into the system itself and to the Luyten-Tau Ceti jump point, but that would need to wait until there was enough population to support staffing the maintenance facilities. Other than that, New Genesis was up and running, fully functional.
Gov. Michael Reneau has set a goal of having the industrial sector keep infrastructure sufficient to handle a year's growth at any one time. The rest of the factories will work on producing automines. Right now that ratio is set at a third of capacity on infrastructure, a ratio that will constantly need to be tweaked. The colony has 19 tons each of duranium and corundium, with duranium slowly declining. More mines are needed, and it remains to be seen whether the fledgling industrial centers set up will be equal to the task in time. The first automine is nearly halfway finished though.
One note to trumpet on the positive side, though small, was that the task group had brought back the first-ever shipment of minerals from outside Sol. It wasn't a lot, but a surplus of 228 tons, only 20 of those in demand(mercassium, galacite, neutronium). Not even a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but it was something. There was unfortunate news as the man tasked with keeping the primary mines on the large first planet in Lutyen 726-8, Edison Fredrickson, had been forced into retirement suddenly by an unforseen medical issue a few weeks prior. This was clearly a job for the best free mining administrator, and Harley Reagen was the obvious choice.
After that, it seemed as if everyone tired of the hectic activity of the previous couple of months. Important events just fell of a cliff, and while there were various minor comings and goings, SPACE operations were pretty routine for the last several weeks of 2092. Unquestionably the near-finalizing of transporting equipment and colonists to New Genesis and the shift in focus to the rich deposits awaiting in YZ Ceti was the biggest news of the year.
Research & Development
** July 20 -- Stellarator Fusion Reactor research is finished by Dr. Norris Gunterman's team.
** August 23 -- Company-sized combat drop module finished(Stanley Kogut).
** November 4 -- Bessie Wallander finishes the latest upgrade to thermal sensors, and retasks to EM detection.
Earth
August 7 -- New research laboratory complex finished on Earth.
Mid-August -- First-ever pair of Divisional Army HQs are now operational, First and Second Division incorporated on Earth.
Mid-August -- The first Gato(J) is begun as well, and the Astilleros Espanoles SY reaches it's target of 30kt capacity.
September 6 -- Shipment of automines to 2004 XA192 leaves.
September 8 -- The fifth and final Guardian squadron begins fleet training exercises.
September 30 -- Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock commercial SY is finished and begins expansion.
December 4 -- The last colony task group arrives at Earth from New Genesis. Like the cargo group they will have shore leave now before joining the efforts in YZ Ceti.
December 7 -- Retooling finished for the new jump-capable Fletcher. Construction begins on the first, due out in the third quarter next year.
Personnel
August 23 -- Lt. Cmdr. Bandus Meian improves initative, now in the high accomplished range(279). Unfortunately none of that changes his inflexibility and rudeness of manner, which hold him back from any real promise of promotion.
October 29 -- Ricardo Bloise improves admin rating to 5.
November 6 -- The Navy is celebrating graduate Tracy Stransky as one to be fast-tracked. Lt. Stransky is borderline elite in training right out of the academy.
November 9 -- Ricardo Bloise has hit the max with administrative knowhow. He'll go as far as his skills, unforunately limited, will take him now.
Colonial Developments
September 23 -- Tritanium exhausted on Comas Sola. Now only duranium remains, and a little over two years of that. At this rate by 2095 it will be the first comet(or any other body) that SPACE has completely mined out.
December 16 -- Sedna is up to 63 complexes. Despite this, it is still below it's peak production as returns continue to diminish ever-so-slowly.
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JANUARY - APRIL 2093
The latest year in the annals of SPACE began with some relatively not particularly important advances in research. On February 10 the missile base was finished on Titan and the construction brigades headed back to Earth, and then eight days later there was a stunning development as Director Woznicki made a system-wide prime-time address.
For the first time in nearly a quarter century, SPACE naval assets have been attacked. This is the news that was delivered to Fleet HQ just hours before as both of ESF Alpha's Explorer-class jump scouts reached Sol space. The flotilla was damaged but no ships were lost and all are headed back to Sol, a journey which is expected to take several months. An analysis of the data will be undertaken at that time.
Woznicki wasn't done there, announcing that she would be retiring in early April to clear the way for her succesor to craft humanity's response to these events. It was expected that the 64-year-old would step down this year or next due to declining health; this just gave her an appropriate pretext for it. The public was both angered and stunned, and intense debate broke out about what, if anything, should be done.
The upcoming election dominated the news, though minor goings-on managed to penetrate the fog of rhetoric and speculation from time to time. A new research complex was finished on March 22, notable because the missiles & kinetics field, dead for years due to high-ranking scientists taking all the space for other projects, got underway again with Deacon Palmer III taking the reigns for improving ordnance production.
Research & Development
** January 8 -- Shield regeneration improved to 2.5(Dr. Deborah Barnhouse). Overall stronger shields(designated Delta) will next occupy her team's time.
** January 12 -- Minh Klausner finishes development of a 15cm HPM(microwave).
Earth
January 12 -- Third and final jump-capable brigade transport is finished.
January 27 -- Gato(J) finished, first of the jump-capable versions. A second one is begun.
March 22 -- Research complex finished.
Personnel
January 12 -- Commodore Rodolfo Caley has improved his training to go along with elite-level initiative.
Late January -- Luna governor Roxanne Harshberger has improved political connections to the accomplished level.
Mid-February -- Dr. Benny Carpenter is reported to have died of natuarl causes while working with the Chance Perj geology team. Their shuttle is en route to Earth now for a replacement.
March 16 -- Ricardo Bloise improves novice mining abilities,
March 17 -- Commodore Parker Lanzi has reached elite status in training. Also, Ens. Ted Makinster, only weeks out of the academy, is added to Chance Perj's geology team. He's something of a prodigy in surveying, and an exception is made to the normal requirements. Making Commander at age 21 is certainly a good start to one's career. The team heads back to Barnard's Star, where several years of surveying have achieved no results for reasons that boggle the mind.
Colonial developments
February 10 -- The missile base on Titan is finished. The contruction brigades will now head back to Earth.
February 15 -- Sedna expands to 64.
February 18 -- Colonization group leaves for YZ Ceti with terraforming installation from Mars, first group of colonists, and more infrastructure. Lucio Choi(24 years old) is sent in as the first administrator.
March 16 -- Sixth terraforming installation finished and sent to Mars, replacing the one sent to YZ Ceti a month ago.
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Delois Woznicki Bio
Delois Woznicki was the first director to be born after the founding of SPACE, and upon her graduation from the academy she was heralded as the next great leader, being appointed within months to the comet Van Biebroeck. Nobody, not Duling, EIghmy, or anyone else, has joined the civil service possessing greater natural talent for the role. She hit all the major mining outposts: Triton, Sedna, Machholz, and spent some time at Titan as well, but for decades it appeared she would never make the improvements needed to excel at management of large-scale economies as she clearly did in small-scale ones. She spent the 60s and 70s as a mid-level manager for that reason: a lot of time spent on Mercury, stints at Callisto and Europa as well. When finally she made her breakthrough in the mid-80s, it didn't take long for her to be appointed to governor of Earth in '87, a precursor to winning the greatest landslide in electoral history in 2090. Better late than never? Perhaps, but humanity would have been much better off if Woznicki had developed her vision much earlier in her career. An excellent career, but clearly the chance to be truly legendary was missed out on.
Directorial Election: April 5, 2093
Woznicki served just roughly two and a half years, less than her predecessor Burt tonerock(four years), which was less than his predecessor Riley Awad(six years). There is a pattern developing here, but one that is not expected to continue under the new administration, whoever is to win it. Her successor is expected to be in office for much longer, probably at least five years and possibly ten or more depending on who it is. That alone makes it an important vote. When combined with the recent report of the attack on ESF Alpha, lessons in colonization learned from the New Genesis colony, and the beginnings of the long-feared and anticipated Sedna Mineral Crash, it is a time of great importance for SPACE. Turnover was expected to be very high, and the campaigning was fierce.
Eleven were qualified, and seven of them made the ballot. Unfortunately, it is the weakest field ever seen. There are no truly excellent administrators around right now: the last of them just retired. Adding to the tension of the campaign was the fact that a trio distinguished themselves from the pack, a trio initially indistinguishable from each other in terms of their electability.
** Ambitious, risk-taking Errol Igoe has been the governor at Titan for the past dozen years. He's the foremost shipbuilding mind in SPACE, and desires to expand the navy to support more rapid colonization, along with designing a terraforming class of ship to be built en masse, avoiding requiring boots on the ground for such a task. Igoe, 55, has respectable but unimpressive skills in factory oversight and mining.
** Long-respected Evelyn Kaczor has been Woznicki's governor on Earth during the past years. She is not quite as skilled as the other two but makes up for it with a well-earned reputation as a straight shooter. She also wants to expand terraforming efforts, espescially in the colonies, but via ground installations not ships. Her time on Earth has significantly improved her talents in industrial administration. Kaczor is also the youngest of the three at 52.
** The most talented, and unfortunately also the most irresponsible which is why it's not in his pocket, is blowhard Russell Salvucci who has toiled on Mars for over a decade. He's the 'senior statesman' of the group at 60, though 'statesman' is hardly an appropriate appelation. Health is not a concern, unlike most of his age. Salvucci's best skill is in the financial realm where SPACE has no concerned, he's also accomplished in mining but not particularly able in industrial or naval supervision. Salvucci has made a career out of playing up mankind's worst fears and basest motivations. During times of unrest he is well regarded: during any other time he has tended to be barely tolerated.
There is one long-shot, Ricardo Bloise of Mercury who is 48 and in excellent health with significant skills in mining, shipbuilding, and financials. He doesn't have the rounded skillset or resume to really make a splash unless all three of the favorites falter though. Just glad to be on the ballot are Gordon Semien of Venus, charismatic Michael Reneau of New Genesis, and Carl McCloe from the mining colony on Machholz who is really just looking for exposure here.
In terms of drama, the election lived up to the buildup in this case. It was a disaster for Errol Igoe, who ran probably the worst campaign ever seen. Scandals, faux paus, missteps of every nature. That left a two-way race, and just about as clear a distinction as you could make, between Kaczor and Salvucci. This time, the forces of impatience and xenophobia were strong enough to get their way, and Salvucci won a very narrow victory. Full results:
Russell Salvucci -- 20.1%
Evelyn Kaczor -- 19.7%
Ricardo Bloise -- 14.5%
Gordon Semien -- 13.7%
Michael Renau -- 13.2%
Errol Igoe -- 12.9%
Carl Mccloe -- 5.9%
If merely a quarter of a percent had shifted their votes from Salvucci to Kaczor, a much different future would be upon us. It was an election where emotion won out over logic. Anger and distrust over the latest hostilities was as big a factor as any: the people want action, regardless of how senseless that desire might be from an objective point of view. Not all of the people, not even most of the people, but enough of them to put their man into the Director's Office. Just enough. The sentiment was described as 'maximum stupid' by some of the less charitable detractors of Salvucci. One thing's for certain: you can pile the status quo under a metric crapton of rubble now: it won't survive the morning.
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This is suspended again as I've run into a couple of bugs with the old version I'm using(again, can't upgrade without losing the campaign).
I'm considering three options: continuing just to see where the story goes with some workarounds that I really don't like, starting a new campaign based on a more realistic, multi-faction start beginning at present day, or just doing something else entirely other than an Aurora project. I think I need to take some time to consider this.
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Aww, I really enjoyed this although visit the forums semi-regularly. You could do a multi-faction start which I think will bring more excitement to the campaign. I would recommend some "event" that motivates all faction to go out in space kind of thing if you want to do realistic approach to the start.
I enjoy and learned a few things from your AAR a lot.
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Reading this campaign has sustained me through quite a few long sessions of waiting for turns to process. My vote would be for restarting in the new version at 2093, but it's not ideal.
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After taking some time away from the game, I've decided to end this project. I'm looking into a multi-faction Sol game with 6.4.3, early stages of planning it at this point .
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Understood, there's quite a few severe bugs I'm hoping get wiped out in the next patch, the update might take a while yet.
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Mind mentioning which ones you are referring to? I've read through most the 6.4 bugs thread and didn't see anything that I thought would be that problematic.
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Pretty much just NPRs doing things that trigger endless errors like designing sensors that are too powerful or assigning too many salvagers to a wreck, there appears to be one related to ship history, there was one steve fixed involving NPR missile reloading or launching. And tge there's the general ability to reduce 5 second increments significantly once we have the new sensor rules.
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Thanks. The idea I have in mind would be without NPRs so it wouldn't be affected as much, but it's unfortunate those issues are still outstanding.