January 20, 2250
Strug survey ships discover a warp point in the inner system.
March 23, 2250
A Strug Task Force jumps out of the Home System and discovers a single-star system with an M3-V central star. The task force is composed of a Jump Ship, a Scout, and three Motherships with full compliments of gunboats. The system is dubbed the Barsoom system, after a legendary land from Strug fables. There are seven planets in the system that could be considered more-or-less habitable by the Strug and the Colonists.
The Task Group leaves the jump ship at the warp point and proceeds on a tour of the system, probing it for signs of life.
April 15, 2250
The Strug Task Group completes its probe of the new system, finding nothing of note. The government approves a geo and grav survey of the system.
May 2, 2250
The gravitic survey of the Strug system is complete. The system contains only the one warp point already discovered. Strug survey efforts will now be focused on the Barsoom system.
June 12, 2250
A new warp point is found in the Barsoom system.
June 16, 2250
The system of Helium is discovered by Strug exploration ships. The system is a G4-V/M0-V binary system with numerous moons and planets capable of being colonized by the Strug or Colonists. The M0-V star is a distant companion, orbiting 11,400 AU’s out, meaning that it is not likely that Strug survey ships will visit it any time soon.
A Task Group is requested from Strug Home to probe the system. Unlike the probe of the Barsoom system, this probe group is sent out without warships, just a Jump Ship and Scout.
August 15, 2250
One of the Star (Flight II) survey ships surveying the Barsoom system suffers a major fault in its gravitic sensor array. The ship’s engineering staff is able to repair the fault before it becomes a problem, but doing so consumes three quarters of the ship’s maintenance supplies. The ship is forced to return to Strug Prime to replenish its supplies. Upon its arrival a review is initiated of the entire design, and modifications to the Flight III design are made to increase its engineering staff and maintenance capacity.
August 16, 2250
The Strug Task Force probing the Helium system detects three alien ships in the system’s asteroid belt. The ships mass 8,300 tons and are just over 106 million kilometers (mkm’s) out-system from the Strug ships.
The CO of the Strug Task Force immediately orders his science team to begin attempts to communicate with the aliens, and alters course towards the alien ships. Shortly thereafter the alien ships accelerate to 4,819 kps, which is substantially faster than the maximum speed of the Strug Task Force.
After closing with the aliens, the Strug CO decides to detach the faster scout, in case the aliens are hostile. The scout drops behind, its engines throttled down to station keeping speed.
After closing to 68 mkm’s, the alien ships turn away and decelerate so that their speed matches that of the oncoming Strug ships. Thirty-five minutes later the command ship’s thermal sensors detect thirty six small objects headed for the ship at 27600 kps. They are first detected 770,000 kilometers away. The ship has no defensive weapons, only shields. The CO orders the shields raised and a radical turn away from the incoming weapons. In addition, he orders the detached scout to go to maximum speed and run for the warp point. It won’t be able to transit out, but if the command ship doesn’t survive, it will be able to wait for the inevitable rescue ship.
A short time later, just prior to the impact of the first wave of missiles, a second wave appears on the doomed ship’s scanners. Seconds later the incoming missiles begin their final attack run. Six hit the doomed command ship, causing several secondary explosions and totally obliterating the defenseless Strug ship.
The scout is ninety million kilometers from the alien ships, and is headed away at its maximum speed, which is faster than that of the aliens, albeit only 65 kps faster.
Three hours and forty seven minutes later the aliens race past the wreckage of the command ship, intent on their pursuit of the fleeing scout.
Twenty four hours after the destruction of the command ship, the scout has opened its lead to 100 million kilometers. A day later its lead is 110 mkm’s. Over the next several days the scout continues to widen its lead by 10 mkm’s every day. Finally, three days and four hours after the destruction of the command ship, the alien ships are off of the scout’s sensors, and the scout’s CO orders his active sensors turned off to minimize his emissions.
Eleven days after the destruction of the command ship the scout arrives on the warp point. The CO has given the situation some thought and orders his ship to displace 40 mkm’s to the side, in case the aliens have been following his course. There they will await a rescue, although they know they won’t be declared overdue for another two weeks.
Deep in the inner system, the CO of the command ship, Kadar Neferue, along with his surviving crew, has been captured by the aliens.
September 1, 2250
The Strug complete their survey of the Barsoom system, discovering no additional warp points. The CO of the survey group orders his group to assemble on the warp point to the Helium system.
September 13, 2250
The Strug exploration group jumps into the Helium system. They are immediately detected by the scout, which is waiting 40 mkm’s away. The scout informs the CO of the group, Padwar Ipuky. After learning of the situation in Helium the Padwar orders the scout to join the group immediately.
Before departing the scout activates its sensors again, but detects nothing.
Once on the far side of the warp point, the Padwar detaches the scout to watch the warp point, and then races for home.
September 17, 225
The Strug survey group jumps back home with the news of the destruction of the probe ship and the discovery of a hostile alien race. The fact that the aliens have missiles that engage Strug ships from far beyond their own range is very disturbing.
Over the next several days the Strug scientists evaluate the scout’s sensor readings, and the results are troubling. The alien ships have a higher speed than all Strug military units aside from the gunboats, and can engage the Strug ships from far beyond their own missile engagement range. Something must be done, and research priorities are immediately reordered.
October 13, 2250
The geo-survey of the Barsoom system is complete. Two of the system’s moons contain significant deposits of several different resources, and are excellent potential mining sites. However, due to concerns about the presence of the aliens in the adjacent system, plans to plant mining colonies in the system are put on hold.
December 2251, Update
The Strug were focusing their research efforts on upgrading their sensor capabilities, however, after the encounter in the Helium system the Strug are forced to reevaluate their priorities. After a brief period spent analyzing their current situation they decide to focus their efforts on upgrading their missiles and gunboat squadrons, at least at first. These are their smallest and most easily produced and upgraded units, and so this is the area where they will see the best return. New gunboat engines based on magneto-plasma technology and enhanced with increased efficiency tech to produce the best output possible have been developed, along with a new miniaturized gunboat missile launcher. The new, smaller launchers, along with a new combat doctrine that calls for the elimination of the gunboat’s magazines allows for a 66% increase in the gunboat’s broadside, and leaves enough room for the installation of an active sensor, thus eliminating the need for a dedicated scout unit. Work is begun immediately on converting the existing gunboat scouts to the new design, and by the end of 2251 all of the scout class have been converted to the new design, and work is underway converting the standard gunboats to the new design.
Out of concern for the alien’s long-range missiles, the AP Council (Allied Principalities) has approved the construction of a new class of warship, a 7,100 ton Area Defense Cruiser. The design is included below. In addition, a significant percentage of Strug Home’s industrial capacity has been devoted to increasing the number of naval shipyards available to the Navy.
The social situation in the Allied Principalities is complex. The basic Strug attitude is hopeful and optimistic, and in spite of the constant warnings from the Colonists the Strug refused to believe in possibility that the universe is filled with hostile, unreasoning aliens. Since the conquest of The Sister the Strug have been doing their best to convert the Colonists to their positive point of view. Their ability to affect the culture of their neighbors has been limited, though, given the fact that their planet is completely inhospitable with its close to unbearable gravity and methane atmosphere. No Strug can walk the streets of a Colonist city without a full environment suit with exoskeleton support, limiting their ability to mingle with the common people.
In return, the Colonists are doing their level best to convert the Strug to their point of view, and their efforts have received a boost since an exploration ship was destroyed in the Helium system in an unprovoked attack. Amidst the debate, the Council is attempting to come to a decision about how to approach the situation in the Helium system. Normally, the first impulse of the Strug would be to retreat and leave the aggressive and apparently unstable aliens in that system alone, but that does not appear to be a viable choice. The Strug system only contains one warp point, leading to the Barsoom system, and that system in turn contains only one warp point as well, leading to the Helium system. While there are several potentially habitable planets in the Barsoom system, and decent mining sites as well, both the Strug Home system and the Barsoom system lack good deposits of several resources, meaning that eventually the Strug civilization will run short of critical resources, leading to the collapse of the civilization. Obviously that cannot be allowed to happen, and given the fact that the Helium aliens would rather shoot than talk there appears to be little hope that negotiations would succeed. That leaves invasion as the only credible hope for continued survival of the Strug civilization. This is an unpalatable reality, but there appears to be no alternative.
Daedalia Planum class Area Defence Cruiser 7100 tons 686 Crew 1376 BP TCS 142 TH 720 EM 600
5070 km/s Armour 3-32 Shields 20-400 Sensors 8/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 12
Annual Failure Rate: 57% IFR: 0.8% Maintenance Capacity 848 MSP Max Repair 192 MSP
Magazine 216
MP Drive (9) Power 80 Fuel Use 60% Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 126.8 billion km (289 days at full power)
Gamma R400/16 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 160 Litres per day
AM Missile Launcher (12) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
AM Missile Fire Control (4) Range 2.4m km Resolution 1
AM Missile (216) Speed: 32,000 km/s End: 1.6m Range: 3m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 309 / 185 / 92
Large AM Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 192 Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
GB Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECM 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
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