Author Topic: The First Five Minutes (2)  (Read 2367 times)

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Offline Kurt (OP)

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The First Five Minutes (2)
« on: March 02, 2008, 08:23:53 AM »
Reader Note: As is usual, all following material has been translated into Terran Standard for Human readers.  The standard naming conventions have been followed, obviously no Strug ship was named for a prominent feature of the Solar planet Mars, but the Strug, like many other races, tend to name their ships after landmarks, cities, or people, and where possible translators have given ships the appropriate Terran Standard names ? 4th Galactic Union Historical Records Department.

***

Excitement was high on the Strug home world as the time approached for their new survey ship, the Valles Marinaris, to depart.  The Strug government had not forgotten what had happened seventeen years earlier, though, and so the entire defense network was put on alert.  Thirty minutes before the Valles Marinaris was to depart the orbital bases, the cornerstone of Strug defenses, began charging their shields.  Five minutes before the survey ship was scheduled to leave the orbital bases began active scans for missiles and other small objects that might threaten the launch.  The Strug intended to take no chances with the inaugural flight of their venture into the galaxy.  

Finally the time came, and, without fanfare, space distorted around the Valles Marinaris as it activated its drives.  To those watching on the surface it appeared that the ship disappeared in the blink of an eye.  There was rejoicing through the warrens and burrows of the Strug as they finally joined the ranks of space-traveling species.  Their joy was short-lived.  

Jornax, the democratically elected leader of the Allied Principalities of the Strug, had called together his cabinet, along with the top military leaders, to watch the departure from the monitors and plot tables of the national command center.  Buried deep within the crust of the home world, the command center was considered impregnable, but more importantly to Jornax on this day, the command center provided unparalleled access to information, and when the vids that his crews were making were released, it would appear that he was personally in charge during this historic moment.  

The politicians and their aides were clustered to one side of the room, excitedly babbling about the upcoming launch of the survey ship.  The military leaders, and their aides, were clustered on the other side of the room, and they were not excited.  They had unanimously petitioned the politicians to delay the launch.  Currently, the Sister and Strug Home were very close together in their orbits, and would be for some time.  With the Sister hovering less than 120,000 kilometers from Strug Home, the military leaders thought it a very poor time to do something that the colonists on the Sister might object to.  A Strug missile would take just over ten seconds to reach The Sister after it was launched, and no one knew what capabilities the aliens on the Sister still maintained.  The politicians had ignored the military, as they were wont to do, and the launch was moving forward to much fanfare.  

While Jornax postured and preened for his propaganda experts, Heltoh and Senax, the commanders of the Orbital Defense Network and the ground-based Planetary Defense Network, watched the plot nervously.  As they watched, the plot changed, and chime sounded throughout the chamber.  Senax, the senior of the two, clacked his fighting claw for attention. ?Honorable Jornax, observe.  Our sensors have detected emanations from The Sister.  They have tentatively been identified as tracking systems, focused on the     Valles Marinaris.?

Jornax frowned.  The military had prattled on about the possibility of hostile action from The Sister, but all of his advisors thought that the aliens on The Sister had been devastated during the Incursion, and in any case, they had never appeared to be interested in anything the Strug had done before.  Shifting restlessly from side to side, he suddenly wished he had paid more attention to the military briefings.  ?What does this mean, honorable officer??

Heltoh looked at her fellow officer, and then spoke.  ?They are tracking our survey ship. We cannot infer purpose from this information, though.?

Senax stepped forward and dropped his fighting claw into an aggressive posture.  ?Tracking our ship is the first step towards firing on them!  We must react, now!?

Jornax looked at his aides, uncertainly.  ?Is this necessarily an aggressive act??

One of the ministers stepped forward.  Ponderous and stately, with the whitened shell indicative of age, Genarx, the Minister for Industry and Technology, shook her grasping claw.  ?No, it is not necessarily an aggressive act!  The colonists on The Sister may merely want to observe our ship.  In any case, even if they are considering hostilities, surely you aren?t suggesting an unprovoked attack??

?Unprovoked!  What about The Bombardment that finished the Incursion?  Surely that was provocative??  Senax was still offering a display of aggression, indicating the depth of his belief in what he was saying.

?Would you have us risk everything for revenge?  We??  

Genarx was interrupted when Jornax stepped in between the two arguing Strug and extended his claws.  Reacting to the First?s display, both Strug immediately backed down. This was an old argument, and not limited to these two.  Factions of Strug had argued about the Bombardment for years, and the two sides had largely settled down to entrenched positions. Before Jornax could speak, though, the computer running the plot chimed again, indicating another status change.

All eyes in the chamber turned to the plot, and, when they grasped what was being displayed, every Strug dropped into a combat crouch, with their fighting claws extended.  Two icons had appeared on the display streaking away from The Sister at 15,000 kps.  

Jornax might not be of the military caste, but like any school child he knew what this meant.  He took a deep breath, not wanting to face reality but knowing that he had no choice, not now.  ?What can we do??

Senax shook his grasping claw bitterly.  ?Nothing, we can do nothing.  See!?  He gestured at the display, which showed the alien missiles racing towards the Valles Marinaris.  ?That ship is already dead!?

Jornax was confused.  ?Wha?? Before he could get the word out the missiles struck the survey ship, which hadn?t even had time to turn and run.    

Jornax thought furiously.  It was clear from the stance of the officers that they blamed him for this situation, which was fair given the fact that they had warned about this very situation, and he had ignored them.  Even worse, he had approved the plan for the Valles Marinaris to cut close to The Sister, so that it could gather information on their neighbors.    

?There were too many missiles for their defenses to stop.  They are gone.?  Senax was quivering with anger, while Heltoh?s pincers drooped, visibly overcome.  

Jornax turned to his aides and ministers, at a loss.  It had all happened so quickly.  Gernax stepped forward.  ?We cannot allow this!  The alien colonists cannot be allowed to deprive us of our destiny!?

Senax stepped forward, perhaps to challenge the former pacifist on his newfound aggressive mindset, but Heltoh intervened.  ?Are you suggesting that we bombard the surface of The Sister?  We must be clear now, with no euphemisms.  You must understand that what you suggest is tantamount to bombarding their cities, even if that isn?t what we started out to do.  Also, they will respond, you may be sure of that.?

?Can our defenses stop their missiles??  Jornax was in a very bad position, and he knew it.  He must respond to this provocation, but anything he did was likely to provoke an even worse response.  

Heltoh shook his claws.  ?Scans indicate that the aliens have six bases capable of launching missiles at our ships or planet.  Two of those bases were observed launching five missiles each at our survey ship, and all of the bases have similar signatures.  Based on the performance of the missiles they launched at the Valles Marinaris, and the fact that their maximum launch capability currently appears to be a total of thirty missiles, our defenses should be able to stop them.  However, if they have more launchers than we think, or more capable missiles, they might be able to overwhelm our defenses.?  He hesitated.  ?No defense is perfect, in any case.  There will always be leakers, if they launch enough missiles.?  

Jornax turned back to his aides, deeply troubled.  Seeing his evident indecision, Gernax again stepped forward.  ?We cannot allow this to go unanswered!  Do we turn our backs on the rest of the universe because the aliens don?t want us to reach for our destiny??

Jornax peered at his Minister for Industry and Technology.  Gernax was a senior statesman in her own right, and had powerful supporters.  In addition, she was one of the primary proponents of the ?aliens are harmless? faction in the Assembly.  The alien attack on the Valles Marinaris was a severe blow to the ?harmless? faction, and Gernax obviously thought that the only way to maintain her faction?s position was to get behind an aggressive response early.  

Everyone in the room watched the elected leader of the Allied Nations consider the situation.  Finally, Jornax turned to the military leaders.  ?In the end, she is right.  We cannot let the aliens on The Sister keep us trapped here.  For the last thousand years our race has yearned to visit the other worlds we could see so clearly in the sky.  Therefore, on my authority, I am ordering you to eliminate the bases on The Sister that are capable of interfering with any future attempt to reach other planets or moons in our system.  Every effort is to be made to limit damage to the civilian infrastructure of the colony, but I want those bases destroyed.?

Heltoh and Senax swiveled their eyestalks to peer at each other, then braced to attention.  The constitution was clear, the Supreme Leader had the authority to order such a strike, subject only to later review by the Assembly of the appropriateness of the action.  Typically the outcome of such a review largely depended on the success or failure of the activity.  Given that, there was only one possible answer.  ?Yes Sir!?

The Leader?s aides drew in close around him as Heltoh and Senax turned and began issuing orders.  Because the military was already on alert, things began happening very quickly.  Within a minute of the decision, twenty-five missiles were on their way to The Sister, aimed at five of the six bases on the surface of the planet.  Tension ratcheted up in the room as the missiles raced across the display towards The Sister.  Just before the missiles hit, answering missiles rose from the six bases, including the ones that hadn?t engaged the Strug survey ship.  Four of the enemy bases launched ten missiles each, five large and five small, while the two bases that had engaged the survey ship each launched five small missiles.  

The non-military persons in the command center quickly lost track of what was happening in the engagement.  The Strug missile salvoes took just over ten seconds to cross the distance between the two planets, while the alien missiles took less than ten seconds.  This meant that while the missile launches weren?t too quick to follow, things did tend to be over before anyone could ask a question.  Using the sensor logs of the battle the military created an analysis of the battle for the politicians, so that they could understand what had happened.  

The alien bases launched a total of fifty missiles in response to the initial Strug strike.  Thirty of the missiles were small missiles that Strug intelligence later classified as anti-missiles, targeted on the incoming Strug planet-busters.  The other twenty were alien planet-busters targeted on the Strug launch bases.  Unfortunately for the aliens, their anti-missiles didn?t have the time they needed to lock on to the incoming Strug missiles, which hit their targets almost immediately after the anti-missiles launched.  Worse, some of the anti-missiles and planet-busters lost their tracking when Strug missiles savaged their launch bases.  Not one Strug missile was shot down by an alien anti-missile.  

The aliens recovered quickly, though.  In the aftermath of the initial strike, the aliens shifted targeting and reallocated their tracking systems, and the missiles that had been circling aimlessly reacquired their targets.  The aliens, apparently realizing the uselessness of their anti-missiles, now targeted them on the orbiting Strug defense bases.  

The Strug defense bases performed brilliantly.  All alien missiles in the first salvo are shot down, much to the relief of Strug everywhere.  Soon after the first wave of alien missiles is destroyed, the alien bases launch a second salvo of their small missiles.  At this point the Strug military realizes that the alien small missile launcher has a ten second reload time.  

The Strug quickly learned that the alien?s large missile launchers had a sixty second reload time, compared to their own 160 second reload time.  While this was not good, the Strug orbital defense bases performed brilliantly.  Each base possessed three independently targetable twin laser turrets, and in the 160 seconds it took for the Strug ground bases to reload their launchers, only nine anti-missiles got through the Strug defensive fire, doing minor damage to one base?s shields.  

By the time the Strug bases launch their second salvo, the constant stream of missiles from the alien bases had faltered.  The last salvo launched by the alien bases had fewer missiles than all of the previous salvoes, perhaps indicating that the aliens were running out of missiles.  

Whatever the case was, the second and final Strug salvo ended the conflict decisively.  After the first salvo one alien base had fallen silent, and several others were damaged.  The second salvo ignored those bases and pounded on the most intact bases, causing heavy damage.  One base was destroyed completely, while two others were heavily damaged.  

In the aftermath of the second Strug salvo the alien bases fell silent.  Whether they had run out of missiles, or were unable to launch any more, no one knew.  It was even possible that they had given up, but in any case, no transmission from the aliens was detected, and, as usual, they ignored Strug attempts to communicate.  

The entire battle took three minutes, forty seconds from the time the Valles Marinaris left Strug Home to the time the last Strug missile hit its target.  The Strug losses were limited to the survey ship and fifty planet-buster missiles.  Sensor analysis of the damage to the aliens confirmed that one base had been destroyed completely, and later surveillance confirmed that the aliens were forced to abandon three more of their bases, leaving them with two partially functional bases.  

The battle also resulted in a significantly higher radiation level in The Sister?s atmosphere, and a large amount of dust had been kicked up into the atmosphere, which would almost certainly result in some change in their environment.  

The results of the battle were extremely gratifying for the Strug.  Their orbital bases had worked brilliantly, and the dead survey crew was avenged.  The Prime Leader, Jornax, promised to fund the construction of a new survey ship, which was to begin immediately.  The Strug military gained a lot of information about the capabilities of their neighbors on The Sister, as well.  

Unknown to the Strug, though, the exchange had caused other things to change on The Sister.  For one thing, nearly the entire upper management of the alien?s defense forces was either imprisoned, executed, or forcibly retired.  Shortly after that, the political leadership lost their jobs, or in some cases, their lives.  The result was that the aliens, for the first time in a long, long time, were determined to depart from tradition and adapt to a new threat.  

The first five minutes was over, and the Strug were now free, at least for now, to expand into the rest of their system.  

Strug Military Intelligence Evaluations of alien missiles:

Anti-Missile
Missile Size: 2     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0
Speed: 24,000 km/s    Endurance: 33 seconds   Range: 792k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 240%   3k km/s 80%   5k km/s 48%   10k km/s 24%

Alien Planet-Buster Missile
Missile Size: 16     Warhead: 15    Armour: 0
Speed: 15,000 km/s    Endurance: 66 seconds   Range: 990k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 150%   3k km/s 50%   5k km/s 30%   10k km/s 15%

Strug Planet-Buster (Shown for comparison)
Missile Size: 20     Warhead: 12    Armour: 0
Speed: 10,000 km/s    Endurance: 86 seconds   Range: 860k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 100%   3k km/s 30%   5k km/s 20%   10k km/s 10%
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Kurt »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley

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« Reply #1 on: March 02, 2008, 12:07:22 PM »
Fascinating beginning. Looking forward to more soon! :)

Steve
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Unco

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« Reply #2 on: March 02, 2008, 07:20:19 PM »
I assume that all the alien bases were on the surface of their planet?

Thanks for the write up Kurt!
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Unco »
 

Offline Kurt (OP)

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« Reply #3 on: March 02, 2008, 08:07:35 PM »
Quote from: "Unco"
I assume that all the alien bases were on the surface of their planet?

Thanks for the write up Kurt!


Yes, they were.  Having learned the lesson that anti-missiles are less than useful in situations where the enemy is less than ten seconds flight time from you, they are busy trying to build up their shipyard capacity, so that they can launch their own orbital defense bases.  

Kurt
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Kurt »