February 20, 2358
The first week of fighting on New Birmingham is hard for both sides. In spite of the fact that the invading Zog forces significantly outnumber the defenders, the humans are fighting for their homes. Their defense is heroic, valiant, and, ultimately, vain as the attackers slowly close a noose around the populated areas of the colony. Of course, one race’s heroism is another’s disrespectful defiance. The Zog attackers perceived the bitter defense as willful defiance in the face of inevitability, and this caused them to come down even harder in the areas they had already conquered, killing anyone in the conquered populations that showed the slightest sign of resistance or defiance.
February 26, 2358
The fighting continues on the surface of New Birmingham, growing ever more bitter as the days roll on. The defenders of New Birmingham were forced to listen as one by one the life pods from their three destroyers ran out of supplies. Several of the life pods simply cut communications as they neared the end, but most of the others continued to plead for help until they were reduced to sobs and moans. Finally nothing but silence could be heard as one by one the pods dropped off the air. This horror motivated the defenders to fight even harder, while the Zogs used it as an object lesson in the results of resistance.
March 10, 2358
Zog forces on New Birmingham encircle and destroy several human units and critically weaken several others. In spite of their ferocity, the human defenses are failing. Still, the defenders are fanatically determined to resist the Zogs to the end. All remaining human ground units fall back to their final defensive positions and dig in.
March 27, 2358
Zog forces continue to make headway against the defenders. With the humans forted up around the few remaining population centers, the Zogs have been free to concentrate their forces and assault each redoubt in turn with overwhelming forces. This plan works, but the humans are fanatical in their defense and most fight to the death while taking as many Zogs with them as they can. Warrior Letfraiashav is infuriated by the human resistance, especially in light of his constant warnings to them of what their continued resistance will bring. He is actively considering nuclear reprisals against the few remaining armed holdouts, but his ground commanders convince him that the last redoubts cannot hold out for much longer.
April 6, 2358
The last resistance on New Birmingham collapses. Zog forces move immediately to take control of all population centers. Reeducation camps are set up, and all of the human colony’s former leaders and persons of authority are rounded up and interned. Most will not be seen again.
The spoils of victory are impressive. The human colony had retained much technology from the old days of the Empire and some of it fell into the tentacles of the Zog. The Zog forces will be sorting through this technological windfall for some time, but it is immediately apparent that this has been a very important conquest. New weapons and very advanced drive technologies were found, along new shipbuilding tech.
June 2358
The control of the government, while still officially in the tentacles of the Prophet, are now in the firm grasp of business groups, who are determined to exploit the two human colonies now under the control of the Zog state. The new government’s policies are isolationist. As a result, all survey ships are being held in orbit once they return to the home system for fuel and supplies. As a result the focus of the Zog civilization turns toward consolidation and exploitation of the resources they have already discovered.
November 18, 2358
A Zog survey ship in the Gliese 667 system detects an alien ship on an approach course. The Zog ship immediately turns for the warp point. The alien ship is soon identified as a 2,200 ton ship moving at 4,050 kps. While the contact is small, the survey ship is unarmed and there are strict standing orders about contact with aliens.
November 20, 2358
While still five billion kilometers from the jump point out of the Gliese 667 system the Zog survey ship detects an active sensor approaching. The first alien ship had long since disappeared from its scanners, and this contact was puzzling. The contact was well within the maximum detection range of the Zog ship’s active sensors, but was only being detected now because it was radiating. This indicated that the alien ship was either very small or that it had some sort of advanced anti-detection technology. The Zog commander orders his shields raised and for active defenses to be brought online, but otherwise maintained his course.
The contact approached to 17.3 mkm’s, at which point it turned and began pacing the Zog ship. Seconds later the contact turned into five contacts as four additional sensors came online. Thirteen minutes passed and then a large number of new incoming contacts appeared on the Zog ship’s screens. Alarms rang throughout the ship as the contacts were identified as missiles. The ship’s last ditch defenses began firing and managed to take down ten of the missiles but then the rest were past the interception zone and closing on the ship. The Zog survey ship was rocked by explosions as twenty two missiles impacted against first its shields, and then when those failed, its armor. The ship’s armor was shredded, penetrated in multiple places. Both CIWS were taken out, along with an engine, the thermal sensor, the survey sensors, and some fuel tanks. Most importantly, though, the ship’s jump drive was destroyed. They weren’t going to escape, not as things stood.
Whatever the small alien contacts were they must have expended their entire ordinance load because they didn’t attack again. The Zog ship continued across the system in the hope that it could disappear into the vastness of space. The commander ordered his engineers to try and repair the jump drive, but there wasn’t much hope. Zog survey ships had very limited repair capabilities. While there were enough spare parts to effect repairs, the drive was massive and the engineer’s capabilities were limited.
Two days later the engineers somehow, miraculously, got the jump engine jury-rigged and semi-functional. The survey ship continued across the system.
January 11, 2359
The damaged Zog survey ship returned to the Zog home system on this day. The news of yet another new race electrified the ruling council; but true to its isolationist beliefs the council decided to ignore the new aliens in spite of the provocation. This policy wasn’t just in line with the council’s beliefs; it had its roots in practicality as well. At the current time the Fleet wasn’t capable of dispatching a large force. Almost the entire fleet was undergoing overhaul, as the Navy had found itself overstretched providing guard forces for two out-system conquests, in addition to an ambitious training schedule and the conquest force for New Birmingham. The Army had been battered on New Birmingham as well, and would need time to recover.
August 2359
After two abortive Army-led coups, the government dissolves and a new ruling council, composed mostly of long-service bureaucrats, takes over. This new government is just as isolationist as the last government, but, taking into account the concerns of the military, has dedicated itself towards responding to the threat in the Gliese 667 system. Unfortunately, the same limitations that affected the previous government still pertain, the military is not ready to sortie.
April 1, 2360
A Zog survey ship transiting through the Luyten 205-128 system, returning to the Herschel system to refuel after probing warp points in the next system outwards, detects a large ship sitting on the warp point to the Delta Pavonis system. After stopping it becomes clear that the ship is likely a jump gate construction ship. The ship’s commander was told of the aliens found in the Gliese 667 system, which is located through this system’s third warp point. The aliens are expanding. The ship’s commander decides to run past the alien ship to inform the home planet.
April 13, 2360
A Zog geo-survey ship jumps out of the Gliese 588 system, into the Gliese 563.2 system, to begin survey of the single rocky planet orbiting the system primary. The system’s only other planet, another rocky planet, orbits the distant B component, and is far beyond the survey ship’s range.
April 24, 2360
The Zog survey ship arrives in the home system and broadcasts a warning about the expansion of the aliens into the Luyten 205-128 system. This announcement causes concern and near panic in the government. The Council orders an expeditionary force to be assembled immediately.
April 25, 2360
A Zog geo-survey ship completes its survey of Gliese 563.2-A’s single planet. The planet has interesting deposits of several trans-Newtonian resources, but most interestingly, the geo-survey ship discovers extensive ruins on the surface of the planet. The ship’s captain orders his ship home to report.
June 9, 2360
The Zog geo-survey ship arrives in the home system with the news of the alien ruins found in the Gliese 563.2 system. The ship is ordered to pick up xenology teams and return to the system.
July 21, 2360
A Zog combat fleet has spent the last ten hours approaching the warp point in the Delta Pavonis system that leads to the Luyten 205-128 system. For this whole time the fleet has had a very large alien ship on its screens. The alien ship has spent this time sitting on the warp point and hasn’t given a sign that it has seen the approaching Zog ships.
The Zog fleet is now within range of its fusion torpedoes, and it is too late for the aliens. A single salvo destroyed the big alien ship, and then the Zog fleet swept on.
July 24, 2360
The Zog fleet is arrayed before the warp point to Gliese 667. The commander, Sergeant Abriabriashav, orders a jump cruiser to go through the warp point first to probe the far side. In less than a minute the cruiser returns to report that the far side is clear. Sergeant Abriabriashav then orders the fleet through the warp point.
Once on the far side, Sergeant Abriabriashav has a decision to make. This system is a trinary system, with the A, B, and C components being 4.7, 6.5, and 3.6 billion kilometers distant, respectively. There are six potentially habitable worlds in the system, three around the primary, two around the secondary, and one orbiting the tertiary star. Sergeant Abriabriashav ultimately decides to probe the tertiary star first, as it is closest. After that, the fleet will head to the primary, and then secondary stars.
July 25, 2360
The Zog geo-survey ship arrives at Gliese 563.2 and drops off its xenology teams. While the teams begin work, the geo-survey ship sets out to begin surveying the numerous comets swarming around the system primary.
August 2, 2360
The Zog xenology teams on the surface of Gliese 563.2 have determined that the ruins are of an extensive Imperial Terran base. While they have not confirmed that there are intact installations still present, it is apparent to them that this installation is very important, as it represents a huge investment in a city on a planet that could not possibly have been habitable for Terrans or Zogs, as its average surface temperature is in excess of 2800 degrees.
Given the obvious importance of their find and its relation to their old enemies, the xenology team commander sends his information to the geo-survey ship, which is now engaged in surveying the system’s comets. The geo-survey ship departs for home immediately after receiving the message.
