Author Topic: Terran Empire - Part Eleven (January 6 2050-June 4 2051)  (Read 2965 times)

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Offline OAM47 (OP)

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Terran Empire - Part Eleven (January 6 2050-June 4 2051)
« on: January 06, 2012, 01:15:32 PM »
A/N:  Next update will also be a piece of writing, as compared to a timeline format.

February 1st 2050:  A preliminary report is compiled on the expedition as TES Newfoundland returns to Sol.  How to handle the logistics of a long range mission is the primary concern.  Nonetheless, a medal ceremony is planned for key personnel as a moral measure.  It rings a bit hollow, as there was no actual combat.

February 25th 2050:  Two jump gate building ships complete, TES Rodney and TES Shepard.  The production run is complete for now.  Instead that shipyard will focus on new, bigger, faster freighters.

April 30th 2050:  A new jump point is found in Lacaille 8760.  Appropriately, it leads to Lacaille 9352, another red dwarf.  It's a system of mostly asteroids, but has a enough prospects for mining to be worth checking out at a later date.

May 22nd 2050:  Two more Toronto Class ships are completed.

June 1st 2050:  Another jump point is found in Lacaille 9760.  It leads to Epsilon Indi, a system consisting of an orange star orbited at extreme range by a pair of sub-stars. The primary has one planet, unsuitable for colonization, while the secondary has a "gas giant" that is only about three Earth masses with of gas.  While quite "interesting" in the scientific sense, it really doesn't hold any value for the Empire.

June 26th 2050:  Two more missile cruisers are completed, bringing the total to eight.

August 4th 2050:  At 6:41 GMT the TES Leif Ericson suddenly picks up an active sensor contact 33.3 m km away while surveying Lalande 21158.  With two ships in the system, Leif Ericson continues it's course while Marco Polo covertly heads for the Sol jump point to act as a relay and monitor the situation.  The contact can move at 1000km/s, slower then either ship by a small fraction.  The primary goal, even if friendly, is to avoid leading them back to the Sol jump point.  The aliens try and intercept the scout.  While optimistic, neither captain wants to make contact before they can establish communication with HQ.

August 5th 2050:  By noon the alien ship has fallen in behind the TES Leif Ericson at 30m km.  It can be led around like this for awhile, but there's fuel concerns on the part of the scouts.  It's estimated that the Marco Polo will only be half way to the jump point by the time the pursuit reaches interstellar space...

August 16th 2050: Reaching the outermost planet and unwilling to continue on for fear of being stranded, Leif Ericson halts. The aliens approach, and activate what seems to be a very strong energy shield, but do not fire.  As such, it is only at the very last moment, when it's clear they are about to be rammed, that the crew panic.  The alien ship is massive.  It plows right into the bow as the ships face eachother.  About 2/3 of the crew make it to escape pods in time, though not Captain Delmer Jeanjacques.  There will be no rescue attempt, as the Marco Polo must now report back to Sol at all costs!

August 21st 2050:  As the Marco Polo flees towards the jump point, it encounters 20 small ships that swarm around it like locust, firing some kind of weapon that cuts through armor like it isn't even there.  They don't see them until they're right on top of the ship due to a lack of military grade sensors.  The jump drive is taken out in the first salvo, a long with roughly a fourth of the crew.  It takes nearly a minute, but the ship is eventually broken apart by the weapons fire.  Unfortunately, the two ships were not due back at Earth for some time, and thus high command will have no suspicions for awhile...

September 19th 2050:  The gate to Ross 248 is complete.  TES Rodney moves to the other side to finish the other half of the jump lane.

September 28th 2050:  The gate to Lalande 21185 is complete.  Upon attempting to build the other gate, TES Shepard picks the wrecks of the two scouts.  Unable to go back without a jump drive of its own, and realizing how hot his engines burn, Commander Roderick Pettinger decides to head for deep space to avoid attracting any hostiles to the Sol jump point.  However, only half a day later, in the wee hours of the 29th, the swarm of small craft return to destroy the ship.  Many were killed without warning as one of the first shots decompressed the construction bays, ejecting nearly a hundred crew into space.  The ship breaks up ten seconds after contact with only another hundred, or one eighth of the crew surviving in the hardened quarters section.  Once again, there's no hope of rescue...

January 5th 2051:  Elections amazingly result in faction membership in the senate being a tie!  This is mostly due to the cooled tensions as perceived by the public, unaware of the recent battle.  Three neutrals are heavily focused on.  It's actually a rather productive session, though the Militarists strong arm more of their agenda through, and block key proposals such as the subsidizing of the civilian shipping industry, which will soon play a key role in the colonization of Ross 248.

Council:        4 Militarists -       0 Industrialists -  2 Apolitical
Senate:   1265 Militarists  - 1265 Industrialists -  3 Apolitical

January 23rd 2051:  The Ross 248 side jump gate is completed.  A convoy to Ross 248 II already departed with prefab colony parts some days earlier, with colonists soon to follow.  The colony will take some time to set up, though.  The plan is to get a decent support population, deliver some terraforming installations, then focus on mining and setting up automated outposts elsewhere in Ross 248.

February 8th 2051:  Two of the new freighters are built and begin hauling colony infrastructure to Ross 248 II.  Proving their worth, they can make almost two complete trips in the time the old design can make one.

March 5th 2051:  Even account for potential delays, TES Shepard is now overdue and delcared missing.  Another mission to that star branch is called as concern grows.  What is especially worrying is that there had been a system presence in Lalande 21185 for a long time, yet no sign of alien activity.  Now, three ships are missing.  Action is delayed till early April when two more Toronto Class ships will be finished, though...

March 18th 2051:  Crews set up housing for 60,000 colonists on Ross 248 II.  The colonists are still nearly two months away, though.

March 23rd 2051:  Two tankers are built, drastically extending the range of the Imperial Fleet.  They will not be needed for the upcoming operation, though.

April 17th 2051:  Two more Toronto Class ships are built.  The Imperial Battle Task Force is ready and heads out.  Rear Admiral Skyers takes command personally of the TES Anzio to participate, though Commodore Dirk Parisian has nominal command of the task force.

May 17th 2051:  The first colonists land on Ross 248 II.  Isiah Gocke, an expert on terraforming, is selected as governer.  In the opening ceremony, the planet is renamed Raye, in honor of the late Duke and great scientist.  Despite preparations, conditions at first are harsh, leading to some grumblings among the colonists, but overall the settlement is considered to have gone "well".

June 4th 2051:  The Imperial Battle Task Force enters Lalande 21185, sparking the Second Battle of Lalande 21185...