United Kingdom – 3rd August 2106
ColoniesAvalon: 524m
Earth: 74.7m
Pendragon: 28.5m
Barnard's Star III: 27m
Tintagel III: 0.82m
61 Cygni-A III: 0.42m
Bedivere-A II: 0.33m
Kuiper 79-A IV: 0.24m
Vega III: 0.22m
Gawain I: 0.19m
Merlin II: 0.11m
Kuiper 79-B II: 0.11m
The United Kingdom has discovered twenty-one new systems since February 2104, pushing out the boundaries of known space. New discoveries made by UK survey ships include an ideal habitable world in the Bedivere system, two jumps out from Tintagel and nine from Sol, and a ruined colony in the Rivalen system, also two transits beyond Tintagel. Rivalen-B II, home to the alien ruins, is a colony cost 2.00 world with terraforming potential and has deposits of all eleven minerals, several of which are at medium accessibilities. The ideal world in Bedivere has four million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium and several other mineral deposits at minimal accessibility. The UK is facing some logistical challenges in taking full advantage of its new discoveries due to the distances involved. Bedivere II is twenty billion kilometers from Avalon, Rivalen-B II is at twenty-seven billion due to the layout of the system and the ruined city on Vega III requires a twenty-four billion kilometre journey.
Rivalen-B II Mineral SurveyDuranium 1,325,192 Acc: 0.6
Neutronium 4,447,881 Acc: 0.6
Corbomite 5,476 Acc: 0.4
Tritanium 9,205,156 Acc: 0.1
Boronide 67,081 Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 11,088,900 Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 925,444 Acc: 0.5
Sorium 443,556 Acc: 0.1
Uridium 12,616,700 Acc: 0.1
Corundium 1,151,329 Acc: 0.8
Gallicite 8,982,009 Acc: 0.6
The ruins on Vega III were discovered in 2102. Since then a survey has been carried out that revealed one hundred and thirty-six recoverable installations. Six construction brigades have been transported to the planet and eighteen installations have been recovered so far, although many of them were beyond repair. The ruins on Avalon have been fully exploited, yielding a number of factories and mines plus two research facilities, one of which contained data that enhanced the UK’s research efforts into fuel production.
The United Kingdom has established two new colonies since the start of 2104; the first on Bedivere II and the second on Kuiper 79-A IV. A UK colony was already in place in Kuiper 79, on the second planet of the companion star, but a Canadian survey team located substantial mineral deposits on the fourth planet of the primary, leading to both the UK and Canada settling the planet. Kuiper 79-A IV is colony cost 3.00 due to the presence of fluorine in the atmosphere. Even if that is removed the temperature of -78C means it will be colony cost 2.90, so this is a long-term terraforming prospect. The United Kingdom now has a total of twelve colonies, including the original population on Earth, which is more than any other power. In addition, the total UK population has passed Japan (656m vs 654m) , giving it the second largest population after the United States (785m). The UK production capacity is still some way behind Japan however. The gain in population is due to the relatively short journey from the neutral nations on Earth to Avalon in the adjacent Bernard’s Star system. In comparison, Japan is transporting neutral colonists through Alpha Centauri and Luhman 16 to Edo.
The UK population on Earth continues to fall, due to the civilian shipping lines moving settlers to Avalon and the other colonies. Since February 2104 it has fallen from ninety-one million to seventy-five million. The United Kingdom has continued its policy of moving industry from Earth to Avalon and the process is almost complete. All UK shipyards are now in Avalon orbit and all factories have been transported to the surface. Remaining on Earth are ninety mining complexes, six research facilities, nineteen financial centres, four deep space tracking station and a military academy. The mines will remain for the foreseeable future while the research facilities will be moved once they complete their current assignment. Terraforming is continuing on Pendragon, home to the UKs third largest population. The atmosphere is now breathable so UK and Australian terraformers are adding a safe greenhouse gas to increase the temperature.
In January 2106, the prime minister of the United Kingdom was contacted by the American ambassador who informed him the United States had found a route from the American Arm into the Avalon Arm. The link was from Eta Cassiopeiae, a system previously unknown to the UK, to EV Lacerte, a system three jumps from Avalon via Pendragon and 61 Cygni that was believed to be a cul-de-sac. The ambassador stated that the United States had a colony in Eta Cassiopeiae that was closer to Sol via UK space than through US space. Rather than begin sending convoys and survey ships through UK space for no apparent reason, the United States had decided to inform the UK of the situation. He also suggested that as EV Lacerte was uninhabited it could be used as a border system, perhaps even with a small colony of both powers on EV Lacerte II, a world with a colony cost of 2.58 that was of no value except for its location. After some debate and consolation with Australia and Canada, the United Kingdom government agreed to allow non-military US traffic to transit through Bernard’s Star, Pendragon and 61 Cygni and to make EV Lacerte a neutral border system. What the United States didn’t mention was the alien race inhabiting Eta Cassiopeiae-A III or the ruined alien outpost on Eta Cassiopeiae-B II. However, as the alien race was preindustrial and posed no threat to UK space, the United States government decided there was no need to share that information.
In the last thirty months, the United Kingdom has constructed a sixth Dreadnought class battlecruiser, two Agincourt class escort cruisers (seven in class), five Tribal class destroyers (fifteen in class), four troop transports, six fuel harvesters, two tugs, a terraformer, two Mayflower class colony ships and four Mayflower-E class colony ships. The Mayflower-E has less powerful but far more fuel efficient engines. It has a maximum speed of 1834 km/s, compared to 3026 km/s for the Mayflower, but uses only 28% of the fuel when covering the same distance. Given the long distances involved between Avalon and the outer colonies and the amount of fuel required, the Royal Navy decided it was better to have a slower but more efficient colony ship. The Mayflower-E has a fuel capacity of just 250,000 litres yet a range of sixty-six billion kilometers.
The shipping lines of the United Kingdom continue to dominate commercial activity in known space, with a sixth UK shipping line being formed in January 2105. In total, the six UK shipping lines have eighty-nine vessels with a combined tonnage of just over four million. In comparison, the second largest shipping sectors, the United States and Japan, each comprise over a little over a million tons of civilian shipping. The tax revenue on UK civilian shipping accounts for about 25% of total UK income, which means the UK is one of the more financially secure powers. The fuel situation for the United Kingdom has improved considerably in recent years due to improved technology and a fleet of eighteen Ambrosia class harvesters. Although the Royal Navy still has to be careful about monitoring fuel supply vs demand and avoiding any profligate use, the Royal Navy should not face any fuel shortages in the near future. The only economic issue facing the UK is a shortage of Duranium, which is hampering both factory production and ship construction. This will have to be addressed in the immediate future.