February, 2029
The Alliance completes construction of a jump gate pair at the warp point to Gliese-754 for the Indian Republic. The Indian terraformer ships have been at New Boston for two years now, and are scheduled to depart in just under a year. So far the Indian ships have been occupied adding oxygen to the atmosphere, but they have only managed to raise the total amount to just over .04 atmospheres, which is under half of the minimum considered necessary for the atmosphere breathable. It is unlikely that they will reach .09 atmospheres before they leave, however, their work will provide a basis for Alliance terraformers to build on once the terraforming program is launched.
March, 2029
All newly constructed Alliance colony ships are assigned to the Mars run, in an attempt to alleviate the now chronic worker shortages that resulted when a significant percentage of the Alliance’s industry was moved there. The Mars run now has seven colony ships, compared to the four assigned to the New Boston run.
April, 2029
The Magellan, the Alliance’s first geo-survey vessel, is taken into the orbital yards to be scrapped. The government made the difficult decision to scrap the historic vessel after several different plans to refit the ship to a more modern configuration proved to be too expensive.
In the Novaran system, the Novaran government finally completes a warp point survey of the system, discovering two additional warp points.
May, 2029
The Alliance archeological teams discover over 100 crypts (stasis bays used by the Ancients to store their installations and equipment) in the ruined colony on New Anchorage in the Tau Ceti system. Work is begun immediately by the three cybernetic teams on-planet to begin opening the crypts.
July, 2029
India’s economy is rocked by chronic shortages of duranium. While the Reich was able to partially alleviate its problems by increasing shipments of Duranium to Earth from Venus, its out-system colonies, and North Africa, India cannot do the same. All construction programs are halted, as is all new ship construction.
August, 2029
The Indian Republic announces that the refit of a Trinkat class geo-survey ship has been put on hold temporarily, and that the training of a new headquarters unit and the 77th Infantry Division has been cancelled due to duranium shortages. In addition, the production of maintenance supplies for the fleet is temporarily stopped.
The Republic is seeking to trade with other governments for new supplies of duranium, however, because of the Reich’s duranium problems and the dwindling supplies on Earth it is unlikely that they will find a seller.
September, 2029
All six nations are now either colonizing other systems, or preparing to colonize and/or exploit other systems. The tension between the nations on Earth has actually cooled lately as all six nations focus on their interstellar colonization programs. The Reich and the Alliance, in particular, are attempting to move as many people off of Earth as possible, and although they are not attempting to move everyone they are making a valiant effort to move as many people as they can away from the elevated radiation levels on the home planet. Although radiation and dust levels have fallen over the last two years, the Earth is still over sixteen degrees cooler than normal, on average, and industry is at 80% efficiency levels. Applications for positions on Mars, Venus, Nue Berlin, and New Boston among the citizens of the Reich and the Alliance are at all time highs as more and more people try to escape Earth.
All six nations have begun shifting their shipyard capacity away from military ships towards transport ships of various types, and this trend is likely to continue over the near to mid-term future.
The five colonizing nations, excluding the African Union which hasn’t begun colonization efforts yet, have limited their efforts to a single warp line extending away from the Solar System. This is somewhat ironic after the political discord and saber rattling prior to the international agreement between the nations establishing the right of free passage and banning national ownership of systems and warp lines. This treaty is still active, and in fact, a Japanese exploration fleet is currently exploring the systems beyond Alpha Cephi, much to the Alliance’s annoyance. However, in spite of occasional exploration forays into other nation’s warp lines, all five colonizing nations have selected a single system to focus their efforts on and have expanded out from there. This pattern is very similar to the “system ownership” theory championed by the Alliance, and has evolved out of practicality rather than treaty. As each nation began exploring other systems, they selected one of the nine systems connected to the Solar System as their primary focus and began exploitation programs. While technically other nations could come in later and establish colonies in that system as well, in reality that was unlikely as it was generally recognized that the first nation would likely have “locked up” the best colonization spots in that system. This reality held true when it came to opportunities beyond the first systems, as it was generally recognized that the primary nation would have an immense lead in exploring and locating valuable real estate.
The following is an overview of the colonization programs of the six nations:
Alliance: The Alliance currently has colonies on Mars and New Boston (in the Alpha Cephi system), and mining outposts on Europa and a moon in the 58 Eridani system (beyond Alpha Cephi). Mars Colony has a total population of 123 million and infrastructure sufficient for 197 million colonists, New Boston has a population of 9.7 million citizens and infrastructure for 12.9 million residents.
The Alliance currently has eleven colony ships, seven of which are assigned to the Mars run while the other four are assigned transport colonists to New Boston. Fourteen of the Alliance’s freighters are currently assigned to transfer construction factories to Mars, away from the radiation on Earth, while the other ten freighters are assigned to support the construction ships building jump gates in the Odin system (beyond Alpha Cephi).
As of September, 2029, seven of the Alliance’s seventeen slipways are configured for building colony ships or freighters. Four additional slipways are being reconfigured to build the Alliance’s new terraformer ship, the Gaia, which will bring the total slipways devoted to the colonization program to eleven out of seventeen. In addition, three new slipways are under construction, and two of these are in yards devoted to the colonization program.
Over the short term (1-3 years), the Alliance plans to continue shifting population and construction factories to Mars, which has a planetary suitability rating of .2 due to ongoing terraforming from the Ancient terraforming installation recovered and reactivated by Alliance cybernetic teams. This means that investments in infrastructure will support more colonists on a dollar for dollar basis than on New Boston, which has a planetary suitability of 2.0. In addition, to free up workers on Mars, the Alliance has been shifting mines from Mars to New Boston, which has huge deposits of every known trans-Newtonian mineral.
Once the bulk of the Alliance’s construction capacity has been shifted to Mars, colonization efforts will focus on New Boston. In view of the nuclear exchange between the Reich and North Africa, the Alliance Council has decided that New Boston must become a multifaceted colony capable of supporting itself should something happen on Earth. By the time the colonization focus shifts to New Boston, the Alliance anticipates that the first Gaia class terraformers will be on station, building on the work done by the Indian terraformers, which are due to return to the Solar System by the end of this year. Once New Boston’s environment has been modified to the point where additional infrastructure isn’t needed then colonization can go into full swing.
Over the mid-term (3-6 years), the Alliance is planning on planting two mining colonies in the Sigma Draconis system (Sol-Alpha Cephi-Odin-Sigma Draconis). Two worlds with extensive resources deposits were found by the 2nd Survey Group, and while the resources are not needed now, over the long run these resources will be invaluable to keep the Alliance’s industry running at full capacity.
In the long term (6+ years) the Alliance is planning on attempting to terraform at least one of the worlds in the 58 Eridani system. The system has three marginally habitable worlds/moons, with planetary suitability ratings ranging from 4.35 to 7.15. One of these moons has significant deposits of duranium at good availability levels, and would make a good base from which to monitor and support automated mining efforts already underway on 58 Eridani IV, moon 8.
Reich: The Reich currently has colonies on Venus, Nue Berlin, and Nue Paris (both in the Hamburg system). In addition, the Reich has mining outposts on a moon and a comet in the Hamburg system. The colony on Venus has a population of 144 million, Nue Berlin has a population of 7 million, and Nue Paris has a population of 2.2 million. Venus has been almost completely terraformed by the Ancient terraforming installation found during the exploration of the ruins, and will not need any infrastructure to support its population by the end of the year. Nue Berlin has enough infrastructure for 11.7 million people, while Nue Paris has enough for 2.4 million people.
The Reich has ten colony ships, three of which are assigned to transport colonists to Nue Berlin, while the other seven are assigned to the Venus run. Eleven Reich freighters are currently assigned to transport construction factories to Venus in an attempt to alleviate the chronic manpower shortage on Earth and take advantage of the surplus of workers on Venus. One Reich freighter, the first to be converted to the armored model for operating within the Hamburg nebula, is assigned to transport resources mined on Hamburg to Earth for use in the Reich’s factories.
Ten out of the Reich’s twenty-one slipways are configured for or being retooled for building colony ships and freighters, while another six are being retooled to upgrade the Reich’s survey and civilian jump fleet. There are tentative plans to build a terraformer similar to those of the Alliance and the Indian Republic, however, the R&D necessary for these ships has been postponed indefinitely due to higher priority projects.
Over the short term (1-3 years) the Reich is going to be focused on dealing with the chronic manpower shortages on Earth, which when coupled with the declining population due to radiation and transfers to Venus and the Hamburg system, are projected to get much worse. The Reich plans to transfer as much of its mining installations to Nue Berlin and Venus as it can, and its construction capacity will be transferred to both Venus and Nue Paris, which doesn’t have as much in the way of mineral resources as the other colonies.
The Reich anticipates resolving its manpower problems in the mid-term by the integration of the North African population into Europe’s economy. At this time the Reich’s focus will change to enlarging the colonies in the Hamburg system, and moving beyond Hamburg to the Stuttgart system, where there are several somewhat habitable planets and good mining sites.
Imperial Japan: Japan is a relative latecomer to interstellar exploration and exploitation, and was the last major nation to achieve interstellar travel. Japan has begun work to establish a hostile environment colony on the world of Kobe in the Gliese-204 system (Sol warp point #5). So far no colonists have been transported to the world, only infrastructure sufficient to support 600,000 people. Kobe has a planetary suitability rating of 3.8 due to its low average temperature (-132 degrees) and complete lack of oxygen in the atmosphere.
The IJN fields fourteen freighters, eleven of which are Mark 3’s with expanded engine spaces and fuel capacity. The eleven Mark 3’s are currently assigned to transport infrastructure to Kobe. The remaining three Mark 2’s are being refitted to Mark 3’s at the current time. The IJN has five old colony ships, built at the start of the Solar Exploitation phase, when Japan still had hopes of founding a colony on Venus or Mars. Two of these ships are currently being refitted to Mark 3’s, and the remaining will be refitted as well before colonization operations begin on Kobe.
Five of Japan’s twelve slipways are configured for building freighters and/or colony ships, and there are plans to divert another three slipways to transport production once expansion plans are completed.
Over the near to mid-term Japan will focus on establishing its colony on Kobe, which possesses large deposits of seven of the eleven known trans-Newtonian resources.
USSR: The USSR, still stinging from its defeat at the hands of the Novarans, with a crippled Navy, decided to avoid competition by focusing its exploration and exploitation efforts on the Solar System’s innermost warp point. While ordinarily this warp point would be valuable due to its location in the inner system, the system located on the far side of the warp point, named Leningrad by the USSR, is completely uninteresting. A binary system with two tiny dim red stars and a scattering of uninteresting and unusable planets, it was ignored by the other nations in their rush to find habitable planets and exploitable resource deposits. Soviet explorers pushed beyond the Leningrad system to the Psi Serpentis system, and found an incredible seven worlds, moons, and asteroids with significant deposits of trans-Newtonian resources at good availability levels. Three of those worlds were habitable with planetary suitability ratings of 3.2 to 5.2. The USSR has established a mining colony on one of the moons in the Psi Serpentis system so far.
Currently, the USSR’s four most modern freighters are assigned to transport automated mines to the mining colony in Psi Serpentis, while the other six freighters are awaiting refit to the latest configuration. The USSR’s two colony ships are awaiting the go-ahead to begin transporting colonists to the planet of Saratov in Psi Serpentis, but this likely will not happen until the mining colony is fully established and all colony ships are upgraded to the latest version.
Currently, six of the USSR’s eleven slipways are assigned to build colony ships and/or freighters. Due to the USSR’s need to modernize its fleet this percentage is unlikely to change in the near to mid-term.
The USSR plans to transport all of its automated mines from their locations in the Solar System to Psi Serpentis. Once this task is complete transport resources will be re-tasked to begin building the colony on Saratov.
Indian Republic: The Indian Republic was the first nation to explore beyond the Solar System, however, the Indians have no illusions about their relative position to the other nations. Therefore, when the Indian government made its decision about the location of their first colony, they chose to colonize the Gliese-754 system, located through the Solar System’s outermost and thus most inaccessible warp point. This decision was made to avoid destructive competition with the other nations, and to avoid jealousy and charges that they hoarded the jump drive to themselves out of a desire for India to profit at the expense of the other nations. The Republic has established a colony with a population of 5.2 million on the planet of Ludhiana in Gliese-754. Unfortunately, the Republic has only managed to transport enough infrastructure to support five million people on Ludhiana, so colonization efforts have stopped until more infrastructure can be moved to the planet. In addition, the Republic has established one mining colony in the Gliese-754 system, and all automated mines that had formerly been emplaced at their cometary base in the solar system have been transported there.
The Republic possesses seventeen freighters, including three jump capable freighters, all of which are assigned to transport infrastructure to Ludhiana and resources back to the solar system. The Republic’s eight colony ships are waiting for enough infrastructure to be built up on Ludhiana to begin operations again.
Four of the Republic’s ten slipways are devoted to building freighters and colony ships. The other six are currently tasked with upgrading the Republic’s Ganga class jump ships and the exploration fleet.
The Republic is currently planning on focusing on the Gliese-754 system for the foreseeable future. There are no less than ten planets and moons with good amounts of resources, although there is no single “treasure house”. There are some tentative plans to expand into the 12 Ophuchi system, beyond Gliese-754, however, given India’s limited resources these plans are for the long-term.
African Union: After the Battle of the Moon, India entered into an isolationist phase while it focused on building up its near-Earth combat strength. This phase ended with the rebellion and the loss of North Africa to the Reich. Recognizing that his nation needed a larger patron, Diktat Anen has signed a treaty with the Alliance giving them access to certain technologies in exchange for jump drive and grav survey instrument technologies, and the right to establish a colony in Alpha Cephi. Two of the Union’s five slipways are assigned to build grav survey ships, and current plans are to shift all of the Union’s slipways to build transport ships once the orbital defense net is completely modernized.
Note to Colonization Programs: The Reich and Alliance governments are under significant pressure from elements within their respective corporations to begin emplacing “placeholder” colonies both on their primary warp lines and on the other warp lines that each has explored. By emplacing these small outposts their national claims to the bodies will be secured, and there is much concern that these claims may be usurped because of wide-ranging Japanese and Indian exploration fleets. Ships and material may be diverted from primary colonization programs at various points in the future if the two governments become concerned that the smaller powers may be readying their own exploitation efforts aimed at areas the major powers consider their own.
January, 2030
Classified Most Secret, Need to Know Only
Reich Raumarine Engineering and Design Staff
Synopsis
The Hamburg system is located deep within a nebula which has been classified as a Class 7 Nebula, with the known effect of limiting minimally armored ships to 357 kps within the system. Practical exercises by Raumarine units over the last several years have revealed that the Blucher class cruisers can attain 2142 kps, while the lighter armored Scharnhorst class can only achieve a maximum speed of 1785 kps. Mark 2 colony ships and freighters, both with minimal armor can only achieve the basic 357 kps. The proposed Mark 2A version of the basic colony ship and freighter design, with heavier armor, can achieve 1785 kps.
In light of the known effects of the Hamburg nebula, the Raumarine commissioned professors Klaas and Vlomberg at the University of Technical Sciences at Berlin to study the nebula and determine any other effects it might have on Raumarine operations. In June, 2029, Professors Klaas and Vlomberg completed their study. The conclusions of this study are extremely alarming. In essence, the professors conclude that it is extremely likely that any missile launched within the nebula will immediately be destroyed by unstable interactions between the missile drive and the nebula. The professors additionally concluded that shields would be rendered unstable and would be completely ineffective in a nebula. In December, 2029, the Blucher was ordered to conduct a series of tests while on routine patrol within the Hamburg nebula. The tests were conducted under conditions of extreme secrecy and involved multiple missile launches under differing conditions. In every single case the missiles launched into the nebula were destroyed within less than a second of launch, thus confirming the conclusions made by the study.
This conclusion is extremely disturbing in that the Raumarine currently has only one offensive weapon, the missile. With that weapon rendered ineffective, the Raumarine is effectively powerless in the Hamburg system, especially compared to other nations which have devoted tonnage to beam weapons. Prior to this study the General Staff had depended on the fact that the standard Raumarine designs heavily depended on armor for protection, which meant that the Raumarine should be able to achieve higher speeds than any other national fleet, giving Reich units the advantage in a conflict in the Hamburg system. Now, with the knowledge that the Raumarine’s weaponry is ineffective within the Hamburg system, the maneuvering advantage is meaningless. The Raumarine will be completely unable to engage in combat in the system, despite the disadvantages suffered by other national fleets.
The results of the study, along with the tests conducted in the nebula, have been turned over to the Raumarine Engineering and Design Staff for preparation alternative strategies. Fortunately, a number of technologies and systems developed for the Fatherland Missile Defense Project can be utilized for the rearmament of the Raumarine for nebula combat.
The General Staff gave operational requirements to be considered in the review of potential weaponry. In essence, the General Staff desires a weapon that out-ranges the weaponry used by the other nations, or at the very least out-performs the weapons used by the other nations at long ranges. The Engineering and Design Staff looked at the availability of known and theoretical weaponry for use by the Raumarine, including the lasers and mass drivers used by the Alliance, Japanese, and Russians, and the torpedoes used by the Novarans. In addition, theoretical weapons systems were reviewed for potential development. After reviewing relevant data, including known performance factors for Alliance, Russian, and Novaran weaponry, the Engineering and Design Staff has determined that torpedo weaponry will fill the General Staff’s requirements of performance at long ranges, when coupled to advanced fire control systems.
Addendum by the General Staff:
The development of torpedo weaponry is approved. General refits for the fleet is not recommended, instead, a new medium unit will be designed to get this new weaponry into the field as soon as possible. In the future, all new designs should incorporate the new weaponry to spread the new capabilities broadly throughout the fleet. In addition, this new unit should be used to introduce active point defense weaponry to the fleet.
Design requirements, New Light Cruiser Project (NCL)
Maximum tonnage: 6,000
Minimum Speed: 5,000 kps
Sensors: Standard Blucher class sensor package
Weaponry: Torpedo launchers (to be designed)
Defenses: Standard Blucher class armor, Gauss Cannon turret (to be designed)
February, 2030
The Ancient terraforming installation on Venus finally completes its task and is shut down. Venus is now an ideal environment for human life.
March, 2030
The Drake, an Alliance survey/jump ship, jumps through an unexplored warp point in the 58 Eridani system (beyond Alpha Cephi). The new system is a binary G2-V/G5-V system. The system primary has two gas giants, a cold terrestrial planet, and a scattering of moons and asteroids. The real prize is the secondary star’s sole planet, the most Earth-like planet discovered to date. The planet is very close to Earth-norms, and has a colony suitability rating of .58. Unfortunately, the secondary star orbits the primary at an average 140 AU’s, and that puts the new planet just under 23 billion kilometers away. That is not completely out of range for the Drake, but it would be a four month trip there and back. After some debate amongst the scientific staff, Captain Ronnie Hou decides to return to 58 Eridani and request permission from Rear Admiral Eckart, the commander of the 1st Exploration Group. After receiving permission, the Drake jumps back to the new system and sets out for the distant companion star.
Later in the month the Alliance begins construction of a jump gate at the Procyon warp point (Sol #4). While Procyon itself is not considered a target of exploitation, Tau Ceti, which is two jumps beyond Procyon, offers several very good resource and colony sites, and the three systems connected to Procyon all have their own areas of interest.
May, 2030
The Reich suspends the transport of colonists off of Earth due to critical worker shortages at Reich factories. This move fans dissention and unrest within the population of the Reich as many people have applied for colonist positions on Venus, Nue Berlin, and Nue Paris. Large industrial concerns had been lobbying the government to suspend the shipments, though, as their factory efficiencies had been falling due to worker shortages. Estimates place current efficiency at approximately 75%, with 60% of the lower efficiency due to lingering radiation effects and the remainder due to worker shortfalls. There have been increasingly strident demands on the government to rush the certification of the North African Territory so that its population can be included in the Reich’s general economy. This move would, at one stroke, resolve the Reich’s entire worker shortage problem, however, the Kaiserin and her government have refused to consider rushing the process, citing the fanaticism that led to the One Minute War.
Late in the month the Reich government announces that they are removing most of the restrictions and controls on the North African Territory, however, the Territory will remain under Wehrmacht control for now. While the press initially portrays this as the Reich government giving in to pressure from both the public and the industrialists, it eventually becomes clear that this is just another step in the Reich government’s “rehabilitation” of the North African Territory.
June, 2030
The Japanese Empire dispatches a cargo group to the warp point to Gliese-818 (Sol Warp Point #6). This means that the Alliance and the Japanese now have claimed bodies in two adjacent systems each, while the Reich and the Russians each have claimed bodies in one of the adjacent systems.
July, 2030
The Reich finally completes the long-delayed R&D on its scout sensor and support systems, and the design for the Koln class Scout Cruiser is finalized:
Koln class Scout Cruiser 8000 tons 658 Crew 1881.6 BP TCS 160 TH 720 EM 0
4500 km/s Armour 7-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 280/140/0/0 Damage Control Rating 14 PPV 11
Annual Failure Rate: 128% IFR: 1.8% Maintenance Capacity 1588 MSP
Magazine 235
IGF Magneto-plasma Drive (9) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 350,000 Litres Range 131.3 billion km (337 days at full power)
Drone Launcher (2) Missile Size 16 Rate of Fire 12000
Anti-Msl Missile Launcher 01-010 (3) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
AM Missile Fire Control (1) Range 1.7m km Resolution 1
AMM mk 2 (60) Speed: 32000 km/s End: 39.1 minutes Range: 75m km Warhead: 1 MR: 10 Size: 1
Drone - Active (5) Speed: 11000 km/s End: 234.4 minutes Range: 154.7m km Warhead: 0 MR: 10 Size: 16
Drone - Thermal (5) Speed: 11000 km/s End: 234.4 minutes Range: 154.7m km Warhead: 0 MR: 10 Size: 16
SC Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 11200 Range 112.0m km Resolution 40
Mk 2 AM Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 168 Range 1.7m km Resolution 1
SC Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 280 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 280m km
SC EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 140 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 140m km
In addition, the government decides to authorize a support vessel for long-range Raumarine operations:
Bremse class Support Vessel 11900 tons 705 Crew 1720.4 BP TCS 238 TH 1040 EM 0
4369 km/s Armour 6-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 42/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 19 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 125% IFR: 1.7% Maintenance Capacity 4813 MSP
Magazine 1500
IGF Magneto-plasma Drive (13) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 252.1 billion km (667 days at full power)
Mk 2 MDM Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 42 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 42m km
Both of these new vessels will have to wait for current construction programs to finish before they can be started.
August, 2030
The Reich government has been under intense pressure from industrial concerns throughout the nation to integrate North Africa into the Reich proper so that its population can be used to alleviate the chronic worker shortage which is crippling Reich industry. To date, the Kaiserin has resisted this pressure, pointing out the progress the Wehrmacht has had in rooting out the remaining fanatics and establishing local rule in the Territory. Late in the month the Reich government announces a compromise, worked out with Krupp Heavy Industries and IG Farben, the major corporations behind the public pressure to normalize the North African Territories. Beginning next month, hundreds of mining complexes will be transferred to the North African Territory and the European workers formerly assigned to those complexes will be reassigned to other industries which have been suffering worker shortages. This compromise is hailed as a master-stroke, satisfying all parties. The large corporations will retain ownership of the complexes, and solve their worker shortages, while the North African Territories will gain much needed employment opportunities.
October, 2030
The Indian Republic, which has been suffering through severe duranium shortages, completes a deal with the Alliance for 10,000 units of duranium in exchange for data on improved survey instruments.
Intelligence Report
December 2030
General Situation
The international situation is relatively calm at this time. All of the major nations are focused on expanding their interstellar holdings and as a result tensions have decreased. This is not only due to the nations focusing on interstellar matters but also a result of the various governments digesting the lessons of the African Union’s civil war and the resulting One Minute War. In spite of the fact that the One Minute War happened over three years ago, radiation counts across Earth are still high, and the upper atmosphere is still clogged with dust. Current estimates place the reduced workplace efficiency at -18.63%, while scientists estimate that the average temperature is 13 degrees lower than it should be. While these results are certainly better than the situation immediately after the One Minute War, the fact that improvement has been extremely slow has not been lost on the major governments. Neither is the fact that no one knows how many more nuclear warheads would have been needed to tip the environment over into a hostile classification, causing an inevitable massive die-off. Several of the studies commissioned by the Reich and the Alliance have concluded that one more salvo from either the Reich or the North African bases would have been enough, although other studies disagreed. In any case, all of the major nations have been reviewing their defensive capabilities, and some have begun building defenses, in spite of the fact that those defenses violate international agreements.
Several of the major nations are dealing with chronic duranium shortages, and all of the major nations have had to deal with declining populations due to radiation and the attendant unrest.
Alliance
The overall population of the Alliance has decreased by 60 million over the last two years, due to the colder weather and the high radiation count. This is a decrease of 4%. The decrease, and the concurrent increased colonization effort on Mars and New Boston have led to the beginnings of a worker shortage on Earth. The Alliance Council has become increasingly concerned about this shortage, largely due to pressure from the Alliance’s leading corporations. For now the Council intends to continue the current policy of transferring industry to the Mars Colony, which currently has a worker surplus.
The Mars Colony now has a population of 192.97 million people, giving Mars 14% of the Alliance’s population. As a result of the current plan to relocate industry away from the radiated environment of Earth the Mars Colony now boasts 45% of the Alliance’s entire construction capacity. As both the population and industrial relocation efforts show no sign of changing, Mars will only become more important in the Alliance. Currently, Mars is administered directly by the Alliance Council, and has only non-voting Representatives in the Alliance Senate, but this is likely to change in the near future. While there has long been pressure to make the Mars Colony a full State of the Alliance, it is only recently that the Senate and the Council have realized that this may be a necessity given the Colony’s burgeoning economic power.
The colony on New Boston (Alpha Cephi system) now boasts 15.4 million colonists and one hundred and thirteen mining complexes. Currently, the Alliance Council plans on continuing the build-up of mining complexes on New Boston. In addition, the Alliance has established automated mining complexes on Europa and one of the moons in 58 Eridani. It is likely that the Europa complex will be relocated over the next several years, now that more valuable locations have been found in other systems.
Currently, the Alliance plans on continuing the relocation of people to New Boston and Mars. There are tentative plans to begin the colonization of New London, also in the New Cephi system, however, there is no clear plan for this colony. New London is a colony cost 2.0 planet, just like New Boston, however, the resource deposits found there are relatively inaccessible. There is some support for making New London a research center, and the Navy has expressed an interest in building up an out-system maintenance and supply center. To date no plans have been finalized.
The Alliance is current working to improve relations with the African Union. The Union has been flirting with a closer relationship with the Alliance, but it appears that the Union government fears the consequences of becoming too close to the superpower. Given the hostility to the Union from the other powers, though, the Union may have no choice but to become a client of the Alliance.
The Reich
The population of the Reich has decreased by 76 million, a reduction of 4%. Immediate worker shortages have largely been relieved by the transfer of four hundred mining complexes to the North Africa Territory, however, Venus is now facing worker shortages due to the shifting of transport resources to the colonization run to Nue Berlin in the Hamburg system. In addition, the Reich is facing severe and continuing duranium shortages. All new construction on Earth and Venus has been temporarily stopped, and a sixth of the Reich’s slipways are idle due to the shortages.
The Reich government is currently struggling with the reality of the duranium shortage, which, with the population problems, seriously threaten the Reich’s overall productivity. There are currently no good options. The government is considering the possibility of relocating the Reich’s one major out-system automated mining complex on Hamburg IV – Moon 9 to one of the Hamburg system’s comets. The Moon 9 mining complex was originally established because of the fact that eight trans-Newtonian minerals were located there, all at good availability levels. Unfortunately, duranium is only present at 0.5 availability, lower than both Earth and Venus. The comet, on the other hand, only has three different resources, but several hundred thousand units of duranium are present at 1.0 availability levels.
Venus has 177 million citizens, and the planet’s five states are full members of the Greater Reich. Venus boasts a fifth of the Reich’s construction capacity, a sixth of the Reich’s slipways, and 15% of the Reich’s research labs. Nue Berlin (Hamburg system) currently has 13.9 citizens, almost all of which are devoted to the planet’s extensive mines. Nue Paris (Hamburg system) has 2.4 million citizens, but currently has no industry or mining complexes. There were plans to establish a research center and military base on Nue Paris, but the duranium shortage has caused those plans to be put on hold.
The Reich government is currently focused on maximizing its production of duranium to deal with the continuing shortages.
Japan
The Japanese population has dropped by 144 million, a reduction of 13%. The reason the Empire’s population has dropped so much more than either the Reich’s or the Alliance’s is because all of the Empire’s population is concentrated on the Earth, while significant portions of both of the other nation’s populations are located off-planet. Unlike the two superpowers, the Japanese Empire is not likely to face worker shortages due to the large mass of Chinese laborers controlled by the Empire and available for assignment to any job.
The Empire currently maintains a major mining complex on Titan and a second on a moon in the Gliese-818 system. Minor “placeholder” mining complexes have been established on a second moon and a planet in the Gliese-818 system, and on Kobe in the Gliese-204 system.
The Imperial government is currently debating the wisdom of colonizing the planet of Kobe in the Gliese-204 system. Kobe is a colony cost 3.8 planet, meaning that it would be expensive to set up a colony there, but it has extensive resource deposits, including a huge deposit of duranium at 1.0 availability. Several planets with lower colony cost ratings have been discovered further down the warp line from Gliese-204, though, so it is likely that Kobe will remain an automated mining complex and one or more of those planets will be colonized.
USSR
The USSR’s population has decreased by 40 million over the last two years, a decrease of 5%. The Soviet government has explained this relatively low decrease (certainly, compared to that of the Japanese Empire) by pointing to its excellent health care systems, established by the Soviet communist workers. Critics have pointed out that the Soviet census system is unreliable at best, and tends to ignore those it designates as “undesirables”.
The Soviet Union has established an automated mining complex on a moon in the Psi Serpentis system, and the Soviet freighter fleet is currently occupied by transferring mines from People’s Asteroid Mining Complex #1 in the Solar System to the mining complex in Psi Serpentis. It is likely that once this is complete, the mines located on Oberon will be transported to Psi Serpentis as well. Once this effort is complete the USSR plans on beginning a colony on the planet of Saratov in the Psi Serpentis system. Saratov is a colony cost 3.2 world.
Indian Republic
The population of the Republic has dropped by 100 million over the last two years. This is a decrease of 6%. The Republic colony on the planet of Ludhiana in the Gliese 754 system has a population of 5.9 million. In addition, the Republic has established a mining complex on a moon in the Gliese-754 system, although this is a temporary installation due to the low amount of resources present (albeit at high availability levels).
The Republic plans on expanding the Ludhiana colony over the coming years. The colony currently boasts three research labs and six mines. In addition, several Republican terraforming ships are on station over Ludhiana, adding oxygen to the atmosphere.
African Union
The Union’s population has dropped by 12 million over the last two years, a decrease of 4%. The Union currently maintains a small automated mining complex on Earth’s moon, and is developing an interstellar exploration and transport capacity with the help of the Alliance.
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