Aurora 4x
Fiction => Kurt's Fiction => Aurora => The Corporate Federation => Topic started by: Kurt on May 03, 2018, 10:28:04 AM
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January 26, 2125: The Corporate Federation announces the finalization of design for a survey ship equipped with the latest TN technology. This miraculous ship will be capable of moving at a top speed of 1,973 kps and will be able to remain away from Earth for up to twelve months surveying the Solar System for deposits of TN resources. Construction won’t start until the capacity of the Butcher Co., Ltd. Orbital yards are enlarged to the point that they can handle this massive 5,700 ton ship.
June 1st, 2125: CEO Allan announces that construction has started on the Neil Armstrong, the Federation’s first TN tech survey ship. Construction is projected to be completed in 2127.
November 16, 2125: Earth’s first TN tech ships are launched from the orbital yards. Five Long Haul class freighters are now available to begin expanding mankind’s presence throughout the Solar System. The Federation announces that the ships will be put to use expanding the Copernicus colony. This announcement stimulates a rush of speculation across the Earth as there have long been rumors of what Eleanor Holden and her research team has been working on since they led the way to the breakthrough in TN tech.
August 25th, 2126: Two People Mover class ships are launched from the orbital yards. Publicly available information on these ships describe them as personnel transports designed to rapidly transport high-priority corporate personnel to any location in the Solar System. In reality these deceptively named ships are troop transports. The Federation Board of Directors has become worried that the more distant colonies on Mars and Ganymede are considering declaring independence. While there is no real unrest, the Board feels it’s prudent to begin relocating Enforcement Battalions to potential trouble spots before they become actual trouble spots.
October 1st, 2126: Four Conestoga class colony transports are launched. All four are immediately put to work expanding the Copernicus research colony on the Moon.
December 4th, 2126: The Federation, in a great fanfare, announces the expansion of the Copernicus research labs, and a global hunt for qualified technicians, engineers and scientist to serve in the newly enlarged labs. The research conducted by the Copernicus labs is still shrouded in secrecy.
January 14, 2127: The Neil Armstrong is launched six months early. The CEO extols the improvements to the orbital yards that contributed to the early launch at the launch ceremony, which was broadcast across the Earth and Luna. The Armstrong will be setting out on her maiden exploratory voyage under the command of Captain Jessica Chapman (yes, of those Chapmans)
April 1, 2127: The Armstrong is currently in the Asteroid Belt, surveying the asteroid Erminia, orbiting 439 million kilometers from the Sun. The ship and crew have been in space away from Earth for two and a half months, the longest duration space mission ever outside of the Earth-Moon system.
May 30, 2127: The Armstrong returns to Earth after four and a half months in space to a huge celebration. The Federation declares Friday, May 31th, to be a holiday. The Armstrong has completed surveys of the inner system, including a significant portion of the asteroid belt, and Jupiter and its moons. The Federation releases basic survey info to the public, although more detailed (and useful) information is classified. Venus apparently contains massive deposits of duranium, Uridium, and Corundium at useful availability levels. Luna contains several resources at good availability levels as does Ganymede. Mars has a large deposit of Sorium, but it is present at a very low availability level. Several asteroids have useful deposits at high availability levels as well.
July 5, 2127: Her crew fresh from being feted on Earth, the Armstrong leaves orbit to finish its survey of the Solar System’s planets, moons, and asteroids.
January 5, 2128: The Armstrong returns to Earth for rest, refueling, and Overhaul. Once that is complete, the ship will be refitted with newer, more powerful engines. The new engines will increase the Armstrong’s maximum speed by over 50%. When she is ready again, the intrepid ship will be dispatched to Neptune and then Pluto. Once the survey of those planets and moons is complete, the ship will continue to survey the Oort cloud.
June 9th, 2128: The Copernicus Research Labs finally achieve a breakthrough in interstellar travel, developing a workable theory on jump point travel. The lab immediately begins exploring the specific technologies that would be needed to construct a “jump drive”. The Federation decides to keep this development a secret, with only the personnel needed to develop technology and systems for interstellar travel told, along with the leading CEO’s of the Federation (so of course the news began circulating almost immediately). Copernicus Research & Development receives additional funding from the Federation for a massive expansion of its research facilities.
October 1, 2128: The Armstrong is launched from the orbital yards fresh from refitting with her new engines. Captain Chapman immediately sets course for Uranus.
January 11, 2129: The Armstrong has completed its survey of the Solar System. While there are a few distant objects that will not be surveyed, every sizeable object out to about six billion kilometers from the Sun has been surveyed.
May 22, 2129: The Copernicus R&D facility has completed development of a jump drive capable of transporting a 10,000 ton ship to another star. The scientists and engineers believe that the new drive will be capable of holding the jump point open long enough for other ships to transit before the ship containing the jump drive jumps, meaning that not all ships will have to be equipped with the new drive. This is good, as the new drive is mass-intensive, requiring 25% of a 10,000 ton ship’s mass to accommodate the drive. Work on the new ship will begin as soon as the yards have been enlarged enough to accommodate the massive new ship. In any case, the new gravitic survey ships won’t be launched until early 2130. Work on the expensive, and large, new jump tenders won’t start until the new ships have confirmed that there are jump points in the Solar System. In the meantime, Copernicus R&D labs has begun work on a jump drive suitable for civilian ships.
December 18, 2129: The Copernicus R&D Labs complete development of increased efficiency jump drives. Rather than design a new generation of jump drives the team is put back to work increasing the efficiency of the drives.
January 5, 2130: Two Far Seeker class gravitic survey ships are launched from the orbital yards. While not a secret, the Federation has decided to keep these ships on a low profile out of fear that they may find no jump points in the Solar System. The two ships set out without fanfare to begin surveying the system.
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The state of the Federation as of December 31, 2130 (the opening of the Interstellar Age)
The Federation has colonies on two moons and one planet in the Solar system. In addition, the Federation maintains four mining outposts in the Solar System. The bulk of humanity is still located on Earth, but the research colony on the Moon has grown by leaps and bounds as the Federation has invested vast sums in the Copernicus R&D Labs, which are the sole owners of the jump drive secrets.
Earth:
Population: 5,328,070,000
Construction Factories: 4,500
Ordnance Factories: 649
Fuel Refineries: 2000
Mines 4,500
Automated Mines: 491:
Research Labs: 220
Financial Centers: 449
Military Shipyards/Slipways: 4/7 (Largest 11,888 tons)
Civilian Shipyards/Slipways: 10/23 (largest 71,921 tons)
The Earth is the center of the Federation, and aside from Copernicus R&D Labs on the Moon every important and powerful corporation is based here.
Luna:
Population: 81,620,000
Research Labs: 25
Automated Mines: 480
Copernicus R&D labs dominates the colony on the Moon. Twenty-five million scientists, engineers, and technicians work directly for the corporation, and the bulk of the remaining 56 million people on the Moon work in related support industries. While Copernicus R&D Labs does not outright own the Moon, they do effectively control it, especially considering their position on the Federation Board of Directors. In light of this reality, when Shehua Energy wanted to place automated mines on the Moon to exploit its large reserves of Duranium, Corbomite, and Tritanium, they negotiated directly with Copernicus R&D for the “mineral rights”, an effective admission that Copernicus R&D controlled access to the Moon. Copernicus R&D has reached its maximum size in its currently configuration and is looking to expand its operations by recruiting more leading research scientists. Searches have begun for compatible R&D corporations located on Earth to acquire.
Mars:
Population: 3,200,000
The colony on Mars was started before TN technology became a reality and has been largely ignored since. Mars contains large deposits of two TN resources, but at very low availability levels, and has had no other features to interest the large corporations on Earth. Because of this the population of Mars has been largely made up of pioneers and those that wanted to escape the corporation dominated culture on Earth. The Martian population has been restive under Federation control. Their pioneer self-image is at direct odds with the Federation’s corporate culture. Worse, they view the major corporations that form the bulk of the Federation as grasping octopi and their senior executives as corrupt politicians only interested in collecting more and more wealth. Only the fact that the Federation has been relatively uninterested in Mars has kept things calm.
This is likely to change in the near future, though. United Hyundai Heavy Industries, a large corporation that owns a significant percentage of the ship building capacity in orbit around Earth, has recently been investing heavily in terraforming research and has commissioned several feasibility studies looking at the costs associated with moving their operations to Mars. While very expensive, many of the largest corporations on Earth envy the benefits that controlling access to the Moon has given Copernicus R&D. These calculations may be thrown off by the discovery of a near-habitable planet by Foster Interstellar through Sol’s innermost (and most accessible) jump point.
Ganymede
Population: 740,000
Like Mars, this colony was started as a scientific outpost before TN tech was discovered and has languished ever since. Unlike Mars, Ganymede has exploitable deposits of several TN resources, but to date none of the corporations have been interested as closer or larger deposits were exploited. The population is similar in makeup to Mars. A large military listening station has been built just outside of the main colony’s domes.
Federation Government
In its original form in the late 2000’s and early 2100’s, the Federation was organized as a sort of “UN” where the most powerful corporations could get together and coordinate their activities to avoid conflict both between themselves and with the small regional successor-governments that govern the Earth. Over time the Federation has grown into a true government, with its own bureaucracy, most of which is beholden to one of the corporations on the Board. This expanding bureaucracy has required increased reliance on taxes on the regional governments, which has increased unrest at the bottom as the new wealth and prosperity of the early 2100’s starts to fade. Worse, as the average person on Earth sees his or her position slipping, they can see the corporate elite living in almost unbelievable luxury.
In spite of this unrest is low, crime is almost forgotten, and people still clearly remember the time of troubles in the 21st century. They have no wish for unrest or uncertainty to return, and as long as things don’t get much worse they will continue to back the system.
Federation Military
The Federation has been actively anti-military since its inception, both because of the popular perception that large organized militaries caused the national collapses of the 21st century, and because the people controlling the corporations that ran the Federation had no interest in paying for a military or in creating a threat to their power. To that end the Federation Board, in the aftermath of the 2109 coup attempt, banned large military or para-military corporations. Instead, the Federation authorized member Corporations to form their own militias and agreed to directly pay for a number of mercenary brigades that would be used to patrol Federation colonies and cities. By the end of 2130 the Federation’s military is as follows:
Earth
Federation Board Corporate Military forces
(Note: Enforcement Battalions=Mobile Infantry, Special Enforcement Bat.=Assault Battalions)
Glencore -Vale Space Minerals: 2xBrigade with 5 Enforcement Bat. and 2 Special Enf. Bat.
Kiewit-Turner Space Construction: 1xBrigade with 3 enforcement Bat. And 1 special enf. Bat.
SIM Engineering: 1xBrigade with 3 enforcement bat. And 1 special enf. Bat.
Space Systems, Inc.: 1xBrigade with 3 enforcement bat. And 1 special enf. Bat.
Copernicus R&D: 1xBrigade with 2 enforcement battalions, 9xConstruction brigade
Other Corporate Forces
UHHI: 1xBrigade with 3 enforcement bat. And 1 special enf. Bat.
Forces controlled by the Federation:
Local Defense Corporation Luna: 1xBrigade with 2 enforcement battalions
Local Defense Corporation Mars: 1xbrigade with 4 enforcement battalions
Local Defense Corporation Ganymede: 1xBrigade with 4 enforcement battalions
Local Militias
Earth Provincial Militias: 22xgarrison battalions
In February 2130, in response to the discovery of the first jump point in the Solar System, the Federation reversed its long-held position against large-scale organized militaries. This decision was made in recognition that interstellar travel not only meant access to nearly unlimited resources and colony sites, but to additional risks that did not exist in the Solar System. The Board was loath to trust those out of its direct control with nuclear weapons capable of destroying civilization, though, so initially, at least, only five PDC’s were authorized, one for each of the Board members. Built with Federation funds, they would be directly controlled by the Board Corporations and crewed and officered by those hand-picked by the Board from their own companies. In addition, the Board has authorized the creation of an armed patrol force in the form of chartered corporations, and a reserve force directly controlled by the Federation. It will take some time before these forces become a reality, as the Federation has neglected its naval shipbuilding capacity, nearly all of which has been coopted by the new survey companies.
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February 4, 2130: The Far Seeker Magellan sends a momentous message to the Federation Board of Directors announcing their discovery that the Solar System has at least wo jump points. One of the jump points is in the asteroid belt, while the other is just inside of Jupiter’s orbit. The Board immediately releases the information publicly, stimulating a massive wave of investment in technologies and corporations likely to benefit from expansion into other system.
Behind the scenes, the discovery of jump points in the Solar System has settled a long-running debate amongst the members of the Board. The bulk of the Board members have steadfastly resisted calls to rebuild military capabilities ever since the foundation of the Federation. The public has long viewed institutional military organizations as dangerous and largely responsible for the troubles of the 21st century and the ultimate collapse of the old order. For their part the Board is distrustful of large-scale organized militaries, especially since the attempted coup in 2109. Now that interstellar travel is nearly a reality the Board can no longer relegate the military to theoretical design studies and R&D. Therefore, in the aftermath of celebrations marking the opening a new interstellar age for human-kind, the Board quietly authorizes the formation of several types of defense-oriented corporations. These corporations will be organized several different ways, depending on the circumstances.
The deciding factor for several Board members is the prospective of massive amounts of money being moved through their corporations for the defense build-up.
March 26, 2130: The Magellan reports finding a third jump point located inside of Uranus’ orbit.
April 6, 2130: With great fanfare construction begins on two massive jump tenders in the United Hyundai Heavy Industries Orbital Yard #5.
May 6, 2130: Yet another jump point has been found, with this one located almost directly between the orbits Saturn and Uranus.
July 16th, 2130: A fifth jump point has been discovered in the Solar System, beyond the orbit of Neptune.
August 12, 2130: Copernicus R&D agrees to license its jump technology to Tyler Systems Development on Earth. Tyler SD, in association with Copernicus R&D, is working on a concept to design and build jump gates, which would allow movement between the two ends of a jump line without resorting to ship-mounted jump drives.
August 13, 2130: The newly formed Foster Interstellar, Inc., announces that the gravitic survey of the Solar System is complete, and that six jump points have been found. The sixth is 5.5 billion kilometers from the sun. Foster Interstellar has purchased all of the existing survey ships, and one of the two jump tenders under construction. The other jump tender, and the survey ships currently under construction, belong to Interstellar Explorations, Ltd., another newly formed corporation.
September 13, 2130: Copernicus R&D completes work on its new jump drive. This design is much more efficient than the older, first generation model. The new drive is only 68% the size of the older model, meaning that the space saved can be devoted to newly developed sensors and the new, more efficient, engines.
September 28, 2130: Construction work begins on four PDC’s on Earth, and one prefab PDC to be transported to the Moon.
December 30, 2130: Two first-generation State class jump tenders are launched from the orbital yards. After some wrangling Foster Interstellar and Interstellar Explorations come to an agreement. The six jump points in the Solar system will be split between the two companies, and their jump ships will probe the three assigned to their company. Once the probes are complete the two companies will share their information. The only reason Interstellar Explorations agreed to this was because their survey ships are still in the yards and will not be complete until the middle of the year. Their original plan was to turn around their jump tender as soon as it was launched and put it back into the yards for a refit with the latest jump technology, however, that would mean Foster Interstellar would be able to probe all six jump points and would be able to keep the information to themselves.
January 2, 2131: The Foster Interstellar Survey Group jumps through Sol’s innermost jump point and discovers a K3-V star system. Initial probes determine that the system contains two terrestrial planets three super-Jovian planets, a gas giant, an asteroid belt, and several icy dwarf planets. The innermost terrestrial planet is amazingly earth-like, with a gravity of .81, an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, and liquid water. The atmosphere is too thin for humans, at a pressure of .2, but aside from that it is nearly perfect. Mission Commander Brennan, the commander of the survey group, decides to detach his survey ships to begin the survey of this system while his jump tender continues on to complete the probe of the other jump points.
January 3, 2131: The Interstellar Explorations jump tender transits through to a G6-V system with several gas giants and a single super-Jovian planet. Several of the moons that are near habitable, including one stupendous moon of the super-Jovian that is actually larger than Earth. One of the terrestrial planets actually has a breathable atmosphere, but it is far too cold for Earth-like life.
January 9, 2131: Foster Interstellar discovers a planet-less G4-V star through Sol’s third jump point. The jump point in the new system is 1.5 billion kilometers from the primary. Interestingly enough, the jump tender North Carolina detects a gravitic anomaly approximately 300 million kilometers beyond the system primary. The anomaly’s presence is noted for further study.
January 16, 2131: The Interstellar Explorations jump tender discovers a quaternary system through Sol’s fourth jump point. This system consists of a two G class sub-giant stars orbiting each other fairly closely, separated by a mean distance of only 15 AU’s. This pair is then distantly orbited by a K5-V star. A fourth star, a K8-V, closely orbits the third star. The second pair of stars is so distant that it is unlikely that human ships will ever visit them. It would take IE’s jump ship, the Madrid, almost ten years at its best speed to reach the pair of stars. There would be little reason to go, even if it was possible. A single, lonely, terrestrial planet orbits the fourth star, and that planet is scathingly hot and has only a trace atmosphere. The two inner stars have four terrestrial planets and two moons between them. None of the planets are particularly habitable, though.
February 6, 2131: The Madrid discovers a G0-V star through Sol’s sixth jump point. This new system contains three terrestrial type planets that would be excellent candidates for colonization, if only they had atmospheres. With its jump point probes finished, the Madrid sets out for Earth.
Later in the day the Foster Interstellar jump ship probed the last jump point in the Solar System, discovering a K0-V star orbited by a super-Jovian planet, three gas giants, and two terrestrial planets, along with several dwarf planets and numerous moons. The North Carolina returns to the Solar System and heads for the innermost jump point, to reestablish contact with its survey group.
May 4, 2131: Two asteroid mining ships are launched from the UHHI yards in orbit. Both mining craft belong to Glencore-Vale Space Minerals, and are immediately dispatched to the comet Borrelly, which has small deposits of three TN resources at high availability levels.
May 20, 2131: The Foster Interstellar survey ship Armstrong completes its geo survey of the Washington system. (After some debate, and much acrimony, the Federation has decided to name newly discovered start systems after cities.) The Armstrong transmits the results of its survey to the jump ship North Carolina, which then transits back to the Solar System and re-transmits the info, encoded, to a small satellite orbiting in deep space. That satellite will then rebroadcast the information to Foster Interstellar’s home office. The results are disappointing. The Armstrong discovered several moderate deposits of resources, but none fell within the range that would be considered profitable to extract. The news causes consternation amongst Foster’s senior executives. If the Solar System, which is fairly rich in exploitable resources, is atypical, then the exploration companies are going to have a hard time turning a profit, as will the mining companies, which will be the exploration company’s primary customer.
July 10, 2131: The Foster Interstellar survey group returns to the Solar System. Low on fuel, and with the crews tired and in need of R&R, the group returns to the Earth for a well-earned overhaul. Interstellar Exploration has attempted to contract with Foster to use its jump ship to transport Interstellar’s newly constructed survey ships through one of the jump points, but Foster proves to be uncooperative. Interstellar was hoping to get a jump on its survey effort before its own jump ship finished its refit in September, but Foster is smarting after its near-fruitless survey of the Washington system, and is focused on its own efforts.
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August 28, 2131: 14:57 hours, New York System
Ship CEO Mason’s interest was caught when he saw his Joe Berg tense over his board and begin frantically typing. They were twenty-three hours into their forty-three-hour voyage to the New York system’s inner planet, where they would begin their survey efforts. It had been a boring trip so far, but unless he missed his guess that was about to change. He wasn’t wrong.
“Mike, I’ve got a thermal contact approximately 3.5 million kilometers away and closing. The contact is strength 704, approximately twice our own signature.”
Mason felt his mouth hanging open and hurriedly shut it hoping no one else had noticed. There was only one thing this could be. “Helm, all-stop. Jenny, send a contact report to Allan on the North Carolina and begin transmitting first contact messages to the contact.”
The bridge crew hurried to their tasks and Mason grinned in spite of the tension that had settled in with the contact report. They were a good crew. Not much spit and polish, of course, but a good crew. In a few seconds the Armstrong had come to a halt and messages were winging their way to their destinations. It took another ninety seconds before the sensor operator could provide additional information. “The contact is closing at 3,910 kps along a bearing of 291 degrees, relative.” There was a stir around the bridge as the crew took in the fact that the alien ship was faster than they were.
“Jenny, has there been any response to our hails?”
“Nothing at all.”
“Jenny, what is the round-trip message time to the North Carolina?”
“Ummm…one six nine six seconds.”
“Very well, continue to update the North Carolina on our status, and continue to broadcast first contact messages to the unknown.” At the rate the alien ship was closing it would be on them in less than fifteen minutes, substantially before their message would reach the North Carolina.
The minutes passed, with everyone on the bridge watching the display showing the alien ship closing on them. Finally, as it passed the one-million-kilometer marker, Ship CEO Morgan spoke. “Raise the shields. Continue attempting to establish contact on all frequencies.”
The alien ship continued to close. Finally, at the 500,000 kilometer mark, Ship CEO Morgan had had enough. “Min, plot a course directly away from the alien. Let’s keep some distance if we can. Maybe that will demonstrate to them that we won’t let them run up on us.”
“Yes sir, the course is plotted and laid in. Engaging now.” The Armstrong came around and began moving away from the alien ship.
With the reality that the possibly hostile alien was closing on them settling in, the crew was becoming more formal, a first in Ship CEO Morgan’s experience. The outfit ‘Admiral’ Foster had put together wasn’t very military, but then nothing really was these days. That had been alright with just about everyone, until now. Mike Mason was beginning to wish that the Federation had a military, and that some of them were here right now.
Unfortunately, the Armstrong was 800 kps slower than the alien, so the alien ship was still closing. Ship CEO Morgan was hoping that a physical demonstration would ‘communicate’ with the aliens, where their communications attempts had not.
“Sir! I have multiple contacts on the thermal sensors, closing fast!”
Ship CEO Morgan paled as the implication slammed home. “Communications, continuous stream to the North Carolina for as long as you can! Helm, evasive…” He broke off as the ship shuddered around him and the lighting dimmed.
“Shields down to 20% strength! Minor shock damage!” The engineer’s voice held a little panic in it, and Morgan couldn’t blame him. They had no weapons or defenses. Nothing with which to reply to this senseless attack.
“Communications, tell them that we surrender! Tell them that…”
“Second launch detected!” The thermal sensors were detecting the alien weapons barely before they hit his ship. This time the shaking was much worse. Morgan could feel the sweat pouring down his collar as he looked around his bridge in shock.
The engineer turned from his panel, pale as a ghost. Morgan was shocked to see tears pouring down his face. “Sir, the engine is down! They are all dead down there. We are dead in space.”
Ship CEO Morgan hesitated for a second, but his duty was clear. “Abandon ship! All hands to the life pods!” Alarms began sounding throughout the ship as the survivors ran to the closest pods. By the time the third missile salvo roared in there was no one left on the ship.
Approximately fifteen minutes later, on the North Carolina at the jump point…
“Sir, message from the Armstrong! It’s coded red priority and in the clear!”
Mission Executive Brennan allowed himself to wonder what the hell Morgan was up to as the message was routed to his station. The message was brief. Brennan settled back into his chair in shock. After a few seconds he shook himself. “Comm, the Armstrong is setting up a continuous data stream. Route the stream to memory and monitor in real-time. Send an acknowledgement to the Armstrong and coordinate the data stream. Sensors, go active on the sensors and perform a full 360-degree spherical scan. Helm, prepare a course through the jump point. We’ll be jumping out and then returning as soon as possible.”
For a few seconds the crew hesitated, then they began scrambling to obey his orders. Brennan looked around in pride, and then keyed the general all-ship communicator. “This is Mission Executive Brennan. Ship CEO Morgan of the Armstrong has just reported that his ship has made contact with an alien ship which is closing on his position. He is attempting to make contact. We will be returning to the Solar System to report our discovery, then we will return here to monitor the situation. All hands to their stations!”
There was a general scramble as additional crew entered the bridge and took their stations. After a minute the sensor officer turned from his station. “Scan complete, sir. No contacts out to fourteen million kilometers. We are clear.”
“Very well. Maintain continuous scans. Comm, send messages to the Vasco de Gama and the Marco Polo. They are to reverse course and rejoin the North Carolina at the jump point. Send immediately. Helm, take us through the jump point.”
The North Carolina nosed through the jump point as the messages were speeding away. Brennan felt a brief, momentary discontinuity, and then they were in the Solar System. Fighting the disorientation that was normal for a jump, he turned to his right. “Julia, package the Armstrong’s original message along with the data stream to the point we jumped. Encrypt at the highest level and dispatch to satellites alpha and bravo. Send when complete.”
“you’ve got it.” She hunched over her station. Brennan settled into his seat as the helm officer brought the North Carolina around to return through the jump point. The satellites were part of a quartet of satellites that Foster Interstellar had scattered throughout the asteroid belt for just this occasion. Proprietary communications could be routed through these satellites instead of being sent directly from the jump point, making them much harder to intercept.
“Message sent.”
“Very well. Helm, take us back through the jump point.” The North Carolina was already lined up on the jump point and so it took only seconds for the ship to jump out.
Back in New York and recovering from the jump effects, Jim Brennan ordered the comm tech to reestablish contact with the Armstrong’s data stream. Julia nodded and turned to her station. After a few seconds she turned back. “Jim, contact with the data stream re-established. The contact has closed to within one million kilometers and Ship CEO Morgan has ordered his shields raised.” The comm officer stopped and lowered his head as he listened to something. After a few seconds he blanched and looked up. “Sir, I’m getting a verbal report from Blake Whitby, the Armstrong’s communications tech. The alien ship has closed to within 500,000 kilometers and Ship CEO Morgan has ordered the Armstrong to retreat from the alien.”
Mission Executive Brennan leaned forward. “Put the Armstrong transmission on the speakers.”
Julia punched a button and the Armstrong’s communication tech began speaking from the speakers set around the bridge. He sounded painfully young. The North Carolina’s bridge crew fell silent as the drama that had occurred 250 million kilometers away unfolded.
“…continuing with first contact protocols, Ship CEO.” There was silence for a few seconds, then Whitby spoke again. “North Carolina, we have begun moving away from the aliens but they continue to close. We are broadcasting first contact messages on every band but they haven’t answered. I…wait! We…what!” There was a crashing noise in the background and indistinct voices could be heard. “North Carolina! The aliens have launched some sort of weapon at us! Our shields are almost down. I’m routing all sensor information to the stream so that you can see what we are seeing. I’m going to…wait, more missiles are incoming!” There was another crash, this time louder. There were gasps around the North Carolina’s bridge as Blake Whitby continued. “That’s it. Our shields are down and the engine is out. CEO Morgan has ordered us to abandon ship. I’ll set the computers to continue broadcasting for as long as…” The audio cut out.
The silence on the bridge was deafening. Brennan looked around his bridge and could see that his crew was stunned. “Alright everyone. We are going to jump back to the Solar System to inform them of the fate of the Armstrong. Then we are going to jump back to monitor the situation until the De Gama and the Polo return. Then we will all jump out. Together. Understood?”
“yes sir!” They all chorused, and then turned to their stations. Once again, the North Carolina jumped back to the Solar System. This time Brennan appended his own report to the broadcast, informing CEO Foster of his intent to remain at the jump point in the New York system until the two gravitic survey ships returned and they could all jump out. Their ETA to the jump point was approximately 22.5 hours at maximum speed. At 1540 hours the North Carolina jumped out of the Solar system. It never returned.
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September 1, 2131: Copernicus R&D Research Facility, Luna
CEO Sarah Allen looked around the Copernicus R&D Boardroom, taking stock of the room. The Boardroom was richly appointed, with very expensive wood paneling everywhere, and a large, antique-looking table dominating the center of the room. The table looked antique, but it decidedly was not antique, as it incorporated the latest display and information technology to service the board members of the Solar System’s most powerful R&D corporation who normally did business in this room. All along one wall were thick transparent panels giving a panoramic view of the Copernicus crater and the Earth beyond. The boardroom sat on top of a high structure that jutted above the low-lying lab complex and its associated dome-city that dominated the crater. CEO Allen looked briefly out of the windows, looking over the sprawling city that had grown up around the labs. Copernicus City now housed approximately 75 million people out of the Moon’s 90 million citizens, and the city was visible from Earth’s surface, a constant reminder of humanity’s spread to the stars. CEO Allen was distracted, though, and she didn’t really see much of the city as she looked out of the windows. Instead, her thoughts were of the people in the room with her, and on the alien threat that had so suddenly been thrust upon them. Sitting closest to her, on her right, was the CEO of Glencore-Vale Space Minerals, William Wright. The Glencore-Vale CEO was engaged in a hushed but urgent conversation with the person sitting to his left, K&T Space Construction CEO George Little. CEO Wright was tall and spare, every inch an English gentleman of the old school, while CEO Little was short and pugnacious, the very image of an American steel worker, for all that he was dressed in an expensive suit and boasted the very best in body augmentations. CEO Allen couldn’t hear what they were talking about but it was apparent that Little didn’t like whatever it was that the Glencore-Vale CEO was trying to tell him. Allen kept her face expressionless as she covertly observed the two. CEO Wright was on her side, she was sure. While what she was proposing went against everything they had stood for over the last eight years, he was a very conscientious person and she knew he would recognize what was likely their only hope of surviving this emergency. Little, on the other hand, tended to be stubborn and rooted in the past. She knew he was one of the obstacles that she would have to overcome. She sighed. As CEO of the Federation she was merely first among equals, and barely that. If she could get the board on her side then that would be merely the first battle, not the last. The Federation could barely lay a claim to being able to manage its constituent corporations, and, by design, there was little it could do to reign in its more fractious members. A small grin flickered across her face. At least she could count on her fellow board member’s greed to motivate them.
As she was watching the two, the door on the far side of the room opened and their two missing members entered. CEO Allen nodded to SIM Engineering CEO Oscar Hunt and Copernicus R&D CEO Charlotte Potts. CEO Hunt was a gorgeous man, as beautiful as the very best and most modern gene-sculpting and body engineering techniques could make him, while CEO Potts seemed dim standing next to his beauty. CEO Potts was tall, with striking red hair, but on first glance appeared average looking. It was only if a person looked twice that they saw her penetrating, intelligent eyes. She was in every way a striking woman but standing next to the perfection that was the SIM Engineering CEO she tended to fade into the background. As did most people. CEO Little looked up from his conversation and frowned. “It’s about time! Oscar, what kept you?”
CEO Hunt smiled as he took his seat. “Well, George, as you know my schedule is full dealing with everything that’s going on. I got here as soon as I could, just as you did.” He turned to CEO Allen and frowned. “Sarah, I’ve heard some disturbing things about what you and your people have been up to. Why have you called us together?” He paused, taking the temperature of the room. “Well, aside from the obvious, I mean.”
CEO Allen nodded to CEO Hunt. “Thank you, Oscar. As you noted momentous things are happening, and they deserve a momentous response. But first, I’ve asked Director Avasarala of the Federation Intelligence Service to brief us.” She touched her communicator and behind her the door opened. She turned and gestured to the table to her left. “Director?”
The small, skinny Indian woman smoothly moved to the table and looked around at the most powerful people in the Solar System. If she was impressed she did a pretty good job of keeping it to herself. “Ladies and gentlemen, I don’t know how much you all know about the events of the last several days, so I will begin with the basic facts and work from there.” Looking around and seeing no dissent she continued. “On August 27th, at approximately 1400 hours standard time, the Foster Interstellar Explorations Survey Group jumped into the system we have designated as the New York system. The group consisted of a single 10,000 ton North Carolina class jump tender, the geological survey ship Armstrong, and two Farseer class gravitic survey ships.”
For a second Director Avasarala paused as she leaned over and typed something into the keyboard inset into the table in front of her. After a few seconds a holographic display of the New York system sprang into existence over their heads. The display showed a single yellow star in the center of the system, with orbital shells for seven planets stretching around the star. A hazy asteroid belt orbited between the second and third planets. Each was accompanied by small boxes with information relating to the system body. With the wave of a hand any of them could expand any of the boxes to view as much information as they desired. The third planet was a super-Jovian class planet, over a tenth the size of the system primary and orbited by four moons. Off to one side, not too far from the fifth planet, an orange dot blinked, representing the jump point leading to the Solar System. The jump point was 479 million kilometers from the primary, just outside of the orbit of the fifth planet.
Director Avasarala pointed at the jump point, and the display shifted, centering on the jump point, with the fifth planet far too one side but still visible. “The Foster Interstellar group appeared here, at the jump point. Following their standard procedure, the group waited on the jump point for one hour, to “get the lay of the land”, as CEO Foster told me. Once the hour was up the group separated, with the two gravitic survey ships headed out-system from the jump point, and the geological survey ship headed in towards the first planet to begin its survey. The group’s jump ship, the North Carolina, remained at the jump point in overwatch position. Approximately twenty-four hours later, the ships were in this position.” She punched a key and four blinking green dots appeared. One was on the jump point, two were out-system of the jump point, and the fourth was in-system. “At this point the Armstrong was nearly 250 million kilometers from the jump point.” Again, she punched a key, and a blinking red dot appeared close to the dot representing the Armstrong. “It was at this time that the Armstrong’s thermal sensors detected an alien ship approximately 3.5 million kilometers away and closing at a rapid rate. The Armstrong’s commander, Captain Morgan, ordered his ship to come to a halt, and sent a contact report to the North Carolina. Once that was done, Captain Morgan began trying to establish contact with the alien ship. Admiral Brennan, commander of the Foster Interstellar group, acknowledged the Armstrong’s report, and then ordered his command to activate its sensors, to ensure that no alien ships were sneaking up on the jump point. He also ordered the two gravitic survey ships to return to the jump point. Finally, with the area around the jump point clear, he ordered the North Carolina to return to the Solar System. Once here, he sent a contact report containing all of the information that they had gathered to the Foster Interstellar command center, then returned to New York.”
“Captain Morgan allowed the alien ship to close on his position for fourteen minutes, until the range had closed to approximately 200,000 kilometers. At that point the aliens had not responded to any of the Armstrong’s hails. In the hope that it would show the aliens that they did not want them to close any further Captain Morgan ordered his ship to retreat at full speed, which, unfortunately, was 800 kps less than the alien ship. The alien ship closed to nearly point-blank range, at which point it launched a salvo of four missiles at the Armstrong. The Armstrong had nothing in the way of defenses, and Captain Morgan ordered his crew to abandon ship after one of the missiles destroyed the Armstrong’s single engine. After receiving the Armstrong’s last message, the North Carolina jumped back to the Solar System and updated their first contact report. They then jumped back, to join with their gravitic survey ships before retreating from the system. Admiral Brennan stated that it was his intention to keep his sensors active, and that he planned to jump out at the first sign of an alien ship, and that he would order the gravitic survey ships to scatter before jumping.” She waved her hand and the display zoomed out to show the whole system. “That was the last communication we had from any of the Foster Interstellar ships. The gravitic survey ships should have rendezvoused with the North Carolina by mid-day on the 29th and they should have returned. If there was some delay the North Carolina would have jumped back into the Solar System to inform us, but she has not. At this point they are overdue and must be considered as lost. We know very little about the alien ship or its capabilities. The alien ship had a thermal signature that was larger than that of a North Carolina class jump ship, indicating that it was larger than that class, or at least that it had larger engines. The top speed of the alien ship was 3,910 kps, which was faster than anything we have but the latest version of the North Carolina class. The alien missiles were 37% as large as one of our planetary defense missiles, and the Armstrong’s thermal sensors were able to determine that their speed was 18,600 kps.” Director Avasarala stood back from the table. “Are there any questions?”
CEO Wright nodded. “What do you think happened to the North Carolina, director?”
Director Avasarala looked quickly at CEO Allen, who nodded. She then turned to the rest. “We can only speculate, as we have no hard information. However, it is the consensus of our analysts that the North Carolina was likely destroyed by missiles launched from beyond her sensor range. Her primary active sensors have a maximum range of 14.3 million kilometers. If the enemy launched from beyond that range her sensors would have provided no warning, until the missiles were close enough to appear on her passive sensors. At that point it would almost certainly be too late for her to jump out. The remaining gravitic survey ships may still be there, but we have no way of knowing and they cannot return without the North Carolina.”
The room was silent as they all digested that bit of analysis. Finally, CEO Allen nodded to her and the Director left the room as the assembled CEO’s looked at the holo display of the New York system. Once the Director had left CEO Allen turned back to her compatriots. “We have a problem, and we are ill equipped to deal with it.”
CEO Hunt frowned as he looked at the display. “They could be here, in our own system, already. We don’t have anything on the jump point that would warn us of whether they had jumped in or not, right?”
CEO Allen shook her head. “No, we don’t. And right now the only thing we have orbiting Earth is the three newly launched survey ships belonging to Interstellar Explorations. I’ve reached out to Ethan Reynolds myself.”
CEO Little barked out a laugh. “I bet Reynolds loved hearing from you!”
CEO Allen kept her face impassive. “CEO Reynolds was…less than enthusiastic about sending one of his brand-new ships to picket the jump point. Especially given how ill-suited they are for the job.”
Hunt’s gaze sharpened. “Did he come around?”
“Mr. Reynolds agreed to send one of his ships to picket the jump point until the next jump ship comes out of the yards. That jump ship belongs to Foster Interstellar, and CEO Foster has volunteered that ship to picket the jump point for as long as necessary.”
CEO Hunt settled back into his chair. “Foster volunteered, did he?”
“Yes, he did.” CEO Allen sighed and gestured for the display to turn off and for the lights to come up. “He also refers to the aliens as ‘those bastards’, but one of his people has been calling them the ‘Obscura’, which seems to have caught on. Probably inevitable, given how little we know about them. Let’s get down to the bottom line. We have no military to speak of. We have no armed spacecraft whatsoever, and if the aliens come here we can’t stop them unless they come close enough to Earth for our planetary defenses to engage them. And if their missiles out range ours then we are finished as we have no anti-missile defenses.” CEO’s Little and Hunt looked like they were going to interrupt but she kept speaking. “I know, I know. I’m not placing blame here, we all agreed on this course of action, but now things have changed. We are very fortunate that the majority of us agreed to fund continuing R&D to keep our military technology up to date. If we hadn’t we’d be in an even worse place than we are in now.” She hesitated, then plunged on. “Things are going to have to change, though. If we are going to survive then we must drastically expand the shipyards, and we’ll have to build an actual military force.”
The others looked at each other. Oscar looked like he had swallowed a lemon, while George Little had a pugnacious look on his face. Of course, that was his resting face, so that meant little. Potts and Wright both had admirable poker faces and showed nothing of what was going through their heads. Finally, Oscar spoke. “I don’t like it.” He paused and looked around. “I don’t think anyone here likes it. But no one can deny that we are under threat, and that we have to respond. We have to build a military force, something the world hasn’t seen, at least in large scale, in over fifty years. The question is, what form will our response take?”
CEO Potts leaned forward hesitantly, uncharacteristically for her. “Can we do what we’ve done with the ground forces? Keep them broken up into small, independent organizations that can watch each other and are individually easy to control? That would work, right?”
CEO’s Allen and Wright shook their heads. After a second, when Allen didn’t speak up, CEO Wright stood up. “That’s my first inclination, but no, I don’t think it will work. If we have too many small organizations there will be too much disorganization when we try to get them to work together, too much incompatibility.”
Oscar Hunt stood. CEO Allen frowned imperceptibly. Here it came. If there was going to be opposition it was going to be Hunt or Little. CEO Hunt stepped back from the table and swept his immaculately clad arm across the display of the New York system. “We don’t have time for this! The aliens, these Obscura if you insist, are there, and they could be coming here. We must prepare.” The others around the table were looking at him in near shock. Of all of them he was the most opposed to any change that he hadn’t initiated himself. “Oh, come off of it. I can see when a critical problem has arisen in one of my subsidiaries and this is about as critical as they come! We have to react to this effectively, and if building a military for the Federation is the best way forward, well, then, we’ll all just have to get on board. One thing, though. We can’t tell the people. If we do we risk a panic, or worse, the rise of nationalism and jingoism. Once those terrors are out of the bag we will lose control in short order.”
George Little was frowning. “You mean, keep this a secret? Can we?”
CEO Allen had recovered her balance after the shock of Hunt actually being reasonable. “Yes, I think we can. We’ve already announced that we were planning on building a patrol force now that we’ve been expanding into interstellar space. We’ll put this military expansion under that header and downplay it. After all, who really cares what goes on out past Earth’s atmosphere?”
They would discuss the details, but the Federation Militia was born then and there. Former CEO Foster would be offered command, and the military buildup would be hidden under the guise of the construction of a patrol force. They agreed to meet in a week, after they had had enough time to have their respective staffs begin working on the details of what would be needed to build a force to oppose the Obscura.
Federation CEO Allen was elated. Her measure to create a new military force had flown through the board without a hitch. Only later would it occur to her that it would be much harder to dismantle a military than to create it. The measure to keep the new aliens, and the new war, a secret passed as well. No one wanted this to get out.
Exactly one week later they met again in Detroit, the capital of the North American regional government. The city was home to 3.5 million people and was the home city of SIM Engineering. The meeting took place in SIM Engineering’s boardroom, which was much like Copernicus R&D’s boardroom. This time the five CEO’s entered the room together, and CEO Allen got right to business. “Oscar, can you brief us on any designs you and your company might have for military ships?”
CEO Hunt smiled as he stood up. He punched a key on the table in front of him and a sleek ship appeared over the table. “Several years ago, we developed a proto-type design for a patrol ship, named the Enterprise class. The ship was 11,200 tons and would have been armed with lasers as its primary weapons and had a gauss cannon turret for missile defense. We updated the design recently to include modern drives, shields, weapons, and sensors. I’ve spoken to my people and based on recent developments I’m sure we can update our designs again to make it an even more capable warship.”
George Little had a sour look on his face. “How long before we could put one of these into space, Oscar?”
CEO Hunt hesitated for a few seconds, then looked around at the rest of them. “Well, if we started immediately…”
Whatever CEO Hunt was going to say was lost when CEO Allen spoke over him. “We couldn’t put one of these into space until sometime in early to mid-2133.” CEO Hunt had a sour look on his face but said nothing. After a few seconds CEO Allen continued. “We only have three yards that could build something that big, and none of them are configured correctly to begin construction any time soon. I spoke with Mr. Cho yesterday. We are in an extraordinarily bad situation in terms of yard space. Both of the yards that are large enough to build the Enterprise class are in the middle of being enlarged. This is both good and bad. Obviously, we are going to need the increased yard space, but this also means that we cannot retool the yards to build the Enterprise class until the expansion is finished. We can discontinue the expansion, but that would be very expensive, and could lead to long term capacity problems. Fortunately, the work on one of the two yards will be complete in several months. The other yard expansion won’t be finished until April of next year.”
CEO Potts leaned forward. “You said there were three yards. What is the third?”
CEO Allen That would be United Hyundai #5. That yard is set aside for constructing our jump ships.”
CEO Little broke in. “What about those three newer yards we funded over the last couple of years?”
“None of them have enough capacity to build anything the size of the Enterprise. It is clear that if we are going to have any defense for the Solar System against these aliens that we are going to have to come up with a new approach.” She paused and took a breath. “I’d like you, Charlotte, and you, Oscar, to put your people together and come up with new ideas to get something into space that is able to face these aliens in a reasonable time frame.”
Oscar looked thoughtful, while Charlotte kept her face expressionless. After a second, she spoke. “We will need considerable R&D support. To achieve this, we are going to think outside of the box, move in ways we haven’t thought of. All of that means that we are going to have to develop new systems at a frightful pace.”
CEO Allen nodded. “I’ve already spoken to the heads of the other R&D groups. You’ll have whatever you need. Schedule a meeting with them as soon as is convenient. They will work with you.” CEO Allen continued. “We have no idea what we are up against here. I’ve gone over the data with Director Avasarala from beginning to end. We just don’t know that much. The fourth planet in the New York system has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere but was not considered a particularly good candidate for colonization based on the limited data we had. The planet is frigid, with an average surface temperature of -91 degrees. Aside from that it would have been nearly perfect, with a breathable atmosphere and gravity that is 92% that of Earth. It is certainly possible, maybe even likely, that these aliens originated there, which means that they may not have any idea about jump point travel. That would certainly be fortunate for us, as it would give us time to get up to speed. On the other hand, they may not have originated on the fourth planet, or even in that system, which would mean that they already know about jump point travel as there are no other planets in the system capable of supporting life as we know it. While that is bad, it might not be too bad. It might be that we have encountered a single exploration ship far from home. If so, then it might take them some time to respond. No matter what we are going to need every second we can get.” She stopped and looked around the room. Seeing nods from her fellow CEO’s she continued. “George, William, what do you have?”
The two looked at each other and after a second George nodded. William stood, tall and urbane, and his cultured, even tones made them all want to trust what he said. They were all aware of what he was doing, of course, they couldn’t have gotten to their level if they hadn’t seen it a million times, but it was like watching a master at work. William, when he was at his best, could get a hostile boardroom on his side in nothing flat. “George and I have been focusing on rationalizing our shipbuilding. We are working with Oscar and Charlotte to coordinate our plans, so that they can design ships that will fit in our yards, and so that we can expand the yards in a useful, logical manner.” He paused, frowning. “It’s going to be expensive, though. Frankly, the sums that Mr. Cho at Hanjin is throwing around are staggering. We are going to have to cut into our reserves. Perhaps drastically.”
All of the CEO’s looked interested, and perhaps a little alarmed. The Federation’s financial reserves had been built up painstakingly over decades. Still, it was an emergency, and, even better, they all knew that if the reserves were going to be spent, likely a lot of it was going to end up being spent on their companies, in one way or another. CEO Allen adjourned the meeting and they agreed to meet in two weeks to discuss matters at that point.
September 22, 2131
They had all reconvened in the Copernicus boardroom, and it was a somber group that looked out over the Moon. There had been no further encounters with the aliens, but it had now become clear to all that the Foster Interstellar group was lost. CEO Allen nodded to CEO’s Hunt and Potts to begin their presentation.
CEO Hunt stood up. “We have had our people working non-stop on this, and I feel that we’ve made some progress. First, we developed guidelines for our future armed ships based on the capabilities that the aliens have demonstrated. While we know very little, we do know that they employ missiles capable of speeds up to 18,600 kps, and that the one ship that we’ve seen was capable of moving at 3,910 kps. Therefore, any ships, weapons or defenses that we come up with will have to be capable of dealing with those capacities.” He made a gesture and a missile appeared over the boardroom’s central table. “This is a proto-type design for an anti-missile missile. It will be capable of a maximum speed of 21,000 kps and would be capable of intercepting the Obscura’s missiles. It wouldn’t have a very good chance of hitting the Obscura’s missiles, as they are every fast, but these are small and anything we design can probably mount a lot of launchers. Of course, this is a totally new weapons system so we are going to have design sensors capable of detecting the incoming missiles, targeting systems, and launchers. That’s a lot of R&D.”
CEO Potts nodded from her place at the table. “I’ve spoken with people at all of the relevant companies. We can get started on this almost immediately.”
CEO Allen nodded. “Very good. Oscar, why don’t you continue?”
“That will take care of defense, although we will be able to count on other defenses, such as CWIS and gauss cannons as well.” He paused and glanced at Charlotte Potts, who merely nodded. “This next item is still somewhat controversial. We had decided, as a matter of policy, to avoid deploying large numbers of missile systems in the past. As effective as these might be, they are also weapons of mass destruction and the temptation to use them in ways we might not approve of might be too much for some people. Therefore, we had researched more limited systems, such as the anti-ship torpedo system, which is essentially a very short-ranged missile. While potentially very destructive, it is also very short-ranged and thus would not be a threat to our planetary populations, as our PDC’s could wipe any ship mounting these out before it could close to firing range. Unfortunately, this torpedo system would likely not be very effective against the Obscura. It is too short ranged, and we must assume that their missiles have at least moderately long range, given the presumed destruction of the North Carolina. Therefore, we must be able to deploy weapons that can engage on a more or less equal footing with the Obscura, and our torpedoes will not be able to do so. For some time, we examined the concept of deploying planetary missiles on board our ships, but that had drawbacks. The standard torpedo launcher we designed for our ships is very large, around 800 tons, which means that any ship small enough to fit in the yards we have would not be able to mount more than a very few of them, and they have a very slow reload rate. After some experimentation we decided that a much smaller missile and launcher combo would serve our immediate needs.” He stopped and nodded at CEO Potts, who stood.
“While we will have to devote some R&D resources to get the new missiles and launchers to deployable status, we recognize that we need a better solution for the long term. In particular, we need a solution that will let us deploy useable combat units that are 1,000 tons or smaller, so that we can utilize the large number of smaller yards that we have or can build. To this end we are proposing a longer-term research effort aimed at reducing the size of missile launchers and standard energy weapons. While it appears that any reduction would be achieved with a concomitant increase in reload times, the advantages should be obvious, at least in terms of the capabilities of smaller combat units.”
CEO Allen looked at George Little, who was frowning in thought. “George, assuming that they are able to deliver a design for the new, smaller missile and its launchers, how long would it take for us to get something into space?”
“Well, Hanjin Yard #4 could begin rolling out medium sized units in a fairly short amount of time. Unfortunately, it only has one slipway, but it is new so it would require little in the way of retooling.”
CEO Hunt stepped forward. “Our design teams have been modeling some mid-sized warship designs. They won’t be tremendously capable, but if they are present in large enough numbers they might be able to do the job.”
CEO Little frowned. “Might?”
CEO Potts jumped in before Oscar Hunt could get worked up. “George, there is just so little that we know about the aliens. By necessity there are going to be a lot of unknowns, and a lot of guesstimates. We are just going to have to do the best we can.” Little settled back with a pugnacious look on his face.
Seeing that they were about to start going in circles, Sarah Allen stepped in. “Look, we are going to have to accept that anything we put into space now, or in the near future, is going to be a marginal warship at best. We just don’t have the experience, or technology, right now to do any better. This is what I propose. Oscar and Charlotte, and their teams, are putting together the best designs that they can. These designs will be limited to either off the shelf tech, or tech that can be developed in a matter of months. In addition, the designs will be limited by the size of the yards that we have available. We will begin building these ships, these compromise designs, as soon as possible. Once launched, we will be able to begin putting crews and commanders on the ships and they can begin getting practical experience. In the meantime, we will be working to expand our shipyards and research new technology that can be developed in the medium term. This new tech must be things that will increase the combat capabilities of our new ships, so that they can be refitted into designs that are capable of defeating the Obscura. Once the new ships are present in large enough numbers and have been refitted with the latest technology to make them into viable warships, then we can take the offensive to the Obscura. Until then we will have to stand on the defensive.”
There was some debate, but once again there seemed to be no other way forward. The contracts for the new military would be divided amongst the board members, enriching them all. In the meantime, the public would be kept ignorant of both the growth of a new military force in the Solar System and the existence of an alien enemy.
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August 28, 2131: The Battle of New York
September 1, 2131: The meeting of the CEO’s in the aftermath of the battle
September 6, 2131: The Federation CEO contracts with Interstellar Explorations for their planetary survey ship. IE is reluctant, but the CEO threatens to seize the ship, so in the end IE agrees. The new planetary survey ship is dispatched to picket the jump point to the New York system.
September 12, 2131: The first of the upgraded North Carolina class jump ships is launched from the orbital yards. This ship belongs to Foster Interstellar and is now their only ship. CEO Foster has agreed to put this ship to use as a picket for the jump point to New York system. Unlike the survey ship currently posted at the jump point, the new jump ship has active sensors. The ship sets out for the jump point shortly after launching.
November 29, 2131: With the Foster Interstellar jump ship on-station picketing the jump point to the New York system, Interstellar Explorations is given the go-ahead to begin conducting survey operations in the other unexplored systems. The IE squadron sets out for the San Francisco system on this date.
July 3, 2132: The Corporate Federation launches its first warship. There is no fanfare, as the Board has not announced the destruction of the Foster Interstellar Survey Group in New York, much less its decision to create a new military force. The new missile frigate is turned over to the Federation Militia, commanded by newly frocked Admiral Foster, and immediately dispatched on a training cruise.
April 12, 2132: New World’s, Inc., receives its first three terraforming ships from the orbital yards. While there are better targets for terraforming available, no one could match Copernicus R&D’s bid and as a result the terraformers are dispatched to the Moon immediately after launch.
December 20, 2132: Admiral Foster, CO of the Federation Militia, makes a formal proposal to the Federation Board for a mission into the New York system to recover any remaining Foster Interstellar personnel still alive. The Federation Militia consists of two 15,000 jump ships, equipped with defensive missiles, three 10,850 ton Enterprise class patrol ships armed with lasers and defensive gauss cannons, one 6,000 ton missile frigate, and two 2,250 ton missile boats. Admiral Foster has been pushing the board and the Federation CEO for some time to allow him to jump into New York to recover his lost personnel, but the board has been cautious, especially as until now they have only had unarmed jump ships available to escort the combat units into New York. That has changed now with the launch of the two 15,000 ton jump ships, but in spite of this the board and the CEO turn down his proposed plan. The Federation Militia is too new, to untried. They are unwilling to risk it in an attack without adequate support. In private Admiral Foster is enraged, as his personnel, if any are still alive, will run out of food and water sooner or later.
June 2, 2133: Interstellar Expeditions Planetary Survey Group #1 probes the sole jump point discovered in the San Francisco system. The IE group is led by the jump ship North Carolina II, which was launched shortly after the presumed destruction of the original ship of that name. The North Carolina II jumped alone, leaving the rest of its group on the San Francisco system. As the ship’s crew recovered it was treated to several surprises. The first was that the jump point on the far side was surrounded by a massive construction that was recognizable as a jump gate, albeit of alien design. The second surprise came as the ship’s computer began processing the data from the various sensors as they scanned the system. The new system has a G0-V star orbited by a terrestrial planet, a dwarf planet, and two gas giants, one of which is classified as a super-Jovian. There is also a small asteroid belt orbiting in between the inner planet and the system’s sun. The terrestrial planet has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and an average surface temperature of 23.6 degrees. Unfortunately, the atmosphere is thick, at 3.1 standard atmospheres, and there is too much oxygen for Earthlike life. In addition, the planet is completely covered by water, with numerous small islands dotting the surface. The surprise was that the ship’s sensors clearly showed a massive hulk orbiting the planet. Whatever it had been it was clearly non-functional now.
Between the jump gate of alien manufacture and the wreck, the commander of the survey group, Admiral Bevan, decides that discretion is the better part of valor and jumps out to rejoin the rest of the group. They immediately set their course for the Solar System.
June 19, 2133: The IE Planetary Survey Group returns to the Solar System from their probe of the Philadelphia system. The Federation Board is shocked to learn of evidence of potential hostiles in yet another system.
July 5, 2133: The IE Planetary Survey Group jumps out of the Washington system into a G3-IV orbited by four terrestrial planets and a dwarf planet. Astonishingly, three of the four terrestrial planets have oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres, while the fourth is Venus-like. One of the three is remarkably Earth-like, with atmosphere and gravity well within normal ranges for human-like life. The planet’s one drawback is its temperature – it is too hot with an average temp of 61.3 degrees. One of the other two has gravity that is far too heavy for humans, with the third is too cold, with an average temp of -132 degrees. Admiral Bevan dispatches one of his planetary survey ships to probe the habitable planets. The probe takes sixteen days, but in the end the Magellan confirms that all four planets are vacant and Admiral Bevan sends in the rest of the survey ships to begin the geo survey of the system.
October 3, 2133: The Interstellar Expeditions Grav Survey Group probes a newly discovered jump point in the Boston system. The new system is designated as the Honolulu system. The group discovers a K2-V primary with four planets, two terrestrials, a gas giant, and a dwarf planet. One of the terrestrial planets possesses an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, although it is far too cold for comfortable human habitation. Following IE’s standard procedure, a single survey ship is dispatched into the inner system to probe the habitable planet, while the remainder of the group waits at the jump point.
October 8, 2133, 22:28 hours: The passive EM sensors on the jump tender Madrid detect a ship 224 million kilometers away. After a short period of time the Madrid’s computers are able to determine that the alien ship’s s EM signature matches that of the Obscura, and that the new contact is moving at 3,911 kps, close to the speed observed by the Foster Interstellar ships in the Chicago system. Admiral Bevan, on board the Madrid, makes a difficult decision. He orders the Far Seer class survey ship Cabot, which had nearly reached its target in the inner system, to hide in orbit over the habitable planet while the rest of the group returns to the Solar System for help. Shortly after sending the message the Madrid and the other three Far Seer’s jump out. It will take them just over three days to reach the Solar System.
October 12, 2133: The Interstellar Expeditions Grav Survey group jumps back into the Solar System and immediately sends messages to not only IE’s HQ, but also to the Federation’s new Militia Command Center. It took almost five hours for the message to reach Earth, but when it arrived everything changed. Militia HQ immediately recalled the squadron drilling in the inner system. All ships were fueled and loaded with the latest missiles in the Earth’s stockpiles.
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October 13, 2133, Copernicus R&D, Luna
“Send CEO Foster in.”
The five CEO’s that ran the Federation settled back into their chairs, their faces studiously neutral. CEO Foster entered the room. He was wearing a dark blue outfit suspiciously close in design to the ‘uniforms’ that the old militaries used to flaunt. They stirred uncomfortably. They had heard rumors of Foster resurrecting the old militaries ways, and they didn’t like it. As long as there were enemy aliens at their door they’d put up with it, but Foster’s time was limited. Whether he knew it or not.
CEO Allen took the lead, as usual. “CEO Foster, you have a proposal for us?”
Foster, a tall, rugged, spare man known to be parsimonious with his words, nodded. “I want to send the fleet to Honolulu. We owe it to the survey ship in the inner system there.”
CEO Allen looked at the other CEO’s flanking her, then back at Foster. “We’ve denied your requests to send the fleet into the New York system. The fleet isn’t ready. Too many ships are in refit, and we’re just finishing the final weapons and defense designs for the fleet. Why do you think the situation in Honolulu is different?”
CEO Foster looked down at his notes for a second, gathering his thoughts. Then he looked at the five people arrayed before him. These were the most powerful people in the Solar system. But all he saw were five deeply scared children, desperately grasping resources to themselves for no better reason than petty greed. They had authorized the creation of a military force for the Federation, in secret, out of fear of alien invasion, but then had constantly hampered his attempts to make his ships into an effective combat force. He took a deep breath. “This isn’t just a rescue mission. I believe that this mission will have several benefits to our overall plan. Unlike the situation in the New York system, we have an emergent situation in the Honolulu system. The Obscura haven’t had time to fortify the Honolulu system, as they have New York. If we respond quickly we can rescue our stranded explorer and get some precious combat experience for our fleet.” He leaned forward and looked the other CEO’s in the eyes. “You’ve allowed me to recruit some of the best, but none of them really know what they are doing. None of them have any experience. This will get them experience, hopefully in a relatively low-risk situation.” Oscar Hunt, next to CEO Allen, looked like he was going to speak, but Foster continued before he could. “My people need experience. In a real situation. Not simulations. Not safe training situations where they know they’ll be okay. The more experience we have before we go into the New York system, the better off we’ll be.” He stood back and looked at the five CEO’s expectantly.
CEO Allen, Chairperson of the Board, looked at her fellow directors. CEO’s Little and Potts clearly didn’t care and would leave the decision in her hands. They had made that clear before the meeting. CEO Wright was in favor and nodded at her now. That left Hunt. He was frowning, clearly unsure. Finally, he spoke. “Admiral. That’s what they call you now, isn’t it? A little archaic, don’t you think?”
They had all heard the rumors. Hunt just wanted to make Foster uneasy. Foster merely looked at CEO Hunt, waiting. After a few seconds Hunt flushed. “If we agree to this, how much of the fleet are you sending?”
Foster cocked his head to the side, quizzically. “All of it, of course.”
Hunt stood and slammed his hand on the desk in front of him. “Unacceptable! You would send the entire fleet two jumps from the Earth? While the Obscura are next door?”
CEO Foster watched Hunt yell, thinking furiously. He knew the Board thought their PDC’s were sufficient to defend Earth, so it couldn’t be that they wanted his ships for defense. He had known that they would oppose sending the entire fleet, and that he wouldn’t be able to override them. As he watched Hunt he realized that while there were good arguments against sending the entire fleet, Hunt, and presumably the rest of them, just didn’t want that much of the fleet out of their sight, and control. Seeing that Hunt had run down, he stiffened. “Sir, anticipating your objections, I have prepared an alternate plan. I’d like to send the two jump cruisers, the patrol cruisers, and the missile frigates to the Honolulu system. Those units are slated to be our offensive force anyway, and it would leave the missile boats here for system defense.”
CEO Allen looked at CEO Hunt. Seeing that he had run out of objections she nodded. “Approved. Except the jump cruisers. You can have one, the other stays here. We can’t risk both on this mission.”
Foster took a step forward. “But ma’am, that’s…” He stopped and swallowed. “Ma’am, that leaves the force just one jump ship. If something happens to that ship in Honolulu then they won’t be able to get back. They need both ships.”
CEO Allen shook her head. “You’ve got one, that’s it. This matter is closed.”
CEO Foster nodded and left the room. The strike force left shortly after. It’s ETA to the Honolulu system was sixteen days.
Strike Force Honolulu:
Strike Force Executive: Ship CEO Buckley (Enterprise)
1xTennesse Class Jump Cruiser (Bihar)
6xEnterprise r2 Class Patrol Cruisers (Assistance, Enterprise, Intrepid, Leviathan, Swiftsure, and Victory)
4xBrooklyn Class Missile Frigates (Brooklyn, Cairo, Shanghai, and Tokyo)
October 29, 2133, 5:39 hours:
Ship CEO Rachel Buckley, standing on the bridge of the Patrol Cruiser Enterprise, took a deep breath. This was it. The main plot in the center of the bridge showed a graphic representing the jump point with her ship off center and to the side. Next to her cruiser was her sister ship, the Assistance. They both flanked the larger Bihar, the jump ship which would convey them to the Honolulu system.
Ship CEO Buckley shook her head to clear the haze that seemed to have settled down on her as they had approached the jump point. She had to keep telling herself that this was real. That she commanded a real warship and was really going to jump into a hostile star system. In fact, she not only commanded a real warship, but she was the senior officer in the squadron! She was in command of the entire group! She shook her head. Only ten months ago she was ‘commanding’ a Long Haul class freighter and the worst thing she had had to worry about was docking and loading/unloading schedules at the various ports she visited. She wasn’t cut out for this military stuff. As that thought wandered through her mind she looked around at her officers and realized that they were all in the same boat. None of them were military, really, they had all been serving on a freighter or colonization ship until just recently.
“Ma’am?” When she didn’t respond the communications officer said again, “Ma’am? The Bihar is standing by.”
Ship CEO Buckley shook her head again, then looked at her communications officer. “What? Oh, the Bihar. Right.” She stopped for a second. This was it. When she gave the order, they would be jumping into a hostile system. Still, she thought, most likely the Obscura had cleared out after encountering their survey ships. It will be okay, she thought. Briefly she thought about giving a rousing speech to her crew, but she dismissed that thought almost immediately. She was pretty sure that in her current state the crew would all think she was a blithering idiot in short order. “All right. Communications, confirm that everyone has their shields up and sensors active. Once confirmations are received, we will jump.” She hesitated for a second, then, “Oh, and order the rest of the fleet to remain on guard here until the Bihar returns to ferry them through the jump point. Please tell them to avoid shooting the Bihar when she comes back.”
“Yes ma’am. The Bihar and the Assistance confirm that they are at general quarters and ready to jump.”
“Very well, order the Bihar to take us through.”
On the plot the icon for the Bihar began moving forward, followed closely by the Enterprise and the Assistance. On the bridge’s main view screen, the jump point, normally invisible, flared briefly with inconceivable energies. It seemed like it reached out to them as they raced into it and vanished from the Boston system.
Ship CEO Buckley’s senses reeled as, just for a nearly imperceptible fragment of time her mind and body were subjected to a universe that they were never meant to inhabit and then they cleared the jump. She looked around the bridge blearily, desperately trying to make sense of the crazily flashing lights and apparently random sounds emitted by computers and consoles that were just as confused as she was, if not more. Finally, things seemed to come into focus and she got herself under control. “Helm, move us away from the jump point. Communications, get status reports from the other ships.”
“Yes ma’am, I…” Whatever she was going to say was lost when alarms began blaring.
“What’s going on?” Ship CEO Buckley looked around wildly, trying to figure out what had triggered the alarm. Her eyes settled on the plot, which had just updated to show a trio of red icons sitting almost on top of the jump point. Just as her mind began to work through that the sensor officer’s voice called out.
“Multiple contacts close aboard! Three contacts on passive sensors 8,000 kilometers away, bearing 189 relative.”
Ship CEO Buckley stared at the plot blankly. She really hadn’t thought that they Obscura would be sitting on the jump point.
“Orders ma’am?”
Buckley stared blankly at the plot. She couldn’t think! What could they do? What should she do? Her instincts were screaming to run as fast as they could, but that couldn’t be right, could it?
“Ma’am, the Bihar and the Assistance are requesting orders?”
Ship CEO Buckley took a deep breath and tried to center herself. “I guess…” She trailed off and looked around the bridge. The officers were all looking at her, and most looked as panicked as she felt. She realized that they were all looking at her to make this right. She straightened. “We’ll fight. Tell the Bihar and the Assistance to get their weapons and defenses on line and to engage the enemy closely!”
The three Obscura ships immediately begin moving away from the Federation ships. Fifteen seconds later the Enterprise shuddered as a missile salvo slammed into her shields. Ship CEO Buckley gaped as the ship bucked under her feet. Gasps sounded on the bridge as the crew realized they were under fire. Finally, the shaking stopped. Ship CEO Buckley turned to her damage control officer. “What’s…” She realized that her voice was pitched way too high and started over. “What’s our status?”
The crewman turned from his console. “Ma’am, our shields are down. Sixteen missiles hit us, and one strength six missile impacted to our armor, but there are no penetrations.”
Fear began creeping into her mind. She turned to the officer in charge of the ships sensors. “Louis, get those sensors up! We need to see! Get me my weapons and engines!”
“I’ve got them up!” The sensor officer turned in triumph as the plot table began updating with information from the active sensors. The plot table showed that the three Obscura ships, now moving away from the jump point, were each 9000 tons and moving away at 3,911 kps.
Fifteen seconds after the first salvo hit the Enterprise the Bihar reported that it had been hit by nine missiles, reducing her shield strength to 37%. Ship CEO Buckley paled as she realized that the only ship that could get them out of the system, or get reinforcements into the system, was under threat. As she grappled with that realization, the communications officer shouted from her station.
“Ma’am, the Bihar reports another missile salvo inbound. Twenty-nine missiles incoming, and she is launching anti-missiles.”
Ship CEO Buckley sank back in her chair as a distant high-pitched whining signaled that their gauss cannon turret had just gone into action. The crewman in charge of coordinating the ship’s defenses turned to the Ship CEO. “Ma’am, the Bihar’s anti-missiles got four of the incoming missiles, and the gauss cannon turrets got another four. Seven missiles hit the Bihar.”
“Ma’am, the Bihar is reporting that their shields are down. No penetrations on their armor.”
That was enough for Buckley. Two of their three ships had lost their shields, the enemy was out of range of their lasers, and she hadn’t even been able to get her ships moving yet. “Signal the Bihar and the Assistance. The Bihar she is to escort the Enterprise and the Assistance back through the jump point as soon as possible. We will take up a defensive stance on the far side.” She tried to project confidence but knew that she was failing miserably.
“The Assistance confirms her orders. No confirmation from the Bihar. There seems to be some...confusion over there.”
“Well, keep after them until they confirm my orders!”
“Twenty-nine missiles inbound. The Bihar is launching against the incoming salvo.” Once again, the patrol cruiser’s gauss cannon turrets spat their pellets at the incoming missiles, trying vainly to intercept the inbounds before they could hit the Federation ships. This time the Federation AMM’s knocked out five of the Obscura missiles and the gauss cannons knocked out another four. The Bihar was hit by ten missiles, knocking out her vestigial shields and savaging her armor. Nothing penetrated her thick armor, though.
Ship CEO Buckley leaned forward in her chair, silently urging her squadron to begin moving towards the jump point. On all three ships the officers and engineers struggled to respond to confusing commands from the bridge and get their jump-addled ships moving.
Yet another missile salvo raced in as the Bihar and her two consorts maneuvered towards the jump point. Antimissiles took a toll on the incoming salvo, as did the cruiser’s gauss turrets, but as before they couldn’t stop the Obscura missiles. Ten missiles got through the Federation defenses and this time the Bihar’s armor was penetrated, however, no real damage was done. The ship’s luck couldn’t last, though.
Because of the opening range the Bihar was able to get two sets of AMM’s off against the next salvo, killing eight of the Obscura missiles. The two patrol cruisers switched their big lasers over to point defense mode, but their tracking systems couldn’t handle the missile’s speed and they got no hits. On the other hand, their gauss cannons were getting the measure of the Obscura missiles and took out six of the small targets. Only six missiles hit the big jump ship, but this time they got through the ship’s armor. An antimissile missile launcher was destroyed and the ships engines and jump engine took minor damage. Immediately after the explosions cleared the Bihar jumped out with its two escorts close behind.
Ship CEO Buckley wasted no time on the far side of the jump point. She immediately ordered the entire squadron to bracket the jump point and engage anything that followed them.
After waiting for several hours, with no sign of the Obscura coming through the jump point, Ship CEO Buckley decides to return to the Solar System to repair and regroup.
Aftermath:
While CEO Foster came under some criticism for the defeat, his position had been from the first that the Federation fleet was inexperienced and unready. The events at the jump point in the Honolulu system merely confirmed what he had been saying. The Federation fleet would not only need better technology to defeat the Obscura, but better officers and more experience. After much debate the Board agreed. CEO Foster would be given access to more officers for his fleet, and would be allowed, finally, to institute a formal rank system, much that of the old militaries. The Board was beginning to realize that solving this problem wouldn’t just be a matter of throwing some money at it.
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October 29, 2133: Battle at the Honolulu jump point.
November 2, 2133: The Fleet returns to the Solar System. The Board is shaken by the news of the retreat, but after some debate endorses Captain Buckley’s decision to retreat from the Honolulu system and return to the Solar System. Planning is begun immediately to deal with the weakness in jump point assault capabilities reveal by the abortive attack.
In light of the fact that the Obscura have been positively identified in two different systems, and a possible threat has been found in a third, the Board orders a halt to all further exploration until escorts can be built for the survey groups. The survey groups are hideously vulnerable, and too many survey ships have been lost to continue as they have in the past.
November 30, 2133: The Mars, the first of the Planet class battlecruisers, is launched. It immediately returns to the yards to be refitted with the latest technology.
January 8, 2134: All three construction ships belonging to Deloit Space Construction Conglomerate set out for the Washington system through the newly built jump gate on the Solar System side of the jump point. The ships will begin construction of gates on the Washington side of the jump point to Sol, and at the jump points to the Denver and Seattle systems. CEO Foster warns, yet again, about the dangers of building what are essentially highways directly into the heart of their civilization, but the Board shuts him down, and when he continues to protest what he calls “dangerous and reckless expansion”, they reprimand him and warn him that continuing will cost him his position. The Board is squarely behind this expansion, and the board members and their companies are all positioned to take a dominant position in the colonization and resource exploitation efforts in Denver and Seattle.
April 17, 2134: At 07:47 hours sensors began alerting across the Solar System as an unscheduled jump flare occurred at the jump point to the Washington system. This set off alarm bells throughout the upper reaches of the Federation’s government and military. Eighty-seven days ago, three construction ships had jumped into the Washington system to begin construction on jump gates on three of the system’s jump points, including the jump point back to the Solar System. None of the construction ships had jump capability, and there was no way they could have finished the gate yet, so it couldn’t be the construction ships returning, and the Federation had no other ships in the Washington system. The Washington system and all three systems beyond it had been surveyed and contained no life, so whatever had jumped into the Solar System had come from beyond those systems. Federation Militia HQ immediately sent recall orders to the Militia group in the inner system on training exercises, and orders to prepare to move out were sent to the second Militia group in orbit over Earth. Twenty-five minutes later planetary sensors picked up the contact. The contact was strength 304, which was approximately two thirds that of a Federation missile frigate. This indicated either that the new contact was small, or that it had reduced-emissions engines. At this point Militia HQ ordered Militia Group #1 to intercept the contact while the 2nd Group returned to Earth.
Within five minutes the planetary sensors determined that the new contact was moving at 3533 kps, and that its signature didn’t match that of the Obscura.
The Federation Board puts together a team of officers, along with intelligence, computer, and linguistic experts to attempt to establish contact with this new race. Shortly after entering the system the contact begins moving out-system, away from the Federation ships pursuing it. The main Federation group, composed of the jump ship Bihar, the patrol cruisers Swiftsure and Victory, and the missile frigates Cairo and Tokyo, is over 600 kps faster, but the alien ship has a significant lead. If it continues on its current course it will take the Federation ships just over nine days to close to point blank range.
April 22, 2134: At 10:57 hours the alien ship came to a halt in deep space, nearly two billion kilometers from the Sun. The lead group of Federation ships had closed to 210 million kilometers, trailed by a group of missile boats and a lone scout that was barely faster than the alien ship. The alien contact crew, which had had some success by that point, theorized that the alien ship was a gravitic survey craft, and that that was why it had headed out-system and then suddenly stopped.
At 23:57 hours the lead Federation group reaches active sensor range of the alien ship and is able to determine that it is an estimated 4,300 tons. On April 23, at 02:587 hours, the leading Federation group reaches its stand-off range and comes to a halt. Given the communications team’s promising progress so far, the Federation Board has ordered that the group merely shadow the alien.
May 12, 2134: Full contact is established with the aliens, who call themselves the Dregluk Imperium. The Dregluk agree to further peaceful contact. The Federation Board orders the fleet to return to Earth to continue refitting for the planned assault on the Obscura. By this time there are multiple Dregluk survey ships in the Solar system.
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May 12, 2134
The Board had been meeting regularly ever since the aliens had entered the solar system. Their initial fear of an invasion from the new aliens had faded quickly when it became clear that the aliens were willing to talk. And now they had the keys to untold wealth in their hands.
CEO Allen nodded at the officer on the display in front of her. “Very well, we will record a message. What is the time delay?”
“Ma’am, the transmission delay is approximately 25 minutes, each way.”
“Very well. We will have the message ready for translation in a few minutes. Send it as soon as you translate it into their language.” She glanced at her colleagues, then back at the viewer. “This will be classified at the highest level. The contents of any communication between the board and the Dregluk will be considered privileged information and is not to be revealed to anyone without the Board’s permission. Understood?”
Colonel Sinclair, the senior member of the diplomatic and translation team, stood to attention. “Understood, ma’am.” The colonel hesitated, then said, “Ma’am, the team asked me to make sure you understood the ramifications of our breakthrough.” He waited until she gestured for him to continue. “Unfortunately, the term “full communications” is very deceptive. The translation programs developed by our team are capable of translating what the Dregluk say, but divining their intent is more a matter of finesse than anything else. We understand very little about the Dregluk at this point. We just wanted to make that clear.”
CEO Allen nodded. “We understand. Thank you.” With that she broke the connection. She was sure that Colonel Sinclair would obey her. Just as she was sure that that last bit was just the team covering their butts if there was a misunderstanding over the translations. Sinclair had been drawn from her own corporate militia and was personally loyal to her. He would do what she told him to do. She turned to the other CEO’s. “Well, you heard his report. The team is confident that the last few difficulties impeding clear communication with the Dregluk have been cleared away. What are we going to say to them?”
George Little, CEO of K&T Space Construction, shook his head. “We need to tell them to get out of our system, first! Those ships flitting around the outer system are driving my people nuts. They are all afraid of alien monsters boarding their rigs and eating them. And I can’t say as I blame them, given how the Dregluk look.” The Dregluk were hideous to human eyes. They were tall and heavily muscled, with a long skinny ‘head’ split by a very large tooth-lined mouth. The mouth was so large, and the head so skinny that the contact team speculated that the Dregluk’s brain must be housed elsewhere in its body. The Dregluk possessed two large horns that sprouted from their head, and no visible eyes or other sensory organs. Their appearance was very off-putting to everyone who had to deal with them in any way.
The short CEO shuddered, then looked around. “United Hyundai and Hanjin Heavy agree with me. I’ve had both their CEO’s on the line in the last two days reading me the riot act for allowing aliens into this system where they can get at their yards! We depend on those yards and they are hideously vulnerable.”
CEO Wright stood and walked to the refreshments set aside for their meeting. “Now George, really, the yards are all under the guns of our planetary defenses. They have nothing to worry about. Especially now that the Dregluk are talking.”
Little shook his head again. “I’ve told them that, and they don’t care. No one knows what kind of tech the aliens have, and they are worried. And when they worry, so should we!”
CEO Potts, head of Copernicus R&D, jumped in. “That’s just it George! Think of the technology they must have! Why, even if they aren’t ahead of us in general there must be thousands of things that they’ve thought of that we haven’t. Millions of things that they do better, or worse, than we do. Think of the trade possibilities!”
CEO Allen saw the speculative looks on the faces of her fellow CEO’s and knew it was time to strike. “The possibilities for trade are tremendous. George, next time Cho from Hyundai or Pembroke from Hanjin call you, try dangling the prospect of acquiring advanced construction techniques from the Dregluk in front of them.” She looked around the table and saw the looks on their faces. They weren’t hooked yet, but they could taste the bait. “Think about this. We control contact with the Dregluk, and that’s not going to change. Control of communications will equal control of the trade. Every deal we make with the Dregluk will flow through our companies. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you of the wealth that will mean?”
That did it. Their seats on the Board already meant they had access to the best contracts, and they all leveraged their position to be included in the best jobs out there. As long as they weren’t too overbearing the other corporate heads would put up with it. The potential of a new trade deal with the Dregluk, though, was something completely different. This could mean untold wealth and power for them, if they handled it right, and they all knew it. It took very little debate to determine the nature of the message to the Dregluk. The important points were as follows:
1. The leaders of the Dregluk Imperium were invited to a meeting in the Washington system at a time and date convenient for them, to discuss trade opportunities and areas of control;
2. Until the time of the meeting the Board requested that the Dregluk remove their survey ships from the Solar System, and that the Dregluk would refrain from sending any other ships into the Solar System;
3. Until spheres of influence were formally determined at the meeting to be held in the Washington system, the Washington system and all connected systems, excluding the Solar System, would be considered open to both races.
One hour after sending the message a response was received from innermost Dregluk survey ship. The Dregluk response was somewhat cryptic: “We survey. Others will discuss possible transfers of goods and knowledge after meeting and agreement.”
No matter how the Board tried to convince the Dregluk to leave they apparently could not understand the request and merely continued their survey. When the Board asked the Dregluk when the ‘others’ would arrive, they were told: “Those who decide will arrive soon”. The contact team warned the Board that their translations were approximate, and open to some interpretation. For instance, the portion of the message “discuss possible transfers of goods and knowledge after meeting and agreement” was translated in several different ways by the software. The translation given to the Board was considered by far the most likely interpretation by the software and the team, but there were other interpretations, some of which were quite ominous. After some debate the Board decided to await “those who decide”.
Commander Sarah Norman, second in command of the contact team, was very concerned by this development. She had warned Colonel Sinclair, the CO of the team, that the Dregluk were being evasive. In addition, she believed that the more ominous interpretations of the last message were more likely than the computers were rating them. Colonel Sinclair refused to pass her concerns on to the Board without actual evidence to back them up. Commander Norman, a former employee of Foster Interstellar, took her concerns to Admiral Foster as soon as she could. She had faith in Admiral Foster, and she felt that if he knew what was going on behind the scenes, he would do what was right.
Just over a month later, on June 20th, five Dregluk ships jumped into the Solar System from the Washington system. Three of the ships had thermal signatures more than twice that of the Mars, which at 15,150 tons was the Federation’s largest warship. Admiral Foster contacted the Board immediately, to request permission to consolidate his forces and sortie against the intrusion, but he was told that he could increase the readiness of his forces, but that he could not sortie his fleet. In addition, the Board refused to allow him to recall the group of warships in the inner system on training exercises. Admiral Foster protested, but the Board explained that the Dregluk were here on a trade mission, and that if they were hostile the planetary defenses of Earth would be more than sufficient to deal with them.
Shortly after that an unarmed exploration ship was dispatched to meet the Dregluk with a delegation of negotiators. The exploration ship met the Dregluk squadron ten hours later, but the Dregluk would only respond with platitudes and, when asked to stop, refused to answer or stop. At this point Admiral Foster again asked for permission to consolidate his forces, but again the Board denied permission. Shortly after that four small Dregluk ships jumped in from the Washington System and moved out-system, likely to continue the jump point survey. Admiral Foster watched all of this with increasing concern. By this point active sensors had been able to determine that the three larger Dregluk ships were 28,650 tons, while the two smaller Dregluk ships were 19,100 tons and 9,550 tons. That meant that they out-massed the armed Federation ships in orbit over the Earth by about four times. Admiral Foster felt a sinking feeling that only got worse as the Dregluk continued to approach, and the Board continued to ignore or brush off his warnings.
On June 20th, at just after 1:30 in the morning, the Dregluk had closed to within a million kilometers of the Earth without transmitting anything substantive or responding to requests or orders in any way.
In a command center, outside of Detroit, North America…
“Colonel Sinclair, have they said anything else?” CEO Allen was trying to hide the concern that was growing within her, but she feared she wasn’t controlling her emotions as well as she should be.
The Colonel on the view screen grimaced. “No, ma’am. They just keep responding with ‘Those who decide are here’.”
“Well get something else out of them. And tell them to stop outside the orbit of the Moon! Again!”
“Yes ma’am.”
CEO Allen turned away from the screen and looked at her fellow CEO’s. “For heaven’s sake, what do they think they are doing?”
Oscar Hunt, suave and urbane manner slipping, shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe…maybe we should have listened to Admiral Foster?”
George Little stirred in his chair. “Those are some pretty big ships out there.”
CEO Allen opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything the screen in front of her chimed and one of the Board’s executive assistants appeared. “Ma’am, Admiral Foster is calling.”
CEO Allen looked at her fellow CEO’s. They were worried, and they clearly wanted the Admiral to solve this problem. “Yes, Admiral?”
Admiral Foster was in another command center far removed from the Board’s, and behind him she could see aides and officers all in frenetic activity. “Ma’am, the aliens have broken the million-kilometer line and are continuing to close.”
CEO Allen felt fear coil within her. “Admiral, they have ignored multiple commands to stop. I want you and you fleet to stop them. Now.”
Admiral Foster shook his head, his face grave. “Ma’am, the time for that has passed. They are too close to Earth now. Any mistake, any misstep, and they could strike at the Earth before we stop them. That’s why I wanted to meet them out there, away from our home planet.” He stopped and looked across the room at the large plot table showing the approaching alien ships. “They haven’t done anything hostile yet, aside from not stopping, and they may not consider something like that a problem in their culture. I suggest we wait and see what they do next. My ships are all at general quarters and squared away for battle, and I assume your PDC’s are too. If they do something clearly hostile then my fleet will lead the battle against them, but until then I recommend we wait. As far as they are concerned we invited them to talk. Attacking them might be considered the basest betrayal.”
CEO Allen shut down the comm line without any further words. “Foster won’t do anything. What now?”
In the command center Admiral Foster stared at the monitor in disbelief. The Board had ignored the warnings of its own diplomatic team about the possible alternate meanings of the Dregluk messages. Fortunately, Commander Norman had alerted him to the other possible translations. One of the alternates implied that ‘those who decide’ were coming to decide whether humanity would be incorporated into the Dregluk Imperium! He had been against letting the Dregluk into the system in the first place, but now that they were so close to Earth they had to be careful. Very careful. He turned from the monitor towards the plot table in the center of the room. The five icons representing the Dregluk ships were light blue and headed steadily towards the Earth in the center of the plot. Turning, he punched the key that connected him with Captain Law, the commander of the Federation warships in orbit.
Within seconds the monitor showed the jump ship Bihar’s bridge, with Captain Law looking into the pickup. “Yes Admiral?”
“Alex, the Board is getting nervous. Be prepared, but do not fire first without my orders. Understood? You are authorized to return fire immediately should the Dregluk fire first.”
“Understood, Admiral. We’ll be ready, no matter what.”
Admiral Foster felt like pounding his head against the wall in front of him. The Board had invited the Dregluk here, and now they were panicking. This situation was going to go from bad to worse, he just knew it.
In the Board’s command center outside of Detroit, the Board was working assiduously on making things worse. “What the hell do the Dregluk think they are doing?” CEO Little gestured at the plot table. The Dregluk ships were now inside of the orbit of the Moon and were…doing something. They’d move forward, stop, and then move away from the Earth. Then they’d move in circles for a while. It was almost like a dance. “That’d just be weird if it was happening at the jump point, but they are way too close to us! We have to do something!”
CEO Allen could feel her control of the situation slipping away as the panic built within her. She looked at the others and saw the same panic on their faces. All except Charlotte Potts, who looked nearly as serene as she always looked. “Charlotte, what do you think?”
“I think we have no choice at this point. The Dregluk have demonstrated that we cannot productively deal with them. That option is gone.”
CEO Allen felt the floor drop away under her feet. “But…but war? How can we…” Her voice trailed off as the immensity of it all fell on her shoulders.
CEO Potts shrugged. “Think about what a war will mean. Think about the power that will accrue to those who lead the Federation through that conflict. A conflict not only with the Obscura but with the Dregluk as well. The other corporations won’t just rely on us, they will need us, desperately.”
CEO Wright jumped to his feet. “Yes! We can make this work! The public doesn’t need to know anything about this, but the other corporations will, and they will recognize the terrible situation we are in! They will give us anything we say we need, and we will need everything there is to meet this threat. The buildup to defeat the Dregluk and the Obscura will ensure our positions for the rest of time. We will be the most powerful people, the most powerful corporations, in history.”
The others were looking at Wright with hope in their eyes for the first time since the Dregluk jumped into the system. CEO Allen stood. “Very well. We all agree?” They all signaled their assent and CEO Allen stabbed the comm button. In seconds the screen cleared to show a trim woman in Federation Earth Defense Force greens standing in her PDC’s command center. “Defense Commander Russell, this is Federation CEO Allen. Do you recognize me?”
“Yes, ma’am, I do.”
“I hereby authorize you to destroy all Dregluk ships in close proximity to the Earth. The Board has agreed on this action.” One by one the Board members stood and agreed.
Commander Russell began to turn away, then hesitated. “Ma’am, you understand, the Dregluk are too close to Earth. I cannot guarantee that we can destroy them before they can get a response off.”
“We understand, Russell. You have your orders.”
“Yes ma’am.” She snapped off a salute and turned away.
Admiral Foster was standing over his plot table when a technician handling sensor inputs to the command center began frantically pointing at one of the sensor displays on the center’s wall. “Sir, the PDC’s are preparing to fire!”
“What!” The exclamation was torn from him as he turned to the display. Sure enough, the signals were clear. The PDC’s had acquired their targets and were preparing to fire. “Comm’s, route this through the Dregluk translation routine. ‘To all Dregluk ships! You are to leave Earth space immediately! Withdraw to fifty million kilometers from Earth and await contact. Do it now!’”
“On the chip and sending!” A few tense seconds passed as they watched the Dregluk ships do their baffling dance in between the Earth and the Moon, then the tech paled. “Sir, we have a response. It reads – Those who decide have arrived.”
Admiral Foster looked at the communications officer blankly. “That’s it? That’s all? For the love of god, they have to withdraw. We have to…” His voice trailed off as the four Federation Board class PDC’s on Earth began launching massive Bludgeon anti-ship missiles at the Dregluk ships. Foster was shocked for a few crucial seconds, but then turned to his comm officer. Whatever he was going to say was lost when the comm officer bent over his console, listening to something. Foster held off until the comm officer turned to him.
“Sir, the Board of Directors is on the line. They say…” The junior officer looked pasty and greenish. “They say that you are to surrender yourself to Federation Marshals that are on their way. You have been removed from command.”
Admiral Foster looked around the command center in shock. The Board was insane. They had just provoked a war with an alien race of unknown strength and then, just to put the cherry on the cake, removed the head of their mobile forces at the same instant that those forces were needed to engage an enemy within firing range of Earth. For a few seconds he actually considered ignoring the order from the Board, but as he looked around the command center he realized that the confusion he would cause would be worse than whatever actions the Board had taken. He bowed his head for a second, then looked at his subordinates. “Captain Law is in command of the orbital forces. Do your best to support him and coordinate between the orbital forces and the PDC’s in my absence.” His toneless voice firmed up. “Remember, we serve the people of the Federation! We are all that stands between them and the Obscura, and now the Dregluk! Do your jobs!” With that he turned and walked out, returning to his office. The marshals would be there soon.
Even as Admiral Foster gave his people a pep talk, CEO Allen was in communication with Captain Alex Law, CO of the Bihar and senior officer in orbit. “Captain Law, Admiral Foster has been removed as Admiral. You are in command now. You will engage the Dregluk along with the PDC’s and end the threat to Earth! Do you understand?”
Captain Law looked at CEO Allen with confusion. “You relieved Admiral Foster. But…”
CEO Allen broke in before he could finish. “That doesn’t matter now, Captain Law! Engage the enemy!”
Captain Law had a dozen questions, but this wasn’t the time. “Yes ma’am. Orders understood!” CEO Allen broke the connection and Captain Law turned to his command team. The orbital units were at alert stations, of course, but no one had expected the battle to begin like it had. He had work to do.
The first Federation orbital unit to fire was Missile Boat #007, a first-generation missile boat equipped with five reduced-size, slow-loading missile launchers firing Thunderbolt II anti-ship missiles. The Thunderbolt II was the Federation’s latest missile design, capable of a top speed of 25,600 kps, a range of 22.1 million kilometers, and mounting a strength six warhead. The 1st generation missile boats were a compromise design, intended as nothing more than a stop gap. The final design, intended to engage the Obscura, was the Missile Boat refit 2, equipped with five Lord Ordinance Heavy Box Launchers capable of launching Bludgeon Planetary Anti-Ship Missiles. These monster missiles had a speed of 20,000 kps, a range of 41 million kilometers, a strength 24 warhead, and were equipped with armor and ECM. The box launchers would take a long time to reload, of course, but the Bludgeon anti-ship missiles would give the small ship quite a punch. The 007 hadn’t been upgraded yet, though, so she was still equipped with the older launchers and the smaller missiles.
The lead Dregluk group, composed of the two smaller Dregluk ships, was just 54,000 kilometers from the Earth when the Federation units fired, and so it was hit first by the incoming missiles. Both Dregluk ships were destroyed by the avalanche of heavy missiles, although the larger of the two, designated as the Demon class by Federation Militia intelligence, managed to intercept four of the Bludgeon missiles before they could hit with point blank point defense fire.
CEO Allen watched the destruction of the two Dregluk ships with fascination, but her concentration was interrupted by an emergency call from Defense Commander Russell. “Yes Commander?”
DC Russell was seated at her command station. Her command center was shaking, and dust was falling from the ceiling. “We are taking fire, Chief Executive. Some kind of kinetic or energy weapon capable of penetrating the atmosphere.” The shaking ended and she looked around. An officer spoke off-screen, barely audible. She turned back after a second. “Our armor is intact, but we’ve taken minor shock damage. We estimate that we were hit by 47 strikes, about a third of which were strength nine. The rest were strength six.”
CEO Allen’s gaze sharpened. “They were ready to engage. They fired immediately after we launched.”
“Yes, they did. Remarkable reaction times.” She glanced down. “We’ll need eighty seconds to reload, so the orbital ships are on their own till then. Fortunately, they are targeting us. Our armor can take it.”
They disconnected as the remaining Bludgeon ASM’s closed on the main Dregluk group approximately 150,000 kilometers from the Earth. All three Dregluk ships intercepted some of the Bludgeon’s short of their targets but were unable to stop them all. One of the Dregluk ships was hit by eight of the Bludgeons, another by sixteen, and the third by nineteen. All were left streaming atmosphere and slowed. The five Thunderbolt II missiles launched by Missile Boat 007 were swatted out of space by one of the big Dregluk ships before they could hit.
Admiral Foster sat in his office watching helplessly on his office’s displays as the battle progressed. A second missile boat launched five more Thunderbolt II’s and he silently willed the other ships in orbit to begin firing as well, but they remained silent. The sudden and unexpected attack followed by the even more sudden change in command was taking its toll. There were two 1st gen missile frigates, two 3rd gen patrol cruisers, and four missile boats of various generations in orbit, along with two unarmed scouts and a jump cruiser armed with only defensive missiles. Admiral Foster felt a burst of frustration as he willed the other ships to begin engaging the Dregluk. He hadn’t wanted this battle, but now that it was underway there was only one way it could end. The confusion in orbit was, like so many other things, the Board’s fault. They siphoned off all of the best officers for their PDC’s and other pet projects. He had argued, forcefully, after the Honolulu debacle, that he needed more officers, and better trained officers and crews, for his ships, but while they had appeared to listen they only paid lip serve to his arguments. The Board members were focused on the bottom line and tended to ignore the ‘human factor’ whenever possible, a serious failing, in his opinion.
Admiral Foster focused on his plot display. The Cairo, one of the missile frigates in orbit, had launched three Thunderbolt II missiles, while the Missile Boat 009, the first of the new 2nd gen missile boats, had launched five Bludgeon missiles. While the missile boat was launching more and larger missiles, it wouldn’t be able to fire again for quite a while, while the Cairo would be able to fire again in fifty seconds.
The Federation Board was watching the conflict on their command center’s displays. “Ma’am, PDC 001 reports it is under fire again by the Dregluk weapons. Three strikes only.” CEO Allen was beginning to sweat, in spite of the rooms conditioned and constant temperature. The PDC’s failure to destroy the Dregluk ships with their first salvo was shocking, as was the Dregluk’s focus on striking back at the planetary target. Seconds later, even as PDC 001 reported additional kinetic strikes, two of the missile boat’s Bludgeon missiles hit one of the limping Dregluk ships and completely destroyed it, raising another round of cheers around the command center. There were cheers amongst the command center’s crew and relieved looks were exchanged between the Board members.
Seconds crawled by as Federation crews struggled to get their ships under way and the PDC’s steadily reloaded their missile launchers. Sporadic weapons strikes pounded PDC 001, eventually destroying a missile launcher through shock damage, but the PDC’s armor continued to hold out against the Dregluk weaponry. Finally, seventy-five seconds after the battle started the Patrol Cruiser Leviathan moved out of orbit as the second missile frigate, the Shanghai, launched its missiles. Shortly after leaving orbit the Leviathan fired its lasers at long range, missing. Behind it the Intrepid got underway as well.
The Leviathan fired shortly after leaving orbit, scoring a minor hit with one of its 150 mm near UV lasers. Behind the Leviathan the PDC’s launched a second salvo of forty-seven Bludgeon missiles, divided between the three remaining Dregluk ships. Even as they launched the Dregluk continued to pound PDC 001, destroying another missile launcher with shock damage.
Eighty seconds after the first salvo, the PDC’s launched a second salvo of the massive Bludgeon AS missiles, wiping the remaining Drgeluk ships out. The battle was over.
In his office in the Fleet command center, Admiral Foster watched with relief as the last Dregluk ship exploded. The officers and technicians in the next room began cheering, more in relief than anything else, but Foster didn’t feel like cheering at all. The Board had just started a war with the Dregluk that might destroy them all. As the cheering died down Foster could hear his communicator chiming, and looking down, Foster recognized that it was the Board. He punched it up. “Yes?”
The small communicator screen showed the guards at the command center’s entrance. “Sir, there are Federation Marshals here. They say they are here to escort you to the Board. Should we let them in?”
“Yes, of course. Escort them to my office. I’ll be ready to go by the time they arrive.” Foster sat down heavily. He had no idea of what the Board had planned for him, but he had a sinking feeling that the Dregluk were not going to take this laying down.
The Federation marshals escorted him out of his command center with a modicum of dignity. Once in their transport, though, the façade fell away. They search and cuffed him efficiently, and then bundled him off to a detention center. He would not see the Board that day, or any day soon.
In the meantime, CEO Allen wasted no time reaching out to Captain Law. “Very good job Captain! Very good. The Board is pleased at your performance, and the performance of the fleet.” She paused and looked back at the other members of the Board, visible behind her. They nodded and she turned back. “Until the Board makes its decision about the future leadership of the Fleet you are to remain in command.”
Captain Law kept his face still as his mind raced. He was as loyal to Admiral Foster as any other officer, but there were currents here he didn’t understand. It appeared that the Admiral was out, but he had no idea what the man who had single-handedly created the Federation Fleet had done.
CEO Allen might have seen something in his face, or maybe she just identified his silence as hesitation. She leaned forward into the pickup. “Admiral Foster undermined our efforts to defend this planet against Dregluk aggression. He was fanatically focused on the Obscura to the exclusion of all other threats, and he had to go. He won’t be back. You are in change for now. Here are your orders. You are to take your fleet out and clear the system of all Dregluk ships. Once that is completed you are to move into the Washington system and clear it of all Dregluk ships. Once that is completed, we will begin the search for the Dregluk world. Is that understood?”
Captain Law braced to attention. He had no idea what Admiral Foster had actually done, but it was clear that Foster was out. “Your orders are understood, ma’am.”
“Captain Law. Let me make myself clear. Your campaign against the Dregluk is to be without mercy. You will chase down all Dregluk ships, whether civilian or military, and either force them to surrender or destroy them. Accomplish your mission and you will be favorably considered to replace Foster.”
Captain Law saw new vistas open in front of him. He had grown up in the Texas Autonomous Region, and like most people in the Region, pride was about all they had. He had risen to attend one of the few astronautical schools in Region through sheer determination, and CEO Foster had picked him out of the school for his burgeoning exploration corporation. As the key to his and his family’s economic security, Alex Law had been devoted to Foster first in his exploration company and now in the Navy that he had created. There was no way he was going back to the poverty of his Texas upbringing, though, and near as he could see that was what defying the Board would get him. “I understand ma’am. I will rid this system, and the Washington system, of the Dregluk.” He hesitated for a second and glanced at a screen to his side. “Uh ma’am, if I might suggest. There are Dregluk life pods out there from the ships we destroyed.” He saw the beginnings of a reaction from the CEO and hurried on. “Rescuing those crews would give us invaluable intelligence on the Dregluk. I propose taking my ship out to perform the rescues while the rest of the Fleet prepares to sortie.”
CEO Allen looked at him for a minute, then nodded. “Very well, Captain Law. That’s a good suggestion. Make it happen.” She began to turn away then turned back. “Oh, and congratulations on your promotion, Rear Admiral.”
The Board would explain the nuclear explosions in orbit to the public as a training exercise for the planetary defenses. While conspiracy theories and rumors abounded, for the most part this was accepted.
Captain Law recalled the ships from the group training in the inner system and dispatched ships to run down the Dregluk survey ships in the outer system. In addition, he ordered the Bihar to pick up the Dregluk life pods from the wrecks in between the Earth and the Moon.
After action analysis showed that the Dregluk acted in an incomprehensible manner. They closed on the Earth without responding to humanity’s obvious and reasonable concerns. Once they reached approximately 100,000 kilometers, shortly before the first missile launch, they began flying in circles, steadily inching closer to the Earth. They waited until the PDC’s and orbital units fired before they themselves fired, but they were obviously ready to engage in combat as they responded immediately.
The strange behavior by the Dregluk continued as the Federation forces pursued the ships in the outer system. For a time, it seemed that the Dregluk ships welcomed a fight as they rushed inwards, towards the Federation interception groups. However, after hours of rushing inwards they then turned outwards, before once again turning inwards. The Dregluk were proving to be completely incomprehensible.
On June 22nd the Patrol Cruisers Swiftsure and Victory chase down and destroy a Dregluk survey ship off of Ceres in the Solar system. Over the next five days the two cruisers would destroy five more Dregluk survey ships without loss to themselves, or even any sign that the Dregluk saw what was coming for them. After eliminating the Dregluk ships the two cruisers joined the rest of the Federation fleet at the jump point to the Washington system.
Shortly thereafter, two Tennessee class jump cruisers jump into the Washington system along with their escorts. They find no Dregluk ships near the jump point. The Nimitz, a scout equipped with a very large active array, does not detect any Dregluk ships within 250 million kilometers of the jump point, and the construction ship building the gate on the Washington side of the point reports no Dregluk activity. The force splits, with some units left to guard the jump point while the remainder return to the Earth in case the Obscura choose this time to attack.
-
June 20, 2134: The Battle of Earth
July 1, 2134: Captain Alex Law is officially promoted to Admiral and given command of the Federation Militia. No mention is made of Admiral Foster in the official press releases, and questions are discouraged.
July 22, 2134: Construction Rig #2, in the Washington system at the jump point to the Denver system, reports that a large Dregluk ship entered the system from Denver and is proceeding into the inner system. The Dregluk ship ignored the human ship. Admiral Law, commanding the Federation forces at the jump point to the Solar System aboard the Bihar, orders his squadron to pursue the Dregluk ship, after jumping back to Sol and dispatching a warning.
July 24, 2134: Construction Rig #1 completes work on the jump gate in the Washington system that connects to the gate in the Solar System, opening two-way transportation between the two systems. Rig #1 immediately jumps through and sends a completion message to Federation HQ. In response, Federation Militia HQ dispatches fifteen freighters carrying deep space tracking stations to the Washington system. The stations will be set up on the moon of one of the Gas giants closest to the inner jump points in the system.
July 26, 2134: The Federation ships under Admiral Law reach active sensor range of the Dregluk ship and determine that it is 61,950 tons, which would be terrifying if it was a warship. It appears more likely that it is a jump gate construction ship. Admiral Law orders the Dregluk ship to cease all activity and leave the system. The Dregluk ignore all warnings, so four hours later Admiral Law orders one of his missile boats to engage the Dregluk ship. Shortly thereafter five Bludgeon missiles were launched at the Dregluk ship. Two of the big missiles were destroyed by point defense fire. It took all three of the remaining missiles to destroy the Dregluk ship, but after the explosions cleared there was little left of the alien ship. Admiral Law, concluding that the Dregluk must have originated beyond the Denver system, ordered his ships to the Jump Point to the Denver system to prevent additional incursions.
August 7, 2134: The new listening post in the Washington system goes online on this date. Almost immediately the listening posts detects two new Dregluk ships of the same class of suspected gate construction ship detected and destroyed earlier. Admiral Law, on his way to the jump point back to the Solar system after being relieved at the Denver jump point by a second group of Federation ships, orders his group to pursue the new contacts. The first of the two is close to the jump point back to Sol and is easily caught, but the second is on the far side of the system, nearly 5 billion kilometers away. Even with an in-system jump it will take quite a while before the last ship can be caught.
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August 15, 2134, Washington System
“Target destroyed, sir.”
Admiral Law settled back into his command couch and gazed at the system plot in front of him. His force was on the far side of the system from the jump point to the Solar system, just fifty million kilometers from the in-system La Grange jump point that had brought them to this side of the system. The three Dregluk gate construction ships they had run down and destroyed in this system had been caught in locations that formed a rough triangle with the system in the center of the three points. His gaze was drawn to a pulsing dot centered on the fifth planet. The Federation’s listening post on the eleventh moon of that planet was proving to be invaluable. His scout’s sensors would never have detected the Dregluk ships at system distances, but the listening post was having no problem ID’ing the Dregluk ships and vectoring his squadron in on them in short order.
There was one blinking red dot left in system, and his eyes were drawn to that dot. It was on the system’s fourth jump point and was almost certainly yet another gate construction ship. It was 1.8 billion kilometers from his currently location, and it would take five days for his squadron to reach it, but once it was gone the Dregluk would have been wiped from the system, fulfilling his mandate from the Board. He had no intention of joining Admiral Foster in whatever hole he was being kept in, so he ordered his ships to intercept the last Dregluk ship. He was more than a little perplexed about the Dregluk Imperium’s lack of reaction to the Federation’s destruction of its ships. Surely, they had noticed something was wrong.
He didn’t have long to wonder. A bare two hours after his squadron had set out for the fourth jump point and the last Dregluk ship, a warning was received from the listening post. Eight Dregluk ships had been detected jumping into the system through a previously undetected jump point approximately 1.6 billion kilometers out-system from their current location. The Dregluk ships were headed in-system at 4,606 kps. Four of the ships had a thermal signature identical to the 9,550 ton warship destroyed at the battle of Earth, while the other four had thermal signatures matching that of the larger 28,650 ton ships.
Admiral Law began sweating as he considered his situation. Only two of his missile boats had offensive missiles left, and the Dregluk had a higher speed than his ships. He punched a series of commands into his console and then relaxed a bit when the projections came up on his display. In spite of the Dregluk’s higher speed he would be able to consolidate his forces on the jump point to the Solar system well before they arrived.
“Helm, plot a course to the jump point to the Solar system and initiate as soon as it is ready. Communications, transmit orders to Squadron #2 at the jump point to the Denver system. They are to withdraw to the jump point to the Solar system immediately and await our arrival. We will engage the enemy at the jump point.”
Admiral Law’s squadron turned back and began its run towards the in-system jump point, with the Dregluk in pursuit. Given the distance that separated the two groups of ships the Dregluk almost certainly had no idea the Federation ships were in front of them, but to Admiral Law and his crewers it felt like the aliens were breathing down their necks.
Admiral Law’s squadron was two hours away from the jump point to the Solar system when an update arrived from the listening post. A second group of Dregluk ships had jumped into the system through the fifth jump point. This group was also composed of eight ships, but all eight were of the smaller 9,550 ton type. That group was followed three hours later by a third group of twenty-one ships. Ten had signatures consistent with the 28,650 ton ships, while the other eleven were consistent with the smaller 9,550 ton ships. Admiral Law now faced thirty-seven Dregluk ships, fourteen of which were twice as large as the largest human warship.
As he contemplated the situation, he realized that the best hope that they had lay in the fact that the Dregluk were approaching in widely separated groups. In fact, the lead group of eight ships had separated into two sub-groups of four ships each and were separated by enough space that he almost certainly could engage the lead group of four 28,650 ton ships first, before having to worry about the trailing group of smaller ships.
After considering the situation, and the ruins of his plans and hopes for the future, he decided. The Board was almost certainly going to blame him for this fiasco, and he likely would be sharing a cell with Admiral Foster shortly after his return. If he was lucky. If, however, his squadron managed to destroy the lead group of Dregluk ships in a valiant battle to delay the dreaded Dregluk hordes, he could spin the situation to his favor, possibly avoiding his otherwise almost certain fate. After all, a hero is always more palatable, and it was possible that the Board was swallow it. In any case, he had nothing to lose, except, of course, his life.
Admiral Law dispatched his empty missile boats back to the Solar system with a warning of the oncoming horde and began to plan his defense of the jump point.
August 16, 2134, Earth
Joe Foster sat in his cell, contemplating life, and the decisions that had led him to the cell that provided the boundaries of his current existence. He had little else to do. While he hadn’t been mistreated, he got two hours of exercise a day, three meals, and very limited human contact. Someone had looked out for him, though, and provided him with a varied supply of reading material, but that was it. He had had a lot of time to contemplate things.
He looked up with interest as he heard footsteps outside his cell. It wasn’t lunch time, or exercise time. A variance in the schedule was always interesting. The door opened and his interest sharpened.
Two officers in the uniforms of Lieutenant Commanders in the Federation Militia entered his cell. He knew both of them, they had served on his staff when he commanded the Militia. Ewan Hargreaves had been his Intelligence Staff Officer, and Aaron Summers had handled logistics. Both looked uncertain but determined. Summers spoke first. “Joe, we are here at the request of the Board.” He paused and looked nervously at the ceiling of the cell.
Foster knew that look. The Board almost certainly had his cell and probably the entire surrounding area wired for sound, vision, and every other thing that modern tech could monitor. He remained seated and gestured to the two officers. “Make yourself at home, gentlemen.” He didn’t know what they wanted, and while he didn’t blame them for his current predicament, he wasn’t going to make it easy on them either.
The two officers looked around the cell uncomfortably, recognizing that in spite of Foster’s gesture to sit there was no where to sit but on his cot, which he was currently occupying. Hargreaves, predictably impatient, gestured angrily. “Joe, we don’t have time for games. There is a problem. A big problem.”
Foster sat up, his lazy gaze sharpening. “The Dregluk.” It wasn’t a question.
Hargreaves nodded. “The Dregluk. There is a massive Dregluk fleet headed for Earth right now. They are in the Washington system, still days away, but they are coming and the fleet won’t be able to stop them. Admiral Law is going to make a stand at the jump point and try to slow down or stop their leading elements, but when the main body arrives nothing will stop them short of the defenses on Earth.”
Foster shook his head. “Admiral Law, huh?” He leaned back against the cell wall behind him. “Well, good for him. I don’t know that meeting them at the jump point is the best decision, but he knows the situation better than I do.” He looked closely at the two officers. They were unhappy and on edge. They clearly didn’t like whatever it was that the Board had asked them to do, but they were doing it anyway. “The Board must be worried that the PDC’s won’t stop the Dregluk, right?”
They both nodded, and then Summers spoke. “There are thirty-nine Dregluk ships headed our way, and fourteen of them are their massive 28,550 ton class. They are split into three groups, the largest of which is twenty-one ships. The Board is worried either that we might run out of missiles, or that the PDC’s won’t be able to launch fast enough to deal with the larger force before it gets within range of its own weapons.”
Foster grinned. “I still haven’t heard where I come into this equation. I’m not so foolish that I think you’re here to offer me my command back.” The two officers looked uncomfortable and possibly a little ashamed and immediately Foster felt remorse. These two had nothing to do with his downfall, and there hadn’t been anything they could have done to help him once the Board turned on him. He held up his hand. “Sorry. I…well, just tell me.”
Hargreaves looked determined. “Joe, the Board wants your help. They want your suggestions for what we can do to improve our defenses before the Dregluk get here. You were the architect behind our fleet buildup, and they want you to put that expertise to work defending the planet.”
Foster’s eyes narrowed. He had noticed how carefully their request was phrased. They weren’t offering to let him out, they just wanted his help. A very childish, petty part of him wanted to say no. The Board had created this mess, they could damn well get themselves out of it. He took a deep breath as the two officers looked at each other, wondering what was going through his mind. If it was only the Board’s survival at stake, he would have let them go down in flames, but he was pretty sure the Dregluk wouldn’t be that discriminating. He looked up at the two officers. “I’ll do it. I’ll need access to the Militia Net, and to all current intel reports and squadron and base status reports. I’ll need access to my staff, too, of course.”
The two officers smiled and relaxed. “You’ve got it Joe.” Hargreaves frowned, then continued. “You understand, of course, that all of your interactions with people outside this cell will be strictly monitored. The Board wanted us to make it clear to you that…”
Foster waived him off. “I get it. I’ll stay strictly on the subject. No extracurricular communications.” He stood up and smiled at the two officers. “Well, lets get to it! We don’t have much time.”
Foster was led to a room in the prison complex that had been set up as a work center for him. He settled right in and got to it with the assistance of his two former staffers. What he found was dismaying, but not surprising. More than half of the fleet was in refit, being upgraded to the latest technology. This wasn’t surprising as it had always been the plan to build the hulls as fast as possible and then later upgrade them to tech that was capable of confronting the Obscura, but with an enemy fleet on the way to Earth it was more than problematic. The planetary defenses hadn’t been altered since he had been relieved of duty, with the exception that the offensive missile base on the Moon had been completed and stocked with missiles. While this was helpful, it was clear that the Board was worried that this wouldn’t be enough, particularly for the largest group of Dregluk ships.
After twenty straight hours of work, Foster had a plan. It wasn’t a good plan, and Foster didn’t have a lot of confidence that it would materially change the outcome of the upcoming battle, but it was something that would satisfy the Board’s need for action. Foster’s plan was simple. The Federation Militia had built up large stocks of pre-built parts for their planned fleet construction and refit projects to speed the final fitting out of the fleet. These stocks of parts included large numbers of the latest Lord Ordnance heavy box launchers and fire control systems. It was simplicity itself to put together a rudimentary design for a basic PDC with minimal armor, five box launchers, and a fire control system to handle the missiles. Such a PDC could be build by Earth’s industrial base in a matter of days, largely because of the large stocks of pre-built parts.
Privately, Foster didn’t think that the “Final Line” defense stations, as they had become known as the planning process progressed, would really alter the situation much at all. The Board’s perceived need was for more planetary defenses, but Foster’s review of the state of the defenses revealed that the real need was for more missiles for the existing planetary defenses to throw at the Dregluk. There was very little that could be done about that problem at this late date, though, so Foster had focused on something that would satisfy the Board and which wouldn’t actually hurt the situation. During the finalization of the Final Line bases Foster subtly highlighted the missile situation for his former staff officers. Whether they made the Board, or Admiral Law, aware of the situation was their problem.
The real problem, Foster thought as they took him back to his cell, was that they really had very little intel on the capabilities of the Dregluk. He feared that ‘Admiral’ Law was going to find that out shortly. Just because the Dregluk hadn’t demonstrated any missile launch capability to date didn’t mean that they didn’t possess that capability. And if their missiles were longer-ranged than the Federation’s, well then…
August 22, 2134, Washington system, at the jump point to Sol
Admiral Law watched the plot narrowly as the timer counted down. His squadron sat on the jump point, while the lead force, Dregluk Alpha, had broken into two groups, Dregluk Alpha-1 and Dregluk Alpha-2. Alpha-1 was composed of four 28,550 ton ships, 36.6 million kilometers away and approaching at 4,600 kps. Dregluk Alpha-2 was composed of four 9,550 tons ships and was 75.8 million kilometers away and was also approaching at 4,600 kps. His target was the lead group, Dregluk Alpha. After eliminating that force, he would evaluate the situation before ordering an attack on Dregluk Alpha-2. Once that was complete his fleet would return to the Earth, if not in victory, then perhaps covered with enough glory that he wouldn’t be summarily removed and imprisoned.
“Launching missiles as per plan…now.”
Admiral Law’s gaze shifted to the icons representing his six refit-2 missile boats as they began launching the powerful Bludgeon missiles. In a few seconds the six boats had launched thirty of the big missiles, targeted on three of the large Dregluk ships in Dregluk Alpha-1. It took almost twenty-five minutes for the missiles to cover the distance to the targets. Admiral Law felt satisfaction as the Dregluk failed to employ any active countermeasures against the missiles aside from last ditch CIWS. The missile icons merged with the icons for the Dregluk ships and disappeared. Admiral Law felt a slight disappointment that the alien ships had survived, but in the engagement off of Earth they had survived much heavier bombardment, so he hadn’t really thought that ten missiles each would be enough to destroy them, but he had hoped.
“Damage assessment underway. All three ships are streaming atmosphere and are slowed. Ten missiles were intercepted by CIWS, two missed. Dregluk Alpha-1 continuing on course for the jump point, no deviations. Dregluk Alpha-1 is splitting up as the undamaged ship pulls ahead.”
Admiral Law settled back into his seat. The Dregluk seemed to have no idea about concentration of force. That could have been a fatal error, had he had more ships and missiles to throw at them. As it was he had too few to do more than pick away at them. As he watched his six missile boats jumped out, headed back to the Earth to reload their missile cells. They were out of the battle. That left him with the Mars, two frigates, and two older missile boats for missile combatants. They all were equipped with the smaller Thunderbolt II missiles, which the Dregluk had had no problem shooting down during the engagement in Earth orbital space.
One and a half hours later the lead Dregluk ship was within range of the Thunderbolt II’s that the remaining fleet ships were equipped with. The first salvo that roared away from the Federation ships was made up of twenty-four missiles, but that was going to be their largest salvo for a while. The two old missile boats were equipped with the so-called RSSR launchers, for Reduced-Size-Slow-Loading. The idea had been to pack more launchers on the small frame by reducing the size of each loader, and they had succeeded. The RSSR launchers were a third of the size of a standard Thunderbolt II launcher, but they took over sixteen minutes to reload. Worse, a mere five launchers, launching the smaller Thunderbolt II missiles, just wasn’t enough of a salvo size to penetrate the oncoming behemoth’s defenses, not without there being a lot more missile boats, and Law only had two on hand. Fifty seconds later the Mars and the two frigates launch a second salvo of fourteen missiles, followed fifty seconds later by a third salvo. After that the launchers fell silent to await a damage evaluation. Admiral Law didn’t have enough missiles that he felt comfortable wasting them.
Three and a half minutes after the last salvo raced away, the first closed on its target. Five of the twenty-four missiles were intercepted short of the big ship, the rest hit to no visible effect. The Dregluk behemoth continued forging ahead. The second and third salvoes had a similar effect, or lack thereof. The Dregluk ships mounted no shielding that the Federation ships could detect, but the Federation’s analysts insisted that they must be massively armored to absorb as much damage as they had. Admiral Law ordered two more salvoes to be launched, but then, again, stopped as their missile stocks were running low. The Bihar’s bridge crew cheered when the fourth salvo went home, as the big Dregluk ship was staggered and streaming atmosphere when it emerged from the fireballs. When the next salvo hit the ship was staggered again, and this time it was slowed, slightly. The cheers died away when the crew realized that the Dregluk behemoth was still headed towards them and was still faster than the bulk of their fleet.
Admiral Law’s original hope had been that the missile engagement would eliminate Dregluk Alpha-1, or at least so damage it that the group would withdraw. The he would order his patrol cruisers to engage Dregluk Alpha-2 with their lasers, perhaps supported by his AMM’s in offensive mode. Now, though, he was starting to realize that they might be in over their heads. The four ships of Dregluk Alpha-1, while damaged, were all still faster than his fleet and withdrawal wasn’t an option. He had to slow down Dregluk Alpha-1 further. “All missile units, we will launch coordinated salvoes, one targeted on each of the three fastest units Dregluk Alpha-1 units. Launch when ready.”
A few seconds later the Mars and her consorts began launching missiles. After three salvoes they fell silent again. Admiral Law had been watching their ammunition indicators. The two frigates were out of offensive missiles, while the Mars and the missile boats had one salvo left. The results of the strike were disappointing. While two of the three targets suffered additional armor breaches, they weren’t appreciably slowed. Admiral Law ordered one last salvo launched, the last of his offensive missiles, and then ordered the two frigates to offload their AMM’s to the remaining ships with AMM launchers. Once that was complete he ordered the missile boats and the two frigates to return to the Earth to reload. The four ships disappeared through the jump point, leaving the Bihar, the Mars, three anti-missile boats, four patrol cruisers and a scout to face the Dregluk. The last salvo caused multiple breaches on the Dregluk ship, but again it wasn’t slowed and continued to forge ahead.
Admiral Law watched as the Dregluk ships approached. His first instinct was to dispatch his patrol cruisers to engage the strung-out Dregluk Alpha-1 force as far away from his remaining missile defense ships as possible, but he had resisted that urge and held them close during the Dregluk approach to keep them under his anti-missile umbrella. The Dregluk ships were close enough, though, and he really didn’t want them any closer. With the lead Dregluk ship now just 4.6 million kilometers away he dispatched the patrol cruisers to engage the Dregluk behemoth.
Admiral Law watched, fascinated, as the two groups of ships closed on each other. He was leaning forward with anticipation, watching as the Federation ships closed to within laser range of the enemy, when the icon for the Victory began flashing, a sign that the ship had taken damage. “What happened?” He turned towards his sensor and comms officers.
“Sir, signal from the Victory! They report that they were hit by approximately twenty particle beams. Their shields are down and they’ve suffered moderate internal damage. They are pressing the attack.”
Admiral Law’s face was carved out of stone. That one alien behemoth was armed with twenty particle beams. And it was damaged! Who knows how many beams the damned thing was armed with to begin with. He came to a realization as he watched his cruisers press the attack. They weren’t going to win this one. His four cruisers were armed with a grand total of twelve lasers between them, while that damned Dregluk ship was equipped with at least twenty particle beams that were longer-ranged than his lasers. He came to a sudden decision. “All ships in the missile defense group are to engage the lead Dregluk ship with AMM’s. Immediate fire order!”
The Victory was hit again before it could fire, and this time the ship was ripped from stem to stern. The hulk tumbled away as her sister ships tried to avenge her. The three remaining Federation cruisers managed to get two shots off with their 150mm lasers, and one with their spinal 250mm laser, causing multiple hull breaches, before the big ship speared the Swiftsure with eighteen particle beams, knocking her shields down and scoring her armor. The Swiftsure valiantly returned fire causing a hull breach, and then forty-one AMM’s roared in and struck the embattled Dregluk ship. Six were intercepted short of the behemoth, but the remaining thirty-five peppered the big ship, causing multiple hull breaches. The Leviathan and Intrepid fired again as well, causing more damage, followed by the Swiftsure’s lasers.
Admiral Law shook his head as the Dregluk ship absorbed all of the Federation firepower and just kept on coming. More AMM’s roared in, pelting the big ship, and the Federation cruisers swirled around it, stabbing it with their lasers. Finally, at last, the Dregluk ship exploded as the Intrepid and the Leviathan’s spinal lasers stabbed deeply into its interior.
During the battle with the lead ship, two more of Dregluk Alpha-1’s 28,550 ton behemoths had approached to 820,000 kilometers. Admiral Law orders his cruisers to intercept and turns his anti-missile ships back towards the jump point. The anti-missile ships began firing as they withdrew. The lead Dregluk ship was hit by multiple AMM salvoes, and slowed slightly, but then the cruisers came into range. Before the Federation ships could fire, the Swiftsure was hit by thirty-three particle beams and gutted. The ship wasn’t destroyed, but it was effectively out of the battle.
The Intrepid was next, hit while still attempting to close to effective range. A grand total of fifty-three particle beams hit the Federation ship, and when the fireball cleared there was nothing left but a few life pods speeding away. That left the Leviathan. The valiant Federation cruiser began pounding the big Dregluk ship, cycling its lasers as quickly as its laboring crew could recharge their capacitors. As the cruiser’s lasers stabbed into the Dregluk ship AMM salvoes roared in, pockmarking the big ship with explosions, some of which penetrated its increasingly ragged armor. Finally, the Leviathan’s luck ran out and the Federation cruiser was speared by a massive particle beam salvo that ripped the ship apart. The Dregluk ships then swatted the Swiftsure from space as they passed. The retreating Federation anti-missile ships continued to launch salvoes at the oncoming Dregluk ships. Admiral Law intended to run his magazines dry, if that was what it took to slow the Dregluk ships enough for his remaining force to escape. On August 23, at 047 hours, the last Federation AMM hit its target. Of the three remaining Dregluk ships in Dregluk Alpha-1, two are reduced to 3,909 kps, while the third was capable of 4,048 kps. That was just enough slower than the Bihar that they would be able to escape. The Mars was substantially faster than the Dregluk ships, but the Nimitz, their attached scout, was only capable of 3,600 kps.
Admiral Law, exhausted from the long battle, watched as the screen in front of him cleared and Lt. Commander Ellis Reynolds appeared in front of him. “Commander Reynolds, I’m sorry to have to do this, but the facts are the facts. Your ship can’t escape, and we don’t have enough time to take your crew off.” Admiral Law watched as Reynold’s face went through a number of contortions. He wasn’t sure what the man was going to say, but in the end it didn’t really matter, so he continued. “You are ordered to head out-system and go into low power mode and await our return. It is possible that the Dregluk will ignore you and continue to pursue us. If not then you are authorized to abandon your ship after leading them away from the jump point as long as possible. Law out.”
Law watched, detached, as the scout continued in formation with his ships for a few seconds, then turned away. He grunted and turned to his helmsman. “Take us home.” Thirty seconds later the Bihar, the Mars, and three anti-missile boats jumped out the Washington system. It seemed that Admiral Law wouldn’t be returning with either victory or glory.
-
August 23, 2134, 049 hours, Sol System
The leading Dregluk ship of Dregluk Alpha-1 was just 840,000 kilometers behind the Federation ships when they jumped into the Solar System. At their rate of advance they should jump through just 208 seconds behind the Federation ships. Admiral Law ordered the three anti-missile boats to break off and head out-system. They were slightly slower than the fastest remaining ship in Dregluk Alpha-1, and perhaps if they headed out-system, away from Earth, they’d be able to escape. In the meantime, the Bihar and the Mars fled towards the Earth and its missile defense envelope. Admiral Law and all of the other Federation crewers on the five ships that just jumped in watched the jump point as they sped away. The timer counted down and, as the human crews watched, the Dregluk failed to appear.
Admiral Law felt nothing as he realized that the scout in the Washington system was doomed. He had to get his two major combatants back to safety, and the scout was a small price to pay if it could lure the Dregluk away.
Seven minutes after the Federation ships entered the Sol system, the first Dregluk ship transited in behind them. Admiral Law quickly asked his staff for an analysis of the situation, and within minutes course plots came up on the display, with relative speeds and intersection points marked. The news wasn’t good. The Federation ships had separated into four groups, as follows:
(Note: mkm stands for “million Kilometers”)
Main Group (Bihar, Mars), 1.7 mkm’s in-system from the jump point, on course for Earth. Speed 4,144 kps, ETA 22 hours.
Group #2 (3xAMM Boats), 1.86 mkm’s out-system from the jump point, headed for outer system. Speed 3,913 kps
Group #3 (Scout), 2.8 mkm’s out-system of the jump point, headed for the outer system. Speed 3,600 kps
Group #4 (2xMissile Boats, 2xFrigates), 6.3 mkm’s in-system of the jump point, on course for Earth. Speed 4,000 kps, ETA 15.5 hours.
His group, composed of the Mars and the Bihar, would be caught short of Earth by Dregluk Alpha-2 if the Dregluk ships took a least time course for Earth. The lead ship of Dregluk-Alpha-1 was headed for Earth but wouldn’t be able to catch his ships unless they managed to repair their engines. Eleven minutes later the second ship in Dregluk Alpha-1 entered the Solar system.
Admiral Law watched as the plot updated. This Dregluk ship had a speed of 4,408 kps, and it immediately turned to pursue Federation Group #2, which was headed out-system. The plot showed that the Dregluk ship’s course will intersect that of the missile boats in nine hours. A minute later the last ship in Dregluk Alpha-1 enters the Solar system. This ship has a speed of 3,909 kps and also goes into pursuit of Federation Group #2.
Dregluk Bravo and Charlie groups are still in the Washington system, and are not projected to arrive at in the Solar system for three days. Two hours later Dregluk Alpha-2 enters the Solar system on schedule, and immediately goes into pursuit of the lone Federation scout fleeing from the jump point towards the outer system.
Just over three hours later Admiral Law and the crews of the Bihar and the Mars were forced to watch as the Dregluk ship pursuing the anti-missile boats caught up with them, shrugged of the last of their AMM’s, and pounded the small ships into scrap. The Dregluk ship had managed to significantly cut down the pursuit time as it had repaired at least one of its engines. After destroying the anti-missile boats the Dregluk ship turns to support Dregluk Alpha-2 in pursuit of the scout. The Dregluk ship pursuing the Federation main group has also repaired its engines, making it faster than the fleeing Federation ships, but the gap between it and its targets has widened enough that it cannot overtake short of Earth. In addition, Dregluk Alpha-2’s pursuit of the scout has put it out of position to overtake the Federation’s main force, meaning that the Mars, Bihar, and the missile boats and frigates will reach the safety of Earth before the Dregluk can over take them.
Another three and a half hours pass as the human and Dregluk ships race across the system. The Federation main group had just overtaken the slower missile ships when Admiral Law realizes that his luck has run out. The Dregluk ship pursuing them has increased its speed to 4,328 kps, faster than both of the Federation group and moreover, fast enough to catch them short of Earth. After staring at the plot for a short time, Admiral Law makes his decision. The two Federation groups merge and turn away from Earth, across the system. If the Dregluk are focused on Earth then this will take his ships out of their way and allow them to return to Earth after the PDC’s have dealt with the lone Dregluk ship. Unfortunately, that is not to be. Their Dregluk pursuer continues to display its singlemindedness and changes course to follow the fleeing Federation ships. Shortly after that the crew of the fleeing scout abandons ship just ahead of entering their pursuer’s weapons range, and the ships of Dregluk Alpha-1 and Dregluk Alpha-2 turn towards Earth.
Thirteen minutes later the lead Dregluk ship is within AMM range of the combined Federation group. Admiral Law had been watching the plot carefully, waiting for this moment. He turned to the weapons officer. “Open fire!”
The Bihar lurched as ten AMM’s sped away. They didn’t have a lot of AMM’s left, and he was gambling on damaging the pursuing Dregluk ship enough to slow it. That was all they needed, just a couple of hundred kps knocked of that thing’s speed. The Federation group managed to launch a massive salvo of forty AMM’s by using every launcher they had, including offensive launchers. Unfortunately, that salvo comprised more than half of their remaining AMM’s. As the first massive salvo raced away, Admiral Law programmed the follow-up fire mission for the fleet’s remaining 30 AMM’s. The Federation ships went to independent fire and in short order exhausted their remaining stocks of missiles. Everything now depended on the seventy AMM’s racing towards the approaching Dregluk ship.
The first salvo races in and wreathes the massive Dregluk ship in explosions. The bridge crew of the Bihar holds their breath as the Dregluk dreadnought emerges from the explosions, then cheers ring out across the deck as the plot updates. The Dregluk ship has suffered multiple hull breaches and has been slowed to 3,769 kps. The cheering rises to a roar when the second salvo roars in and causes three secondary explosions, one of which is massive. The Dregluk ship, clearly staggered, loses its active sensors after the last big explosion. By the time the last AMM goes home the Dregluk ship is steadily falling behind with a maximum speed that has been reduced to 3,211 kps.
Admiral Law watches the plot as the crew cheers around him. He let them celebrate, but all he could think about was how much punishment that Dregluk ship had absorbed. Those damned ships were almost unstoppable.
At its closest the Dregluk ship had closed to a bare 1.1 mkm’s, now the range is steadily rising again. With the threat mitigated, at least for now, Admiral Law orders his ships to resume their course to Earth.
One and a half hours later the lead Dregluk ship repairs an engine and increases its speed to 3,349 kps. Five hours later the Dregluk ship restores its active sensors. Over the next five hours later the lead Dregluk ship increases its speed several times, but now the Federation group is within Bludgeon missile range of Earth, and thus safe. The Federation crews on board the six Federation ships are too tired from the long chase to celebrate.
Two hours later, with the Bihar just 10.2 mkm’s from Earth, ten Bludgeon missiles are launched from a PDC on Earth at the lead Dregluk ship, which is well within missile range. The ten missiles end the long chase, permanently. Seventeen minutes later the remains of the Federation’s attack fleet arrive over Earth. Admiral Law expects to be relieved of duty upon arrival, but there are no messages from the Board, merely directives to prepare for the defense of Earth.
Twenty-eight minutes later the four ships of Dregluk Alpha-2 reached 40 mkm’s of Earth, just within Bludgeon missile range. Four PDC’s each launch fifteen missiles at the incoming ships. The missiles take almost thirty minutes to reach their targets, and when they do the destruction is total. None of the 9,550 ton ships of Dregluk Alpha-2 appear to have mounted CIWS, and none of them withstood more than nine Bludgeon missiles. The last two ships of Dregluk Alpha-1 are 115 mkm’s out and approaching.
Earth Defense Command allows the two wounded ships in Dregluk Alpha-1 to approach to 20 mkm’s before firing twenty older Excalibur planetary defense missiles at the Dregluk ships. The Excalibur is the same size as the Bludgeon, and carries a similar strength 24 warhead, but has half the range and two thirds the speed of a Bludgeon. In addition, the Excalibur has no armor or ECM. Earth Defense Command is growing concerned about availability of the Bludgeon ASM’s and has decided to use the Excalibur’s to finish off the wounded Dregluk ships. The results are disappointing. Between them, the two wounded Dregluk ships shoot down fourteen of the twenty missiles, and neither of the ships is destroyed by the salvo. The PDC’s promptly launch another thirty Excalibur missiles at the two ships, which shoot down eighteen and again survive the salvo. At this point the ships are just 10 mkm’s from Earth, and while both have been reduced to under 3,000 kps, they are both still coming. Earth Defense Command turns them over to the Fleet, and Admiral Law orders his ships to begin launching Thunderbolt II’s, of which they have a relative abundance. The officers and crew of the Federation ships and PDC’s watch in awe as the Dregluk ships absorb everything the fleet throws at them and continue to advance. Finally, after taking everything the fleet could throw at them for quite some time, the two Dregluk ships exploded. They didn’t reach weapons range of Earth, but they had approached a lot closer than they should have. Still, the Solar system is now clear of Dregluk, and will be for two and a half days.
August 24, 2134
On board the Bihar…
Admiral Law looked at himself in the mirror and wondered what he should be seeing. He had finally gotten some sleep, after the last Dregluk ship exploded, and had eaten and showered. He had thought that washing all of the fear and stress off of him after the events of the past day might be a step towards feeling normal, but instead he felt even more detached. He knew he should be feeling something. He was personally responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Federation crew persons and the loss of multiple ships, and yet he felt nothing. He had almost been looking forward to arriving in Earth orbit because he had been sure that the Board would have him arrested, which was what he was sure that he deserved. Instead there had been silence from the Board itself, and every inquiry to the Board or to Militia HQ merely led to repeated commands to prepare the fleet for battle. After a lengthy time spent staring at his reflection, he turned and left his quarters. There were preparations to make.
Federation Board Command Center, outside of Detroit…
“Maybe we should move our command center to Mars. The colony there…”
CEO Allen sneered at George Little. “Run away? To Mars?” She waived around the room. “Here we are at the center of the Solar System’s defenses. The missile defense center on Mars isn’t even complete yet and you want to run there?”
George Little paled and sagged back into his chair. Oscar Hunt put his hand on Little’s shoulder and stood. “Now Sarah, George is just trying to find solutions and alternatives. It seems to us that as the Earth is at the center of the Dregluk Imperium’s focus, it might make sense to move to someplace that is, well, outside of that focus.”
CEO Allen stared hard at Hunt for a few seconds, then relaxed. “I know, Oscar.” She waived him to his seat and took hers. “Look, these last couple of days has been hard on all of us, but all we have to do is make it through the next three days and we are free and clear.”
Charlotte Potts frowned. “Free and clear? And anyway, do you think it is such a sure thing that we are going to get through the next couple of days. There are an awful lot of Dregluk ships on their way here after all.”
CEO Allen smiled. “OF course, I’m sure. Our planetary defenses will wipe them out. You all saw Admiral Law’s report. The Dregluk are implacable, sure, but they have no tactical sense. They haven’t done anything to consolidate their forces, even when it would make the difference between victory and defeat. And they keep marching into our missiles! Aside from short range missile defenses they have nothing that can stop our missiles, and nothing to match them. We’ll destroy them one by one, and then, once the fleet is built up, we’ll hunt them down.”
Oscar and George were looking a little better. William was keeping to himself but didn’t look like he was going to panic at any second. Charlotte, though, continued to frown. “Just because we haven’t seen any Dregluk missiles doesn’t mean they don’t have any.” As head of the Solar System’s premier R&D corporation, she knew that as well as anyone. “And what about Law? He lost all of those ships and put back our timetable for moving against the Obscura. I want him removed!”
CEO Allen shook her head. “I agree, but we can’t move yet. We still have twenty-nine Dregluk ships headed towards us. Removing Admiral Law right now could lead to confusion and inefficiency in the fleet’s command structure at the very time that we need them.”
Potts frowned. “But…”
CEO Allen raised her hand. “Don’t worry, once the battle is done he’s out. We’ll have to find someone else, but one way or another he’s out.”
CEO Wright, who had been silently watching the antics of his fellow CEO’s, now spoke. “Sarah, what about our defenses? Are we going to be able to get Foster’s “Final Line” PDC’s up and running before the Dregluk arrive?”
CEO Allen didn’t have to consult her notes. This was her project, and she knew its progress well. “We will have ten of the new Final Line missile bases online before the Dregluk arrive. That will give us the capability to launch fifty additional planetary missiles in one salvo, if necessary.” She smiled. “Our defenses are strong. The Dregluk are doomed!”
Meanwhile, in a prison in a remote area…
Joe Foster looked up as a guard entered his cell. He smiled as he recognized Blake Gordon, one of the friendlier of his guards. “Blake! What’s up?”
Officer Gordon smiled. “We’re moving you, Joe. You’ve got a new room.” Gordon waived for Foster to follow him and led him out. Two guards fell into step behind him and they made their way across the prison.
Foster gaped when they entered what he guessed was his new room. The room was much larger than his old cell, and there were displays mounted on the wall and a workstation with a built-in computer in the center of the room. He turned to his escorts. “What the hell is going on, Blake?”
Officer Gordon smiled. “Those guys that visited you before, the officers? They arranged for this with the prison administration. They said you needed to see what was going to be happening. That you might be of some use.”
Foster looked at the equipment incredulously for a few seconds. Behind him, officer Gordon dismissed the other two guards and stepped closer to Foster. “Joe, I know there is something going on.” He looked around to see if anyone was close enough to hear, then turned back to Foster. “Look. Those Feddie boys, they aren’t saying anything, but we all saw the light show in the sky in May, and now another one just yesterday. The rumor mill says that it’s aliens, and that they are shooting at us.” Gordon looked around again and then stepped closer to Foster. “The rumors say that you tried to stop this, and that that’s why you are here. Is it true?”
Foster thought for a second. “Blake, sometimes rumors are just rumors, you know that.” As he spoke, Foster shook his head, in contradiction to what he was saying.
Gordon gave him a long, hard look, then ushered Foster into his room. “Well, you’d best get to it, Joe. I’ll be around if you need me.”
Foster entered his new cell as Blake Gordon closed the door behind him. After a few minutes of experimenting he found that he had nearly unlimited access to the Federation Militia’s computer network, but that he was very limited in the data he could send out. It seemed that, at least for now, someone wanted him to be able to watch as the upcoming battle unfolded but didn’t want him communicating with anyone.
Twenty-eight hours later…
“Sir, report from the Mars!”
Admiral Law signaled his ensign to continue with her duties and turned and activated his console’s viewer. Captain Freya Wallace’s scowling visage appeared. “We’ve got a problem. We just picked up Dregluk survivors from one of the 10,000-ton hulks out here. During the standard interrogations one of the Dregluk admitted to being a missile technician. We got enough out of him to rough out the missile design that they were carrying.”
Admiral Law felt the blood draining from his face. Their entire defense plan was predicated on the fact that the Dregluk didn’t use missiles. If they did…
Captain Wallace saw his reaction and held up her hand. “It’s not that bad.” She grimaced. “At least, not yet. The missile they were carrying had a range of only 500,000 kilometers. Our tech & Intel guys are calling it a ‘sprint missile’. The damned thing has a top speed of 36,000 kps, way to fast for our Aegis II AMM’s to intercept. Its got a decent sized warhead, and sensor capability as well. Our patrol cruisers would have a hard time with this thing, but our missile ships out range them. The intel guys are calling it a Dunkerque anti-ship missile.”
Admiral Law had gathered his wits as she spoke. “That missile isn’t going to be a threat to Earth, or, at least, its not going to effect the long-range missile duel. But…”
Captain Wallace’s eyes glittered. “But…if they’ve got one kind of missile, what are the odds that they have others?”
Admiral Wallace shook himself. “Do me a favor, Freya, keep this to yourself. We can’t do anything about this in the time we’ve got left. There will be plenty of time to study these missiles after the battle.”
“If we survive.”
Admiral Law nodded. “If we survive. Law out.”
August 26, 2134
The eight ships of Dregluk Bravo entered the Solar system right on time, followed three hours later by the twenty-one ships of Dregluk Charlie. The defenders of Earth huddled at their consoles, watching the Dregluk with fear, resolution, or both.
Joe Foster, in his prison cell, sat at his console with his displays set to show the system plot from the Earth out to the jump point to the Washington system. The two groups of Dregluk ships were represented by red icons steadily forging towards Earth. Three hours after Dregluk Charlie entered the system, Dregluk Bravo, which was now around 215 mkm’s from Earth, turned back towards the jump point. Foster stiffened as he watched the display. Either the Dregluk were behaving incomprehensibly, again, or…he frantically typed out a message and sent it through one of the few communications ports he had available.
Lieutenant Commander Hargreaves paled as he read the message that popped up on his console. He stared at it briefly, then looked around the command center. All of the officers present were trying to come to terms with the meaning for the apparent withdrawal of the lead Dregluk force, but, in the main, the primary emotion seemed to be relief. He got up and walked over to Admiral Law, cutting through the officers surrounding the Militia’s commander. “Admiral, I have an intel evaluation from Team Zulu.”
Admiral Law turned and his eyes narrowed as he considered the situation. He waived for Hargreaves to follow him and they moved away from the main plot. When they were out of earshot of the crowd of officers around the system plot, he nodded for Hargreaves to continue.
“Sir, Joe sent me a message. It said only – prepare for missile attack.”
“Damn it!” Admiral Law nodded and turned back to the system plot. “All right, everyone!” He shouted to make himself heard over the babble of voices. The noise died out quickly as everyone turned to look at the Admiral. “It’s possible that the Dregluk have turned back for their own reasons, but its also possible that they’ve just launched a missile assault and have turned back to return to their base and reload.” You could have heard a pin drop as the noise in the room dropped to nothing. “Commander O’Sullivan, send a probable missile attack warning to the Planetary Defense Command. Lt. Commander Summers, coordinate with the CO’s of the Militia ships in orbit and ensure that their magazines are topped off with AMM’s.” The noise level began rising as the staff got to work. Admiral Law continued issuing orders as he got his command ready for the battle.
August 26, 2134, 0949 hours
Joe Foster was still crouched over his console when the display in front of him chimed and highlighted an icon that had just appeared. The voice prompt he had set up spoke: “Passive sensor contact. Multiple in-bound targets, range 42.7 mkm’s, speed 36,000 kps. Refining data.”
Foster sat back, profoundly unhappy to have been proved right. After a few seconds the console spoke again. “Update, second group of inbound contacts detected. Both groups are composed of 72 discrete contacts. ETA to Earth, 19.76 minutes.”
Foster watched as a new group of missiles appeared at irregular intervals of five to twenty-five seconds. Most of the groups were composed of 72 missiles, but some salvoes were fragmented, for some reason. After ten minutes and twenty seconds the stream of missiles came to an end.
While the stream of missiles headed towards the Earth, Foster punched up an analysis of the Earth’s missile defenses. There were five Aegis PDC’s on Earth and two on the Moon. Each Aegis PDC had three fire controls and thirty AMM launchers with a cycle time of five seconds. The base readouts currently showed that all seven bases had a full loadout of 695 Aegis II AMM’s. The Militia fleet in orbit currently had four ships with AMM launchers, the Mars with four, the Bihar with ten, and two FFG’s each with one. The fleet’s AMM launchers had a cycle time of ten seconds, and there were 327 AMM’s in their magazines. In addition, there were reserve AMM’s in storage dumps on the Earth and on the Moon as well.
Foster then punched up an analysis of the effectiveness of an Aegis II AMM against the performance profile of the incoming missiles. The results were not encouraging. The Aegis II had a top speed of 32,000 kps and a maximum range of 1.3 mkm’s. At the rate that the enemy missiles were approaching, they’d spend just thirty-six seconds in the engagement envelope of the Aegis II’s, meaning that, considering travel times, the defensive missile bases would only get two intercept chances against the incoming missiles, maybe three. The computer was giving an Aegis II AMM an approximate 15% chance of intercepting the Dregluk missiles, which meant that even if the defenders launched five AMM’s per incoming missile, they’d only have an approximate 50% chance of destroying the incoming missile.
Foster leaned back in his chair and stared at the incoming stream of missiles. There were going to be leakers, and this was going to get ugly. As the missiles approached, Foster got to work on a list of recommendations for improving Earth’s anti-missile defense capability. Just in case they survived.
At 1007 Earth’s PDC’s began launching AMM’s at the incoming missiles. Unfortunately, the Moon was poorly placed for missile defense, sitting behind and to one side of the Earth, so the initial launches were all from the Earth and its orbiting ships. Civilian ships and the Federation’s freighters had long since been ordered to clear the area. The scene was awe-inspiring to the civilians in the same hemisphere as the Aegis bases. The bases had gone to rapid fire, launching a new salvo of defensive missiles every five seconds. To the onlookers it was as if a near continuous stream of light was shooting into the heavens.
The Federation’s defenses were set to fire three AMM’s at each incoming missile, and Earth’s launchers were at full capacity trying to launch enough missiles to saturate the incoming waves. For many of the Federation’s citizens this was their first warning that something was going on, as the Earth-based defense PDC’s began ripple firing their missiles. The cracks of the missiles first going supersonic and then hypersonic became a continuous roar as the bases responded to the incoming missiles.
Foster watched in his cell as the first groups of missiles and AMM’s merged. When the explosions cleared the computer displayed the results. The human defense missiles were achieving a 19% hit ratio, which was better than expected but no where good enough. The seconds sped by as the leading edge of the Dregluk missile wave approached and then broke over Earth. The ships in orbit managed to destroy several of the missiles as they raced past, but only a scattered few, and the remainder raced passed them and exploded on the surface of the planet.
Foster’s display dutifully displayed information gained from the impacts. The missiles had relatively weak warheads, strength 3, and had been targeted on an offensive PDC, which had survived only armor damage. Foster’s eyes were on the collateral damage, though. Twelve missiles had gotten through everything the defenses could throw at them, and those twelve missiles had killed millions of people. He sat back in his chair. He had warned the Board. The Dregluk were almost certainly going to strike at their planetary defenses, and with most weaponry this meant collateral damage. Millions would die, and the public not only didn’t know an attack was coming, they didn’t even know that the Federation had made contact with two different alien races. If they managed to survive this attack, Foster was fairly sure that an outraged populace would burn the Federation Board at the stake, at the very least. He watched the second Dregluk salvo slam home on Earth’s surface. If they survived.
In the Federation Militia’s command center, Admiral Foster was taking a call from the Board. “Admiral Law, do something! This is a disaster!”
Admiral Law braced to attention. “Yes ma’am!” Turning to his staff, he yelled – “Set the fire controls to maximum saturation of incoming missiles. Five AMM’s to one incoming missile!” The staff raced to obey as the Admiral watched the seemingly endless wave of missiles breaking over the Earth. Behind him, forgotten, the Federation Board argued amongst themselves, each accusing the other of being at fault.
The Earth’s defensive PDC’s increased their rate of fire and Admiral Law leaned forward as the outgoing anti-missiles began taking out the Dregluk offensive missiles. There was cheering in the command center when the fourth salvo of Dregluk missiles was stopped short of the Earth, but then three missiles from the fifth wave got through and hit the Tennessee, a jump cruiser in the yards for a refit. The big ship’s armor was scored. Admiral Law felt mixed emotions when he realized that the Dregluk targeting had shifted. He didn’t want civilians to die, but his fleet was vulnerable. The PDC’s had massive amounts of armor to protect them, but his fleet didn’t.
Ten missiles got through from the sixth salvo, heavily damaging a North Carolina class jump ship in the yards for refit. The Dregluk targeting for the next salvo shifted and the eighteen leakers streaked in and hit an Aegis anti-missile base, destroying a fire control through shock damage and causing significant collateral damage.
“Admiral, the fleet is running low on AMM’s. Earth Defense Command reports that their bases are running low on Aegis II’s, and that they are restocking with older Aegis AMM’s.”
Admiral Law scowled. This was rapidly becoming an impossible situation. They were only about halfway through the attack and already they had burned through thousands of AMM’s. And, while switching over to the older Aegis AMM’s was better than nothing, the older AMM’s would have an even harder time intercepting the fast Dregluk missiles.
The next several salvoes are targeted on orbiting ships. An explorer that had recently been converted to a missile barge was damaged, as was an FFG in refit. A second FFG was completely destroyed by the alien missiles.
The tenth salvo split up into three groups, one targeted on the Earth, the second targeted on the Moon, and the third racing between the two, targeted on the fleeing civilian ships that had left the Earth when the missiles came into detection range. All of the missiles in this wave were destroyed, but some of the missiles in the next wave, all targeted on the Moon, got through and slammed into a terraforming ship. That caused the Board to begin screaming at Admiral Law, again, but he ignored them and closed the communications link. He was pretty sure he was screwed no matter what happened, and he needed to concentrate. He had kept the terraformers in orbit over the Moon specifically so that they might absorb some of the missiles that otherwise would have been aimed at his ships. And it was working. If the Board didn’t like it they could fire him. Or shoot him. He didn’t really care anymore.
One of the defensive PDC’s on the Earth began launching the older Aegis AMM’s, its stocks of the more advanced AMM’s having run out. Six leakers from the twelfth salvo slammed into another terraformer as the remaining PDC’s on Earth switched to the slower Aegis AMM’s. There were eighteen leakers from the next salvo, and a terraformer was completely destroyed by the onslaught. The older Aegis missiles were having a hard time even catching the fast Dregluk missiles, much less destroying them. The next salvo is targeted on civilian freighters orbiting the Moon, and several are destroyed.
The next several waves are targeted at ships orbiting the Moon, or which are fleeing away from the Moon. The sixteenth salvo, though, is targeted on a Lunar PDC. The PDC suffers minor shock damage, and seventy-two automated mines are destroyed, but the bulk of the Lunar population is in shelters and there are no deaths.
The next four salvoes are targeted on the shipyards in orbit over Earth. Eighty-nine missiles from the four waves get through the defenses. The damages are relatively minor considering the number of missiles that got through. Two slipways in a yard building terraformers are destroyed, two slipways building missile boats are destroyed, and a new shipyard devoted to the new 1,000 ton interceptor class ships is destroyed.
With that the attack is over. At least for now. Admiral Law and his people are absorbed with trying to pick up the pieces. His two remaining active ships, the Mars and the Bihar, are dispatched to pick up life pods from the ships destroyed around the Earth and the Moon. In addition, they are coordinating with Earth Defense Command to redistribute the remaining AMM’s to all remaining units.
Ever since Admiral Law cut them off the Board has remained silent in their command center outside of Detroit, much to the relief of everyone. For his part, Joe Foster has been busy collating information gained about the Dregluk missile attack and formulating plans for dealing with future attacks, should they survive this one. In spite of the ships lost in orbit, Earth’s offensive strength survived the attack unscathed. If the remaining Dregluk ships continue to close the odds are that the PDC’s will be able to handle them. If the Dregluk have expended all of their missiles.
At 1053 hours Earth’s sensors detect a new wave of missiles headed for Earth. These contacts are larger than the missiles of the first attack, and slower. There are 230 missiles in the lead group, speed 25,971 kps. Admiral Law recalls his ships from their rescue duties, and Earth’s remaining stocks of missiles are redistributed between the PDC’s and the orbiting ships. The incoming missiles continue to appear on the sensors for 620 seconds, for a total of 4,189 missiles total. Desperation sets in among Earth’s defenders. There is a grand total of 4,501 defensive missiles left.
Admiral Law looked around his command center. Officers were yelling at each other and pointing at the plot. The comm channels had gone wild, and it was obvious that Earth Defense Command had gone into meltdown. They were staring at their doom and everyone knew it. He could feel the despair himself, but…his eyes were drawn to the incoming missile wave. They had a duty. “Stop! Damn it, Stop!” At the crack of his voice the yelling in the command center stopped and the officers and technicians turned towards the Admiral. Panicked babbling could still be heard from the communications lines, but aside from that the room was silent. He flung out an arm, pointing plot which was showing a huge stream of missiles heading directly for Earth. “Those missiles are coming, and they are coming no matter what we do.” He walked forward until he stood in front of the plot. “No matter what we do now millions are going to die, we know that. But we can still make a difference. We can do our best to stop as many of those missiles as we can. We can do our jobs!” His voice had risen to a roar. “We can protect the people of the Earth, and make sure there is something left after this attack. Something left that can rebuild and take the fight to the Dregluk!” He looked around the room and saw that on many of the faces fear was being replaced by resolve. “We can do our jobs! And if this is our final moment, then we can damn well make it our finest moment!”
The room broke into cheers as the officers turned to consoles and began coordinating the defense of Earth. Admiral Law walked into his office and prepared to do for Earth Defense Command what he had just done for his staff. They didn’t have much time.
At 1125 hours the first AMM’s are launched from Earth. The few remaining Aegis II AMM’s are quickly used up and the defenders are forced to rely on older Aegis AMM’s from almost the first. The fact that the Dregluk missiles of this wave are slower than the ones in the first attack help, but not enough. From the first massive numbers of missiles get through the defenses to strike their targets, and nuclear fireballs begin to blossom all across the Earth and its orbital space. Earth’s defense missiles achieve an incredible 40% interception rate as Earth’s defenders are forged into a team, working as one, under Admiral Law. The Board has gone silent in its bunker, and Earth Defense Command has rallied to Admiral Law’s clarion cry for the defense of the Earth.
The first targets of the Dregluk missiles are Earth’s PDC’s. While none of the PDC’s suffer an armor breach, two suffer damage from the massive shocks that rain down on them as they are pounded. The collateral damage to the surrounding areas is immense. The Dregluk are using big warheads and millions die in the onslaught. There is a tidal wave of destruction as missiles rain down on the Earth. Just by random chance, the Federation Board’s command center was completely destroyed by a stray missile. The bunker underneath was destroyed as well, decapitating the Federation and Earth’s leading corporations. Nearly 26 million people died along with the Board as Earth’s defenders strive to stop the incoming missiles.
Ships in the orbital yards for refit come under fire early and many are destroyed by the deluge of missiles. The jump cruiser Bihar, Admiral Law’s flagship, came under fire in the fourth wave, but the ship’s luck continued to hold and her shields remained up after the explosions cleared. The Mars came under fire next and the big ship suffered under the avalanche of missiles. When the explosions cleared the ship was still under way, but it was reporting multiple armor breaches and heavy internal damage.
It was at this point that the Lunar PDC’s ran out of AMM’s. Dregluk missiles continued to pelt targets across the Earth and in orbit. In the sixth wave Earth’s anti-missile bases came under fire, and although their armor held they all suffered minor internal damage from shock. In orbit the Federation’s last scout fell to the deluge of missiles, disappearing in an intense explosion at the center of multiple missile blasts. As the attack went on the Dregluk missiles shifted their focus to the units orbiting the Earth, and numerous ships were destroyed, fighting to the last.
Ultimately the Dregluk missiles shifted their focus to the Moon. Civilian ships that had returned to shelter in the Moons orbit were the first to die, followed by the terraformers orbiting the Moon. The attack then changed to focus on the Lunar PDC’s. By this point Earth’s defenses were faltering as the defensive missiles ran low. Two of the three Lunar PDC’s were destroyed by the Dregluk missiles, and the third was damaged. As the PDC’s were destroyed Dregluk missiles began raining down across Copernicus crater, nearly destroying the entire settlement.
The last wave of Dregluk missiles spent itself on the orbit shipyards, destroying two slipways building patrol cruisers.
Throughout the attack Admiral Law was in constant motion, issuing orders and coordinating actions between the fleet and the EDC. To him the attack seemed to last forever, but when the command center fell silent he looked up at the chronometer and saw that it had lasted for only six minutes. He peered at the system plot. Eight of the smaller ships from Dregluk Charlie were still headed in the general direction of the Earth, although their course was off to one side of the planet. Two ships from Dregluk-Bravo were also headed towards Earth, while the remainder of both groups were headed back towards the jump point. He focused on the Dregluk ships, trying to divine their intentions, but his concentration was broken when Lt. Commander Hargreaves approached him.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
Admiral Law chuckled mirthlessly and waived carelessly around the room. “We have a lot of problems, Ewan.”
Hargreaves shook his head. “No, I mean an immediate problem. The Moon got plastered in those last salvoes. Copernicus is as good as gone, and whoever’s left over there is panicking. They are broadcasting, in the clear, to everyone in the system that they surrender to the Dregluk and will do whatever they need to do to avoid further bombardment. The last PDC on the Moon is damaged and has gone over to them. I get the feeling that their command staff was killed in the battle and whoever’s left there doesn’t really know what they are doing. Whatever is going on, they’ve commandeered ships in Lunar orbit and are trying to reach the Dregluk fleet to surrender to them. They are calling on all other colonies and the Earth to surrender alongside them and to end this.”
Admiral Law shook his head. They had barely survived the attack, and now this. “What does the Board have to say about this?”
Hargreaves hesitated. “Uh, sir, their command center was hit early in the attack, remember? We’ve dispatched crews to the area, but it’ll be some time before we can determine if anyone is still alive. They got plastered pretty hard.”
Admiral Law called up an orbital view of the Detroit area and winced. The entire city had been plastered by nuclear warheads. The devastation was unthinkable. Till now.
Admiral Law stood still for a second, considering the situation, then he walked slowly over to the plot and leaned over it. The information on the plot wasn’t encouraging. They had gotten plastered, sure enough. But they weren’t out of it yet. Not by a long shot. “Put me on broadcast, in the clear. I want everyone to hear this.” At a tech’s questioning look, he nodded. “Everyone. Civilian and military alike. In the clear. Send it to the outer colonies as well.”
He waited until a tech signaled that they were ready, then stepped forward into view of the pickup. “I am Admiral Law, commanding officer of the Federation Militia. In the absence of the Federation Board and CEO, I am assuming temporary command of all military forces in the Solar System. We have been attacked by an alien race known as the Dregluk. Most of you don’t know who or what they are, and that will be addressed in the coming days. Secrets have been kept, too many and for too long. In the meantime, though, we have to deal with the situation we have in front of us. To those of you on the Moon that have reached out to the Dregluk, stand down! Cease all transmissions and return all ships to orbit. Do so now. If you don’t turn back within two minutes I will open fire and destroy any ship still headed out-system. Admiral Law out.”
Two minutes passed without any changes. The lunatics in charge on the Moon continued to broadcast to anyone that would listen, and the ships continued to move away from the Earth and the Moon, headed out-system towards the Dregluk fleet. Admiral Law watched as the chrono counted past two minutes, silently hoping that whoever was in charge on the Moon would come to their senses. The voice from the Moon continued to plead for surrender to the Dregluk, and the ships continued towards the Dregluk fleet. Finally, Law ground out the order. “Open fire.”
EDC, which had acknowledged Law’s assumption of command immediately, launched missiles targeted at the lone remaining PDC on the Moon and one of the ships. The voice from the Moon faltered, and then stopped when both targets were destroyed. Two of the remaining three ships turned back to the Moon immediately, and then a new voice called out. “We give up! Don’t bomb us any more, for god’s sake! We just want someone to help us!”
Admiral Law nodded and gestured for an open line again. “Very well. Help is on the way. But first we all need to survive whatever the Dregluk have left. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” Admiral Law stood silently for a minute as the command center staff bustled around him. Finally, he nodded to himself and beckoned Lt. Commander Hargreaves over. “Ewan, I have a job for you. Take a squad of security troopers and get over to that place that they are holding Joe Foster. Spring him and get him back here right away. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” Hargreaves walked out of the command center as Admiral Law turned to his operations chief. “Lucas, those Dregluk ships heading across the system are going to be a problem. Their projected course takes them outside of Earth’s missile envelope, and who knows what they are up to. We need to stop them.”
Commander Stevens looked pensive, and then consulted his tablet. “Well, all we have operational at this time that could catch them is the 1st Missile Boat Squadron. They have the speed, but they’ve got no anti-missile capability.” He swiped his tablet a couple of times, then nodded. “We could send the Bihar with them. She’d slow them down, but she could cover them with her missile defenses.”
Admiral Law walked over to the plot and frowned, studying the dispositions of the various forces displayed. After a few seconds he shook his head. “No, we can’t risk the Bihar out there.”
Commander Stevens started. “But sir! That would leave them uncovered!”
Admiral Law continued staring at the plot. “I know.” He turned and looked Stevens in the eyes. “I know what I am telling them to do. The Bihar would slow them down too much, and besides, we can’t afford to send the Bihar out with AMM’s that will likely be needed here.” He turned back to the plot. “Those Dregluk ships are going someplace, and I want them stopped. Missile One is the only group we’ve got, so they are up. Let them know.”
Commander Stevens took a step back and saluted, then turned away. Admiral Law continued to watch the plot, trying to divine the intent of the Dregluk ships that were still approaching the Earth.
Just over an hour later alarms began ringing in the command center yet again. The long ordeal wasn’t over. This attack was composed of tiny missiles barely three times larger than the Federation’s AMM’s. The small Dregluk missiles were hard to detect, and as a result they got relatively close before the Earth’s sensors picked them up.
Once again, the Earth’s population cowered in fear as anti-missile missiles roared away from Earth to intercept the death reaching out for them. The first four waves of missiles were targeted on Earth’s offensive PDC’s. The Earth’s defensive missiles, fired late and slower than the incoming missiles, only managed to take out a few of the incoming missiles, but fortunately the small Dregluk missiles had equally small warheads. The PDC’s weathered the attack without additional damage, but collateral damage killed millions. The Dregluk targeting shifted to a jump cruiser being refitted, causing internal damage, and then to a North Carolina class jump ship, which was wiped out. The attacking missiles then shifted to target the PDC’s again, causing minor armor damage, and a converted exploration ship in orbit. The new Defender class missile barge survived the attack, although its shields were depleted. The next several waves targeted the orbital shipyards, but the Dregluk missiles were too small to cause significant damage.
It was after this attack that Lt. Commander Hargreaves returned with Joe Foster. Admiral Law met him in his office, which was located off of the command center’s main room. The office had big windows through which the occupants could look down on the command center and its bustling activity, and that was where Foster found the Admiral as he was ushered into his sanctum. As he entered the room he could see that Law’s face was haggard, and that he looked like he hadn’t slept in days. “Alex, you look like hell. How are you holding up?”
Admiral Law turned from the window and moved forward to shake Foster’s hand. “I won’t lie, it has been hell. What do you know?”
“Well, I assume I’ve got you to thank for the setup they had for me at the prison?”
Admiral Law nodded and gestured at a chair, then took one himself. “That was me, with Ewan’s help.”
Foster nodded. “Ewan filled me in on a lot on the way over. I assume that my being here has something to do with the fact that the Board is gone?”
Admiral Law nodded. “Joe, I won’t beat around the bush, I need you. The Earth needs you. Everything is chaos right now. Initial information is that around two hundred million have died in the attacks on Earth and the Moon, and that number is going to go up by a lot over the next several days.” He leaned forward and rubbed his face. “Here’s the thing. In the chaos after the big attack, I basically took over. No one knew what was going on, the Board was gone, Copernicus was gutted, and everyone was panicking. I went public with the whole thing and assumed command. I could feel everything flying apart in the aftermath of the worst disaster in the last couple of centuries, so I did what I had to.” He shook his head and leaned back. “Thing is, all I meant to do was bring all the military forces under my control so I could coordinate the defense efforts. That had to be done or we weren’t going to survive. Fortunately, everyone was scared enough of the Dregluk that they all fell in line right away. I was worried about Earth Defense Command but with the Board gone they fell right in line. What I didn’t count on, though, was that we’d start hearing from the various corporations and regional governments out there. They saw my broadcast and they jumped right on board. The thing is, either they’ve suffered grievously from the bombardment, or they want to help those who have.” He leaned forward, looking at Foster intensely. “Joe, I need you to handle that, while I get our defenses back in shape. Someone needs to coordinate the civilians, and to coordinate whatever assistance we can give them. That’s got to be you. You are going to have a lot of credibility in the coming days, once the truth about the Board and their mishandling of the Dregluk gets out, and that will help you manage the civilians. I’ll give you whatever I can, but I need to focus on what’s going on in there.” He gestured to the command center just as an alert popped up on his communicator. He swiped it and Lt. Commander Hargreaves began talking.
“Sir, you’d better get down here. Missile One is under attack.”
“Damn it! Joe, get to it, I have to deal with this.” Law ran out of the office, leaving Joe Foster with the weight of the world resting on his shoulders.
Seconds later Admiral Law entered the command center, and Hargreaves met him at the door. “The missiles appeared out of nowhere. Two boats are gone, three damaged and dead in space. One boat is intact.”
By then they were at the plot table. Admiral Law could see that his gamble had failed. “Ewan, tell the surviving boat to rescue the survivors and turn back. There’s nothing more that they can do.” Lt. Commander Hargreaves nodded and moved away to send the orders. Four minutes later he returned. “Sir, Lt. Commander Burton on board the MB-012 has, well, she has refused your orders. She says that they will continue with the attack.”
“God damn it!” Law slammed his hand down on the plot table. The sharp crack brought silence to the command center for a few seconds, until the noise began picking back up. “Tell her to…” He trailed off and looked at the plot table for a few seconds, then turned to Hargreaves. “I’ll respond.” They moved over to the pickup at the comms station. “Lt. Commander Burton, this is Admiral Law. You and your people have the thanks of the people of Earth! Go with god. Law out.” He turned and walked away, Hargreaves following.
“Do you think that they’ll make a difference, sir?”
Law was back at the plot table. “Hell no. But they are going to get swatted no matter what they do, and damn me if I won’t support a commander that’s going to get swatted attacking an enemy, rather than running away.”
Thirty minutes later Lt. Commander Burton’s missile boat was destroyed by a salvo of Dregluk missiles. Shortly after that the crews aboard the crippled missile boats abandoned ship as missiles approached. Shortly after that the eight ships from Dregluk Charlie that had been arcing across the system turned and began heading directly towards the Earth. They were 140 mkm’s out at this point.
Over the next several hours the Earth suffered under sporadic and relatively light missile attacks from the Dregluk. They wouldn’t have been much of a threat had the Earth’s defenses been in better shape, but there were few anti-missile missiles left and the fleet had been gutted. Some of the Dregluk missiles were targeted on Earth-based PDC’s, while others were targeted on Earth’s cities. The last missile fell at 2225 hours on the 26th. At that point the eight ships of Dregluk Charlie were just 55 mkm’s from Earth, nearly within range of the Federation’s Bludgeon missiles, but that was their closest approach. All Dregluk ships in the Solar system were now headed out-system, towards the jump point to Washington.
On August 27th, at 1550 hours, the last Dregluk ship transited out the Solar System. Six hours later Admiral Law dispatched the Bihar to pick up the life pods from the ships destroyed away from Earth during the Dregluk incursion. The Mars and the other damaged units are moved into the yards for repair, leaving the Bihar and three older missile boats as the only functional units in the Federation Militia.
-
August 15, 2134: Detection of the Dregluk fleet in the Washington system.
August 23-27, 2134: 2nd Bombardment of Earth
August 27, 2134: In the aftermath of the battle the Federation develops the Aegis IIm. This new AMM uses the base design of the Aegis II and reduces space devoted to maneuverability enhancements and devotes that space to additional engines and fuel. The resulting design has a speed of 44,800 kps and a range of 6.5 mkm’s. In addition, the design teams begin work on the Bludgeon mLR ASM. This ASM will have a range of 275 mkm’s and on onboard active sensor, at the cost of the warhead, which has been reduced in size by a third. These designs are being developed with off-the-shelf technology and are considered stopgaps only until improved technology can be developed.
The population on Earth and the Moon suffered terribly in the attacks. While the exact number of deaths will never be known, Earth lost approximately 250,000,000 people, and 100,000,000 were killed on the Moon. Approximately 2000 industrial facilities were lost on the Earth and the Moon. Worse, people will continue dying due to the effects of the bombardment on Earth’s environment. Scientists have calculated that Earth’s average temperature will drop 25 degrees over the next several days.
Earth Status: -26% ind efficiency, -25 degrees ave temp.
August 28, 2134: Emergency research on is completed on a hi-power AMM drive. This new AMM engine, which uses previously researched engine power enhancements, will increase AMM speeds substantially. In addition, research is completed on an AMM box launcher.
August 30, 2134: The Bihar returns to the Earth and drops off survivors, then sets out for the Washington system to rescue survivors there. Unknown to those in the solar system, the Dregluk attack fleet begins transiting out of the Washington system through the jump point to the Denver system, not the previously unknown jump point they entered through. The Denver system was probed after its discovery in 2133. The system has an Earth-like planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere but there was no intelligent life there at the time of the probe.
Sept 1, 2134: The Bihar enters Washington. The listening post reports the disposition of the Dregluk fleet. The Bihar jumps back to Sol with rescued crews at 0631 hours. At 1401 hours the last Dregluk warship jumps out of the Washington system, leaving a sole jump gate construction ship on the far side of the system. JCS Rig #02, lying doggo 260 mkkm’s from the Denver jump point and trying very hard to remain unseen by the Dregluk warships, now powers up its drive and heads back to the solar system.
Sept 2, 2134: The Bihar returns to the Earth with survivors from the Washington system.
Sept 3, 2134: A newly launched naval ship, an FFG, is turned around immediately after launch into refit. All available construction capacity is devoted to munitions factories to boost AMM production (Aegis IIm).
Planetary defense Review:
5xBoard class PDC’s, 2 have armor penetrations, all five damaged, 2 moderately
5xAegis PD PDC’s, all have armor damage & light to moderate internal damage
10x Final Line PDC’s – undamaged
Joseph Foster is named President of the Interim Council of Sol. Fleet Admiral Law is put in overall charge of the Solar System’s defenses. Earth is operating under emergency rules, and everyone fears a return of the Dregluk far more than any fear of a potentially oppressive government. Privately, Foster and Law hope that the massive missile expenditure by the Dregluk will take time to replace. In addition, they are worried that the Obscura might choose this time to suddenly appear in the Solar System.
Sept 8, 2134:
Aegis III developed: Speed 48,000 kps, Range 11.1 mkm’s
The Aegis III design incorporates newly developed engines to improve the missile’s speed and fuel efficiency. All planetary production switched over to produce the Aegis III.
Sept 22, 2134: The only terraformer to survive the Dregluk incursion goes to work pumping greenhouse gases into Earth’s atmosphere to try to counteract the dust from the bombardment.
Bludgeon mLRASM developed: speed 20,000 kps, WH 16, Range 276 mkm’s. This design, like the previous design, mounts armor and ECM. In a first for the Bludgeon missiles, this design mounts a small active sensor. This redesign of the Bludgeon missile was done using off-the-shelf components used in the previous design.
September 27, 2134: President Foster and Admiral Law decide to focus on system and planetary defense first, before developing offensive capability. To this end, systems like fire control and active sensors that will be able to properly utilize the newly developed AMM’s and extended range missiles are under prioritized. Once they are available, new PDC’s will be built to secure Earth. Shipyard capacity will be devoted to building new “monitor” classes. These new classes will be designed to defend the jump point and prevent further incursions.
All R&D projects have been reorganized and reprioritized based on the overwhelming need to defend Earth. Short term gains are prioritized over long-term economic R&D and military R&D that can’t be realized in the short term.
President Foster orders fuel refining on Earth to stop due to low sorium stocks. The Federation had continued refining in spite of the low stocks as all five Board members had investments in the refineries.
October 17, 2134: At 048 hours, the listening station in the Washington system detected six Dregluk warships of the 9,500 ton size transiting into the Washington system through the jump point on the far side of the system. This is the same jump point that the huge Dregluk fleet used on its way to the Solar system. The Dregluk ships are on a course to the in-system jump point that will put them in position to either move to the jump point to the Solar system or to the Denver system. The listening station transmits a warning to the Defender-003, which is sitting on the jump point to the Solar system.
Thirteen hours later two additional 9,500 ton Dregluk warships jump into the Washington system through the unexplored jump point. Three hours later fourteen additional ships jump in, bringing the total to twenty-two. Ten of the newcomers are the 28,550 ton ships, now designated as the Mammoth class BB’s and the remaining four are 19,100 ton ships. So far, the weapon types of these ships are unknown, but assumed to be missiles.
Admiral Law orders all Federation controlled non-combatants to relocate to the emergency rally point at the comet Van Biesbroeck. President Foster issues evacuation orders to the area’s most likely to be affected by a planetary bombardment.
October 21, 2134: At 0650 hours the lead group of Dregluk warships performs an in-system jump. The listening post watches carefully as the Dregluk force sets out on a course for the jump point to the Solar System. A warning is sent to Defender-003.
Admiral Law requests permission to deploy the fleet to the jump point, to ambush the first wave of Dregluk ships. President Foster turns him down, pointing out that the remaining active ships in the fleet are mismatched and ill-equipped to counter six ten thousand-ton enemy ships.
October 22, 2134: The listening post in Washington detects seven more 9,550 ton ships jumping into the system. No warning can be sent, as the Defender-003 has returned to the Solar System ahead of the oncoming Dregluk fleet now closing on the jump point.
At 0607 hours the lead Dregluk group jumps into the Solar system. The seems to be on a course that will take it between Earth and Mars, which is now closer to the jump point than the Earth. President Foster again denies permission for the fleet to sortie. He continues to believe that two jump cruisers armed only with AMM’s, two jury-rigged Defender class ships, and three older missile boats will just be destroyed without affecting the enemy at all. Their target isn’t clear. After some analysis Fleet intelligence determines that the Dregluk ships are attempting to intercept the slower terraformers en route to their rally point away from Earth. Admiral Law orders the terraformers to reduce speed to station-keeping, as they are far outside of the Dregluk ship’s active sensor detection ranges. Shortly after the terraformers reduced speed the alien ships turned towards Earth.
At 1839 hours the second group of Dregluk ships begins transiting into the Solar System.
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October 25, 2134, 0150 hours
The incoming missiles were detected by Earth’s thermal sensors 35 mkm’s out. The missiles had a speed of 36,000 kps, consistent with the smaller missiles used by the Dregluk in the last attack. With just sixteen minutes before the attack, President Foster broadcast a message to all of humanity as they sheltered in bunkers, or basements, or wherever they could. “Once again we find ourselves under attack by the Dregluk Imperium. Once again Humanity’s defenses will be pressed hard. And once again, people will die, because those defenses are not perfect.” President Foster’s voice had been grave and solemn, but now it rose. “But there is a difference! This time you will all understand what is happening. You will not cower in ignorance, wondering what is happing or why! We have been open with you about how the corporations blundered their way into this war, and that openness will continue. During the battle I will personally ensure that the information that reaches me will also go out to all of you. Everywhere you might be, as long as the network holds out, you will be able to see the same plot that I will be seeing. You will know what I know. Just remember, as you watch, that your defenders are struggling to stop the Dregluk onslaught, and that they do this for us all! This will not be the last attack! There will be more, and we must be ready. Humanity stands on the brink! Only you can decide, will this be the end, or will this be our finest hour? Will we rise to this challenge, as we have to every challenge that has risen before us since mankind left the caves of prehistory? I know what the answer to that question is, but the real question is, do you? We must unite! We must move forward to first make Earth an impregnable fortress, one which the Dregluk cannot break. Once we’ve done that, then we will make the entire solar system into a mighty fortress that the Dregluk, and the Obscura, will find impenetrable. And once we’ve done that, then we will build a war machine that will take this battle to both of those races, and we will make them regret the day they decided to start this war! Never again will Earth be threatened!”
The new planetary anti-missile sensor system achieved target lock on the incoming missiles at 4 mkm’s and the PDC missile defense bases began launching Aegis III’s immediately. The missile defense PDC’s went into rapid fire mode, launching a new salvo of AMM’s every five seconds to counter the massive waves of missiles headed towards the Earth. Once again Earth’s people hid in fear as alien missiles approach. This time was different, though. During the last attack people cowered in fear because they didn’t know what was going on. Their government had lied to them, kept information from them. This time they knew, and President Foster had made sure they understood the stakes. To show them what was being done in their defense, he broadcast a representation of the sensor plot, showing the red streams of alien missiles reaching for the Earth, and the defensive missiles reaching out to stop them. The people of Earth shared in their defense for the first time.
In spite of the improved defensive missiles, some of the Dregluk missiles still got through. The first leakers impacted at 0207 hours, slamming into civilian freighters orbiting the Moon. Unfortunately, the enemy’s targeting soon shifted to Earth and nuclear explosions began blossoming across the face of the planet. The Dregluk were targeting the Earth’s offensive PDC’s, but collateral damage was still intense. In spite of everything that the Earth’s defenders could do, and all of the civil defense preparations, people were dying.
The last missile was intercepted short of Earth at 212 hours, just five minutes after the first missile exploded in Lunar orbit. Four point five million people died in the attack, and thirty-one industrial sites were devastated. As for the Dregluk’s actual targets, the offensive PDC’s, two suffered minor additional damage. The nearest group of Dregluk ships, now just 200 mkm’s away, had turned and was headed back towards the jump point. There were sixteen additional Dregluk ships, in three groups, still headed towards the Earth. The attack wasn’t over. While emergency teams raced to help the wounded and rescue those that they could, Earth’s defenders did the best that they could to prepare for the next attack.
The next attack materialized at 1447 hours. New missiles appeared on Earth’s thermal sensors 40 mkm’s out. The bulk of Earth’s population, huddled in shelters, watched as the seemingly never-ending stream of alien missiles reached out towards the Earth.
At 4 mkm’s the upgraded sensors of Earth’s defense network achieved a target lock on the leading edge of the incoming missile stream, and interceptor missiles began roaring away from bases across the earth. Once again, the defense bases on the earth went to rapid fire in an attempt to saturate the incoming missile waves.
This time the Earth’s defenders did much better. Very few of the Dregluk missiles penetrated to inside of the Moon’s orbit, and of those that did most were shot down before they could hit their targets. The Dregluk spread their missiles across multiple targets. The orbital shipyards were hit by several missiles and suffered moderate damage. Lunar cities were hit again, killing approximately 10 million people.
At this point the bulk of the Dregluk ships are headed back towards the jump point, leaving only two smaller Dregluk warships headed for Earth.
The final attack started at 1754, and AMM’s roared away from the Earth-based PDC’s yet again. The target of the Dregluk missiles was Earth’s offensive PDC’s, which suffered very little damage, due to the diligent defense. The last attack ends at 1804.
Never once during the attacks did the Dregluk try to communicate with Humanity. They issued no threats, or conditions for surrender. They just launched attack after attack. This silence contributed to the unification of Humanity under Foster’s government. Had the Dregluk issued demands for surrender, there would always be those that would argue for it rather than continued resistance. The attacker’s silence, though, made talk of surrender useless. What debate there had been about surrender or appeasement simply went away. There could be only resistance. Humanity emerged from the fires of the third assault on Earth united in their goal of first defending their homes, then destroying those that threatened them. Over the next weeks and months Foster’s Interim Government was overwhelmed with volunteers seeking to join the fight in whatever capacity could be found. Militia and starship crew training centers sprouted, and the Ecological Recovery Corps, dedicated to dealing with the damage to Earth caused by the Dregluk bombardment, was founded.
There was one other consequence of the attack. The Moon was left in chaos in the aftermath of the attack. While the attack cemented the will of population of the Earth together into an overwhelming desire for revenge, the people of the Moon went the other way. Shortly after the attack the Lunar Republic declared independence from the Earth and once again began sending surrender signals to the Dregluk.
The total losses from this attack are much less than those suffered as a result of the second attack. Earth lost almost nine million people, while the Moon lost over ten million.
On Earth the Interim government diverts production away from building new missile factories to refurbishing and upgrading the defensive missile bases.
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October 29, 2134, 2324 hours
New group of seven 9,550-ton Dregluk ships jump into the solar system. These ships have been designated as Harpy class DD’s. They immediately head out across the system, not towards Earth. Their course will take them close to Mars but doesn’t seem to be targeted on anything that the HQ can determine. Admiral Law and his staff debates the wisdom of sending out a strike force, but in the end, they decide they can do nothing. Five missile boats won’t be enough to stop, or even slow down the enemy force, even if they manage to get within range of their own missiles. The situation is dire. Not only is Mars at risk, but also all of the support ships sent to hide on the far side of the system from the jump point.
October 30, 1619 hours
The Dregluk destroyers reach their closest approach to Mars, 44 mkm’s, without any sign of attack. Naval HQ is still unable to determine the Dregluk force’s target as their projected course does not intersect with any system bodies or ships. Shortly after passing their closest approach to Mars, the Dregluk force turns back towards the jump point. One hour later the Dregluk force changed course again, now headed in-system, but still not aimed at any particular targets. Thirty minutes later the Dregluk force again turns towards the jump point. This mysterious activity continued for days, with the Dregluk force steadily drawing away from Mars, apparently headed nowhere in particular.
One officer in the naval HQ speculates that the Dregluk are playing games, or training, as their actions seem focused on a single civilian freighter that they constantly are either closing with or moving away from. By mid-day on November 2 the Dregluk group is well within the inner system, almost directly between Earth and Mars. Over the next twelve hours the Dregluk force continues to move randomly in the inner system, but always drawing nearer to the Earth. By 2330 hours the aliens are ninety mkm’s from Earth, and the planetary defense network is put on high alert. If the Dregluk approach to within 40 mkm’s then they will be engaged with Bludgeon missiles.
At 2354 hours, the small civilian freighter that the Dregluk had been playing cat and mouse with for days suddenly exploded, just 41 mkm’s from Earth. The Dregluk force turned away shortly after the ship exploded.
The defense network watches as the Dregluk ships move about, apparently randomly, but drifting steadily towards Earth. By 0146 hours on November 3, the Dregluk are hovering just over 60 mkm’s from Earth. Alarms begin ringing, signaling another missile attack, however, it soon becomes clear that this attack is focused on the Venusian mining operation. Venus is at its closest approach to the Earth, just over 40 mkm’s away, but there is nothing that anyone on Earth can do when the missiles begin slamming into the planet. Eighty-four Dregluk missiles hit the planet, wiping away all trace of humanity’s mining effort there. Shortly thereafter, a missile stream is detected headed for Earth.
At 0201 hours AMM’s began racing away from the defensive PDC’s. Once again Earth’s population is forced to hide in bunkers, shelters, and basements. The attack lasts for ten minutes, and the defenders had few AMM’s to counter it. By the time it ended almost thirty million people on Earth had died and light damage had been done to Earth’s PDC’s.
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October 25, 2134: Third Battle of Earth
October 29 – November 3, 2134: The Attack on Venus
November 3, 2134: Troop transports arrive at Earth from the cometary redoubt and begin loading troops. Operations will begin on the Moon once the four brigades assigned to the attack and occupation are assembled.
November 4, 0540 hours: The Dregluk destroyer group that attacked Venus jumps out of the Solar System. Admiral Law dispatches a Defender class ship to the jump point to the Washington system to check in with the listening post in that system.
November 5, 2240 hours: The Defender-003 jumps into the Washington system and makes contact with the listening post. The only Dregluk ships in the system are the seven ships that recently left the Solar system. They are currently heading for the jump point to the Denver system. The Defender-003 jumps back to the Solar System to report, then returns to the Washington system to maintain a watch for further Dregluk attacks.
November 6, 2134: The Fleet’s plans for defending the Solar system continue to evolve in light of the continuing attacks. The original plans for deploying a force of large, slow moving monitors to defend the jump points and the inner system have been abandoned, as it would take too long to design and build the large ships. Now Admiral Law’s staff is looking at deploying large numbers of small attack ships capable of launching long range missiles to swarm the Dregluk. To this end, the Fleet has finalized the design of a new generation of missile boat, the Missile Boat r2ER design, to be accompanied by the Falcon ER Interceptor. Both ships will be equipped with box launchers capable of launching the new extended range Bludgeon missiles. There is some debate amongst Law’s staff of the viability of building meson cannon equipped interceptors instead of missile equipped ships. While most favor the missile equipped designs, it is difficult to cram the equipment necessary to detect and target ships hundreds of millions of kilometers distant into such small hulls, making meson-equipped designs look viable.
Four of five AMM bases on Earth have been repaired and refitted to include double the number of fire controls for each base.
November 10, 2134: Interim Government forces begin their assault on the Lunar rebels. The colonists, being essentially defenseless, surrender almost immediately. The surrender launches a debate within Foster’s administration about how to deal with the problematic colony on the Moon.
November 21, 2134: A new system defense strategy is finalized. Phase One will involve refitting and repairing the offensive missile bases on Earth. The refit for these bases will include new fire control systems capable of targeting ships out to 300 mkm’s, the limit of the range of the Bludgeon mLRASM’s. Phase two will be the construction of a number of 1,000-ton shipyards to construct either meson cannon or missile interceptors, whichever design is finally approved. Currently the meson cannon designs are favored, as they will be the perfect weapon with which to engage transit-addled Dregluk ships, all of which are known to be heavily armored. Earth-based construction will continue to focus on building additional munitions factories.
November 25, 2134: The Interim government decides to resettle the Lunar colonists on Earth. The colony ships sheltering at the cometary redoubt in the outer system are recalled.
November 26, 2134: R&D on active search sensors to support the new Bludgeon mLRASM’s is complete. A new PDC, the Oculus class, is approved.
Dec 1, 2134: The autopsies are completed on Dregluk bodies recovered from wreckage in the Solar system. The Dregluk prefer a warmer temperature than Humanity, and a lower gravity (.59 G), along with a somewhat higher atmospheric pressure tolerance.
Dec 16, 2134: R&D on improved missile warheads is complete. This will lead to a new AMM design that should go into production shortly.
Late in the day the Defender-003 jumps back into the Solar System from Washington with the news that two Mammoth class BB’s have entered the Washington system from the unexplored jump point.
Dec 20, 2134: The Defender-003 jumps back into the Solar System with a second report. Eight additional smaller Dregluk ships, of two different classes, have jumped into the system. The Defender-003 sets out for Earth.
Dec 21, 2134:
Designs for new missiles finalized:
Aegis IV AMM: 48,000 kps, Range 7.6 mkm (while shorter ranged than the mark III, improved maneuverability gives it a roughly 2x chance to intercept Dregluk missiles)
Bludgeon LRASM Mk II: 20,000 kps, range 275.9 mkm’s, warhead 20, equipped with armor, ECM, and an active sensor.
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Dec 23, 1912 hours
Two Dregluk Mammoth class battleships jump into the Solar System. Four and half hours later, missiles are detected closing on the defenseless Mars colony, which is, at this point in its orbit, is much closer to the jump point to Washington than the Earth. Unfortunately, the offensive and defensive PDC’s intended to protect the colony are under construction and not yet operational. The inhabitants of Mars have barely a few minutes of warning before the missiles hit. The destruction is incredible. The Martians depend on domed cities to survive, and in an instant of death and destruction most of the domes are breached, killing millions. All contact with the Martian colony is lost.
Dec 24, 2134, 1633 hours
The two Dregluk battleships have closed to 270 mkm’s of Earth. Admiral Law gives the order, and the two newly repaired and refitted PDC’s each launch fifteen Bludgeon mLRASM’s. The planetary defense team is elated at this first attempt to strike back, but they are soon disappointed when the Dregluk battleships turn away from the earth. It soon becomes clear that the new long-range Bludgeons will run out of fuel before they can intercept the enemy ships, unless they turn back for some reason.
At 1902 hours an incoming missile stream is detected forty-three mkm’s out and closing. The experienced crews in the five newly rebuilt, repaired, and upgraded Aegis PDC’s ready their systems and prepared to defend the Earth, yet again.
At 1906 hours the Bludgeon missiles launched at the Dregluk battleships lost their lock and switched over to internal guidance. The Dregluk ships had moved beyond the range of the Earth-based targeting systems.
The Earth’s defense network achieves lock-on at 3.9 mkm’s and AMM’s are launched from all Aegis PDC’s. None of the Dregluk missiles get closer than 1 mkm’s to Earth, but this victory is achieved by expending a lot of AMM’s. The missile wave comes to an end at 1937 hours. The two Dregluk battleships are retreating towards the jump point and will be able to out run the missiles pursuing them.
Dec 25, 1214 hours: The two Dregluk battleships jump out.
Dec 26, 2134: Aegis IV AMM’s put into production.
Dec 27, 1434:
Eight Dregluk destroyer class ships jump into the Solar System. The task group is composed of six Harpy class DD’s and two Vulture class, all 9,500 tons and all capable of 4,631 kps.
Two and a half hours later six more Mammoth class BB’s jump into the system, accompanied by four Demon class cruisers.
Dec 28, 1034 hours
The Dregluk destroyer force is now 266 mkm’s away. Admiral Law gives the order, and forty Bludgeon mLR ASM’s roar away from PDC’s on Earth. This is the Earth’s entire stock of the new long-range missiles. The Dregluk battleship and cruiser force is at 300 mkm’s and closing.
The Dregluk BB’s turn back at approximately 270 mkm’s. The main group of Harpy class destroyers turned back at 1314 hours, at 225 mkm’s range. At that point the Bludgeon missiles were 36 mkm’s from the Dregluk ships and closing. Command staff does a few quick calculations and discovers that the Dregluk destroyers cannot outrun the missiles.
1342 hours
Two salvoes of five Bludgeon missiles each close on their targets, two Vulture class Dregluk destroyers. One of the DD’s is hit by three of the missiles, the other by four. Neither was destroyed, but both were staggered and one’s thermal signature dropped. Twelve minutes later the remaining Bludgeon missiles hit their targets, the six Harpy class DD’s that had turned away. Nineteen out of thirty missiles hit their targets, damaging all six, dropping their speed to half of what it was.
Twenty minutes later the first of the incoming missiles from the Dregluk ships was detected. Earth’s defenders and people settled into what had become routine. The people rushed to shelters, basements, or whatever cover they could find, while AMM’s began racing away from the defensive bases. The Dregluk were merciless, targeting anything and everything they could in Earth’s orbit or on the surface. Multiple Dregluk missiles penetrated the defenses and struck the orbital yards, destroying a civilian slipway. One of the terraformers orbiting Earth, trying to mitigate the environmental damage from the bombardments, was struck, causing minor damage. Several missiles penetrated to Earth’s surface, in spite of all that Earth’s desperate defenders could do, causing light damage to several PDC’s armor, and killing over 2 million people. Sixteen industrial sites were destroyed as well.
In the aftermath of the missile attack, the two Harpy class DD’s and four Demon class CA’s are still inbound.
The Harpy’s close to 73 mkm’s and then turn away. Shortly thereafter inbounds are detected. These are very fast missiles, 41,600 kps, not seen before. Each salvo is composed of twelve size three missiles. While these missiles are very fast, the defenders manage to stop them short of Earth, largely because of the small salvo size. The only missiles to penetrate the defenses hit the colony transports evac’ing moon. Seventy thousand colonists are killed in the onslaught. The last missile is intercepted at 0010 hours on the 29th The CA’s are still closing and are 75 mkm’s away. All other ships have turned away, except for four BB’s, which are now inbound. The CA’s close to 71 mkm’s before turning back, a sure sign that missiles are incoming. The defenders brace themselves.
This missile attack is relatively light, with all missiles stopped short except one, which hit a terraformer for minor damage.
The BB’s continue to close and launch another missile attack. This missile attack is relatively light, and all missiles are stopped short of earth. The BB’s are now 222 mkm’s from Earth.
The BB’s continue to close. At 2020 hours they are 140 mkm’s from Earth, passing Mercury.
Dec 30, 2134, 101 hours: BB’s now 66 mkm’s away. These BB’s have closed to much closer than the last attack by the same class. Admiral Law speculates that they might be out of LR missiles.
Next missile attack begins at 0123 hours on the 30th. The attack is very heavy. The Dregluk missiles are amongst the fastest the Dregluk have used, at 41,600 kps. Once again, the Dregluk use a scattershot targeting technique. The colony transports evacuating the Moon take minor damage, and a terraformer is hit, as is the Jump Cruiser Tennessee and the battlecruiser Mars. Neither the Tennessee or the Mars suffer significant damage. After a scattering of hits in orbit the Dregluk fire shifts to the surface of the Earth. Several offensive PDC’s are hit. The PDC’s suffer only minor armor damage, but the collateral damage is terrible. Over five million are killed and forty-one industrial sites are hit.
The attack is over by 0142. By then all Dregluk ships are retreating. Late in the day the Dregluk BB’s jump out of the Solar System.
January 2, 2135:
The cruisers and destroyers of the Dregluk attack force are maneuvering in the Solar System, beyond the jump point to the Washington system. They show no signs of leaving, or of launching any attacks. They seem to be maneuvering randomly in the outer system.
January 4, 2135
Four Dregluk cruisers and eight destroyers remain in the solar system. The bulk of the Dregluk force is maneuvering apparently aimlessly beyond the jump point to Washington. Two Dregluk destroyers hover protectively over the rebellious Mars colony. All are out of range of the few long-range missiles in Earth’s inventory.
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Classified Top Secret
Compartmentalized X-Ray/Delta
Results of Investigation into and interrogation of Dregluk crew survivors
Executive Summary:
The Dregluk crew survivors uniformly appear to be technically well trained and knowledgeable, and well capable of performing their assigned tasks. On the other hand, they uniformly display a staggering level of social ignorance and retardation that is hard to believe or understand. Their answer for almost any question about how their society works, or why things happen within their society, is always related in some manner to “Those-who-decide”. When asked about their form of government they again displayed a staggering lack of comprehension, referring always to “Those-who-decide”. When asked where “Those-who-decide” are currently, they evince a lack of concern that indicates a lack of involvement in the decision-making process, and a total lack of concern as to its outcome. Indeed, the survivors were very forthcoming with information, showing no signs of resistance to our interrogations or any sign of knowledge that answering our questions would be detrimental for the Dregluk war effort. Indeed, the Dregluk crewers seemed unaware of the fact that they were at war with Humanity, or the consequences of their actions. To be clear, they understood their duties, but not the consequences. The Dregluk crews display a marked lack of initiative at all levels beyond personal survival. For example, the Dregluk missile techs understood what a missile was, and understood that the missile launchers they served were launching missiles but had absolutely no understanding of what their targets were, or even of the consequences of their deployment of their ordnance. All questions by our interrogators about such matters were referred by the Dregluk crewers to “Those-who-decide”.
The Dregluk crew members uniformly stated that they performed their jobs under the direction of Those-who-decide, who were present on their ships and made all decisions of substance. The crews displayed a general lack of comprehension when asked about the penalties for disobeying Those-who-decide, although we were able to determine that Those-who-decide use “Enforcers” at times. These enforcers are viewed with fear by the crews, who displayed extreme reluctance to discuss them.
There were a relative few officer-analog survivors, and those who did survive all appear to have suffered some sort of brain damage. They are non-communicative and generally hostile, requiring interrogators to display caution at all times when in their presence, a marked difference from the crew survivors who were largely docile to the point of apathy. The autopsy of officer-level individuals recovered from the wrecks shows that the officers are uniformly enhanced with implants in their brains and throughout their bodies. While the implants within their brains are currently a mystery, we have been able to determine that the implants found in their bodies would have boosted their strength and speed considerably, making them formidable opponents. None of these implants were functional at the time of examination, and many appeared to have self-destructed at some point prior to the examination of the body.
Conclusion (Tentative): The Combined Interrogation Groups have developed a working theory. The Dregluk appear to be completely subservient to Those-who-decide, but we have not been able to locate any of that class as of yet. Given the cybernetic enhancement of the officer-analogs, we believe it is possible that Dregluk society is an extreme form of dictatorship, with only a relative few at the top having any freedom to decide for themselves. Under such a form of government, the officer-analogs would be local deciders\enforcers, who then suicided rather than be captured and interrogated. It is possible that the suicides of the officers were involuntary, decided by those higher up the chain who didn’t want them exposed to outsiders, or to reveal important information. This top-down society would explain the baffling behavior of certain Dregluk ships in the solar system, who, once they performed their primary mission of launching their missiles at the Earth, seemed to lose direction and begin aimlessly wondering throughout the solar system. Such a society would discourage individual initiative, and if taken far enough, would ensure that no one would make any kind of decision without direction from above. Indeed, the Dregluk crewers examined so far seem incapable of making any sort of decision beyond those involved in their own personal care. If this is true, then it will be extremely difficult to end this war, as no one but the ultimate command authority will be able or willing to make that decision.
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January 5, 2135
Joseph Foster, the de facto ruler of Earth, sighed unhappily. From the first he had been sure that things would get worse before they would get better, and boy had he been right. He set his wall display to show a look-down view of the latest missile damage taken from a high-flying drone and winced. San Diego was never going to be the same. After a few seconds he sighed again. Neither were a lot of cities around the globe. He looked towards the door as his 11 o’clock walked into his office.
Andrew Oliver, formerly Lieutenant Oliver and Foster’s Security and Intelligence officer, sat down across from Foster. He looked intensely unhappy.
Foster arched an eyebrow and said “I’m not going to like this, am I?”
Oliver, now the Provisional Government’s Chief of Intelligence and Security, shook his head. “No, you aren’t chief. Not at all.” He shifted and produced a data chip. “I’ve got all of the supporting data here, but I can summarize it for you, if you like.”
Foster waived a hand at Oliver to continue, and then turned his chair away to focus on the burning remains of San Diego.
Oliver cleared his throat then plunged into it. “You asked me to deep-dive into the current attitudes of the citizens, and the effect that that is having on the developing political processes of the Provisional Government. It isn’t pretty, and its getting worse.” Oliver paused, as if waiting for a reaction from his boss. When he got none, he continued on. “The people were terrified when missiles began falling from the skies. The previous government had kept the true situation from them, so when the Dregluk attacked Earth they were entirely unprepared. In the aftermath of the fall of the old government, and your release of the facts of our contacts with alien races, the people’s fear has largely gone away, now replaced by anger verging on rage. Fortunately, this anger is directed firmly at the Dregluk and at the old Federation government. This anger has had several beneficial effects as far as we are concerned. It has stimulated large portions of the populace to support our actions taken to protect the planet, and made them willing, even eager to endure the hardships inflicted on all of us by the Dregluk bombardment. In addition, workers in the most critical sectors of our economy have proven willing to make extreme sacrifices if it means enabling us to defend the planet or strike back at the Dregluk. Missile productivity, in particular, has soared beyond all previous projections as factory workers willingly work double or even triple shifts for little or no extra pay. Their willingness to sacrifice is matched by the construction workers charged with building new missile factories across the planet. They are working double or even triple shifts to get the new factories finished ahead of schedule. And the zeal of these workers has, if anything, been exceeded by those volunteering to help our units that have been assigned to mitigate the effects of the bombardment and to help those directly affected. The crews of the terraforming ships in orbit have insisted on staying aboard their ships, even under bombardment from the Dregluk, to maintain their efforts to mitigate the environmental effects of the bombardment, and they are just one example of a myriad of heroic efforts by those who have made a life of trying to rescue and/or otherwise help those directly affect by the bombardment.”
Foster’s gaze didn’t move from the display, but he did lift one hand. “But…”
Oliver hesitated for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He knew he was venturing into areas that his boss didn’t want to think about, and he wanted to make sure he presented as strong a case as he could. “When the Board was killed in the bombardment and you were asked to head up the Provisional Government, you made it clear to everyone that you considered yourself to be a temporary stopgap until they came up with a more permanent, and representative, form of government. That’s not happening, though. Instead, radicals are rising up along the fringes, taking advantage of the people’s rage, and instead of pushing back the moderates in power are catering to them and giving way at every opportunity.”
Foster shook his head. He had seen it, indeed, that was why he had asked Oliver to look into what was going on with the lower levels of the Provisional Government, but it didn’t mean he liked it. He turned from the display. “Why is this happening? What’s wrong with the regional governments that they are cozying up to these idiots?”
Oliver looked his boss in the eyes. “It’s a legacy of the Federation. You should know as well as anyone that it wasn’t really a government, if anything it was an anti-government. The Board, and the rest of the primary corporations, didn’t really want to rule the people, they just wanted to be free from interference to make money and act on their plans. Therefore, they let the regional governments take care of all of the nasty issues relating to governance, preferring to remain at arm’s length. Their only real concern relating to the governance of the people was that the Board pretty much uniformly believed that a relatively happy, educated, population was a productive and consuming population, so they made sure that the regional governments were relatively powerless and ensured basic rights. The Board also uniformly believed in keeping the regional governments subservient and in their place, and so made sure that they never got ideas beyond their stations. This made the politicians in charge of the regional governments very timid, and most were effectively bureaucrats that were primarily concerned with keeping the wheels turning and never making waves. Since the people that mostly made waves were the corporate powers that ran the Federation, their method of dealing with those that made waves was to placate them and cater to their concerns, which is exactly how they are reacting to the new agitators rising on the fringes.”
Foster grimaced. “And in the meantime, they are doing nothing on what should be their primary goal, which is to get a new and functioning government set up.”
Oliver looked at his boss carefully. Could he really be this clueless? “Boss, they are waiting for you to tell them what you want.” Foster straightened in surprise. “It’s true. They don’t believe you when you say that you intend to step down once the new government is established. They all think that this is a loyalty test, and they are getting tired of waiting for you to congratulate them on passing it. Eventually they are either going to begin turning to the fringe groups that have been springing up in their areas, or they are going to try to set up an empire themselves.”
Foster looked thoughtful, and then sagged. “You’ve got worse to tell me, I assume.”
Oliver nodded. “That brings us to the fringe groups. They are popping up all along the margins, exploiting the people’s anger and frustration at the continuing bombardment by the Dregluk. Some are revivals of old nationalistic groups that never quite died out, others are religious in nature. They are almost all dangerous and fanatical. The religious groups in particular are a threat. They are all rabidly xenophobic, which shouldn’t be too surprising given the missiles raining down from the sky on a regular basis. In the absence of anything better, more and more people are beginning to turn to these groups to give them a purpose.”
Foster grunted. “How long do we have?”
Oliver shook his head. “The short answer is - I don’t know. Barring any major unexpected developments things should continue on as they have for the next several months. However, after that, there is a rapidly increasing chance of instability as the various fringe groups begin to expand rapidly. When things get bad, they will do so very quickly, as the current system doesn’t have much resiliency or legitimacy in the eyes of the people. You, personally, have a vast amount of respect and support from the people, but that hasn’t translated over to the Provisional Government, largely because you have chosen to work behind the scenes.”
Foster shook his head. “It’s worse than I thought.” His gaze sharpened on his intel chief. “What suggestions do you have for me?”
Oliver set his notes aside and looked his boss in the eyes, his gaze level. “Doing nothing is the surest way to lose it all. The regional governments will all fall or be coopted by the rising fringe groups in six months to a year. The fanatics will then turn on each other in a fight for supremacy. Once that happens you will either be assassinated or turned into a figurehead to give legitimacy to the winning group.”
“Or?”
“Or, you can take control of the process of forming a new government personally. Crack down on the fringe groups and begin reforming the regional governments, moving new, dynamic leaders in while easing the old, ineffective leaders out. But most of all, what you need to do is give the people direction and a cause. They’ve already rallied behind your banner, now you need to lead them. Lead them to victory and they will be yours.”
A look of distaste flitted across Foster’s face. “You’re telling me to set up a dictatorship, aren’t you?”
Oliver held up his hand, palm out towards Foster, as if he was warding off an attack. “Not necessarily. If you put down the fanatics on the fringe and are seen to be reforming the ineffective regional governments, then the people will support you. What you do with that support is up to you.”
A look of intense frustration passed across Foster’s face. “I wanted to avoid just this situation, you know. There have been too many times in history when one man used his power to make things worse for everyone. I wanted a new, just, system to rise from the bottom rather than be imposed from the top.” There was a look that was almost pleading on his face as he spoke.
Oliver shook his head. “Joe, we don’t have the luxury of time. Dregluk forces are trolling around in the outer system right now, and there could be a new missile attack at any time. If we weren’t under near constant attack then maybe there’d be a chance of doing it your way. Maybe. But with Dregluk missiles raining down on our heads and the temperature dropping a little bit more every day, there isn’t a chance in hell that this works out well unless you take a hand and make it work out.”
“I’ll think about it.”
Oliver stood. “Do that. But don’t take too long.”
-
February 1, 2135
The Bludgeon LRASM Mark II is developed. This new missile has the same speed and range as the previous model, but its warhead is 25% more effective. A second team completes research on the first part of a new weapons system, an independently targetable warhead for a deployable mine. The main carrier body is now under development
February 24, 2135
Two Dregluk battleships transit into the Solar system and set out for Earth. The Earth’s defenders watch carefully, and when the two Dregluk BB’s have closed to 255 mkm’s of Earth a strike wave consisting of sixty Bludgeon LRASM Mk II’s is launched. Admiral Law and President Foster made this decision, in spite of the chance that the Dregluk might turn away before the missiles can close to attack range. They desperately need to show the people that their labors and sacrifices are bearing fruit. One hour and eighteen minutes later, with the Human missiles still 57 mkm’s from their target, incoming Dregluk missiles are detected. For the first time Aegis IV AMM’s are launched in defense of Earth. The Aegis IV’s had the exact same engines as the Mark III, but carried less fuel and a smaller, more efficient warhead. The space freed up by these modifications was devoted to making the IV much more maneuverable, and its designers hoped it would perform much better against the Dregluk missiles pummeling Earth. As always, the first AMM’s went racing away from their launchers when the Dregluk missiles had closed to 4 million kilometers from Earth.
By the time the first Aegis IV’s intercepted their targets, the bases on Earth had exhausted their stocks of the new missile and had been forced to switch to the older Mark III’s. The Aegis IV performs wonderfully, achieving hit ratios almost twice that of the Mark III’s. Once more are available the Earth’s defenders will be able to stop Dregluk missile swarms with a much lower expenditure of missiles, and with fewer leakers.
The missile attack ends ten minutes after it started, with the last incoming missile being destroyed 2.7 mkm’s from the Earth. The new missiles performed excellently, and the people’s celebrations are overwhelming as none of the incoming missiles got closer than 2 mkm’s to the planet. The military urges caution, as this was a relatively small attack from two battleships, but still, it is a victory all the same.
Seconds after the last Dregluk missile died short of the Earth, thirty Bludgeon missiles closed with their target, the closer of the two Dregluk BB’s. Nineteen of the big missiles hit the BB, staggering it, causing its thermal profile to drop to about 60% of its former level. The second group of missiles pursues the further BB, which has now turned away and is fleeing. A PDC on Earth launches a second wave of fifteen missiles at the damaged Dregluk BB, in the hopes of finishing it off. Seven minutes later the second BB was hit by the Human missiles. Twenty-one missiles hit the big ship, staggering it, and causing its thermal emissions to drop to about 75% of its former value. That BB continued to flee, while the closer BB, which was also more heavily damaged, continued to close on the Earth.
Two and a half hours later the second salvo reached the closer battleship, and this time when the explosions cleared there was nothing left except a few life pods streaming away from scattered debris. Once again Earth’s defenders and people celebrate the destruction of a ship belonging to the hated Dregluk. Earth has begun to strike back!
February 28, 2135
Six additional Dregluk BB’s transit into the Solar system and set out for Earth.
February 29, 2135, 19:29 hours
The six Dregluk BB’s are 260 mkm’s from Earth when four PDC’s each launch 22 Bludgeon LRASM’s, for a total of 88 missiles targeted on two of the BB’s. This launch exhausts the Earth’s stocks of long range missiles. It takes almost three hours for the LRASM’s to reach their targets but when they do the wait was worth it! Missile after missile slammed into the two targeted BB’s, and when the explosions cleared the BB’s were gone. The four remaining battleships sailed past, like nothing had happened, but on Earth the response was immediate. Celebrations began and continued for hours, with the people not even caring that four more BB’s were closing on Earth. The Earth was striking back! Interim President Foster spoke to the people of the Earth and promised that the Dregluk could be killed and would be killed. One by one if necessary. The PDC’s were reloaded with first generation Bludgeon ASM’s, but these missiles had a maximum range of 41 mkm’s.
The Dregluk ships closed to 63 mkm’s before they turned away, signaling yet another immanent missile attack. The attack started on the 30th, at 0750 hours, and followed the standard scatter-shot Dregluk targeting procedure. The colony transports and terraformers came under fire, with several suffering light to moderate damage. The Mars was hit by one missile, suffering minor shield damage that was quickly recharged. Nine missiles got through everything the defenders could throw at them and hit PDC’s on the Earth’s surface, causing minor armor damage. As always, the collateral damage was devastating. Three million, six hundred thousand people died in the attack, and twenty-two industrial sites were devastated. The initial attack was over by 0800 hours.
A second wave of missiles is detected incoming three minutes later. These are larger, slower missiles. This attack goes on interminably. Eventually the larger missiles run out and are replaced by size 1 missiles. While they are small, they are also slow, moving at approximately 28,000 kps, making them relatively easy to hit. While the missile attack lasts forever, the command staff is encouraged. None of the missiles make it close to the Earth and it appears the enemy is finally running out of more advanced missiles. Last incoming missiles are destroyed short of Earth at 909. The attack lasted over an hour, but not one got through. The four Dregluk BB’s are at 60 mkm’s and receding.
Current Provisional Government Fleet & Defense Forces
Governmental Shipping:
7x Conestoga R2 class colony ships (3 with moderate damage) – assigned to evacuate Lunar colony
37x Long Haul R2 freighters – sheltering at comet hideout
5x Gaia class Terraformers (all five have moderate damage) – assigned to moderate Earth’s ecological damage
15x Hobo class asteroid miners – currently mining the comet Borrelly
3x Construction Rig class construction ships (001, 002, 003) – two are hiding in the outer Solar System, one in the Washington system
3xExxon-Mobile class Refinery Ships – orbiting Uranus
2x Iwo Jima class Assault Transports – Orbiting Earth
2xPeople Mover class Troop Transports – Orbiting Earth
Interstellar Expeditions Survey Group:
1x North Carolina R2 class jump tender (Madrid)
3x Far Seer R1 class Grav Survey ships (GS-001, 002, 003)
Main Fleet:
1x Planet R1 class BC (Mars)
2x Tennessee class Jump Cruisers (Bihar, Tennessee)
2x Defender class missile barge (Defender 002, 003)
1xBrooklyn R3 class Missile Frigate (Sacramento)
1x Missile Boat R2 class (MB-005)
2x Missile Boat R1 class (MB-002, 003)
2xMissile Boat class (MB-007, 008)
Refit Group:
1x Enterprise R2 class Patrol Cruiser (Assistance) – undergoing refit to Enterprise R3 class, has suffered serious damage from missile attacks. Refit due to be completed May 22.
3x Brooklyn class FFG (Cairo, Vladivostok, Tokyo) – undergoing refit to R3 class (Cairo, Vladivostok), and R4 class (Tokyo). The Cairo and the Tokyo will be finished in April, the Vladivostok will be finished in April 2136. The Cairo has suffered serious damage from missile attacks.
1x Missile Boat class (MB-006) refitting to Missile Boat R2 class. Will be finished in July.
Earth Planetary Defenses:
4x Board R1ER class Offensive PDC’s (All four have minor armor damage)
10x Final Line class Offensive PDC’s
5x Aegis R1 class Anti-Missile PDC’s
1x Oculus class Planetary Surveillance Base
1x Looking Glass class Planetary Anti-Missile Sensor Base
March 2, 2135: Earth Defense Command ground forces launch a series of strikes across the Earth, decapitating several large and well-organized fringe groups that have been growing in power and prestige. These include the Church of the End in Europe, The Path, in Asia, and the Constitutional Warriors for Righteousness in North America. Raids also take out numerous smaller groups, along with the others identified by the government as extremists. The EDC reports a ninety five percent apprehension or kill rate on identified leadership. At the same time as the raids, the Justiciary, an organization set up by Interim President Foster to consolidate planetary-level law enforcement functions and to coordinate between regional governments, launches a series of raids to arrest suspected supporters within the government of the underground groups being raided by the EDC, as well as corrupt governmental officials across the planet. Many of these governmental officials are identified by the Interim Government as Corporate Federation sympathizers who committed crimes during the rule of the corporations, or as covert supporters of the extremist groups attempting to undermine the Interim Government and hamper the war effort. Initial reactions by the public are positive, especially when Foster goes public several days later to explain the raids and to announce a major reorganization of the government to better allow humanity to fight the Dregluk, and “any other alien threat”.
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March 4, 2135
Four Dregluk Mammoth class BB’s are approaching Earth, now 254 mkm’s away, well within the range of the long-range version of the Bludgeon missile. After some debate, a PDC launches all thirteen long range missiles in the Earth’s inventory at one of the BB’s. They won’t be enough to destroy the target but they will damage it, making it an easier target in the future or forcing the Dregluk to repair it.
Two hours and sixteen minutes later a single group of sixty-six missiles are detected inbound, headed towards Earth. The defenses went to high alert. Twenty-seven minutes later, as the Bludgeon missiles closed on their target, Aegis IV’s began intercepting the incoming missiles, making short work of the incoming missile swarm. Eight minutes later the Bludgeon long range missiles slammed into their target. The Dregluk Mammoth class battleship stopped only one of the approaching missiles with its CIWS and two missed the target. The remaining ten exploded in close proximity to the big ship, staggering it. When the fireballs cleared the Dregluk ship was still there, but it had slowed to 4328 kps from its former cruising speed of 4607 kps. The battleships continue to approach. Three hours later the damaged battleship’s crew managed to repair their engines and the ship quickly accelerated to full speed.
The four BB’s close to 52 mkm’s before turning away. Missiles are detected shortly thereafter. The defensive PDC’s, loaded now with Aegis III’s as the IV’s have run low, begin firing soon thereafter. The incoming missiles are size one and moving at 28,000 kps. Each group contains ninety missiles. Earth’s AMM’s deal with these missiles easily, with only one missile getting through Earth’s defenses. That missile hit a PDC but did negligible damage and no collateral damage. Admiral Law quickly comes to the conclusion that the Dregluk are launching old AMM’s at them. The attack lasts forever, finally trickling out at 1504 hours on the 5th of March. The BB’s are now 62 mkm’s from earth and receding.
March 6, 2135: The Dregluk BB’s transit out of the Solar System.
March 7, 2135: Admiral Law dispatches the fleet to recover rescue pods from the three destroyed Dregluk BB’s. The Fleet is fully fueled and provisioned with missiles for the operation, as Dregluk cruisers and destroyers are still hovering in the outer system.
Interim President Foster announces that there will be a “constitutional convention” in one week to determine the shape and form of the government of the Earth. Many persons representing different interests and viewpoints are invited, including more than one CEO that was active in the old Federation. While there is some protest about the lack of warning or time to prepare, it is muted given the recent unrest and military raids. In addition, Interim President Foster has never been more popular with the people, given the increasing success of Earth’s defenses in the face of unrelenting Dregluk attack.
March 12, 2135: The last colonist is removed from the Moon. Shortly after the last colonist is relocated to the Earth, troop transports arrive and begin lifting the occupying infantry out. Once the troops are loaded, the transports set out for Mars, covered by the fleet.
March 14, 2135: The constitutional convention begins in Caracas, South America. Interim President Foster is the presiding authority. The press is kept out of the daily convention meetings but does have access to the delegates after hours.
March 18, 2135: Two Vulture class Dregluk destroyers have been closing on Mars for the last twenty-four hours. They are now 132 MKM’s from Mars and closing at 4631 kps. Admiral Law has ordered the fleet to remain over Mars. The troop transports have not departed the Moon yet, but he fears that the destroyers are trying to lure the fleet into the outer system, or into some sort of ambush in the region around the jump point. If the Dregluk destroyers approach close enough, he has given the fleet permission to engage with missiles. Unfortunately, after approaching to 100 mkm’s from Mars they turn back towards the outer system.
March 20, 2135: The convention has been going on for six days, and the daily reports from the reporters that have swarmed the city have cast a depressing pall over the convention. Infighting and back-stabbing has abounded, and Interim President Foster has apparently been remote and unapproachable. Worldwide, people are beginning to become uneasy, wondering if this apparent chaos will threaten ongoing efforts to defend the planet.
March 22, 2135: The troops have been deployed to Mars. Taking a break from the convention, Interim President Foster called on the Martian colonists to surrender, however, the situation is too chaotic. There appears to be no central authority, merely competing gangs, vigilante groups, and militias. After several attempts to get the Martians to negotiate, President Foster orders the troops to impose order.
March 23, 2135: The delegates to the convention fall silent. None will talk to the reporters about what happened that day. Several reporters and delegates disappear that evening.
March 24, 2135: Interim President Foster appears mid-day and announces that the convention has successfully concluded. In a rousing speech, Interim President Foster announces the establishment of the Unified Republic of Earth. A majority of the delegates to the convention voted Foster to the position of Consul of the Republic. It will take some time before the details of the new government become clear, but, essentially, the Republic will be ruled by a Consul, who has near dictatorial powers in times of emergency. The Grand Senate of the Republic will wield the real power during normal times and will act as a check on the power of the Consul during war time or during other emergencies.
There is a collective sigh of relief across the planet as the people realize that there will be continuity and that the people that they had trusted to defend them, including Interim President, now Consul Foster, will continue standing between them and the Dregluk. Very quietly several very angry reporters and delegates are released from custody after Consul Foster finishes his speech. The delegates are patted on the head and sent on their way, while the reporters are promised exclusive access to upcoming events by way of an apology.
March 27, 2135: The four brigades deployed to Mars encounter only weak and disorganized resistance and manage to re-impose full control of the colony on this date. Most of the colonists are hungry and afraid, and merely want someone to help them. Consul Foster orders the Recovery Corps to begin shipping volunteers and supplies to the colony immediately.
-
April 6, 2135: The Lunar colony is officially closed. The last colonist has been relocated to Earth and all of the infrastructure has been returned as well. The lunar colonists have been spread across the Earth and the Recovery Corps has made it a priority to integrate them into the local communities where they find themselves.
April 29th, 2135: A single Mammoth class BB appears in the Solar System at the jump point to the Washington system and immediately begins launching missiles at a civilian freighter that was passing close to the jump point. The civilian ship is quickly destroyed by Dregluk anti-ship missiles. In rapid succession several more civilian ships are destroyed by Dregluk missiles. The last civilian ship destroyed is almost 250 mkm’s from the Dregluk BB when it explodes, indicating that the Dregluk have at least partially restocked their long-range offensive missiles.
At 1031 hours another civilian transport is destroyed, this one just 100 mkm’s from Earth. At 12:55 hours the Dregluk BB turns away from Earth, having closed to approximately 275 mkm’s. At 1426 hours yet another civilian transport is destroyed, this one 50 mkm’s from Earth. At 15:08 hours the first missiles were detected inbound towards Earth. Citizens had already dispersed to whatever shelters they could find. There were ten salvoes of twenty-three top line Dregluk ship-killer missiles, speeding towards Earth at 25,600 kps. Against these the Earth’s defenders had the latest Aegis IV anti-missile missiles.
At 1535 hours the first AMM’s raced away from the five defensive PDC’s that carried all of Earth’s hopes and dreams on their performance. The Aegis IV’s were worthy of the hopes of the people of Earth. They perform very much up to expectations and achieve a 35-50% hit ratio, and none of the Dregluk missiles get close to Earth. By the end of the engagement the defenders have decreased the number of AMM’s launched per incoming missile twice, to 3 to 1. None of the enemy missiles approach closer than 3 mkm’s to Earth. There are massive celebrations across the Earth as the Dregluk BB retreats.
Consul Foster orders Admiral Law to begin deployment of the captor mine program. The Dregluk BB’s are not approaching close enough to the Earth to be engaged with Bludgeon missiles, so the captor mines may be the only practical recourse available in the near future.
-
May 1, 2135: With the Dregluk BB well out of the solar system Admiral Law dispatches the FFG Sacramento, one of the fastest ships in the fleet, to pick up the life pods from the destroyed civilian ships. With the Dregluk ships in the outer system Admiral Law has been hesitant to send a ship to the jump point to check in on the Listening Post in the Washington system, but, as the Sacramento has to approach the jump point anyway, he orders the captain to jump into the Washington system as long as the Dregluk cruisers and destroyers in the outer system don’t appear to be reacting to the frigate’s presence.
May 2, 2135, 0707 hours: The FFG Sacramento has reached the jump point to the Washington system. Unfortunately, the Dregluk ships in the outer system have definitely reacted to her sortie and are speeding inward at 4631 kps. The Sacramento’s top speed is 6000 kps, so she can definitely outrun them. The closest group of Dregluk ships is 259 mkm’s away, and will reach the Sacramento’s position in fifteen hours, giving the ship plenty of time, except for three problems. First, the Sacramento is already well within the Dregluk cruiser’s active sensor detection range, and if any of the Dregluk ships have ASM’s, it may not be long before the human frigate is within range of those missiles. The Grand Fleet’s intelligence branch believes that the Dregluk ships loitering in the outer system have expended all of their ranged weapons during their attacks on Earth, but of course no one can be 100% sure, and the Dregluk actions are clearly incomprehensible, making predictions of their future actions difficult at best. The second problem is that the last set of life pods is located between the Sacramento and the oncoming Dregluk ships, meaning that to pick them up the frigate will have to close on the enemy ships. And finally, if the Sacramento does enter the Washington system it will have to wait for three hours for a message to reach the listening post and return. That’s three hours during which the Dregluk ships will be closing on the jump point. In the end Commander Gemma Tyler decides to take the risk to recover the life pods, but to bypass the jump to the Washington system. Any potential intel provided by the Listening Post is not worth the increased risk to her command.
The Dregluk destroyer’s closest approach to the Sacramento was at 0957 hours, as she picked up the 39 survivors from their pods, at which point the two Dregluk ships were 160 mkm’s from the human ship. At that point the Sacramento turned tail and began running towards Earth, quickly outpacing her pursuers.
2135 hours: Admiral Law has been watching the Sacramento’s situation avidly, and, as the Dregluk ship’s in the outer system continued to pursue her, has decided to try and deal with the Dregluk ships in the solar system once and for all. He orders the Sacramento to reduce speed to 4500 kps, just under the speed of the pursuing ships. With any luck the pursuing ships will follow the Sacramento right into the range of Earth’s ASM’s. Unfortunately, that is not to be. At 2237 hours the lead Dregluk DD’s jump out of the system, followed three hours later by the other cruisers and destroyers. For the first time in months the Solar System is clear of Dregluk ships.
May 3, 2135: The FFG Sacramento arrives over Earth at 1217 hours, to the acclamation of the entire planet. Admiral Law publicly welcomes the crews of the destroyed ships home, and Consul Foster awards the Sacramento’s crew a unit citation for bravery in the face of the enemy.
May 7, 2135: At 1117 hours eight Dregluk Mammoth class BB’s appear on the jump point to the Washington system. At this time the Earth has enough LRASM’s in stock to destroy four of the behemoths and severely damage another, if they get close enough. Or, they could be spread out amongst all of the BB’s and hopefully damage all of them. In any case, if these BB’s are loaded with the Dregluk Empire’s best ASM’s then they’ll be able to launch from beyond the range of the Earth-bound bases.
Unfortunately, there are several civilian ships within range of the jump point. The first blows up at 1422 hours. The ship was 269 mkm’s from the jump point when it was destroyed, indicating that the BB’s had at least some long-range missiles. The next civilian ship goes up at 1715 hours. Consul Foster has found it difficult to control the civilian ships, and in spite of constant warnings they still insist on taking least-time courses that take them close to the jump point.
May 8, 2135, 0135 hours: Missiles are detected inbound towards Earth. The Dregluk BB’s are 220 mkm’s from Earth and still closing. Admiral Law orders the Earth’s offensive PDC’s to launch against the Dregluk BB’s. Soon thereafter the Earth’s four offensive PDC’s launch a total of 192 Bludgeon II LRASM’s at five Dregluk BB’s.
At 0204 hours the first Aegis IV AMM races away from the defensive bases. The incoming missile attack is composed of three salvoes of size 5 missiles racing in at 25,600 kps. The first two salvoes have ninety-two missiles in them, while the third has sixty-nine. The Dregluk BB’s are capable of carrying many more missiles than that, so it appears that their supply of their top of the line ASM’s is limited. The attack ends at 0206 hours, with none of the enemy missiles getting closer than 1.5 million kilometers to Earth. Once again the Aegis IV’s prove their worth.
At 0404 hours the first group of Bludgeon II LRASM’s hit their targets. Both BB’s were totally destroyed. After action analysis of the strikes showed that it took just over half of the missiles targeted on the first BB to destroy it, and less than a quarter of the missiles targeted on the second, indicating that both had been heavily damaged and not repaired. The remaining missiles that had been targeted on the first BB acquired a third with their onboard sensors and heavily damaged the big ship. Seconds later the second salvo roared in, targeted on that same BB. The next salvo was targeted on the fourth Dregluk BB. It took only six of the forty missiles targeted on the big ship to destroy it, leaving the remaining missiles of the salvo to target the third BB. That BB was destroyed just seconds later as the remaining missiles homed in on it. Unfortunately, the four remaining Dregluk BB’s were just outside of the remaining missiles’ sensor range, and they self-destructed, leaving the third salvo to home in on the last targeted BB. The last salvo of thirty-two missiles slammed into the fifth BB, heavily damaging it, and dropping its speed from 4606 kps to 3211 kps.
The remaining Dregluk BB’s continued to approach the Earth, heedless of the losses they had just suffered. At approximately 50 mkm’s they suddenly turned away, indicating that yet another missile attack was on its way. Sure enough, Dregluk missiles soon appeared on the Earth Defense Command’s scanners. These missiles were obviously older AMM’s, as they were size 1 and moving at 28,000 kps. Once again Earth’s defenders began launching their own AMM’s at the incoming missile stream once their active sensors locked on to the incoming missiles. The Aegis IV AMM’s were spectacularly effective in this engagement, against the older Dregluk missiles, and none of the incoming missiles got within a million kilometers of Earth. The remaining Dregluk BB’s withdrew without incident. After the last BB left the system Admiral Law dispatched the Sacramento to rescue the life pods from the civilian ships and the Dregluk BB’s. Once again, the Sacramento’s CO has been ordered to approach the Washington jump point and jump out in an attempt to contact the Listening Post in the Washington system.
May 10, 2135: At 0107 hours the Sacramento arrives at the jump point to the Washington system. Her crewers are at their stations, missile tubes loaded, and her sensors are active. After a brief hesitation, Commander Tyler orders her ship through the jump point. The stress onboard the Sacramento was high. No human had jumped into the Washington system in months, and no one knew if the Dregluk had left a ship or ships on guard at the jump point. Or if the Listening Post was still intact. The 128 crew members were able to breath a huge sigh of relief when, after the jump, it became clear that the area around the jump point was clear. Commander Tyler immediately sent a query to the Listening Post in the inner system, and then they settled down to wait. Just over three hours later they received a data burst, along with an all-clear signal indicating that they were not under duress and that they could confirm that the area around the jump point to the Solar System was clear. Commander Tyler sent off a second message, containing updated orders, news, and personal messages for the small crew manning the station, and then ordered her ship to jump out. They had life pods to rescue.
May 11, 2135: The Sacramento returns to earth orbit at 2122 hours to much acclaim and celebration. She has on board, in addition to the data dump from the Washington system, 1,364 Dregluk and 167 human survivors.
After off-loading the survivors and re-provisioning, the Sacramento is dispatched to the jump point again, to maintain contact with the Listening Post.
May 25, 2135: The Sacramento receives a contact report from the Listening Post. A single Dregluk Crow class DD has entered the system from the jump point to the Denver system, and is headed towards the jump point to the Solar system, ETA – approximately 90 hours. Commander Tyler orders her ship back to the Solar system to pass on the information.
May 26, 2135: The lone Dregluk destroyer continues to approach the Sacramento and the jump point to the Solar System. Admiral Law is disinclined to allow a Dregluk ship the run of the Solar System, so after gaining Consul Foster’s approval he orders the Fleet to sortie. They will ambush the Dregluk ship after it jumps into the Solar System.
May 28, 2135: As of 1628 hours the Fleet is eighteen hours from its assembly point short of the jump point. If the Dregluk ship continues on its course, it would be twenty-seven hours from the jump point. It is at this point that the Sacramento jumps back into the Solar System with bad news. Six additional Crow class destroyers have jumped into the Washington system from the Denver system. After some consideration, Admiral Law orders the Fleet to continue on to its assembly point. The new Dregluk forces are too far behind the leading vessel to make a difference.
May 29, 2135: At 1101 hours the Sacramento jumps back to the Solar System, just as the Dregluk DD enters its active sensor range (60 mkm’s). At 1551 hours the lone Dregluk DD jumped into the Solar System. The Fleet sat just 300,000 kilometers away, every crew member nearly vibrating with a need to strike back. Ten seconds after the Dregluk ship jumped in the two Defender class ships each launched four big Bludgeon ASM’s. The Dregluk DD proves to be more resistant to missile fire than the humans had hoped. The Dregluk ship’s CIWS destroyed three of the big missiles on approach, and two of the remaining five missed their target completely. The Dregluk ship was staggered, but still operational. A few seconds later the Mars spat out eight Thunderbolt II missiles. The Dregluk ship intercepts five of the eight Thunderbolts and continues running away, shrugging off the three missiles that hit it as if they were feathers.
Captain Price, the squadron commander aboard the Jump Cruiser Tennessee, has had about enough. She orders every ship mounting offensive launchers to engage the enemy ship. Throughout the engagement so far, the Dregluk ship has not returned fire, but seconds after Captain Price ordered her fleet to open fire the alien DD launched eleven size one missiles. AMM’s began racing away from the Human ships in response. The Aegis IV AMM’s perform flawlessly once again, stopping the Dregluk missiles short of the Fleet. Seconds later thirty-three Thunderbolt II missiles race away from the Human fleet. While the Thunderbolts are racing towards the alien ship a second salvo of incoming missiles is detected. Once again, the Aegis IV’s make short work of the Dregluk missiles.
Finally, as Aegis IV missiles engage the third salvo of Dregluk missiles, the massive wave of Thunderbolt II’s roared in on the Dregluk DD. Only one of the missiles was destroyed by CIWs fire, allowing the others to close to attack range. It took hits by 23 of the ASM’s to destroy the DD. The engagement is over, and the Dregluk ship was destroyed with no damage suffered by the human ships. Still, somehow, it didn’t seem like a victory. It took three missile strikes to destroy the damned alien ship, meaning that practically everything the fleet could put into one salvo would be needed to destroy a Dregluk DD. It was obvious that it would be some time before the fleet was ready to take on the Dregluk head to head.
Captain Price orders one of her ships to pick up the survivors from the Dregluk ship and, once that is complete, to return to Earth. In spite of the dismay felt by the Fleet’s leaders over the effort that it took to destroy one lone Dregluk destroyer, the people of the Earth greet the Fleet upon its return with celebrations that will go down in history as legendary. For the first time the Fleet met the Dregluk in open space and destroyed them before they could fire their missiles at the Earth. The people rightfully see this as progress, and a visible sign that their hard work is paying off.
June 2, 2135: Six Crow class DD’s enter the solar system through the Washington jump point. Shortly after arriving they set out for their target, the Earth. One minute later they pass within 88,000 kilometers of thirteen captor mines placed in between the Earth and the jump point, as a test of the captor mine program. The mines completely fail to react, and the Dregluk DD’s continue on towards the Earth. Fleet techs later strip the logs on board the mines and discover that two hours after they were deployed the mines all released their internal missiles, in spite of the fact that the closest ships to their location at that point were the ships that had launched them, and they were twenty-four million kilometers away, far beyond the captor mines detection radius. The program is placed on hold for the time being.
Captor mine design:
Size 15.4
Active sensor strength: 2.1, resolution 100, range 2,310,000 km’s against a 5,000 ton object
Second Stage: 2x Mine Captive Missile
Second Stage Separation Range: 150,000
Captive Mine Missile Design:
Size: 6 msp
Warhead: 9
Speed: 32,000 kps
Endurance: 1 minute
Range: 2.5 million kilometers
Active Sensor Strength: 1.05, resolution 100, max range verses 5,000 ton object 1,150,000 km
The mine program’s engineers are mystified.
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June 3, 2135: The EDC watches as the six Dregluk DD’s approached the Earth. They held their fire when the DD’s entered LRASM range, as Earth’s stocks of these missiles were limited and the DD’s showed no signs of stopping. Finally, when the DD’s crossed the 41 mkm line, the Earth’s PDC’s each spat forth ten first generation Bludgeon ASM’s, targeted on four Dregluk DD’s. Unfortunately, the Dregluk DD’s had simultaneously started launching missiles of their own and had turned away as they did so. This was bad news for the Earth Defense Command, as the 1st gen Bludgeon missiles had a range of 41 mkm’s, and they had been banking on the Dregluk DD’s continuing to close. The PDC commanders ordered their launchers to reload with Bludgeon II LRASM’s and launched an additional ten mark II LRASM’s each at the retreating DD’s. Seventy-five seconds later a single PDC launches ten additional Bludgeon II LRASM’s at another DD.
The first salvo of Dregluk missiles manage to destroy a civilian shipyard, as they are top of the line Dregluk ASM’s, and the EDC underestimated the number of Aegis IV’s that it would take to kill them. In addition, one of the Earth-based PDC’s suffers a hit on its armor, but it causes no real damage and no collateral damage due to the Dregluk missile’s small warhead.
The second wave of Dregluk missiles is composed of numerous size 1 AMM’s. Once again Aegis IV’s race away from Earth, and once again the AMM’s perform brilliantly, stopping the attacking missiles well short of Earth. Behind the scenes, though, the EDC’s defense coordinators are growing worried. The EDC is having to expend Aegis IV’s at a prodigious rate to stop the numerous incoming Dregluk missiles, and at the current expenditure rate, they will run short of Aegis IV’s before the incoming missiles run out. They face a choice of allowing their defenses to run dry before the incoming missile stream runs out, then switching to older stocks of AMM’s, or reducing the number of Aegis IV’s they are launching at the incoming missiles, allowing the stocks they have to last through the entire attack but virtually ensuring leakers. No decision is reached before the first of the human ASM’s reach their target.
In the middle of the second wave of the Dregluk AMM attack the first wave of human missiles hit their targets. Two of the four Dregluk DD’s targeted are destroyed outright and the other two are seriously damaged. The destruction of the two Dregluk destroyers has an immediate effect on the incoming missile waves as numerous missiles lose their target locks on their Earthly targets and self-destruct. About a minute later the last ten missiles of the human’s attack hit their target, heavily damaging another DD. After that the Dregluk missile attack peters out. With the incoming waves of missiles thinned out by the destruction of some of the destroyers, the EDC is able to maintain its rate of fire and make it through the attack without running out of Aegis IV’s. No more missiles hit their targets on the Earth or in orbit.
In the aftermath of the battle, four Dregluk DD’s are left streaming away from the Earth, three of them limping at reduced speeds. Admiral Law requests permission from Consul Foster to pursue with the Fleet, and the President agrees. Minutes later the Fleet sets out, led by the battlecruiser Mars. Several older, slower ships are left behind.
Almost four hours later the Mars launches Thunderbolt II’s against the rearmost fleeing Dregluk ship at 16 mkm’s range. Seconds before the missiles hit, the targeted Dregluk ship surged in speed as an engine was repaired, but it wasn’t enough to save it. Six of the missiles are destroyed by CIWs fire, but the other two hit the target, causing large pieces of the ship to peel away and releasing gouts of atmosphere. In the aftermath of the attack the Dregluk ship slows down again. The next salvo of eight missiles from the Mars slams home without CIWS opposition, causing even more damage to the Dregluk ship, which is proving more resilient than the humans had bargained for. A third salvo of four Thunderbolt II’s puts paid to the slowest of the Dregluk DD’s.
The next Dregluk DD comes into range of the Fleet just over seven hours later. This time two missile boats launch a total of ten Thunderbolt II’s against the fleeing DD, followed a few seconds later by five first generation Bludgeon ASM’s. Unfortunately, the relatively inexperienced missile crews of the three ships failed to coordinate their fire, meaning that the two groups of missiles would not arrive together. Fortunately for the hapless missile crews, the DD’s CIWs was knocked out of commission by the planetary missile barrage. All ten Thunderbolt II’s hit their target, followed three minutes later by the Bludgeon ASM’s, which completely destroyed the DD.
The Fleet pursues the remaining two DD’s for several more hours, until they jump out. Following orders, the Fleet turns back and sets a course to rescue the Dregluk survivors.
June 21, 2135: A single Dregluk BB transits into the Solar system. Missiles are detected inbound at 1303 hours, at 25,500 kps approximately. The first AMM’s are launched at 1343. The attack stumbles to a halt at 1348 and no missiles approached Earth. The lone BB has turned back towards the jump point, and while it is within range of LRASM’s, no attack is launched. It is a tossup whether the missiles would reach the ship before they ran out of fuel, and it is leaving, so Consul Foster and Admiral Law decide to let it go.
At 1439 a new missile wave is detected headed towards Earth. This wave is composed of missiles speeding towards Earth at 36,000 kps. After the first several interceptions, the EDC orders the planetary and Fleet AMM launchers to begin launching more AMM’s per incoming missile. This missile attack is composed of size 3 missiles moving at 36,000 kps, and is proving difficult for the Aegis IV’s to deal with. The increased fire rate does the trick and the last missile is destroyed at 1451 hours. Six hours later the BB ran right past the jump gate to the Washington system and headed out towards the outer system.
Captain Garner, the CO of the Mars, requests permission to go into pursuit of the Dregluk BB. After consulting with Consul Foster, Admiral Law orders the Fleet to remain in orbit. The BB might still retain large stocks of AMM’s, which would make missile attack difficult and might pose a threat to the Fleet. In addition, closing with the jump point when there might be Dregluk ships on the far side of the jump point, would put the fleet in a very vulnerable position.
June 23, 2135: Eight Dregluk DD’s, six Harpy class and two Vulture class, jump into the Solar System. They head in-system, but it soon becomes clear that they aren’t headed directly towards the Earth. Five hours later they turn towards the Earth. Their original course wasn’t towards any known object or ship.
At 0541 hours three PDC’s each launch fifteen Bludgeon II LRASM’s, followed eighty seconds later by another forty-five mark II LRASM’s. At 0829 the first salvo hits the three targeted Harpy class DD’s. Two are completely destroyed, while the third is crippled. Eighty seconds later the next wave attacks its three targets, destroying all three. This leaves only the two Vulture class DD’s intact. Unfortunately, the Earth is out of LRASM’s.
At 1320 hours the first incoming missiles are detected, and the defenses are readied. Yet again these are top of the line Dregluk ASM’s, incoming at 36,000 km/s. The missile attack is relatively light, as it originates from just two DD’s, and is wiped out short of Earth. The two DD’s continue to obliquely approach Earth.
By 1837 hours the two DD’s have approached to 70 mkm’s from Earth. They hover there for a short time and then turn away. Shortly thereafter a large wave of missiles is detected headed towards Earth. It appears that the DD’s have launched numerous AMM’s against planetary targets. Once again Earth’s defenders brace themselves. The small Dregluk missiles are hard to intercept, and some get through, but losses are light due to their small warheads.
June 24, 2135, 2323 hours: The Dregluk DD’s are now retreating towards the jump point when a several new ships are detected jumping into the system. They are quickly identified as three Demon class CA’s. Several minutes later they are followed by eleven new Dregluk ships, indicating that this will be a major attack. The new force is composed of four Raven class DD’s, and Imp class DD, three Fiend class CA’s, and three Banshee class CA’s. It should be noted that EDC Intelligence is assigning class names based entirely on emission profiles and observed tonnages. Very little is known about the capabilities of each class. Over the next ten hours the Dregluk fleet approaches Earth, then after reaching approximately 70 mkm’s range, it turns back. Shortly thereafter a large wave of small size one missiles appears on EDC’s scanners. Once again missiles race away from the defense bases. The Dregluk attack is stopped once again, although Earth’s stocks of Aegis IV’s are once again low.
The three DD’s from the first attack, and the three CA’s from the second attack eventually transit out, but the eleven remaining ships from the second attack passed the jump point and headed out-system to join the BB loitering there.
July 25, 2135: Two Crow class DD’s jump into the Solar System from Washington. Earth is at its closest approach to the jump, approximately 308 mkm’s. The two Dregluk DD’s are within the EDC’s sensor range, and will be within Bludgeon LRASM range shortly.
Three hours later the two DD’s were 260 mkm’s out and closing. Admiral Law gave the order and shortly thereafter thirty LRASM’s shot away from two PDC’s. Three hours later the missiles hit their targets, which were now 211 mkm’s from Earth. One of the DD’s was destroyed outright, while the other was heavily damaged and reduced in speed to about 80% of its former maximum.
The lone Dregluk DD continues to limp inwards towards the Earth as if determined to complete its mission in spite of reality. After watching the ship approach for 20 minutes Admiral Law orders the PDC’s to launch again, and five LRASM’s are launched towards the Dregluk ship. Two and a half hours later the missiles wipe the Dregluk vessel from space, causing celebrations to break out across the planet.
Two sets of life pods now float out there, between the Earth and the jump point. And there they will float. The government has been under intense pressure to stop rescuing the Dregluk, or the “Beasts”, as the people call them. With a large number of Dregluk ships moving about in the outer system it is easy for the government to decide to avoid the question complete and leave them to their own devices.
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Classified: Top Secret
Need to Know: Ministerial Level or Above
24 June, 2135
Current Status of the Human Race
Earth:
Population: 4.91 Billion
Shipyards/Slipways: 23/44
Industrial Facilities (All): 11,782
R&D Labs: 198
Environment: Average Temp -25.5 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 25% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -5.14%.
Lunar Colony: Abandoned, heavily irradiated
Venusian Mining Colony: Destroyed
1st attack, August, 2134: 200 million killed on Earth and the Moon. The Moon colony is shattered and all R&D labs destroyed. The Earth’s government is decapitated in the attack and later falls.
2nd attack, October, 2134: 9 million killed on Earth, 10 million on the Moon.
3rd attack, late October, 2134: Venusian mining colony destroyed, 30 million killed on Earth.
4th attack, December, 2134: 7 million killed.
Martian Colony:
Population: 12.45 million
Planetary industry destroyed
Environment: Residual radiation from bombardment causing 2.71% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population growth rate is 8.17%. Current infrastructure capacity is 36.79 million. While there is a only a small drop to productivity due to radiation effects, there continues to be unrest and a marked lethargy throughout the colony as a result of the disorder that followed the collapse of the former corporate government during the bombardment. The Interim Government forces deployed to the planet, primarily from the 3rd Infantry Brigade, are spending most of their time trying to root out the criminal syndicates and militia groups that sprang up during the period of lawlessness and that continue to plague the colony.
4th Attack, December, 2134: Unknown number of Martian colonists killed, estimated to be 5-10 million. All mining facilities, both crewed and automated, are destroyed.
Ganymede Colony:
Population: 5.4 million
Industry: 184 mines (both automated and crewed)
Outer System Installations:
Six outer system bodies being mined by mining ships or automated mines.
Total mines: 222
Conclusion:
The long-term effects of the bombardment of the Earth are incalculable at the current time, as the bombardment is ongoing. The current scientific consensus is that it will take years, perhaps decades, for the dust and radiation in the Earth’s atmosphere to clear, and for the birth rate to rise to a positive factor once again. Reports from industrial leaders indicate that in spite of the current dedication of the work force to contribute the war effort, productivity is down by 25%, affecting not only munitions and ground construction efforts, but also shipyard productivity. These effects can be avoided by moving critical industry off planet. There are advantages and problems with all of the existing options:
Option #1: The Moon is close to the Earth, meaning it would take less time to transport colonists. In addition, The Moon’s proximity to the Earth means that it lies within the Earth’s defensive envelope, and can be defended by Earth’s missile bases. However, The Moon was bombarded nearly as heavily as the Earth was, and the radiation present will hinder industrial production nearly as much as it does on the Earth.
Option #2: Mars has an existing population and the lowest colonization cost in the Solar System, aside from Earth. It is farther away than the Moon, meaning that colony ships will have a much longer round-trip time/cost, and it is outside the Earth’s defensive envelope. Indeed, for significant periods of time Mars is closer to the jump point to the Washington system than the Earth, making it a prime target.
Option #3: Ganymede, like Mars, has an existing population, however, the distance from Earth and the high colonization cost both argue against making Ganymede our first choice. In addition, Ganymede suffers from the same problem as Mars, in that it is currently undefended and has likely only escaped Dregluk attention because of its low profile.
Based on the above factors, it appears that Mars would be the best option to escape the pervasive radiation that has poisoned both the Earth and the Moon, but building up that colony will have to wait until defenses can be built and the Fleet has better control of the system.
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August 16, 2135: Two Vulture class DD’s transit into the Solar System. The Earth is still at close to its closest approach to the jump point, putting them nearly within range of the EDC’s LRASM’s from the minute they transited into the system. The EDC waits three hours and then launches thirty missiles at the two DD’s. Just over three hours later both DD’s are wiped from space, to much celebration. Once again, the life pods are left to drift. Private individuals have taken to transmitted taunting messages to the drifting life pods until they run out of life support. Competitions have arisen to determine who gets in the best taunts before the Dregluk run out of air. The few who bother to protest this bloodthirsty sport are invited to tour the dead zones, areas that the Dregluk bombed until they were uninhabitable. Some of these zones are in what used to be the Earth’s biggest cities. Sometimes the invitations are…forceful.
September 3, 2135: Four Demon class CA’s transit into the Solar System. The Earth has begun moving away from the jump point, but it is still relatively close and it won’t take long for the cruisers to enter range of the EDC’s missiles. Six and half hours later the cruisers are 242 mkm’s away and closing. All four EDC offensive PDC’s begin launching missiles. Seconds later eighty missiles are on their way to intercept the cruisers. Nearly three hours later, with the Bludgeon II LRASM’s closing on their targets, incoming Dregluk missiles were detected. Several minutes later the Bludgeon LRASM’s slammed into their targets, damaging all four CA’s. Two of the CA’s were slightly slowed, while the other two were slowed to less than half their previous speed. The EDC decides to let the four limping cruisers go rather than launch another strike. Of course, that meant that the EDC was going to have to deal with the incoming missiles, but it is doubtful that even if the EDC launched a second strike on the limping cruisers that they could have destroyed them before the Dregluk missiles reached their target. In any case, the EDC’s Aegis IV missiles dealt with the attack handily, and none of the attacking missiles made it closer that the Moon.
September 5, 2135: Shortly after the last crippled Dregluk CA transits out, a new Harpy class DD transits into the Solar System. Eight and a half hours later the hostile DD had closed to 210 mkm’s and the EDC opened fire with fifteen Bludgeon II LRASM’s. Almost as soon as the EDC launched the LRASM’s the Dregluk ships turned away and began fleeing back towards the jump point. About an hour later incoming missiles were detected. Two missiles get through everything the EDC can throw at them, killing 1.2 million people and destroying nine industrial facilities. The Bludgeon missiles caught up with the fleeing DD just before it moved beyond their range, heavily damaging the Dregluk ship, leaving hanging in space. Eight hours later the DD is still sitting right at the limit of the Bludgeon’s range, motionless. EDC launches three additional missiles in an attempt to finish it off. Just as the PDC’s launched the DD began slowly moving towards the jump point. Unfortunately for the Dregluk crew, the missiles caught up with the limping DD before she could move out of range and swatted the ship from space. Once again, the life pods were left to their own devices.
September 8, 2135: The first Shield class PDC goes online. The Shield class is the result of concentrated R&D efforts and is the best point defense system that humanity can deploy. The base has one turret mounting four 100mm meson cannons and the most advanced fire control systems that humanity can produce. The turret and the base’s fire control systems can track targets moving at 16,000 kps effectively. Earth’s industry can and will be building a new meson defense base every two and a half weeks.
In the chaos in the aftermath of the bombardment of Earth and the fall of the Corporations, the staff of the EDC dismissed this concept for several reasons. First and foremost, it was clear to all that Earth’s primary defense was going to be based on anti-missiles, and therefore all resources, both industrial and R&D, would have to concentrated in that area if Earth was to survive. The effectiveness of the Aegis IV and the Bludgeon II missiles can attest to the wisdom of this strategy. Secondly, early analysis of the situation showed that humanity’s technology was not up to deploying a tracking system capable of effectively targeting missiles moving at the speeds at which most Dregluk missiles were capable of moving. Therefore, the concept was shelved. After experiencing the near-constant bombardment by the Dregluk, though, the EDC has re-evaluated the concept. Although the tracking system effectiveness of the Shield class will be degraded against most Dregluk missiles, the Shield class units will only have to deal with leakers from salvoes already winnowed by AMM’s, and will provide a last line of defense. In addition, the Shield class can be built by planetary industry, and can be built in large numbers. Quantity will have a quality of its own.
September 23,2 135: The Aegis IV-m goes into production. The IV-m is a modified version of the standard interceptor missile, with increased agility based on newly developed technology that should give the IV-m a much better chance to intercept its targets. The engine and warhead of the original Aegis IV are unchanged.
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October 3, 2135: Consul Foster authorizes Operation Retribution. The operation begins with the FFG Sacramento, which leaves orbit late in the day and heads towards the jump point to the Washington system. Nineteen hours later the Sacramento jumped through to the Washington system and sent a message to the Listening Post in the inner system. Three hours later the Sacramento jumped back to the Solar system and reported that the Washington system was clear of Dregluk ships. Shortly thereafter, the Fleet departed orbit to join the Sacramento. Once the Sacramento rejoined the fleet at the jump point, they then set out in pursuit of the Dregluk ships loitering around Saturn. At this point the fleet consists of the BC Mars, two Jump Cruisers, four FFG’s, two defender class ships, and five missile boats of various types. The Dregluk fleet consists of a Mammoth class BB, three Banshee class cruisers, three Fiend class cruisers, and four Raven and one Imp class destroyers. Intelligence believes that all of these ships have expended their missiles, but, of course, no one can know that for sure. As the fleet heads out-system, the Dregluk fleet turns inwards, towards the oncoming Human ships. After a day the Dregluk ships turn away from the Human ships, apparently continuing their random maneuvers. With the Defenders and the Jump Cruisers along the Fleet cannot catch the Dregluk. After sixteen hours of chasing the Dregluk, Captain Wallace detaches the slower ships and the fleet is able to speed up to the top speed of the Mars, which is faster than the Dregluk ships, if barely.
Ten hours after detaching the slower ships the Dregluk fleet turns back towards the oncoming human fleet. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter the fleet once again turned away. Eleven hours later, with both fleets beyond Saturn’s orbit, Captain Wallace detached the four FFG’s, the fastest ships in her fleet, to pursue the Dregluk. Twenty-four hours later the FFG’s had closed to 350 mkm’s from the fleeing Dregluk ships. Unfortunately, it will take the frigates seventy more hours to catch the Dregluk ships, and by then they will be low on fuel. Captain Wallace orders the fleet to turn back and assemble on the jump point. Operation Retribution is over.
Several days later the fleet is reassembled on the jump point, and the Dregluk fleet heads back towards Saturn, presumably to resume its random maneuvering. On October 16th, though, the Dregluk fleet passes Saturn and continues towards the jump point and the Fleet. The Dregluk fleet approaches to approximately 480 mkm’s and then turns around and heads back out-system. That pattern will be repeated numerous times over the next nine days.
October 24, 2135: Admiral Law orders the fleet to return to Earth orbit.
October 29, 2135: Four Demon class cruisers jump into the Solar System. Three of the ships are the same ones that attacked in August, while one hasn’t been in the Solar System for some time. At 1100 hours on the 30th the EDC’s offensive PDC’s launched thirty-nine Bludgeon II LRASM’s at the incoming cruiser force. Shortly after the PDC’s launched, the Dregluk cruiser force turned away. Approximately an hour later incoming missiles appeared on the EDC’s scanners. The defensive PDC’s begin launching Aegis IV-m’s at 1234 on the 30th. The new IV-m’s ran out shortly into the battle and the bases were forced to switch over to the older Aegis IV’s.
The missile attack on Earth is stopped short by the Aegis missiles, and the new point defense meson bases don’t get a chance to go into action. Two hours later the Bludgeon II’s approach their targets. None of the cruisers are destroyed, but all are left streaming atmosphere and limping away. The four cruisers withdraw and meet up with the BB that had been trolling around in the outer system, then jump out. There are still six Dregluk cruisers and five destroyers in the group maneuvering in the outer system.
November 4, 2135: A single Demon class cruiser jumps into the Solar system. The PDC’s open fire at 275 mkm’s, the maximum range of the Bludgeon II’s. Three hours later the missiles swat the Dregluk ship from space. There are celebrations across Earth in response. Once again there is no suggestion that the Dregluk in the life pods should be picked up.
November 12, 2135: The Dregluk fleet, which had been maneuvering in the outer system for months, jumps out of the Solar System.
November 30, 2135: Four Mammoth class BB’s transit into the Solar system.
-
December 1, 2135, 1455 hours, Earth Defense Command PDC
Admiral Samantha Russell frowned at the plot in front of her. “Are those positions current?”
An ensign sitting off to the side of the plot table nodded. “Yes ma’am. All plots are current.”
“Very well.” She turned and nodded at Rear Admiral Bradshaw, CO of Sword-003, her command PDC. “Inform the others, coordinated launch in two minutes.”
Admiral Bradshaw, at his own plot to one side of the command center, nodded back and turned to his communications officer to coordinate with the other PDC commanders. At 1457 hours all four of the EDC’s Sword class offensive PDC’s launch their first salvo, followed eighty seconds later by a second salvo. After that everyone settled in to wait. Space battles were quite often hours of waiting followed by seconds of terror. Waiting for their missiles to travel hundreds of millions of kilometers and knowing that almost certainly Dregluk missiles were racing towards them, was all part of the mission. They had all been through it many times by this point, and while they weren’t exactly bored, they weren’t sitting on the edge of their seats either.
Two hours later Admiral Russell was again standing in front of her plot. If this attack held to the same pattern of the previous attacks then…her thoughts were interrupted by the command center’s AI.
“Status change.” The AI had a mellow human-sounding voice that was somehow calming even as it announced their possible doom. “incoming missile stream detected.” The plot flickered and then updated to show Dregluk missiles closing on the Earth, approximately 40 mkm’s out. The Dregluk attack was light, composed of only one wave of ninety-two size five missiles, and a second wave of ten size five missiles. Russell frowned and gestured for Admiral Bradshaw to join her. “Morgan, what do you make of this attack?”
Admiral Bradshaw, tall and spare, frowned at the plot. He tended to be pessimistic, something she valued in her command PDC’s commander. “Admiral, I think that these are their front-line ASM’s, and that what we are seeing is all that they had on hand at the time they left port.”
“I agree. Our AMM’s should make short work of such a light attack.”
Admiral Bradshaw was still frowning at the plot. “Yes, but…if the Dregluk ships survive our missile attack they will close and launch the rest of their missiles. While they will likely be less capable missiles, those big ships can carry a lot of them.” He shook his head. “A lot.”
Admiral Russell smiled. “We’ll get those battleships, Morgan. And then there will be a party like no other. Four Dregluk battleships! Think about it!”
Admiral Bradshaw’s face never lightened up as he continued to stare at the plot. “I am thinking about it.”
Unfortunately, while the Earth’s detection network was good enough to detect the incoming missiles that far out, the detection was on thermal passive sensors, which could not generate a target lock for the Earth’s defenses. They would have to wait until the missiles closed to four million kilometers before the massive anti-missile sensors of the Looking Glass PDC could generate a target lock on the tiny targets. In spite of the fact that the Looking Glass base’s sensors were nearly as large as an interceptor class unit, 4 million kilometers was the best that human tech could do at the current time. Admiral Russell snorted, lost in thought as she watched the missiles close on the Earth. She had argued with the Consul about this very issue. She had wanted anti-missile sensors twice as large as the ones currently installed in the Looking Glass facility, and twice as capable. In the end she had been overruled. Consul Foster claimed that her very large sensor array would be too expensive, and take too long to develop. Privately, she admitted to herself that Foster was probably right. The damned things would take forever to design and build. And, R&D was working on the next generation of sensors, which would be much more capable than the current generation. Hopefully.
The two admirals watched as the Dregluk missiles closed on the Earth. Finally, twenty-four minutes later the missiles had closed to five million kilometers and the two admirals leaned over the plot in anticipation of the Looking Glass PDC gaining target lock on the incoming missiles. They watched as the missile icons crept across the line at four million kilometers and continued to close. The icons stubbornly refused to change from blurred arrows indicating passive detection to sharp, crisp arrows denoting active target lock.
Admiral Russell felt the blood drain from her face and turned to Admiral Bradshaw, who was gaping at the plot. He spoke first. “This, this can’t happen!”
Admiral Russell shook herself. They had a minute, maybe less. “Morgan, get ahold of Captain North at Aegis command! Make sure they’ve switched over to local targeting! Now!” Alarms began ring throughout the great base as Admiral Russell willed her defensive bases to begin firing.
Meanwhile, in the Looking Glass PDC, in Antarctica…
Alarms were ringing throughout the base, which had been plunged into darkness the very second they prepared to acquire the incoming missiles. Lt. Commander Craig stared around her command center in shock as the emergency lighting began to illuminate a scene straight out of her nightmares. “What is going on? What’s happened?”
For the most part her command center operatives seemed as lost as her. Lieutenant Cross looked up from her display. “Ma’am, this doesn’t make sense! We have multiple redundant power systems! There is no way this could just happen.”
Lt. Commander Craig realized that one of her command center crew was furiously typing at his console, and had been throughout the blackout. “Senior chief, what are you doing?” She moved towards his console, only to stop short when he rose from his console with a pistol aimed at her head. Her eyes nearly crossed looking at the barrel, the opening of which looked large enough to swallow her. The only thing that crossed her mind was to wonder how he got a pistol into her command center. There were supposed to be safeguards against that kind of thing.
Senior Chief McAllister smiled at his commanding officer. “That’s enough, commander. I’m going to…”
Lt. Commander Craig stared in shock as the back of McAllister’s head exploded and he fell to the deck. “What…what?” She staggered back and sat in her chair, looking around the command deck in shock.
Lieutenant Cross walked across the deck and kicked the gun out of McAllister’s hand, keeping her gun on him the whole way. “Are you okay, ma’am?”
It took Craig a few minutes to realize that Cross was talking to her. “Yes, I think so.” She looked around the deck, still shrouded in darkness. “What did he do? Can you fix it?”
Lieutenant Cross shook her head. “No ma’am. Whatever he did, he screwed the power system up completely. We can fix it, but…not in time. The Dregluk missiles should be arriving just about now.”
Lt. Commander Craig shook her head. “Who are you? You aren’t just any lieutenant! And how did you get a gun into my command center? For that matter, how did he?” She gestured at the remains of Chief McAllister and saw just what a mess Cross’ gun had left of him and suddenly threw up as her gorge rose.
Cross waited until the Commander had herself together again. “Ma’am, I’m Naval Intelligence, and we’ve been keeping an eye on this base for a while.”
“You knew this was going to happen? For god’s sake, you’ve risked the entire planet!”
Cross shook her head, then moved to the side where she could keep an eye on the other members of the base command group, although none of them had made a move since McAllister had been shot. “Ma’am, we had reason to think that some remnants of the nationalist groups might be up to something, but we certainly had no idea that they’d be insane enough to do something to our defenses. I’m merely here as a backup. And I failed. I completely missed whatever it was that he did to the power systems. He’s good.”
“Not that good.” She didn’t look at the corpse again, having just gotten control of her stomach back. “What now?”
Lieutenant Cross gestured with her weapon, and Craig realized that the other woman had never put it down. “Well, since I don’t know who all was involved, I’m going to put you all in the command center head until help arrives.”
Elsewhere…
The core of the Earth Defense Command’s Earth-based defenses were five Aegis anti-missile PDC’s, scattered across the Earth. These bases each mounted thirty anti-missile missile launchers and six fire control systems, and were protected by thick armor. Standard operating procedure during an attack was for the bases to rely on targeting information fed to them from the Looking Glass PDC, located in central Australia. Each base also had a much smaller, less capable anti-missile sensor, installed in case the Looking Glass PDC was lost or damaged. This had never happened, and none of the crews had thought it ever would, especially as the Earth’s defenses improved under constant Dregluk attack.
When the Looking Glass PDC dropped out of the net unexpectedly, each Aegis base was forced to activate its local sensors. If this had happened a year ago, when the base crews were inexperienced and untried, it would have been a complete disaster. These crews were not what they were a year ago. They were battle tested, tried and true defenders of the Earth. They knew that the entire human race depended on them, and they tried to live up to that faith every time the Dregluk attacked. They lived up to those expectations again. When the Looking Glass base went dark, none of the Aegis base commanders panicked. There was no confusion. Instead, the Aegis bases rose to the moment. Their sensors would localize the incoming missiles at one million kilometers, giving them enough time to launch two successive interception attempts against each incoming missile. All five Aegis base commanders came to the same conclusion, and ordered their fire control systems to reconfigure to launch five AMM’s against each incoming missile. This would likely result in significant overkill, and commensurate wastage of valuable AMM’s, but that was far from their thoughts as the Dregluk missiles closed.
Right on time the PDC’s local sensors acquired the incoming missiles and Aegis IV-m’s raced away from the bases as they went to rapid fire. For fifteen straight seconds the five defensive PDC’s launched missiles from every launcher they had, saturating the incoming Dregluk missile salvo. As the AMM’s closed on the first wave of Dregluk missiles the second wave of incoming missiles reached one million kilometers and the bases began launching at it as well. The massive wave of Aegis IV-m’s completely overwhelms the incoming Dregluk missile wave short of Earth. The bulk of the interceptions took place around 500,000 kilometers out, giving viewers on Earth spectacular light shows as over five hundred nuclear explosions pockmarked the sky.
Consul Foster dispatched elements from the 2nd Infantry Brigade to secure the Looking Glass installation, which had failed to reconnect with the defense network in the aftermath of the Dregluk attack. Shortly after the Dregluk missile wave was wiped out, the EDC’s missiles closed on their targets. Once again crowds across the world watched as the Dregluk BB’s are overwhelmed by human missiles. Three of the huge ships are destroyed outright by human missiles, while the fourth is severely damaged. Later analysis of the attack will reveal that the EDC PDC crews made a targeting mistake, and instead of evenly spreading the missiles between the four BB’s, one of BB’s, the one that escaped, was targeted by only half as many missiles as the other three. An investigation will reveal that it was an “honest” mistake, made by new missiles crews rushing to complete their jobs, however, in the aftermath of the sabotage of the Looking Glass PDC the government is not willing to take a chance. A massive investigation gets underway.
The last BB is allowed to limp away.
December 7, 2135: Consul Foster stands in front of the Grand Senate of the Republic. The two hundred men and women that would normally meet in the chamber represent the entire population of the Earth and the colonies. Now there is just Foster and three individuals, the leaders of the critical committees in the Senate. “We have concluded our investigation of the sabotage of the Looking Glass facility.” He paused and looked at the three, all of whom were following his words intently. “We were able to do so because we had already suspected that the group involved was going to take an action, we just did not expect…this.”
Senator Avasarala, head of the Combined Intelligence Committee, frowned. “If you knew…”
Foster shook his head. “Like I said, we had no idea that they were this desperate. Their plan was to disable the Looking Glass facility during the attack, hampering our missile defenses, allowing some of the Dregluk missiles to get through our defenses and hit their surface targets. The confusion and destruction would demoralize the people, discredit the government and our military, and allow them to strike a weakened foe. They then planned on ‘rallying’ the people and becoming the saviors of humanity, thus ensuring their power.”
Senator Gutierrez looked shocked. “But…that’s insane! Millions would have died if they had succeeded!”
Senator Avasarala’s eyes narrowed. “And stupid. Our defense bases all have backup sensor systems for just this eventuality. Surely they knew that? Who could be competent enough to pull off as much as they were able to, but stupid enough to believe they could succeed?”
Foster shook his head. “In the aftermath of the purges, the most fanatical members of the worst groups just faded away. We had hoped that they had just gone underground and would surface at some point, but instead they joined forces, burying their hate for each other to unite against us. They knew it they had little hope of succeeding, they just didn’t care. As I said, they were desperate. The purges last year cost them dearly, and since then they have only managed to hang on to their most fanatical members. They needed something big, and apparently this was it. And they weren’t basing all of their hopes on the Looking Glass base, they had several teams positioned to sabotage a couple of the Aegis bases as well. Our security teams stopped them cold there, though. They were shorthanded, and gambled on everything going their way, and they lost that bet. There was a big gap in their planning as well. Even if the Dregluk missiles hit the Earth, they wouldn’t have had enough ground-based combat strength to overwhelm the surviving government forces, no matter how much hopeful thinking they threw into the mix. This was really just a pathetic last gasp.”
Senator Blake eyed Foster curiously. “So, can we assume that arrests have been made?”
Consul Foster nodded. “This morning. Even as we speak we are rolling up nearly their entire organization. With the exception of a small core group.”
Senator Avasarala sat back. “With the exception of a core group. And you are here briefing us. Why don’t I like this?”
“Because you are smart.” Foster looked at the three of them for a few seconds. “My people wanted to go ahead with the last few arrests, in spite of who the targets were, but I felt it set a bad example.”
Senator Blake looked at his colleagues for a few seconds, then turned to Foster. “Who?”
Consul Foster grimaced. “Senator Constantine and his staff. We have them under surveillance, but we haven’t acted. I don’t want to set a precedent of arresting Grand Senators so soon after the establishment of the Senate.” He looked at the three. “This is all new. We have to act in accordance with the way we want things to be done in the future. I will turn over the evidence we have gathered, including statements by his co-conspirators, to the Senate. You then have the option of doing as you will with this man, and my administration will carry out your wishes.”
The three Senators looked shaken for a few seconds, then rallied. After a year and half of Dregluk bombardment, no one on Earth had any time for panic or weakness. “We will convene a full session of the Senate this morning. Will you deliver Senator Constantine to us?”
Consul Foster stood. “Consider it done.”
The operation went like clockwork. The members of the Combine, as they called themselves, had scattered in the aftermath of their failed attempt. It hadn’t done them any good. Earth’s very effective security forces rounded up most of them, including several former members of the military who had suddenly abandoned their posts in the aftermath of the attack. In addition, the Grand Senate convened a closed session that morning. The session lasted most of the day. During the session, Consul Foster’s government announced the arrest of the Combine, and their responsibility for the sabotage of the Earth’s defenses.
After six hours the Grand Senate called Consul Foster to the Assembly. There they told him that they had unanimously convicted Senator Constantine of treason against the people of the Republic, and had formally stripped him of his Senatorial status. Senatorial Guards then turned the former Senator and his staff, all of whom had been convicted along with their boss, over to the Consul’s guards. The Senate’s spokeswoman then announced their findings publicly, and announced that they had recommended the death penalty to the Consul’s office.
At 1800 hours, four hours after he was handed over to the Consul’s guards, Senator Constantine was publicly executed by firing squad for treason against humanity. The remainder of the Combine was held for trials, which were expected to be held in the next several weeks.
December 12, 2135: A Dregluk ship transits into the Solar system. This ship is a new class, not previously seen before. It’s emission profile is similar to the Mammoth class BB’s, so Intel provisionally names the class the Behemoth class battleship.
The EDC PDC’s opened fire on the 13th, at maximum range. Unfortunately, the Behemoth ventures into range only briefly, before turning and running. Eventually, Dregluk missiles are detected approaching the Earth. Once again, the defensive PDC’s go into action, pumping out Aegis IV-m’s every five seconds. The new missiles perform excellently, stopping the missile barrage well short of Earth. The new missiles are close to reaching interception rates of 50%, which is a massive improvement over just a year ago.
December 17, 2135: Two Salvage class ships are launched from the orbital yards. These are humanity’s first salvage ships. These salvage ships will represent a massive step forward in recovering Dregluk technology for human use, but as they will be operating away from the Earth’s defensive envelope they will require a more secure environment in which to operate. Admiral Law dispatches the Fleet to the jump point to provide cover while the two salvage ships move the closest wrecks of Mammoth class BB’s and begin salvaging them.
December 23, 2135, 0648 hours. The picket deployed by Rear Admiral (LH) Wallace to the Washington side of the jump point receives a transmission from the Listening Post. The Listening Post has detected a single Dregluk ship, a Mammoth class BB, entering the system through the jump point to the Denver system. ETA to the jump point to the Solar System is 92 hours. The salvage ships will not be close to completing their tasks in the Solar system, and if the Mammoth gets into the solar system, they will be closer to it than the Earth, making them prime targets. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet to the Washington side of the jump point.
December 26, 2135, 1207 hours: For the last three days the fleet watched as the Dregluk ship approached. Finally, Dregluk missiles appeared on the Fleet’s sensors, just under a million kilometers out and closing at 25,600 km/s. As was standard for Mammoth class units, there was twenty-three missiles in the leading wave, and there were could be up to seventeen to twenty waves of missiles in total, if the BB emptied its magazines. As Aegis IV’s raced away from the Fleet, Admiral Wallace ordered the fleet to jump back to the Solar system. Note: The fleet is equipped with Aegis IV’s. The newer Aegis IV-m’s have been retained for planetary defense.
The first salvo of thirty-one Aegis AMM’s took out sixteen Dregluk missiles, and the second wave of twenty Aegis AMM’s killed the remaining missiles of the first wave, but by then the second wave of twenty-three missiles were on the scopes. More AMM’s raced away from the fleet to intercept the incoming missiles, and once again the Aegis IV’s got them all, but the Dregluk missiles penetrated much closer to the fleet before they were stopped. And worse, another wave of incoming missiles was on the screens, and it was clear that they would approach closer to the fleet before being engaged, as the defenses had been preoccupied with the previous wave. Just then the Fleet managed to get underway and one by one the Fleet jumped out of the system, leaving behind the Dregluk missiles.
Two hours later Admiral Wallace sent a Missile Boat through the jump point to scan the area. The missile boat returned several minutes later to report that the jump point was clear. Admiral Wallace ordered the entire fleet to jump back to the Washington system.
When the Fleet was assembled on the Washington side of the jump point, it became clear that the Dregluk ship had exhausted its missile supply as it was headed back the way it came at maximum speed, its active sensor off. Admiral Wallace was tempted to detach her Interceptors and Missile Boats to pursue, but after checking the plot it became clear that the smaller ships would not be able to overtake the Mammoth before it jumped out. Several minutes later its active sensor came on again, and the BB turned back towards the Fleet. The Dregluk BB approached for a short period of time, then turned back and began running again. Forty minutes later a single salvo of three missiles appeared on the Fleet’s scanners. The Fleet’s Aegis IV’s quickly put paid to the three missiles.
-
January 13, 2136: One of the salvage ships completes its work, salvaging a number of systems from the wrecked Mammoth. The ship returns to Earth to unload its treasures before setting out to salvage another BB.
January 20, 2136: Research teams begin examining salvaged systems from Dregluk wrecks. All of the engine pods recovered were internal confinement fusion drives, a system which is under research right now. The results of this examination will accelerate this research by several months. In addition, several different types of sensors are examined, yielding advances in active sensor technology.
Fifteen construction brigades have been relocated to the Moon and have begun assembling a prefab Looking Glass class PDC. After completing work on that installation, the construction units will begin assembling Shield class PDC’s to provide point defense for Luna.
January 27, 2136: The Listening Post reports that a Dregluk BB has jumped into the Washington system. Analysis shows that it is a BB encountered before, and that it was lightly damaged in the previous encounter. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet to remain on the jump point in the Washington system, for now.
January 30, 2136: Admiral Wallace orders the Fleet to jump back to the Solar System, and then to take up a position one million kilometers from the jump point. The Interceptor commanders request to be detached to allow them to set up on the jump point and pursue the Dregluk ship when it jumps into the system, however, Admiral Wallace declines. She wants to keep her fleet together.
February 1, 2136, 1017 hours: The Mammoth class BB jumps into the Solar system exactly on time. As soon as the BB appeared, Admiral Wallace gave the order to open fire and to maintain the fleet’s distance from the Dregluk ship. Unfortunately, it wasn’t as easy as that. In spite of the fact that they were fairly certain when the Dregluk ship was going to appear, there was still a certain amount of surprise that had to be overcome by the missile and engine room crews. In addition, Admiral Wallace wanted to overwhelm the BB’s defenses, and so ordered that every ship in the fleet would fire together, meaning that none could fire until all were ready. The enemy BB immediately began moving directly away from the Fleet, which was not yet ready to move and was being left behind. It is a race to see whether the Dregluk will be able to launch first, or the humans. Humanity won that race twenty-five seconds after the Dregluk BB entered the system. The ships of the human fleet launched eighteen Bludgeon ASM’s and one hundred and twenty-one smaller Thunderbolt ASM’s. After that huge salvo the human fleet had only two ships still capable of launching missiles, the battlecruiser Mars and a missile boat that had had a malfunction and failed to launch with the rest of the fleet. The first missiles to approach the target are the eighteen Bludgeon missiles. The Mammoth manages to shoot down two Bludgeon’s and avoid three more, leaving thirteen to slam into the big ship’s armor. The battleship is rocked by the explosions, and by two additional internal explosions. When the explosions clear the BB has slowed to just 2512 km/s. The Thunderbolt missiles catch up to the limping ship fifteen seconds later and wipe it out, leaving only a drifting hulk behind. With the threat gone the Fleet turns towards Earth.
February 3,2 136: The Fleet arrives at the Earth to immense acclaim! All of the crews are given citations, bonuses and leave, and the officers receive their own awards. Admiral Wallace receives the Humanity’s Victory medal from Consul Foster. In the meantime, the Fleet is refueled and resupplied with missiles, then dispatched to the jump point yet again once the crews are rounded up from their leave. Several of the ships will remain behind to undergo overhauls.
February 5, 2135: The Listening Post reports the arrival of another Dregluk BB in the Washington system. This is the relatively new Behemoth class BB, equipped with eleven missile launchers. Admiral Wallace prepares the fleet for the upcoming engagement.
February 9, 2136, 1314 hours: The Dregluk BB materializes in the Solar System and Admiral Wallace orders her fleet to open fire. As with the previous engagement, the Dregluk BB immediately begins moving away from the fleet. Twenty-five seconds later the human fleet launches one hundred and twenty-six Thunderbolt ASM’s at the Dregluk ship. Ten seconds later the Dregluk ship launches eleven missiles of its own and Aegis IV-m’s begin spilling into space in response. The AMM’s perform excellently, taking out the Dregluk missiles well short of the fleet. Unfortunately, the first-generation Thunderbolt missiles are relatively slow and have an overtake speed of only 12,200 km/s, meaning that it is a long chase. The Behemoth gets off a second salvo, which is also intercepted well short of the fleet. The Behemoth gets a third salvo off just before the Thunderbolt missile wave hits. The avalanche of older missiles completely overwhelms the Dregluk ship and leaves nothing but drifting wreckage when the explosions clear. The Fleet returns to Earth, victorious, to immense acclaim.
February 15, 2136: The salvage ships continue to prove their worth. Salvage-1 completes its salvage of a Dregluk Crow class destroyer and recovers a large amount of data and material that gives the R&D teams working on Internal Confinement Fusion drives a big boost.
February 16,2 136: Three Dregluk ships are detected jumping into the Washington system. The ships, a Mammoth class BB and two Imp class DD’s, set course for the Solar system.
February 20, 2136, 0116 hours: The three Dregluk ships transit into the Solar System. The defensive fleet now consists of the BC Mars, the Patrol Cruiser Assistance, two Defender class ships, six missile frigate of various marks, five missile boats of various marks, and four interceptor class ships. Admiral Wallace gives her orders and the Fleet moves into action like the well-oiled machine they are becoming. Twenty-five seconds after the Dregluk ships appeared the fleet launched thirteen Bludgeon II missiles and one hundred and twenty-six older Thunderbolt ASM’s. As the human missiles approach the Dregluk ships they manage to launch a salvo of twenty-three ASM’s. Aegis IV-m’s began racing away from the Fleet as the human ASM’s closed on the Dregluk force.
The Bludgeon II ASM’s reach their targets, the two Imp class DD’s, first. One DD is disintegrated by the big missiles, while the other is damaged and slowed. Twenty seconds later the Thunderbolt ASM’s flashed in and slammed into their targets. The destroyer is gone when the explosions clear, but the Mammoth is still there, slowed and streaming atmosphere, but still there. The Mars is the only ship still capable of launching, as the other ships in the fleet are either armed with box launchers or smaller, slow-reloading missile launchers. Admiral Wallace orders the Mars to open fire and orders the Assistance to escort the smaller meson ships into range of the Mammoth. She detaches the frigates Cairo and Tokyo to cover the beam-attack force with their AMM’s. As the smaller units begin to pull away from the Fleet, the Dregluk BB launches fifteen missiles at its pursuers.
As the pursuit continues Admiral Wallace is forced to adjust her anti-missile fire to reduce the number of AMM’s fired per incoming missile. If the fleet is going to be forced into a long running battle, its going to have to conserve its AMM’s. A minute or so later the first salvo of eight Thunderbolt missiles comes into range of the fleeing Mammoth. Unfortunately, the Mammoth’s CIWS is still intact and most of the Thunderbolts are swatted from space before they can hit their target. Only two make it through the defensive fire to hit the big battleship, but the ship’s armor is shredded and the two missiles slow the Dregluk ship even more. Shortly after that, two Dregluk missiles, which had avoided every AMM launched at them, closed with the small detached units closing on the fleeing Dregluk ship. For the first time in months the close-in defenses of the human ships are tested. The CIWS on the Tokyo successfully destroyed the missile closing on it, and the Assistance’s gauss turret swatted the other missile as it approached.
A minute later three more ASM’s avoid the Mammoth’s CIWS and add further damage to the big Dregluk ship, as the human ships close in. A minute later two more Dregluk ASM’s closed on the pursuit fleet. The Assistance managed to stop one of the missiles with her gauss cannons, but the other streaked in through everything they could throw and impacted against the Tokyo’s armor. The missile’s warhead didn’t penetrate the armor, but it did leave a big crater in the ship’s armor, and if the next missile hit anywhere near that impact point it would penetrate and do damage.
The next missile exchange went better for the human ships. The Aegis IV-m’s stopped the Dregluk missiles short of the pursuit force, and two of the eight Thunderbolt missiles from the Mars snuck past the Mammoth’s CIWs and slowed the big ship yet again. The Mammoth was reduced to 3350 km/s, giving the pursuit force an overtake speed of 2,650 km/s. In addition, the Mammoth lost a few more launch tubes to the last salvo, and was reduced to launching nine ASM’s at a time. Unfortunately, the Mars was out of missiles and the two salvoes on their way would be the last chance to attack the Dregluk ship, at least until the detached squadron had closed to within range of its energy weapons.
Three missiles from the second-to-the-last Thunderbolt salvo manage to slip past the big ship’s CIWS and get hits, slowing the BB even further. As the last salvo of Thunderbolts closes with the BB, the Mars runs dry of AMM’s as well. Once again three Thunderbolts slip past the CIWS and slam into the BB, slowing it even more. In spite of all of the damage the big Dregluk ship continues to forge ahead, seemingly unstoppable. One missile from the next Dregluk salvo managed to avoid the human AMM’s and get within attack range, but was stopped by the Assistance’s gauss cannon turret. The next Dregluk missile salvo was composed of only seven missiles, so the human bombardment was taking its toll.
With the pursuit force closing on the Dregluk BB intercepting its missiles became more problematic. The other human ships were too far back to help in missile defense, and the frigates with the pursuit force didn’t have enough distance to effectively intercept the incoming missiles. Worse, they were running out of AMM’s. When the two groups were 342,000 kilometers apart Dregluk missiles started scoring hits. AMM’s managed to get just one of the seven incoming missiles, CWIS on the Tokyo managed to get two more, and the Assistance destroyed two as well. The Interceptors tried to intercept the incoming missiles with their meson cannons but their crews were green and they failed. Just one of the Dregluk missiles hit the Tokyo, and her armor absorbed most of the damage, but some got through, destroying two of her four magazines.
Fortunately, the Tokyo is almost out of AMM’s, while her sister ship the Cairo still has over 100 of the interceptors, making Admiral Wallace’s decision easy. She orders the Tokyo to break off and return to the jump point, taking her out of harms way. The pursuit group manages to pull within range of the Assistance’s lasers just as the Dregluk ship launches another salvo. The range is very long, at the edge of the cruiser’s abilities, but the human fleet cannot stand up to the bombardment forever so the Assistance opens fire. The Assistance misses with its first shots, but as the BB gets closer that will change. The second shot from the Assistance’s lasers managed to score a hit, but it didn’t seem to affect the big Dregluk ship, which continued running in front of the human force. The next shot from the Assistance’s spinal laser caused a gout of atmosphere from the BB, and this time it hurt as the big BB slowed yet further.
Things began happening very fast after that. The Assistance continued pounding the Dregluk ship, which eventually managed to launch another salvo of missiles, but only four this time. The missiles were launched so close that they would hit almost as soon as they launched. The Cairo’s crack crew managed to get off interceptor missiles, taking out two of the four before they could hit. In response the Assistance’s spinal laser punched another shot deep within the fleeing BB. It then became clear that the Dregluk were firing at one of the other ships as the missiles continued on past the pursuit force. The Dregluk BB was now just 107,000 kilometers away and closing. Soon it would be in range of the Interceptor’s meson cannons.
Fortunately, AMM’s from the Cairo were able to run down the Dregluk missiles before they could reach the Tokyo, if that was its target. The Assistance was now hitting the big ship regularly with its lasers. When two more laser strike stab into the ship it staggers and slows, and loses its active sensor. Just before the Dregluk ship would have slipped to within range of the pursuit force’s meson cannons the Assistance’s full laser barrage struck it, plunging into and through the crippled battleship. The laser strike left the BB in two drifting pieces. The battle was over.
The human fleet reassembled, checked in with the Listening Post in the Washington system, then sets out for Earth to reload its missile magazines and refuel.
February 22, 2136: The Fleet arrives in orbit over the Earth and is met with a planet-wide celebration. In a public ceremony, Consul Foster awards every ship in the fleet a unit citation, and the Captains, officers, and crews of the Tokyo, Cairo, and the Assistance, receive medals for bravery under fire. The Tokyo goes to the orbital yard for repairs, and is replaced by the newly built Birmingham. A day later the fleet returns to the jump point. The Tokyo’s crew, in particular, are celebrated across the planet as heroes while their ship is in the yards.
February 24, 2135: Salvage-1 completes recovery work on a Crow class DD and discovers useful information relating to beam tracking systems. The information is transmitted to Earth immediately.
February 30, 2136: Salvage-1 drops off raw materials and ship’s systems salvaged over the last several months. Teams examining the fusion drives salvaged from the derelict Dregluk ships recovers enough information to complete the R&D team’s work on developing Internal Confinement Fusion drives. Work will begin immediately on developing missile engines for new generations of missiles. In addition, tech information is recovered assisting R&D in active sensors as well. New generations of missiles will have to wait until research is completed on several related technologies that will all vastly improve the performance of the missiles used by the EDC and the Fleet.
The EDC completes the refit of its Looking Glass class PDC, equipping it with a superior AMM tracking sensor which will allow the EDC to engage incoming missiles further from Earth.
The Republic begins shipping colonists to Mars, more to get them away from the toxic environment on Earth than for any other reason.
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March 5, 2136: Repairs on the Tokyo are complete and the frigate leaves Earth orbit to join the fleet.
April 18, 2136: No new Dregluk ships have appeared in the last two months. Many of the smaller ships in the fleet are not meant for long deployments, so Admiral Wallace detaches the Assistance to picket the jump point and orders the fleet home for overhaul.
April 29, 2136: The Listening Post reports to the Assistance that a Vulture class destroyer was detected jumping into the Washington system. The Assistance reports this news to Fleet Command, which dispatches the Tokyo, two missile boats, two Falcon class Interceptors, and one new meson-armed Fast Attack Craft to the jump point. The rest of the Fleet is being overhauled in orbit and will not be able to respond in time. Intelligence isn’t sure about the armament of a Vulture, but past attacks have shown that they aren’t equipped with CIWS and the ships being sent to the jump should be able to deal with one Dregluk DD.
April 30, 2136: The squadron has joined the Assistance on the jump point. Commander Turner, the senior officer of the squadron, divides his forces into two groups. The Assistance, along with the FAC and the two Interceptors, will be stationed on the jump point, while the missile boats and the Tokyo will be stationed five hundred thousand kilometers away from the jump point, ready to launch their missiles at the Dregluk ship when it comes through the jump point.
May 3, 2136, 1932 hours: The Vulture class DD comes through the jump point right on time. The Assistance, with her crack crew, goes into action immediately and scores hits with her two heavy lasers and her spinal laser. The Dregluk ship’s armor absorbs the blows as it speeds away. The two missile boats stationed five hundred thousand kilometers from the jump point launch their Bludgeon II missiles at the DD almost as soon as it entered. Fifteen seconds later the Assistance’s heavy lasers fire again, scoring hits that are apparently absorbed by the DD’s armor. While the Interceptors and FAC are finally ready to fire the Dregluk ship has moved out of their range as the human forces haven’t managed to get underway yet. Five seconds later the Assistance’s spinal laser fired, scoring another hit. The Assistance’s heavy lasers get one more chance to fire, scoring a hit, but then the Bludgeon missiles roared in on their target. As before the Dregluk ship shows no sign of active missile defenses. Four of the big missiles missed the DD, but the other six completely destroyed the Dregluk ship, leaving little but a drifting hulk in their wake. The Assistance once again took up its post on the jump point, while the rest of the Squadron returned to Earth to a huge celebration for its victory.
May 9, 2136: Another Vulture class DD is detected entering the Washington system. Once again, a squadron is dispatched to the jump point to meet it, this time reinforced by the FFG Birmingham, which had finished its overhaul.
May 13, 2136, 1732 hours: The Vulture appears on the jump point, again, right on time. This time the entire defensive squadron was assembled on the jump point. The Assistance’s lasers struck out at the fleeing Dregluk destroyer, scoring deep cuts into its armor. Even as the Assistance fired its lasers, the two missile boats, which were sitting on the jump point, launched their Bludgeon missiles. Five seconds later the Bludgeon missiles decisively ended the battle, wiping the destroyer out.
June 14, 2136: Two Harpy class DD’s are detected jumping into the Washington system. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet, which has finished overhaul, to the jump point.
June 18, 2136, 1903 hours: Two Harpy class destroyers jump into the solar system. Admiral Wallace orders the Fleet to open fire immediately after they materialize. The Assistance skewers one of the DD’s with her lasers and the Mars launches eight Thunderbolt missiles at the same DD. The other ships in the Fleet are struggling to get their weapons into action as the Dregluk DD’s speed away. The Mars’ Thunderbolt missiles slam into the already damaged DD, penetrating its armor. As the missiles go in, the two Defender class ships launch their Bludgeon missiles at the second DD. Seconds later the Bludgeon’s slam into the fleeing DD, wiping it out. It only took the Bludgeon missiles from one of the Defenders to destroy the Dregluk DD, and after hesitating for a second or two the remaining Bludgeons used their internal sensors to acquire the second DD and slammed into it, seriously damaging it. The Assistance continues to pour laser fire into the fleeing DD when the Singapore, one of the newer FFG’s, finally gets her missile systems online and launches ten Thunderbolt missiles at the last Dregluk DD. Two of the missiles miss, but the rest slam into the retreating ship, staggering it. It is still intact, although slowed. The Sacramento fires ten more Thunderbolt missiles, destroying the Dregluk ship. Once again, the Assistance takes up its guard position as the fleet returns to the Earth.
July 9, 2136: Two additional Salvage ships are launched from the orbital yards. With over one hundred wrecks still scattered around the solar system, this increase in salvage capacity is welcome.
August 21, 2136: R&D begins on a new generation of missiles. These missiles will combine multiple advances in different fields to yield an improved generation of missiles that will outperform anything deployed by humanity prior to this date:
Aegis V:
Speed: 50,000 km/s
Range: 11.7 mkm’s
This AMM is improved in every way over the previous versions. It is slightly faster and has a 50% greater range to take advantage of the new sensors that are being developed. Additionally, its maneuverability has been improved by 50% over the Aegis IV-m, making this by far the best AMM ever produced.
Bludgeon III LRASM
Speed: 31,200 km/s
Range: 395.6 mkm’s
Warhead: 20
Armor: 1
ECM: 2
This long-range missile is over 50% faster than the previous version and has improved active sensors and ECM. In addition, the missile’s range has been increased to almost 400 mkm’s, out-performing every known Dregluk missile system. To achieve this range some sacrifices had to be made, and this missile has slightly worse maneuverability than the previous version.
Thunderbolt III ASM:
Speed: 32,000 km/s
Range: 240.7 mkm’s
Warhead: 6
This version of the venerable Thunderbolt missile is approximately 25% faster than the previous version. The warhead has the same explosive power, in spite of improved technology, and the resulting savings in space has been devoted to increasing this version’s range to over ten times that of the previous version, putting human ships employing this missile on an even footing with the Dregluk Empire’s best missiles.
The development of the new missiles is just the leading edge of a massive increase in capability for the Earth Defense Command and for the Fleet. New missile launchers have been developed, and along with new sensors and fire control systems, will give the Fleet the capability to match or exceed the Dregluk in ship-to-ship combat. Of course, it will take some time to complete R&D on all of these systems, especially some of the planet-based sensors which are very large and capable designs. Once the systems R&D has been completed, new ship designs and upgrades of old designs will have to be finalized, and then the yards will have to be retooled to build the new classes or upgrade older designs. It will be some time before the increased capabilities will make themselves felt, although the new missile designs will be put into production as soon as they are available.
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September 13, 2136: The first Aegis PDC is assembled on Mars, joining a Looking Glass PDC assembled earlier in the year. It is an older design, but still, it is a sign of the importance of Mars in the Republic’s plans. The limited industry of Mars, and the construction brigades, will now begin work on assembling a second Aegis PDC.
September 28, 2136: The first two Saratoga class monitors are launched from the orbital yards. These monitors are very large ships intended to act as mobile bases for jump point defense.
October 20, 2136: The government orders the thirteen terraformer ships in the Earth Recovery Corps to relocate to Mars. The government has grown concerned that they will unbalance Earth’s environment by pumping too much greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in an attempt to stave off nuclear winter. Once the environment starts to recover normally, it might swing too far back the other way due to the Recovery Corps’ efforts. Instead, the terraformers will make Mars more habitable, to give humanity an option to the poisoned earth.
November 23, 2136: It’s been six months since the last Dregluk attack. In those six months humanity has become much more active throughout the Solar System. Four salvage ships are busily working to reduce the number of wrecks obstructing traffic in the system, and to bring the precious Dregluk technology back to the R&D labs on the Earth. Humanity has greatly expanded its presence on Mars, increasing the colony’s population to 64 million, and has started to build defenses on the planet that will ensure its safety. All of the non-combat ships in the government fleet have been recalled to the safety of Earth orbit, or are shuttling infrastructure and colonists between Earth and Mars. In spite of the harsh conditions on Earth, there is a feeling that humanity is on its way back.
At 2204 hours, that increasing confidence in the security of the Solar system is shaken when the Jump Cruiser Tennessee, which has taken over the Assistance’s picket position in the Washington system, receives a message from the Listening Post. Three Dregluk BB’s have jumped into the system and are headed towards the jump point to the Solar System. These ships have not been seen before, and thus can be assumed to be in perfect condition. While Admiral Wallace is sure that the Fleet could deal with one BB, or possibly even two, three is a lot of Dregluk firepower for the human fleet to deal with. However, all of the burgeoning activity in the Solar system must be protected. Currently, Mars is closer to the jump point than the Earth is, making it and its relatively untouched refuge for humanity an easy target, and currently it only has one PDC to protect it. Interim President Foster and Admiral Law agree, the fleet will have to fight the incoming Dregluk ships at the jump point.
Fortunately, one of the two new monitors have already been deployed to the jump point. These large ships were intended to be used as mobile bases, guarding the Solar System’s jump points. It took the Saratoga, the lead ship of the class, over eight days to reach the jump point from Earth. The Monitor class units are intended to remain on station for several years before needing to return to base for an overhaul. With the Saratoga added to the Fleet, the defenders have a good chance of destroying the Dregluk ships before they can wreak havoc on the Solar system.
The Fleet’s magazines are topped off, and it departs, leaving behind a population that followed it with their hearts and minds.
November 27, 2136, 1704 hours: Three Dregluk Mammoth class BB’s jump into the Solar System. The Fleet is ready. Admiral Wallace has divided the Fleet into three groups:
Missile Combatants
MN - Saratoga
BC - Mars
PV - Defender 02, 03
FFG(r3) - Sacramento, Singapore, Vladivostok, Nairobi
MB(r2ER) – 002, 003, 005, 006, 007, 008
Pursuit Group Alpha
CP(r3) – Assistance
FFG(r4) – Birmingham, Cairo, Tokyo
Pursuit Group Bravo
FTI – Falcon 011, 012, 013, 014, 015, 016, 017, 018, 019, 020, 021, 022, 023
All three groups are positioned on the jump point. The missile group will engage the Dregluk BB’s with missile fire and will remain on the jump point. The two pursuit groups will engage the Dregluk BB’s with energy weapon fire and will attempt to remain as close as possible to the Dregluk ships.
The crack crew of the Assistance are the first off the mark, and their spinal and heavy lasers carve deeply into the lead Dregluk BB’s armor. Twenty-five seconds after the BB’s entered the system, the missile group launched one hundred and sixteen Thunderbolt III ASM’s and seventy-eight Bludgeon II LRASM’s at the fleeing BB’s. The Thunderbolts slam home first. The targeted BB stopped five of the ASM’s with its CIWS, but in an orgy of overkill and internal explosions the remaining Thunderbolts wiped the Dregluk ship out. The Bludgeon II’s went in next. Explosion after explosion wreathed the two remaining Dregluk ships. It was almost…beautiful. When the explosions faded out both ships were gone. The Fleet had done its job, the Dregluk ships were no more. This marks a turning point in the war, as far as Admiral Law and Consul Foster are concerned. A human fleet met a powerful Dregluk force in space and destroyed it. While it wasn’t an open-space engagement, the fact that it took place away from the Earth’s defensive envelope and prevented the Dregluk ships from rampaging throughout the system means that humanity has taken a large step towards securing the Solar System.
The Saratoga begins its long transit back to the Earth to reload its box launchers. The Masada, the second monitor in service, leaves Earth to replace the Saratoga at the jump point. The rest of the Fleet also departs the jump point, headed back in-system towards the Earth, leaving a picket behind.
December 9, 2136: Two Behemoth class battleships appear in the Washington system. The Listening Post duly reports their arrival and ETA.
December 13, 2136: Two Dregluk Behemoth class BB’s appear on the jump point and immediately begin moving away. The Behemoths were known to be less capable than the Mammoth class, and some in Intel had speculated that they were jump ships and had large amounts of interior space devoted to the drives that would make that possible. Admiral Wallace ordered the Masada, the Monitor on guard duty, and four missile boats, to open fire. Sixty Bludgeon II’s raced away from the five ships seconds later. The Dregluk ships were so close that the missiles hit their targets bare seconds after they were launched. One of the two BB’s was destroyed almost instantaneously, while the other was seriously damaged. Admiral Wallace ordered the two remaining missile boats with missiles in their tubes to engage the limping Dregluk ship. The limping Dregluk ship shoots down half of the missile boat’s missiles, and survives the impact of the rest. Next it is the two Defender’s turn. Their eight Bludgeon II’s meet the same fate as the missile boat’s missiles, in that half of them are destroyed by the Dregluk ship’s CIWS, but the other four finally finish off the Dregluk ship. The Solar System is clear again.
December 21, 2136: The Salvage-04 receives orders to jump out of the Solar System and into the Washington system to begin salvaging wrecks close to the jump point. That plan is cancelled hours later when the picket ship on the jump point reports that a Dregluk ship has been detected entering the system by the Listening Post. The Salvage-04 is diverted to a wreck in the Solar System and preparations are made to ambush the incoming Dregluk ship. As Naval Intelligence analyzes the information sent by the Listening Post, it becomes clear that this is a new class of Dregluk ship. Given its emission strength, it is clearly the same size as a Mammoth class BB. Naval Intelligence designates it as a Leviathan class BB.
December 25, 2136, 0507 hours: The Leviathan jumps into the Solar System, materializing 196,000 kilometers from the jump point. Immediately after jumping in the Leviathan turns towards the jump point and moves towards the Fleet. Twenty-five seconds later the Saratoga, having replaced the Masada as the jump point guard, launches forty Bludgeon II’s at the interloper. Seconds later the Bludgeon II’s slam into the Leviathan. The big Dregluk ship stops six missiles with its CIWS and then is completely destroyed after only two of the big Bludgeon missiles detonate on its armor. Admiral Wallace and her Intel people are mystified. This was a new class of ship never seen before, which means it couldn’t have been damaged in prior battles, unless the Dregluk had taken a damaged ship and modified it somehow. Or had other enemies. Or had thrown an unarmored and almost completely undefended ship into a combat situation. Theories abound. HQ orders the Salvage-02 to examine the wreck and recover what it can. The salvage ship ignores the Dregluk life pods floating nearby as it begins its work. If the crew had weapons they’d shoot at the pods, but as they don’t they satisfy themselves with taunting the Dregluk survivors with the horrible death that awaits them.
December 28, 2136: Two Mammoth class BB’s are detected jumping into the Washington system. The fleet goes on alert yet again.
December 30, 2136: R&D on new systems is finally complete. New upgrade designs are finalized and work begins retooling the yards to produce the new ships.
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The Unified Republic of Earth
The Year 2137
No Dregluk missiles hit Earth or any other colony in the Solar System during the year. This fact alone justifies the high regard the population has for Consul Foster, the Republic, and the Republic’s military forces. Indeed, no Dregluk ship managed to penetrate the jump point defenses in spite of near constant attempts. During the year the Dregluk made fifteen different attempts to attack on fourteen different days, and lost twenty warships. The heaviest force to attack was two BB’s on January 2, the largest was three Demon class CA’s on February 7. As the year went on and the Dregluk continued to launch futile attacks the public began calling 2137 the year of the ‘Jump Point Turkey Shoot’.
Naval Intelligence is mystified by this behavior, as are the Republic’s admirals and politicians. If the Dregluk had built up their forces instead of launching piecemeal attacks, they could have launched an overwhelming attack late in the year with twenty warships, including ten battleships that significantly out-mass the largest warships humanity can field in spite of years of military buildup. Instead, by launching numerous independent attacks the Dregluk lost over 439,000 tons of warships in exchange for minor damage to one Republican freighter. The best theory that Naval Intelligence has been able to develop after numerous and thorough interviews of the crews rescued from the destroyed Dregluk ships is that the Dregluk Empire is moribund and disorganized. One point of view that has gained some currency as the ineffectual attacks continued is the theory that the Dregluk are ruled by a computer or computers that have limited responses built into them.
Each of the attacks followed a common pattern. The Dregluk ships were spotted entering the Washington system by the Listening Post, giving the Solar System’s defenders more than sufficient warning to gather at the jump point. The Dregluk ship or ships would jump into the Solar system, sometimes appearing on the jump point, or, if the Dregluk ship was a jump ship, some distance from the jump point. The Dregluk ship would immediately begin moving away from the jump point at maximum speed. The defenders, which almost always included one of the two monitors, would shoot them out of space with missiles. In several occasions the meson-equipped interceptors were called upon to finish of the intruders if the missiles didn’t do the job. In one attack a Dregluk ship managed to launch several missiles at the battlecruiser Mars, which were stopped by her shields. In another attack the intruder managed to damage a freighter assigned to support salvage operations close to the jump point with its particle cannons. For the most part the Dregluk ships just died, one after another. None got more than five hundred thousand kilometers from the jump point.
Consul Foster and his administration has grown concerned about the growing xenophobia in general amongst the population, and outright hatred for the Dregluk in particular. Because humanity was on the defensive this hatred has had limited outlets. Reflecting the public’s opinion, the Republic’s Senate has passed several resolutions condemning the Dregluk Empire. Bowing to pressure from both the populace and the Senate, Consul Foster ordered the Fleet to stop rescuing crews from the Dregluk life pods. While Consul Foster feared the precedent that was being set, the Republic was too new (at that time) for a major political battle so he acquiesced. Indeed, public opinion was so firmly on the side of leaving the Dregluk to die in deep space that it was clear that the battle could not be fought. Consul Foster hoped that the public’s opinion would moderate as Earth’s defenses became more capable and time moved on, however, that proved not to be the case. Life on Earth was hard, not only because of the lower temperatures but because of the omnipresent radiation, which strikes apparently at random, weakens everyone, and kills the weakest, like beloved parents and children. After the devastation of the Bombardment and the ongoing radiation poisoning, now called “The Long Death”, there was no mercy in the people for the Dregluk, or indeed for anyone else that would threaten humanity. Indeed, as the year wore on and the Dregluk continued their attacks the people’s attitudes hardened. Salvage crews working on newly destroyed Dregluk ships have taken to taunting the Dregluk life pods floating nearby, and as time went on the crews stimulated each other to new heights. Towards the end of the year an enterprising net channel began broadcasting recordings of the taunting and received immense ratings almost from the first.
The fact that the Fleet has stopped the Dregluk incursions at the jump point has allowed the Republic to become much more active throughout the Solar System. Salvage ships completed salvaging human and Dregluk wrecks left scattered across the solar system after years of fighting by April, and have been occupied since then salvaging the new wrecks of Dregluk attackers as they appear. The technology recovered by the salvage ships has been instrumental in improving humanity’s defenses, and in most areas Human tech is now equal to that of the Dregluk Empire. In May humanity’s first tug is launched and begins moving military shipyards to Mars to avoid the construction penalties associated with Earth and its omnipresent radiation. Construction factories and Republican Army Construction Corps units were transferred first to Mars to build defenses, and then to the Ganymede colony. Consul Foster has made much headway on his promise to make the Solar System into a fortress.
In September, the Nairobi and the Sacramento completed their refits in the Martian orbital yards. These two ships are among the first units refitted to a standard which will allow them to engage Dregluk forces on a more or less even basis. These units are important because, in spite of its success in defending the jump point, until now the fleet was not ready for a deep-space engagement with major Dregluk units. That is now changing. The Lake class FFG’s can launch twenty-five Thunderbolt III missiles from their box launchers, and with their new fire controls can engage Dregluk ships out to 225 mkm’s, rivaling the best Dregluk ASM’s. The new version of the smaller missile boats can launch Bludgeon III’s from their box launchers, and will have fire controls capable of engaging Dregluk ships out to almost 400 mkm’s, far exceeding the performance of any known Dregluk missile. Humanity is nearly ready to begin reaching beyond the Solar System once again.
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The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2137
Earth:
Population: 4.27 Billion
Shipyards/Slipways: 15/40
Industrial Facilities (All): 12,209
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -18.99 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 23% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -4.52%.
Earth’s population has decreased 640 million since June 2135, or 13%. Approximately 90 million of that decrease is attributable to increased colonist transport to Mars, and to a lesser extent to the Moon. The remainder is due to the radiation from the Dregluk bombardments of 2134 and 2135. Earth’s average surface temperature is climbing, and is now 23.84 degrees (almost 75 degrees Fahrenheit), due in part to greenhouse gasses pumped into the atmosphere by the Earth Recovery Corps in the immediate aftermath of the bombardment, when large populations were vulnerable to the freezing temperatures that prevailed at that time.
While a significant number of shipyards with their attendant slipways have been transferred to Mars, the number of slipways over Earth has remained almost the same due to significant growth of the orbital yards since 2135. In addition, while industrial facilities have been shipped off world, the total number of industrial facilities on Earth has grown at the same time that the population has decreased, causing worker shortages that are compounding reduced efficiency from lingering radiation effects. The Consul plans to shift production away from military projects during the upcoming year towards projects that will reduce the drain on skilled workers. For example, large numbers mining facilities are slated to be converted to automation over the next several years, reducing the need for laborers.
As of the end of December, 2137, all five of Earth’s Aegis missile defense bases have been upgraded to the most current Aegis r2 status, giving Earth unparalleled defensive capability that should be capable of dealing with any Dregluk or Obscura attack. Indeed, Earth’s current defenses would be able to handily deal with even the heaviest of attacks the Dregluk launched during the worst portions of the bombardments in 2134. Two of the four offensive Sword class PDC’s have been upgraded to the latest standard as well. The remaining two Sword PDC’s, the Shield class meson bases, and the Final Line missile bases will have to wait for their upgrades until production capacity is made available later in the year, probably in March, after critical construction projects are completed. Currently, the Earth Defense Command plans to have all of the Earth’s PDC’s upgraded to the latest designs by the end of 2138.
The Moon:
Population: 8.07 million
Industrial Facilities: 150 (mines)
The Republic’s government decided in 2136 that they would not re-colonize the Moon, and instead decided to focus on Mars, as Mars has a much lower radiation level and a larger existing population. There was some public discontent with that decision, largely among the refugees from the original Lunar colony, who had been lobbying for some time for an effort to repopulate the Moon. In the aftermath of the decision by the government, the refugees decided to fund their own colonization effort, and have managed to transfer over eight million people to the Moon. In mid-2137, as the worker shortage began to be problematic on the Earth, the Republic decided to re-establish the Lunar mining effort, as a way of utilizing the colonists already transferred to the Moon and to reduce the demands on the shrinking Earth-based workforce. One Shield class meson base has been built on the Moon to date. The EDC has plans to expand the Moon’s defenses, however, there are many more urgent projects and given the Moon’s location near the center of the Earth’s defensive envelope.
Mars:
Population: 102.14 million
Shipyards/Slipways: 8/23
Industrial Facilities (ALL): 280
The Martian population has increased by a factor of 10 since June 2135, and Earth’s seven colony transports are dedicated to transferring people from Earth to Mars full time. These colony transports are leftovers from the Federation, which did not place a high value on colonization. Because of this the colony transports are older models and fairly slow. In addition, the Federation had re-tasked the shipyards used to build the colony transports to other jobs long ago, making the construction of new colony transports problematic. In a reflection of the increased importance of moving the Republic’s citizens away from the radiation on Earth, the Senate has authorized the creation of a cabinet level ministry, the Bureau of Relocation, which has authorized the design and construction of new colony ships. Three commercial shipyards over Earth, with a combined six slipways, will begin building newer, faster, larger colony transports this year.
Terraforming efforts are ongoing. Currently eighteen Gaia class terraformers are orbiting Mars, pumping oxygen into the atmosphere. This portion of the terraforming project is expected to be completed in approximately four months, at which time the terraformers will switch to producing greenhouse gasses to improve the temperature across Mars.
The Republic’s Navy has established a significant presence on Mars over the last year. A large maintenance base capable of handling the Navy’s largest ships was built in the Olympus Mons area, and a large store of fuel was established this year to support ongoing operations. In addition, almost two hundred construction facilities have been transferred to Mars to assist the Republic Army’s Construction Corps in building up Mars’ defenses.
Over the last year, four Aegis anti-missile bases have been built on Mars, along with four Shield class meson bases and a Looking Glass class anti-missile sensor base. Mars based industry is focused on upgrading the Aegis class bases, which were all older models prefabbed in 2135, to the latest designs. Eventually, once the Aegis bases have all been modernized, Mars Defense Command plans on deploying an Oculus class offensive sensor base and several PDC’s based on the current version of the Final Line bases, which will be easier for Mars’ limited construction capacity to build than a full-sized Sword class base.
Ganymede Colony:
Population: 5.68 million
Construction Facilities: 30
Mines: 16
Automated Mines: 168
The population of the Ganymede colony has remained relatively stable for several years. Although the Republic is not currently planning on sending additional colonists to Ganymede any time soon, due to the rush to move people out of the radioactive environment on Earth and Mars’ more welcoming environment, several shipments of infrastructure were sent to the colony to allow for natural population growth. In addition, the colony’s mining operation has been supplemented by thirty construction facilities to assist in the construction of defenses.
The Republican Army Construction Corps has been redeployed from Mars to Ganymede, and is currently assembling an Oculus class sensor base. This will be completed by late January, and will be followed by a Looking Glass class base and several Aegis anti-missile bases. This work is slated to be completed by the end of 2138.
-
December 31, 2137, Earth Orbital Yards
Consul Foster loved coming here. The room he sat in had been designed and built for the oligarchs that ran the Federation, and they had loved to look out over the things they had built. The things they owned. In this case, the amply appointed room he now sat in was in a tower that reached up from the primary complex connecting the modular shipyards orbiting the Earth, and had broad transparent windows all around its circumference, allowing anyone in the room to look out over the bustling yards. The Federation and its oligarchs were no longer around, but the massive yards were, and to Foster they represented Humanity’s strength. After all of the death and the horrible wasting diseases caused or aggravated by the radiation permeating Earth’s environment, coming up here to this clean station with its bustling economy and clear statement about Humanity’s greatness did a lot for Foster’s morale. Indeed, there were net-casts that merely showed a panorama of the yards and the bustling activity around the massive station, and these net-casts were always amongst the top in viewership.
Foster’s attention was drawn to the door as it opened to admit Admiral Law, one of his oldest friends. The Consular guards stationed outside the room had scanned the Admiral before he was admitted, and now moved aside so he could enter the darkened room. Consul Foster waived the admiral over to the window, and the two men stood in silence for some time, watching the work proceeding on the Republic’s latest military and civilian craft.
After a minute, Admiral Law nodded to himself, and pointed at the station’s largest naval yard to draw the Consul’s attention. Just visible in one of the yard’s three bays was a large skeletal framework being put together by yard workers and robots. “That’s the first of the new jump point assault ships we are hoping will lead humanity’s return to the stars.”
Consul Foster stared at the skeletal frame for a few seconds then frowned. “The Essex won’t be launched until 2139, right?”
Admiral Law grimaced. “In spite of all of the systems pre-manufactured by ground-based industry, including the jump drive, that’s correct. It’s a big, complicated ship, and it’s the first of its class. It’s going to take time. It’ll be late 2139 before it leaves the yards.”
Foster turned towards his friend. “Alex, we can’t wait that long.” The Consul shook his head and turned back towards the window. “We can’t wait that long at all. The people won’t allow it.”
Several competing emotions flitted across Admiral Law’s face before he took a deep breath and turned away, moving to one of the comfortable chairs set up in clusters in the center of the room. Consul Foster followed him after a few seconds. After considering the situation for a few more seconds, Admiral Law decided to be blunt. “We aren’t ready to face the Dregluk in deep space, Joe. We just aren’t. And we won’t be for some time.”
Now it was Foster’s turn to frown. “How long are you projecting?”
Admiral Law’s answer came without hesitation. “2139. Late 2139. Look, we think the new Lake class Frigates can engage the Dregluk on about even terms in deep space, but attacking on even terms means that the Dregluk are going to get a chance to fire their missiles at our ships even as we fire at them. While our missile defenses are much better now, it will take the missiles from at least four Lake class frigates to kill a Mammoth class BB, and we only have two in service now.”
“When will we have more Lake class ships?”
“The Singapore’s refit will be complete by the end of June, 2138. After that it will be new construction, which will not be available until early 2139.”
Consul Foster got up and began pacing in front of the windows. “And the missile boats, what about them?”
Admiral Law shook his head. “We have other problems with the missile boats. We have two of them ready now, refitted to the latest design. They mount box launchers capable of launching the latest version of our long range ASM, the Bludgeon III, which is capable of engaging ships out to nearly four hundred million kilometers, far beyond the range of any known Dregluk missile. The new missile boats are equipped with fire controls capable of fully exploiting the Bludgeon III’s range, but, there is a problem with the design. The missile boats are small, intentionally. Too small to mount a sensor capable of identifying targets for its fire control. At 2,200 tons there just isn’t room to mount a sensor and useful numbers of launchers. That hasn’t mattered up to now, because the missile boats have always been used in either jump point defense roles, which means close-range engagements, or in planetary defense roles, taking advantage of the huge sensors we’ve built on the ground. We’ve planned on building a “sensor-leader” class for some time, but, as always, yard space is limited and there have been many competing priorities. All of this means that while the Bludgeon III’s are capable of engaging out to four hundred million klicks, the best they are going to be able to do in reality is engage along side the Lake class frigates, which have active sensors capable of identifying targets out to two hundred and fifty million klicks.”
If anything, Foster’s frown got worse. “Which puts us back on that even footing you were talking about.”
Admiral Law nodded. “Yes, very much so. Now, the bright side is that, as I said, the missile boats are small, so we can build or refit them fairly fast. Three more will be ready in the next several months and more will be ready throughout the year. On the other hand, the missile boats were really intended for system defense. They don’t have much in the way of endurance, and they don’t carry much fuel. We’ll have to be very careful how we operate with them if we take them out of the Solar System.”
The two were silent for a time, then Admiral Law looked at his friend. “Are things really that bad?”
Consul Foster looked bleak. “Yes, they really are. On the one hand the people are elated with our progress. The fact that no Dregluk ship made it past the jump point this year is incredible, and the constant stream of colonists to Mars aboard the Bureau of Relocation’s colony ships has given them hope for the future. Having said that, the continuing death toll from radiation is poisoning more than the environment. Are you aware of the Dregluk baiting programs on the net?”
Now it was Law’s turn to look bleak. “Yes, I am. I’ve forbidden their viewing by on-duty personnel, but there’s nothing I can do about off-duty, and its become rampant. As I understand it, there are viewing parties where people compete to come up with new taunts and new routines to send to the salvage crews.”
“Its worse than that. Last month one of the salvage crews took it further. They rescued some of the Dregluk and then spaced them, one after another. All the while taunting them about what we were going to do to their families and loved ones once we got to their system.”
Admiral Law looked appalled. “That’s…horrible!”
Consul Foster nodded. “I told the owners of the salvage ship that if it happened again I’d prosecute them all for murder, and told them I wanted that crew off the ship from now on.” Foster shook his head. “They complied, but the crew was welcomed home as heroes and is even now doing the circuit, being feted everywhere they go. This is getting out of hand, and it is only the most visible of the ways that the people are reacting. There are worse things brewing, if we don’t get a handle on this now.” Foster turned to look out at the stars again. “We have to show the people that we are going back to the stars, and we have to do it soon or bad things are going to happen, Alex.”
Admiral Law stood and joined the Consul at the window again. “There is a way. We’ve been studying this for some time. As I said, we risk catastrophic losses if we move into the Washington system prematurely. But the Washington system isn’t our only threat, is it? We have the New York system right next door, with the Obscura just waiting for us. Admittedly our data is incomplete, but what data we have seems to indicate that the Obscura aren’t as technologically advanced as the Dregluk. With the Waterloo online now, we have three monitors and twenty Falcon class Interceptors to defend the Solar System. I suggest we return to the New York system, eliminate the Obscura threat there, and find out what happened to our survey ships there. The monitors and the interceptors will stay here to defend the system. Our new ships, coupled with our older ships, should be more than capable of engaging the Obscura, and if they aren’t we’ll be able to retreat through the jump point. The Obscura never came through before, so it should be relatively safe.”
Consul Foster was silent, and Admiral Law could tell that his friend’s mind was working overtime. Finally, he nodded and grinned. “Its perfect! We need to protect our flanks before we send the fleet away from the Solar System to engage the Dregluk anyway. Once the Fleet clears the New York system we will build jump gates to that system and set up a listening post there. One by one we’ll clear the other jump points in the Solar system and set up listening posts on the far side of all of them, to give us early warning of any approaching force. The people will see progress, and we can sell it to them as the continuing fortification of the Solar System. By the time that is complete, we should be ready to begin moving into the Washington system.”
Admiral Law nodded. “There’s something else.” Consul Foster turned and gave his friend his complete attention. “We have twenty meson equipped Interceptors operational now, and another sixteen due to be launched this year.” Admiral Law paused and gathered his thoughts. “I know the Interceptors are the darlings of the Senate, but I want to shift production away from them and towards another project.”
Consul Foster nodded. “Your pods?”
“Yes, the pods. Like the interceptors and the missile boats they are small, so we can build them relatively quickly. We’ll only need to enlarge the Interceptor shipyards slightly so we can convert them to pod production.”
Foster shook his head. “The Senate is not going to like diverting production away from the Interceptors.”
“Look, we have the first proto-type sensor pod almost ready. I suggest we use it during the mission to the New York system to demonstrate its utility. That pod is going to vastly enhance the capabilities of our fleet! Once it is deployed it will allow our new missile boats to use their Bludgeon missiles to their fullest capacity. And it’s very flexible. By including the tractor beam on the pod it can link to any ship, rather than requiring a tractor-equipped ship to tow it. The missile version of the pod will be equipped with box launchers for the Bludgeon missile, and the anti-missile version will be capable of enhancing the defensive qualities of any fleet. With these pods we can emplace instant defenses around a jump point or a critical base. They will revolutionize our power projection capabilities. Surely with the people so hungry for revenge the Senate will see what these pods can do for us?”
Foster looked intrigued. “You have a very good point there.” He sighed and shook his head. “You are right, the Senate will likely jump at anything that will enhance our offensive capabilities, but that isn’t the real problem. The budget is about to become critical.”
Admiral Law looked surprised. “The budget is that big of a problem?”
Foster grimaced. “Yes. We’ve been operating a deficit ever since the Federation fell. We were able to do that because those maniacs that ran the Federation were so greedy that they had amassed a huge operational reserve. We’ve been living off of that ever since, and we’ve expanded almost every type of production that we can, in the hopes of staving off destruction at the hands of the Dregluk and the Obscura. That deficit has only grown worse.”
“How long do we have?”
“Foster shook his head. “We have several months before it becomes critical. I finally convinced the Senate to devote resources towards improving our financial system early this year, and that should begin taking effect around the same time that our reserves run out. It is possible, though, that we may have to begin shutting down shipyards and ground-force training facilities to conserve our financial resources.”
Admiral Law shook his head. “If we do that we will be delaying our offensive, perhaps indefinitely.”
Foster nodded. “I know. There is little we can do about it that isn’t already being done, though. We’ll just have to make the best of it. In the meantime, I want you and your staff to put together a plan for an offensive into the New York system. I want that system cleared, and I want the people to see us clearing it. That should relieve some of the pressure.”
-
February 13, 2138, 0247 hours, Jump Point to the New York System
Captain Louis O’Donnell looked around the bridge of his ship, the Jump Cruiser Bihar, in satisfaction. His battle-tested crew was experienced and had been drilled to exhaustively. Every thing that could be done had been done. The Fleet was ready. He turned to the plot once again, and studied the Fleet’s dispositions yet again:
Sol-New York Jump Point Guard Ship, Solar System, CO Captain Morgan Thornton:
Monitor – Masada
Jump Point Assault Force, CO Captain Louis O’Donnell
Tennessee Class Jump Cruisers – Bihar (Flag), Tennessee
Battlecruiser – Mars
Brooklynn r4 FFG – Cairo
Attack Boat r1 – AB-001, AB-002
Main Fleet, Sol-New York Jump Point, Solar System, CO Commander Scott Turner
Defender class – D-002, D-003
Brooklyn r5 FFG - Birmingham
Lake class FFG – Nairobi, Sacramento (Flag)
Brooklyn r4 FFG – Boston, Karachi, Lima, Seoul, Tokyo
Attack Boat r1 – AB-003
Missile Boat r3 – MB-002, MB-003, MB-006, MB-007, MB-008
Sol-Washington Jump Point Guard Squadron, Solar System, CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
Monitors – Saratoga, Waterloo
Sol System Reserve Group, Earth Orbit, CO Commander Gemma Tyler
Enterprise r4 class Patrol Cruiser - Assistance
Falcon r4 class Interceptors – 22 (numbered, not named)
Captain O’Donnell felt a deep sense of satisfaction as he looked around his bridge at his crew unhurriedly making ready to assault the jump point. Mankind was returning to the stars. And he was leading them!
The clock counted down and one by one the ships of the fleet reported their readiness. Right on time the two Jump Cruisers moved forward and their generators formed jump points ahead of them. The two jump ships moved into their jump points, each followed closely by their escorts.
Captain O’Donnell shook his head groggily as they materialized in the New York system. Around him his crew struggled to get their ship under control as they dealt with the jump effects that blurred their senses and, in several cases, caused them to lose their last meals. After a few seconds the central plot updated. The two groups of human ships had arrived in the New York system separated by 26,000 kilometers. While the Bihar’s active sensors were down, her thermal sensors were not and they showed a blood red contact sitting right on the jump point at nearly point-blank range. As O’Donnell watched, the ship’s computer, which was rapidly recovering from its own version of jump effects, updated the red icon with whatever information it could glean from the ship’s thermal sensors. The contact was at about 60% the thermal signature of the Mars and the two jump cruisers, probably meaning it was somewhat smaller than the human ships. His head clearing, Captain O’Donnell turned to the helmsman. “Helm, follow the plan. Take us out at maximum speed. Put some space between us and the Obscura ship.”
“Aye, Aye sir! Helm is responding, and the engines are coming up. Full power in fifteen seconds.”
Captain O’Donnell watched the plot as his ship turned away from the jump point. Even as the Bihar turned away its two escorts, the two Attack Boats, turned towards the jump point and began moving slowly, sluggishly, towards the alien ship, which had begun turning away from the human ships. The missile combatants Mars and Cairo, escorting the Tennessee, also began to move away from the jump point and the Obscura ship.
There was a chime from the ship’s computer, and Captain O’Donnell focused on the icon for the Obscura ship. The computer showed new information prominently. The Obscura ship massed 9,000 tons and was moving away at the relatively stately 3,911 km/s.
Fifteen seconds after the human ships jumped in the Bihar’s communications officer turned from her console. “Sir, the Mars reports that she is under attack. The missiles did not show up on sensors and their CIWS failed to stop them. They report three hits on their shields, which are holding at 89%.”
Captain O’Donnell controlled his urge to grimace and nodded at the comms officer. The plot showed the Obscura ship moving away from the human ships. None of the human ships were up to full speed yet. As he watched the plot the comms officer spoke again.
“Sir, the Mars and the Cairo report that their active sensors are up and they are ready to engage.” Even as she spoke the plot updated to show eight Thunderbolt III’s launched by the Mars and nineteen Aegis V’s launched by the Cairo in offensive mode speeding towards the fleeing Obscura ship.
Even as the human missiles sped towards their target the Bihar shook as Obscura missiles impacted against her shields. “Damage report!”
The engineering officer assigned to the bridge turned from her station. “Sir, we were hit by six missiles. Our shields held, but are at 59%.”
“Very well.” Even as Captain O’Donnell turned back to the plot icon for the human missiles merged with the Obscura ship’s icon. He leaned forward intently as the Obscura ship sailed on, apparently unperturbed. “Computer, analysis. What was the effect of the last salvo from our ships?”
The computer spoke dispassionately. “All twenty-seven missiles hit the target. No observed effect. No atmospheric release detected.”
Captain O’Donnell settled back in his chair, once again staring at the plot intently. He wasn’t surprised that all of their missiles hit. They had been designed with the Dregluk in mind, and the Dregluk ships were faster than the Obscura. He had expected there to be hull breaches, though. It was somewhat disturbing that the smaller Obscura ship had such thick armor. He sighed quietly. There was little he could do at this point to affect the outcome of the battle. His fellow captains knew what to do, and how to do it. They had a plan and so far, it was working.
Every ten seconds the FFG Cairo spat out nineteen Aegis V missiles but the Mars required fifty seconds to reload her older launchers. The Attack Boats were still struggling to get their engines up to full power, and thus were still relatively close to the Bihar when the receding Obscura ship next launched its missiles that were targeted on one of the two Attack Boats. The human active sensors were now working, and there was enough space between the two opposing forces for the human’s anti-missile systems to begin working as they were intended. Eleven size three missiles appeared on the Bihar’s plot, speeding towards one of the Attack ships. AAM launchers across the attack force began spitting out Aegis V’s in defensive mode, targeted on the incoming missiles. The Aegis V’s, forged in the desperate battles against the Dregluk, destroyed the incoming Obscura missiles handily. In fact, the Aegis V’s achieved a near 100% hit ratio.
Captain O’Donnell, watching the engagement intently, nodded to himself. “Defense officer, change engagement settings to one AMM for every incoming missile. Comms, contact Cairo and order them to cease offensive fire. They are to go into defensive mode as of now.”
Turning back to the plot Captain O’Donnell noticed that the Attack Boats had finally gotten underway. While they aren’t as fast as the latest version of the Falcon interceptors, the Attack Boats have an overtake on the Obscura ship of 2,700 km/s. They will close the distance fairly rapidly. As the Attack Boats begin moving away from the rest of the human fleet the Obscura ship, apparently identifying them as the primary threat, again targets the small human ships for its missile fire. Once again, the Aegis V missiles wipe out the incoming Obscura missile wave with 100% hit ratio.
As the Attack Boats moved away from the human ships in pursuit of the fleeing Obscura ship they moved further and further from the human fleet’s anti-missile coverage. This became problematic when the next Obscura missile wave roared in on the smaller human ships and only the Bihar’s anti-missiles could reach the Obscura missiles before they hit their target. Captain O’Donnell watched as two Obscura missiles hit the AB-001.
A few seconds later the Bihar’s comms officer turned from her console. “Sir, the AB-001 reports no internal damage. They are continuing pursuit.”
“Very well.” For a brief second Captain O’Donnell considered calling them back, but then he quelled his doubt. The Obscura were alien enemies and he would destroy them using whatever tools he had.
Even as the Obscura missiles hit the AB-001 the Mars launched its second salvo of Thunderbolt III’s. The eight missiles from the Mars roared in on the Obscura ship, easily overtaking it, and all eight hit their target. Once again, the computer reported that there were no observed effects of the human bombardment on the Obscura ship.
The next salvo from the Obscura ship was too far for any of the human’s AMM’s to intercept before it hit its target. Six managed to hit the AB-001, savaging its armor and damaging its single engine, leaving it dead in space. After a few seconds Captain O’Donnell turned from the plot. “Helm, come about and set a pursuit course for the Obscura ship. We have to cover the AB-002 with our missiles. Comms, orders for the Cairo. They are to engage the Obscura ship with their AMM’s in offensive mode.” Perhaps the anti-missiles would distract the Obscura from the damaged ship.
The Bihar ponderously came about and began pursuing the distant Obscura ship even as the Obscura ship shifted its fire to the AB-002, now closing on the fleeing alien ship. Still beyond help from the rest of the human fleet the AB-002 took two hits to its armor but suffered no other damage.
Captain O’Donnell watches as the AB-002 closes on the Obscura ship. The human attack ship takes three more hits as it closes, but reports only minor shock damage. Finally, the AB-002 reports that it is closing to attack range and Captain O’Donnell leans forward, intent on the plot. His frown deepened, though, as the Obscura ship began dodging the AB-002, managing to remain just outside its weapon’s range in spite of the fact that the human ship was faster. For the next fifteen seconds the two ships dodged across the plot, with the Obscura ship managing to remain just outside the human ship’s range. The next Obscura salvo savaged the human attack ship, which had already suffered serious armor depletion. The AB-002 was left dead in space with few systems still functional.
Captain O’Donnell leaned back, taking in the larger picture after focusing on the near-point-blank battle between the two ships. Eight Thunderbolt III’s from the Mars were approaching the Obscura ship, which had turned away from the AB-002 and was running again. O’Donnell watched as the missiles from the Mars roared in and hit the Obscura ship, which immediately disappeared from the plot, to be replaced seconds later by a debris icon. Even as he settled back in his chair in satisfaction the Obscura ship’s last salvo raced in on the crippled AB-002, which disappeared in a welter of explosions, leaving behind a few drifting life pods. There were no pods from the Obscura ship.
Captain O’Donnell looked at the plot, which was now clear of enemy ships, and then around his bridge, in triumph. He had been the comms officer on the old Enterprise under Ship CEO Buckley when they had jumped into the Honolulu system and come under fire from Obscura ships immediately after exiting the jump. That had been chaos. They had been completely unprepared. No one knew what to expect and all of them had been little more than civilians playacting in uniforms that didn’t belong to them. The disastrous jump into the Honolulu system marked the beginning of humanity’s retreat from the stars, and was a black mark on the Fleet’s history. He remembered the chaos on the bridge of the Enterprise like it was yesterday, and the near panic on the face of CEO Buckley, who had been as unprepared as everyone else. He was immensely proud of the difference between now and then. The smooth cooperation of his crew and the crews of the other ships was a marked difference between then and now. He had always remembered the way that Buckley’s panic had infected everyone else on the bridge of the Enterprise, and he had driven himself over the years to always project calm confidence any time that he was somewhere where the crew could see him.
O’Donnell shook his head, lost in thought while the bridge crew coordinated the aftermath of the battle. He had blamed Buckley for her panic at the Battle of Honolulu, but then she had later redeemed herself in one of the interminable battles during the Bombardment. The Enterprise had been lost with nearly all hands, including Captain Buckley, a heroic incident in a period of time that was filled with heroes dying to save innocents.
Captain O’Donnell shook himself. “Comms, open channel to the squadron.” He paused until his comms officer nodded, then continued. “This is Captain O’Donnell. The Obscura ship has been destroyed and our screens are clear. Congratulations!” His voice rang out true and clear across all of the human ships in the New York system. “We have struck a blow for humanity and taken our first steps back to the stars.” He paused for a second to gather his thoughts. “I want all of you to know how proud of you I am. All of you acted with honor and bravery, and I intend to see that you are all recognized for your actions here today.” His eyes drifted towards the blinking icon for the wreck of the AB-002 and the Cairo, which was approaching the wreck to pick up life pods. “Don’t mourn for our losses. The crewers on the ‘Light horse’ (AB-002’s nickname from its crew) died as humans should die, in battle with aliens, protecting our homes and families. They won’t be the last to die as we return to the stars, but one thing I can promise you, we’ll kill more of them than they’ll kill of us!” His voice rose to roar at the last and the crew on the Bihar’s bridge rose to their feet cheering. All across the fleet the crews were cheering as they settled in to put the next phase of the plan into action.
The Bihar and the Tennessee jumped back to the Solar System, escorting the AB-001, which had restored motive power, and began shuttling the rest of the fleet into the New York system as the AB-001 returned to the Earth for repairs.
With the Fleet in the New York system Captain O’Donnell ordered the sensor pod that had been conveyed into the system by the Tennessee to be deployed. It took several minutes for the pod’s crew to get its sensors operational but once they were up the Fleet had a clear view out to four hundred and twenty-five million kilometers. The small pod, only 2,200 tons, expanded the human ship’s detection range greatly. No Obscura ships were within detection range.
With the Fleet now safely in-system and the pod deployed, Captain O’Donnell ordered the next phase to begin. The Sacramento and the Nairobi, both the latest version of Thunderbolt missile equipped FFG’s, along with the defensive FFG’s Birmingham, Boston, and Cairo, left the jump point headed for the rally point of the long-lost exploration group that had disappeared in the New York System seven years ago. With the sensor pod in place the missile boats left with the fleet on the jump point could engage any Obscura ships that the pods could detect with their Bludgeon III missiles.
-
January 6, 2138:
The Listening Post detects a Mammoth class BB entering the Washington system.
January 10, 2138:
The Mammoth class BB jumps into the solar system and is met by a hail of Bludgeon II’s and Thunderbolt III’s, ending the threat, permanently.
The Republic decides to reopen the Venusian mines. Freighters begin transferring automated mines within days.
January 26, 2138:
Study of the Dregluk crews taken prisoner from life pods early in the war has conclusively shown that all of the Dregluk encountered to date have implants in their bodies and brains, and research has suggested that, in addition to improving their general health and providing augmented abilities, the implants have limited Dregluk intelligence and world-view, at least in the subjects encountered to date. The prevailing opinion amongst those studying the Dregluk is that their society is either a dictatorship maintained by implant-induced control of the masses, or that the entire Dregluk society is controlled by computers and that control is exercised through their implants. Reports of the researcher’s findings have been made to the Senate over the last two years, as more was discovered about the implants and their effects on the Dregluk. Most of the information has been made public, and much of what hasn’t been made public has leaked to the press by various elements within the Senate.
In response to these alarming reports, the Senate passes the Human Purity Act on this date. The HPA is the brainchild of Senator Lauren Young, the leader of the Human Purity Party. The Human Purity Party is an offshoot of one of the religious groups that grew rapidly after the fall of the Federation. The Church of Pure Humanity demanded a crusade of genocide against the Dregluk, and demanded that its Prophet’s Guards be given government sanction to carry out purifying missions against the Dregluk, or whatever enemy of humanity should appear. The most extreme of the church’s leadership was purged during the Interim Governments suppression of extremist groups, and a more moderate leadership focused on maintaining the purity of humanity took over in the resulting power vacuum. This leadership was eventually consolidated under Prophet Dane Young, who changed the organization’s name to the Human Purity Church. Over the next several years the church rapidly grew in power, especially once it became clear how the Dregluk had been perverted by their implants. Limited implant technology, mostly for special purposes, had been available on Earth for over a century, and some on the fringes had taken implant technology to extremes, but implants had never become widely used amongst humans. As the reports from the researcher’s were made public the Church, and its political arm, the HPP, made this their central organizing issue. The Human Purity Act is the culmination of years of campaigning and political effort. The HPA makes it illegal to implant technological devices in humans for any reason except limited medical needs. All persons that currently possess implants will have to register with the Republic and in some cases will have to have them removed.
February 13, 2138:
The Fleet departs on its mission to the New York System.
February 14, 2138:
A single Demon class CA is detected jumping into the Washington system. When the message is received by the Admiralty, the Fleet Reserve force, twenty-two Falcon class interceptors led by the Patrol Cruiser Assistance, departs Earth to reinforce the two monitors assigned to the jump point to the Washington system.
February 17, 2138:
The detached squadron arrives at the rally point in the New York system to find only a lonely wreck. They search the surrounding area and find a small buoy with the logs of the Marco Polo, the last surviving ship of the survey group dispatched to this system seven years ago. After spending a short amount of time recovering bodies the group heads back to the jump point.
February 18, 2138
The Demon class cruiser jumps into the Solar system right on schedule. Almost immediately, the monitor Waterloo launches thirty Bludgeon II missiles at the intruder. The missiles completely overwhelmed the cruiser, wiping it out before it could do little more than begin moving away from the jump point. The Reserve Force returns to the Earth to refuel, as does the Waterloo.
February 22, 2138, New York system:
The detached group arrives at the jump point to the Solar system. After refueling from the other squadron ships they set out for the inner system to probe the planets and moons there. This time they are accompanied by the Mars, which has better passive sensors than the frigates.
Captain O’Donnell sends his final report on the battle at the New York jump point back to the Admiralty. He commends the entire attack force, and in particular the crew of the AB-002, most of which died along with their captain when their ship blew up. He highlights the fact that there were no life pods launched from the Obscura ship as its destruction neared, and at no time during the battle was there any atmosphere loss from the alien ship. A cursory examination of the wreck seems to indicate that it was never intended to house a crew of living creatures at all. Finally, Captain O’Donnell recommends that the Attack Boats be retained for system defense duties, and that future jump point assault groups consist of missile combatants.
February 26, 2138:
A Dregluk gate construction ship jumps into the Washington system. The ship isn’t headed towards the Solar system, so no particular importance is placed on this contact.
March 2, 2138:
The detached group in the New York system has completed its flyby of the planets, and the bulk of the moons. No new Obscura ships or bases were detected. Unfortunately, the Fleet does not have the time, the fuel, or the endurance to probe all of the asteroids in the system. Still, it seems clear that there are no more Obscura ships in the system. The group sets course for the jump point back to the Solar system.
March 5, 2138:
A new class of ship is detected jumping into the Washington system. This ship has the same thermal signature as Dregluk cruiser class ships, so Intelligence designates this class as the Balor class cruiser. The Reserve force is dispatched to the jump point to reinforce the monitor Saratoga.
In addition, the missile boats guarding the jump point to the New York system are recalled to the Washington jump point, along with two Brooklyn class FFG’s. The missile boats are at the end of their endurance and their crews need time ashore. After dealing with the Dregluk CA they will return to Earth.
March 7, 2138, New York System:
The detached group returns to the jump point. As far as human sensors can discern, the New York system is clear. The fleet returns to the solar system, except for the sensor pod and the jump cruiser Tennessee, left behind to watch the jump point and the area around surrounding it.
Celebrations begin on Earth when the news arrives that the Fleet has returned, and they will continue until the Fleet arrives home, at which point they will intensify.
Even as the celebrations commence, a gate construction ship leaves Earth orbit to begin work on a jump gate to the New York system. Once the gate-pair is complete a new listening post will be set up in the New York system to watch for any approaching threats to the Solar System, and salvage craft will begin studying the wreck of the Obscura ship. A second gate construction ship sets out for the jump point for the Boston system, which will be the next target of the Fleet’s interstellar forays. While no alien ships had been detected in the Boston system itself, the system’s one additional jump point leads to the Honolulu system, where the survey ship Marco Polo had been cut off from the jump point by Obscura attacks.
March 9, 2138, 0502 hours:
The Dregluk Balor class cruiser jumps into the system right on time, to be met by a swarm of Bludgeon III missiles from the missile boats assembled on the jump point to meet it.
March 10, 2138:
The Fleet arrives over Earth, followed shortly thereafter by the missile boats that recently defended the jump point to the Washington system. The public’s response is overwhelming. Mankind has returned to the stars, and, on top of that, the Fleet has struck a blow against the aliens threatening Earth.
March 27, 2138:
A leviathan class BB jumps into the Washington system.
April 1, 2138. 0508 hours:
The Leviathan class BB jumps into the Solar System on schedule as is destroyed in seconds by a hail of missiles from the missile boats and frigates at the jump point.
April 24, 2138:
The Senate votes to make Senator Ashley Payne Governor of Earth, and charges her with solving, or at least mediating, the ongoing financial crisis. Consul Foster is against this appointment, given how involved Governor Payne was with the old Corporate Federation government, but on this matter he is overruled by the Senate. The financial crisis is threatening to cripple military improvement and expansion projects across the Solar system.
May 2, 2138:
The first Aegis PDC becomes operational on Ganymede.
June 1, 2138:
A Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington system. The Interception group is sent to the jump point to back up the monitors stationed there.
On Mars, the ongoing terraforming efforts have melted the ice sheet, raising the average temperature and signaling that the terraforming effort is nearing completion.
June 5, 2138, 2028 hours:
The Dregluk Colossus class battleship jumps into the Solar System. Almost immediately the monitor Waterloo launches its heavy missiles at the big Dregluk ship. Four of the forty missiles from the monitor
Were intercepted by the Colossus’ CIWS, and ten of the remaining thirty-six missed their target. The others heavily damaged the fleeing BB, reducing its speed to 2512 km/s. The Patrol Cruiser Assistance leaps on the Dregluk ship like a dog with a bone and pounds the crippled BB into a wreck.
June 12, 2138:
The first advanced Monitor, the Huai-Hai, leaves the Martian orbital yards and sets course for Earth, where it will fill its magazines before heading to the jump point to the Washington system. The Huai-Hai has advanced sensors and fire controls that will allow it to engage Dregluk ships in deep space, away from jump points, if necessary. Its low speed makes it a primarily defensive weapon, but still, it is a leap forward in capabilities for the Fleet.
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July 10, 2138:
With the Monitor Huai-Hai on duty in the Washington system, backed up by nine advanced missile boats, the area around the jump point is now considered safe for civilian operations. Salvage ships are dispatched to salvage Federation and Dregluk wrecks around the jump point.
August 7, 2138:
Two new advanced Monitors are launched from the Martian yards. The Antietam and the Stalingrad make their way to Earth to load their magazines, while the Masada and the Waterloo replace them in the yards. Their refits will take nearly a year, but will result in a much more capable ship.
August 18, 2138:
A Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington system. Salvage-001 has two days left on its job salvaging a Dregluk battleship. The advanced missile boat force is dispatched to the Washington side of the jump point to assist the monitor Huai Hai.
August 20, 2138, 2346 hours:
For days the crews on the Monitor Huai-Hai and her escorting missile boats watched the Dregluk battleship close on their position. Now, finally, the big Dregluk ship was within range of their missiles. While the long-range sensors on the Huai-Hai tracked the incoming Dregluk ship, nine of the missile boats readied their missiles. The human ships launched their missiles while the Dregluk ship was still approximately 390 mkm’s away. Three hours later, with the Dregluk BB still 340 mkm’s from the human ships, the human missiles slammed into the Dregluk ship, wiping it from the universe. Humanity had now established a 400 mkm exclusion zone around the jump point to the Solar System. The missile boats jumped back to the Sol system to report their victory, leaving the Huai-Hai behind to maintain its watch.
When word of the destruction of the Dregluk battleship is received on Earth there are celebrations across the planet. For the first time since the Bombardment a Dregluk ship was destroyed in deep space. And unlike the early battles, humanity didn’t suffer crushing losses. Even better, the Bludgeon III’s performed up to spec, destroying the Dregluk ship from beyond the range at which it could launch its own missiles. A new day has dawned for humanity.
November 4, 2138:
A Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington system. Once again, the missile boats are dispatched to intercept the intruder.
Over Earth the first of the new Picket Ship class units is launched. This unarmed 3,650-ton ship is designed for long deployments at jump points, and is intended to relay reports and other information between populations or installations in two adjacent systems. The PS-001 sets its course for the jump point to the Washington system, to replace the old survey ship that has been stationed there for nearly a year.
November 7, 2138, 2001 hours:
The Colossus stolidly moves into range of the missile boats at the jump point. Soon thereafter the missile boats launch fifty-four Bludgeon III’s at the Dregluk ship. Three hours later the missiles obliterate the Dregluk ship, close to the location of the other Dregluk ship destroyed by the missile boats.
December 15, 2138:
The jump gate pair for the Sol-New York jump line is complete. The gate construction ship sets out for the jump point to the Los Angeles system. A cargo group composed of the Republic’s latest generation of cargo ships begins loading deep space tracking stations at Earth. While the cargo ships are loading the DSTS’s, a detachment of warships sets out for the jump gate to the New York system. They will escort the cargo ships to the new site for the listening post in the New York system.
December 17, 2138, New York System:
A group of seven warships, led by the Mars, escorts freighters carrying DSTS’s to one of the asteroids in the inner system. The bulk of the DSTS’s are emplaced by the 20th, giving the new listening post the ability to detect any Obscura ship similar to the only already seen in the New York system out to nearly seven billion kilometers. There are no new ships detected.
December 21, 2318:
The first salvage ships arrive in the New York system to begin operations. The first salvage group begins work on the wrecked Obscura ship.
December 22, 2138:
The Fleet returns to Earth orbit. The bulk of the Fleet begins overhaul in preparation for Operation Honolulu.
December 29, 2138:
Salvage-03 completes salvage work on the Obscura wreck in the New York system. The salvage ship recovers several systems for later examination, but, most importantly, confirms the preliminary examination. This ship was computer controlled and did not have a crew or, in fact, even accommodations for a crew.
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Preliminary Naval Intelligence Report
December 31, 2138
Subject: Preliminary Examination of Obscura ship destroyed in the New York System
Forward: Salvage-03 was assigned to salvage the wreck of the Obscura ship encountered in the New York system. Their work was completed on December 29, 2138. For the purposes of this mission, the crew of Salvage-03 was bolstered by two additional Operatives, and a special tasks team of naval engineers. This report should be considered preliminary until detailed analysis can be completed.
1. Captain O’Donnell’s After-Action Report states that he believes that the Obscura Ship encountered in the New York system appeared to be automated, based on a cursory examination of the wreck in the aftermath of the battle. Additionally, the sensor logs appended to the After-Action Report show clearly that at no time during the battle did the Obscura Ship leak atmosphere while taking damage. This atypical behavior was noted by several ship CO’s during the battle, their tactical officers, and was commented on throughout the fleet. This behavior does not conform to prior experience gained during battles with the Dregluk, where both Human and Dregluk ships are known to have detectable leaks of atmosphere during combat as they take damage. Indeed, tactical officers are known to evaluate the effectiveness of their weapon’s based on the number of atmospheric leaks detected during battle.
2. The examination and salvage of the wreck by Salvage-03 has confirmed that there were no life forms present on the ship at the time of its destruction. In addition, the wreck contained no spaces that appeared to be constructed to house living beings, and had no environmental systems that would be typically required to sustain a living being in the hostile environment of space.
3. The examination and salvage of the ship did find extensive computer control systems throughout the ship. No central computer complex was found, although it is possible that such an installation was damaged beyond identification or lost during the destruction of the ship.
4. Several items found on the wreck conform with items recovered from Dregluk wrecks. See Appendix 2A-C. Operatives 1 & 2 acted to recover these items before their existence was known aboard Salvage-03. Preliminary examination of these items indicate that they are similar to Unknown Items 217B, 305A, and 486A, in that the printed language is similar, if not identical. Interrogations of Dregluk personnel have revealed only that these items are restricted to command personnel, none of which we have recovered, and are typically referred to as “Manuals”. Note: The printed language in UI’s 217B, 305A, and 486A, and in the newly recovered Obscura items, does not match the commonly used printed Dregluk language found in numerous locations throughout Dregluk wrecks recovered to date.
5. The special tasks team completed its study of the wreck during the salvage operations, and has released a preliminary report. Section 3 of this report indicates that while the emission pattern of the Obscura ship, as revealed by Fleet sensor logs, show no similarity with the Dregluk, the hull construction pattern does show a marked similarity to Dregluk construction patterns. Dregluk warships are visually quite different from human warships. Human warships tend to be built around a central saucer with engines in nacelles separated from the main hull by spars or columns, while Dregluk ships are blunt wedge-shaped ships with projecting towers. The Obscura ship is similar in size to Dregluk destroyer types, and while not identical, shares the common blunt wedge shape with most Dregluk ships, although the Obscura ship is much more elongated than typical Dregluk designs.
In conclusion, there exists evidence that the Obscura and the Dregluk are connected in some way, although there is currently no evidence of cooperation between the two. Additional investigation is recommended.
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The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2138
Earth:
Population: 4.018 Billion
Shipyards/Slipways: 15/42
Industrial Facilities (All): 12,263
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -16.49 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 22% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -4.24%.
Earth’s population has dropped by 252,000,000 over the last year. Twenty nine percent of that drop was attributable to population transfers to the Moon and Mars, the rest was due to other causes, including radiation effects. Chronic worker shortages were alleviated by the complete deactivation of the fuel production industry on Earth. This also had the additional effect of helping to reduce the persistent deficit, and was one of the first acts of Governor Payne. As a result of the financial crisis, all work on expanding the orbital yards has ceased, and production of certain civilian and support craft has stopped until finances improve.
Earth’s PDC’s have been completely modernized. Those construction resources not diverted to improving Earth’s economy are devoted to producing prefab PDC’s intended for Mars, Ganymede, and elsewhere.
Luna:
Population: 12.71 million
Industrial Facilities: 150 (mines)
Luna has turned into something of a refuge from the ongoing war effort on Earth. While the population of the Luna colony are not exactly peaceniks, they largely reject the growing fanaticism of Earth and Mars in favor of a more reclusive approach, merely wishing to be left alone.
Mars:
Population: 180,720,000
Shipyards/Slipways: 8/27
Industrial Facilities (All): 280
In spite of continuing population transfers from Earth Mars continues to suffer from chronic worker shortages. This is largely due to the reality of the harsh environment on Mars, and will likely continue until the terraforming is complete. Fortunately, much progress in that area has been made, and Mars’ atmosphere now has an adequate level of oxygen, and the temperature is now survivable without assistance. Once the percentage of oxygen is reduced to livable levels then the terraforming will be complete. The Terraforming Corps estimates that this will occur in early 2139, at which time Governor Hobbs will be able to shift workers away from environmental support to manufacturing. Governor Hobbs was recently appointed with the support of Earth Governor Payne, and has a mandate to decrease the deficit and improve efficiency in the orbital yards.
Mars’ defenses now include a Sword class offensive PDC, two modernized Aegis anti-missile PDC’s, two older Aegis PDC’s, four Shield class meson bases, and Oculus and Looking Glass class sensor bases. Martian industry is currently working on assembling a second Sword class PDC.
Ganymede Colony:
Population: 6,340,000
Construction Facilities: 30
Mines: 16
Automated Mines: 168
Ganymede’s defenses have been expanded to include two modernized Aegis anti-missile bases, two Final Line offensive PDC’s, and Oculus and Looking Glass class sensor bases. The Republic plans to move its terraforming ships here once they are finished on Mars.
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January 1, 2139
“And so, preparations are well underway. Barring any unexpected complications, the fleet will be ready to depart within the month.” Admiral Law looked around the room and noted a few sour expressions, but no questions, so he sat down.
Consul Foster, at the head of the table, saw the same expressions. “Yes, Demetri? You have something to say?”
Defense Minister Delveccio was a small man, but no one who knew him ever thought of him that way. He had a pugnacious jaw, that when set, looked like he could use to batter through any obstacle. And that was just the way he acted when he got his jaws hooked into something. It was a look Joe Foster was used to seeing, and he could see it now. Delveccio shook his head. “This is a side-show! Going to Honolulu! It’s a waste! We know where the real enemy is. We need to move into the Washington system. Now! Attack the Dregluk, and keep attacking. Attack, attack, attack!” He slapped the table in front of him with every word.
Foster settled back, carefully keeping his face neutral. Delveccio went ballistic if he thought anyone was mocking him, and the imp in him couldn’t resist being amused by the sight of the small man pounding the table in front of him.
“Demetri, we’ve been over this before. Admiral Law and I agree, returning to Washington at this point is premature.” Defense Minister Delveccio looked like he was going to object, but before he could Foster continued. “We must clear our flanks before moving into Washington.” Again, Foster overrode Delveccio before he could speak. “And, moving into Washington, and beyond Washington, is going to require capabilities that we don’t have. Survey units, scouts, a forward base in the system. All of those things are under development, but won’t be available for some time. By clearing Honolulu now, we clear our flanks, get the fleet some needed experience advancing into hostile territory, and, most importantly, buy us some time to prepare for the inevitable advance into Washington.”
Minister Delveccio settled back into his chair, a disgruntled look on his face. “I can’t deny your points, but you have to understand mine. The people expect action against the Dregluk. Not next year. Or next week. Today! They want the Dregluk dealt with. Now.”
Foster nodded his head. “I know. Believe me, I know. I spend a lot of my time in the hospitals and relief and recovery centers, and I see the mood of the people every day. They know who their enemy is, and they want action. But I think they understand that precipitous action will only hurt us, not the Dregluk.”
Delveccio nodded, but reluctantly. Foster knew that his Defense Minister would dearly like to call for a no-confidence vote to try to force him out, as a preliminary to moving into the Consul’s office himself. So far, he seemed to realize that he didn’t have the support to achieve his goals, but Foster kept a close eye on the situation. Speaking of which… “Senator, you haven’t given us your insight yet. Comments?”
Senator Young, one of the more junior members of the Senate’s military oversight committee, and representing them here, smiled at Foster briefly. Foster was an old campaigner, and the smile didn’t fool him. Senator Young was both youthful and beautiful, and she habitually projected a look of wide-eyed innocence, but behind the façade was a consummate political animal who had risen far in the Senate in just a few years. The fact that she was sitting in on this meeting was one sign of that. Normally a much more senior member of the committee would draw the duty, taking the opportunity to weigh in on military decisions and gain insight into the Consul’s office and his ministers. Young represented a growing political block that was more than a little xenophobic, although that alone didn’t set them apart from most political parties these days. Defense Minister Delveccio’s coalition was rabidly anti-Dregluk, and the only reason that they couldn’t be considered generally xenophobic was that they tended to focus on the Dregluk first and last.
Senator Young appeared to consider her words carefully before speaking. Foster had little doubt that she had entered the room knowing exactly what she was going to say, but he appreciated the performance anyway. After a lingering glance at Minister Delveccio, Senator Young smiled. “Moving forward. That’s what the people want. This mission to Honolulu, to recover the old survey ship and eliminate any and all threats there, that is forward motion, and the people will be happy with it.”
“But…” Minister Delveccio’s mouth had fallen open, and he coughed to cover is shock.
Foster’s left eyebrow climbed towards his hairline as he took in the spectacle. Obviously, Delveccio had thought he had the support of the Human Purity Party for his position. Interesting. “I take it that your father supports the move into Honolulu?” Foster knew for a fact that Prophet Young and the Church of Pure Humanity did support the move, in part because the Church was a majority shareholder in the industries that manufactured the deep space sensor facilities that the Republic intended to plant in all of the systems adjacent to the Solar System to provide early warning against alien attack.
Senator Young frowned for the first time. “The Church takes no position on this matter. The Human Purity Party, however, fully supports this venture and will continue to do so.” She shifted in her chair and gave the Consul a look that was hard to interpret.
Foster returned her look with a bland smile. “I’m sure that the Church will take no “public’ position on this matter.” The emphasis he placed on the word ‘public’ was clear to all of them. What the Church said in its public pronouncements was often at odds with what was preached from the pulpits of its many churches across Earth and Mars. Foster had made it clear to everyone over the last several years that he could and would react to public pronouncements, by churches or anyone else, but what was said within a sermon was something else. He turned to the fifth, and last, person in the room. “Governor?”
Governor Payne looked up from her pad and frowned. “The economic situation continues to be dire. We bought some time when we shut down the fuel production facilities on Earth, and, as a bonus, eased the worker shortage, but it didn’t buy us enough. We’ve been forced to shut down some of the civilian shipyards, as you well know, and we are still hemorrhaging money. If you would give me priority for my construction plan, then…”
Foster waved her to silence. “We’ve discussed this. The construction capacity is needed to produce DSTS’s for the picket program, and once we catch up on those the construction capacity will need to be diverted to pre-fabbing the PDC’s for the fortress project in Washington.”
Annoyance flickered across Governor Payne’s face. “yes, we’ve discussed it. And you dismissed my concerns. Somewhat cavalierly, I think. We are in debt, and while it is not critical yet, it will become so. And once the economy goes critical it will be extremely difficult to recover.”
“I have heard your concerns, and I gave your office priority access to the Frasier R&D facilities. As I understand it, their research should be completed sometime this year. Prior to your estimates of economic criticality, I think.”
“Yes, but…”
“Enough. I will not allow our efforts to defend this system and to eliminate the threat of alien bombardment to be threatened by anyone, including those that would seek to make fortunes off of the misfortunes of others.” Governor Payne’s face reddened and Foster knew he wasn’t being fair, but he didn’t care. Payne had been high in the Federation’s Corporate infrastructure prior to the fall, and he didn’t trust her. She didn’t seem to have any political aspirations, but in this day and age those were the people you had to keep your eye on most closely. He took a deep breath. “We will re-evaluate the financial situation when the Frasier team finishes its R&D work. In the meantime, preparations for the return to the Honolulu system will continue. Thank you all for coming.”
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January 2, 2139:
Two Dregluk BB’s jump into the Washington system. One is a Colossus class, while the other is a new class not seen before. Fleet Intelligence designates the new class as the Titan class.
January 5, 2139, 1208 hours, Washington System:
The two battleships sail blithely into range and the fifteen missile boats assembled on the jump point to the Solar System launch ninety Bludgeon III missiles at the incoming ships. Just over three hours later the missiles wiped the two Dregluk BB’s from space, leaving only drifting wreckage and a scattering of life pods that were signaling for pickup. In vain. The human ships sent a few taunts to the Dregluk life pods before jumping back to the Solar System.
January 8, 2139: A Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington System. Eight missile boats are dispatched to the jump point in response.
January 10, 2139:
The Colossus class BB is now approximately 800 mkm’s from the jump point to Sol and steadily forging ahead. Eight missile boats and an advanced monitor await them on the jump point in the Washington system. At 0410 hours Dregluk ships begin entering the system through the jump point to the Denver system. After several minutes fourteen additional Dregluk ships have entered the system. The new force consists of two cruisers and twelve DD’s of various classes. The PS-01, assigned to picket the jump point to Sol, jumps back to the Solar System to deliver the news.
Once the message is received at Fleet HQ the entire fleet is mobilized. This is the largest Dregluk attack since the early days of the war, and will be met by the entire fleet.
January 11, 2139, 631 hours:
The Colossus is now within range of the missile boats waiting on the jump point. In quick succession the eight missile boats launch their Bludgeon III’s. Three hours later the Bludgeon III’s wiped the Colossus from existence and the eight missile boats jump back to the Solar system to reload their missile boxes.
Shortly after the Colossus was destroyed the big Dregluk Fleet headed towards the jump point to Sol turns back towards the jump point to Denver and began retreating. Just over a day later it jumped out of the Washington system, leaving Captain Johnson, senior officer commanding the Fleet detachment at the jump point, mystified. This has never happened before. The Dregluk always press ahead heedlessly, into any opposition, even if it suicidal. Humanity knows little about the Dregluk, but they have made that part of their psychology perfectly clear over the years of unrelenting war.
When it becomes clear that the Dregluk are not coming back, the Fleet turns back towards the Earth.
January 30, 2139:
A Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington System. A missile boat force is dispatched to the jump point.
February 3, 2139, 0620 hours:
The Colossus has entered Bludgeon III range, and the missile boats launched soon thereafter.
0910 hours:
The Colossus class doesn’t appear to mount CIWS, and it takes forty-two out of forty-eight Bludgeon III missiles to wipe the big ship from space.
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March 1, 2139:
Thirty-seven warships leave Earth orbit for the jump point to the Boston system. They are followed by three fleet support ships and a tug, which is towing the fleet’s lone sensor pod. The long-awaited return to the Honolulu system has begun.
March 14, 2139:
Republican R&D teams have completed development work on the magnetic fusion drive. Work is started almost immediately on developing new engine systems for the fleet. The Admiralty has already decided that no existing classes will be upgraded with the new engines or other systems that are being developed. Instead, all new ship designs will be developed to take advantage of the latest technological developments.
March 15, 2139:
The Fleet has assembled on the jump point to the Boston system. After refueling from UNREP ships waiting there for them, the fleet jumps through to the Boston system and sets out for the Honolulu system.
March 18, 2139, 801 hours:
The Fleet is assembled on the jump point to Honolulu. The UNREP ships are back in the Solar System, awaiting refueling from a fuel tanker before coming forward to support the fleet. This means that the thirsty frigates must be refueled from the fleet’s bigger ships, so the fleet pauses to share fuel with the smaller ships. Once the refueling is complete the attack begins.
With the bulk of the fleet remaining behind, ready to repel a counter-attack, two attack groups moved forward towards the jump point. Group #1, led by the jump cruiser Bihar, consists of the patrol cruisers Assistance and Intrepid. The second group, led by the jump cruiser Tennessee, consists of the Brooklyn class FFG Birmingham and the Lake class FFG Nairobi. Together, they moved through the jump point.
The two groups materialize in the Honolulu system, each about forty-five thousand kilometers from the jump point and about eighty thousand kilometers from each other. Sitting directly on the jump point are two Obscura ships. These thermal contacts had a different signature than the Obscura ship encountered in the New York system, but had the same thermal strength, indicating that they were likely 9,000 ton ships like the other Obscura ship.
The Obscura ships immediately set out on a tangent away from the human ships, while the crews aboard the patrol cruisers struggled to get their ships underway. Fifteen seconds later, while the human crews were still trying to get their sensors, weapons, and engines online, the Tennessee was hit by eleven strength six missiles, greatly reducing her shields. Just after the salvo hit, one of the human ships finally got their sensors up and the two alien ships were pinned by human active sensors.
The next salvo of Obscura missiles is detected as soon as the Obscura ships launch, and human ships begin dumping anti-missiles into space. The Aegis V’s do their job and the Obscura missiles are swatted down before they can reach their targets. Even as that salvo is destroyed a second salvo appears on the human ship’s sensors. The Assistance and the Intrepid fire their lasers at the fleeing ships even as the new missiles close on the human ships, but they both miss due to heavy interference from Obscura ECM. The Nairobi has now had enough time to get its sensors and weapons up, and it launches thirteen Thunderbolt III’s at one of the Obscura ships. Five seconds later the Nairobi launches twelve additional Thunderbolt III’s at the second Obscura ship. Aegis V’s launched from the jump cruisers and the two FFG’s continue to shield the human fleet from further damage from the Obscura missiles as the Thunderbolt ASM’s race towards their targets.
The first salvo of human missiles slam into one of the Obscura ships, and once again there are no tell-tale atmospheric leaks to indicate armor penetrations. Five seconds later the second ship was hit by most of the Thunderbolt III’s launched at it, and was slowed to 1,955 kps. Even as the Thunderbolt III’s slammed home, the Assistance carved a divot into the side of the slower Obscura ships with its spinal weapon. The slowed Obscura ship had no chance to escape before, and now, slowed, it had even less. The Assistance began relentlessly pounding the Obscura ship with its lasers. In short order the Obscura ship died after one of the Assistance’s lasers hit a magazine and caused a large internal explosion. In the meantime, the Aegis V’s from the FFG’s were still covering the patrol cruisers, shielding them from the Obscura missiles that the aliens continued to launch every fifteen seconds. The Assistance changed its focus to the other Obscura ship and the pursuit was on.
Immediately after the first Obscura ship died, an Obscura ASM managed to avoid everything the human fleet threw at it and hit the Assistance, but the cruiser’s shields held up. In return the Intrepid was beginning to score repeated hits on the last Obscura ship. The Intrepid was the next to be hit by Obscura missiles, but the cruiser’s shields were only slightly depleted. The Intrepid suffered through another two missile salvos, but that would be it. Massed laser fire from the two patrol cruisers pounded the Obscura ship into oblivion.
The jump point was now clear, and the frigate’s sensors showed no contacts out to 256 mkm’s. The jump cruisers jumped back to begin bringing through the rest of the fleet. With the rest of the fleet in the Honolulu system, including the sensor pod, the area around the jump point is now secure out to 425 mkm’s. Shortly after that ten frigates set out towards the inner system, which was the last known location of the survey ship John Cabot, lost here six years ago when it was cut off from the jump point by Obscura ships.
March 22, 2139, 1006 hours:
Just as the detached group of frigates entered orbit over Honolulu’s second, marginally habitable, planet, the sensor pod at the jump point detected an Obscura ship headed for the jump point. The frigates over the second planet were making a momentous discovery even as the Obscura ship made a heedless run at the human ships assembled at the jump point.
Honolulu’s second planet was slightly smaller than Earth, and with at a distance of 226 mkm’s from Honolulu’s cooler primary, much colder. The planet was covered by an ice sheet, but, it possessed a reasonably thick atmosphere consisting primarily of nitrogen with enough oxygen to be considered breathable, if it wasn’t so bitterly cold. Upon entering orbit, the frigate’s sensors immediately zeroed in on a section of the ice sheet in the northern hemisphere. There were multiple overlapping craters consistent with ASM’s, and at the center of the craters was a wrecked starship. Commander West, CO of the Nairobi, made a momentous discovery when he ordered his sensor officer to ping the wreck with an IFF pulse, in an attempt to discover whether or not it was the Cabot. The wreck didn’t respond, but a small object in orbit, previously dismissed as a minor navigational hazard, did respond to the ping. The object was too small to carry a crew, but after contacting it the Nairobi was able to download a set of logs and datafiles belonging to the Cabot. A team sent to the wreck discovered nothing but destruction and a few bodies, all of which were carefully recovered for return to Earth. As soon as the download of the logs was complete they were transmitted to the mission commander, Captain Harvey Webster aboard the Mars.
Two and a half hours later three missile boats attempt to launch their missiles at the incoming Obscura ship but fail to obtain a targeting lock due to the Obscura ship’s ECM. Four hours later, with the Obscura ship now 335 mkm’s away, the missile boats finally obtain a lock and launch their missiles. It took the missiles two and a half hours to reach their target. It only took seven of the eighteen to wipe it from space.
March 22, 2139, 2311 hours:
As the frigate group settles into orbit over Honolulu-III, a small airless planetoid, the ship’s thermal sensors set off alarms. Direct observation confirms that a small Obscura sensor outpost is located on the planetoid. Commander Wright, the squadron senior officer aboard the FFG Delhi, sends a contact report to Captain Webster at the jump point, and requests orders. Captain Webster’s orders return promptly. She is to leave the installation for later examination by the Republic’s scientists.
On their way to the jump point the frigates examine the wreck of the obscura ship destroyed while approaching the jump point. A team is sent to the wreck to make a cursory examination. During their examination they discover the bodies of seventeen humans, including the commanding officer of the Cabot, Commander Holmes. It appears that the survivors of whatever had happened on the second planet had been taken aboard the Obscura ship. The medical officer’s examination showed that the crew had been vivisected by automated equipment on the Obscura ship, perhaps in an attempt to understand humanity.
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Log of the Gravitic Survey Ship John Cabot, Commander Robert Holmes
Commanding Officer’s personal log
October 8, 2133, 2332 hours:
We’re cut off. We just received word that Admiral Bevan on the Madrid has ordered the group to jump out after detecting an Obscura ship. His orders to me were short and can be summed up as follows:
1. Do your best.
2. Go into low emission mode immediately.
3. Survive.
4. We will return.
We are currently seven hundred million kilometers from our target, the second planet of the system. The only planet in the system that might be reasonably habitable, and it might as well be light years away. I’ve ordered that the ship’s speed be reduced to station keeping, to reduce our thermal signature, and I’ve ordered all EMCON procedures to be followed. There is little else any of us can do except hope that they return soon.
October 29, 2133, 0745 hours:
Oh god. The listening watch picked up transmissions from the jump point just a few minutes ago. The first transmission was a wide-band broadcast meant to let us know that the Federation had returned for us. As soon as Colby got the message he broadcast it throughout the ship, in violation of my orders. I couldn’t blame him, though. After all, we all needed to hear it so much, after being cut off for the last three weeks. Our relief didn’t last, though. Mere minutes later, as everyone on the ship was listening in, there was a second, more panicked broadcast. They were under attack, and they were leaving. They didn’t even promise to return. They just left.
We all had our hopes pinned on the Militia coming to get us, and when they came for us morale went through the roof. Now, though, morale is worse than ever. Colby blames himself for this, but I can’t bring myself to condemn him.
January 3, 2134:
Colby killed himself today. He never got over the relief fleet leaving without us, and his part in getting all of our hopes up. I’m worried that this may be only the beginning of this kind of thing, and I’ve spoken with Doc Ang about the matter. She has some ideas, but our resources are limited, floating out here in deep space.
March 20, 2134:
Three more ended their lives today. That brings us to eight so far. I want to find some way to bolster morale, but its hard to see what I can do when the days just stretch ahead of us endlessly. Very few believe that the Federation will return for us. Some think that some massive disaster has happened back home and that we might be the only ones left. Surely that’s not true.
July 16, 2134:
I’ve lost seventeen crew so far, and I’ve had it. I’ve been as lethargic as everyone else, but that ends today. I’m going to give them purpose again. If the Federation isn’t going to come back for us, then we will just have to find a way to survive on our own.
November 27, 2134:
The suicides have tapered off now that I’ve got everyone focused on long-term survival. I’ve got the crew divided into teams. The engineers and those with engineering inclinations are making sure that all of the ship’s systems are in tip top shape, and are working on developing long-term strategies to deal with the inevitable depletion of our maintenance supplies. I’ve got the survey people studying possible strategies for long term survival in this system. Everyone else is working on making our living conditions more festive and interesting. At least it’s something to do.
June 16, 2135:
Engineering has everything in hand, for now. Unfortunately, with us floating out here is space there is no way to replenish our supplies and there is nothing that the engineering team can do about that. The survey team is focusing on the second planet. The planet has everything we need to survive. The problem is that we won’t be able to see the Obscura until its too late. We don’t dare move.
March 4, 2136:
The suicides have begun again. People are losing hope, and I can’t blame them. It has been so long. Still, as long as anyone remains I have to keep trying.
October 2, 2137:
Our maintenance supplies are almost gone, and the engineering team tells me we are almost to the end. Critical systems are going to begin breaking down, and once they do the end will come quickly. It is time to implement the survey team’s plan. The survey team has spent years observing planet #2, which they have dubbed “Refuge”. The planet has gravity that’s somewhat less than Earth’s at 81% and a thin oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. Unfortunately, its very cold, but beggars can’t be choosers. Both the survey and the engineering teams have looked at it, and they assure me that if we can get there, they will be able to create a largely self-sustaining base on the surface of the planet by cannibalizing the Cabot. I don’t like to think about tearing the old girl apart, but we may be the last humans left. Its been over four years since we were abandoned here. Who knows what happened back home. I’ve decided, we’ll start in four days. In the meantime, the engineering crews will examine the engines top to bottom and make sure that they will get us there. There are one hundred and seven of us left out of the one hundred and thirty people that started this voyage. I will do anything to ensure that we survive as long as possible. This is a gamble, but we have no other choice at this point.
October 6, 2137:
We’ve started towards Refuge. I’ve decided to hold our speed down to 200 km/s to keep our thermal signature minimized. It will take us over forty days at this pace, but the engineering crew says we have enough fuel and supplies to make the voyage. If we are detected by the Obscura it is all over.
November 15, 2137:
Disaster! As we neared orbit over Refuge, our sensors detected what can only be an Obscura listening post on the planet’s innermost moon. The senior surviving sensor tech, Rachel Obata, assured me that, assuming the Obscura had technology similar to our own, we had been visible to their listening post for some time.
I made the only decision that I could. I landed the Cabot on the inner moon, as close to the Obscura station as I could. A team of us, armed with every weapon we had, entered the Obscura base. Aside from a few automated security systems, there was no resistance. After stripping anything that might be useful we used some demo charges from the exploration supplies to disable the listening post. Hopefully it hadn’t gotten around to reporting us, or if it did, the Obscura ships are either gone or not curious enough to come and look when the base stops reporting.
Once that was done there was a division among the crew. Some, a small minority really, wanted to retreat to deep space and hide again. The rest want to go down to the planet and try the original plan, in the hopes that the Obscura have abandoned the system. I was forced to decide, but it really was a no-brainer. Going back to deep space isn’t an option. We’re out of supplies. We are going to Refuge.
November 17, 2137:
I landed the ship in a shallow crevasse that will hopefully hide it from direct observation from orbit. Once down the crew immediately set to work cannibalizing everything that we wouldn’t need any more, including the engines, survey instruments, and active sensors. The crew has tasted fresh water, melted from the ice surrounding the ship, for the first time in years. It feels good to be doing something again! Even those that wanted to run have been seen with smiles on their faces. We have a purpose again. We are making this place into a home.
November 18, 2137:
I fear we are doomed. Our passive sensors detected three Obscura ships racing towards Refuge. I have ordered the engineering team to launch their makeshift satellite into orbit before the Obscura get here. On my orders they had constructed a small satellite to carry our transponder into orbit, where I intended it to listen for anyone that came to look for us. Now it will carry these logs, and as much of our data files as I can fit into it, in the hopes that it is recovered some day. It might be all that survives of us, and I want our story to be known. Every single one of the people that set out on this voyage four years ago was a damned hero. This will likely be my last message.
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March 23, 2139:
A Colossus class BB is detected entering the Washington system. This comes at a difficult time, as the bulk of the fleet is deployed to the Honolulu system. Four groups of interceptors are being held in reserve in Earth orbit, and, of course, there are two monitors guarding the jump point to the Washington system. A second monitor is dispatched to the jump point to replace the one that will soon expend its missiles.
March 26, 2139, 1432 hours:
The advanced monitor Huai Hai launches forty Bludgeon III missiles at the Colossus. Three hours later the Bludgeon III’s wipe out the Colossus. The Huai Hai sets out for Earth, leaving an older monitor to guard the Sol side of the jump point until the Stalingrad reaches the jump point.
March 29, 2139:
The detached frigates return to the jump point in the Honolulu system, low on fuel. The combined force jumps back into the Boston system, where an UNREP ship is waiting for them.
April 6, 2139:
A new class of Dregluk ship is detected entering the Washington system. This ship has a thermal detection strength of 880, which is equivalent to other destroyer classes, so Fleet Intel designates this contact as a Gull class DD.
The Fleet is back in the Solar System, but is still on its way to Earth. As the missile boats have exceeded their endurance, and the fleet is poorly positioned, the Admiralty decides not to divert any of them to the Washington jump point. Instead, the monitor Stalingrad will deal with the intruder with its missiles. Three days later the Stalingrad does just that, wiping the Dregluk DD from space with a fifteen-missile salvo.
April 16, 2139:
The Fleet arrives home to a great celebration. The path to begin the offensive against the Dregluk is now one step closer to fruition.
April 19, 2139:
Senator Lauren Young champions a bill through the Senate that will vastly increase government funding for genetic research and testing. The need for this type of research is so obvious and necessary, given the ongoing death toll on Earth due to wide-spread radiation poisoning, that the bill sails through the Senate in spite of the obvious benefit that this bill would bring to Senator Young’s family. Both the Human Purity Party and the Human Purity Church are heavily invested in genetic research, although their focus is divergent. The HPP tends to focus on research in improving the human genome, while the HPC focuses on methods and treatments to ameliorate radiation poisoning. The bill passes with a handy majority, with the only real opposition coming from the Conservative Faction, largely due to the expense associated with the measure rather than any moral issue.
April 20, 2139:
Operation Bastion is underway. Troop transports begin loading construction brigades on Earth, and cargo ships are loading prefab PDC’s. All of this will be transported to the innermost planet of the Washington system, which will be named Bastion. The Republic plans to build an extensive fortress complex on the planet, consisting of sensor bases and offensive and defensive PDC’s. Once these PDC’s are assembled and armed, the base’s sensors will be activated. The Admiralty hopes that the fortress complex’s active emissions will act as a magnet, drawing in any Dregluk ships transiting through the system to attack Earth. Once the fortress complex is complete, colony ships will begin shipping in personnel for maintenance facilities that will support fleet units.
Eventually Bastion will not only be a forward fortress, protecting Earth, but will be a forward naval base, with maintenance facilities, missile stocks, and fuel. Once complete, Bastion will dominate the Washington system and will virtually guarantee the Republic’s control over the system and act as a stepping stone towards the eventual elimination of the Dregluk threat.
May 19, 2139:
A jump gate construction ship completes a gate in the Solar system at the jump point to the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system was probed during the Federation era and was determined to have a G4-V primary, but no planets or other orbital bodies. A gravitic survey determined that the system had a total of three jump points. One led back to the Solar System, one to the now-disputed Washington system, and one to the also-planet-less Anchorage system. Given that both the Los Angeles and the Anchorage system were essentially uninteresting the Federation didn’t spend any further effort on this system.
For some time, the Listening Post in the Washington system has been observing Dregluk ships, suspected to be survey ships and gate construction ships, headed to and from the Los Angeles system. With the solar system side of the jump gate pair complete, a group of warships jumps into the Los Angeles system to probe the system for Dregluk activity. They immediately discover a Dregluk jump gate on the far side of the jump point to the Solar System. In addition, the Dregluk have built gates on all of the other jump points in the system. No Dregluk activity is detected in the system. The human ships withdraw after probing the system. Because there are no system bodies on which a listening post can be established, the system will have to wait to be picketed until either new scout ships are available, or another sensor pod is built.
Meanwhile, troop transports begin shifting construction units from Ganymede to Listening Post in the Washington system.
May 26, 2139:
The terraforming of Mars is complete! The population there is no longer limited by the available infrastructure and the environment is quite mild. The terraforming group sets out for the Ganymede colony to begin work there.
June 17, 2139:
Two Dregluk DD’s are detected jumping into the Washington System.
June 19, 2139:
The Terraforming Group enters orbit over Ganymede and begins pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
June 20, 2139:
Both DD’s are destroyed by Bludgeon III missiles from a group of missile boats sent from Earth to reinforce the monitors on the jump point.
October 16, 2139, Washington System:
The Listening Post, now relocated to Bastion, detects a Dregluk ship jumping into the Washington System. The ship is of a previously unknown class, and has a thermal signature consistent with Dregluk cruisers. Fleet Intel designates this new class as the Vrock class CA. Missile Boats are dispatched to the jump point.
The troop transport group happens to be in the Washington system when the Dregluk CA jumps into the system. Fortunately, the troop transports are two days from the jump point to Sol, and will be able to return to the Solar System before the Dregluk ships can run them down.
October 19, 2139:
The Missile Boats deployed to the Sol-Washington jump point destroy the incoming Dregluk CA with a volley of Bludgeon III missiles.
November 27, 2139:
The Essex is launched. The Essex is the first of the Republic Fleet’s new jump point assault ships. While not as fast as other modern fleet units, this class is equipped with an advanced jump drive capable of conveying five ships through a jump point at a time, greatly increasing the number of ships that can be squeezed through a jump point at once. In addition, the Essex is equipped with box launchers capable of firing massive Bludgeon missiles, AMM launchers, and CIWS for close-in protection. Unfortunately, to deploy a new assault design rapidly, the Republic was forced to use off-the-shelf jump drives that had been sitting in storage since the days of the Federation. While this model of jump drives is more advanced than other jump drives currently in use, it is intended for old Federation designs and cannot be used for ships larger than 15,500 tons, such as the new battleship and cruiser classes that the Admiralty is testing. Republican R&D teams are currently working on more advanced jump drive technologies that can be used in the Republic’s proposed 25,000 ton battleship design.
December 26, 2139:
The ageing troop transport group had just unloaded for more construction brigades on Bastion, bringing the total number of brigades present up to twenty-eight, when the DSTS’s on Bastion detected Dregluk ships jumping into the system. The transports, only capable of 2,016 km/s, immediately reduced speed to station keeping to reduce their visibility. The jump point the Dregluk were using was over two billion kilometers away, meaning they were likely safe from detection. In short order it became clear that this was a major raid, as five Dregluk Mammoth class BB’s assembled on the jump point to the Denver system and then set out for the jump point to the Solar System.
In response, the Admiralty dispatched three squadrons of missile boats, all they had, along with a squadron of frigates, each of which was towing a missile pod packed with Bludgeon III missiles.
December 29, 2139, 2155 hours, Washington System:
The Republican ships assembled on the jump point launch a massive wave of Bludgeon III missiles at the Dregluk BB’s. Twenty-one missile boats, four missile pods, and the monitor Antietam all participate. Several missile boats and a missile pod hold their missiles in reserve, along with the entire frigate force.
Two hours and fifty-four minutes later the missiles wipe the advancing Dregluk force from space. In a few seconds the force of five Dregluk BB’s, massing over one hundred and forty thousand tons, is reduced to five wrecks rent by missive internal explosions and a thin cloud of life pods.
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The United Republic of earth
December 31, 2139
Earth:
Population: 3.819 Billion
Shipyards/Slipways: 13/39
Industrial Facilities (All): 12,415
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -13.97 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 21% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -3.97%.
Earth’s population dropped almost 200 million during the last year. Thirty seven percent of that drop is attributable to population transfers, while the rest is due to lingering radiation effects from Dregluk bombardment. The ongoing transfer of shipyard complexes to Mars, coupled with the conversion of mining complexes to automation has combined to keep Earth’s need for workers under control.
Luna:
Population: 17.82 million
Industrial Facilities: 150 (mines)
Luna’s population has been bolstered by people trying to escape from the increasingly fervent anti-alien attitudes of the masses on Earth and Mars. While not pacifists, the population of the Luna colonies tends to be less focused on the war and internal Republican politics. They are happy to be considered a backwater.
Mars:
Population: 220,570,000
Shipyards/Slipways: 10/32
Industrial Facilities (all): 280
With terraforming complete the conditions on Mars have improved considerably. The government has been able to shift workers from the service industry to manufacturing, eliminating worker shortages and improving productivity. The largest single employer on Mars is the Republic Naval Yards, employing over thirty-five million Martian residents.
Ganymede:
Population: 8,760,000
Construction Facilities: 30
Mines: 16
Automated Mines: 168
Now that the terraforming of Mars is complete, the terraforming fleet has been reassigned to Ganymede to improve the conditions for the colonists. Now that Ganymede’s defenses are complete the Republic’s construction brigades are being transferred to Bastion in the Washington System, and the thirty construction factories transferred here to assist in assembling the defenses will be moved away as well.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by establishing fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
The SDC opposed the Fleet’s plan to expand into the Washington system as that expansion would require resources that the SDC had hoped to use to further fortify the Solar System. These plans have been put on hold until the construction on Bastion is completed. The SDC has lobbied for increased offensive capability for its fortifications on both Mars and Ganymede, and improvements to the missile defenses for both colonies. In addition, the SDC is adamant about establishing anti-missile defenses on Venus to protect the mines located there.
Defenses
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 10
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 1
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 4
Anti-missile bases (meson): 4
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 2
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 2
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard most of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only systems adjacent to the solar System without listening posts are the San Francisco system and the Los Angeles system. The jump gate pair for the San Francisco system is still under construction, and once it is complete a listening post will be established there. The Los Angeles system is more problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility.
The Republican Fleet
The Fleet’s modernization program is complete and all older designs that were capable of being practically modernized have been refitted to modern standards. Several older designs, such as the old survey ships and several emergency wartime designs based on those survey ships, are being phased out and will be scrapped over the next year. Construction is now being shifted over to new classes such as the Essex assault ship, new survey designs, and missile pods.
Republic Fleet:
Interceptor Group #1 (Earth): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2 (Earth): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3 (Mars): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4 (Mars): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Missile Group #1 (Earth): 10xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #2 (Earth): 10xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #3 (Earth): 9xMissile Boat r3
Frigate Group #1 (Earth), CO Commander Sophia Moss
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Birmingham, Boston
3xLake FFG: Nairobi, Sacramento, Singapore
Frigate Group #2 (Earth), CO Commander Matthew Swift
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Cairo, Chongqing
3xLake FFG: Erie, Huron, Michigan
Frigate Group #3 (Earth), CO Commander Joseph Miles
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Lagos, Lima
3xLake FFG: Baikai, Tanganyika, Vladivostok
Attack Group #1 (Mars), CO Captain Robert Chan
3xEnterprise r4: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
Cruiser Group #1 (Earth), CO Captain Harvey Webster
1xPlanet r1: Mars
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Delhi, Karachi
2xLake FFG: Ontario, Victoria
Unassigned units:
1xEssex Assault Ship: Essex
2xTennesse class Jump Ship: Bihar, Tennessee
4xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Mumbai, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo
2xLake FFG: Ladoga, Malawi
Pod Reserve:
5xASM Pod
4xAMM Pod
4xSensor Pod
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. To this end it has the following forces:
Earth:
3xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Masada, Stalingrad, Antietam
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Mars
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Washington Jump Point Guard, CO: Captain Rebecca Garner
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Huai Hai, Waterloo
Los Angeles Jump Point Guard, CO Rear Admiral Robert Wells
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Marathon
Ships in Refit (Mars)
Saratoga class Monitor: Saratoga, Metaurus, Tours
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February 4, 2140:
The ships of the 1st Cruiser Group, reinforced with the Assault Ship Essex and two Tennessee class Jump Cruisers, departs orbit bound for the jump point to the San Francisco system. They are escorted by the 1st and 2nd Frigate Groups. They are towing thirteen pods of assorted types. The Philadelphia Pacification Campaign has begun.
February 11, 2140:
Three squadrons of Republican ships are assembled on the jump point to the San Francisco system. Before jumping out of the Solar System, the assembled ships refuel from the UNREP ship that had been prepositioned on the jump point. Once transiting through the jump gate to the San Francisco system, the pods release their tractor beams. They will be left to guard the jump point back to the Solar System. In addition, a North Carolina class jump ship is stationed at the jump point as a communication’s picket. There had been considerable disagreements over the use of the pods. Some of the younger and more aggressive commanders within the fleet wanted to forward deploy them at the jump point in the Philadelphia system, while the conservative older officers all agreed that it would be better to place them so as to defend the jump point to the solar system. Because the older officers had the rank, they won the debate.
A group of Republican freighters transporting twenty DSTS’s intended to establish a listening post on the San Francisco system’s second planet is held at the jump point to Sol, awaiting the resolution of the fleet’s mission.
February 19, 2140:
The mission group is now assembled at the jump point to the Philadelphia system. During the initial probing of this system the Federation survey ships discovered a large wreck orbiting one of Philadelphia’s planets and an alien jump gate on the Philadelphia side of the San Francisco-Philadelphia jump point. The wreck was last seen orbiting the innermost planet, a type T planet with a thick oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with too much oxygen for humans. Fearing that either the Dregluk or the Obscura, or some other alien enemy was present, the survey commander ordered his ships to retreat and the Federation ordered the system to be interdicted. Humanity is now returning in force as part of Admiral Law’s strategy of clearing Earth’s flanks before moving into the Washington system in force. Before transiting into the system, though, the ships refuel from supply ships assembled on the jump point.
Once refueled the jump-capable ships begin ferrying the other ships through the jump point. There are no enemy ships within detection range of the jump point, but the ships do confirm the presence of an alien-built jump gate at the jump point. The 1st and 2nd Frigate Groups are dispatched to probe the inner system, and in particular, the planet that the wreck is orbiting.
February 22, 2140, 1552 hours:
The 1st and 2nd Frigate Groups are now 1.58 billion kilometers from the jump point and just crossing the orbit of the Philadelphia system’s fourth planet when contact alarms begin going off on the ships of the 1st Frigate Group. The 2nd Frigate Group is 120 mkm’s to one side of the 1st, headed for the second planet, and thus is slightly farther from the contact. The frigate’s search sensors have detected seven ships, all confirmed as Obscura. Three are 8,500 tons, three are 9,000 tons, and one is 18,000 tons. None of these ships match any of the ship classes identified before.
Commander Moss, CO of the 1st Frigate Group, and Commander Swift, CO of the 2nd, quickly confer and agree to retreat to fallback point in between their two groups, observing the Obscura ships as they fall back. Fortunately, it quickly becomes clear that none of the Obscura ships can catch the human warships. The Obscura ships all have maximum speeds somewhere between 3910-3931 km/s, while the human frigates are all capable of moving at 6,000 km/s.
Six hours later the two groups have regrouped, and the Obscura ships are now within range. Unfortunately, the Obscura ships have ECM more advanced than the Republic’s, which means that the frigate’s targeting systems cannot lock on to the alien ships until they are approximately 207 mkm’s from the frigates. The assembled human ships watch as the Obscura ships close on their position.
Three hours later the frigate’s fire control systems were able to lock on to the incoming Obscura ships and the frigates launched one hundred and fifty Thunderbolt III missiles. The missiles were divided equally between the six smaller Obscura ships.
One hour and twenty-seven minutes later the missiles slammed into their targets. None of the Obscura ships launched AMM’s, and none of the Obscura ships seemed to possess CIWS either. Five of the Obscura ships were heavily damaged. Three of the damaged ships were slowed, but two were not and continued to forge ahead. One of the Obscura ships suffered a series of internal explosions and was left a drifting wreck. With their offensive missiles expended, the frigates began retreating towards the jump point, moving just faster than the pursuing Obscura ships, drawing them along.
For 104 hours the frigates led the Obscura ships towards the jump point. Several of the damaged ships fell behind, as did the largest ship, for some reason. Eventually, though, the Obscura ships came within range of the jump point one by one, strung out in a long train due to the injuries suffered by some of the ships. All but one had managed to restore full power, and were now closing on the jump point. Now all of the human ships were back on the jump point and it was time to make the Obscura suffer, yet again.
The only ships with the capability to engage the oncoming Obscura ships were the Essex and two Lake class Frigates. The Mars’ fire controls were older and had a maximum range of only 45 mkm’s, leaving her out of the battle, at least for now. The initial salvo from the human ships consisted of ten Thunderbolt III’s launched from a Lake FFG and targeted on the leading 8,950 ton ship. The salvo was launched while the Obscura ship was 200 mkm’s from the human fleet.
The next salvo was launched an hour later, and was composed of ten Thunderbolt III’s targeted on the 9,000 ton Obscura ship that was the next in line. Thirty-three minutes later the first salvo intercepted the lead Obscura ship, heavily damaging it.
One hour later, as the second salvo was approaching the second ship, the Essex launched its fifteen Bludgeon III’s at the 18,000 ton Obscura ship that was now in range.
As the third salvo raced away from the human ships the second salvo savaged the second ship in line, but unlike the first it wasn’t slowed. The fourth salvo was launching by the Ontario at another of the 9,000 ton ships closing on the jump point.
The fifteen Bludgeon III’s hit the 18,000 ton Obscura ship, and as with the others it showed no signs of active defenses. It weathered the strike stoically, and emerged from the fireballs apparently undamaged. Another salvo of Thunderbolt III’s hit next, savaging another of the smaller Obscura ships.
Before the last salvo of Thunderbolt III’s could be launched, a wave of five Obscura missiles were detected inbound. The incoming Obscura missiles were detected disappointingly close to the fleet, at only 2,300,000 kilometers, but in spite of this Aegis V AMM’s proved more than capable of dealing with this threat. No further Obscura missiles appeared.
The last salvo of Thunderbolt III’s was launched next, at the second to the last smaller ship in line. The final, most heavily damaged Obscura ship from the original encounter had appeared at this point, behind the 18,000 ship, and was closing on the jump point. This was to be the last salvo of Thunderbolts from the frigates, which were now out of offensive missiles. In fact, the only offensive missiles that remained were on board the Mars.
The last salvo of Thunderbolts hit its target ninety minutes later, wiping the already damaged ship from space. This left five Obscura ships still closing on the jump point. Two of the smaller ships were at full speed, while the other two were had been forced to reduce speed because of the damage that they had received. The big 18,000 ton ship was the slowest of the bunch, at only 1466 km/s. The closest Obscura ship was 100 mkm’s from the human ships assembled on the jump point, while the farthest, the 18,000 ton ship, was 172 mkm’s farther back. The other ships were strung out between those two ships.
For five hours the fleet watched as the Obscura ships closed on the jump point. Before entering Mars’ engagement range, the lead ship stopped. Its engines were fully functional, but it stopped just under 100 mkm’s out and waited. After waiting for six and a half hours the Obscura ship starts moving forward again. An hour and a half after the closest Obscura ship started moving forward again, missiles were detected inbound, and once again Aegis V’s raced away from the human ships. The entire attack consisted of seventy-seven size 3 missiles, coming in waves of seven. None got closer than 2.5 million kilometers to the fleet. Shortly after the last incoming missile was destroyed, the lead Obscura ship turned away and began retreating.
Rear Admiral Bradshaw, mission commander, was left with a difficult decision. His fleet was faster than even the Obscura ships which still had full engine power, and was sitting on the jump point, so withdrawal to the Solar System to rearm would be easy. Given what appeared to be standard Obscura operating procedure, though, the most likely result would be that when the human fleet returned it would find the Obscura sitting on the jump point. While the human fleet would almost certainly win any resulting battle, it would be possible that that Obscura would be able to damage some of the human ships, given the short range. Just sitting on the jump point, though, didn’t seem to be a solution either. Clearly the Obscura missiles had a maximum range of around 100 mkm’s, which meant that they would likely approach to that range and then turn away, long before the remaining human missiles could be brought to bear.
After consulting with his staff, Admiral Bradshaw decided on a third course of action. A few minutes later the jump ships begin shuttling the human ships out of the system. Admiral Bradshaw planned to return when the Obscura ships had had enough time to close to within the Mars’ engagement range, allowing the human fleet to get one more strike in on the Obscura ships. Twenty hours later the 1st Cruiser Group jumped back into the system. Unfortunately, the situation was not as Admiral Bradshaw had hoped. Two of the smaller 9,000 ton ships were within sensor range, as was the 18,000 ton ship. They were 240 mkm’s away, though, not within 30 mkm’s as Bradshaw had calculated. Apparently, they had come to a halt when the human ships left, rather than continuing towards the jump point. That was enough for Bradshaw. With only the Mars possessing offensive missiles, Bradshaw was in no mood to play games with the Obscura. He ordered the Fleet to return to the Solar System to rearm. For a time, Admiral Bradshaw considered detaching ships to guard the jump point to the Philadelphia system, as the jump point in Philadelphia has a jump gate, meaning the Obscura ships could jump into the San Francisco system. They wouldn’t be able to jump back, though, and no Obscura ship had ever been recording leaving the system it had been discovered in. Also, none of his ships have offensive missiles, so in the end he decides to leave the jump point unguarded. There is nothing in the San Francisco system to defend, yet.
The Fleet Support Ship stationed at the jump point to the Philadelphia system returned with the fleet to the Sol-San Francisco jump point.
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March 1, 2140:
Salvage ships are done with their work in the Honolulu system. Analysis of the systems recovered from the wreckage show that the Obscura are using magneto-plasma engines, which are outdated, but are ahead of the Republic in passive sensor technology, ammunition management technology, and ECM.
March 12, 2140:
The first units of the new long-range missile boat class are launched. The original missile boat class was intended to be dispatched from Earth-orbit as needed, and was never intended to remain in deep space for long periods of time. The new LR version has its endurance increased from one month to twelve, and a slightly less powerful drive, which results in a lower speed but longer range.
March 14, 2140:
The 1st and 2nd Frigates Groups, and the 1st Cruiser Group, have refueled and rearmed on Earth, and are finally prepared for departure. This time they will be escorted by the 1st Attack Group. The assembled ships depart Earth, bound for the jump point.
March 29, 2140, San Francisco system:
The fleet has reassembled at the jump point to the Philadelphia system. There are at least five Obscura ships left in the Philadelphia system, and Admiral Bradshaw expects at least some of them to be waiting for them on the jump point. Therefore, he orders the Essex to convey the 1st Attack Group through the jump point, escorted by an anti-missile frigate from the 1st Cruiser Group. They materialized in the Philadelphia system to find the jump point and its surrounding space clear of Obscura ships. The rest of the fleet jumped into the system, and then the 1st and the 2nd Frigate squadrons set out for the inner system again.
April 1, 2140, 2027 hours:
The 1st and 2nd Frigate Groups are 1.13 billion kilometers from the jump point and headed in-system when their passive sensors detect two 9,000 ton Obscura ships just over a billion kilometers in-system of their location. Commander Moss, the senior officer of the two frigate groups, sends word back to the jump point and orders her ships to pursue the Obscura ships.
The Obscura ships seemed to welcome the coming engagement and obligingly set their course towards the human ships.
April 2, 2140, 1740 hours:
The Obscura ships have entered active sensor range of the human frigates at 265 mkm’s. Commander Moss is disturbed by the fact that the 18,000 ton Obscura ship suddenly appeared on her sensors at the same time, seemingly out of nowhere. Obviously, the Obscura possess fairly good thermal masking technology. The human ships will have to close to approximately 200 mkm’s before engaging due to the Obscura ECM.
Two hours later the three Obscura were within range and the order to fire went out. The CO’s of the two frigate groups conferred as to the size of the salvo to send against the incoming ships. All three had been damaged in the earlier engagement, and they had no wish to exhaust their missile supply this early in their mission. The Lake class frigates of the 2nd Frigate Group had the honor of engaging the Obscura ships. Two of the frigates each launched ten Thunderbolt III missiles against each of the smaller ships, while the third frigate launched its entire completement of Thunderbolt III’s, twenty-five, against the 18,000 ton Obscura ship.
One and a half hours later the missiles hit their targets. The Obscura ships showed no sign of being aware that the missiles were approaching. All forty-five missiles hit their targets, none were shot down, none missed. The large Obscura ship was rocked by an internal explosion, but all three Obscura ships survived. The large Obscura ship, and one of the smaller ones, were slowed, but all three continued on course towards the human ships, which had turned away to maintain the range. Seconds later the 2nd Frigate Group launched its remaining missiles, divided evenly between the three ships.
Just over an hour later the missiles hit. All three Obscura ships survived, but it was clear all were heavily damaged. The 18,000 ton ship had lost its active sensor and its engines, as had one of the 9,000 ton ships. The other 9,000 ton ship was still capable of moving at 2,933 km/s, and still had its sensor on. Commander Moss ordered a third strike, this time consisting of twenty missiles. Five Thunderbolt III’s were targeted on each of the most damaged ships, while ten were targeted on the leading ship with its sensors still active.
The third missile salvo did the trick. One by one the scattered Obscura ships were wiped out. As before they left no life pods in their wake. Commander Moss ordered the 2nd Group to return to the jump point while the 1st continued on into the system. There were two of the smaller Obscura ships left somewhere in the system.
April 6, 2140, 1018 hours:
The 1st Frigate group detects two Obscura ships in orbit over Philadelphia A-I, orbiting with the wreck that had been observed by the original probe group. Neither of these ships had been spotted by the first mission. One is 17,900 tons, and the other is 17,800 tons. The human ships continued to close for five hours, and the Obscura ships merely sat in orbit as they approached, not moving. Two of the frigates each fired fifteen Thunderbolt III missiles at the Obscura ships. An hour and a half later the missiles hit their targets. Both Obscura ships were intact in the aftermath, showing no signs of damage. The 1st Frigate group is forced to fire its last twenty-five Thunderbolt III’s to try to finish off the Obscura ships.
An hour and a half later the missiles were closing on their targets. Due to limitations related to the limited fire controls on board the frigates, the missiles had been launched in three waves composed of five, ten and ten Thunderbolt III’s targeted on the two orbiting ships. The first wave of five slammed into one of the two ships, followed quickly by the second wave of ten which hit the other ship. The last wave of ten arrived seconds later, but this wave was intercepted short of the two Obscura ships by massed energy weapon fire which wiped out the entire wave. Both of the ships continued to orbit as the human frigates turned back towards the jump point.
Admiral Bradshaw was perturbed. Two Obscura ships were still unaccounted for, and the two new ships encountered by the 1st were still in the inner system. The Obscura infestation of this system was more extensive than it had been in either of the other systems they had been previously encountered in. Worse, the entire operation would have to be delayed while the frigates returned to Earth to rearm.
April 13, 2140:
The first of the Bureau of Relocation’s new colony ships is launched from the yards orbiting Earth. These ships are larger and faster than the older models built by the Federation, and are intended to be the cornerstone of humanity’s interstellar colonization effort.
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This is the map of known space, as of 2140:
(https://i.imgur.com/tjNxMH9.jpg)
Sol: Birthplace of Humanity, home of 99% of Humans
Washington: K3-V star with one semi-habitable planet. Primary contact point with the Dregluk. Dregluk primarily enter through the jump point to the Denver system, but have been known to use an unexplored jump point on the far side of the system as well. Humanity's only extra-solar colony is located here - the fortress world known as Bastion.
New York: G6-V star. Interdicted by the Federation due to contact with the Obscura. Not explored. Cleared by Republican forces and picketed with a listening post and a picket ship.
Los Angeles: G4-V star, no planets. Picket ship assigned, no listening post due to lack of system bodies.
San Francisco: Quaternary star system (2 stars are very distant). Picketed with a listening post and a picket ship.
Chicago: G0-V star. Six type T planets. Picketed with a listening post and a picket ship.
Boston: K0-V star. Picketed with a listening post and picket ship.
Denver: G3-IV star. Four type T planets. Dregluk presence is presumed.
Seattle: D7-VII star. Dregluk presence is presumed.
Anchorage: T5-VII star. No planets.
Philadelphia: G0-V star. One type T planet. Interdicted by the Federation due to presence of a jump gate on the jump point to the San Francisco system and a wreck in orbit of the type T planet. Clearance underway as of this date.
Honolulu: K2-V star. Two type T planets. Interdicted by the Federation due to the presence of Obscura. Cleared by the Republic. Picketed by a listening post and a picket ship.
Kurt
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May 25, 2140, Philadelphia System:
The Republic’s frigates are assembled on the jump point back to the San Francisco system, and for the third time they are ready to venture into the inner system. This time all three of the Navy’s frigate groups are here and will make the voyage into the inner system.
June 2, 2140, 1040 hours:
After a delay of several days to train up new crew members, the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Frigate Groups are now within range of the two large Obscura ships that they had encountered several weeks ago. Commander Moss orders a salvo of fifteen Thunderbolt III missiles to be launched at each of the Obscura ships. The missiles race away from the human ships a few seconds later, and an hour after that they hit their targets, which continue to sit quietly in orbit, placidly absorbing everything the human ships can dish out. Commander Moss orders a second strike, again composed of fifteen missiles targeted on each ship. Once again, the enigmatic Obscura ships absorbed the punishment without reacting. The one difference was that this time there was a rather large internal magazine explosion on one of the ships, but there was no other change. Commander Moss ordered a third strike, this time composed of ten missiles targeted on each of the ships. Once again, the Obscura ships absorbed the damage.
Commander Moss is determined to continue pounding the Obscura ships, and while tempted, she does not want to expend all of her missiles in one huge salvo. Therefore, she orders another set of ten missiles to be fired at the Obscura ships. Commander Moss is growing concerned. With this salvo, her four of her nine Lake class frigates have expended their missiles. Fortunately, the results of this salvo are more satisfactory. One of the two Obscura ships survives its pounding apparently unscathed, but the other ship exploded after the first missile hit it, leaving a hulk in orbit next to the wreck detected by the survey ship years ago. Commander Moss orders another ten-missile salvo to be launched at the survivor. This salvo was enough, even the Obscura ship couldn’t withstand that much punishment. A third wreck was left orbiting the planet in the aftermath of the attack. Commander Moss ordered the fleet to continue on to probe the planet at close range.
After orbiting the innermost planet for an hour and probing both it and the wrecks that orbit it with her frigate’s limited sensors and detecting nothing, Commander Moss reports her results to Rear Admiral Bradshaw, aboard the Essex at the jump point. After considering the situation, Admiral Bradshaw decides to bring the Essex into the inner system. His ship has a much more capable sensor suite, and he wants to make sure that they examine the system very closely before departing. In addition, there is still the matter of two unaccounted for Obscura ships, as well.
June 10, 2140:
The Essex has arrived at the first planet, but its sensors can detect no sign of an Obscura base or population on the planet. Admiral Bradshaw orders the fleet to visit each of the planets in the system.
June 27, 2140:
The Essex and her escorting frigates have returned to the jump point to the San Francisco system after visiting all five of the Philadelphia system’s planets. They found no evidence of Obscura bases or populations in the system. Neither did they find the two missing Obscura ships. Admiral Bradshaw orders the fleet to return to the San Francisco system. Once they are back in the San Francisco system, the thirsty frigates refuel from the waiting UNREP ships, and then he orders the 1st and 3rd Frigate groups to escort the Essex into the San Francisco system to search for the missing Obscura ships. Although there is no record of Obscura ships transiting into other systems, there are still two Obscura ships unaccounted for, and they could have jumped into the San Francisco system through the jump gate on the Philadelphia side of the San Francisco-Philadelphia jump point pair while the human frigates returned to the solar system to rearm.
July 9, 2140, 0357 hours, San Francisco System:
The Essex, escorted by two frigate groups, is approaching the planets of San Francisco’s primary star, having already finished probing the planets of “B” component of the quaternary system. The “C” and “D” components, K5-V and K8-V stars respectively, orbit the primary at a mean distance of 6200 AU’s. It would take the Republic’s frigates, which are capable of 6,000 km/s, over 1,780 days to reach the pair, meaning they are effectively out of reach.
The 1st Cruiser Group, accompanied by the 1st Attack Group, are guarding the jump point to the Philadelphia system, while the pod group is guarding the jump point back to the Solar System. In the early hours of the morning the two groups of Republican ships watching the jump point to the Philadelphia system are surprised when alarms begin ringing on the bridges of the frigates assigned to the two groups. A ship had entered active detection range, 265 mkm’s out. The ship massed 8,600 tons, was moving at 5,523 km/s, and was on a course that cut across their detection sphere. It was not on an interception course for the jump point. Perhaps most importantly, the ship’s signature made it clear that it was not Dregluk or Obscura. A new race had entered the picture.
Captain Harvey Webster, commander of the 1st Cruiser Group and senior officer at the jump point, was unsure of what action to take. He knew very well what he wanted to do, which was to blow the alien ship out of space. To his mind aliens were a threat, and nothing but a threat. Still, there were standing orders for this sort of thing, orders that had been established during the days of the Federation and hadn’t been changed since. After considering blowing the contact away anyway, Captain Webster ordered his comms officer to attempt to contact the new race. He would follow his orders.
Captain Webster’s reports caused a stir throughout the Solar System when they arrived at Earth. The Consul’s immediate response was to dispatch two monitors to the jump point to the San Francisco system to reinforce the pods deployed there for the Philadelphia Pacification Campaign. With the monitors on their way, the Consul sent an order to the Ministry of External Affairs to assign a diplomatic team to the communications attempts with the new race. A debate began in the Senate that would last for weeks, off and on, about what form the Republic’s response would take. The favored response from the first was in the form of a large missile barrage.
Rear Admiral Bradshaw, for his part, decided he needed the listening post set up as soon as possible, to get a clearer picture of the system. He ordered the freighter group, that had been holding at the jump point to the Solar System, to move into the San Francisco system and emplace its DSTS’s on the inner planet of the “B” star, now closest to the jump point. He also ordered the 1st Cruiser Group, at the jump point to the Philadelphia system, to intercept the freighters and escort them into the inner system.
By 1957 hours the alien ships have faded from the active sensors of the force at the Philadelphia jump point.
July 12, 2140, 1655 hours, San Francisco system:
The Essex, escorted by two frigate groups, is approaching the planetary system of the primary G type star of the San Francisco quaternary system when its sensors detect two Obscura ships close to the orbit of the outermost planet. The Essex’ crew quickly establishes that these two ships are the same ones that were missing from the Philadelphia system. Admiral Bradshaw orders his fleet to change course and close on the Obscura ships.
The Obscura ships charge straight towards the human ships. Admiral Bradshaw gives the order to open fire at 150 mkm’s, and the Nairobi and the Sacramento almost immediately launch fifteen Thunderbolt III’s each at the two Obscura ships. Admiral Bradshaw was tempted to order a full strike from the two frigates, but with unknown alien ships in the system he decides to conserve his offensive missiles.
Just over an hour later the frigate’s missiles hit their targets. As usual, the Obscura show no overt signs that they’ve been damaged, and both survive the strike, although one was slowed. Admiral Bradshaw orders another fifteen-missile strike. The second salvo was underway in seconds. Shortly after the second salvo was launched, incoming Obscura missiles were detected. The missiles were size 3, and each wave was composed of seven missiles and traveling at 18,615 km/s. Aegis AMM’s began spilling from the frigates, racing towards the incoming missiles. The Aegis V’s were designed to deal with Dregluk missiles, all of which were much faster and more maneuverable than the Obscura missiles. The Aegis missiles had no trouble eliminating all of the incoming missiles before they got close to the human ships.
The Obscura attack took several minutes to resolve, and then it was time for the Republican counterstrike. The Thunderbolt III missiles take out one of the Obscura ships, leaving the other one limping away. Admiral Bradshaw orders one last strike to finish off the last Obscura ship, then resumes course for the two planets orbiting the primary.
July 19, 2140, 1117 hours, San Francisco System:
The listening post finally goes online and immediately spots four alien ships, all out-system from the jump point to the Philadelphia system. Three are the same size and class as the first ship to be spotted, while one is much slower and larger. The smaller ships appear to be following a gravitic survey pattern. Admiral Bradshaw and the Essex and its escorting frigates are on their way to a rendezvous with fuel tankers at the location of the new listening post, and from there they will head back to the Solar System. His forces are at the edge of their ability to stay on station, fuel is low, and his mission objectives have been achieved. It is time to return home.
July 20, 2140:
As the fleet is assembling at the new listening post to refuel before heading back to the Solar System, the new listening post detects one of the alien ships transiting out of the San Francisco system through a previously undetected jump point gate. The other two smaller ships are also headed for this jump point, while the larger, slower ship is headed towards the jump point to the Philadelphia system. Admiral Bradshaw decides to recall the gate construction ship that is on its way to the jump point to the Philadelphia system. The alien ship will get there first, and based on its size, and the fact that there is a gate at the newly discovered jump point, it is likely that the alien ship is a gate construction ship. For the time being the Republic will allow the aliens to go about their business in the San Francisco system.
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Philadelphia Pacification Campaign
Start Date: February 4, 2140
Projected End Date: April 30, 2140
Actual End Date: July 20, 2140
Campaign Goals:
Primary Goal – Probe the Philadelphia system and eliminate any and all Obscura or Dregluk presence in the system.
Secondary Goal – Probe the San Francisco and set up a listening post in the inner system.
Initial Forces: Assault Ship Essex, 2xTennessee class Jump Cruisers, 1st Cruiser Group, 1st & 2nd Frigate Groups, 13xPods
Eventual Reinforcements: 3rd Frigate Group, 1st Attack Group
Support Forces: 1xUNREP ship, 2xFleet Support Ships, 1xNorth Carolina class jump ship (Sol-SF Picket)
The discovery of a total of nine (9) Obscura ships in the Philadelphia system changes the situation with regards to the behavior expected from Obscura encounters. In the two previous encounters the Obscura have only been present in small numbers, and were using relatively small ships. The presence of nine (9) Obscura ships in the Philadelphia system indicates that we do not understand the Obscura’s deployment doctrine, and, perhaps, indicates that the Philadelphia system is of particular importance to the Obscura. In addition, the presence of three ships which were much larger than previously encountered designs indicate a much heavier investment in the Philadelphia system by the Obscura.
In terms of combat, the fleet was capable of dealing with the Obscura threat. During the second engagement in the Philadelphia system, and in the final engagement in the San Francisco system, the fleet came under missile attack from the Obscura and in both cases Aegis V missiles launched from fleet units were more than capable of dealing with the threat. The engagements with the Obscura did reveal several weaknesses in the fleet’s current form. The primary weakness was the fact that once the fleet’s primary offensive platforms, the Lake class frigates, expended their missiles they were required to return to the Earth to rearm. The effort to eliminate the nine (9) Obscura ships required three separate sorties into the Philadelphia system, which greatly stretched out the time required to eliminate the threat. This was only possible because all fleet units were capable of a higher speed than the Obscura ships, allowing us the luxury of breaking contact when desired, and because of the limited response pattern of the Obscura. If the Obscura had pressed their attack through the jump point and across the San Francisco system towards the Solar system, then it would have been much more difficult to deal with them. In short, our success was due in part to the limited tactical and strategic responses of the Obscura, rather than to our strengths.
Recommendations:
1. The Mars did not play a significant part in this campaign, and in fact was considered by on-scene commanders to be more a limiting factor rather than an asset. Its maximum engagement range was only twenty percent that of the frigate force, and ten percent that of the long-range missile combatants, and its relatively slow maximum speed of 4,736 km/s made it unsuitable for frontline duties. Therefore, this class should either be relegated to Sol system defense duties, scrapped, or upgraded.
2. The frigate force is the fleet’s frontline strike element. The Lake and Brooklyn class frigates proved to be capable of holding their own against the Obscura in this campaign, and have proven effective against the Dregluk in previous engagements. This campaign, however, exposed their critical weakness – the need to return to base to rearm their missile tubes. If the fleet is going to be successful in forward deployments and power projection missions away from planetary support bases, a mobile platform capable of rearming Lake class frigates will be mission-critical.
3. The pods deployed to the San Francisco-Sol jump point provided a critical fallback position and security base for the forward-deployed fleet elements to return to while awaiting the return of the frigates after being rearmed by bases on Earth. In addition, after the unexpected transit of Obscura ships from the Philadelphia system to the San Francisco system, the pods provided critical security to the Sol System as a whole. The use of pods in this manner should be continued if not expanded.
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July 24, 2140:
A Gull class DD is detected jumping into the Washington system. A missile group is dispatched to the jump point to back up the monitor assigned to guard the jump point. Several days later the Dregluk DD succumbed to a swarm of Bludgeon III’s launched from the monitor Waterloo.
July 29, 2140:
The Republic’s fleet returns to the Solar System from the San Francisco system, leaving behind a picket ship at the jump point, and an UNREP ship that will refuel the monitors heading to the jump point, after which it will set out for Uranus and the refineries there to refuel.
August, 10, 2140:
Work begins converting a military shipyard over Mars to produce the new Hero class Fleet Tenders. This new class will be capable of rearming two Lake class frigates at a time, and at 27,550 tons it is the largest military ship ever built by humanity.
September 16, 2140:
Salvage work on one of the Obscura ships destroyed in the San Francisco system is complete. The salvage teams found evidence that the ship had a jump drive, which is interesting given the fact that generally Obscura ships have not been observed to move between systems.
September 27, 2140:
A Vulture class DD jumps into the Washington system. Three days later a swarm of Bludgeon III missiles from the 1st Missile Group wiped the Dregluk DD from space.
October 4, 2140:
A Dregluk Colossus class BB jumps into the Washington system. Three groups of ships are currently in-system of the jump point, a colony group returning to the jump point, two fleet support ships delivering missiles and fuel to Bastion, and a civilian freighter carrying infrastructure on contact. The government-controlled ships go to station keeping when warned, but the civilian ship continued to head towards Bastion at full speed. The Admiralty dispatches the 2nd Missile Group and the 1st Frigate Group to the jump point.
Unfortunately, the Dregluk BB spots the freighter and sets out in pursuit. By the time the Republican forces at the jump point realize that the Dregluk BB is headed in-system, the missile boat force is on-station with the monitors. The missile boats can chase down the Dregluk BB, but they don’t have long-range sensors of their own. The monitors are too slow to catch the Dregluk ship, but they have the advantage that the Dregluk ship is traveling across the system, not moving away from them. They can cut across but even so won’t be able to catch it before it enters range of the freighter.
Fortunately, the 1st Frigate Group arrives a few hours later, and immediately goes into pursuit of the Dregluk BB. The frigates are capable of almost 1400 km/s overtake speed on the big Dregluk ship, and they will do their best to intercept. In the inner system, the two missile defense bases on Bastion ready themselves for what might be their first test.
Thirty-seven hours later the Dregluk BB was 1.2 billion kilometers from Bastion and closing on the human base and the freighter, which was now unloading infrastructure. The 1st Frigate Group was 420 mkm’s from the Dregluk ship, and was in between it and the inner system. Interception short of the inner system was assured, when the big Dregluk ship activated its sensors. The Dregluk active sensors had a maximum detection range of 370 mkm’s, so the frigates were still outside of the Dregluk ship’s detection range, but that would change quickly. If the Dregluk ship was carrying the Imperium’s best ASM’s, then the frigates would come under attack before they could launch their own Thunderbolt III’s.
The range dropped rapidly as the Dregluk BB turned towards the human frigates. One and a half hours later seventy-five Thunderbolt III’s raced from their tubes, targeted on the lone Dregluk BB. This constituted the 1st Frigate Group’s entire offensive arsenal, but this was a Dregluk battleship. This was no time for half measures, and Commander Moss, CO of the 1st, was quite willing to waste a few missiles in overkill to ensure the destruction of one of humanity’s hated enemies.
One hour and forty minutes later the missile swarm slammed into the battleship. Eight missiles were destroyed by CIWS, the other sixty-seven slammed into the battleship, which absorbed the salvo and continued on towards the frigates without slowing or showing any other effects. Commander Moss ordered her frigates to turn back towards the jump point, and the monitors and missile boats waiting there. In addition, Commander Moss ordered her group to reduce speed to just faster than the Dregluk BB in the hopes of luring it into following her.
The Dregluk battleship obligingly followed the retreating frigates right into the missile range of the units sitting on the jump point. It took two salvoes of eighteen Bludgeon III’s to smash the intruder completely.
As a result of this engagement the Admiralty decided to increase the number of Lake class FFG’s in each Frigate Group to four from three.
October 9, 2140:
The Republic’s R&D teams have completed development work on various missile technologies, and begin work on developing successors to the missile types currently deployed on fleet vessels.
October 20, 2140:
The Republic’s Army has gotten approval to strike at the Obscura listening post in the Honolulu system. A full brigade will be sent to secure the facility. The 1st Frigate Group will escort the transport into the Honolulu system. Fleet support units will be prepositioned to refuel both the transport and the frigates before and after their mission into the Honolulu system.
November 11, 2140:
Production has begun on the Aegis VI, the Thunderbolt IV, and the Bludgeon IV missiles.
Aegis VI:
Speed 62,500 km/s (+25%)
Range 15 mkm’s (+28%)
Agility 42 (+23%)
Thunderbolt IV:
Speed 50,000 km/s (+56%)
Range 241 mkm’s (no change)
Warhead 8 (+33%)
Agility 22 (-24%)
Note: To get the huge improvement in range for the Mark III model, the designers had to settle for a slower, more efficient engine to get the vastly increased range. The Mark IV model is a return to a less efficient but faster engine, and so additional internal space had to be devoted to endurance, to maintain the range. Therefore, agility suffered.
Bludgeon IV:
Speed 39,100 km/s (+25%)
Range 411 mkm’s (+4%)
Warhead 25 (+25%)
Agility 16 (+7%
Armor 1 (no change)
ECM 20 (no change)
Active sensor 1.05 mkm’s (slight improvement)
November 23, 2140:
The 1st Frigate Group, while escorting a troop transport into the Honolulu system, detects a new jump gate at a previously unknown jump point almost directly between the jump point to the Boston system and the inner system of Honolulu. Commander Moss decides to continue on their target in the inner system.
November 28, 2140:
The 120th Brigade landed from orbit in good order. They found exactly one Obscura deep space scanning station, and little else. The station was secured and an extensive search of the planet was initiated to discover if there was any other Obscura presence.
December 4, 2140:
A diplomatic team has been working tirelessly to establish contact with the aliens discovered in the San Francisco system. Effective communication had been established last month, and the team discovered that the aliens called themselves the Symsonia Commonwealth. The team pressed for more information about the Commonwealth, and informed the Commonwealth representatives that further intrusion in the San Francisco system would be problematic for the Republic. The Symsonians, who appear to be oddly shaped and almost plant-like, consistently responded with platitudes and inanities. The diplomatic team works tirelessly, but it’s beginning to look like humanity may always have difficulty understanding any alien race.
December 17, 2140:
The Symsonian gate construction ship sitting at the jump point to the Philadelphia system starts up its engines and sets course for the unexplored jump point back to Symsonian space, its job finished. A brand-new gate is now active on the jump point to the Philadelphia system.
December 19, 2140:
The 1st Frigate Group returns to the Solar system after escorting the troop transport carrying the troops that secured the Obscura listening post in the Honolulu system. With the troop transport safely back in the Solar System and headed towards Earth, the 1st refuels from the fleet support units waiting at the jump point and then sets course for the Earth and home.
-
The United Republic of Earth
December 31, 2140
Earth:
Population: 3.531 Billion
Shipyards/Slipways: 9/28
Industrial Facilities (All): 11,897
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -11.48 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 20% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -3.69%.
Earth’s population dropped almost 288 million during the last year. Forty one percent of that drop is attributable to population transfers, while the rest is due to lingering radiation effects from Dregluk bombardment. The ongoing transfer of shipyard complexes to Mars, coupled with the conversion of mining complexes to automation has combined to keep Earth’s need for workers under control.
Luna:
Population: 28.14 million
Mines: 279
Automated Mines: 155
Luna’s population continues to be bolstered by people trying to escape from the increasingly fervent anti-alien attitudes of the masses on Earth and Mars. The Lunar colonies were bombarded just as hard as the Earth was, and the Lunar surface is heavily irradiated, meaning that only the most desperate to escape the increasing fervor for war and anti-alien sentiment on Earth relocate to the Moon.
Mars:
Population: 351,600,000
Shipyards/Slipways: 14/45
Maintenance Facilities: 82
Construction Factories: 228
The largest single employer on Mars continues to be the Republic Naval Yards, employing over fifty-three million Martian residents.
Ganymede:
Population: 14,430,000
Mines: 108
Automated Mines: 168
The terraforming fleet has significantly increased the average temperature on Ganymede, reducing the colony’s dependence on infrastructure to support its population.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by establishing fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
With the discovery of the Symsonian Commonwealth ships in the San Francisco system the System Defense Command has received emergency funds from the Senate to enlarge defenses on both Earth and Mars to deal with a possible incursion.
Defenses
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 1
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 4
Anti-missile bases (meson): 4
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 2
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 2
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 2
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard most of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility.
The Republican Fleet
Based on the experience gained in the Philadelphia system, fleet construction is now focused on various support vessels.
Republic Fleet:
Interceptor Group #1 (Earth): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2 (Earth): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3 (Mars): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4 (Mars): 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Missile Group #1 (Earth): 10xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #2 (Earth): 10xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #3 (Earth): 9xMissile Boat r3
Long Range Missile Group #1 (Mars): 8xMB r3(LR)
Frigate Group #1 (Earth), CO Commander Sophia Moss
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Birmingham, Boston
4xLake FFG: Nairobi, Sacramento, Singapore, Ladoga
Frigate Group #2 (Earth), CO Commander Matthew Swift
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Cairo, Chongqing
3xLake FFG: Erie, Huron, Michigan
Frigate Group #3 (Earth), CO Commander Joseph Miles
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Lagos, Lima
4xLake FFG: Baikai, Tanganyika, Vladivostok, Malawi
Attack Group #1 (Mars), CO Captain Robert Chan
3xEnterprise r4: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
1xBrooklyn r5 FFG Delhi
Cruiser Group #1 (Earth), CO Rear Admiral Morgan Bradshaw
1xEssex Assault Ship: Essex
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Shanghai, Tokyo
Cruiser Group #2 (Earth), CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
1xEssex Assault Ship: Bismarck
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Karachi, Mumbai
Cruiser Group #3 (Earth), CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
1xEssex Assault Ship: Yamato
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Karachi, Mumbai
Unassigned units:
2xTennesse class Jump Ship: Bihar, Tennessee
Pod Reserve:
20xASM Pod
8xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
Ships in Refit:
1xPlanet r1 BC: Mars
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. To this end it has the following forces:
Earth: (All available units have been deployed to the San Francisco-Sol jump point)
1xSaratoga R1 Monitor: Huai Hai (overhaul)
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Marathon (scheduled for overhaul, awaiting outcome of San Francisco situation)
San Francisco Jump Point Guard:
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
3xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Masada, Stalingrad, Tours
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Hastings, Tours (en route to SF-Sol jump point, ETA: 21 days)
Washington Jump Point Guard
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Antietam, Waterloo
Los Angeles Jump Point Guard
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Saratoga
-
January 16, 2141, Sol System:
Admiral Law orders the Fleet to begin a massive fleet training exercise intended to last several months. The training is being undertaken in preparation of an operation intended to secure the Washington system, planned for mid-year.
February 17, 2141:
The Senate decides to begin moving forward on a massive program to increase the fortifications on all important Sol system settlements. As the construction brigades will be busy on Bastion until sometime next year, construction of additional fortifications on Ganymede will require the relocation of construction facilities to that colony, and additional colonists to work in them. Therefore, freighters are assigned to transport the necessary infrastructure, and colony transports are diverted from the Earth-Mars run. Additional factories will be transferred to Mars to bolster that colony’s ability to construct fortifications as well.
February 30, 2141:
Two Demon class CA’s are detected transiting into the Washington system. This is the event that Admiral Law had been waiting for. Orders were dispatched, and shortly after the orders were transferred by the picket ship at the jump point and then received on Bastion, the new fortress complex’s sensors went active for the first time. Its stupendously powerful active sensors weren’t powerful enough to scan the two Dregluk CA’s directly, but if the Dregluk ship had EM sensors then they would see the sensor PDC’s clearly.
Unfortunately, the Dregluk CA’s don’t take the bait and instead head for a civilian colony transport heading towards the jump point to the Solar System. Admiral Law orders one of the newly returned missile groups to head to the Sol-Washington jump point.
March 1, 2141:
The civilian colony ship targeted for pursuit by the pair of Dregluk cruisers jumps out of the Washington system and into the safety of the Solar System. The Dregluk CA’s, deprived of their target, immediately came about and began heading for Bastion in the inner system.
March 6, 2141, 1741 hours:
The Dregluk cruisers are now 192 mkm’s from Bastion, well within range of the fortress’s Bludgeon III missiles. Lt. Commander Alex Bradshaw, CO of the offensive bases, ordered four of his PDC’s to open fire. Seconds later sixty Bludgeon III missiles raced away from the fortress complex.
Incoming Dregluk missiles were detected on thermal scanners while they were still 80 mkm’s out. The fortress complex’s Bludgeon III’s were 82 mkm’s from their targets.
The Dregluk missiles reached their targets first. The fortress complex’s sensors acquired the incoming missiles while they were still 8 mkm’s out, and Aegis V’s began racing away from Bastion. There were eight individual incoming salvoes each composed of twenty-one size 3 missiles, and in fifteen seconds one hundred and sixty-eight Aegis V AMM’s were racing towards them. Sixty seconds later the Aegis V AMM’s began intercepting their targets and the Dregluk bombardment missiles began dying short of the planet. The Aegis V’s achieved a 45% kill ratio, and the defensive bases adjusted their fire to compensate. More Aegis V’s raced away from the planet. The attack petered out several minutes later when the last incoming missile was intercepted just over two million kilometers from Bastion.
By that time the Bludgeon III’s were just fourteen million kilometers from their targets and closing. Just over nine minutes later the big human missiles slam into the two Dregluk cruisers. When the explosions clear there is very little left of the two warships aside from scattered debris and a few life pods.
March 7, 2141:
The Admiralty dispatches three salvage ships to the Philadelphia system to begin salvage work on the Obscura wrecks.
March 16, 2141:
Three Dregluk BB’s are detected jumping into the Washington system. They immediately set out for Bastion in the inner system. The Admiralty is concerned that three Dregluk BB’s might be a bit much for Bastion’s offensive bases to handle, so the 3rd Cruiser Group, 2nd Frigate Group, and the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups are dispatched to the jump point to intercept the Dregluk if necessary. This is basically every fleet unit available, as the remaining combat units are finishing up their overhauls.
-
March 22, 2141, Washington System
Rear Admiral Freya Wallace paced across her flag bridge with her eyes locked on the red icons on the plot, headed steadily inwards, towards the fortresses on Bastion. She was tall and spare, her face too intense to be considered classically beautiful, but striking in her space force blues. Now, though, her face was thunderous, and her staff went about their assignments quietly. She was well liked by her subordinates, but when she was in a mood like this, they all knew to let her work it out.
The object of her ire was the three Dregluk battleships headed in-system. By all rights it should have been up to her ships to intercept and destroy the damned Dregluk, not the bases in the inner system. For too many years humanity suffered under the bombardment of the never-to-be-sufficiently damned Dregluk, and now they finally had the capability to begin striking back and she was forced to sit here and watch! Intolerable! Her thoughts derailed as the flag ship’s AI chimed to signal a situation change, and a new red icon appeared in the Washington system, this one sitting on the jump point that the Dregluk traditionally used to enter the system. Admiral Wallace leaned over the plot and gestured at the icon and, in response, the AI brought up specifics. The new Dregluk force was composed of eight cruisers, six destroyers, and a new class of battleship! The largest force to enter Washington in years! Unnoticed, her hand slipped into one of her pockets and folded around a picture she kept there. A wide grin spread across her face! This was it. She hit the comm button on the display in front of her.
“Captain Harrison, the task force will prepare to intercept the new Dregluk force. Departure in fifteen minutes. Admiral Wallace out.” Fifteen minutes later the task force left the jump point. The 2nd Frigate Group led the way, followed by her flagship, the Assault Cruiser Yamato, with an anti-missile frigate in close escort. The flagship was followed by the twenty missile boats of the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups. They were significantly out-massed by the Dregluk force, but the Republic’s fighting crews didn’t care about that. They were on the forefront of the defense of humanity, and the Dregluk scum were going to pay.
Initially the Dregluk force set out for the inner system, but as soon as they detected Admiral Wallace’s force, they changed course to intercept the humans. The fight was on.
Three hours later, in the inner system…
Admiral Morgan Thornton and his staff had been watching the plot carefully, but now the time had come. “We’ll go with Fire Plan Alpha. Launch now!”
Fire Plan Alpha called for a staggered launch of Bludgeon III’s against the incoming battleships. In all, the fire plan called for ninety of the fortress complex’s one hundred missile launchers to be used against the incoming ships. The thirty Bludgeon III’s targeted on each battleship should be overkill, but to meet the requirements of the plan they had launched nearly every offensive missile left on the planet. They were supposed to have been resupplied, but the Munitions Ship had been on its way when the Dregluk BB’s appeared, and had been forced to turn back and shelter under the protection of the monitors at the jump point.
The fortress complex’s personnel are forced to watch the plot with apprehension for the next three hours as the human missiles made their way towards the Dregluk ships. Admiral Thornton and his staff all leaned towards the plot in the command base with expectation as the missile plots merged with the Dregluk ships and the command plot’s AI fuzzed out the area around the Dregluk ship’s due to distortion from the explosions. The distortion cleared quickly though, and cheering broke out across the command deck and throughout the entire fortress complex as the plot showed that the three Dregluk BB’s, once feared bringers of death and destruction, were now just drifting debris with a few scattered life pods drifting in their wake.
Admiral Thornton turned to his communications officer. “Send to Admiral Wallace. We’ve eliminated the threat here. Good hunting!”
Four hours later…
“Status change.” The voice of the flag bridge’s AI drew Admiral Wallace’s eyes to the central plot from the readiness report she had been studying. On the plot the Dregluk fleet’s course began to change, bending from the intercept course it had been following to one headed in-system, towards the fortress complex of Bastion.
Admiral Wallace frowned. Her ships were faster than the Dregluk force, but this change would ensure it took longer to intercept them, and would draw them farther into the system. “Communications, send the following to Admiral Thornton on Bastion: Admiral, the Dregluk have changed course towards you. I wish to intercept them in the outer system. Please deactivate your sensors as they may be drawing the Dregluk force towards you. Admiral Wallace out.” The message was on its way seconds later.
Long before Admiral Thornton could have received the message the fortresses on Bastion deactivated their sensors. Admiral Thornton had seen exactly what Admiral Wallace had, and he knew what it meant as well as she. Unfortunately, turning off the base’s sensors made no difference. The Dregluk were still doggedly headed in-system. Admiral Wallace’s force had changed course to intercept them, and would long before they got in-system, but it would put them further in-system than Wallace really wanted to be.
Thirty-four hours later…
“We are within range, Admiral.”
Admiral Wallace glared at the plot. The Dregluk had finally turned towards her task group and were trying to close with her. She checked the range. They were 375 mkm’s out and her fleet and the Dregluk closing at a combined speed of over 10,000 km/s at this point. She brought up the Yamato’s bridge on the pane in front of her. Captain Harrison, the CO of the Yamato, turned his head towards her and said, “Yes, Admiral?”
“Captain Harrison, engage the enemy. Targeting plan Bravo-1. Launch at will.” A flicker passed across Harrison’s face, but it was gone almost before she caught it and there was nothing amiss in his voice as he nodded.
“Yes ma’am. Targeting Plan Bravo-1. They are on the way!” The pane minimized as almost immediately loud “chunks” began echoing throughout the flagship as the big Bludgeon III missiles were thrown clear of their box launchers. Admiral Wallace smiled as a speckling of light blue icons appeared on the plot as Bludgeon III’s raced away from the Yamato and the missile boats. That something that she had almost seen in Harrisons face was disappointment, she was sure of it. He had so wanted to launch on the Dregluk battleship, and had argued vociferously for one of the Alpha fire plans, as that would have allowed him to target the big Dregluk brute. In the end, though, she had opted for Bravo, which targeted the cruisers in the Dregluk force. There was only one battleship over there, but there were eight cruisers and they were obviously the heart of the force. A vicious grin spread across her face as she watched the Bludgeon III’s speed away. While she wanted to destroy the entire force, she’d settle for ripping the heart out of it. She brought up the communication’s pane to the bridge again. “Captain, once we’ve closed to 350 mkm’s maintain our separation. No sense in letting them get too close.”
Captain Harrison nodded and the pane closed, leaving her to study the plot with anticipation. Once again, her hand had slipped into her pocket unnoticed, and when she realized she was stroking the small picture located there she jerked her hand out and set it firmly on the console in front of her.
Two hours passed as the anticipation on the ships of the task group grew, and then finally the out-going missile icons merged with the Dregluk fleet. Admiral Wallace settled back in her combat cradle with satisfaction as the icons for no less than six Dregluk cruisers changed from active to destroyed. The icon for the seventh Dregluk CA was blinking to indicate that it had suffered damage during the attack but had survived. Cheers broke out across the fleet at the results of their attack, and then redoubled when five seconds later the surviving missiles from the attack acquired new targets with their onboard sensors and obliterated another cruiser and four destroyers.
An unabashed grin spread across Admiral Wallace’s face but she wrestled it down quickly, lest she appear less than professional in front of her crew. She let them cheer, though. She leaned forward and inspected the plot. The Dregluk force had been reduced to one battleship, one damaged cruiser, and two destroyers. Not bad. She keyed the communications tab for the task group commanders. In a few seconds small panes opened on her display, showing Captain Oliver Harper, CO of the 2nd Frigate Group, and Lt. Commander Robert Glover and Commander George Franklin, CO’s of the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups.
“Congratulations, gentlemen. That was, by any measure, a very successful strike. Let your crews know that I am very happy with them, and I’m sure that the Admiralty will feel the same.” She could see the stoic face of Captain Harper watching her intently, and she relented. “Yes, Oliver, we are going to close on them. Your turn is coming. But first, George and Bob, I’m detaching your task groups. You are to head home and re-arm. Once you are away, we’ll come about and close with the enemy until we are within Thunderbolt III range. Understood?”
The three CO’s nodded, and Captain Harper broke out into a big grin. They were going hunting!
For forty minutes the two groups closed on each other, and then finally they were in range of the human force’s remaining offensive missiles. Admiral Wallace gave the order, and seconds later the four Lake class Frigates in the 2nd Frigate Group launched one hundred Thunderbolt III ASM’s, all targeted on the Dregluk Battleship. The crew on the flag bridge of the Yamato watched, almost holding their breath, as the Thunderbolt icons merged with the Dregluk fleet and dissipated. There was a feeling of disappointment as the battleship’s icon remained on the board, although it was flashing, indicating it had taken some damage. It, and its escorts, had slowed to 4,327 km/s. Later analysis would show that most of the Thunderbolt III’s hit, but Dregluk BB’s were tough customers, and this one was soldiering on.
Twelve minutes later, as Admiral Wallace was going over the strike analysis with Captain Harper prior to deciding on their next course of action, alarms began ringing across the fleet. Admiral Wallace’s eyes were drawn to the plot, where a bloodred stream of missile icons had appeared, headed directly for her task force. She turned back to the open pane to Captain Harper, who had just turned back to her from his plot. “Good luck, Oliver.” He nodded at her as she closed the window on her pane. There was little for her to do now but watch as her missile defense teams went into action.
Aegis V’s began spilling into space from the six frigates leading the Yamato by 100,000 kilometers. The outcome was never in doubt, as over the years of war the Republic’s spacers had grown confident in their missile defense capabilities. By the end of the attack the number of incoming missiles had grown to one hundred and fifty, but the Aegis V’s had dealt with them easily, and none got closer than 1.5 mkm’s of the fleet.
Throughout the attack Admiral Wallace had watched the icons for the Dregluk ships with her hand in her pocket, stroking her picture, contemplating their next course of action. Her team was used to the Admiral’s absent-minded habit, and accepted it, but there was much speculation about just what exactly she kept in her pocket. Her task force had expended their offensive missiles, but she didn’t want those Dregluk ships to escape. Once the missile attack died out, she opened windows to both the commander of the Yamato and Captain Harper. “Gentlemen, I’m going to try to lure the remaining Dregluk ships into range of the monitors waiting at the jump point. The fleet is to set a course for the jump point, but we are going to reduce our speed to 4,600 km/s. Hopefully that will entice the Dregluk into pursuing us to the jump point.”
Both captains acknowledged her order, and the human ships came about and headed for the jump point to the Solar System. One hour and thirteen minutes later a second Dregluk missile attack materialized, but this attack was composed of only eleven missiles and a single wave of Aegis V’s was enough to eliminate the threat.
Admiral Wallace was watching the plot when the Dregluk force split. The flag ship’s AI announced “Status change”, and the plot updated to show that the Dregluk battleship had split off of the main group. She watched as the Dregluk BB’s course curved until it was on course for its entry point. The remaining three Dregluk ships continued their pursuit of her force. Admiral Wallace watched the Dregluk BB retreat with burning eyes. She really wanted that battleship, but there was little she could do at this point. Her force had no more missiles, and there were three Dregluk ships still pursuing her. First, she had to deal with them.
Forty-four hours later…
Admiral Wallace was finally sleeping when her comm chimed and pulled her from her slumber. She was awake in seconds and palmed the ‘voice-only’ comm channel on her nightstand. “Yes?”
“Admiral, the Dregluk have turned back towards the inner system.” The disembodied voice of her chief of staff sounded grim.
Admiral Wallace glanced at the time display on the nightstand, and then closed her eyes for a second, thinking. By this time her task force would be deep within the missile envelope of the monitors on the jump point, but the Dregluk would still be approximately 50 mkm’s outside that envelope. She knew that the monitors wouldn’t be in range yet because she had set her alarm to wake her long before they’d be in range. “I’ll be on the flag bridge momentarily.”
True to her word, she was pacing on the flag bridge in front of the plot within minutes. Sure enough the Dregluk were outside the monitor’s range, and had turned back towards the inner system. She eyed the plot. The Dregluk were not headed directly away from her or the monitors. Instead, they were in a course that took them past the jump point and her force and the monitors. They would not come any closer to the jump point, but they weren’t receding either, not yet. For a few minutes she played with the plot’s navigation routines and then stepped back in thought. After a minute or so she turned to her station and brought up a comm window to the bridge on her pane. “Captain, I’m going to order the monitors on the jump point to pursue the Dregluk force. I want you to set a course to intercept the monitors. We will escort them during their interception attempt.”
“Yes Admiral.” Captain Harrison frowned in thought. “Can the monitors bring the Dregluk into engagement range?”
Admiral Wallace shook her head. “Unlikely. But, if the Dregluk see them coming out to meet them, maybe they’ll turn back towards us and come within range on their own.”
Captain Harrison had a dubious look on his face. “Maybe.” His face cleared and he grinned. “You never know what the damned Dregluk are going to do, so its worth a shot! We’ll come about shortly.”
The window closed and Admiral Wallace composed her orders for the monitors on the jump point. Technically they weren’t under her direct command, but her orders gave her jurisdiction over military assets in this system, and if she knew the commanders and crews of the monitors, they’d jump at getting a chance to blow some Dregluk away.
The message was sent to the monitors seconds later, and sure enough the monitors began moving away from the jump point with commendable alacrity and zero complaints or prevarications soon thereafter.
Three hours later two things became abundantly clear. First, the Dregluk were steadily pulling away from the monitors, and it would only get worse as the angle the human force had on them decreased. The monitors, with their top speed of 720 km/s, would never be able to force the Dregluk into range. Second, in the last hour their plot of the Dregluk ship’s course had been refined. They were not headed for Bastion in the inner system as she had thought. They were headed for Colony Transport-031, a civilian transport that had ignored her shelter in-place orders for the system and had departed Bastion bound for the jump point.
“Message to the monitors: They are to return to the jump point.” Admiral Wallace closed the comm channel without waiting for an acknowledgement and leaned over the holographic plot. Once again, her hand slipped into her pocket and began rubbing the picture she kept there as she considered the Dregluk force. She wanted those Dregluk ships. Badly. Her eyes strayed to the colony transport coming out of the inner system. Fortunately, it had dropped off its colonists, but there were still 200 crewers on that ship. Her mission, her sworn duty, was to protect those humans from Dregluk depredations.
She suddenly stopped pacing as she realized her hand was in her pocket yet again. Her mind in turmoil, she slowly pulled her hand out of her pocket, along with the picture it so obstinately clutched. She reluctantly looked down at the picture she had so assiduously avoided for so long. Her heart clutched as she saw Michael and the twins depicted so heartbreakingly clearly in the image. They had been gone for years now, but it seemed like the wound in her heart never really healed. Her heart broke all over again as she looked into Michael’s eyes. He had been so wise and caring, so different from her. And the twins, Sara and Zoe, five years old and so full of promise and energy. And unfettered joy that they managed to infect her with every time she was around them. Again, so unlike her. Her hand closed over the image, blocking it from view as her heart hardened. Once again, her gaze settled on the red icons depicting the Dregluk ships. The Dregluk had taken them from her, carelessly wiping them from the universe without a thought or care. The Dregluk missile had vaporized the entire area around her old neighborhood. Nothing was left to bury, or to say goodbye to. Nothing of her old life survived, except this one image that she had always kept with her to remind her of the good things in her life. She had sworn then that the Dregluk would pay, and pay, and pay. She wanted those Dregluk ships, but if she went in after them there would be casualties. There were reserves waiting on the far side of the jump point to the Solar System, and she could call them forward, but if she lost them, or suffered serious losses in her attack, all to assuage the emptiness inside her, then…her thoughts derailed at that point. If she ever lost her position, her ability to strike back, there would be nothing left for her. Nothing at all.
Her eyes shifted again to the colony transport coming out of the inner system. The colony transport that she was duty-bound to protect. A slow grin spread across her face. If she let the Dregluk go they would destroy that transport, as sure as she stood here looking at the plot. She stabbed the comms button on the plot table, and a window to the command ship’s communication’s officer appeared in front of her.
“Yes, Admiral?”
“Dispatch my situation report to the Admiralty via the picket ship at the jump point and inform them that I am calling forward the reserves at the jump point. We will advance and engage the enemy before they can attack the colony transport. Once that is off, send off my orders for the reserve group at the jump point.”
“Yes, ma’am.” The window closed as Admiral Wallace entered her orders for the reserve group. She would have Dregluk blood, but who could say whether it was the blood she wanted, or to save the crew of the transport? Who, that is, aside from her?
The orders were sent off and Admiral Wallace settled in to wait. Admiral Rear Admiral Chan, commanding the reserve group on the Solar System side of the jump point, was junior to her, but also wasn’t technically within her remit to draw upon the military resources of the Washington system as they were in the Solar System. And, while his orders did give him some leeway, his orders were clear that his primary responsibility was to guard the jump point against any incursion. That would give him an out, if he wanted one. She knew Admiral Chan though, and she doubted he would hesitate to engage the Dregluk. The Admiralty didn’t put the faint of heart in command of its Hunter-Killers, or HuK’s as they had become known, and she was pretty sure that Chan would jump at the chance to go toe-to-toe with the Dregluk. Although it was a minor thing in the scheme of things, she was glad that the Admiralty had changed the designation of Chan’s ships from the old Federation class designation of Patrol Cruisers to the new HuK designation. Chan’s ships were designed for one thing, and that was to go in close to Dregluk ships and pick them apart, not patrolling.
Sure enough, within minutes of the picket ship jumping through to the Solar System, Admiral Chan’s Attack Group #1 jumped into the Washington System, followed by the twenty-two interceptors of the 1st and 3rd Interceptor Groups. Two and a half minutes later a comm window from Admiral Chan appeared on her pane. “Admiral Wallace! I thought you’d never let us get in on the fun. I have detached the Delhi and we are headed towards your position at maximum speed. We’ll be there in just over an hour and a half. Then we can go Dregluk hunting.” The window closed and Admiral Wallace smiled. The hunt was on. She thought briefly of ordering Chan to bring his anti-missile frigate, but then decided to let him make the decision. His HuK’s and the interceptors were almost 50% faster than the anti-missile frigate, and he clearly wanted to get into action as fast as possible. She could sympathize.
Twenty-three hours later…
The combined human task force was now 175 mkm’s from the Dregluk force, which was maneuvering to maintain its position between the human ships and the inner system. Admiral Wallace tried to lure the Dregluk into following her force back to the jump point and the monitors waiting there, but the Dregluk refused to take the bait and merely returned to their chase of the colony transport coming out of the inner system. When it became clear that the Dregluk were not going to pursue her force, Admiral Wallace ordered her task force to pursue the Dregluk at their maximum task force speed. As her flagship is the slowest ship in the force, they are limited to 5,806 km/s. That gives them an overtake speed of only 1,200 km/s, but fortunately, given the Dregluk determination to intercept the colony transport, they were able to cut across the Dregluk course and close faster than they would have otherwise. They will be able to intercept well short of the colony transport.
Seven hours later…
The flagship’s AI announced “Status change” and Admiral Wallace immediately looked at the Dregluk force. Sure enough they were coming about, closing with her task force. They were now 39 mkm’s apart, and that range would drop quickly now that the two groups of ships were heading towards each other.
Several hours later she was still standing over the plot, watching as the two groups of ships steadily moved towards each other. She and Admiral Chan had spent copious amounts of time discussing the likely armaments of the Dregluk ships ahead of them, and the poor quality of information available from Fleet Intelligence. Of course, ever since the Bludgeon ASM’s became available no one had been particularly worried about the armament of the Dregluk ships, as the Bludgeon outranged them by a significant margin. Now, though, they were charging into the teeth of a Dregluk force, and while her force both outnumbered and out-massed the enemy, the Dregluk were difficult opponents and never seemed to give up. The opposing force had obviously expended its long-range missiles, but equally obviously had something up its sleeve, or it would have withdrawn with the battleship. All of their questions and plotting was resolved when alarms began ringing in the flag bridge and a stream of red icons representing Dregluk missiles appeared on the plot. The two forces were now 33 mkm’s apart and closing, and the plot was speckled with incoming missile icons. The plot AI sifted through information being refined by the ship’s CIC and quickly put up ID tags on the incoming missiles. The Dregluk missiles were size 1, and were in groups of forty-five to forty-nine missiles approaching at 28,000 km/s. Even as Admiral Wallace watched the plot the Yamato began expelling Aegis V AMM’s along with the rest of her consorts. The Dregluk missiles were obviously AMM’s being used in offensive mode, and were much slower than the Aegis V’s rushing out to meet them, so her defensive missiles would likely perform well against the Dregluk missiles. Admiral Wallace frowned as she watched the plot. There were a lot of incoming missiles, and, as she checked the icons for her missile-defense frigates, she realized that they likely weren’t going to have enough Aegis V’s. Fortunately, they had the meson cannons of the Interceptor Groups and the lasers of the HuK’s to intercept anything that got through the AM’s, but this was likely going to get dicey.
After watching the plot for a few seconds Admiral Wallace keyed open a comms window on the plot table in front of her. The window opened to show the Yamato’s bridge and Captain Harrison. As was typical for her flagship, the bridge was calm and under control as the captain and crew dealt with the incoming missile threat. After a few seconds Captain Harrison turned to the comm pickup. “Yes, Admiral?”
“Captain, these are obviously anti-missile missiles, and may have limited range. Bring the fleet about and set a course directly away from the incoming missile stream. Let’s see if we can run them out of fuel.”
Captain Harrison gave a brief smile. “Yes, ma’am. Its worth a shot.”
She waved the window closed and returned her attention to the plot. The Aegis V’s had begun their interceptions, and were achieving a 73% kill ratio, but even more incoming missile salvoes had appeared. She could see the munitions status indicators for her frigates dropping as she watched. Tension began to grow on the flag bridge and across the fleet.
The first AMM frigate to run out of missiles was the Seoul, the Yamato’s escort, fifty seconds into the engagement. Eighty-five seconds later the two AMM frigates of the 2nd Frigate Group ran out of missiles as well, leaving only the four Lake class ASM frigate with AMM’s left. Many Dregluk missiles had been destroyed during this time, and there had been no leakers, but Admiral Wallace knew that that was about to change. She opened a channel to the entire task force. “This is Admiral Wallace. In a few minutes we will run out of defensive missiles. It appears that the Dregluk have more missiles than we do.” She paused, letting that sink in. “That is something that we are used to. We’re Human! The Dregluk have been firing missiles at us for years and here we are! Taking the war to them. We’ve already destroyed most their fleet here in the Washington system. Now there are just a few ships left, and they are desperately trying to prevent us from getting to them. It isn’t going to work! We’ve lived through every bombardment the Dregluk have thrown at us, and they can’t stop us. We will weather this storm, and then we will bring the storm to them. Then it will be their turn, and they will regret ever starting this war, because we will make them pay. They tried to kill us, but they failed. When we bring the war home to them, we will not fail! First, we survive, then we destroy them! Forever!” She closed the channel, but before she did, she could hear cheering coming from every ship in the task force.
Less than two minutes later the AMM’s ran out. Even before the last AMM left its launcher some Dregluk missiles had been getting through to the fleet, but so far, every one had been destroyed by massed meson and laser fire.
The last AMM was launched from the frigate Huron, and after that missile defense was going to be in the hands of the lasers of the HuK’s and the meson cannons of the interceptors. There were still twenty Aegis V AMM’s in flight towards the approaching Dregluk missiles, but there were four hundred and forty incoming Dregluk missiles on the plot, and almost surely more beyond them that had yet to appear.
The first few salvoes of Dregluk missiles that approached the task force were small, composed of leakers that had avoided the Aegis V’s launched earlier. The numbers soon grew, though, and the human ships began taking hits. The Yamato was the first, suffering several hits to her shields, but she was far from the last. Soon after full salvoes each composed of forty-nine Dregluk AMM’s were approaching the task force, unreduced by defensive AMM fire. To oppose these salvoes the human task force had forty-two meson cannons, three 250mm spinal lasers, six 200 mm lasers, and three gauss cannon turrets.
Admiral Wallace and her flag bridge crew watched as the first full salvo of Dregluk missiles approached. As the icons merged with the fleet there was a flurry of defensive fire, but before they could evaluate the effectiveness of the fire the Dregluk missiles hit the Huron, one of the AMM frigates. The defensive fire destroyed about one third of the incoming missiles, an interception ratio that would remain consistent throughout the battle. The Dregluk missile salvoes were arriving every ten seconds or so, and for the next several minutes the entire battle turned into a blur of defensive fire, missile impacts, and the wailing of alarms from damaged ships.
Admiral Wallace frowned as the next three salvoes savaged the AMM frigate Chongqing’s armor, with the last salvo penetrating her armor and causing interior damage, including knocking out an engine. As the damaged frigate began falling behind the main force, Admiral Wallace opened her mouth to order the fleet to match the speed of the damaged frigate, but then closed her mouth and settled back in her chair. She had to consider what was best for the entire task force, and for maintaining as much of her offensive power as possible. The Chongqing was on its own.
The HuK Assistance was next, but the Dregluk AMM’s merely managed to reduce her shielding. The HuK’s had the strongest shielding in her task force, and Wallace felt at least a little relief that the missiles were targeting her ships that were best able to deal with it. That relief was short-lived, though, as the next missile salvoes continued to target the HuK and knocked down her shields. The three HuK’s were her strongest offensive ships at this point, and if they were damaged, or destroyed, her offensive strength would be severely curtailed. She would be dependent on the Interceptors, and the thin-skinned small ships were very vulnerable to this kind of bombardment. Her attention returned to the plot, to see that the bombardment of the Assistance continued. The HuK’s armor was thinner than the other ships, and her armor was soon penetrated in several places. Fortunately, Dregluk targeting shifted before any further damage was done to the Assistance. After targeting one of the ASM frigates, the Dregluk targeting returned to the Assistance, and this time she suffered internal damage that included the loss of an engine. Fortunately, the HuK’s were fast enough that even with an engine out she could still keep up with the rest of the task force.
Dregluk targeting then shifted to the Yamato. Captain Harrison’s voice came across the intercom system: “All crew brace. Damage control teams prepare for breaches!” The first salvo knocked down the Yamato’s shields with a crash, and then, as the next several salvoes hit the big ship, the crew could hear an increasing patter as the small missiles ate away at her defensive armor.
Through this Admiral Wallace sat silently, a confident smile on her face. Inside she was concerned, wondering if her drive for vengeance had led her to destruction, instead, but outwardly she appeared as if everything was proceeding according to her plan. The ship shuddered once, and then again, as breaches appeared in her armor, but then then the patter of missiles hitting her armor fell away as the Dregluk targeting shifted. The Yamato had survived. Throughout the attack Admiral Wallace had appeared supremely confident, and word spread throughout the fleet of the Admiral’s fearlessness and obvious belief that they would weather the attack.
Having weathered the storm, Admiral Wallace checked the status indicators for the task force ships. Her flagship’ shields were down and her armor was greatly reduced and holed in several places. Of the three HuK’s, the Assistance and the Intrepid both have had their shields reduced to around 16%, and the Assistance has taken serious armor damage and some internal damage. Of the three anti-missile frigates, the Chongqing has taken heavy internal damage and fallen behind, while the Cairo and the Seoul have both taken heavy armor damage. The four anti-ship frigates are in a better position, so far, with only the Huron taking moderate armor damage. None of the Interceptors have been targeted, so far.
In the meantime, the Dregluk missiles continued to pelt the human force. As Admiral Wallace was determining the task force’s status, the HuK Intrepid came under fire, penetrating her shields and then taking out a lot of her armor. After several armor breaches the HuK lost a crew quarters, but she was still in the fight. The next several minutes became a blur for most of the task force’s personnel as the Dregluk missiles seemingly randomly shifted between ships, sometimes breaching armor only to shift away for one salvo only to suddenly shift back when the crew thought they were safe.
The last several salvoes were focused on Interceptors, which had relatively thin armor. The very last salvo savages an interceptor, leaving it drifting in space and barely functional. Admiral Wallace looked at the time on her display. The last salvo hit at 2000 hours on the 27th. They had survived.
Before speaking with her commanders, Admiral Wallace called up a display showing the status of her task force:
Yamato (Assault Cruiser) – Heavy armor damage, two breaches.
Assistance (HuK) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, significant internal damage including loss of an engine.
Endeavour (HuK) - Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, significant internal damage including loss of three engines (50%).
Intrepid (HuK) - Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, internal damage.
Cairo (AM frigate) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, light internal damage.
Chongqing (AM frigate) – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, moderate internal damage, including an engine.
Seoul (AM Frigate) – – Heavy armor damage, multiple breaches, light internal damage.
Eire (ASM Frigate) – No damage
Huron (ASM Frigate) – Minor armor damage.
Michigan (ASM Frigate) – No damage.
Ontario (ASM Frigate) – Heavy armor damage.
Falcon-002 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 16%.
Falcon-003 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 50%.
Falcon-006 (Interceptor) – heavy damage, speed reduced by 50%
Falcon-008 (Interceptor) – Heavy damage, speed reduced by 16%.
Falcon-033 (Interceptor) – Heavy damage, speed reduced to 0. Engineering destroyed, no chance to repair.
17xInterceptors – Undamaged
Next, she focused on the icons for the Dregluk force, expecting to see them heading away now that they had expended the last of their AMM’s. She frowned when she realized that they were still heading towards her task force. After considering her options, she made her decision. Punching in the codes, she called up a conference of her ship commanders.
“We’ve survived. But, some of our ships are damaged and slowed, and the enemy is still approaching, indicating that there is likely at least one more missile attack on the way. Therefore, this is what we are going to do. I’m dividing the task force into three groups. The main group will be under my command, and will consist of the Yamato, the Assistance, and the Intrepid, escorted by the seventeen undamaged Interceptors. I’m putting the second group under you, Alfie. You will have your ship, the Endeavor, along with the Chongqing and the two most heavily damaged interceptors. You will set out at your best speed, which should be around 4,000 km/s, for the jump point. The third group will consist of all of the ASM frigates, the two least damaged AM frigates - the Cairo and the Seoul, and the three damaged Interceptors capable of 6,000 km/s speed. This force will be under Commander Green aboard the Cairo. You also will head for the jump point at your best speed. Meanwhile, the main force will move in between your forces and the Dregluk ships and attempt to intercept any missiles headed for your groups. Interceptor-033, there is nothing we can do for you right now. I’ve already sent a message for a fleet tug to come assist with your recovery, but you have my permission to abandon ship if any Dregluk missiles are detected headed towards you. Any questions?” Admiral Wallace settled back into her chair. This was a desperation move, and they all knew it. She would try, but given the limited range of their meson cannons it was unlikely that her force would be able to intercept any of the missiles headed for the other groups. What she had left unsaid was that their only real hope of avoiding the next attack was for the two groups of damaged ships to outrun the suspected incoming missiles and force them to expend their fuel. Given that the Dregluk were attacking with AMM’s there was at least a chance that they could do it, but it hadn’t worked so far. What Admiral Wallace had also left unsaid was her hope that her flagship, as the largest ship in the task force, would draw Dregluk missile fire away from the other ships.
The Captains and Commanders on the conference all looked at each other and shook their heads, remaining silent. Admiral Wallace’s heart swelled with pride. Her officers were the result of nearly a decade of war against a brutal enemy that had almost destroyed their home. They would not waiver. “Very good. Let’s get to it.” She waived the comm window closed, but immediately opened a window to Captain Harrison. “Captain, get the other ships in our group organized. We’ll continue heading away from the Dregluk, but will fall back to interpose ourselves between the Dregluk and the other groups. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am. We’ll do it.” She waived the window closed and turned back to the plot. Her task force had shaken itself out, and separated into four groups. Two of the groups, containing the most damaged ships and the missile ships with empty magazines, were headed away at 4,000 and 6,000 km/s respectively. One group, composed of the lone Interceptor-033, sat dead in space as the other groups moved away. The last group, her force, fell behind the other two as it moved at 3,750 km/s to interpose itself between the two other groups and the Dregluk.
The minutes passed stressfully, as the four groups of ships became separated by more and more space. Everyone on board all of the ships were on the edges of their seats waiting for more missiles to appear on their sensors, and finally it happened, nine minutes after they separated. It soon became clear, though, that this attack would be lighter than the previous attack. The first incoming salvo was composed of forty-nine missiles, just like the previous attack, but all of the subsequent salvoes were smaller, and as more salvoes appeared on the sensors it became clear that this was the last gasp of the Dregluk ships as they emptied their magazines. The lead salvoes, to Admiral Wallace’s relief, were targeted on her main group, which had the most anti-missile defenses.
The first salvo reached Admiral Wallace’s group at 2011 hours, and by then several salvoes had been detected headed towards the two groups of damaged ships as well. The first, and largest salvo, targeted an Interceptor in Admiral Wallace’s group and severely damaged it. The second salvo, composed of twenty-one missiles, also targeted an interceptor, but the task force’s meson and laser cannons reduced the salvo by half and the interceptor merely suffered armor damage. The even smaller salvoes following after either failed to penetrate the defensive fire or did minimal damage if they did penetrate.
The missile salvoes closing on the damaged group did better. Although they were small, the damaged group had little in the way of defenses. The leading salvoes were targeted on the ASM frigate Michigan, and her armor was steadily worn away. The Dregluk had it in for the ASM frigate as wave after wave of missiles swept in on the Michigan, wearing away her armor, then causing hull breaches, then finally internal damage. As the rest of the task force watches the unfortunate ship is hit again and again. The only thing that saves her is the fact that each successive salvo of missiles is smaller and smaller. Finally, as the ship is reduced in speed and limping along with heavy internal damage, the last several salvoes capriciously shift targets and hit the Eire, slightly damaging her armor. The attack is over.
Admiral Wallace sagged in relief as the last incoming missile hit the Eire, sparing the poor Michigan. She gambled and lost by dividing her force. Her most damaged units had been left defenseless, while her least damaged units also had the best protection. That could have been disastrous, but fortunately, due to the last gasp nature of the recent Dregluk attack, they had weathered it with only a little more damage.
Looking up from her self-recriminations, Admiral Wallace saw that the Dregluk ships were now retreating away from her force, towards their jump point. Based on all previous behavior, that meant that they had expended all of their missiles and were retiring. After checking the status indicators again, she came to a decision. She opened the conference window to all of the commanders again, and once they were all present, she smiled at them.
“It’s our turn, ladies and gentlemen! The Dregluk are retreating and I believe that they have expended their missiles. I’m going to detach the fourteen undamaged interceptors, along with the Intrepid, to make an attack on those Dregluk ships before they can retreat. Captain Tyler, is your ship up to it?”
Commander Tyler smiled, the expression spreading across her face slowly. “We are ready, Admiral. We have minor internal damage only, and five casualties. All weapons are fully functional, as are the engines. We’ll take care of them for you.”
“Very good. Set out at your best speed immediately.” Fifteen of the inset windows for Commander Tyler and the commanders of the intact Interceptors winked out, and Admiral Wallace turned to the next matter. “Captain Gould, what is the status of the Michigan?”
Commander Gould, the CO of the Michigan, was normally combative and had a well-deserved reputation for rudeness. In addition to that she was an aggressive combat commander who had been awarded the Victory Medal, and her ship was directly responsible for the destruction of several large Dregluk warships. Now, though, she had a large gash down one side of her face, and her bridge behind her was obviously damaged. “We’ve suffered serious internal damage, and most of my armor is gone. Speed is reduced by 50%, and we’ve lost several launchers, not that that matters given my empty magazines.” She paused and looked down at her displays for a second and she seemed to sag a bit, before straightening and looking back at the pickup. “We have twenty-four casualties, eighteen of them fatal.”
The other commanders winced. That was about 20% of her crew, dead or seriously wounded. Admiral Wallace’s face hardened. “Very well. All other ships will fall in around the Michigan, and we’ll set our course for the jump point at our best speed. The task force will remain together.” The conference window closed as the various ship commanders moved to comply, and to deal with the damage that their ships had suffered.
As the damaged ships began limping back towards the jump point, Admiral Wallace ordered the AM frigate Delhi, sitting at the jump point where it had been waiting since it had been detached from the 1st Attack Group as it made its high-speed run to join her force, to move forward and join her group. Although it was unlikely that the three Dregluk ships had any more missiles, and there were no other Dregluk ships in the system, Admiral Wallace was disinclined to take any more risks with her damaged ships. The Delhi had a full load of Aegis V’s, and would provide at least some coverage once she joined the task force.
The detached attack force roared towards the fleeing Dregluk ships at the Intrepid’s maximum speed of 8,181 km/s, nearly twice the speed of the retreating Dregluk force. Two hours and fifteen minutes later, with the damaged ships far astern and limping back to the jump point, the pursuit force had closed to laser range of the three Dregluk ships. The Dregluk ships, two destroyers and a lone cruiser, are separated into two groups, with the destroyers positioned in between the human ships and the cruiser, with 1.4 mkm’s separating them. Commander Tyler ordered the interceptors to pursue the cruiser, while his Hunter-Killer concentrated on the destroyers. Laser fire from the Intrepid began scoring one of the DD’s armor as the Interceptors raced ahead, eager to come to grips with the big Dregluk cruiser. The Dregluk ships stolidly continued on towards the jump point, ignoring the human ships as they bored in.
The Intrepid spat laser fire at the destroyers as it closed, and by the time it had closed to point blank range the HuK’s big spinal laser had punched through one of the DD’s armor, causing a spurt of atmosphere and debris. After another round of laser fire, the DD fell out of formation with its sister ship and began falling behind. The Interceptor group, which had fallen behind while it got itself organized for the pursuit, roared past the Dregluk destroyer group as the Intrepid’s spinal laser punched a hole all the way through the faltering Dregluk ship and it exploded. The Intrepid then turned her attentions on the last DD, which came apart in a flash of fire after a minute of punishment from the HuK’s lasers.
Five minutes after the destruction of the destroyers, the Interceptors caught up with the Dregluk cruiser, which had been damaged earlier in the missile battle. The interceptors closed to point blank range and began cycling their meson cannons, pumping a salvo into the cruiser every five seconds. The crews of the interceptors, tense after being first forced to watch helpless as the bigger ships exchanged missile salvoes, and then even more helplessly watch as their fellow ships staggered under the Dregluk AMM barrage, now howled with glee as the big Dregluk cruiser staggered as their meson fire ate the enemy ship from the inside. After only fifteen seconds of fire the Dregluk ship came apart in a massive internal explosion. The last Dregluk ship was gone.
On March 29, 2141, at 1700 hours Admiral Wallace’s task force was reassembled on the jump point to the Solar System. Extensive repairs had been carried out by the engineers aboard most of the ships of the force, but significant damage remained. After resupplying from the Fleet Support ship standing by at the jump point, the force jumped back home.
Assault Cruiser Yamato: armor damage
HuK – Assistance: armor damage, 7 casualties
HuK Endeavor: armor damage, serious internal damage, 55 casualties
HuK Intrepid: armor damage, 5 casualties
Frigate (AM) Chongqing: armor damage, internal damage, 14 casualties
Frigate (AM) Cairo: armor damage, 1 casualty
Frigate (AM) Seoul: armor damage, internal damage, 4 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Michigan: armor damage, serious internal damage, 24 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Eire: armor damage
Frigate (ASM) Huron: armor damage
Frigate (ASM) Michigan: armor damage, serious internal damage, 24 casualties
Frigate (ASM) Ontario: armor damage
7xInterceptors: armor damage, varying amounts of internal damage, 52 casualties
1xInterceptor: crippled, awaiting tow, 12 casualties
Total casualties: 198
The first group of damaged ships arrives over Earth on the 30th, and most of them immediately move into the yards for repairs.
The Fleet is welcomed home as heroes, to massive celebrations across the planet. Opinion is sharply divided, although that is not apparent at first. The general public on Earth, Mars, and Ganymede are exuberant in their celebrations and there are large scale outpourings of support and sympathy for the families of the fallen heroes. On the Lunar Colony the reaction is muted. There, the general population finds Admiral Wallace’s bloodthirstiness and single-minded focus on destroying the Dregluk force at any cost distasteful and disturbing, and their representatives in the Senate view the Admiral’s actions as a threat to their Peace Initiative. For over a year the Lunar Senators have been putting together a coalition to oppose the War Faction and pushing for a mission to talk to the Dregluk, instead of shooting at them. They have faced a steep uphill battle, though, and dramatic battles such as Admiral Wallace’s desperate fight in Washington are not helping their cause.
In the Senate, the dominant War Faction wholeheartedly supports Admiral Wallace and their propaganda machine is already turning her into a hero. Behind closed doors the faction welcomes the battle and even the casualties as proof that they are right and that war with the Dregluk is inevitable and will continue to the bitter end. The Fiscal Responsibility Faction, meanwhile, is uncomfortable with the damage done to the fleet, and the fact that Admiral Wallace almost lost numerous ships that were paid for with blood, sweat, and tears by the tireless workers of Mars and Earth. They also fear the War Faction gaining even more power. Neither the War Faction or the Fiscal Responsibility Faction care or understand about Admiral Wallace’s strategies, tactics, or reasons for doing what she did, they merely care about how this event will affect their positions and how they can use it. The Conservative Faction, as usual, is divided in its reaction to this battle, with some backing the War Faction and their adulation of Admiral Wallace and her crews, and others calling Admiral Wallace’s judgement into question, albeit quietly given the public’s nearly unanimous support of the admiral.
The Admiralty is divided as well. The more aggressive officers, almost uniformly young up-and-comers, almost unanimously support the Admiral’s aggressive action. This is not surprising as they typically support the most aggressive response to the Dregluk possible. Many of those in the senior ranks are less supportive of the Admiral, and question the risks that she took in the recent engagement. Admiral Law and Consul Foster are publicly supportive of Admiral Wallace, but privately are concerned about her aggressive tendencies. The public’s adulation and the support of the War Faction in the Senate will make it difficult for them to do anything about it at this time. Both Law and Foster support a more moderate and reasoned approach to the Dregluk, and support finding an eventual path to peace with the aliens, and oppose feeding the public’s apparent need for aggression is making it increasingly difficult to find a path to that end.
Perhaps the most significant result of the aftermath of the battle is the founding of the Lunar Separatist Movement days after the fleet returns.
-
April 3, 2141
The Falcon class Interceptor-003 arrives under tow over Earth to a resounding celebration. The remaining crew is welcomed home and all are awarded medals and citations.
New Unit: Raptor Class Area Denial Unit:
The Area Denial Unit was a result of the recent battle in the Washington system. The fortress complex on Bastion has sensors capable of detecting enemy units past one billion kilometers, but its long-range missiles can only reach out to 400 mkm’s. A unit like the Area Denial Unit will be able to extend the reach of the fortress complex significantly. Unfortunately, this unit will face considerable delays in construction. The Republic currently has no fighter construction factories, and is facing a severe worker shortage on Earth. This worker shortage has caused the Republic to divert its construction capacity towards converting mines to automated mines to reduce demand on the existing workers, but this is just a stop gap measure, as people continue to be transferred to Mars and the population continues to suffer from radiation sickness.
Rear Admiral Bradshaw is seriously ill. The Admiralty announces that the hero of the Defense of Earth will be recovering from a recent bout of influenza at the Naval Hospital in Quito.
April 8, 2141
The Sledgehammer JPAM Developed for Essex class Assault Cruisers. This missile is a variant of the Bludgeon IV, with the range reduced to 7.6 mkm’s. In exchange, the missile’s armor is doubled and the warhead size is increase by over 50%. This missile is intended for jump point assault actions.
Sledgehammer Jump-Point Assault Missile Stats:
Size: 16
Speed: 46,9000 km/s
Range: 7.6 mkm’s
Warhead: 39
Active Sensor: Yes
ECM: 2
Armor: 2
The Admiralty Design Bureau finalizes the design for the Brooklyn(F) fast missile defense frigate. This design is a variant of the Brooklyn r5 anti-missile frigate, with new engines based on the latest magnetic confinement fusion technology. The design also sacrifices the original version’s CIWS, but has a range more than two and a half times that of the previous AM frigate designs. In addition, reacting to the recent battle in the Washington system, this class has increased magazine space. This class is intended to escort fast forces, such as the Interceptor groups, and the HuK’s. Unfortunately, there are no yards available currently to begin construction, so it will have to wait for yard space to be freed up.
April 9, 2141
A Buzzard class DD jumps into the Washington system. A missile group is sent to the jump point to support the monitors stationed there, and the defenses of Bastion are prepared.
April 12, 2141
Thirty Bludgeon III ASM’s launched by units from the 1st Missile Boat wipe the Buzzard class DD from space. The 1st returns to the Solar System.
May 10, 2141
A Goliath class BB jumps into the Washington system. The 1st Missile Group is dispatched to the jump point again.
May 12, 2141
The Dregluk Goliath is not headed in-system, or directly towards the jump point to the Solar System. Instead, it appears to be headed towards the wrecks of several Banshee class destroyers floating approximately 100 mkm’s outside the range of the monitors on the jump point.
May 13, 2141
The Goliath has come to a halt 827 mkm’s from the jump point. Lt. Commander Glover, CO of the 1st Missile Group, sends word back to the Admiralty of the strange behavior of the Dregluk ship. The Admiralty dispatches Admiral Wallace aboard the newly repaired Yamato, to lead the 1st Long Range Missile Group against the Dregluk battleship.
May 15, 2141, 710 hours
Admiral Wallace’s force was now within range of its Bludgeon III missiles, and the Dregluk battleship had turned towards them and was closing. Admiral Wallace gave the order, and shortly thereafter missiles roared away from her flagship and three of the nearby missile boats. Three hours later the missiles wiped the Dregluk taint from the universe. Admiral Wallace orders her ships to return home.
May 22, 2141
Salvage units complete the salvage of the unknown wreck in the Philadelphia system. Unfortunately, no ship’s systems are recovered, only resources. There is nothing to hint at the ship’s origin, unfortunately.
June 22, 2141
The first two units of the Far Seer(S) scout class have been launched from the orbital yards. One of the two immediately sets out to join the picket ship in the Los Angeles system.
June 27, 2141
Far Seer-01 has transited into the Los Angeles System. The scout can detect Dregluk BB’s 1.8 billion kilometers out, and rather than wait at the jump point it will move in-system to a point nearly equidistant between the system’s three jump points. This way it will be able to detect anything moving between any of the jump points and warn the picket ship and the monitor waiting at the jump point to the Solar System.
August 2, 2141
The first three of the Republic’s new geo-survey ships are launched. These ships are equipped with the Republic’s best stealth technology, meaning that their thermal profile is 25% that of any other ship their size, and their cross section is that of a much smaller ship. These ships are dispatched to the formerly Obscura dominated New York system, where they will determine the suitability of the system for exploitation.
August 11,2 141
The salvage effort of the Obscura wrecks in Philadelphia is complete and the salvage ships have offloaded their salvaged systems and data to Earth. The salvage effort has proved to be extremely valuable. Data was recovered that advanced research on thermal sensors, ECM, and magazine feed systems. In addition, study of the systems returned to Earth has advanced research in EM sensors, ECM and ECCM, and laser technology.
August 16, 2141
The Mars emerges from the orbital yards nearly completely remade and is christened as the flagship of the fleet.
September 9, 2141
The FSV-001 is launched from the Martian yards. The FSV-001 has been refitted to FSV r2 standards, and is the first of the fleet’s new-technology support ships.
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In the aftermath of the recent Battle of the Washington System, Admiral Wallace was most adamant that a more complete analysis of Dregluk ship class capabilities be made available to task force commanders. Fleet Intelligence had been remiss in this area, largely because the fleet was so consistently destroying the Dregluk warships from long range.
Naval Intelligence set to this task with a will, combining information from every battle that had been fought to date with all salvage information from all of the Dregluk hulks recovered to date.
Dregluk Ship Class Breakdown
Goliath class Battleship
Mass: 28,650 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 9
Armament:
16xSize 5 missile launchers
CIWS
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 tons at 486 mkm’s
*Equipped with jump drive
Colossus class Battleship
Mass: 28,650 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 9
Armament:
22xParticle Beam Emplacements
CIWS
Sensors:
Capable of detecting 3,500 ton ships at 485 mkm’s and 1,000 ton ships at 142 mkm’s
Mammoth class Battleship
Mass: 28,650 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 8
Armament:
23xSize 5 missile launcher
CIWS
Extensive magazine capacity
Sensors:
Capable of detecting 3,500 ton ships at 485 mkm’s and 1,000 ton ships at 142 mkm’s
Vrock class Cruiser
Mass: 19,100 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s (Jump Capacity)
Armor: 8
Armament:
13xSize 3 missile launcher
CIWS
Significant magazine capacity
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 ton ships at 485 mkm’s
*Has jump drive
Demon class Cruiser
Mass: 19,100 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 8
Armament:
21xSize 3 missile launcher
CIWS
Extensive magazine capacity
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 ton ships at 485 mkm’s and 1,000 ton ships at 142 mkm’s
Fiend class Cruiser
Mass: 19,100 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 6
Armament:
32xSize 1 missile launcher
Extensive magazine capacity
Sensors: AM sensors only, range 47.5 mkm’s
Banshee class Cruiser
Mass: 19,100 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 6
Armament:
25xSize 1 missile launcher
Extensive magazine capacity
Sensors: AM sensors only, range 47.5 mkm’s
*Jump drive
Vulture class Destroyer
Mass: 9,500 tons
Speed: 4,631 km/s
Armor: 7
Armament:
12xSize 3 missile launcher
Significant magazine capacity
Sensors: Capable of detecting 1,000 ton units at 141.7 mkm’s
Buzzard Class Destroyer
Mass: 9,550 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 9
Armament:
6xParticle Beam Emplacements
CIWS
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,550 ton units at 265 mkm’s
Gull class Destroyer
Mass: 9,550 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 7
Armament:
6xSize 3 missile launchers
CIWS
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 ton units at 44.2 mkm’s and detecting 200 ton units at range 21.1 mkm’s
Raven class Destroyer
Mass: 9,550 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 6
Armament:
12xSize 1 missile launchers
Significant magazine capacity
Sensors: AM sensors only, range 47.5 mkm’s
Crow class Destroyer
Mass: 9,550 tons
Speed: 4,607 km/s
Armor: 6
Armament:
12xSize 3 missile launchers
Significant magazine capacity
CIWS
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 ton units at 44.2 mkm’s and detecting 200 ton units at range 21.1 mkm’s
Harpy class Destroyer
Mass: 9,500 tons
Speed: 4,631 km/s
Armor: 7
Armament:
12xSize 3 missile launchers
Significant magazine capacity
Sensors: Capable of detecting 3,500 ton ships at range 265 mkm’s
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September 14, 2141
Admiral Law orders the initiation of Operation Secure Washington. This fleet operation will utilize the bulk of the fleet, and will finally secure the Washington system for continued Republic operations. The massive fleet sets out for the jump point within an hour. Many of the ships are towing pods that will be deployed at strategic points in the Washington system and adjacent points to add to the security of the system.
September 15, 2141
The fleet is assembled on the Washington side of the Sol-Washington jump point, and has taken the time to refuel from the UNREP ships waiting there for them. It is time. The fleet splits into three portions. Two more-or-less equal groups head towards the jump point to the Denver system and the unexplored jump point on the far side of the system. The Dregluk have used both to enter the system, and both are to be secured. A smaller force sets out for Bastion, to serve as a reserve group for the operation. Two monitors followed each group heading towards the jump points, and a fifth monitor headed inwards towards Bastion. The first task force to arrive would be Admiral Wallace’s force, assigned to the jump point to Denver.
September 19, 2141, 0724 hours, Washington System, jump point to Denver
Admiral Wallace’s task force has assembled, and the Fleet Support ship has arrived. The ships of the task force refuel, and FSV-001 exchanges missiles with the Yamato. This is to be the first test of the Republic’s new JPAM’s, or Jump Point Assault Missiles. The JPAM is a modified Bludgeon III, with most of the endurance removed and that space devoted to a bigger warhead, larger sensor, and more armor. The resulting missile, designated the Sledgehammer, has a maximum range of 7.6 mkm’s, but if the Yamato encounters anything sitting on the jump point, they’ll be able to make them regret it.
The Yamato will lead an assault into the Denver system, conveying the anti-ship frigate Eire, the HuK’s Assistance and Endeavor, and the missile defense frigate Chongqing through the jump point. The rest of 2nd Frigate Group, the 2nd Long Range Missile Group, and the Mars will remain behind in the Washington system for now.
Admiral Wallace gives the order and the Yamato leads the other ships through the jump point. The Yamato materializes on the far side of the jump to find…nothing. The system had been probed during the Federation’s period of exploration prior to encountering the Dregluk, and everything appears unchanged, except two previously undetected jump points are marked by new Dregluk jump gates. The system is apparently empty, although admittedly the Yamato’s sensors don’t penetrate very far compared to the immensity of an average star system.
Admiral Wallace orders the Yamato back through the jump point and orders the 2nd Missile Group forward. They, along with the pods, which will be deployed on this side of the jump point, will now provide the first line of defense for the Washington system. Or they will until the monitors, which are coming up slowly from the jump point to the Solar System, can reach the jump point and take up station. Once back in the Washington system she sends her report back to the picket ship on the Sol-Washington jump point and then settles in to wait.
When Admiral Wallace’s message arrives at the jump point it is carried back to the Solar System by the picket ship stationed there, and then dispatched to the Admiralty. Once it arrives on Earth the next phase is activated. Cargo ships begin loading DSTS for a planned listening post in the Denver system, and a picket ship is dispatched to take up station on the jump point from Washington to the Denver system.
September 22, 2141, New York System
The geo-survey units assigned to evaluate the New York system make a discovery. One of the asteroids in the inner system houses an Obscura listening post. The survey ship sends an urgent message back to the picket waiting at the jump point, and it returns to the Solar System and forwards the message on to the Admiralty. In response, a troop ship with a battalion of Republic infantry sets out for the listening post.
September 24, 2141:
Ten cargo ships join Admiral Wallace’s task group on the Denver side of the Denver-Washington jump point. Once all of the cargo ships are in the system Admiral Wallace orders her cruiser group, along with the 2nd Frigate Group, to escort the cargo ships to the system primary’s fourth planet. This planet was chosen both because it has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, making it a possible colonization choice, and because both of the unexplored jump points in this system are in the inner-system. Putting the listening post on any of the other planets closer to the central star would have put it too close to the jump points it was to watch. The voyage will take seven days.
September 26, 2141, 0458 hours, Washington system
Admiral Bradshaw’s task force has gathered on the unexplored jump point in the Washington system, and his command ship, the Essex, has exchanged its long-range missiles for JPAM’s. Admiral Bradshaw orders his ship to lead the task force through the jump point.
They find themselves in a K5-V star system with a single gas giant. There is nothing else on active sensors and no other system bodies or jump points. Admiral Bradshaw finds this very puzzling. Dregluk warships had been observed entering the Washington system through this jump point on several occasions, including the force that bombarded Earth the first time. But yet, there were no other jump gates detected, at least so far. Worse, there were no system bodies available to set up a listening post.
He ordered one of the frigates to jump back to Washington and bring the rest of the task force forward, and attached a message to be sent back to the admiralty. The Admiralty will eventually decide to designate this system as Detroit.
September 29, 2141
The 2nd Republic Infantry Battalion lands on Asteroid #69 in the New York system. They immediately begin securing their landing area and scouting out the Obscura installation. There is no immediate resistance.
By the 1st of October the 2nd Battalion has secured the DSTS left there by the Obscura. While the battalion begins boarding its transport a cargo ship begins loading the DSTS for transfer to Earth.
October 1, 2141:
Admiral Wallace’s task force is 232 mkm’s from the Denver system’s fourth planet when the Yamato’s sensors detected a Dregluk Crow class DD in-system of their location, headed towards the jump point to the Washington system. Based on the destroyer’s course it originated at the system’s second jump point, located between the system’s third and fourth planets. Admiral Wallace’s immediate impulse is to detach her warships from the cargo group and attack the destroyer, but after some consideration she realizes that she cannot leave the cargo ships uncovered. Either the Dregluk ship will come for her force or continue on towards the jump point, but either way it will be dealt with.
As the human task force continues towards the fourth planet, they watch the Dregluk ship continue on towards the jump point towards the Washington system. As the Dregluk ship’s sensors aren’t active it is possible that it hasn’t detected the human fleet. Admiral Wallace sends a warning and an ETA back to the forces at the jump point. It will take the Dregluk ship almost six days to reach the jump point.
In the New York system, the Geo-Survey Group completes its survey of the system. In addition to the Obscura outpost, the group has identified several very good mining sites, including the system’s best colonization spot, a Type T planet with a colony cost of 1.8.
October 2, 2141, Denver System
The cargo ships escorted by Admiral Wallace’s task force begin unloading their DSTS’s on the fourth planet and almost immediately contact is re-established with the Dregluk destroyer. It is still headed out-system towards the jump point to Washington and the human forces waiting there. The newly established listening post sends a contact report to the jump point.
October 7, 2141
Eighteen Bludgeon III missiles from the LR Missile Boats stationed on the Denver-Washington jump point obliterate the Dregluk DD approaching their location. A missile group is dispatched from Bastion to replace the LR Missile Group at the jump point.
Back in the Solar System, three new Hero class Fleet Docks are launched from the Martian Yards. This class is named for Federation Militia crew members that died in the early days of the war with the Dregluk, either fighting them in space or trying to help mitigate the damage on the ground. They are part of the “New Technology Support Ship Program”, and are equipped with the latest magnetic confinement fusion engines that will allow them to keep up with the bulk of the fleet. They immediately set out for Earth, where the Adela Sachs and the Debora Hasek will load missiles and then depart to join the forward deployed forces in the Detroit and Denver systems. The Surayya Medved will remain in Earth orbit, in reserve.
With the listening post in place in the Denver system and the cargo ships on their way back to the safety of the Washington system, Admiral Wallace orders her task force to rendezvous on the jump point that the Dregluk used to enter the system.
October 17, 2141
Admiral Wallace orders her flagship to jump through the jump point to the unexplored system that the Dregluk Destroyer entered the Denver system from. The Yamato is accompanied by the Assistance and the Endeavor, and the anti-missile frigate Chongqing.
They materialize in a system with an M8-V central star. The system contains the usual assortment of planets, including two type T planets, one of which has a nitrogen-methane atmosphere and could be a target for colonization. The Yamato’s sensors detect no other jump gates in the system. Admiral Wallace orders her task group to return to the Denver system and then to proceed to the innermost jump point in the system. The new system is given the designation Miami.
October 18, 2141, Denver system
Admiral Wallace and her task force jump through the innermost jump point to discover a K4-V system with the usual assortment of planets and asteroids. The second and third planets are type T and have oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres. Both are too cold and their atmospheres are too thin, but could be good colonization targets. The system is given the designation San Diego. Admiral Wallace orders her task force back to Denver.
October 24, 2141
Having cleared the Denver system and probed the two previously unexplored jump points, Admiral Wallace orders her fleet to return to Bastion to refuel and to give the crews some R&R at the colony.
November 21, 2141
Two monitors arrive at the jump point from Washington to Detroit. After refueling from the Fleet Support Vessel waiting there, the monitors jump through to Detroit. Soon after, the forces under Rear Admiral Bradshaw jump back to the Washington system and set out for Detroit.
December 5, 2141, Denver System
The listening post in the inner system detects a Dregluk Harpy class DD entering the system through the jump point to the Miami system and sends off a contact report to the ships stationed at the jump point to the Washington system. The message is then forwarded back to Bastion and the fleet stationed there.
December 6,2 141, Philadelphia system
Once the newly deployed survey group had finished with its resource survey of New York, it returned to Earth to refuel and to give its crews some R&R. Once that was complete it was joined by one of the Navy’s new Survey Jump Scouts, and the four ships set out for the Philadelphia system. The Admiralty was particularly interested close examinations systems formerly under the control of the Obscura. The Survey Group had been in the Philadelphia system for over ten days conducting its resource survey when one of the survey ships made a momentous discovery. The innermost planet of the Philadelphia system contains an intact but apparently abandoned alien city. In addition, the planet itself is a major source of TN resources. The survey ship commander immediately dispatches word back to the Survey Scout at the jump point, and it then relays the message back to the picket ship at the jump point back to the Solar System.
December 7, 2141, Earth
The news from the Philadelphia system has electrified both the Admiralty and the Senate. The government immediately puts together a Xenology team and dispatches it to the Philadelphia system aboard a picket ship, but after that there is little agreement over the proper course of action. Some in the Senate want to put major defenses in both the San Francisco and the Philadelphia system in preparation for a major effort to exploit the alien city. Other in Senate agree with the effort, but want to focus more on colonization of Philadelphia A-1. Still others want to avoid a major effort in that direction now, as they view the effort against the Dregluk as more important, especially as the fleet has confirmed that the Dregluk are coming from beyond the Miami system. The Consul has not taken a position as of yet and it doesn’t look as if the debate will die down any time soon.
Late in the day word arrives from Philadelphia that the survey ships have found two asteroids with Obscura listening posts on them. The Senate approves a military mission to the system to seize the Obscura DSTS’s and to set up a permanent military base and listening post on the innermost planet. A troop transport begins loading the 2nd Brigade on the 8th.
December 9, 2141
The survey of the Philadelphia system is complete. Several significant deposits of resources were found, in addition to the resources on the innermost planet, making this system a likely target for exploitation. The Survey Group will move on to the Honolulu system, the last known site of Obscura infestation.
December 10, 2141
With the fleet reassembled at Bastion, the listening post established in the Denver system, and the blocking forces in place to interdict any Dregluk attempt to enter the Washington System, Admiral Law declares Operation Secure Washington to be complete. Planning for Operation Tracker goes into high gear.
December 12, 2141, Denver System
The Dregluk Harpy class destroyer ran into a salvo of eighteen Bludgeon III missiles and disintegrated. Just like the early destroyer, this one did not have its sensors activated and did not seem to be worried about its safety in this formerly secure system. With the threat eliminated, the 1st LR Missile Group jumps out, to return to Bastion and refuel and rearm.
Even as the 1st LR Missile Group jumps out, a group of ships jump into the Denver system from Washington. The group consists of the six frigates of the 1st Frigate Group, and a scout ship. The scout is bound for the Miami system, where it will lay in wait, hoping to catch sight of the next Dregluk ship that jumps into the system and thus pinpoint its entry point into the Miami system. The 1st Frigate Group will escort the scout to the jump point to the Miami system and protect it from any Dregluk ships that might appear.
December 19, 2141, Denver system
The 1st Frigate Group and the scout ship reached the jump point to the Miami system and the frigates immediately jumped through to clear the far side of the jump point. They find nothing on the far side and send back a frigate to bring the scout forward. The scout jumps through and immediately sets out for the fifth planet, where it will go to station-keeping speed. The 1st Frigate Group will remain on station until it arrives.
December 20, 2141, Miami system
The scout is in place, so the 1st Frigate Group turns back towards Bastion. It will need to refuel upon jumping back into the Washington system as it doesn’t have enough fuel to make it all the way back, but that is anticipated and there is a hero class support ship waiting at the jump point in the Washington system.
December 21, 2141
The Xenology team is dropped off on Philadelphia-A I and begins work.
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The Republic’s Government brings you another installment of “A Day in the Life”. Today, a day in the life of a Martian shipyard worker, Grigori Valentin.
Grigori Valentin was born in the Moscow Prefecture on Earth. He was very fortunate in that when the Dregluk attacked the Earth in 2134 he, and his entire family, were on vacation at a Black Sea resort when Dregluk missiles wiped out Moscow during the Bombardment. Subsequently, as a displaced person, Grigori put in for, and received, training in orbital construction techniques for himself and his family. The Valentin family was one of the first families to emigrate to Mars when the government began relocating citizens to Mars to escape the pervasive radiation on Earth, but for Grigori, relocating his family was a matter of pride and service. The Republic had already announced that it would begin relocating the military shipyards from Earth to Mars, and Grigori wanted to serve Humanity.
Grigori Valentin is a large, hard looking man, but, as he looks into the holo pickups, his face is brightened by a smile that doesn’t seem to want to go away. He is a happy man, and he wants everyone to know it. The meeting between Grigori and the Interviewer, who, as is standard for the “A Day in the Like” series, was never seen on camera, took place in Marineris Park, part of the immense Navy Yards settlement outside the Martian Capital of Valles Marineris.
Interviewer: Relocating your family to Mars meant hardships, didn’t it?
Grigori: Yes, at first. Things on Mars were difficult, in the early days. The Dregluk attack on Mars in December of 2134 virtually destroyed the government here, and it took quite a while before the Republic was able to restore order. When we arrived, in February 2136, it was very basic here. Even compared to the DP camps on Earth. On Earth, even in a Displaced Person camp, you have fresh air and plenty of food. On Mars, when we arrived, the atmosphere was too thin to breathe and everyone had to live in underground tunnels. And the food, well, it’s best left unsaid.
Interviewer: But things got better, right?
Grigori: Yes, definitely. The Mars terraforming project was a wonderful thing! We were able to move out of the tunnels into a hab complex on the surface! A real community, you know. And walking outside in your shirtsleeves, well, if you weren’t here in the early days you wouldn’t understand.
Interviewer: Is that why so many people are out right now? Even though its winter?
Grigori: Sure! We all spent so much time underground, or, for those recently from Earth, afraid of the radiation, that being outside is just so…special, you know.
Interviewer: What about your job at the yards? Do you like working there?
Grigori: Like working there? I love it! (Grigori pauses here and looks around, not furtively, but rather as if looking for support) I’m a part of a team, here, you know? Back home in Moscow, before the war, there was no real feeling of community. No real sense of mission. Everyone talks about the old days as if they were some sort of golden age, and sure, the Dregluk Bombardment was horrible, but here, we all know what needs to be done and we are doing it. Together. We are a team, and we are working together to protect and defend humanity.
Interviewer: And what are you doing? What is your job?
Grigori: (He visibly swells with pride) I am the lead foreman for Republic Yard #10. I lead a crew of eighteen. We wrangle the robots that actually do all the work at the yard. The robots, they aren’t very bright, and they need supervision. That’s where we come in. We have to assign pre-determined tasks, and then make sure that the robots are actually doing what we want them to.
Interviewer: And what is your yard working on? Ah, that is, if you can tell us.
Grigori: It’s not a secret. (Grigori again swells with pride) My yard is being converted to begin building the new Star class battleships. They say that these ships will take the war to the Dregluk, and finish it, once and for all. (Grigori’s face darkens for the first time) And that’s a good thing! I don’t care what those Lunik’s say, the Fleet can kill every one of those monsters, as far as I care! They wiped out everyone we knew, everything we had. They… (Grigori trails off, a lost look on his face)
Interviewer: What about your family? Do they work in the yards too?
Grigori: (Brightens) Yes! Almost my whole family. My wife, Valentina, she is an executive at the HQ here in Marineris. My older son works in Yard #2, making frigates for the fleet. And my daughter, well, she is part of the onsite engineering staff for yard #6, in orbit. We are all doing what we can to protect humanity and wipe out the Dregluk!
Interviewer: What about your youngest son, Alexi?
Grigori: (He straightens and smiles tremulously) My Alexi, he wanted more than working in the yards. He is training with the Republic’s new assault marines. When humanity takes back the stars, he will be there, in the lead. (He looks down) My wife is worried, but proud. We all are.
Interviewer: Thank you, Grigori. Is there anything else you’d like to say to the people on Earth?
Grigori: Yes. Come to Mars. There are jobs here, enough for everyone. And room, plenty of room. You can be a part of Humanity’s defense here, and there is no radiation. Here you can be a part of the future.
-
The United Republic of Earth
December 31, 2141
Earth:
Population: 3.279 Billion (-7.2%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 9/29
Industrial Facilities (All): 11,192 (-6%)
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -8.98 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 19% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -3.40%.
Earth is currently suffering under a significant worker shortage, caused in part by the continuing population decline from radiation and exacerbated by the Republic’s ongoing efforts to relocate as many people as possible. The entire fuel refinery industry was shut down years ago, which put off the effects of impending worker shortages, and the transfer of the military shipyards to Mars helped as well. For most of this past year the Republic has devoted the bulk of its industry on Earth to converting mines to automation to reduce demand for workers in that industry, but due to worker shortages and the ongoing need for construction capacity to be devoted to military efforts progress has been slow. Planned transfers of industrial complexes to other human populations throughout the Solar System will help with the worker shortage, but will not eliminate it, especially as population transfers continue.
Morale on Earth continues to be high as the military pushes the Dregluk farther and farther from the Earth.
Luna:
Population: 48.19 million (71% increase)
Mines: 317 (+13%)
Automated Mines: 155 (no change)
Luna’s population continues to be bolstered by people trying to escape from the increasingly fervent anti-alien attitudes of the masses on Earth and Mars. The Lunar colonies were bombarded just as hard as the Earth was, and the Lunar surface is heavily irradiated, meaning that only the most desperate to escape the increasing fervor for war and anti-alien sentiment on Earth relocate to the Moon.
The Lunar colonies currently have unassigned workers, and the Republic’s government is planning on transferring construction factories to the Moon from the Earth. These factories will be assigned to improve the colony’s defenses, and will have the additional benefit of reducing worker demand on Earth.
The Senate has grown increasingly concerned about the Lunar Colony’s steadfast objection to what they view as the growing extremism on Earth, Mars, and Ganymede. Therefore, the new defenses will be limited to meson defense bases incapable of targeting Earth, and a brigade of troops will be transferred to the Moon to ensure that the Republic retains control of the colony.
Mars:
Population: 442.34 million (+25%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 14/47 (Increase of two slipways)
Maintenance Facilities: 82
Construction Factories: 228 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 279 (all transferred to Mars this year)
Financial Centers: 30 (I gamemastered this transfer as there is currently no way to do it in the game)
The largest single employer on Mars continues to be the Republic Naval Yards, employing over fifty-five million Martian residents. The Martians are fervent supporters of the Republic’s war effort, and almost twenty percent of the Martian population is directly employed by the military or the military-industrial complex. The bulk of the rest of the population is indirectly involved in the war effort as well.
Mars has a worker surplus at this time, so cargo ships are transferring additional ordinance factories from Earth to Mars.
Ganymede:
Population: 53.9 million (+373%)
Construction Factories: 110 (All transferred this year)
Mines: 108 (no change)
Automated Mines: 168 (no change)
The terraforming fleet continues to significantly increase the average temperature on Ganymede, reducing the colony’s dependence on infrastructure to support its population. As the terraforming project continues, the Republic’s BuReLoc has shifted its focus from Mars to the Ganymede colony, easily tripling its population in one year.
The construction factories relocated to Ganymede are currently devoted to refitting the sensor PDC’s assigned to protect the colony. Once this project is completed the factories will begin constructing additional offensive and defensive bases. Ganymede currently has a worker surplus, and additional construction factories are being shipped in to bolster the colony’s productivity.
Bastion:
Population: 10.21 million
Construction Factories: 38 (All transferred this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 82 (All transferred in this year)
Bastion is the leading edge of the Republic, and the first line of defense against continued Dregluk depredations. The entire population is devoted to supporting the fortress complex that is the colony’s reason for existence. There is currently a worker shortage on Bastion, causing an 8% drop in productivity, however, because BuReLoc is focused primarily on relocating citizens away from the radiation on Earth Bastion has a lower priority for personnel transfers due to its distance from Earth. Civilian colony transports are currently the only assets assigned to increase Bastion’s population.
There is some talk of reassigning the Terraforming ships to Bastion when they complete their efforts at Ganymede, as Bastion already has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and temperate climate. The atmosphere is too thin to breathe without technological assistance, though.
Venus:
Automated Mines: 741 (no change)
Wolf-Harrington (Comet):
Automated Mines: 111 (no change)
This mining outpost is slated to be shut down in two years when the last of the resources present on the comet have been mined out.
Whipple (Comet):
Automated Mines: 50 (no change)
Swift-Tuttle (Comet):
Automated Mines: 25 (no change)
Puck (Moon of Uranus):
This outpost is intended solely as a fuel dump for the refineries working in Uranus orbit. Currently the fuel dump is empty, as ongoing fleet operations in and around the Washington system have drained all available fuel. While there are considerable reserves on Earth and Mars, the fuel refineries in orbit over Uranus constitute the Republic’s entire fuel refinery capability as the ground-based refineries on Earth have been shut down due to worker and financial shortages, a situation that is unlikely to change at any point in the near or medium future.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by maintaining fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
System Defense Command Emplacements
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 8 (+60% increase)
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 1
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5 (25% increase)
Anti-missile bases (meson): 5 (25% increase)
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 2
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 2
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 3 (50% increase)
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 7 (350% increase)
Anti-missile bases (Meson): 10 (all assembled this year)
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard most of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, the Denver system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility. Currently the Fleet has assigned a picket ship and a Fleet Scout to the system as an early warning tripwire.
The Republican Fleet
As more and more support vessels come online, the Fleet’s construction priorities are shifting to new-tech combat units such as the Fast Frigate and the new Star class Battleship.
With the large-scale move into the Washington system, the Admiralty is considering a massive reorganization of the Fleet which will likely take place in early 2142.
Republic Fleet:
Missile Group #1 (Bastion): 10xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #2 (Bastion): 9xMissile Boat r3
Missile Group #3 (Earth): 10xMissile Boat r3
Long Range Missile Group #1 (Bastion): 1xMB r3(LRS), 10xMB r3(LR)
Long Range Missile Group #2 (Bastion): 1xMB r3(LRS), 10xMB r3(LR)
Long Range Missile Group #3 (Mars): 1xMB r3(LRS), 10xMB r3(LR)
Frigate Group #1 (Bastion), CO Captain Abigail Palmer
1xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Boston
4xLake FFG: Nairobi, Malawi, Ladoga, Baikai
Frigate Group #2 (Bastion), CO Captain Oliver Harper
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Cairo, Seoul
4xLake FFG: Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario
Frigate Group #3 (Bastion), CO Commander Joseph Miles
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Lagos, Lima
4xLake FFG: Tanganyika, Vladivostok, Sacramento, Singapore
Frigate Group #4 (Earth), CO Commander Sophia Moss
1xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Birmingham
4xLake FFG: Victoria, Vostok, Winnipeg, Balkhash
Attack Group #1 (Bastion), CO Captain Robert Chan
3xEnterprise r4: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Delhi, Shanghai
Cruiser Group #1 (Bastion), CO Rear Admiral Morgan Bradshaw
2xEssex class Assault Ship: Essex, Ark Royal
1xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Tokyo
Cruiser Group #2 (Earth), CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
2xEssex class Assault Ship: Bismarck, Warspite
2xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Karachi, Mumbai
Cruiser Group #3 (Bastion), CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
2xEssex class Assault Ship: Yamato, Prince of Wales
1xPlanet class Battlecruiser: Mars
1xBrooklyn r5 FFG: Chongqing
Unassigned units:
2xTennesse class Jump Ship: Bihar, Tennessee
1xNorth Carolina r2 class Jump Tender: Madrid
*Note: These units are outmoded and are scheduled to be scrapped pending yard availability.
Pod Reserve (Earth):
19xASM Pod
7xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
Pod Group #1 (Denver system, JP to Washington):
5xASM Pod
3xAMM Pod
1xSensor Pod
Pod Group #2 (Detroit system, JP to Washington):
5xASM Pod
3xAMM Pod
1xSensor Pod
Pod Group #3 (Bastion, Washington system):
5xASM Pod
3xAMM Pod
1xSensor Pod
Fleet Support Units:
Bastion:
1xFleet Support(Munitions) r2
2xHero class Fleet Dock
2xUNREP
Earth:
2xFleet Support (Munitions) r2
1xHero class Fleet Dock
Ships in Refit:
3xUNREP
1xFleet Support (Munitions)
Survey Command
1st Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
Survey Reserve (Earth)
2xJump Scout
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. To this end it has the following forces:
Earth:
1xSaratoga R1 Monitor: Saratoga (overhaul)
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Waterloo
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Stalingrad (overhaul)
System Defense Force (Earth):
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Denver system, JP to Washington:
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Masada, Antietam
Detroit System, JP to Washington
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Huai Hai, Marathon
San Francisco System, JP to the Solar System
2xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Metaurus Tours
Los Angeles System, JP to the Solar System
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Cajamarca
Forward Deployed to Bastion:
1xSaratoga r1 Monitor: Hastings
Ships currently under construction (Mars):
3xStar class BB
2xPlanet r2(C) class battlecruisers
9xMB r3(LR)
3xMB r3(LRS)
5xPod (AMM)
8xPod (ASM)
1xPod (Sensor)
3xHero class Fleet Docks
2xFar Seer class Scout
2xFleet Support (Munitions)
3xDeep Space Survey ships
3xGeo Surveyors
-
January 7, 2142, Miami system:
The scout positioned in the Miami system observes two Dregluk Colossus class BB’s jump into the system through a jump point with a gate positioned 1.135 billion kilometers almost directly out-system from the jump point to the Denver system. It will take the Dregluk BB’s almost three days to reach the jump point to the Denver system. The scout will observe their progress and remain hidden.
Consul Foster and Admiral Law announce a major re-organization of the Fleet. The Republic’s Fleet will now be divided into two fleets, the Home Fleet under Admiral Law and the 1st Fleet under newly promoted Rear Admiral (Upper Half) Freya Wallace. The 1st Fleet will be based on Bastion and will have primary responsibility for finding and destroying the Dregluk threat. Both Admiral Law and Consul Foster have reservations about Admiral Wallace, but given her support by War Faction in the Senate she was the only possible candidate after Admiral Bradshaw declined the command due to his poor health.
In addition to creating multiple fleets, the fleet reorganization will also entail the elimination of the formal task groups. Instead, fleet units will be put into task groups based on mission need rather than a rigid pre-determination of task group organization.
January 9, 2142
The Dregluk BB’s jump out of the Miami system right on schedule. They are detected in the Denver system as soon as they appear by the listening post in the inner system, and word is sent to the jump point to the Washington system. When the messages finally get back to Bastion, it causes excitement on Bastion. The next link in the chain has been discovered! Although the scout has not reported in yet, it almost certainly observed the entry of the two battleships into the Miami system. This will be exploited, putting the Republic one step closer to the Dregluk.
January 16, 2142, 2104 hours
Twelve LR missile boats launch a total of seventy-two Bludgeon III LRASM’s at the incoming battleships. Three hours later the salvo reaches the two battleships and the big ships are surrounded by explosions. A single battleship emerges from the explosions, crippled, trailing atmosphere and debris, while the other does not. Two more missile boats launch their missiles at the last BB. In the meantime, the Fleet Docks that had accompanied the missile boat task groups moved forward and each of the two docks took five missile boats that expended their missiles into their bays to begin rearming them.
Two hours later the two Fleet Docks began launching their docked missile boats, which all moved away towards the ammunition ship waiting for them. The remaining four missile boats that had expended their missiles moved into the Docks to be rearmed. One hour after that the twelve missiles launched by the two missile boats slammed into the last remaining BB. It only took four hits before the battleship blew up.
One hour later the four missile boats were rearmed and the task groups were ready for action. The entire force, two LR Missile Groups and the 1st Attack Group, accompanied by three support ships, set out for the jump point to the Miami system to check in with the scout. The human ships broadcast taunts at the Dregluk life pods floating near the wrecked battleships as they pass by.
January 17, 2142
Republic ground troops storm two Obscura listening posts in the Philadelphia system. Unlike all of the other installations found to date, they immediately meet resistance from automated defenses. Additional troops are landed at both locations, bringing the number of troops assigned to each asteroid up to two battalions.
January 22, 2142
The jump scout attached to the 1st Survey Group jumps through the jump gate found in the Honolulu system to probe the far side. The ship materializes 240 mkm’s from an M3-V star which is orbited by seven planets and a massive asteroid belt. After watching the system for a short time, the scout jumps back to the Honolulu system and the 1st prepares to return to the Solar System.
While no ruins were found in the Honolulu system, several large deposits of TN resources were found.
Late in the day, in the Denver system, the 1st and 2nd LR Missile Groups, and the 1st Attack Group, reached the jump point to the Miami system and jumped through. Several hours later the scout posted in the inner system sent its contact report and the location of the Dregluk entry point into the system. With that in hand the LR Missile Groups and the 1st Attack Group set out for the new jump point, leaving their support ships behind.
January 25, 2142, Miami system
The HuK’s of the 1st Attack Group jump through the unexplored jump point. The group appears 970 mkm’s from a D9-VII star with no planets or other bodies orbiting it. They designate the system the Portland system and call forward the scout stationed in Miami. Once the scout arrives, it jumps into the Portland system and moves to a waypoint in between the star and the jump point and goes to station-keeping speed. Everyone settles in to wait.
Because the Republic currently has no gravitic survey ships, and won’t until the first three are launched in mid-2143, Admiral Law developed the strategy currently being followed by 1st Fleet. A fleet scout will be positioned along the Dregluk warship’s path to the Washington system, and will detect their entry point into that system. Once the Dregluk warships have been dealt with, the scout and its accompanying warships will move forward and probe the newly revealed jump point, and then set up in the new system and do it again. It promises to be a very slow way to advance, given the irregular schedule of Dregluk warships, but currently there is no other way to advance into Dregluk space.
-
This report covers action across a number of systems. To assist visualization of what’s going on, I will be putting a warp line ‘map’ into the write-up periodically. Hopefully that will help. These reports will cover the advance into the Dregluk Imperium. Reports covering events in the rest of the Republic will be posted separately.
Note: I will be posting a pic of the star map at some point in the near future.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland
January 28, 2142, Portland system
The fleet scout Kit Carson was just 34 mkm’s from the jump point back to the Miami system when its extremely large thermal sensors detected sixteen Dregluk ships of an unknown class. The Dregluk ships have a thermal signature slightly higher than that of a standard Dregluk DD, are moving at 1,600 km/s almost directly away from the human ships. Rear Admiral Chan, aboard the HuK Assistance, orders the scout to trail the Dregluk ships, likely civilian ships, but to get no closer than 350 mkm’s from the Dregluk group.
February 12, 2142, 2053 hours, Portland system
The scout observes as the sixteen Dregluk ships, tentatively ID’d as non-warships of some sort, jump out of the system. Word is sent back to the warships on the jump point to Miami. The scout then reduces speed to just faster than the Dregluk ships, so as to avoid overtaking them, and the warships begin moving up towards the new jump point.
February 15, 2142, Portland system
The scout arrives at the jump point that the Dregluk ships disappeared through three days earlier. The warships are still over two and a half days behind. The commander of the scout ship, Lt. Commander Faulkner, decides to take a risk and orders his ship to jump to the far side. The scout materializes in a binary system with a G6-V primary and a G8-V secondary star. The jump point is deep within the primary star’s planetary system, and the Dregluk ships are approximately 317 mkm’s out-system of the scout’s location, and moving away. Lt. Commander Faulkner orders his ship to return to the Portland system to update the warships, then returns to begin following the Dregluk ships. The new system is designated the Salt Lake system.
The system’s secondary star is close enough to be reachable with a few days travel. Between the two stars the system contains several type T planets that would be good targets for colonization, including one orbiting the secondary star with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and a colony cost of .63. There doesn’t appear to be populations on any of the planets or other orbital bodies.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake
February 28, 2142, 1032 hours, Portland System
The warships that had been following the fleet scout, which had been in turn following the Dregluk ships deeper into the Dregluk Imperium, had been sitting in the Portland system, at the jump point to the Salt Lake system, waiting for the scout to report that the Dregluk ships had jumped out. Their waiting was interrupted when ten additional ships of the same class that the scout was following appeared one the fleet’s sensors. The ten Dregluk ships were approaching the jump point at 1,800 km/s. The task force’s active sensors revealed that the Dregluk ships were 31,250 tons, and were almost certainly non-warships given their low speed and the fact that none had ever been observed attacking human forces. Not knowing if the Dregluk ships had spotted his force, and not wanting them to get between his force and the scout, Rear Admiral Chan ordered his task group, the 1st Attack Group, to intercept the Dregluk ships.
1157 hours, Portland system
The three HuK’s were approaching combat range. The Dregluk ships showed no sign that they knew that the Republican forces were anywhere near them, and continued to sail blithely towards the jump point. Admiral Chan held his fire until all of his lasers were capable of hitting the Dregluk ships and then opened fire at 238,000 kilometers. Accuracy was poor at that range, but even so they began scoring hits. The range closed rapidly, and as it did their accuracy went up. Soon, both of the Dregluk ships targeted by the HuK’s were streaming atmosphere.
Thirty seconds after opening fire, one of the targeted Dregluk ships comes apart in a ball of flame, and the HuK’s shift their fire to the next ship in their targeting que. After that the Dregluk ships fell one after another, carved into chunks by the HuK’s lasers. The tentative identification of the ships as civilian cargo haulers seemed confirmed, as none of them fired a weapon during the engagement. None got close to the jump point.
Rear Admiral Chan sends a message back to Admiral Wallace on Bastion, informing her of this development. The Dregluk freighters they just destroyed appeared in the Portland system through a previously undetected jump point, as they did not enter the system through the only other known jump point, to Miami, as that was secured by a picket ship. He had assumed that they were following the group of Dregluk freighters deeper into the Dregluk Imperium, but it was possible that they were following the freighters on their outward-bound path, away from the heart of the Dregluk Imperium, which would put the Dregluk navy behind them, instead of in front of them.
February 30, 2142, 0316 hours, Salt Lake system
The scout following the Dregluk ships lost contact with the Dregluk squadron and immediately detected a surge indicating the use of a jump gate. Word was sent back to the warships at the jump point back to the Republic and the scout set out for the new jump point.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
March 1, 2142, newly discovered system (El Paso)
The scout follows the Dregluk ships into the new system. It discovers that the new system is a quaternary system with a K4-V primary orbited by a K7-V, L3-VII, and T6-VII. The last two stars are very distant from the primary and effectively out of reach. Both the A and B components have numerous planets. The scout’s entry point is located almost directly between the A and B components, approximately 4.3 billion kilometers out. The Dregluk ships are headed inwards, towards the primary. The system is given the designation: El Paso.
The scout is now five jumps beyond Washington. Picket ships have been stationed at the Washington-Denver jump point, the Denver-Miami jump point, and the Miami-Portland jump point to maintain communications with the fleet, but until more picket ships come up from Earth that was the end of the picket ship line. Therefore, Admiral Chan had stationed a LR Missile Boat at the Portland-Salt Lake jump point, and would do so at the Salt Lake-El Paso jump point as well when they moved forward. That was a risk, as the missile boats had only limited sensors, but maintaining communications with Bastion in the Washington system was critical.
March 5, 2142, Portland System
The missile boat assigned to picket the jump point from the Portland system to the Salt Lake system picked up the incoming Dregluk ships just a million kilometers out as they approached the jump point to jump to the Salt Lake system. Fortunately, the contacts were all identified as the same class of Dregluk civilian ships they had encountered previously. It immediately jumped through to Salt Lake and sent a contact report off to the rest of the task force at the jump point to the El Paso system. Then it moved off of the jump point so as to remain out of sight of the Dregluk ships. The Dregluk ships jumped into Salt Lake on schedule and continued on towards the jump point to El Paso without deviation.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
March 11, 2142, Portland System
Five additional Dregluk civilian ships are detected approaching the jump point to the Salt Lake system. The missile boat jumped through and warned the task force at the far jump point, as it had before. The first group of civilian ships had not yet reached the jump point to El Paso.
March 16, 2142 Portland System
A single Dregluk civilian ship is detected approaching the jump point to Salt Lake system. Warning is sent to the task force.
March 19, 2142, Salt Lake system
Eleven Dregluk civilian ships are picked up by the lead LR Missile Boat’s sensors approaching the jump point to El Paso. Three HuK’s are sent out to destroy the ships before they can reach the jump point. When they caught the Dregluk civilian ships the HuK’s ripped through them just as they had before, leaving a trail of hull plating and life pods in their wake.
March 24, 2142, El Paso System
Additional Picket Ships have made their way forward and Admiral Chan has been able to recall the missile boats he detached for picket duties. The fleet scout is now approximately 3 billion kilometers from the jump point, still headed in-system and following the Dregluk civilian ships.
March 25, 2142, Salt Lake System
The second group of Dregluk civilian ships detected by the picket ship at the jump point to Portland come within range of the sensors at the jump point to El Paso. The HuK’s, which have been waiting at the wrecks of the first group, set out to intercept the five new ships.
The HuK’s hold their fire until almost point-blank range and then their lasers demolish the civilian ships quickly.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
March 29, 2142, El Paso System, 1349 hours
Lieutenant Meisner, Officer of the Watch aboard the fleet scout Kit Carson, had been dozing at his console for the last hour. For twenty-eight days the scout had been following the never-to-be-sufficiently-damned Dregluk ships as they plodded through the El Paso system, and Lt. Meisner and his fellow officers had had little to do but periodically check that the scout was maintaining position on the group of Dregluk ships. Aside from that very little had happened, aside from dispatching the occasional status report to the ships at the jump point, or receiving updates from those same ships. It was boring, boring, boring. He sighed. They had all been so happy when they first spotted the Dregluk ships almost exactly two months ago. The Dregluk ships were going somewhere, and they seemed oblivious to their presence. The chance to gain more intelligence on the Dregluk Imperium seemed too good to pass up. That was two months ago, though. Aside from moments of excitement every time they jumped into a new system, it had been two long and unremitting months of boredom since them. Usually, Meisner used a lot of his watch time to set up his next move for the Galactic Conquest game he and some of the other officers had going, but they had decided to take a break recently and so recently he mostly tried to spend his time staying awake. Usually the CO would take the day watch, but lately, with morale dipping, Lt. Commander Faulkner had decided to start rotating his watch, spending time with each set of watch crews to ensure they knew he cared, and also to ensure that he knew what was going on. In theory Meisner understood and agreed with what his CO was doing, the problem was that the boredom was getting to everyone.
Lt. Meisner’s musing about the rampant boredom vanished as the ship’s AI chimed to signal a status change. Meisner’s eyes swiveled to the plot to see a pulsing red icon in El Paso A’s inner system, over El Paso-A II. Meisner’s complexion whitened as he leaned closer and realized that the icon indicated a population on the planet! Just as that realization hit, his console beeped for attention. He looked and saw that it was Lieutenant Josephs, who had duty in the sensor shack today.
The scout’s quaint sounding “sensor shack”, was in fact an ultra-modern, high-tech information/command center where the information gleaned from the ship’s massive thermal sensors was turned into useful information. The fifteen-person crew usually on duty in the shack were some of the best sensor experts in the fleet, and given the fact that the scout’s thermal sensor was larger than a missile boat all by itself, they had a lot of information to work with. Meisner keyed the comm request, and Lt. Joseph’s excited face appeared in a comm window on his console. “What have you got for me?”
Lt. Josephs smiled. “Definite Dregluk population. Thermal signature of 1275, approximately 1.2% that of Earth. Approximately a third that of the mining complex on Venus. We are estimating this to be an outpost of some sort, possibly on the order of one of our outer asteroid or comet mining posts.”
Lt. Meisner frowned. “Capabilities?”
Josephs shook her head. “Unknown. Not enough data. This could be a mining outpost, naval base, or sensor listening post. There is just no way to know given the information we have.”
Lt. Meisner’s frown deepened. A thermal signature of 1275 wasn’t all that strong for a population, but it could still represent a significant military presence. A standard Republican listening post containing twenty DSTS’s only had a signature of one hundred, after all, and Bastion, which had a major naval maintenance post as well as a listening post and a lot of fortresses, had a signature only 50% larger than whatever that was in front of them. “Very well. Continue monitoring. I’m going to wake up the Captain.”
Josephs grinned. “Good luck!” The Captain was notoriously…difficult, about being woken without sufficient justification.
Meisner smiled back. “I don’t think I’ll need it for this. A Dregluk base, or population?” Josephs nodded and broke the connection. Meisner punched in the code for the CO.
Lt. Meisner was right. Lt. Commander Faulkner was just as excited over their discovery as everyone else on the crew was. Finally, they were getting somewhere! Faulkner ordered Lt. Meisner to send a contact report back to the jump point and to come to a halt while the sensor shack evaluated the situation. El Paso-A II was a dwarf planet with around 16% the gravity of Earth and no atmosphere to speak of. That argued that the Dregluk installation was more likely either a military outpost or a mining outpost, but without direct observation there was no way to determine that. The sensor shack hadn’t detected any signs of active sensors being used, but the scout wasn’t really well set up to detect active sensors, a flaw that was being remedied in the next round of refits.
Out of an abundance of caution, Lt. Commander Faulkner ordered the Carson to change course for a waypoint just inside of the primary star’s asteroid belt, offset away from their current location. The waypoint was set to allow them to continue to observe the Dregluk ships without getting too close to the Dregluk outpost. The Carson was a wonder of modern stealth engineering, with low-profile engines that emitted just 25% of the thermal energy that a standard engine would have, and, in addition, had cloaking systems to mask its profile against active sensors. Even with all of that, Lt. Meisner fully approved of Lt. Commander Faulkner’s caution. The Carson had a single CIWS emplacement, and little else in the way of defenses. Caution was the name of their game.
The possibility that the Dregluk ships were freighters delivering a cargo was very disturbing. The entire mission was predicated on the assumption that they would be following the Dregluk ships further INTO the Dregluk Imperium, not to the outskirts of the Imperium. If true, that suggested that the route the Dregluk warships were following to get to the Washington system was somewhere behind them, and that their origin was not in front of them. Lt. Commander Faulkner dispatched that cheery thought off immediately, as soon as his tactical people came up with it.
March 30, 2142, Salt Lake System
The last Dregluk civilian ship detected entering the Salt Lake system appears on the sensors of the warships at the jump point. The three HuK’s, loitering over the corpses of their last kills, set out to intercept the incoming Dregluk ship. Once again, the HuK’s hold their fire until they are at point-blank range and when they do commence firing it takes only seconds to reduce the Dregluk ship to scrap.
April 3, 2142, El Paso system
The Dregluk civilian ships continue past the Dregluk outpost, forcing the Carson to leave its waypoint to keep them within range of its sensors.
Washington System, Bastion Fortress Complex
Admiral Wallace has been fretting about the risk to her forward elements. The near certainty that a third jump point exists in the Portland system, and that that jump point leads into the Dregluk Imperium, has been a constant nagging worry since Admiral Chan sent his message concerning that possibility. Unused to inactivity, Admiral Wallace finally decides to deal with the situation as her instincts have been demanding. She orders her flagship and her assault ships forward, supported by a force of frigates. They will move forward to the Miami system, where they will be positioned to support Admiral Chan’s force, or to intercept a Dregluk force headed towards the Washington system.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
|
Unknown(Theorized)
April 6, 2142, Portland System
The picket ship stationed at the Portland-Salt Lake jump point detects three Dregluk civilian ships approaching the jump point. The picket ship jumps through to the Salt Lake system and withdraws from the jump point to allow the Dregluk ships to transit unmolested. A message warning the warships at the jump point to the El Paso system is sent once the ship is in the Salt Lake system.
April 7, 2142, El Paso system
The scout’s crew detects a second Dregluk installation in the El Paso system, this time on the second moon of the fourth planet. The planet is a gas giant, while the moon in question is smaller than Luna, but with a higher gravity, indicating it is unusually dense. The Dregluk ships go into orbit over the moon while the scout watches from a distance.
April 9, 2142, Portland system
Late in the day the picket ship in the Portland system, at the Portland-Salt Lake jump point, detected five Dregluk cruisers and four destroyers headed towards its position, approximately 19.4 mkm’s out and closing. The picket ship sent a warning message to the picket ship at the other jump point in the Portland system, and then jumped through to the Salt Lake system. Once in the Salt Lake System, the picket ship sent a warning message to the warships at the jump point to the El Paso system, and then set a course at maximum speed to join the warships.
The picket had managed to open the range to 25 mkm’s when the Dregluk force jumped into the Salt Lake system behind them.
April 13, 2142, Salt Lake system
The picket ship arrives at the jump point to El Paso, and moves into position next to the warships waiting there. The Dregluk ships were left far behind, and should arrive in approximately 2 days.
April 14, 2142, Miami system
Admiral Wallace and the 1st Fleet arrive at the jump point to Miami in the Denver system, and jump through to rendezvous with the support ships left behind by Admiral Chan. After refueling, the 1st Fleet and the support ships set out for the jump point to the Portland system.
April 15, 2142, 1351 hours, Salt Lake system
The Dregluk force appears on the active sensors of Admiral Chan’s force at the jump point to the El Paso system. It is 425 mkm’s out and headed in at 4,607. The force is composed of five cruisers and four destroyers. Only one of the destroyers is a known class, this is the first time the rest of the ships have been seen. The one known destroyer is a Crow class, equipped with twelve size three missile launchers.
Seven hours later the twenty-two missile boats assigned to Admiral Chan’s force fire their Bludgeon III missiles, all targeted on the five Dregluk cruisers. Three hours later the five cruisers were wiped from space. The remaining Bludgeon III missiles acquired new targets with their internal sensors and three destroyers were destroyed as well. The last surviving Dregluk destroyer turns back and begins racing away. Space is now clear, although Admiral Chan’s force has expended its missiles.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
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Unknown(Theorized)
April 16, 2142, Miami system
The 1st Fleet under Admiral Wallace has arrived at the jump point to the Portland system. The Portland system is obviously the site of an undiscovered jump point that leads to somewhere important in the Dregluk Imperium as the Dregluk naval force appeared here, as did the Dregluk civilian ships. Unfortunately, the jump points in the Portland system are widely separated, and it is possible that if Admiral Wallace advances with her entire fleet that they could be cut off. In addition, if they move forward, they will be leaving the route towards Washington unguarded. After some consideration, Admiral Wallace decides to detach a force of eight frigates to move forward, led by the battlecruiser Mars. The rest of her force will remain at its current position, to block anything coming out of the Dregluk Imperium.
In the El Paso system, Admiral Chan dispatches the picket boat that had been stationed at the Portland-Salt Lake jump point back to its station to re-establish communications with Admiral Wallace. To avoid running into the last Dregluk DD, the picket ship is given a course that arcs out away from the system’s star and then back in to the jump point.
April 20, 2142, Salt Lake system
Three Dregluk freighters are detected heading towards the jump point to El Paso.
Late in the day the picket ship arrives at the jump point to the Portland system, re-establishing contact with the 1st Fleet and Admiral Wallace. The frigate group detached by Admiral Wallace is just 240 mkm’s from the jump point and within active sensor range when the picket ship appears. Upon hearing that a Dregluk DD may be headed back to the jump point, Captain Webster, CO of the Mars, positions his group away from the jump point to observe the Dregluk ship if it hasn’t already passed through.
Admiral Wallace orders Admiral Chan and his force to return to the Portland system and join the main force of the 1st Fleet. In addition, she orders the Kit Carson to abandon its observations of the Dregluk outpost and the freighters and to return to Portland as well. She wants to focus her forces on the Portland system and locate the jump point theorized to exist in the system and suspected to be the entry point for both the Dregluk warships and civilian ships.
Several hours later a single Crow class DD is detected headed towards the main 1st Fleet force in the Portland system stationed at the jump point to Miami. This destroyer appeared out-system of the force at the jump point, and directly opposite of where it would have appeared had it come from the Salt Lake system. In any case, the single Crow class DD with the Dregluk force in Slat Lake had been destroyed, meaning that it was a new contact, possibly in route to raid either Washington or the Solar System. It quickly becomes clear that the DD isn’t headed for the jump point to Miami, but rather past it on its way…somewhere.
The lone destroyer definitely isn’t headed towards the only other known jump point in the system, the one to Salt Lake, either. Intrigued, instead of merely destroying it Admiral Wallace detaches the assault ship Prince of Wales and the AMM Frigate Tokyo to shadow the Dregluk ship. Perhaps it was returning to base, and would reveal the undiscovered jump point leading back to the Dregluk Imperium. Of course, there was the little matter of just where it had been coming from, as well.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
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Unknown(Theorized)
April 21, 2142, 0242 hours, Portland system
Right on schedule, the last DD from the Dregluk force destroyed in the Salt Lake system reappears on the jump point to Salt Lake in the Portland system. Task Group 1.3, led by the BC Mars, is positioned 220 mkm’s in-system of the jump point and picks up the transit and the DD on its active sensors.
Eighteen minutes later, Task Group 1.4, consisting of the Prince of Wales and Tokyo, detected two more Dregluk ships 105 mkm’s beyond the lone Crow class DD. The two new ships were a Fiend class CA and a Raven class DD. The Fiend and the Raven are AMM ships, while the Crow mounts ASM launchers.
By this time Task Group 1.3, standing off of the jump point to Salt Lake, has identified the course of Dregluk DD that recently entered the system from Salt Lake. This DD is also headed across the system, but not towards anything known. Worse, its course does not intersect with that of the other two groups of Dregluk ships in the system. Captain Webster aboard the Mars orders his group to shift position slightly away from the Dregluk DD’s course to allow it to pass by. Once it has past the task group, Webster’s ships will fall in behind it and follow it to its destination. It is Admiral Wallace’s hope that one of the Dregluk ships will lead her forces to the theorized jump point suspected to exist in the system.
Twenty minutes later, both groups of Dregluk ships off of the jump point to Miami turn towards the jump point and the Republican forces there. Captain Webster orders the Prince of Wales to engage the leading Crow class DD with her Bludgeon ASM’s, in the hopes that with their ASM ship out of play, the two AMM ships will disengage. The Prince of Wales is a relatively new ship, just out of the yards six months ago, and it takes her crew twenty seconds to launch ten Bludgeon III missiles at the Dregluk DD. Two hours and twenty-seven minutes later the Bludgeons slammed into the Dregluk DD. The big Dregluk destroyer managed to shoot one of them down with its CIWS, but the other nine hit the destroyer, staggering her. Once the Dregluk DD cleared the fireballs it was clear that it had been heavily damaged as it was streaming atmosphere and hull plating, and its speed had been reduced to 1675 km/s. Captain Webster gave the order and a second salvo of five Bludgeon ASM’s roared away from the Prince of Wales.
Two and a half hours later the Bludgeon missiles wiped the Dregluk DD from the universe. Its task completed, Task Group 1.4 waited to see what the second group of Dregluk ships would do now that the Crow class DD was gone.
One hour later it was clear that the Dregluk had had enough. The cruiser and destroyer had turned away from the jump point and were moving away. Admiral Wallace ordered the ASM frigate Huron to join the Prince of Wales and the Tokyo, and soon the three ships set out to shadow the Dregluk ships as they retreated.
At 1025 hours, in the Salt Lake system, the three HuK’s of Task Group 1.1 had closed to point blank range of the three Dregluk freighters detected closing on the jump point. One by one the three ships picked a target and opened fire. As always, the crack crew aboard the Assistance was the first to get their weapons into action, their lasers stabbing deeply into the thin-skinned Dregluk ships. In forty-five seconds the three Dregluk freighters were reduced to scrap and the HuK’s moved on, following the rest of the force to the jump point to the Portland system.
April 24, 2142, Miami system
Admiral Wallace sends a request back to the Admiralty in the Solar System. She asks for a forward base to be set up in the Miami system to support her operations in the Portland system and beyond. She would prefer to have a base in the Portland system, but the system has no planets or other bodies to establish a base on, so Miami will be the next best option. The Admiralty has been expecting this request and promptly grants permission. Admiral Wallace then orders the UNREP ship assigned to her fleet to divert to Miami-A II, a terrestrial type planet in the best position to support her forces. Once there the tanker will off-load the bulk of its fuel and then return to the Solar System to refuel. In the Solar System, industry begins producing DSTS’s destined to become the new listening post in the Miami system.
April 25, 2142, Portland System
Task Group 1.4, composed of the assault ship Prince of Wales, the ASM frigate Huron, and the AM frigate Tokyo, detects a new Crow class Destroyer ahead of the Dregluk cruiser and destroy pair they have been shadowing. The newly detected destroyer is advancing towards Task Group 1.4, either to close on the human group or to rendezvous with the other Dregluk ships. Several hours later the new destroyer joins the other two ships and they turn and head inwards towards the human squadron. Captain Harper, CO of Task Group 1.4, decides to allow them to close to within Thunderbolt ASM range.
Two hours later the Huron launches all twenty-five of its Thunderbolt IV ASM’s, all targeted on the Crow class DD. The Dregluk, for the first time ever, intercept human missiles short of their targets with AMM’s, shocking the human crews. The interceptions start approximately 1 mkm from the Dregluk group, and the Dregluk AMM ships managed to intercept fifteen of the twenty-five missiles before they hit the Crow class DD. The targeted Dregluk DD managed to destroy one of the incoming missiles with its CIWs, but after the first incoming missile hit the Dregluk ship the Dregluk destroyer disappeared, consumed from within by a massive internal explosion. The disturbing news that the Dregluk are actually utilizing their anti-missile missiles in defensive operations is immediately sent back to Admiral Wallace in the Miami system.
Deprived of their offensive missile ship, the Dregluk squadron turns and runs for the outer system, shadowed by Task Group 1.4. Captain Harper detaches the Huron for rearming, and requests a replacement. Admiral Wallace dispatches the frigate Eire to join the task group.
Twenty-two hours later, at 0654 hours on the 27th, Task Group 1.4 detects a previously unknown jump gate in the Portland system. Interestingly, the Dregluk force that Task Group 1.4 is shadowing is not headed directly towards the jump gate, but rather on its current course it will pass approximately 85 mkm’s to one side of the jump gate.
Admiral Wallace decides to wait and see what the Dregluk will do, rather than dispatching her fleet to the newly detected jump point. After all, it is possible, even likely, that there are more jump points in the system.
Sure enough, eight hours later the Dregluk ships sail right by the jump point and continue on.
April 30, 2142, Miami system
The 1st and 2nd LR Missile Groups rendezvous with the two Dock Ships waiting for them at the jump point to the Portland system. Immediately after arriving, the two missile groups begin rotating their missile boats through the dock ships for rearming.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
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Unknown(confirmed)
May 2, 2142, Miami system
The 1st LR Missile Group has completed rearming from the Dock Ships and jumps back to the Portland System. The 2nd is forced to return to Bastion as the support ships are out of Bludgeon III missiles after resupplying the 1st.
May 3, 2142, Portland System
The frigates of Task Group 1.3, built around the BC Mars, are running low on fuel. Captain Webster, after receiving approval from Admiral Wallace, orders his group to close on the Dregluk force they are shadowing. Before the group can close enough to launch missiles at the Dregluk ships, which are moving away from the task group, the Dregluk ships jump out of the Portland system through the new jump point discovered by Task Group 1.4. Captain Webster reports this development to Admiral Wallace, and is ordered to move to the jump point and secure it. Admiral Wallace is dispatching the HuK’s of Task Group 1.1 to probe the jump point, now that they have returned from refueling at the new base in the Miami system.
May 5, 2142, Sol
The newly organized 1st and 2nd Marine Raider Brigades board a brand-new fast troop transport and set out for Bastion, where they will support 1st Fleet operations.
In the Portland system, fuel is becoming an issue for ongoing operations. Worse, Admiral Wallace has been pushing her fleet hard, and deferred maintenance is going to become an issue at some point. Admiral Wallace is reluctant to order ships out of the system to refuel at this point, though, with Dregluk ships still operational in the system.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
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Baton Rouge
May 8, 2142, Baton Rouge system
Task Group 1.1 jumped out of the Portland system, through the unexplored jump point, and found itself 481 mkm’s from a dim T1-VII brown dwarf star. The brown dwarf primary had no planets or other system bodies, and the Dregluk ships that had entered the system days ago were not within range of the HuK’s sensors. The Task Group CO reported back, and Admiral Wallace ordered them to remain on the jump point for now. The new system is designated Baton Rouge.
Admiral Wallace recalled Task Group 1.3, which had been guarding the Portland side of the new jump point, and sent them back to the new forward base in Miami to refuel.
May 8, 2142, Portland
The Kit Carson returns to the Portland system. Admiral Wallace orders the scout to return to the jump point to Miami and refuel from the main fleet units there, before continuing on to the newly discovered Baton Rouge system, where it will establish a picket position and watch for Dregluk incursions.
May 10, 2142, Portland
The two remaining Dregluk ships, a cruiser and a destroyer, are now 5.7 billion kilometers from the newly discovered jump point that the other Dregluk DD used to leave the system, and are continuing to head out of the system. Task Group 1.4 has been shadowing them, but fuel has become critical. Admiral Wallace decides to recall Task Group 1.4. The Dregluk ships don’t seem to be headed anywhere, just away from their pursuers. If they return, they will be destroyed.
Task Group 1.4 turns and heads back into the system. Contact with the two Dregluk ships is soon lost.
May 14, 2142, Portland
After refueling from the Yamato’s cavernous tanks, the Kit Carson sets out for the jump point to Baton Rouge.
May 20, 2142, Baton Rouge
The scout Kit Carson enters the Baton Rouge system and sets out towards a point not far from the system primary.
May 24, 2142, 1732 hours, Portland and Baton Rouge systems
Task Group 1.1, composed of the three HuK’s assigned to 1st Fleet, detects the two Dregluk ships that had been headed out-system, now headed directly towards the jump point they are sitting on. Admiral Wallace had recalled all other ships for refueling at the jump point to Miami, so the three HuK’s were alone on the jump point. After some consideration, Admiral Chan sends a message to Admiral Wallace, located 2.7 billion kilometers, or two and a half hours away at light speed, at the jump point to Miami. After the message is away, he orders his task group to jump through to the Baton Rouge system. Once there they immediately begin moving away from the jump point on a random vector.
Two hundred and sixteen minutes later the HuK’s are 106 mkm’s from the jump point, and Admiral Chan orders them to come to a halt and reduce engine power to station-keeping. In addition, he orders the task group to lower their shields and deactivate their sensors. From this point on they will be entirely dependent on the Kit Carson, in the inner system, to keep tabs on the Dregluk ships.
The Kit Carson, which is itself doing its best to imitate a hole in space, watches as the Dregluk ships jump into the system. Soon, the crew of the KC is able to determine that the Dregluk ships are on a course across the system. This course will take them in between the two groups of human ships, but not particularly close to either. The CO of the Carson sends a message to the HuK’s, which cannot see the Dregluk ships at all, to remain silent until the Dregluk ships clear the area.
Four hours after entering the system the Dregluk ships jumped out through a jump point located 94.6 mkm’s from their entry point. Admiral Chan orders his group to move the jump point immediately, along with the scout. He dispatches one of his HuK’s back to the Portland system to report to Admiral Wallace.
Sol---Washington---Denver---Miami---Portland---Salt Lake---El Paso
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Baton Rouge---Houston
May 25, 2142, 0711 hours, Baton Rouge system
The HuK Intrepid reaches the jump point to Portland and plunges through. Once on the far side the HuK’s CO sends a message to Admiral Wallace and then immediately jumps back through to Baton Rouge and sets out for the new jump point. The scout Kit Carson is still seventeen hours away, so the Intrepid has plenty of time to rejoin her group at the new jump point.
Back in the Portland system, Admiral Wallace dispatches a group of five frigates, designated Task Group 1.3, to the jump point to Baton Rouge, to maintain contact with Admiral Chan. These frigates are refueled by the assault ship Ark Royal before setting out.
May 26, 2142, 041 hours, Baton Rouge system
The scout Kit Carson has joined the HuK’s of Task group 1.1 on the jump point. Shortly after the scout arrived, the HuK’s jump through the unexplored jump point. They materialize in a system with a G0-V star orbited by five planets, four of which are terrestrial and one gas giant. The new system is designated the Houston system. One of the terrestrial planet’s orbits at 146 mkm’s from the primary and is at approximately the same distance from the task group as it emerges. That planet also houses a Dregluk population or base of significant size, somewhat smaller than the Ganymede colony, which currently houses 72 million people, but still respectable in size. All of that would be deciphered later, from the sensor logs of the three HuK’s. Of considerably more importance, at least to the crew of the Intrepid, was the weapon impacts on their shields immediately after entering the system. The Intrepid was shaken by nineteen low power hits on her shields, reducing them by 16%. Her CO, Commander Gemma Tyler, desperately tried to regain her wits as her ship shook around her. Five seconds later another salvo of Dregluk energy weapons slashed in and shook her ship again, taking her shields down to 76%, as Commander Tyler began backing out commands to her crew to begin regaining control over their ship. On board the other two ships of the group the commanders knew something was wrong, but they were just as blind as the Intrepid. A few seconds later, though, the Dregluk DD that they had been pursuing appeared, moving away from the jump point. There was no sign of the Dregluk cruiser, though.
Admiral Chan ordered his group to independently begin pursing the destroyer as soon as they could bring their engines on line. After another five seconds the Dregluk firing stopped, possibly because the destroyer was now 47,000 kilometers away, or perhaps the Dregluk were recharging. Either way, the break was welcome as the Intrepid’s crew struggled to get their engines, sensors, and weapons online.
Forty seconds after entering the system the Assistance gets underway. By that time the Dregluk DD is 162 mkm’s out and running at 4,607 km/s, but the Assistance is overtaking at 3,574 km/s. The Dregluk ship’s lead won’t last long. Ten seconds after that, the other two HuK’s raced away from the jump point in pursuit of the Dregluk DD. None of them had their active sensors up yet, but their crews were working on it.
Thirty seconds later, or one minute and twenty seconds after entering the system, as the Assistance closed on the Dregluk ship, it began taking fire from the fleeing destroyer. Once again, the hits to her shields were low power, but the human ships were still tracking the Dregluk ship with their thermal sensors, which meant that they couldn’t fire. Twenty-five seconds later, with their active sensors still down and the Intrepid’s shields reduced to 25%, Admiral Chan was forced to order the Intrepid to drop out of the pursuit.
For five more seconds the Dregluk DD pounded the Intrepid, but then, as the HuK fell behind, it shifted fire to the Endeavor. Five seconds after that, finally, the human ships restored their active sensors and they were able to target the Dregluk ship. Even as the human crews struggled to bring their weapons online the Dregluk ship turned back and began pounding the Intrepid again. Ten seconds later, even as the Dregluk ship shifted its targeting back to the Endeavor, the Assistance speared the Dregluk ship with her lasers, causing multiple spurts of atmosphere as the destroyer’s armor was penetrated. In apparent desperation, the Dregluk shifted fire back to the Intrepid, knocking her shields down to minimal strength with their fast-firing particle beams.
The Intrepid was spared by the next Dregluk salvo, which targeted the Endeavor. Both the Endeavor and the Assistance fired next, causing more streams of atmosphere to follow the Dregluk ship, and slowing the destroyer. The hapless Intrepid was the target next, and this time her shields were down. She suffered minor armor damage from the Dregluk particle beams.
The Dregluk beams fell silent after that as her active sensors were out, and now the Intrepid’s lasers were firing as well, causing more hull breaches. Five seconds after that laser barrages from the Assistance and the Intrepid gutted the alien ship, leaving it drifting in a cloud of wreckage and life pods.
With the area around the jump point now clear, the Intrepid jumped back to the Baton Rouge system to bring the scout forward. The Kit Carson, once in the system, locates the cruiser and its destroyer companion, both at the Dregluk population on the third planet. The scout detects an additional, smaller, population on the largest moon of the outermost gas giant (planet #5). Admiral Chan sends one of his ships back to Baton Rouge to send a message to the ships picketed at the jump point back to Portland, reporting his finds. Approximately six hours later Admiral Chan receives a reply. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet to return to Bastion for refueling and overhauls. The scout will remain in the Portland system, to warn pickets stationed at the jump points back to the Washington system of the approach of Dregluk ships.
Admiral Wallace, in Portland at the jump point to the Miami system, declares the operation to be a success and sends a message back through the picket communications network to the Admiralty informing them of the newly discovered Dregluk population, and her intent to conquer and invest it as the next step towards destroying the Dregluk Imperium.
May 30, 2142, Portland System
The 1st Fleet is reassembled and Admiral Wallace orders it to set out for Bastion, leaving behind the scout Kit Carson and a picket ship to watch the system.
June 12, 2142, Washington system
The 1st Fleet arrives over Bastion and sets to refueling and rearming. Half of the fleet’s frigates go into overhaul status immediately, while Admiral Wallace begins planning Operation Forward Redoubt. In addition, Admiral Wallace begins to rebalance the forces deployed for the defense of the Washington system, in light of the deep penetration into the Dregluk Imperium and the advanced warning that this will entail. The pod groups deployed to the Denver and the Los Angeles jump points will be withdrawn to Bastion and overhauled, in preparation for Operation Forward Redoubt. The numbers of monitors deployed to the jump points will be rebalanced as well.
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These events take place at the same time as the events in the previous “Advance” post.
February 19, 2142
Word arrives on Earth that the ground forces sent to secure the Obscura listening posts in the Philadelphia system have become bogged down by the automated Obscura defenses and have been unable to make any progress. As of yet no ground forces have been committed to the Dregluk campaign, so the Consul authorizes a major effort against the Obscura defenses.
March 15, 2142
The salvage effort in the Washington system is complete. The salvage program has resulted in the recovery of large amounts of resources, all of which have been transported to Bastion to assist in the ongoing effort to support the 1st Fleet. In addition, 170 drives were recovered, 52 assorted sensors, 25 magazines, 10 CIWS, 13 ECM/ECCM units, 65 fire control systems, 16 particle beams, 146 missile launchers of assorted sizes, and 44 fusion reactors. Most of these items will be scrapped, as the Republic has largely exceeded the Dregluk Imperium’s tech level at this point. The remaining items which might yield useful technological information will be transported back to Earth for examination.
March 21, 2142, Philadelphia System
Brigadier General Stone, CO of the 2nd Republican Infantry Brigade, calls a halt to attempts to penetrate Obscura defenses on Asteroid #2 and Asteroid #37 in the Philadelphia System. Two of his four battalions have suffered serious losses, and he decides that continued attacks, with heavy reinforcements on their way, are useless.
March 28, 2142, Philadelphia system
The first transport with reinforcements arrives and sets an entire infantry brigade down on Asteroid #37. With six infantry battalions available, the newly arrived CO of the 6th Infantry Brigade launches an assault on the Obscura defenses.
April 9, 2142, Philadelphia system
Reinforcements have arrived. Three Brigades are in-system and divided between the two asteroids, and replacements have been dropped at both locations as well. With six battalions in place to face each Obscura infestation, the local commanders predict quick progress.
April 20, 2142
Earth’s R&D establishment has completed development work on an advanced jump gate construction module, and with that complete the R&D assets assigned to the project move on to developing advanced salvage systems. The designs for the Federation’s original gate construction rigs are updated with modern engines and the advanced gate construction module, with a greatly expanded engine module. While the new gate construction ships won’t be as fast a fleet support ships, they will be almost four times faster than the older Federation designs.
April 30, 2142, Philadelphia system
The troops assigned to attack the Obscura forces on Asteroid #37 finally succeed in wiping out the automated defenses and the asteroid is secured. Unfortunately, the Obscura listening post was destroyed in the fighting. Troop ships begin loading the six battalions from the asteroid for transfer to Asteroid #2, where the Obscura defenses are still holding out.
May 1, 2142, Sol
Reports from Admiral Wallace’s ongoing operation in the Portland system causes the Admiralty to request a proposal for a refit to the Lake and Brooklyn class frigates to increase their endurance. This turns out to be a surprisingly complex issue, as yard space is at a premium, and many of the smaller yards will be devoted to new destroyer classes that are intended to replace the older frigates.
May 24, 2142, Philadelphia system
The Obscura automated defenses finally fall to concerted attack from the human forces. Unfortunately, once again the fighting has destroyed the DSTS that drew the Republican forces here in the first place. The troop transports gather to lift off the three brigades deployed to the asteroid. Two of the brigades will be moved to the innermost planet where the xenology team is trying to get a handle on the ancient city found on the planet, while the other will be returned to Earth.
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(https://i.imgur.com/dej3vEO.jpg)
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June 12, 2142, Earth
A tug begins the laborious process of towing one of the large commercial shipyards from Earth orbit to the Ganymede colony. The decision has been made to relocate as much of the commercial shipbuilding capacity to Ganymede as possible, to reduce the demands on Earth’s dwindling labor supply. This will necessarily be a long-term project, as the yards will only be moved when their current projects are finished and when workers are available on Ganymede.
Late in the day, the 1st Fleet scout, Kit Carson, in the Portland system, detects a Dregluk Demon class cruiser entering the system from Baton Rouge. The scout’s CO sends a warning back up the line of picket ships to Bastion. Once the picket ship at the jump point to Miami jumps through to Miami and sends off its message, it speeds away from the jump point to a way point away from the jump point, where it will hide until the cruiser passes.
As the cruiser leaves the jump point it entered through, it becomes clear that it doesn’t appear to be headed for the jump point to Miami, and towards the Republic. Instead, it appears to be headed towards the jump point to Salt Lake, possibly headed towards the Dregluk population/outpost located further along that branch of jump lines. The CO of the Carson decides to follow the Dregluk cruiser to determine its course.
June 17, 2142, Earth
The plans for the Defender class DDE are finalized, and work begins on converting a shipyard to produce the new ships.
June 19, 2142, Portland
The Kit Carson, while following a Dregluk Demon class cruiser, detects two Dregluk DD’s coming up behind it. The DD’s don’t appear to be approaching the scout, rather they are following the cruiser, which is definitely headed towards the jump point to Salt Lake and away from the jump points that would take them to the Republic. There is some danger that the DD’s might get close enough to detect the scout if they all continue on their current courses, so the Carson’s CO orders the scout to head for the outer system, away from the Dregluk ships. Their destination is clear, so he has succeeded in his mission.
July 4, 2142, Earth
With worker shortages continuing on Earth, the Navy decides to relocate all maintenance facilities to Mars and Bastion, both to reduce demand on Earth’s workforce and to increase the maintenance capacity for those two bases so that they can handle the larger ships being built, such as the Star class battleship, and the Hero class Fleet Docks.
July 5, 2142, Portland
The Kit Carson detects two Mammoth class BB’s entering Portland from the jump point to Baton Rouge. It soon becomes clear that the BB’s are headed towards the jump point to Miami, and are likely on their way to attack the Washington system. The Carson jumps to Miami and warns the picket ship stationed at the jump point to the Denver system.
July 10, 2142, Miami system
The Kit Carson watches as the two Dregluk BB’s appear on the jump point from Portland right on schedule. The Carson and the picket ship normally assigned to Portland are stationed approximately 260 mkm’s from the jump point and the BB’s, powered down to avoid detection. The BB’s ETA to missile range of the forces on the jump point in Denver leading to Washington is nine and a half days.
July 12, 2142, Los Angeles
The Home Fleet scout Thomas Tobin had been sitting close to the G4-V star that was the Los Angeles system’s primary, and only occupant, and had been on station for over a year. It was assigned to picket the Los Angeles system and watch for any signs of Dregluk shipping, but it had been a long, lonely detail, with only regular news reports from home relayed by the picket ship at the jump point to keep them updated. That all changed on this date when the scout detected a Dregluk ship 1.39 billion kilometers away and closing. Based on its course, the Dregluk ship had entered the Los Angeles system from Anchorage, and was headed towards the jump point to the Solar System. Fleet intel showed that this class of unit had been seen before, in the Washington system, and was likely a gate construction unit with a top speed of 1,614 km/s. The scout sent a contact report back to the picket ship at the jump point to Sol.
Admiral Law decided that this was too good of an opportunity to cause chaos for the Dregluk, so he dispatched the Home Fleet’s LR Missile Group to intercept the Dregluk ship.
July 13, 2142, Denver system
The listening post in the Denver system picks up the transit of the two Dregluk BB’s from Miami right on schedule.
July 15, 2142, Miami
The Kit Carson detects two Dregluk Goliath class BB’s entering the system from Portland. It seems that the Dregluk are reacting to the recent penetration of their space by Republican forces. A warning is sent to the picket ship on the Miami-Denver jump point.
July 16, 2142, Miami
The Carson detects three Dregluk DD’s entering the Miami system from Portland. They immediately set out for the jump point to Denver, following the two Goliath class BB’s. Shortly thereafter, a Demon class cruiser enters the system as well.
July 19, 2142, Denver
Three Dregluk DD’s jump into Denver.
At 1327 hours, the leading two Mammoth class BB’s enter active sensor range of the units on the jump point to Washington. Three hours later the Monitors Antietam and Masada launch sixty Bludgeon IV’s at the two Dregluk battleships. This is the first use of the latest version of the Bludgeon ASM. Due to a glitch in the Antietam’s fire control system, it launched half of its missiles five seconds after the main salvo. That turns out to make no difference when, two hours and twenty-two minutes later the missiles wipe the two battleships from space, leaving ten Bludgeon IV’s searching for targets. They soon self-destruct when they fail to detect any viable targets. Interestingly, the two Dregluk battleships only managed to intercept one of the new ASM’s with their CIWS installations.
The Antietam, having expended her missiles, sets out for Bastion to rearm. In addition, the Antietam has been on-station for almost a year, so her crew will get a well-deserved R&R break while the monitor is overhauled. The rest of the ships on the jump point settle down to wait for the next group of Dregluk ships to arrive.
Admiral Wallace orders the 3rd LR Missile Group to the jump point to Denver to support the two SR Missile Groups and two monitors stationed there.
July 23, 2142, Los Angeles
Two missile boats from the Home Fleet’s 1st LR Missile Group launch Bludgeon III’s at the Dregluk gate construction ship, 400 mkm’s away. It takes just one of the twelve Bludgeon III’s to destroy the civilian ship.
July 25,2 142, Denver System
The second group of Dregluk BB’s is now within range of the ships on the jump point to Washington. The monitor Masada, which had expended half its offensive missiles on the last group of BB’s, launches the rest of its Bludgeon’s at one of the two BB’s, while five missile boats from the 1st SR Missile Group launch their missiles at the second BB.
The first missiles to arrive were the Bludgeon IV’s launched by the Masada. They were 8,000 km/s faster than the older Bludgeon III’s carried by the missile boats, and mounted more powerful warheads and pen-aides as well. The Dregluk Goliath class jump battleship shot two of the incoming Bludgeon-IV missiles down with its CIWS, and then the big Dregluk ship was ripped apart by two massive internal explosions after being hit by a mere five of the remaining eighteen missiles. The second BB did better against the older Bludgeon III’s launched by the missile boats, destroying four with its CIWS, and then withstanding sixteen hits before it too was ripped apart by internal explosions.
That left three DD’s and a lone CA closing on the jump point. The Monitor Masada jumped out, having expended its missiles, while the remaining ships waited for the Dregluk DD’s to enter missile range.
Fifteen hours later the three Dregluk DD’s, two Harpy’s and a Vulture, sailed into range of the ships on the jump point. Six missile boats each launched six Bludgeon III’s at the DD’s, for a total of twelve ASM’s at each DD.
Three hours later, as the wave of missiles are closing on the DD’s, the ships on the jump point launch against the cruiser, which is now in range. Four missile boats launch their missiles as the approaching CA. Even as the missiles leave their launchers, the DD’s are wiped out by an avalanche of Bludgeon III missiles. Three hours later the Bludgeon III’s wiped the last Dregluk ship in the attack force from space.
With the threat gone, the missile boats all jumped out to return to Bastion to rearm and resupply. They leave the monitor Hastings and a picket ship to watch the jump point.
August 10, 2142, Miami
The Kit Carson detects a Dregluk Buzzard class DD jumping into the system.
August 16, 2142, Bastion, Washington system
Admiral Wallace dispatches a SR Missile Group to the jump point to Denver to intercept the Dregluk DD observed by the Carson.
August 20, 2142, Denver
The 1st SR Missile Group launches 12 Bludgeon III ASM’s at the incoming Dregluk DD. All twelve hit, slowing the destroyer, but the tough ship keeps heading towards the jump point, albeit at a reduced speed. This class of Dregluk DD is armed with particle beams, and thus Republican forces cannot count on damaged magazines exploding when they take damage to finish off the ship. A third missile boat launches six more Bludgeon’s at the damaged destroyer. This second salvo finishes off the Dregluk DD. The missile group jumps back to Washington and heads home.
September 1, 2142, Los Angeles
The Home Fleet’s scout deployed to the Los Angeles system detects another Dregluk construction ship entering the system from the Anchorage jump point, apparently headed towards the jump point to the Solar System. The news is relayed back to Earth by the picket ship at the jump point, and a LR Missile Group is dispatched to intercept the Dregluk ship while it is in the Los Angeles system.
September 7, 2142, Los Angeles
A LR missile boat launches two Bludgeon III missiles at the Dregluk construction ship still steadily closing on the jump point to the Solar System. The construction ship manages to shoot one of the Bludgeon’s down with its CIWs and the other only damages the ship. In response, a second missile launches against the Dregluk ship, this time six Bludgeon missiles. Once again, the construction ship intercepts one of the incoming missiles with its CIWs, and It takes four of the remaining five missiles to destroy the big civilian ship, indicating that the one missile kill against the first construction ship might have been a lucky hit. The missile group turns for home.
September 26, 2142, Mars
The first unit of the new Destroyer Escort class is laid down in the orbital yards. This 10,000 ton ship is intended to eventually replace the Brooklyn class AMM Frigates in the fleet defense role. This unit will launch in September, 2143.
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October 26, 2142, Washington System
The 1st Fleet, finally assembled fresh from overhauls, sets out for the Houston system under the command of Rear Admiral (Upper) Wallace. This will be a major effort to secure the system and seize the Dregluk populations found there, as well as setting up a forward base for the further prosecution of the war against the Dregluk Imperium.
The assault force will consist of a Planet class BC, four Essex class Assault Ships, three Enterprise class Hunter Killers, seven Brooklyn class anti-missile Frigates, nine Lake class ASM Frigates, and thirty-two long range missile boats. In addition, the fleet will be towing twenty-four missile pods, which will reduce the fleet’s overall speed to 4,186 km/s, but will provide significant firepower to help secure the Houston system. The 1st Fleet will be supported by an UNREP fueling ship, four Hero class Fleet Docks (two of which are newly launched), and six munitions ships. The 1st Fleet’s ground complement will be carried by three Assault Transports, and will consist of three Marine Raider Brigades, four replacement battalions, and two construction brigades. Meanwhile, on Earth, freighters begin loading DSTS’s for a new listening post in the Houston system, and prefabbed PDC components.
In addition, Admiral Wallace has convinced the Admiralty to equip her force with the latest missiles, so her ships are setting out with magazines packed with Aegis VI AMM’s, Thunderbolt IV ASM’s, and Bludgeon IV ASM’s.
The first phase of the plan of attack involves the 1st Fleet advancing to the Houston system, which is the location of two known Dregluk settlements or outposts, located on the third and fourth planets of that system. In addition, the Houston system is believed to be the route to the interior of the Dregluk Imperium. Once in the Houston system, the 1st Fleet will establish a base of operations on one of the moons of the fourth planet. The missile pods, both offensive and defensive, will be deployed at this location, and all ground forces will be landed to ensure security. Once the forward base is established, the fleet’s support units will be moved forward and munitions and fuel will be landed at the base to support ongoing operations. Some of the troop ships, and all of the munitions ships and UNREP ships will be dispatched back to Bastion to reload and return. Once that is complete, the next phase will begin with the invasion of the smaller of the two Dregluk populations. Once that population is secured, the larger population will be subdued. As this is taking place, the 1st Fleet will deploy its combat units and attached scout to observe the system and intercept any Dregluk military response, potentially back-tracking Dregluk ships further into their Imperium. It is an ambitious plan, requiring the 1st Fleet to operate five jumps beyond Bastion, an unprecedented nine billion kilometers from home. Admiral Wallace is sure that her fleet is up to the challenge.
November 13, 2142, 2300 hours, Portland system
Alarms began ringing on the missile boats of the three LR Missile Groups in the lead along the fleet’s route of advance. A single Dregluk ship of unknown class had been detected ahead of them. The Dregluk ship was destroyer sized. Almost immediately, two missile boats launched their Bludgeon IV ASM’s at the Dregluk ship. One and a half hours later the missiles reach their target. It only takes six to reduce the Dregluk DD to scrap. The fleet continues on its course.
November 16, 2142, 0235, Baton Rouge system
The three leading missile boat groups arrive in the Baton Rouge system. They will wait here for the rest of the fleet to arrive before advancing on the Houston system.
November 18, 2142, 0235 hours, Baton Rouge system
So far, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Missile Groups have assembled on the jump point to Portland, along with most of the fleet’s support units and the scout Kit Carson. The bulk of the 1st Fleet is still seven and a half days behind them, coming up much more slowly. The jump point to the Houston system, their target, is just 96 mkm’s ahead of them. Most of the Republican ships have been sitting here for two days, with the most recent arrival the Carson, having jumped in twenty hours ago.
Suddenly, three Dregluk ships appear on the jump point to Houston. The Dregluk force is composed of a Fiend class cruiser, a Raven class destroyer, and one of the new Dregluk destroyers the missile boat force encountered five days ago, now designated as the Sheathbill class. Captain George Franklin, in command of LR Missile Group 1 and a long-serving veteran of the missile boat forces, is the senior officer in command of the advance force. He orders his group to launch against the Dregluk ships, and seconds later forty-two Bludgeon IV missiles were on their way towards the Dregluk ships.
Shockingly, the Dregluk ships, two of which are known anti-missile classes, actually begin launching AMM’s against the incoming missiles. This is unprecedented behavior for the Dregluk, who have only used anti-missile missiles in offensive roles to date. The Dregluk manage to destroy thirty-four Bludgeon ASM’s before they reach their targets. In spite of this the cruiser and one of the destroyers are destroyed, and the second DD was damaged and slowed. Five seconds later the remaining missiles acquired the last DD on their active sensors and wiped it from space. In the aftermath of the attack, Captain Franklin orders the Fleet Docks to rearm his missile boats. Captain Franklin immediately dispatches a report back up the chain of picket boats informing Admiral Wallace of the engagement, and also about the new Dregluk interest in actually using their anti-missile capability.
Three hours later, after the missile boats were rearmed and free of the Fleet Docks, Captain Franklin, operating within his discretion, orders three of his four missile boat groups to advance to the jump point to the Houston system and to jump out. Once there, they will set up a defensive position that will allow them to engage any approaching Dregluk ships at the maximum range of their Bludgeon missiles.
Four hours and forty-five minutes later the missile boats transit into the Houston system. Their sensors confirm the presence of the Dregluk settlement on the third planet soon after entering the system. No other ships are detected. Two hours later the missile boat’s computers are able to determine that a second jump point and gate exists in the system, 320 mkm’s out-system of their current location.
November 25, 2142, Baton Rouge system
The 1st Fleet arrives at the jump point, along with its towed pods. With the exception of the fleet’s UNREP ship, which is still twelve days behind them, and a brand-new scout dispatched from the Solar System, the fleet is assembled. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet to advance to the Houston system.
Several hours later the scout Kit Carson arrives in Houston and joins the missile boats on the jump point. Its sensitive thermal sensors immediately pick up the smaller Dregluk outpost on the fourth planet.
One hour later the fleet is in place on the jump point in the Houston system, and the support ships are assembled on the far side of the jump point, out of harm’s way. It is time to begin the conquest of the Houston system. The two Dregluk settlements or outposts were on the two most Earth-like planets in the system. The larger settlement was on a smaller planet with just 24% of Earth’s gravity and a trace atmosphere. The planet did have a congenial temperature, with the planetary average being 6.8 degrees. The smaller outpost was on the fourth planet. This planet was very close to Earth’s size and gravity, and had an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with a pressure almost exactly that of Earth. The similarities ended there, though. The planet’s average temperature was a chilly -62.6 degrees, making it too cold for immediate colonization.
No orbital defenses or PDC’s had been observed during the previous mission. Fleet Intelligence had been unable to determine the level of defenses present on either of the Dregluk colonies. Therefore, the first step in Admiral Wallace’s plan was to secure a base of operations in the system. During the planning phase, Admiral Wallace had chosen the second moon of the fourth planet as the best location for their base. The moon orbited the fourth planet at almost five hundred thousand kilometers, giving it a defensible space should the Dregluk have unexpected defenses on the planet, but was close enough to the smaller colony, which was their first target, to make travel times a minimal concern.
The 1st Fleet set out for the moon, its sensors probing ahead for defenses or anything that might cause them a problem. As the fleet approaches the fourth planet its EM sensors detect a Dregluk small ground force present on the planet. There is no sign of defenses on the colony capable of interfering with the fleet as it enters orbit over the chosen moon and the pods detach.
With security established, Admiral Wallace orders her support units to enter the Houston system and begin unloading their troops and supplies at the new base. The orders are relayed by the units waiting at the jump point.
One day later, with matters well in hand, Admiral Wallace dispatches her three HuK’s, along with a frigate escort, to probe the newly discovered jump point approximately 250 mkm’s out-system of the fourth planet’s orbit.
With the troop transports twelve hours out, Admiral Wallace and her staff have begun preparations for the planned landing on the fourth planet. Before the transports arrive, though, a message from the Admiralty is relayed through the jump point to the command ship. The message has the highest priority, and will change the course of the campaign.
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November 23, 2142, Earth
(Two days before Admiral Wallace is preparing to launch her ground assault)
“Well, that’s it.” A funereal pallor hung over the room, a feeling of helplessness that only grew with time, not diminished.
Joe Foster stirred at his desk. He looked wrung out, his clothes rumpled and his eyes bloodshot. He looked at his chief of staff and nodded. “Yes, that’s it. They are voting now. We’ve done all that can be done.” He slumped in his chair, obviously exhausted. After a minute he stirred again. “Do you think that we did it?”
Julie Moreno, Consul Foster’s long-time chief of staff, stared at him for a few long seconds before shaking her head. “No, we didn’t even come close. Of course, the Human Purity Party is against us, one and all, but we knew that going in. It took me until today, though, to ferret out the fact that Senator Blake and his conservatives will almost certainly vote against us as well.”
“He’s a fool if he thinks that he will get a better deal from the Purity Party.”
Moreno shook her head. “He knows he can get a better deal. At least for now. Tomorrow is another day, but for today they’ve got the deal that they wanted. That’s not the real problem though. With the independents and the minor parties slewing our direction, all we had to do was keep our own coalition together, and we couldn’t. That’s what I’ve been trying to warn you about for weeks. Too many of our own people have been getting pressure from their own districts, and passing it on to us. And we haven’t been answering them. I’ve been afraid of this for a while.” She slumped down, a picture of misery. “I warned you, but you didn’t listen.”
Foster shook his head. “I listened. I just couldn’t do what they wanted. I just couldn’t.”
The honest anguish in his voice brought her head up, her gaze sharpening. “I know,” she said softly. She hesitated, but then went on. “Is this better, though? When the Motion of No Confidence passes, and it will, you will be out, completely out. You won’t be able to moderate them then. If you had acceded to their demands you would have stayed in power and maybe you’d have been able to do something about their plans.”
Consul Foster shook his head. “That’s not the way it would work. You know what they want. They want to eliminate the Dregluk. All of them. They don’t want them conquered, they want them gone. All of them, forever. There is no compromise there. If I don’t give the order, exactly the way they want, they will call for a no confidence vote anyway. And if I do…well then, if I do, then I’ve given up on everything I’ve stood for this entire time. None of my supporters will ever trust me again, not after that.” He stopped, a lost look on his face. He looked up at his chief of staff, his long-time friend, with such a look of hopelessness that she quailed inside. “And anyway…I can’t. I just can’t.” He shook his head, rallying. “It’s wrong. The Dregluk Imperium has to be stopped. They can’t ever be allowed to do what they did to us, or anyone else, again. But if we take this route, Senator Young’s route, then we will never be able to wash this stain off of us. Ever. It’s an irrevocable act. It’s the easy way out. We have to do the harder thing. We have to!”
Moreno smiled sadly. “You realize that it’s not just Senator Young’s way, right? She’s got the majority of the people behind her too. That’s why they are going to win this vote. This isn’t just them. This is what the people want, too. They’ve suffered too much, lost too many people close to them, to ever take a chance that this will happen again.”
Foster shook his head. “I know. Believe me, after fighting this particular battle for the last several years, I know. Don’t you see, though, that’s what makes this even more important. Yes, the people do think that they want this, and for now, at least, they do. But once it’s done it’s done, and we can’t take it back. They will come to regret this day somewhere down the line. Not tomorrow, or even next year. But in a decade, or several decades, they will look back on today and say – this was the day where we went wrong. Where we left our ideals, our idea of who we wanted to be, behind and became something monstrous. And they will want to take it back, but they won’t be able to. It will be too late then. I had to fight. To stand up for who we want to be as a race, or it isn’t worth it. We aren’t worth it. I think that that’s what the people need in a leader, someone who will lead them away from what they think they want, to what they need. Lauren Young is going to give them what they want, but they’ll regret it, most of them. She will too, I bet.”
Moreno shook her head. If only they could see the Consul now, his with his soul bared, and hear his words. It might have made a difference, but that wasn’t the way politics worked.
Their wait wasn’t long. The Senate had voted, and the motion had passed. Consul Foster stepped down as Consul that afternoon. Senator Young, as the leader of the coalition that brought the no confidence motion, was asked by the President of the Senate to form a new government. Her first action, as Consul, was to ask for the resignation of Admiral Law, a move expected by most as Admiral Law was a close associate and long-time supporter of Consul Foster. Her next action was to dispatch a set of new orders to Admiral Wallace in the Houston system.
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(https://i.imgur.com/BOdh7Zy.jpg)
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November 26, 2142, Houston system
Admiral Wallace looked at the small picture in her hand before returning it to her pocket. Then she looked around the command deck at her assembled staff. All of her ship commanders and their officers were watching via holo pickups. It was time. “Officers of the Republic! There was a vote of no confidence in the Senate yesterday and Consul Foster and his administration lost. Consul Foster resigned yesterday evening, and Senator Lauren Young will be the new Consul. While a Senator, Consul Young served on the Naval Oversight Committee in the Senate and has been deeply involved in many naval programs, so she is fully aware of our presence here, and our mission. One of her first acts as Consul was to send us a message confirming her support of the fleet and our mission here. However, she has fundamental differences with Consul Foster as to the manner in which this war will be waged. Consul Foster believed that the Dregluk should be shown mercy.” The ship’s command deck was as silent as a tomb as everyone leaned forward to hear what the Admiral had to say. “Therefore, Consul Foster’s plan to attack the Dregluk involved our forces taking a greater risk to avoid ‘excessive’ damage to Dregluk populations.” She paused and looked around the command deck, looking into each of her subordinate’s eyes, and into the holo pickups. “Consul Young does not share this same belief.”
At this simple statement the officers assembled on the command deck began cheering. Admiral Wallace was gratified as the cheering quickly spread throughout the fleet. While Consul Foster’s policies in regards to the Dregluk were unpopular, his personal popularity was high, and he was revered by most in the Fleet. She had been worried about how her crews might take the news that he had stepped down, but the cheers reassured her that there wasn’t going to be a problem. She let the cheering continue for a minute or so before holding up her hands for quiet. “Therefore, Consul Young has ordered me to reduce all Dregluk defensive positions with orbital bombardment, disregarding any collateral damage to Dregluk civilian populations.” Once again there were cheers from the assembled officers, and again Admiral Wallace let them vent for a minute or so before calling for silence. “In addition, I am authorized to eliminate any Dregluk population we encounter, unless, in my sole judgement, they are necessary to our mission for intelligence purposes.” This time the assembled officers fell silent, absorbing the fact that Admiral Wallace had effectively been given the power of life and death over the Dregluk.
Admiral Wallace watched her officers carefully, and she could see their growing approval of her orders, even if it wasn’t the enthusiastic joy they had shown earlier. “Let’s get back to work people! We’ve got a job to do.” She made a gesture at her comms officer and the holo pickups were shut down. She walked over to Lt. Dressler. “Pam, let the unit commanders know I want a conference in five minutes.”
The comms officer nodded and got to work as Admiral Wallace walked back to her office to prepare. Five minutes later she was facing her ship commanders in a virtual conference room. She nodded at them to signal that they were starting, and once they had all quieted down, she began. “As you heard, the new Consul has given me the authority to reduce Dregluk defenses with orbital bombardment. Therefore, before the Marines land on Dregluk Bravo, the Essex will target the Dregluk ground forces and eliminate them.”
Rear Admiral Bradshaw, the CO of the Essex, stiffened, but then nodded. He was a close supporter of Admiral law, and therefore by extension of the former Consul as well, but this was a legal order and the Dregluk ground forces were a legitimate target. “Yes, ma’am. We will be ready to engage the target at your command.”
“Very well. After this conference I will coordinate with you and your weapons officer. Once the bombardment by the Essex is complete, the Marines will land and secure Dregluk Bravo. Once Bravo is secure, we will turn to Dregluk Alpha.”
Thirty minutes later Admiral Bradshaw’s assault cruiser launched fifteen Bludgeon IV missiles as the Dregluk ground unit defending Dregluk Bravo. Seconds later the missiles eliminated the target, and caused considerable collateral damage to the colony and to the planet. Shortly thereafter, Marines began landing on the planet. Admiral Wallace dispatched the Essex back to Bastion to rearm, as the assault ship was too large to squeeze into a Fleet Dock. The fact that she had managed to send Admiral Bradshaw, a friend and confidant of Admiral Law, back to Bastion was lost on no one.
November 27, 2142, Houston system
The 1st Fleet’s three HuK’s were lined up in front of the unexplored jump point with five frigates close behind them. At the signal from the lead ship they plunged through the jump point and appeared in a star system with a G2-V primary. Their entry point was 1.46 billion kilometers from the system primary.
On board the Assistance, alarms began ringing immediately after the ship entered the new system. The ship’s thermal sensors detected a Dregluk ship of an unknown type and class approximately 295 mkm’s in-system of their position. Even more interesting was a massive thermal signature emanating from a large moon of the innermost planet, a massive gas giant approximately the same size as Jupiter.
As the Rear Admiral Chan got his squadron organized after the transit, he asked for a full analysis of the inhabited moon. The results were forthcoming fairly quickly. The moon had a diameter of 5,800 kilometers, putting it between Mars and Mercury in size. It had an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere that, at 35% of the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, was just a bit too thin and oxygen poor for humans to breathe. The planet was slightly too warm for human habitation as well. The population’s EM signature was approximately 50% higher than that of Earth, indicating that this was a major population center.
After two minutes in-system, the HuK’s thermal sensors stabilized and resolved the original contact into five units of the unknown class, along with two Demon class CA’s. The unknowns were moving away from the jump point at an alarming 10,471 km/s, while the Demon class cruisers were stationary. At this point Admiral Chan dispatches one of the frigates back to the Houston system to report their discovery. The new system is designated the Austin system. As the frigate jumps out the two Demon class cruisers stir, and begin heading towards the human ships on the jump point. The new Dregluk ships are code named Peregrine, in honor of their speed.
Three hours later the two Lake class ASM frigates assigned to Admiral Chan’s task group opened fire, each launching its twenty-five Thunderbolt IV ASM’s at its assigned cruiser. Just over an hour later the ASM’s intercepted their targets. One of the cruisers managed to shoot down four of the incoming missiles, the other two. The rest hit their targets causing multiple hull breaches, but the tough ships continued on towards the jump point. Neither suffered the massive internal explosions that crippled and destroyed so many Dregluk ships in the past. Admiral Chan dispatched the two Lake class frigates back to the Houston system. Reinforcements were already on their way, but it would take many hours before they could arrive. Fortunately, the missile boats dispatched from the other jump point in the Houston system would arrive before the Dregluk cruisers, by several hours. With reinforcements on their way, there was no sense in suffering through a missile attack that his HuK’s wouldn’t be able to respond to. It would take the cruisers eleven hours and forty-five minutes to reach the jump point at their current rate of speed. Admiral Chan intended to return before they could reach the jump point.
Nine hours and fifteen minutes later Admiral Chan and his ships jumped back into the Austin system, accompanied by the twenty-two missile boats of the 1st and 2nd Missile Groups. As expected, the two Dregluk cruisers were just 44 mkm’s away and closing on the jump point. In addition, the five very fast Dregluk ships last seen retreating from the jump point were now 130 mkm’s away and closing. Shortly after the human ships jumped in the faster Dregluk ships turned away from the jump point, but the cruisers continued to close.
It took over two minutes before one of the scout missile boats managed to get its active sensors online and for the first time the Republic ships got a look at the five very fast Dregluk ships approaching their location. They were all destroyer sized (9,550 tons), making them formidable opponents that could chase down any Republican warship in existence.
The first two missile boats to recover from transit effects each launched their Bludgeon IV missiles at the approaching cruisers, as the nearest and most immediate threats. With those missiles away, the missile boats begin launching against the retreating Peregrine class DD’s as well.
Approximately sixteen minutes later forty-two Dregluk ASM’s were detected closing on the fleet. Brooklyn class anti-missile frigates began launching Aegis VI AMM’s at the incoming missiles as the fleet prepared for attack. The fleet’s own missiles were closing on the Dregluk cruisers, but still needed four and a half minutes to reach the fleeing cruisers. Soon a second salvo of forty-two missiles was detected, and another behind that. Missiles continued to spill from the defensive frigates. The Aegis VI’s stopped nearly every incoming missile short of the fleet, with only a relative few penetrating the AMM shield. The few penetrators were stopped by the HuK’s gauss cannons. As always, though, the weakness of the Brooklyn class frigates is in their small magazine capacity. The human fleet had to bore their way through nine salvoes from the cruisers before their missiles finally caught the retreating Dregluk ships. One of the cruisers stops one of the Bludgeon missiles before it hits, but is overwhelmed by the remaining five, suffering several internal explosions and is left a drifting wreck. The other cruiser stops five of the six Bludgeon missiles targeted on it, and apparently suffers no additional damage from the last missile.
In response, a missile boat launches another six ASM’s at the fleeing cruiser. Having lost their targeting lock, half of the incoming Dregluk missiles self-destruct before they reach the human ships. The attack peters out shortly thereafter. Twenty-four minutes later the second salvo of Bludgeon ASM’s reaches the last Dregluk cruiser and wipes it from space. A few minutes after that the ASM’s reach the running Dregluk Peregrines and their armor proves to be too thin for them to withstand more than a few hits by the big human missiles. All five are destroyed in short order.
With the immediate threat gone, Admiral Chan dispatches the 1st LR Missile Group back to the new base in the Houston system to rearm, and requests reinforcements for his squadron.
The two Lake class frigates that expended their missiles at the two Dregluk cruisers are the first to arrive at the new base in the Houston system, and they immediately enter two of the four Fleet Docks orbiting the base so that their box launchers can be refurbished and rearmed.
Several hours later the Kit Carson joined Admiral Chan’s squadron on the jump point in the Austin system, and its exquisitely sensitive sensors picked up several new Dregluk populations scattered around the system along with five Dregluk ships in the inner system. Four of the new contacts were unknown types, with thermal signatures significantly higher than even a Dregluk battleships, while the fifth contact was a Mammoth class battleship. The new contacts are heading across the system, not towards the human ships, and, disturbingly, the unknown ship types are moving at the standard Dregluk warship speed of 4,607 km/s.
November 29, 2142, 0507 hours, Houston System
The 1st LR Missile Group arrives over the new base to find the Fleet Docks ready to receive them. The missile boats immediately enter the Docks to rearm their box launchers. In a few hours their magazines were reloaded and their box launchers were serviced and ready for their next engagement. Rearmed, the 1st LR Missile Group set out for the jump point to Austin.
On board her command ship, Admiral Wallace is ecstatic about the discovery in the Austin system. The population on the moon of the innermost planet is huge, and the planet itself has an environment that is perfect for the known characteristics of the Dregluk, meaning that this population is either their home world or is a very old colony that has been terraformed to be suited for their race. For a brief period, Admiral Wallace and her senior officers debate changing their operational plan to attack the potential Dregluk home world directly, but Admiral Wallace decides to stick with the current plan and secure Houston first. This will allow her fleet’s scouts to examine the Austin system more closely, and allow her to plan a future attack with better information.
November 30, 2142, Houston System, Dregluk Bravo
The bombardment from the Essex had completely destroyed the Dregluk ground defenses, which were estimated to have been present at battalion strength. Radiation from the bombardment lingered, and would for some time, along with the dust that had been thrown into the atmosphere, although both were present at levels far below those that still prevailed on Earth. The Marines had little to do aside from securing the Dregluk outpost, which was discovered to be a mining facility with nineteen surviving civilian mining units.
With the outpost secure, Admiral Wallace ordered the Marines to board their transports. Two battalions would be left behind to secure the outpost, while the remainder would set out for Dregluk Alpha.
At 0952 hours on the 30th, alarms began sounding on Admiral Chan’s ships in the Austin system. To the shock of Admiral Chan’s officers, a massive force of small Dregluk ships had appeared just 138 mkm’s from their position at the jump point. This force, composed of forty-nine ships, appeared on the Carson’s thermal sensors only, in spite of the fact that they were well within active sensor range of the ships on the jump point. Information continued to come in as Admiral Chan organized his force to meet this threat. The new contacts were moving towards the human force at 10,525 km/s, and were either cloaked against active sensors or were too small for the human ship’s sensors to acquire them. Admiral Chan decided to allow the Dregluk ships to close, in the hopes that his sensor and fire control systems would acquire them before the Dregluk ships were able to launch whatever weapons they carried.
The minutes passed slowly as the human ships watched the Dregluk fleet approach. As the first hour passed with the Dregluk ships getting closer and closer and no sign that the human sensors were going to be able to acquire them, Admiral Chan began wondering if he should retreat through the jump point and engage them when they came through. As tempting as that was, though, he was reluctant to give up his position in the Austin system. If the Dregluk ships declined to advance through the jump point and instead invested this side, his fleet would pay a steep price to force their way back into the Austin system. He decided to wait, at least until the Dregluk ships launched a weapon. If they were beam-armed, then his anti-missile sensors would acquire them long before they got into range of their own weapons, although how his fire control systems would handle the tiny ships was completely different issue.
When the incoming Dregluk ships reached 38 mkm’s they activated their sensors, which appeared to have a range of 33.6 mkm’s. When the Dregluk force reached 34 mkm’s it split, leaving twelve ships behind, stationary, while the remainder continued on towards the human force.
At 1250 hours, the human force on the jump point was confronted by a massive wave of missiles which appeared at 4.7 mkm’s from the jump point. The missile wave was composed of just over seven hundred missiles. Admiral Chan ordered the Scout Carson to jump out as his anti-missile frigates, reinforced by two newly arrived frigates, began preparing to defend the fleet. Unfortunately, the incoming missile wave is composed of missiles just as small as the ships that carried them, and as the incoming missile wave reaches 3 mkm’s from the fleet without his defensive ships being able to launch, Admiral Chan realizes he is in trouble. At this point he orders the rest of his fleet to transit out to escape from the approaching missile wave. Unfortunately, it is going to take some time to get his fleet organized and through the jump point, so it is a race. When the Carson jumped out, the remaining fleet units lost contact with the incoming missile wave, but Admiral Chan knew it was still there. One by one the human ships slipped away, with the last being the missile boats of the 2nd LR Missile Group. Their crews let out a sigh of relief when they finally jumped out. They couldn’t see the Dregluk missiles racing towards their thin hulls, but they knew that they were there.
Thirteen minutes after the last ship successfully retreated to the Houston system, Admiral Chan ordered his fleet to jump back to the Austin system. His warships found the area around the jump point clear, but the active sensors belonging to six of the tiny Dregluk ships were hovering about 36 mkm’s out. With the immediate area around the jump point clear Admiral Chan sent one of the frigates back to Houston to bring the Carson forward. When the Carson arrived, it confirmed that the rest of the small Dregluk ships were sitting 36 mkm’s away from the jump point. Admiral Chan had no interest in sending his HuK’s out to engage the small Dregluk ships, as they were faster than even his HuK’s and, if they had any missiles left, would be able to overwhelm his HuK’s before they could close. He decided to sit on the jump point and wait.
Fifteen minutes later seventeen missiles appeared on the Carson’s thermal sensors. The AMM frigates were finally able to lock up the incoming missiles at 1.6 mkm’s and Aegis VI’s began spilling into space. All of the incoming missiles were stopped short of the fleet, and by that time all of the Dregluk ships were retreating, although some only retreated a few mkm’s and then halted.
Just over three hours later another wave of missiles was detected inbound. Soon there were several waves of missiles in-bound, although none were as big as the one that chased them out of the system before. Still, Admiral Chan had no interest in suffering through a missile attack to which he could not reply. Even as Aegis VI’s raced away from his AMM frigates, he ordered the Kit Carson and the LR Missile Group to jump back to Houston. By the time the scout and the missile boats retreated from the system, the incoming missiles had been dealt with. Admiral Chan then ordered his squadron to jump out. They would mount a defense on the far side of the jump point. If the small Dregluk ships tried to jump into the system they would appear on top of his ships sitting at the jump point, and his ships would be able to target them with their missiles and lasers. And that would be the end of the Dregluk attack ships.
Sol System, Earth
Admiral Wallace’s reports concerning the new Dregluk attack ships which were too small to be targeted by any of the fleet’s weapons systems, had made their way back to the Admiralty. A crash research program was initiated to develop sensors and targeting systems capable of dealing with the tiny ships.
Meanwhile, in the Houston system…
1st Fleet Disposition:
December 1, 2142, Houston System
Republican Fleet Dispositions, Houston System
1st Fleet, CO Admiral Freya Wallace
Task Group 1.1, CO Captain Harvey Webster
Stationed at the Forward Base, Moon #2, Planet #4
Planet class BC: Mars
Essex class Assault Ships: Ark Royal, Prince of Wales, Yamato
Lake class ASM Frigates: Malawi, Sacramento, Singapore, Tanganyika, Vladivostok
Brooklyn class AMM Frigates: Lima, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo
Task Group 1.2, CO Rear Admiral Robert Chan
Stationed at the jump point to the Austin System
Enterprise class Hunter-Killer: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
Lake class ASM Frigates: Baikai, Erie, Huron, Ladoga
Brooklyn class AMM Frigates: Boston, Cairo, Chongqing
1st Fleet Scouting Group, CO Lt. Commander David Faulkner
Stationed at the Forward Base, Moon #2, Planet #4
Far Seer class Scout Kit Carson
1st LR Missile Group, CO Captain George Franklin
Stationed at the Forward Base, Moon #2, Planet #4
10xMissile Boat
1xMissile Boat Leader
2nd LR Missile Group, CO Lt. Commander Conor Turner
Stationed at the jump point to the Austin System
10xMissile Boat
1xMissile Boat Leader
3rd LR Missile Group, CO Lt. Commander Kai Hayward
Stationed at the jump point to the Baton Rouge System
9xMissile Boat
1xMissile Boat Leader
Troop Transport Group
Stationed at the Forward Base, Moon #2, Planet #4
2xAssault Transport class: Normandy, Anzio
Embarked: 10 battalions Marine Raiders, 3 Brigade HQ’s, 4 replacement battalions
1st Fleet, Forward Deployed Pods
Stationed at the Forward Base, Moon #2, Planet #4
16xASM Pod
6xAAM Pod
2xSensor Pod
Admiral Wallace peered at the system display, satisfied with the disposition of her fleet, at least for now. Both jump points into the system were covered, and her transports were loaded and ready to commence the operation against Dregluk Alpha. There was one further detail that had to be taken care of, though. She left the flag bridge and walked the short distance to her office. Once there she activated her desk display and sent a comm request to Captain Franklin, commanding officer of the 1st Long Range Missile Group, specifying that she wanted a private conversation. A few seconds later the aristocratic features of the missile boat commander appeared on her screen. As requested, he was in his quarters, and she could see that he was alone. “Admiral.”
“George, we are nearly ready to start operations against Dregluk Alpha. I have decided to assign your group to bombard the planet to eliminate any ground defenses.”
Captain Franklin looked surprised. “I had assumed you’d give that honor to one of the assault ships.”
Admiral Wallace started to relax. She had feared that some of her officers would prove to be reticent to follow her orders to bombard the Dregluk populations, following the example set by former Consul Foster. Franklin obviously wouldn’t be a problem. “No, that would be a mistake. I had to send the Essex all the way back to Bastion to rearm, she’s too big for one of the Docks. I don’t want to have to send any of the others back. Fortunately, your boats can fit in the Docks just fine.”
“We’ll be honored to strike back at those bastards, Ma’am. There will be some happy boys and girls on my boats when they hear this order!”
“That’s not all, Captain. Before we break orbit, I want you to report to the Munitions Depot at the Forward Base and draw munitions for your boats.”
“But Ma’am, we’ve…”
Admiral Wallace waived his objection away. “Yes, I know your boats are loaded. I want you to land fifty of your Bludgeon ASM’s and replace them with SM-2 PLAM’s.”
Captain Franklin frowned in thought. “SM-2, now where have I heard that? SM-2? Wait, Special Munitions? So, the rumors are true?”
Admiral Wallace watched Captain Franklin reason it through, curious to see how he would come down on the issue. “Yes, the rumors are true. Some time ago, the War Faction in the Senate authorized the development of special munitions to bombard Dregluk planetary populations. These munitions are designed to limit collateral damage, but will release immense amounts of radiation into the target planet’s atmosphere and environment. This project remained a Senatorial Secret, until the elevation of Consul Young. She has authorized their use in general, with authorization delegated to the senior-most fleet officer on scene. She has specifically authorized their use against Dregluk Alpha. I will have my staff forward these authorizations to you.”
Captain Franklin stood from behind his desk and saluted, a big grin on his face. “Orders received and understood, Ma’am. We will begin loading immediately.”
“Very well. Report your loading status in one hour. I will then give you authorization to launch. Admiral Wallace out.” She closed the comm window and sat back in her chair in satisfaction. The first step in the tidal wave of death that she intended to bring to the Dregluk was almost ready.
One hour later, everything was in readiness. Admiral Wallace, on her flag bridge, opened a communications window to Captain Franklin. “Captain Franklin, what is your status?”
Captain Franklin’s smiling visage appeared on the display at the head of the command deck. “All munitions are loaded. My squadron is ready to launch at your command.”
The flag bridge had fallen silent as the import of the Captain’s words were absorbed by the crew. “Very well, Captain, you may open fire using targeting plan Alpha-1.”
Captain Franklin’s eyes flickered down to his display, where he saw targeting plan Alpha-1 appear as it was transmitted by the Admiral’s staff. His gaze tightened when he saw the details, but then he smiled again. “The missiles are on their way, Admiral.” The comm link flickered off. Seconds later fifty SM-2 PLAM’s sped away from the missile boats, which then turned towards the Fleet Dock’s to rearm. Cheering broke out across the fleet as the missiles sped away towards the third planet. They would take two and a half hours to reach their targets. As they sped away, the fleet, including the two troop transports, left orbit and began following the missiles. It would take them much longer to arrive, of course.
Two and a half hours later the fifty missiles arrived over the Dregluk colony on the third planet. Without hesitation or opposition, the missiles plunged towards the planet. At the last second, they separated, each targeting a Dregluk population center. Brilliant explosions dotted the face of the planet. The explosions were comparatively small, compared to ship-busters, but each warhead was jacketed in materials that reduced the explosive effect but magnified the radiation produced. Thirty million Dregluk died immediately. When the human transport ships arrived, they found the Dregluk colony devastated and incapable of any resistance. Admiral Wallace decided to land two battalions of Marines to secure the colony. The remainder of the fleet returned to Forward Base with the troop transports.
December 3, 2142, Houston System
Marines were in place on both former Dregluk colonies, and the troop transports were headed back to Bastion to load more construction units and garrison troops. In addition, Naval Intelligence and Senatorial Investigators had been deployed to Dregluk Alpha to investigate the Dregluk colony and determine what its purpose was. Admiral Wallace was content as the system was secure, and was beginning to focus on the complexities involved in keeping her fleet functioning so far from home.
At 1429 hours, two Dregluk Vulture class DD’s jumped into the system from the Austin system. Admiral Chan’s force had been waiting for them on the jump point and swung into action immediately. Admiral Chan’s three HuK’s turned towards the intruders and their lasers swiveled to focus on the Dregluk ships as the Baikai and the Erie began setting up tracking solutions for their missiles.
The three veteran HuK’s were fast off the mark, firing almost as soon as the Dregluk DD’s appeared, heavily scoring the armor of the two DD’s. The Eire was right there with them as well, launching fifteen Thunderbolt IV missiles seconds after the Dregluk ships entered the system. The missiles savaged the Dregluk DD, but didn’t destroy it, so the Eire’s CO ordered a second salvo. The Eire got her second salvo off before the HuK’s recharged their lasers or the BaiKai managed to launch its first salvo.
The second salvo of missiles from the Eire ripped the Dregluk destroyer apart, leaving the wreckage drifting off of the jump point. The HuK’s, anticipating the Eire’s second salvo, had shifted their targeting to the second destroyer, and their 200mm lasers again scored her armor. The Baikai’s crew was still trying to get their salvo into space.
The Dregluk DD was moving away from the jump point as fast as it could, leaving the human ships, which hadn’t managed to get their engines online, behind. The HuK’s spinal lasers lashed out at the receding destroyer, causing several spurts of atmosphere, and then the Baikai launched fifteen Thunderbolt IV ASM’s at the Dregluk ship. The ASM’s savaged the fleeing ship, causing it falter and reduce its speed. By then the HuK’s had gotten underway, and they were much faster than the Dregluk ship. They caught up almost immediately and punched holes in its armor with their lasers over and over again, until it was a drifting hulk. Admiral Chan dispatches the Baikai and the Erie back to Forward Base to rearm.
December 8, 2142, Houston
The UNREP ship assigned to support the offensive arrives in the Houston system at 1259 hours and sets out for Forward Base. Once there it will unload 22.5 million liters of fuel at the base and then turn around and return home. The trip back to the Solar System will take the slow ship over two months.
December 11, 2142, Houston
The Kit Carson’s relief finally arrives in the Houston system. The scout Jim Bridger is an upgraded version of the Kit Carson. While it is every bit as stealthy as the Carson, it is 25% faster, bringing it up to fleet standard speed. In addition, the CIWS has been removed and replaced with additional engineering space and fuel, giving the ship a longer endurance and range. Lt. Commander Faulkner is ready to take his ship home. They have been scouting the Dregluk Imperium’s jump points and systems for almost fifteen months and his crew is ready to get some promised R&R on Mars, the garden-spot of the Solar System.
December 20, 2142, Houston system, jump point to Austin
Alarms began sounding shrilly on all of the ships at the jump point as four battleships jumped into the system. Three Mammoth class BB’s, each armed with numerous missile launchers, appeared on the jump point while a single Goliath class BB, equipped with a jump drive and missile launchers, appeared 204,000 kilometers away from the jump point.
The three HuK’s lashed out at the nearest battleships as their commanders tried to get their engines online. The Erie and the Huron launched their Thunderbolt IV ASM’s immediately after the BB’s entered, but the crews of the missile boats and the Baikai and Ladoga would take longer to launch.
The Thunderbolt missiles from the Eire and the Huron punch holes in the massive battleships they were targeted on, and one of the two BB’s suffers an internal explosion and is slowed. Admiral Chan, seeing the success that the Thunderbolt’s had against the Dregluk BB’s, changes his fire plan to hold the missile boats of the 2nd LR Missile Group in reserve, in case anything else comes through the jump point.
Ten seconds later the Ladoga and the Baikai get their missiles off, but the missile boats are still struggling to get their missiles away. Meanwhile, the HuK’s, still stationary on the jump point, score the battleship’s thick armor with their lasers. Over the next ten seconds two of the Dregluk BB’s are savaged by the Thunderbolt ASM’s, and again one of the BB’s was slowed. Then, two things happened nearly simultaneously. The missile boats of the 1st LR Missile Group launched their Bludgeon IV’s at the BB’s, and at least one of the Dregluk ships managed to fire back. Aegis VI AMM’s began spilling into space in the explosion-wracked area around the jump point. The Aegis VI’s did their job and protected the Republican ships as the Bludgeon ASM’s ripped into the Dregluk ships. Two of the massive Mammoth class battleships were wracked by internal explosions and literally fell apart as the missiles pounded them, while the third suffered serious internal damage and was slowed to a crawl.
The Goliath class BB was next, and it was staggered by the onslaught of Bludgeon ASM’s, while the last remaining Mammoth class BB succumbed to Bludgeon missiles that had lost their original target and had re-acquired it as it staggered away from the first attack. That left six Bludgeon IV ASM’s that had lost their original target homing in on the Goliath class BB, which was the last ship left in the attack force.
The HuK’s continued to pursue the last battleship, pounding it with their lasers, as the last six Bludgeon missiles closed in. The desperate Dregluk ship managed to kill two of the six Bludgeon’s as they closed to point blank range, but then the four missiles wiped the crippled ship out, ending the attack a mere fifty seconds after it started. Admiral Chan recalled the HuK’s to the jump point, and dispatched his ASM frigates and the 1st LR Missile Group back to Forward Base to rearm.
-
The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2142
Earth:
Population: 2.884 Billion (-12%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 6/18
Industrial Facilities (All): 10,508 (-6%)
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -6.46 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 18% drop in industrial efficiency.
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -3.10%.
Earth is currently has a massive worker shortage, caused in part by the continuing population decline from radiation and exacerbated by the Republic’s ongoing efforts to relocate as many people as possible. The entire fuel refinery industry was shut down years ago, which put off the effects of impending worker shortages, and the transfer of the military shipyards to Mars helped as well. For most of this past year the Republic has devoted the bulk of its industry on Earth to converting mines to automation to reduce demand for workers in that industry, but due to worker shortages and the ongoing need for construction capacity to be devoted to military efforts progress has been slow. Planned transfers of industrial complexes to other human populations throughout the Solar System have helped with the worker shortage, but has not eliminated it, especially as population transfers continue.
Morale on Earth has soared with the continued success of Admiral Wallace’s campaign.
Luna:
Population: 133.89 million (177% increase)
Mines: 317 (no change)
Automated Mines: 155 (no change)
Financial Centers: 310 (all transferred from Earth this year)
Construction Factories: 60
Luna’s population continues to be bolstered by people trying to escape from the increasingly fervent anti-alien attitudes of the masses on Earth and Mars. The Lunar colonies were bombarded just as hard as the Earth was, and the Lunar surface is heavily irradiated, meaning that only the most desperate to escape the increasing fervor for war and anti-alien sentiment on Earth relocate to the Moon.
In the aftermath of his resignation from government, former Consul Foster has moved to the Montes Carpatus colony on the Moon, and has become something of a local hero.
Mars:
Population: 600.1 million (+36%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 15/56
Maintenance Facilities: 140
Construction Factories: 230 (+2 change)
Ordnance Factories: 343 (+64 change this year)
Financial Centers: 160 (I gamemastered this transfer as there is currently no way to do it in the game)
The largest single employer on Mars continues to be the Republic Naval Yards, employing over fifty-five million Martian residents. The Martians are fervent supporters of the Republic’s war effort, and almost twenty percent of the Martian population is directly employed by the military or the military-industrial complex. The bulk of the rest of the population is indirectly involved in the war effort as well.
Ganymede:
Population: 53.9 million (+120%)
Construction Factories: 233 (123 transferred this year)
Mines: 108 (no change)
Automated Mines: 168 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 54 (all transferred this year)
Shipyards/Slipways: 2/8
The terraforming fleet continues to significantly increase the average temperature on Ganymede, reducing the colony’s dependence on infrastructure to support its population. As the terraforming project continues, the Republic’s BuReLoc has shifted its focus from Mars to the Ganymede colony.
The Republic has begun the process of relocating the civilian shipyards from Earth to Ganymede in an attempt to reduce the worker shortage on Earth. A third yard is in transit to Ganymede and will arrive in two weeks. Terraforming is progressing as well, and is projected to be complete in mid to late 2143. Lunar representatives are already lobbying in the Senate to make their home the next target for terraforming, although there is considerable resistance from competing interests.
Bastion:
Population: 10.21 million (+81%)
Construction Factories: 38 (All transferred this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 138 (56 transferred in this year)
Bastion is the leading edge of the Republic, and the first line of defense against continued Dregluk depredations. The entire population is devoted to supporting the fortress complex that is the colony’s reason for existence.
There is some talk of reassigning the Terraforming ships to Bastion when they complete their efforts at Ganymede, as Bastion already has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and temperate climate. The atmosphere is too thin to breathe without technological assistance, though.
Venus:
Automated Mines: 741 (no change)
Wolf-Harrington (Comet):
Automated Mines: 111 (no change)
This mining outpost is slated to be shut down in two years when the last of the resources present on the comet have been mined out.
Whipple (Comet):
Automated Mines: 50 (no change)
Swift-Tuttle (Comet):
Automated Mines: 25 (no change)
Puck (Moon of Uranus):
This outpost is intended solely as a fuel dump for the refineries working in Uranus orbit. Currently the fuel dump is empty, as ongoing fleet operations in and around the Washington system have drained all available fuel. While there are considerable reserves on Earth and Mars, the fuel refineries in orbit over Uranus constitute the Republic’s entire fuel refinery capability as the ground-based refineries on Earth have been shut down due to worker and financial shortages, a situation that is unlikely to change at any point in the near or medium future.
Philadelphia Research Project:
Located in the Philadelphia system, on the innermost planet, the Project is devoted to unlocking the secrets of the pristine alien city located here. A xeno-archeology team has been deployed to the planet for some time, but has had little success in investigating the alien structures. The Senate has sent two audit teams over the last year, in an attempt to determine if the team is being poorly led or is incompetent, or merely needs more support. Unfortunately, both teams determined that the xeno-archeology team, led by Rear Admiral Isobel Bevan, is operating well under difficult conditions, and will just require more time. To ensure that the team gets the support it needs, the Senate appointed Thomas Finch as civilian overseer for the project. Mr. Finch was chief advisor to the Governor of Earth, and has significant education and training in xeno-archeology.
This lack of progress is frustrating to elements in the Republic’s government that see this planet, with its massive resource deposits a natural colony site for humanity’s first major out-system colony. Unfortunately, the planet possesses a thick atmosphere over three times as thick as Earth’s, meaning that the terraformers would have to spend several years reducing the atmospheric pressure before humans would be comfortable living there without significant infrastructure.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by maintaining fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
System Defense Command Emplacements
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 10 (+25% increase)
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 3 (200% increase)
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 10 (100% increase)
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 2
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 4 (100% increase)
Anti-Missile Bases (Meson): 3
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 3
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 9 (28% increase)
Anti-missile bases (Meson): 28 (280% increase)
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard all of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, the Denver system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility. Currently the Fleet has assigned a picket ship and a Fleet Scout to the system as an early warning tripwire.
The Republican Fleet
As more and more support vessels come online, the Fleet’s construction priorities are shifting to new-tech combat units such as the Fast Frigate and the new Star class Battleship.
Republic Home Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
Home Port: Mars
Planet class BCC: Jupiter, Venus
Brooklyn class AMM Frigates: Birmingham, Karachi, Mumbai
Lake class ASM Frigates: Balkhash, Victoria, Vostok, Winnipeg
16xLR Missile Boat
2xLR Missile Boat Leader
10xMissile Boat
Home Fleet Support Group
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-005
Hero class Fleet Dock: Sergio Ortega-Cortez, Surayya Medved
Home Fleet Pod Reserve (Earth)
34xMissile Pod
10xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
Home Fleet, Scout Group
Far Seer class Scout: Thomas Tobin, James Beckwourth
1st Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
Home Port: Bastion, Washington System
Planet class BC: Mars
Essex class Assault Ship: Essex, Ark Royal, Prince of Wales, Yamato
Enterprise class Hunter-Killer: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
Brooklyn class AMM Frigate: Lima, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Boston, Cairo, Chongqing, Delhi, Lagos
Lake class ASM Frigate: Sacramento, Singapore, Tanganyika, Vladivostok, Baikai, Eire, Huron, Ladoga, Michigan, Nairobi, Ontario
37xLR Missile Boat
4xLR Missile Boat Leader
19xMissile Boat
1st Fleet Support Group
Hero class Fleet Dock: Adela Sachs, Deborah Hasek, Judith Cole, Michael Bromley
Fleet Support class Munitions Ships: FS-001, FS-002, FS-003, FS-004, FS-005, FS-006
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-004
1st Fleet, Pod Group
21xASM Pod
12xAMM Pod
4xSensor Pod
1st Fleet, Scout Group
Far Seer class Scout: Kit Carson, Jim Bridger
Survey Command
Home Port: Mars
Administratively under Home Fleet
1xJump Survey Scout
3xGeoSurvey Ships
1st Survey Group
3xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
Survey Reserve (Earth)
2xJump Scout
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. To this end it has the following forces:
Sol System (stationed at Mars, or defending various jump points into Sol):
Saratoga R1 Monitor: Saratoga, Waterloo, Stalingrad, Tours, Hastings, Metaurus, Cajamarca
Washington System (stationed at Bastion or defending various jump points):
Saratoga r1 Monitor: Masada, Antietam, Huai Hai, Marathon
System Defense Force (Earth):
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Ships currently under construction (Mars):
4xStar class BB
1xEssex r2 Assault Ship
2xRefit Essex to Essex r2 Assault Ship
3xPlanet r2 class battlecruisers
2xDefender class Destroyers
1xBrooklyn(F) class Fast AMM Frigate
14xMB r3(LR)
5xPod (AMM)
9xPod (ASM)
1xHero class Fleet Docks
2xFar Seer r2 class Scout
1xRefit Far Seer to Far Seer r2 class Scout
1xFleet Support (Munitions)
3xDeep Space Survey ships
3xGeo Surveyors
1xConstruction Ship
-
Preliminary Report on Dregluk possessions seized in the Houston system
Release limited to Senate Committee on Dregluk Affairs
Compiled by Senatorial Investigations, Dregluk Branch
Dregluk Alpha
This Dregluk colony is located on the third planet of the Houston system. The planet has a diameter of 4,800 kilometers, approximately the size of Mercury. The planet possesses only a trace atmosphere with an effective pressure of 0, but has a congenial average temperature of 4 degrees. The planet is rated at a colony cost of 1.8 on the standard BuReLoc scale for Humans, and, interestingly, is also 1.8 for Dregluk. The environment necessitates the presence of large amounts of infrastructure to provide atmosphere and food for any significant population.
Orbital sensor analysis of the Dregluk colony prior to the bombardment and invasion established that the colony was composed of approximately 110 million Dregluk. There was little to no industrialization of the planet detected. Orbital surveys conducted by Republican forces prior to the bombardment were only able to identify several deep space tracking stations and a mass driver installation, leaving the intended purpose of this colony unknown.
Admiral Wallace’s forces employed SM-2 PLAM’s to destroy the planetary defenses prior to invasion. These special weapons directly killed approximately 30 million Dregluk during the bombardment, and caused massive radiation poisoning of the environment. This radiation poisoning is approximately four times worse than the current radiation levels on Earth, and it is estimated that this level of contamination will cause significant issues for the Dregluk population moving forward. Based on experience with Earth’s contamination, it is estimated that the Dregluk population will suffer from an approximate 15.33% negative population growth in the coming year. In addition, the dust thrown up into the atmosphere by the bombardment is expected to cause a global cooling of 2.77 degrees, although, given the generally congenial temperature of the planet this is not considered significant.
As a result of the bombardment, the Dregluk colony was incapable of resisting Admiral Wallace’s Marine force. The Dregluk colony effectively surrendered as soon as the Marines landed, however, it is not clear what if any civil organization they had. There are no surviving leaders of any type, civil, military, or industrial. While undoubtedly many died in the bombardment, it is unlikely that the bombardment killed every single leader, meaning it is likely that they suicided prior to the arrival of Admiral Wallace’s Marines. This is consistent with every group of Dregluk taken captive since the start of the war.
The initial survey of the colony’s resources and capabilities has raised more questions than it has answered. There are currently no mines, construction factories, or indeed any sort of facilities that would justify emplacing a colony here at great expense (given the massive amount of infrastructure needed to support a population in excess of 100 million). There are no mines present, and no indication that there ever were any mines. Neither is there any trans-Newtonian resources present, such as there would be if this location was being used as a trans-shipment point for mines elsewhere in the system. In short, there exists no evidence as to the purpose of this colony, and it is unlikely that such evidence was eliminated completely and totally either by the missing Dregluk leaders or by the bombardment.
There is an additional interesting fact that was discovered as this preliminary report was being put together. Pre-attack orbital surveys established that the Dregluk population was approximately 110 million. There is only enough infrastructure currently present on the planet to support 102 million. While it is likely that some of the infrastructure was destroyed by the bombardment, there are clear signs that the population had outgrown the infrastructure on the planet and indeed that it had a negative growth rate due to overcrowding.
Both our team and the Naval Intelligence Team will continue to work on Dregluk Alpha, and attempt to gain insight into the reasoning of the Dregluk Imperium for placing this colony.
Dregluk Bravo
This Dregluk outpost is located on the fourth planet of the Houston system. The planet has a diameter of 15,000 kilometers, approximately 17% larger than Earth. In spite of this the planet’s gravity is only slightly higher than Earth’s. The planet possesses an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with a pressure of 1.01, but is much colder than Earth with an average temperature of -62.6 degrees. The planet is rated at a colony cost of 1.97 on the standard BuReLoc scale for Humans, largely due to the temperature. The planet is rated at a colony cost of 3.66 for the Dregluk, both because of the temperature and because the atmosphere has too much oxygen.
Orbital surveys of the outpost prior to bombardment and invasion revealed that the Dregluk had a mining outpost here, with twenty-two mining complexes similar to our civilian mining facilities. There was no infrastructure or population, aside from limited caretakers for the facilities. There was a single battalion of Dregluk infantry deployed to this planet, presumably to secure the mining facilities.
Admiral Wallace’s pre-invasion bombardment was targeted on the Dregluk battalion, which was completely destroyed. In addition, the bombardment destroyed two of the mining facilities. Admiral Wallace’s Marines secured the mining facilities, and a stockpile of approximately 8,000 standard units of TN resources.
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Confidential
Eyes only: Consul
From: Admiral Freya Wallace, 1st Fleet
Forward Base, Houston System
Consul, both Dregluk Alpha and Dregluk Bravo are secure. My fleet is firmly in control of this system, and will we will be able to continue to control this system for some time. However, I anticipate encountering considerable difficulties in maintaining my fleet in such a forward position in the near future. My fleet has been deployed for approximately ten weeks. This is not a problem for the larger ships in the Fleet, however, for the frigates this will become a significant issue in a short period of time. The frigates make up a considerable portion of my firepower, both offensive and defensive, and I will have to start dispatching them back to Bastion in rotation for overhauls and crew R&R. This will continue until we establish a forward maintenance base in this system. This will weaken my fleet, making an attack on the major Dregluk population in the Austin system problematic.
As you know, I had proposed setting up a maintenance base at the Forward Base during the planning of this operation. Unfortunately, I was overruled by the Consul and Admiral Law, largely due to the associated costs. I was informed that the necessary maintenance facilities would have to be constructed, and that cargo capacity would have to be diverted to carry both the maintenance facilities and the infrastructure necessary to establish a colony here. Worse, BuReLoc colony transports would have to be diverted as well, removing them from their current assignment of relocating Earth’s population to safer environments.
While I understand that some of these conditions have not changed, I believe that you should re-examine this decision in light of the resources discovered here in the Houston system. Specifically, I’d like to call your attention to the large stockpile of infrastructure captured on Houston-A III, otherwise known as Dregluk Alpha. These infrastructure units could be relocated from Dregluk Alpha to Forward Base in a relatively short period of time, if sufficient cargo assets are deployed to this system. This would eliminate the need to haul the infrastructure from the Solar System to Houston. If construction begins on the maintenance facilities while the cargo assets are relocating the infrastructure, then, in a relatively short amount of time we will have the capability to maintain my fleet here, in this system, which would give us the unparalleled capability to continue to prosecute the war against the Dregluk.
This proposed relocation of the infrastructure would have the added benefit of inducing a rapid reduction in the Dregluk population on the planet without further action on our part. There is considerable evidence of the Dregluk Imperium’s mismanagement of the colony prior to our arrival, and this severe negative growth rate can be explained to the more sensitive elements of our population as a consequence of Dregluk mismanagement rather than our actions, if necessary.
Rear Admiral (Upper) Freya Wallace
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January 6, 2143, Houston System, Jump Point to Austin
A Dregluk Mammoth class battleship appears on the jump point. Four missile boats from the 1st LR Missile Group launch their Bludgeon IV ASM’s almost as soon as the battleship materializes in the system. The BB shoots down three incoming ASM’s with its CIW’s, but then dies under a deluge of massive explosions.
The four missile boats that expended their missile boxes set out for Forward Base to be rearmed by the Fleet Docks waiting there. This will require most of the remaining Bludgeon IV’s in the munition depot at Forward Base. Fortunately, there is a squadron of munitions ships two days out with their magazines packed with missiles to resupply the base.
January 11, 2143, Earth
Consul Young announces that she has awarded Rear Admiral Wallace a second Victory Medal for her actions in the Houston system. In addition, Consul Foster announces that the Admiralty has decided to promote Admiral Wallace to Vice Admiral, making her one of the highest ranked people in the Navy.
In other news, the Fast Cargo Group is dispatched to the Houston system with orders to report to Admiral Wallace for duties in that system.
Meanwhile, in the Houston System…
A Buzzard class DD appears on the jump point to the Austin system. Two missile boats launch their missiles shortly thereafter, completely destroying the Dregluk DD.
January 12, 2143, Sol
Development is complete on the Raptor ASUM. This new anti-small craft missile has an incredible speed of 100,000 km/s and a range of 51.7 mkm’s. The missile has a somewhat smaller warhead to make room for the much larger engines needed to give the missile its incredible speed. The missile is put into construction immediately.
January 16, 2143, Houston
A Buzzard class DD appears on the jump point to Austin. Two missile boats launch fifteen seconds after it enters, wiping it out.
January 21, 2143, Houston
The Advanced Cargo Group arrives in the Houston system. Admiral Wallace orders them to begin relocating the infrastructure from Dregluk Alpha to Forward Base.
February 30, 2143, Earth
The Advanced Colony Fleet loads 1.2 million colonists from Earth’s most deadly areas and then sets out for the jump point to the Washington system. They are bound for the Houston system, a twenty-day trip to a new colony where they will be integral in setting up a new maintenance base for the navy.
Late in the day a Mammoth class BB jumps into the Houston system. Four missile boats launch their missiles fifteen seconds after the battleship appeared. The Bludgeon ASM’s hit the Dregluk ship, causing a series of internal explosions, including two massive ones, that wrecked the big ship.
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February 23, 2143
From: Amos Trachtman
Senior Investigator, Senate Investigatory Team, Houston System
To: Anika Avasarala
Senator, Senior Member, Dregluk Affairs Committee
Classified: Top Secret, Need to Know
Senator, you have asked for my unfiltered impressions of the situation on Dregluk Alpha. That is easy enough; they are horrible. The planet was subjected to a concentrated bombardment by radiation-enhanced weapons, devastating the environment and causing a much more serious radiation situation than that faced by Earth during the worst of the Bombardment. Most of us at the time saw this as nothing more than a long-delayed payback to the same Dregluk that had despoiled Earth. No one feels that way now.
Once the bombardment was complete, Admiral Wallace invested the planet with the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Marine Raider Brigades. We all expected fanatical resistance, given the way the Dregluk fight in space, but that is not what the Marines found. I have spoken with several Marine small unit leaders in the time since the first drop, and what they found when they arrived at the remaining Dregluk population centers was abject surrender. It was puzzling, to say the least, given their prior dogged determination exhibited in every naval encounter.
During the next phase of the occupation, the Marines were replaced by garrison troops. This changeover was publicly reported. The occupation was justified to the public, which had been heavily in favor of orbital elimination of the Dregluk population, as necessary for military intelligence purposes. Several news teams were allowed to land on Dregluk Alpha and document the continuing radiation damage and the Dregluk population’s attempts to deal with the damage. The news teams visit was carefully managed by Naval Intelligence and Fleet Public Affairs, in order to maximize the beneficial effects that the bombardment of the Dregluk population would have on the citizens of the Republic.
After the news teams left Dregluk Alpha, Admiral Wallace ordered the transfer of the infrastructure that was keeping the Dregluk population alive to the new location for the Maintenance Base intended to support the continued operation of the Fleet. I believe the intention of this plan, as developed by Admiral Wallace and approved by the Consul’s Office and the Senate Committee on Dregluk Affairs, was to put the Dregluk population in an untenable situation, inevitably forcing them to rebel against the occupation forces. Admiral Wallace would then re-deploy the Marines to Dregluk Alpha and publicly report that the infrastructure keeping the Dregluk alive had failed as a result of the fighting that the Dregluk themselves had instigated. After that the Dregluk population would die off quickly due to radiation and a lack of necessary infrastructure.
In some ways this plan has been a success. Between the radiation and the lack of infrastructure, the current estimated annual population growth rate on Dregluk Alpha is -37%, and the population has already dropped precipitously since the bombardment from a pre-bombardment high of 110 million to a current estimated total of 66 million and dropping. However, the attempt to stimulate the Dregluk population to open rebellion has failed, completely. There have been little to no signs of unrest or open resistance since the occupation, and indeed the Dregluk population did not oppose the landings and occupation by the Marines in any way.
After receiving your request for additional information, I traveled to Dregluk Alpha myself, to gather first-hand impressions. My impressions must be considered suspect, as the Dregluk are alien, and are reacting in an alien way, and I am filtering my understanding of these reactions through my perceptions, which are based in a human way of seeing the universe. Having said that, I will continue. Upon arrival on Dregluk Alpha I realized that something is very, very wrong. I cannot imagine any human civilization or city which, having been subjected to the things that we have subjected the Dregluk to, would not have risen against their occupiers. We are removing their very means of living by taking their infrastructure. This planet is no more hospitable to them than it is us, and without specialized machinery to create and purify their air, water, and food they will die, just as we would. And yet, even as they watch our freighters haul away their infrastructure, they do nothing. Indeed, they have done little to mitigate the radiation poisoning that is worsening their position every day.
I, as nearly everyone alive today can, can remember the days after the initial bombardment of Earth when there was a public upswelling of volunteerism and the formation of grass-roots organizations to reclaim areas devastated by the Bombardment. Everyone had lost someone, and everyone threw themselves into the reclamation of Earth or the defense efforts to ensure that it didn’t happen again. Eventually the Provisional Government began organizing those efforts and, after the first year the Provisional Government consolidated those efforts into a world-wide recovery and reclamation effort, but it started as many different local efforts generated by a groundswell of individuals taking action based on what they thought needed to be done. That is most definitely not happening here. The Dregluk population can be best described as lethargic. They have taken very little action to improve their circumstances or mitigate the effects of the bombardment. It is true that there is little that they could do to improve their circumstances at this late date, however, I cannot imagine a human population that would have allowed itself to be put into this situation. Not that a human population would have been capable of magically improving the dire situation that this Dregluk population finds itself in, however, a human population would have rebelled in fanatical resistance the second an occupier attempted to remove the infrastructure that the population depended on to survive. No human parent could have watched an occupier, human or alien, remove the air processors that his or her children depended on to live and not immediately fought the oppressors with everything he or she had. The Dregluk have not done this. Instead, they placidly watch as human work crews dismantle their infrastructure and haul it off-planet. They watch and die. In large numbers.
To attempt to gain an understanding of the Dregluk mindset, I have spoken with numerous Dregluk individuals, both provided to me by the occupation forces for interview, and selected randomly by myself during my exploration of the primary city. Although I have attached transcripts of these interviews for committee analysis, I can sum up their contents very easily. Essentially, the Dregluk all have a very fatalistic attitude that can be summed up as “Those who decide will determine the best course of action. Until then I will continue as before.” They cannot or will not identify “Those Who Will Decide”, no matter what form the questioning takes. This is consistent with nearly every interview of Dregluk crews taken prisoner since the start of the war. Essentially, it appears that the Dregluk are waiting for someone to tell them what to do. This attitude appears to be universal.
The overall effect that all of this will have is beneficial to our initial goal of eliminating this population as a future threat to the human race. However, the Dregluk of Dregluk Alpha can be described as lethargic, and will not present a photogenic appearance to justify our continued campaign of massive planetary bombardment. In a word, they are pathetic, and should images of the die-off on Dregluk Alpha manage to reach Earth they may cause a significant amount of sympathy for the plight of the Dregluk. Certainly, those on the Lunar Colonies that currently oppose Consul’s Directive 14 authorizing the use of enhanced radiation weapons against Dregluk populations will use this to bolster their arguments against this policy. These Dregluk are not valiant warriors, or even dreaded barbarians, they are merely pathetic.
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March 2, 2143, Mars
Construction begins on the Anti-Small Unit Pods. The construction time is anticipated to be only ten weeks, as much of the components for the pods have been pre-constructed on Earth.
March 3, 2143, Houston
The Republic’s Survey Corps completes the geo-survey of the Houston system. Houston-A IV, the location of Dregluk Bravo, is confirmed to be the only body in the system with deposits of TN resources. Dregluk Bravo has very large deposits of five TN resources, including duranium and neutronium. The deposits of duranium and boronide are present at high availability levels, while the others are at 0.1 levels.
March 18, 2143, Houston
Three Dregluk ships jump into the system from Austin. The attack force is composed of two battleships and a destroyer. They speed away from the jump point as soon as they materialize, and the missile boats on the jump point launch missiles as soon as they can. The tidal wave of missiles from the 1st LR Missile Group wipes out the Dregluk ships, leaving their hulks drifting alongside the wrecks of the earlier incursions.
March 20, 2143, Mars
The first Star Class Battleship leaves the yards over Mars. The Pride of Sol is humanity’s largest warship, and all of Mars celebrates at her launch. The Pride of Sol joins the Home Fleet as its flagship, and the Venus and Jupiter, both Planet class BC’s, are transferred to the 1st Fleet to bolster Admiral Wallace’s firepower.
In the Houston system…
The Advanced Colony Group arrives in-system. They are directed to a large moon of the system’s outermost gas giant. This has been a difficult decision for Admiral Wallace. Originally, she had planned on establishing the new maintenance base on the same moon that contained the Forward Base, however, specialists informed her that the moon was too small for permanent human habitation. Neither of the Dregluk inhabited planets were considered, for various reasons. The two innermost terrestrial-type planets were both too Venus-like to be viable choices, which left the fifth moon of the outer gas giant as the only choice. This moon is small, with a gravity only 13% that of Earth, but it is large enough to be considered a viable colony site. At -66.2 degrees it is cold, and it has no atmosphere, but with a standard colony cost scale rating of 2.11 it is a decent choice. The Advanced Cargo Group has been delivering infrastructure for some time, so the new colonists will find a ready-made colony for them to inhabit.
As the colony ships begin unloading their cargo, the Advanced Cargo Group leaves the system, headed back to Earth to pick up the first load of maintenance facilities for the new forward maintenance facility.
Admiral Wallace has been forced to start sending a portion of her fleet back to Bastion for overhauls. Five of her sixteen frigates leave the system, headed back home.
March 23, 2143, Houston
A Dregluk Mammoth class BB jumps into the system. Admiral Chan gives the honor of engaging the Dregluk ship to the frigates Eire and Baikai. It takes the two frigates twenty seconds to launch, but when they do their Thunderbolt missiles completely destroy the Dregluk ship in a welter of explosions, including two massive internal explosions.
March 30, 2143, Los Angeles System (Adjacent to Sol)
The Fleet Scout Beckwourth detects a Dregluk gate construction ship entering the system. Word is sent back to the Solar System, and in response a LR Missile Group is sent to deal with the intruder.
April 7, 2143, Mars
Two new Star class battleships join the fleet. The Vega and the Procyon join the Pride of Sol in the Home Fleet.
In the Los Angeles System…
At 0509 hours the command Missile Boat assigned to the Home Fleet’s 5th LR Missile Group launched two Bludgeon IV ASM’s at the Dregluk ship headed towards the jump point to the Solar System. The two missiles, designed to punch through a Dregluk battleship’s armor, completely destroyed the civilian ship.
April 12, 2143, Houston
The Jupiter and the Venus, along with their escort of three frigates fresh from Bastion arrive in Houston and set out for the Forward Base. Their arrival is a relief for Admiral Wallace, who has sent two thirds of her frigates back to Bastion, and will be forced to send the remainder back soon.
April 18, 2143, Mars
The Bismarck and the Warspite leave the orbital yards freshly refitted to Assault Ship r2 standard. They immediately set out for Houston to rejoin the 1st Fleet.
April 28, 2143, Houston
A Dregluk Colossus class BB jumps into the system from Austin. Four missile boats immediately launch, completely wiping the Dregluk jump ship out.
April 29, 2143, Houston
Admiral Wallace deploys the Mars, Venus, and the Jupiter to the jump point to Austin. Stocks of Bludgeon ASM’s have run low, while there are still many Thunderbolt ASM’s in the munitions dump on Forward Base. While the missile boats will remain on station on the jump point, they will not fire their missiles unless there is an overwhelming need. Ammunition ships are on their way from the home system, but won’t arrive for several weeks.
May 21, 2143, Houston
A cruiser and a battleship jump into the system from Austin. The three Planet class BC’s sitting on the jump point engage the cruiser, while the two ASM Frigates Nairobi and Ontario launch on the battleship. The Nairobi and Ontario, with their veteran crews, launched almost immediately, but the BC’s had a little more trouble. The fifty Thunderbolt IV ASM’s launched by the frigates swarmed the Mammoth class BB, which proved to be incredibly fragile. The battleship was hit by four of the Republic’s smaller ASM’s, at which point it exploded from the inside, shattered by what had to be an internal magazine explosion. Unfortunately, the Thunderbolt ASM’s were too small to carry their own sensors and the remaining ASM’s self-destructed after their target disappeared. Twenty seconds after the two Dregluk ships entered the system the BC’s finally managed to get their weapons into action. The BC’s launched twenty-six Thunderbolt IV ASM’s between them, all targeted on the fleeing cruiser. It would take twenty-five seconds to reload their launchers. The Vrock class cruiser proved to be much more durable than its larger companion as it absorbed the BC’s missile salvo and continued running.
With ten seconds left until the BC’s would be able to launch again, the Human ships detected incoming missiles. Thirteen size 3 Dregluk ASM’s were racing towards the fleet and Aegis VI AMM’s began spilling from the anti-missile frigate Delhi’s launchers. The Aegis VI AMM’s destroyed twelve of the incoming missiles, and the Mars’ CIWS destroyed the last as it closed to attack range. Five seconds later the BC’s launched another twenty-six missiles. By that time the cruiser was three hundred thousand kilometers out and racing away at full speed. This salvo destroyed the fleeing cruiser, although it took all of the missiles to do it.
In the aftermath of the battle the frigates are sent back to Forward Base while the BC’s and the missile boats remain at the jump point.
May 22, 2143, Mars
The orbital yards launch the Republic’s first two Anti-Small Unit Pods. Three more will be launched in four weeks, but after that it will be the end of the year before any more come out of the yards. Two Fleet Docks assigned to the Home Fleet will convey the new pods to the Houston system. The Docks are large enough that the smaller pods won’t slow them too much, and they are able to take aboard enough of the new ASU missiles to resupply the two pods four times. They set out for the Houston system, a trip that will take just over nineteen days.
June 6, 2143, Houston
A Mammoth class BB jumps into the Houston system from Austin. The Nairobi and Ontario launch their Thunderbolt missiles at the intruder, with the battlecruiser force rushing to back them up. The two veteran frigates launched their missiles within five seconds of the Dregluk ship appearing on the jump point, and the Thunderbolt IV’s swarmed the Dregluk ship, penetrating its armor multiple times. The BC force launched against the intruder twenty seconds later, and this salvo punched through the big ship’s armor more times, but only caused several small internal explosions. The battleship must have suffered from serious internal damage because it wasn’t able to launch its own missiles before the BC’s got off a second salvo. This salvo destroyed the fleeing BB.
The BC’s and the frigates returned to the Forward Base to rearm. When they returned to the jump point, they were reinforced by the first group of frigates to return from Bastion, fresh from overhauls. Admiral Wallace was very glad to see these frigates arrive, but was beginning to become concerned for her long-range missile boats. They would be reaching their endurance limits in the next several months, and it wasn’t clear if the forward maintenance base would be up and running at that point.
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June 10, 2143, 0622 hours, Ganymede Colony Defense Command
Lt. Commander Andrew Oliver, senior officer commanding Ganymede Defense Command, was jerked awake when the comm system in his quarters began ringing. Loudly. Groggily, he hit receive as he tried to get his wits together. “Yes?” He didn’t both to sound either professional or pleased to have been woken up.
“Sir! Priority message from the Amos Chapman! Priority Red!”
Lt. Commander Oliver shook his head, trying to clear it. There had been a party at the Governor’s mansion the night before, and as the senior officer of Defense Command present on the colony he had been invited, of course. Between being out late and the amount he had drunk, he considered it a minor miracle he was awake at all. “The Chapman? That’s the new scout they just launched, isn’t it? Well, what the hell do they want?” He sagged in his bed, wishing the rest of the world would just go away. Nothing ever happened here, in this remote corner of the Solar System, and if it did they would have put someone way more senior to him in charge.
The senior rating on the other end of the comm connection stared at him incredulously. “Sir, contact warning. They’ve picked up a Dregluk ship 617 mkm’s out-system of our position!” The rating eyes were bulging and he looked more than a little panicked.
Lt. Commander Oliver sobered up quickly. “No, that’s impossible. They can’t be here! What does our sensor network say?”
The rating stared at him blankly. “Sir, don’t you remember? You ordered the sensors to only be activated once a day to save on maintenance and power bills? They are down right now.”
“What! Get them up! Right now! I’ll be in the command center immediately.” He closed the comm channel. He did indeed remember that order, but he wasn’t about to admit it on a comm that was almost certain to be reviewed by his court martial committee when this was all over.
By the time he got to the command center, disheveled but coherent, thanks to a quick draught of a really nasty hangover cure that was almost as bad as the original hangover. He would pay for it later, but he needed to be aware now. “Situation report!”
“Sir, the contact is confirmed. It is 617 mkm’s away, headed on a course of 330 relative, speed 3,402 km/s. War-book says it is a suspected Dregluk survey class. Several of this class were encountered early in the war and destroyed here in the Solar System.”
“Oh thank god!” Lt. Commander Oliver sagged into a chair at his station. The fact that it wasn’t a Dregluk attack fleet was something. It wasn’t much; everyone would still go crazy that a Dregluk ship managed to penetrate so deeply into the Solar System, but still, at least it wasn’t a warship.
“Alert the other base commanders. On its current course it won’t enter our range but we might as well be ready if it does. Has the scout alerted the Admiralty?”
“Yes, sir. They sent out an all-ships message immediately after the warning they sent to us.”
“Very good. Inform the Admiralty that we stand ready to assist any action taken in regards to the contact. Feed them our sensor take as well.” While publicly he appeared confident, privately he was about as panicked as he could get. This was going to go badly for him, no matter how it turned out.
“Yes sir.”
In Mars orbit…
“The Fleet reports ready in all respects, sir.”
Rear Admiral Roberts looked around his command deck. The command deck aboard the Pride of Sol was brand new and spacious. His station was at the rear of the compartment, on a raised dais, where he could oversee the activity of his command crew. The command crew’s stations were arranged around his in expanding half circles three deep, and at the center of the deck, right in front of his station, was a massive plot tank that could display anything from a tactical display showing one ship all the way up to an interstellar plot showing the jump links to the known systems. Right now, the tank showed the area around the fleet out to 1.3 billion kilometers, which was enough to show the inner system and the new contact outside of Jupiter’s orbit. He smiled slightly. He could have dispatched a group of missile boats to intercept this Dregluk ship, after all, that’s exactly what they had been built for, but the temptation to finally take his fleet out to battle was just too much. His battleships would finally engage the enemy, even if it just was a probe ship. “Very well, all units will meet fleet speed and course. Engage!”
The Pride of Sol, along with her consorts the Vega and Procyon, and their escorting frigates, set out to intercept the impudent Dregluk ship that had somehow penetrated to the heart of the Republic.
Meanwhile, on Earth…
Consul Lauren Young was livid and she didn’t care who knew it. Someone’s head was going to roll over this. Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert, CO of the Home Fleet, probably wasn’t at fault here given she had only taken over a month before, but Consul Young was on a roll. Admiral Gilbert could take it or resign, she didn’t care. After a minute or two, though, she ran down. In a deceptively calm voice she continued. “So, what’s the explanation, Admiral Gilbert? Where did this ship come from?”
Admiral Gilbert had been around long enough not to fall into the Consul’s trap. She wasn’t calm, not even close, and her apparently calm demeanor was designed to give her unwarranted confidence. So… “Ma’am, we don’t know.” The Consul’s face reddened again, but before she could say anything the Admiral continued. “Ma’am, I am doing everything I can to learn what exactly happened. The Dregluk ship appeared on the sensors of the Fleet Scout Chapman, which was conducting trials off of Mars after being launched one week ago. The scout’s thermal sensors picked up the contact approximately 600 mkm’s beyond Jupiter’s orbit. At that time, and since, it has been headed across the system. The only system bodies on its current course are in the outer system. If it is, indeed, a survey ship it may be completing the survey begun by the Dregluk before the war.”
Consul Young had calmed down as the Admiral spoke. “And where did it come from? And are there more?”
“Ma’am, we just don’t know. The contact appeared 736 mkm’s from the jump point to the Los Angeles system, however, its current course, when extrapolated back does not come close to the jump point. In addition, we have a picket ship and the Monitor Waterloo stationed at the jump point, and the scout Beckwourth stationed in the Los Angeles system. None of them reported any contacts. We have a message on its way to them requesting an update of their status, but we have no reason to think that there have been any problems with them.”
Consul Young moved to her chair and sat down. While she looked calmer, she pointedly did not invite the Admiral to sit. “If it didn’t come through the jump point then where did it come from?”
“Ma’am, all of our jump points are picketed and all either have scouts posted in the adjacent systems or listening posts. There is virtually no way this ship could have made its way past them.”
“Well, it’s here isn’t it?”
“Yes, ma’am, it is. The current theory by Naval Intelligence is that its been hiding in the outer system since the start of the war.”
“How is that possible? Wouldn’t we have detected them before this?”
Admiral Gilbert shook her head. “Not necessarily. We’ve been focused on looking for larger warships, not these small survey units. And, well, Earth’s sensor capability has been drastically reduced over the last year to provide sensor facilities for the Houston system. That’s why the Fleet Scout Chapman detected the Dregluk ship, not Earth’s sensors.”
Consul Young’s face turned thunderous. “Is that an attempt to shift the blame, Admiral?”
Admiral Gilbert didn’t flinch. “No ma’am, it is a statement of fact. The Earth’s sensor capability was drawn down to support the offensive against the Dregluk. That action was proposed by the Fleet and approved by both the Senate and the prior Consul’s office.”
Consul Young nodded at the mention of the prior administration. “Yes, Consul Foster. Very well. I’ve already ordered a change in construction priorities to bring up our sensor capability. Admiral,” She leaned over her desk, “Deal with this ship quickly. And find out where it came from and if there are any more. Quickly.”
Admiral Gilbert saluted and left the Consul’s office with her marching orders.
One day later the Dregluk ship faded from the thermal sensors of the Fleet Scout Chapman. The Home Fleet continued on its course for its estimated intercept point, and the Chapman continued heading towards the outer system to look for any other Dregluk ships that might be hiding out there.
June 14, 2143, Sol
For four days two Fleet Scouts and the bulk of the Home Fleet had been searching for one small Dregluk survey ship and they had been failing to find it. The problem was, essentially, that space was big and the Dregluk ship was small. Specifically, the Dregluk ship was too small for the Home Fleet’s active sensors, so they had to get relatively close to pick it up, and its thermal profile was small enough that the scouts could only detect it if they got within 167 mkm’s of the Dregluk ship. Finally, at 042 hours, the Fleet Scout Chapman detected the small alien ship approximately 160 mkm’s away from its current location. The scout’s commander immediately sent a contact report to the Home Fleet, and turned his scout towards the small Dregluk ship. The Chapman was the most recent version of the Fleet Scout design, with a speed that was 2,600 km/s faster than the Dregluk ship’s speed. It was doomed.
Fourteen hours later, the Home Fleet had been forced to close to 38 mkm’s of the small Dregluk ship before finally acquiring it their active sensors. Admiral Roberts ordered his ship, the Pride of Sol, to engage the Dregluk ship, and a single salvo of five Thunderbolt ASM’s was sufficient to destroy the small ship. The incident had revealed an unpleasant fact inherent in the Republic’s ship designs. During the desperate early years of the war, to save space and create the best warship per ton, the Admiralty’s designs had had to make tradeoffs. One of those tradeoffs was to design sensors tailored to the known Dregluk designs. The smallest Dregluk warship encountered at that point was their destroyers, which all massed 9,550 tons. So, the Republic’s sensors were optimized to detect ships larger than 9,000 tons. Anything smaller than that was problematic.
Admiral Roberts ordered the fleet to perform a series of exercises as long as it was away from Mars. The Home Fleet’s two scouts would depart that day for an extended probe of the outer system. Admiral Gilbert had protested the orders, but Consul Young was adamant.
An investigation would be undertaken by the Admiralty to determine how the Dregluk ship had entered the Solar System undetected. The investigators would take note of the fact that the PDC’s on Ganymede had neglected to activate their sensors until after the Dregluk ship had been detected, but analysis showed that the alien ship had never approached close enough to Ganymede to be detected by the sensors emplaced there. Lt. Commander Oliver’s superiors in Defense Command wanted to reprimand him, however, they were overruled by the Admiralty. They really didn’t want anyone looking too closely at the Admiralty’s reasoning for placing a junior Lt. Commander in command of the defense of the entire colony, so Lt. Commander Oliver had to settle for being placed under the command of a more senior officer. No evidence was found to lead the investigators to a conclusion on how the Dregluk ship got into the system, or whether or not it had been in-system since the start of the war.
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June 11, 2143, Houston
The two Home Fleet support ships arrive in the Houston system with their new missile pods in tow. They set out for Forward Base, where they will leave the pods and their missile supply.
June 12, 2143, Lunar Colony
Joseph Foster, former Federation Admiral and Consul, is elected to the Republic’s Senate by the population of the Moon, in an almost overwhelming vote.
Houston System…
While the Home Fleet was playing tag with a fugitive Dregluk survey ship, Admiral Wallace had been preparing for an assault on what she increasingly believed was the Dregluk home system. Now that the first two anti-small unit pods had arrived, she was ready. The bulk of her fleet was assembled on the jump point, and it was time. She gave the order, and Republican ships began plunging into the jump point.
Seventeen ships and seven pods jumped into the Austin system. Almost immediately they detected a Mammoth class BB in the inner system, still accompanying those four large ships they had observed the last time they were in the system. Nothing was detected close to the jump point, though. Admiral Wallace ordered the pods to release their tractors, and then ordered the three Essex class assault ships to jump back to the Houston system and replace their jump point assault missiles with long range ASM’s, then settled in to wait, confident that the Dregluk would come to her.
June 15, 2143, Austin system
At 1833 hours, the 1st Fleet’s EM sensors picked up two active sensors approaching. They were located 216 mkm’s away in the direction of the inner system, and they were consistent with the sensors carried by the Dregluk small units encountered before. Those units had since been designated the Ant class. Admiral Wallace ordered her fleet to alert status then settled in to watch them approach. They were coming in on an oblique course, not directly headed towards the jump point, at a speed of 10,525 km/s.
Two hours later, when the Ant’s had closed to 140 mkm’s, the scout’s thermal sensors were able to detect a grand total of 49 of them approaching in formation. The fleet would have to allow them to close to 50 mkm’s before the active sensors on the new pods would be able to acquire them.
Two hours and thirty minutes later the Ants had closed to within range of the ASU pod’s new sensors, and for the first time they were acquired by Republican sensors. The pods were able to determine that the Ant class was only 950 tons, confirming the reason why they had been so difficult to detect.
The two Anti-Small Unit pods each launched twelve ASUM missiles, two each at a total of twelve Ants. Five seconds later the two pods launched a total of twenty-four more missiles, aimed at twelve different Ants. The missiles raced away at their stupendous speed, and closed on their targets in seven minutes. Out of the first twelve Ants targeted by the ASUM missiles, five were destroyed outright, while the other seven appeared heavily damaged. Two of the small units were blown apart by massive internal power plant explosions. Four more Ants fell to the second barrage, and this time three of them were consumed by massive internal power plant explosions. Every single ASUM missile hit its target. With that the new pods had exhausted their missiles. Admiral Wallace ordered the pods to link to her ships and for the fleet to jump out. The exercise was completed.
As the human ships prepared to jump out, twenty-seven Ants continued on towards the jump point. Eight were left behind, dead in space, their engines apparently knocked out by the damage they had suffered.
Once back in the Houston system, the two ASUM Pods released their tractors and were taken aboard the waiting Fleet Dock Adela Sachs. One hour later the pod’s box launchers had been reloaded and they were free of the docks. Admiral Wallace decided to be patient, though, so the fleet would wait for a day before returning to the Austin system.
June 17, 2143, Houston
Admiral Wallace gave the order, and her battle squadron plunged into the jump point, the pods in tow. Shortly after entering the system they detected the eight damaged Ants, but the rest of the Dregluk fleet was nowhere to be seen. Admiral Wallace ordered three of her frigates to close on the crippled Ants and finish them off. Thirty-two minutes later, while the frigates were closing, they detected two waves of missiles approaching. The first was composed of forty-five missiles, while the second was composed of thirty-two. Aegis VI AMM’s raced away from the two anti-missile frigates in the small squadron as the missiles closed. Unfortunately, the missiles appeared too close to the small squadron for all of the incoming targets to be destroyed. The Nairobi was hit by nine Dregluk ASM’s, but her armor absorbed the damage. The Lima was only hit by five, but she suffered some shock damage to her crew quarters.
The Lima began damage control while the squadron continued to close on the small Dregluk ships. Ten minutes later a third salvo appeared on their screens. This one was composed of forty ASM’s. This time all of the Dregluk missiles were stopped before they could close to attack range. The squadron continued on towards the crippled Ant class ships. Finally, they reached a range of one million kilometers of the Ants without the Nairobi being able to acquire the Ants with her ASM fire control systems. Her anti-missile sensors and fire controls had acquired the small units just fine, but not her primary sensors or fire control systems. Commander Miles, the senior officer of the task group, ordered his ships to close to 500,000 kilometers. Even at that range the Nairobi’s ASM fire controls were unable to acquire the Dregluk small units. At that point Commander Miles ordered the Nairobi to engage the Ant’s using her anti-missile sensors and fire controls. He didn’t want to come any closer than this, in case they were equipped with an energy weapon of some sort.
The Nairobi began launching Thunderbolt IV’s, two at a time, against the Dregluk Ant class ships. About halfway through the Nairobi switched to single missile salvoes against each Ant class ship, as it has only taken a single missile to destroy each of the Ants targeted so far.
By the time the squadron had returned to the jump point the Lima had repaired all internal damage. Admiral Wallace ordered the Lima and the Nairobi to return to Houston for repairs, and they jumped out immediately. On the far side of the jump point they entered the Fleet Dock positioned there and work began on repairing their armor.
June 18, 2143, 0248 hours, Austin
Twenty-seven Ants appear on the Fleet Scout’s thermal sensors, 130 mkm’s out and approaching. At approximately the same time the Lima completes her repairs and jumps back into the system to rejoin the fleet. At 0542 hours the Ants had closed to 47 mkm’s and were acquired by the ASU pods sensors. Twenty seconds later twenty-four missiles roared away from the two pods, followed five seconds later by another twenty-four, exhausting their box launchers. Five of the twelve Ants targeted with the first salvo were destroyed, but only two from the second group of targets were destroyed.
Only three Ants had been left untargeted by ASUM’s, and of the survivors, only five of the targeted Ants appeared to be still mobile. The eight remaining Ants continued to close on the jump point and the Republican ships. Admiral Wallace decided to remain on the jump point, but ordered to ASM frigates to return to Houston with the two ASUM pods to rearm. She had a plan.
Even as the two frigates jumped out with the pods in tow, the Nairobi returned, fresh from the mobile docks in the Houston system. Several minutes later her two Essex r2 class assault ships reported that they were ready. Of all of the ships in her fleet, they were the only ones equipped with capital anti-missile sensors. These large anti-missile sensors were capable of detecting large missiles, in theory, out to forty-one million kilometers, and while most missiles were much smaller, and could only be detected closer, the Ants were much larger. The large anti-missile sensors, coupled with the large anti-missile fire controls on the two refitted Essex class ships, were more than capable of engaging the tiny Dregluk ships out to 40 mkm’s. Each ship launched a single Bludgeon IV ASM at an Ant, then shifted targeting and did it again, and again, until there was a very large ASM targeted on each of the incoming Ants. Only two of the Ants survived their encounters with the massive Bludgeon ASM’s, which, after all, had been designed to destroy the huge Dregluk battleships that had attacked the solar system. They survived because the big missiles, which had been designed to engage much larger targets, missed. The Bismarck and the Warspite each launched another Bludgeon at the retreating Ants in the hopes of catching them before they got out of range.
By then, Dregluk ASM’s had been detected closing with the Fleet. Just one salvo of thirty-two Dregluk ASM’s was headed in. Even as the last two Bludgeon ASM’s raced away from the fleet, Aegis VI’s began launching from the frigates. The defensive missiles stopped the incoming missiles cold, and one of the two Bludgeon’s wiped out its target. Inexplicably, one of the two Ants had turned and fled, leaving the other behind. That Ant managed to escape. While the Bludgeon attempted to reacquire it with its internal sensors, its sensors were no more capable of acquiring the tiny warship than the sensors of the frigates and battlecruisers.
One hour later the two frigates return to the Austin system with the two ASUM pods. Shortly after entering, the two pods begin launching against the crippled Ants sitting off of the jump point. Soon all of the Ants were destroyed, except for one lone Ant running for home. In the aftermath of that, Admiral Wallace orders the frigates Lima and Nairobi to top off the other frigate’s fuel and missiles, then dispatches the two frigates back to Houston to refuel and rearm. The two ASU pods will remain in-system, in spite of the fact that they have expended approximately 25-30% of their missile stocks, as the Fleet Docks on the far side of the jump point have no remaining ASUM missiles. One of the Docks is returning to Forward Operating Base to refuel and load new stocks of missiles, but won’t return for several days. Until then the ASUM pods will make do with the missiles they have.
With the decisive defeat of the Dregluk small attack craft accomplished, Admiral Wallace’s attention has turned to a Dregluk force that has been steadily closing on the jump point for some time from the inner system, albeit slowly. The Dregluk force that had been spotted in the inner system by the first forces to enter the Austin system was coming out to fight. This force was composed of a Mammoth class BB, a Demon class CA, and the five very large unknown ships, all steadily closing on the human force at 4,607 km/s. The very large ships had a thermal signature 66% larger than that of a standard Dregluk BB, and Admiral Wallace was very interested in seeing exactly what they were. As a precaution, she ordered her two LR Missile Groups, that had been sitting on the far side of the jump point in the Houston system, to jump through to reinforce her ships in the Austin system. Aside from that she was content to wait for the Dregluk to come to them.
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June 19, 2143, Austin
At 0626 hours the five unknown ships finally moved to within active sensor range of the ships on the jump point, and were confirmed to be much larger than standard Dregluk BB’s, which weighed in at 28,650 tons. This new class, tentatively ID’s as the Dreadnought class, massed 47,750 tons, nearly twice the size of the Republic’s new Star class BB’s. One hour later, Admiral Wallace ordered her ships to open fire.
The two known ships, the Mammoth class BB and the Demon class CA, were in the lead, ahead of the new Dreadnoughts, and both were dedicated ASM ships with little in the way of active missile defense. The new Dreadnoughts were an unknown factor, of course. The resulting missile salvo was composed of one hundred and fifty-two Bludgeon ASM’s, targeted on the CA, the BB, and three of the DN’s. Included in that number were ten older Bludgeon III’s launched from the single Missile Pod towed into the system, and this marked the first time the offensive missile pods had been used. The older Bludgeon III’s lagged behind, of course, but would be able to finish off anything that survived the weapons targeted on it in the leading wave.
The first ship to come under attack was the leading Mammoth class BB. It managed to shoot down two of the incoming missiles with its CIWS, and then absorbed the remaining ten. Although there were no internal explosions or armor breaches, it apparently suffered shock damage because it slowed down to 3,909 km/s. The next ship to face the fire was the Demon class CA following behind the BB. The CA managed to destroy four of the Bludgeons targeted on it, but could only take five hits before it was destroyed by a spectacular internal explosion. Unfortunately, the remaining Bludgeons that had been targeted on it were out of their internal sensor range of the BB, so couldn’t acquire it as a target.
Next came the Dreadnoughts. Everyone in the Republican fleet was watching as the missiles closed on the huge ships. The Dregluk ships showed no sign of knowing that the missiles were approaching, and didn’t engage them as they closed until they reached point blank range. The DN’s shot down two incoming missiles with some sort of weapon, but then the missiles were in amongst them. DN-03 took four hits from the big missiles before its armor was breached, and then another eight hits before exploding under the onslaught. DN-01 took ten hits before it began streaming atmosphere, and then another four destroyed it. DN-03 took fourteen hits before it too exploded. The three DN’s suffered from multiple internal magazine explosions, indicating that they carried some sort of ranged weapons. The remaining Bludgeon missiles came about and acquired new targets with their onboard sensors, and attacked again. This time the two remaining DN’s destroyed five of the missiles with their last second energy weapons fire, but it wasn’t enough to save them. DN-05 took eight hits to die, while DN-04 took twelve hits before it exploded. The two DN’s suffered from three massive internal magazine explosions between the two of them. Forty Bludgeon IV missiles were left circling in space, looking for targets. The lone remaining ship of the attack group, the damaged Mammoth class BB, was still approaching the jump point, but it had ten Bludgeon III ASM’s closing on it, launching by the lone missile pod.
Thirty minutes later the ten Bludgeon III’s arrived and smashed into the lone BB. Incredibly, the lone BB survived the attack. It stopped two with its CIWS, and suffered through the remaining eight. Its engines, though, which it had managed to start repairing, were further damaged, reducing it to 3,350 km/s. Still, it doggedly plodded forward, towards its doom.
Admiral Wallace transferred her flag to the BC Jupiter, then dispatched the missile boats and assault ships, now out of missiles, back to the Houston system to rearm along with the missile pod. Then, with detail taken care of, she settled in to wait for the last BB to close to Thunderbolt range.
On the far side of the jump point the pod was released to enter one of the Fleet Docks, but the missile boats continued on to the Forward Operating Base to pick up replacement missiles, and from there they would continue on to the newly established maintenance base to have their missile boxes refurbished. Unfortunately, the new Maintenance Base wasn’t capable of dealing with ships larger than a frigate yet, so the assault ships would have to return to Bastion to rearm.
Eight hours and thirty minutes later the BB had finally limped to within Thunderbolt range of the forces on the jump point. The three Planet class BC’s launched a single salvo from their launchers, totaling twenty-six Thunderbolt IV ASM’s. Meanwhile the Brooklyn class frigates and the AM pods prepared for missile attack, just in case the last BB managed to get some missiles off before the human missiles reached her.
The Dregluk battleship survived the salvo, although it was clear she was grievously damaged as her speed had dropped to a pitiful 558 km/s. A second salvo was launched, this time just consisting of sixteen Thunderbolts. And still the dogged Dregluk BB came on. This last salvo did the determined Dregluk ship in. Space was now clear. The three BC’s jumped back to Houston to reload their magazines from the Fleet Docks waiting there.
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June 20, 2143, Los Angeles, 1238 hours
The monitor Waterloo, standing guard at the jump point to the Solar system, detected a small Dregluk ship just 8.6 mkm’s away. This ship’s emission profile matched that of the ship recently detected and destroyed in the Solar system, indicating that this was probably a survey ship. The monitor launched two Bludgeon III missiles to stop the annoying little ship from continuing on with its mission. The two missiles killed the small ship, leaving space around the jump point clear again.
3327 hours, Austin system…
The last Ant class attack ship appeared on the scout’s thermal sensors, inbound, 217 mkm’s out. Admiral Wallace ordered the two ASUM pods to prepare for action. Two and a half hours later one of the pods launched three anti-small unit missiles at the incoming Ant. The three missiles more than sufficed to remove the last known Ant in the Austin system. Admiral Wallace dispatched two frigates with the ASUM pods in tow back to the Houston system to reload.
June 23, 2143, Sol
Three more ASUM pods are launched from the orbital yards over Mars. Under the direction of Consul Young, the three Star class battleships are transferred to the 1st Fleet, along with the newly constructed pods. They will be sent to the Houston system immediately, and upon arrival will participate in the operation to subdue the Dregluk population in the Austin system, suspected to be the Dregluk home world.
In addition, the first two gravitic survey ships built by the Republic are launched. They are immediately paired with a jump survey scout and sent to the Houston system to begin surveying that system for additional jump points.
July 6, 2143, Austin
At 1055 hours a new contact is detected by the Fleet Scout stationed on the jump point. The contact is located in orbit over the very large population in the inner system, and has a thermal signature consistent with a Dregluk BB. Just over two days later the contact is close enough to the jump point to be picked up by active sensors. It is a new class of BB, designated the Massif class. Five missile boats launch their Bludgeon IV’s at the incoming ship. The new BB managed to destroy two of the incoming missiles with its CIWS, but the rest overwhelmed it.
July 18, 2143, Austin
A new unit of the Dregluk Massif class is detected leaving orbit in the inner system. Later in the day, the three Star class BB’s, with their attached pods, arrive in the Houston system. They immediately set out for the jump point to the Austin system to join the fleet assembled on the far side. Admiral Wallace also orders the frigates in orbit over the Forward Operating Base to join her as well. Before leaving orbit, the frigates take nine ASM pods under tow. On Admiral Wallace’s orders, five of the pods have off-loaded their Bludgeon ASM and replaced them with special bombardment munitions.
At 1650 hours, on the 20th, three ASM pods on the jump point opened fire at the Massif class BB approaching from the inner system. The three pods launched a total of thirty Bludgeon III ASM’s at the incoming BB. Three hours later the BB managed to shoot down five of the older ASM’s before they hit, and absorbed the rest of the missiles in an impressive display of armored resistance. Its speed reduced, the big Dregluk ship continued to limp towards the jump point. Admiral Wallace ordered a second launch, and soon ten more Bludgeon III’s were on their way towards the Dregluk ship from a fourth pod.
The ten ASM’s of the second attack were approaching the Dregluk BB just as it managed to repair at least one of its engines. Unfortunately for the Dregluk crew, their industriousness didn’t save them. The BB managed to shoot down two of the incoming missiles, but the other eight completely destroyed the BB, leaving a scattering of life pods floating in space. Admiral Wallace ordered several frigates to convey the expended ASM pods back to the Houston system to rearm, along with several other fleet units that needed to restock their magazines.
Three hours later the pods and the fleet units assigned to tow them returned to the Austin system, rearmed with the latest Bludgeon IV ASM’s from the Fleet Docks. The fleet was assembled and ready to sortie. The 1st Fleet set out for the suspected home planet of the Dregluk with the following force:
3xStar class BB: Pride of Sol, Vega, Procyon
3xPlanet class BC’s: Mars, Jupiter, Venus
3xEnterprise class HuK’s: Assistance, Endeavor, Intrepid
6xBrooklyn class AM Frigates: Cairo, Chongqing, Delhi, Lima, Shanghai, Tokyo
7xLake class ASM frigates: Eire, Huron, Ladoga, Ontario, Singapore, Tanganyika, Vladivostok
5xAnti-Small Unit Pod
10xASM Pod (five equipped with bombardment missiles)
4xAMM Pod
1xFleet Scout: Jim Bridger
20xLR Missile Boat
2xLR Missile Boat Leader
The Fleet’s target was a way-point approximately 400 mkm’s from the suspected Dregluk Home Planet. Their ETA was in two days and nineteen hours. Admiral Wallace leaves a small force of three frigates behind to guard the jump point.
July 23, 2143, Austin system
The Fleet is 700 mkm’s from the Dregluk Home Planet. As the fleet approaches, the Scout Jim Bridger detects two thermal contacts in orbit over the planet, both identified as freighters. In addition, the scout has detected a second population on another moon of the same gas giant that the primary Dregluk population resides in. Finally, the scout has detected a very large shipyard in orbit over the main Dregluk population, further bolstering the theory that this is the Dregluk home world. The fleet continues to approach.
Eighteen and a half hours later, as the fleet reached 425 mkm’s range from the population, the fleet’s active sensors picked up a plethora of ships in orbit over the planet. None of these ships or bases have never been seen before.
List of contacts:
1x18,850 tons
10x18,950 tons
3x18,550 tons
3x18,900 tons
1x18,850 tons
Admiral Wallace and her staff tentatively ID these units, which have a very low thermal signature, as orbital battle stations. Admiral Wallace orders the fleet to close to Bludgeon ASM range and engage the battle stations. Three hours later the massive wave of 224 ASM and planetary bombardment missiles is away from the fleet and speeding towards the planet. The ASM’s are targeted on most of the orbital bases, although three of the big fortresses were left untargeted for various reasons. In addition, she ordered the pods to launch their planetary bombardment missiles in the salvo as well. This would be one last, massive, salvo that Admiral Wallace hoped would end the war.
Dregluk defensive missiles began intercepting the human missile wave 2.75 mkm’s from their targets. Between their armor, ECM, and their speed the Bludgeon IV ASM’s and their planetary bombardment variant were very resistant to interception, but the Dregluk defenses apparently had a lot of AMM’s. By the time that the third wave of interceptors had hit the incoming missile wave it had been reduced to fifty Bludgeon ASM’s and twenty-three bombardment missiles. By that point the incoming missile wave was 423,000 kilometers from the target, and there was only time for one more interception attempt. A few more missiles were hit by AMM’s by the last interception attempt and then the remaining ASM’s plunged towards their targets. They were met by a massive wave of defensive fire which took out all of the incoming missiles except two ASM’s that then hit one of the large orbital bases, to very little result.
Admiral Wallace ordered the missile boats to take the ASM pods under tow and to return to Houston to rearm. The remainder of her fleet continued to close on the target. They would engage with Thunderbolt missiles. However, the Thunderbolt ASM’s were less resistant to defensive fire, and while the fleet could launch more of them, Admiral Wallace didn’t think that they would be able to launch enough more to make a difference. They had to try, though.
Seven hours later, as the fleet approached its next launch point, it detected ten very large Dregluk ships at 425 mkm’s range, 146 mkm’s beyond the Dregluk home world. These contacts were of an unknown class, but they were the same size as all known Dregluk BB’s, 28,850 tons. There were ten of them, and they were moving at just 865 km/s away from the Dregluk home world. For now, Admiral Wallace decides to ignore them and concentrate on the fortifications around Dregluk Prime, as it has become known.
Finally, the fleet settles into position and Admiral Wallace orders a massive strike by the Fleet’s Thunderbolt missiles. Seconds later two hundred and forty-six Thunderbolt IV ASM’s raced away from the fleet, headed towards their targets over Dregluk Prime. Admiral Wallace orders her capital ships to cease fire to await damage evaluation from the first strike. If any.
The smaller and faster Thunderbolt ASM’s were able to get much closer to the target before the Dregluk started launching AMM’s. The interceptions started at 1.49 mkm’s. There was only time for two launches against the incoming missiles and then they plunged into the point-blank fire of the defenses. One hundred and ninety Thunderbolt IV’s survived to reach point-blank range, and all of them fell to the incredible defenses around Dregluk Prime. Not one reached its target. Admiral Wallace ordered her fleet to return to the jump point. She was already planning the next attack.
Admiral Wallace had already sent a request back to Sol for more Bludgeon IV and Thunderbolt IV ASM’s, and she had recalled the LR Missile Boat Group that had been watching the jump point between the Houston system and the Baton Rouge system. The next attack would be an all-out effort.
Unfortunately, her intentions and plans ran into the reality of the limitations imposed on her by support operations. The Forward Operating Base did not have enough of the latest missiles to reload her ships. The ships could be reloaded with older missiles, but if they were used against Dregluk Prime, they would have a lower chance of succeeding. Therefore, Admiral Wallace delayed the next attack until after the missile shipment could arrive.
The after-action report sent by Admiral Wallace to the Admiralty identified the weapons used by the Dregluk orbital defenses as gauss cannons, based on observed energy and performance profiles. Admiral Wallace identifies two possible strategies for future attacks, based on the forces currently available to her. The first attack plan involves a coordinated strike, with missile salvoes composed of Thunderbolt and Bludgeon ASM’s timed to arrive at the target simultaneously. This is a relatively low-risk strategy, although Admiral Wallace admits that the necessary timing will be difficult to achieve. The higher risk strategy is put her attack force into a close-attack position, out of range of any energy and/or gauss weapons over Dregluk Prime, but too close for their missiles to be intercepted by defensive AMM’s effectively. This strategy would involve putting the fleet into a position where the Dregluk could attack it with AMM’s used offensively, and would entail a much higher risk. A third option, that of continued long-range bombardment designed to wear down the defenses by attrition, is dismissed out of hand by Admiral Wallace and her staff, as they are very aware of the limitations forced upon them by the Republic’s problematic economy, largely as a result of the continuing effects of the Bombardment.
Admiral Wallace and her staff will continue to develop their plans while they await the arrival of their missile resupply.
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July 27, 2143, Austin
The retreating fleet scout detects a Dregluk Mammoth class BB leaving orbit over the Dregluk home world. The ship was not there during the recent attack; therefore, it is likely that it was just launched from the orbital shipyards. Fortunately, the fleet is closing in on the jump point and the 3rd LR Missile Group has already arrived at the jump point and will be ready to protect it while the fleet returns to the Houston system to rearm.
July 29, 2143, Austin
A Sheathbill class DD is detected accompanying the Mammoth class BB headed towards the jump point.
July 30, 2143, Austin
The two approaching Dregluk ships were now within range of the jump point. Seven missile boats launched their Bludgeon IV’s at the two incoming ships. Three hours later the missiles closed on the two Dregluk ships. It took only two hits on the Mammoth before it was ripped apart by a massive internal explosion. The destroyer did better, managing to absorb five Bludgeon’s before exploding.
August 6, 2143, Houston
The Maintenance Base on the moon of the fifth planet is finally ready to begin servicing most of the 1st Fleet’s ships. While the base cannot yet service the fleet’s largest ships, it can perform maintenance on all of the smaller ships, and, with its population now over five million, can now serve as an R&R facility for the fleet’s crews. This solves many of Admiral Wallace’s impending problems with maintaining her fleet so far away from Bastion.
Admiral Wallace begins rotating her ships through the new Maintenance Base for R&R and overhauls. This will delay her next attack on Dregluk Prime, but is necessary if her ships and crews are to continue operating at peak efficiency.
August 19, 2143, Sol
The first two Defender class DDE’s are launched from the orbital yards. They join the Home Fleet immediately after their maiden voyages.
Late in the day word arrives from the Philadelphia system. The Xenology team deployed there has made a momentous discovery. The Consul’s Office immediately classifies all information related to the alien city found in that system and all work done on it since it was discovered. Troop transports are deployed to begin transferring construction brigades from Bastion to Philadelphia. No information is made public, and indeed, the entire operation in the Philadelphia system is swept under the rug.
August 30, 2143, Sol
The first Brooklyn(F) Fast Anti-Missile Frigate is launched. This frigate is a variant of the Brooklyn AM Frigate designed to be fast enough to keep up with the fleet’s HuK’s and protect them from enemy missile fire. The new ship, the Santa Barbara, sets out for Houston to join the 1st Fleet.
September 7, 2143, Los Angeles
The monitor Waterloo detects three Dregluk survey craft headed towards the jump point it is guarding. Its large anti-missile sensor was able to detect them nearly 40 mkm’s from the jump point. Captain Johnson, the monitor’s commander, ordered a missile strike to be launched immediately, and sent the picket ship back to the Solar System to ask for a monitor to be dispatched to replace his ship.
The monitor launched six Bludgeon III ASM’s at the small survey ships. Sixteen minutes later the three Dregluk ships were wiped out by the missile salvo.
September 12, 2143, Sol
The two Home Fleet scouts deployed to the outer system to probe for the Dregluk ships feared to be lurking in the outer reaches of the Solar System are quietly recalled to Mars for R&R and overhaul. During the months they had been cruising the outer system they had detected nothing aside from the numerous system bodies that resided there.
The Navy has completed its investigation of the series of events that led to a Dregluk survey ship being detected and destroyed in the Solar system. The investigation, which has been classified and limited to Naval Intelligence and the upper reaches of the Admiralty, determined that the fault lay with the captain of the Monitor Waterloo. Captain Johnson had allowed his command to become lax, and to reduce wear and tear on his sensor systems, he and his XO had decided to deactivate their active sensors on the theory that the fleet scout deployed to the system would be enough to detect any ships headed to the jump point. It was just barely possible for a small Dregluk ship to slip through the blindspot thus produced, as the fleet scout was deployed far away from the jump point, and the Dregluk survey ship had a small thermal profile.
Admiral Gilbert decided to keep this information very close, and limited her reaction to ensuring that all monitors posted to jump point protection duties have their sensors active at all times, and a verbal reprimand to Captain Johnson. She wanted to come down on the captain harder, but he was a decorated officer, and his command was responsible for destroying almost one hundred thousand tons of Dregluk ships. Worse, he was politically connected. As long as his reprimand was limited and verbal, he would have no reason to go to his political patrons as it would be exposing his own error. Admiral Gilbert’s overriding interest was in protecting the Navy, and the new Consul had already proven to be somewhat reactionary when surprised or angry. She had no desire to make the Navy the focus of the Consul’s ire, especially when it appeared that she had forgotten the entire incident.
In the end the incident was successfully swept under the rug. The Consul’s office didn’t protest at the recall of the scouts as no further Dregluk ships had been detected in the Solar system and the monitors were intercepting enemy survey ships trying to get into the Solar System.
September 27, 2143, Austin
A Dregluk BB, Colossus class, leaves orbit of Dregluk Prime and sets out for the jump point to Houston. The 1st Fleet awaits its arrival.
September 28, 2143, Austin
The fleet scout’s thermal sensor detects a cruiser sized contact accompanying the BB on its way to the outer system. The contact is a new class of cruiser, now designated the Incubus class.
September 30,2 143, Austin system
The 1st LR Missile Group launched thirty Bludgeon III ASM’s at the incoming ships. The 1st is the only missile group in the Austin system at this time, as the other two LR Missile Group assigned to the Forward Operating Base are in Houston in overhaul status at the Maintenance Base.
Three hours later the missiles had closed on their targets. It took three hits to destroy the cruiser, but the battleship shot down five of the incoming missiles with its CIWs and survived the remaining salvo of missiles, albeit its speed had dropped. The battleship’s crack CIWs crews then shot down the last of the missiles that had been targeted on the DD as well. The missile boats on the jump point launched twelve more Bludgeon III’s in response.
The Colossus shot down two of the missies in the second wave and absorbed the rest, losing its active sensor in the process. The missile boats were forced to launch for a third time. The Colossus destroyed four of the incoming missiles and survived the other eight, although it seemed that all of the eight remaining missiles scored penetrating hits, and in the aftermath of the attack the BB was limping at greatly reduced speed.
The 1st LR Missile Group launched its last eight Bludgeon III ASM’s at the limping BB. The stubborn battleship shot down two of the missiles and absorbed the remaining six. It was apparent that most of the missiles breached the ship’s armor belt, but it stubbornly refused to die.
The 1st LR Missile Group was now out of missiles and Admiral Wallace dispatched it back to the Houston system to rearm. Admiral Wallace ordered the Pride of Sol to destroy the stubborn BB. The big battleship’s launchers spat out ten Thunderbolt IV ASM’s, which sped away towards the approaching Dregluk BB. It took six of the ten missiles to destroy the battleship, ending the threat.
There is a grudging respect for the Dregluk that is growing throughout the fleet. Their dogged determination and apparent bravery in defense of their home system is forcing the fleet’s crews to give them respect, no matter how much they may have hated the Dregluk prior to this point.
October 2, 2143, Austin
A new Colossus class BB is detected leaving Dregluk Prime. All of the missile boats are in the Houston system for overhauls, so the fleet on the jump point will have to deal with this attack on its own.
October 5, 2143, Austin
The Pride of Sol, Vega, and Procyon open fire, launching forty-five Thunderbolt IV ASM’s at the incoming battleship. The three battleships launch two more salvoes, sending a total of one hundred and thirty-five missiles towards the enemy ship.
The first wave of missiles reached the battleship just over one hour and eleven minutes later. The Dregluk BB intercepted three of the missiles with its CIWS, and the rest hit the big ship. There was no evidence of armor breaches, but the Dregluk ship did slow, indicating possible shock damage to its engines. The second wave hit twenty-five seconds later. This time the BB’s CIWs did better, intercepting nine of the missiles, and the rest hit. This time there was evidence of armor penetrations, but there were no secondary explosions. The BB’s CIWS managed to take out nine missiles from the third wave as well, and there were many armor breaches from the remaining missiles. In the aftermath of the attack, the BB’s thermal signature and speed dropped precipitously, and its active sensor died. In spite of this apparent damage, the battleship continued its dogged approach to the human forces on the jump point.
The Pride of Sol launched another salvo of fifteen Thunderbolt IV’s to finish the target off. This last salvo did indeed finish off the Dregluk ship. Admiral Wallace sent a message back to the Forward Operating Base requesting a munitions ship to resupply her battleships.
October 8, 2143, Houston
The Republic’s first, and only, gravitic survey group completes its survey of the Houston system. One additional jump point, with an associated gate, has been found. The jump point is nearly 5.2 billion kilometers from the system primary, far outside the orbit of the furthest planet and far from the other two jump points.
Admiral Wallace orders her HuK’s and their escorting fast frigate to probe the newly discovered jump point, along with the fleet scout Kit Carson, which is fresh from overhaul at the Maintenance Base. Admiral Wallace intends to order the gravitic survey group to survey the new system beyond this jump point, but for now she orders them to gather at the Maintenance Base for refueling and R&R for their crews.
October 18, 2143
The Fleet Scout Kit Carson jumps out of the Houston system through the newly discovered jump gate. It finds itself 919 mkm’s from a small M6-V star orbited by four planets, two dwarf planets and two terrestrial type planets. The innermost terrestrial type planet is Venus-like, and none of them seem particularly interesting at first glance. The HuK’s and their escorts jump in and wait at the jump point while the scout probes the inner system.
The probe would discover no populations or outposts in the system. The new system is designated as the Dallas system. Admiral Wallace orders the survey group to begin surveying the Baton Rouge system next, once their crews are rested.
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December 4, 2143, Austin
Two incubus class cruisers ships are detected headed towards the forces on the jump point. The two cruisers approach to approximately 744 mkm’s from the jump point and then turn back. The forces at the jump point ready for missile attack, however, nothing appears.
December 25, 2143, Austin
For days a trio of Incubus class CA’s had been maneuvering about in the inner system. A day ago the three cruisers had been joined by two Fiend class CA’s and a Colossus class BB, and the combined force set out for the jump point. Admiral Wallace ordered the fleet to allow them to approach to Thunderbolt ASM range as her supply of Bludgeon IV’s was limited. She was frustrated by the attack force of Dregluk ships. She had been forced to wait for months while new missiles were brought forward, and her fleet was resupplied and overhauled at the new Maintenance Base. Now, finally, the fleet was almost ready and the Dregluk had the temerity to attack just as she was getting the fleet ready to head in-system!
At 1341 hours the Dregluk force had finally closed to Thunderbolt ASM range and Admiral Wallace ordered her battleships, battlecruisers, and frigates to engage the Dregluk force. Shortly thereafter, two hundred and twenty-one Thunderbolt IV ASM’s sped away from the fleet. The fleet’s launchers fall silent after the first salvo. The frigates, of course, are unable to continue firing as their box launchers have to be refurbished before firing again, but the larger ships will wait to see the effects of this first salvo before firing again.
The Dregluk force began intercepting the incoming missiles with AMM’s when the wave was 960,000 kilometers away, and managed to destroy seventy-nine Thunderbolts before they closed to point blank range. The Dregluk force also managed to destroy seventy-nine more ASM’s with their point defense and CIWS fire, leaving just seventy-three to hit their targets. The big battleship at the center of the formation was the target for most of the remaining missiles, with the rest being targeted on one of the cruisers. The other four cruisers escaped damage almost completely. Both the BB and the CA were slowed as a result of the barrage, but showed no other effects. Admiral Wallace ordered a second strike against the force.
The second strike was composed of one hundred and forty-six Thunderbolt ASM’s. This time the BB’s and BC’s continued firing, putting another one hundred and forty-two missiles into space in two more waves. Once again, the Dregluk began intercepting the incoming missiles about one million kilometers away from their fleet. Eighty-five of the Thunderbolts fell to AMM fire, and then another sixty-one were destroyed by close in defensive fire by gauss cannons. That left only ten to hit their targets. Two of the cruisers absorbed the hits with no observable effect.
The first wave pushed back the Dregluk defensive envelope, though, so the second wave wasn’t engaged until it was 350,000 kilometers from the Dregluk ships. Twenty-seven were intercepted short of the Dregluk fleet, and the rest were stopped by point blank fire. That left the last wave. It didn’t fare any better, with the last missiles in the wave being stopped short of the Dregluk ships.
The failure of the second strike left Admiral Wallace no choice. She ordered a third strike, this time with the Bludgeon ASM’s that she had held in reserve. Admiral Wallace, her staff, and her captains tried to come up with a firing plan that would penetrate the enemy’s defenses without wasting their limited supply of the big ASM’s. In the end they had a firing plan, but she worried that that amount might be overkill. She was caught in an unfamiliar situation. Dregluk forces had only rarely used active anti-missile defenses in the past, and she and her staff had little experience planning strikes against such targets. If she launched too few to penetrate their defenses, the strike might do little or even no damage to the targets, meaning a larger strike would have to be launched, wasting even more of the precious missiles. So, in the end she opted for an amount that she feared would be overkill.
One hundred and ninety-two Bludgeon IV ASM’s roared away from the fleet. Unfortunately, a glitch in one of the missile boat squadron’s fire controls delayed their launch, meaning that the Bludgeon ASM’s were launched in two waves, which would certainly reduce their effectiveness against the defenses. Admiral Wallace was furious.
The first interceptions started 3.6 mkm’s out. The Dregluk defensive missiles took a huge toll of the incoming heavy missiles, and Admiral Wallace was forced to watch with a sinking heart as her alpha strike was winnowed away by a seemingly endless stream of defensive missile fire. The first wave of Bludgeon ASM’s was reduced to just five missiles by the time it reached point blank range, and the only reason those five survived was that it was taking the defensive anti-missile missiles multiple hits to kill each of the armored ASM’s. Those five were wiped out by point blank defensive fire. The smaller second wave was whittled down in exactly the same way, and its last few missiles died in the storm of point-blank fire that the Dregluk squadron threw out.
Admiral Wallace was livid, but her anger was directly mostly at herself. Her staff had wanted to launch a larger strike, but she had been the most active voice in limiting its size, as she wanted to save most of her best missiles for a strike against the Dregluk Home Planet. It was her mistake. Now she had to correct it. A quick check showed that the salvo her remaining launchers could send towards the Dregluk would be smaller than the one that had just died without inflicting any damage, so that left one option. She hit the all-ships channel.
“The fleet will withdraw to the Houston system. We will engage them on the far side of the jump point, when they come through. All units will begin a phased withdrawal. Admiral Wallace out.”
One by one the Human fleet jumped out, ceding the space around the jump point in the Austin system back to the Dregluk, at least temporarily. This included the salvage ship that was working on the large group of Ant class ships that had been destroyed close to the jump point. Salvage efforts had discovered that the Ant class units were equipped with missile box launchers, as suspected.
Once on the far side of the jump point the fleet split up. The support ships retreated to a point just over one million kilometers from the jump point, while the rest of the fleet set up at a point 500,000 kilometers from the jump point. The HuK’s and their fast frigate escort set up on the jump point to await the arrival of the Dregluk ships. While the fleet waited for the Dregluk, the Fleet Docks began rearming missile boats that had expended their ordnance.
There were five salvage ships, with their attendant freighters, working on wrecks close to the jump point. Admiral Wallace made the decision to let them continue their work. Her publicly stated reason was that their work was too important to interrupt, but privately she told her chief of staff that if the Dregluk chose to target the civilian ships instead of her fleet that that would be just fine with her.
December 26, 2143, Houston
Eleven hours after retreating from the Austin system the fleet has reloaded and rearmed its launchers, and Admiral Wallace was starting to develop a plan for their return. She had expected the Dregluk to jump into the Houston system an hour ago, if they were going to come at all, so it seemed they were going to have to assault the jump point.
Even as she gathered her staff together the six Dregluk ships jumped into the Houston system. At that point she became an observer as the fleet’s carefully developed attack plan went into action. The three HuK’s on the jump point immediately began bringing their engines up, and began targeting the three Incubus class cruisers that fleet Intel theorized were carrying the turreted gauss cannons used to intercept their missiles. One of the missile boat groups had been rearmed with older Bludgeon III ASM’s, and that group began targeting the six Dregluk ships and would launch as soon as possible. The battleships and battlecruisers of the fleet, assembled 500,000 kilometers from the jump point, also began targeting the Dregluk ships and would launch their Thunderbolt IV’s as soon as possible. The plan held the frigates and the rest of the missile boats in reserve.
The three HuK’s fired almost immediately, and their lasers punched holes in the three Incubus class cruiser’s armor. In reply, the Dregluk battleship opened fire with its particle beams on one of the freighters assisting the salvage ships working on salvaging wrecks close to the jump point. The Dregluk focused their fire on one of the freighters, destroying it.
Fifteen seconds later the three HuK’s had their smaller lasers recharged and fired again, but the Dregluk ships were moving away from the jump point and they suffered less damage this time. Five seconds after that the BB’s and BC’s finally got their launchers online and launched their missiles. The three HuK’s each fired their spinal lasers as well, scoring hits on two of the Incubus class CA’s.
The next round went to the Dregluk ships, which this time focused their beam fire on one of the salvage ships, seriously damaging it. As the Thunderbolt ASM’s closed in, the HuK’s got off another shot with their smaller lasers, and by this time they had gotten underway and were closing on the Dregluk force. Their lasers struck at the Dregluk ship’s armor, scoring it deeply and causing one breach.
The bulk of the Thunderbolts were shot down by point blank defensive fire, but eight got through to hit the Colossus class BB’s armor, causing several breaches. The Bludgeon III’s had been launched from further away, and were still on their way.
The Dregluk force split into two groups, with a lone Incubus class cruiser speeding away from the jump point, while the other five ships turned back towards the Republic’s salvage groups working close to the jump point. The HuK’s heavy spinal lasers slashed out again, scoring hits against all three Incubus class CA’s, but the lone Incubus class running from the jump point was getting too far away to be effectively targeted, so the Intrepid shifted its targeting to the Colossus class BB at the center of the Dregluk formation.
The human battleships and battlecruisers launched a second salvo of Thunderbolts even as the HuK’s struck out at the Dregluk cruisers and battleship with their smaller lasers, scoring multiple hits and causing armor breaches on one of the cruisers.
At that point there was a pause, as the HuK’s recharged their lasers and the missiles were streaking towards their targets. It was at this point that the Dregluk BB fired its particle beams at the Santa Barbara, the fast anti-missile frigate attached to the HuK’s. Twenty-one of the particle beams struck the frigate, carving through her armor and penetrating deeply into the ship. The small ship shuddered under the heavy fire, until finally one of her magazines was struck, causing a small but devastating internal explosion that destroyed the ship’s bridge and gutted the ship. Fifty-eight crewers were killed, but seventy-nine managed to get to their life pods.
As the HuK’s and the Dregluk BB recharged their weapons, the second Thunderbolt salvo streaked in. The Dregluk formation had broken into three groups at this point, as several ships had suffered engine damage. The two Fiend class AMM cruisers were still sticking with the Colossus class BB, but had not yet managed to launch any AMM’s. The two Incubus class CA’s that had been close to the BB had moved away. The lone Incubus class that had been running from the jump point was still moving away. The pair of Incubus class CA’s managed to destroy all of the missiles targeted on them with point blank gauss cannon fire, but by moving away they exposed the Fiend class CA’s and the BB to the missiles. One Fiend was destroyed by the Thunderbolts, while the other was damaged. The Colossus managed to stop twelve of the fifteen missiles targeted on it, and none of the three that hit penetrated its armor. Even as the missiles hit, the last Fiend class AMM cruiser got its sensors up, meaning that it might finally begin launching anti-missiles into the fray. The HuK’s got in their laser strikes as well, although the Incubus cruisers were getting too far away for the lasers to do much damage. Seeing this, the captains of the Assistance and the Endeavor retargeted on the remaining Fiend class CA and the Colossus.
The Bludgeon III ASM’s launched by the missile boats chose this moment to intercede, finally. The first to reach their targets were the ones targeted on the Fiend class CA and the Colossus. The cruiser shot down eight of the big missiles, but was then overwhelmed by the remainder and destroyed. The Colossus shot down six and was hit by nine, staggering it and causing it to slow even more. At this point, sensing the Dregluk force was on its last legs, Admiral Wallace ordered her BB’s and BC’s to cease fire, just as they were readying to launch their third salvo.
The two-ship Incubus CA group was the next to face the Bludgeon’s. The two cruisers proved more than capable of dealing with the missiles and shot them all down before they could hit. A group of Bludgeon’s that had been targeted on the Fiend class cruiser destroyed earlier in the battle acquired the Colossus with their internal sensors and attacked, with three penetrating the BB’s last second fire and causing multiple hull breaches. The last ship to come under attack from the Bludgeon wave was the fleeing Incubus class cruiser, which easily destroyed the six ASM’s targeted on it. By this time Admiral Wallace had ordered all three HuK’s to focus their fire on the Colossus, which, with its particle beams, was the primary remaining threat. It was limping along at half of its previous speed and would be easy prey for the HuK’s. All six of the HuK’s smaller lasers hit, and all caused armor breaches in the big battleship.
By that time all three remaining Incubus class cruisers had turned and were racing towards the limping battleship. Their attempt to aid the beleaguered battleship came to an end when the three HuK’s speared the big Dregluk ship with their spinal lasers and carved it into two separate pieces. The three HuK’s turned from the wreck of the battleship and split up, each taking a Dregluk cruiser under fire. The Incubus class cruisers had proven to be immune to missile fire, or at least to the salvoes that Admiral Wallace was willing to launch, so she ordered the HuK’s to close and destroy the troublesome ships.
All three remaining Dregluk CA’s turned away and began running, but the HuK’s were far faster than the Dregluk ships. For a time, the Dregluk CA’s tried to avoid the HuK’s, but their effort was futile and finally they seemed to accept their fate and plunged towards their pursuers. The HuK’s raced towards their targets, their lasers striking out again and again, but then came under concentrated fire from the Incubus’ gauss cannons. Each hit did only a tiny bit of damage, but between the two cruisers that had closed with their pursuers they were able to manage one hundred and twenty-eight hits on their pursuers. The HuK’s had heavy shields, but they couldn’t withstand this kind of damage for long. Seeing this, Admiral Wallace ordered her battleships to launch another salvo of Thunderbolts to assist the HuK’s. The enemy cruisers would be forced to choose between defending themselves from the missiles or targeting the HuK’s.
The HuK’s struck out again and again with their lasers, but the Dregluk ships were able to fire every five seconds, while the HuK’s had a fifteen second recharge time on their smaller lasers and a twenty second recharge time on their larger lasers. The Intrepid was the first to lose her shields, and the gauss rounds began scouring her armor. She suffered only minor damage, but that would change, rapidly.
Five seconds later the sustained gauss cannon fire gutted the Intrepid, causing heavy internal damage. She wasn’t destroyed, but she was crippled. The Assistance, too, had her shields knocked down. She hadn’t suffered any internal damage, yet, but her armor was being scoured away. Five seconds after that, the Intrepid exploded under the sustained barrage from the Dregluk gauss cannon cruiser. Admiral Wallace ordered the remaining two HuK’s to open the range. The Assistance had lost her shields, and the Endeavor was down to 70% shield strength. Although they were faster, it would take time for the HuK’s to extricate themselves, time that they might not have.
Fortunately, even as the two HuK’s tried to come about and open the range, the enemy cruisers were also slow to react, and they moved out of their own range. The two HuK’s continued to pelt their targets with laser fire, continuing to cause internal damage, but the Dregluk ships were big and tough. By the time the first salvo of Thunderbolts from the battleships arrived, the HuK’s were no longer within range of the Dregluk gauss cannons, which was good for them but also meant that the Dregluk ships could focus on their own defense. None of the missiles got through to their targets. Admiral Wallace ordered her BB’s to focus their fire on one of the cruisers, instead of spreading their fire, in the hopes that this would make the difference.
As the second concentrated salvo of Thunderbolts raced towards its target, the two remaining HuK’s continued to pound their targeted Incubus class CA’s from 100,000 kilometers, outside their gauss cannon range. This ensured the safety of the HuK’s, but also attenuated their laser fire, making the process of destroying the Dregluk ships more drawn out. The Thunderbolt ASM’s finally arrived at their targeted Incubus, which managed to destroy thirty of the ASM’s, but the remaining fifteen hit the cruiser, causing multiple hull breaches. The cruiser was staggered, slowed, and lost its active sensor. Admiral Wallace ordered her BB’s to shift fire to one of the other cruisers.
The second salvo of Thunderbolts raced in, targeted on the Dregluk CA closest to the salvage ships by the jump point. This Incubus was only able to destroy fifteen of the forty-five Thunderbolts, and the remaining thirty smashed the cruiser. Admiral Wallace shifted fire to the third Incubus, while the HuK’s continued to pound the cruisers mercilessly.
The two HuK’s continued their merciless pursuit of the Incubus class CA’s while the last salvo of Thunderbolts closed on the least damaged of the two remaining Dregluk cruisers. The Incubus managed to destroy fifteen of the forty-five ASM’s, but then was overwhelmed by the remaining thirty, leaving just one Dregluk cruiser in the Austin system. The two HuK’s closed on this last cruiser, which had no active sensors and thus was at their mercy. Together the two HuK’s closed to point blank range and pounded the remaining cruiser into submission, leaving little but wreckage floating in their wake.
The battle was over, but the Republic’s forces had paid a price to eliminate the Dregluk attack force. They had been forced back to the Houston system, and two warships had been destroyed, the fast frigate Santa Barbara and the Hunter-Killer Intrepid. In addition, an older freighter had been lost to enemy fire. A salvage ship and the Hunter-Killer Assistance were damaged, although the Assistance could be repaired in the Fleet Docks in a matter of hours. The missile boats that had expended their ordnance entered the Docks as well, while one of the munitions ships that had been emptied refilling the fleet’s magazines moved out to begin rescuing the Republic’s spacers that were drifting in life pods. Once the pods had been recovered the munitions ship would return to the Forward Operating Base where the crews would be dropped off. The fleet would have to wait to go on the offensive again until munitions ships returned from the Forward Operating Base, where they were loading more Thunderbolt ASM’s.
The damaged salvage ship was more of a problem. The ship had suffered serious internal damage, including several of its salvage modules, and only had a small engineering department capable of dealing with the most limited repairs. After some consideration it was decided to let it finish its current salvage effort and then it would return to the Solar System for either repairs or scrapping. A tug was requested from the Solar System to tow the salvage ship back, as it would take the best part of a year for it to return in its current condition.
Within six hours of the end of the battle the Assistance was back in the battle line in the Austin system, awaiting the munitions ships before advancing into the system.
December 28, 2143, Austin system
The fleet has finally been assembled, fueled, and rearmed. While there weren’t enough Thunderbolt IV ASM’s to completely refill the BB and the BC’s magazines, there were enough for each to be able to launch several salvoes of the IV’s before having to fall back on the older III’s. Admiral Wallace’s entire force consisted of 3 BB’s, 3 BC’s, 4 Assault Ships, 2 HuK’s, 7 anti-missile frigates, 9 ASM frigates, 63 missile boats, 4 anti-small-craft pods, 3 AMM pods, and 16 ASM pods. The entire force set out for Dregluk Prime at 1240 hours. Admiral Wallace divided her force into two groups, based on the type of missiles that they carried. Her intent was to launch a strike timed so that the two different types of missiles would arrive at the target as close as possible so as to overwhelm the enemy’s defenses. It would be difficult to organize, but the only other choice was to come so close to the defenses that the enemy wouldn’t be able to intercept the incoming missiles before they hit their targets, and that would mean they would have to endure AMM barrages fired in offensive mode. It would take around seven days for both of the forces to arrive on station.
December 29, 2143, Austin
On their way into the inner system, the 1st Fleet detects a Dregluk ground military force on one of the moons of the fifth planet. This brings to three the known outposts or populations in the system. Dregluk Prime and Dregluk Secundus are both located on moons of the innermost gas giant. For now, Admiral Wallace is concentrating on Dregluk Prime, as that is the location of the shipyards and likely the prime threat.
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The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2143
Earth:
Population: 2.498 Billion (-13.4%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 4/13
Industrial Facilities (All): 10,187 (-3%)
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -4 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 17% drop in industrial efficiency. (Note: The efficiency drop from lack of workers has actually exceeded the efficiency drop related to radiation)
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -2.72%.
The Earth’s economy is suffering under a massive shortfall of workers, which this year exceeded 100 million. This is in spite of the continuing transfer of shipyards and industrial facilities to the colonies, the conversion of mines to automation, and the complete shutdown of the fuel refining industry on Earth. The Republic’s leadership is actually considering increasing the transfers of industry, which would cause shortages of workers on the colonies, but at a lower level than that of Earth.
The amelioration of the dust and radiation from the bombardment has actually begun causing problems on Earth. As the dust has settled, the average temperature has risen, which wouldn’t have been a problem except that shortly after the bombardment the terraforming fleet pumped greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in an attempt to stabilize the temperature before it could fall too far. Now that the dust levels are much lower temperatures have risen, and the average temperature has actually exceeded the safe zone for human life. Fortunately, the effect is slight, at least so far, and there is more than enough infrastructure stored on Earth to counteract this temperature rise. In any case, the terraforming effort on Ganymede is expected to be completed in the first half of 2144, at which time the terraforming fleet will be transferred to Earth to reverse the effects of the temperature increase.
The new administration under Consul Young was appalled at what they discovered about the state of the Republic’s economy once they took over from the Foster Administration. While most of the information relating to the economy is public, no one outside of the government had put all the facts together, a situation that the Foster government seems to have encouraged or influenced. At the current time projections are that at the current rate of expenditure, the Republic will run low on both resources and fuel in the next several years. Even more shocking is the carefully concealed fact that the Earth’s deposits of TN resources will be completely depleted within the next ten years. While that can be dealt with, fleet operations and construction will almost certainly have to be curtailed for some time, and efforts will have to be redirected from moving population away from the radiated environment on Earth to establishing a more viable economy.
Luna:
Population: 348.57 million (260% increase)
Mines: 317 (no change)
Automated Mines: 155 (no change)
Financial Centers: 310
Construction Factories: 145 (241% increase)
The rate of the Lunar Colony’s population increase has actually begun to concern the Senate, which has taken action to reduce the flow of people for the next year, as this population transfer has significantly affected Earth’s economy.
With the end of the terraforming effort on Ganymede in sight, the Lunar Colony has begun campaigning to be the next location to be terraformed. Luna currently has the third largest population in the Republic, and with the election of Joseph Foster to the Senate it has gained a persuasive voice to argue its position. The Senate and the Young administration have not yet made a decision on this issue, although it has been announced that the terraforming fleet will be diverted to Earth for several months to correct the previous terraforming efforts. There are persistent rumors that the Young administration is eyeing locations outside of the Solar System for the next terraforming effort.
Mars:
Population: 668.42 million (+11%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 15/59 (+3 slipways)
Maintenance Facilities: 140
Construction Factories: 253 (+23 change)
Ordnance Factories: 343 (+64 change this year)
Financial Centers: 160
The largest single employer on Mars continues to be the Republic Naval Yards, employing over one hundred and one million Martian residents. The Martians are fervent supporters of the Republic’s war effort, and almost twenty percent of the Martian population is directly employed by the military or the military-industrial complex. The bulk of the rest of the population is indirectly involved in the war effort as well.
All of the Republic’s naval shipyards orbit Mars, and Mars has become the primary fleet anchorage for the Home Fleet as all maintenance facilities were transferred off of Earth over the past year in an attempt to ameliorate the ongoing worker shortage. While the orbital yards only added three slipways this past year, all of the yards added tonnage capacity to their slipways over the year, as part of a long-standing plan to increase the size of the Navy’s ships to match the ships deployed by the Dregluk. These efforts have been curtailed as of late, as the expansion of the yard’s capacity has overrun the Mars Colony’s available workers by a significant margin, reducing production efficiency.
Ganymede:
Population: 148.13 million (+274%)
Construction Factories: 233 (no change)
Mines: 108 (no change)
Automated Mines: 168 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 54
Shipyards/Slipways: 5/19
The terraforming fleet has reduced the colony cost associated with the Ganymede colony to 0.529 on the standard BuReLoc scale, and is projected to complete its efforts in the first half of the upcoming year.
Five of the Republic’s ten civilian shipyards have been transferred to Ganymede, and this process will continue throughout 2144.
Solar Outposts and Mining Facilities:
Venus:
Automated Mines: 741 (no change)
Wolf-Harrington (Comet):
Automated Mines: 111 (no change)
This mining outpost is slated to be shut down in two years when the last of the resources present on the comet have been mined out.
Whipple (Comet):
Automated Mines: 50 (no change)
Swift-Tuttle (Comet):
Automated Mines: 25 (no change)
Puck (Moon of Uranus):
This outpost is intended solely as a fuel dump for the refineries working in Uranus orbit. Fuel reserves located on Puck, and in the tanks of the thirty-two Exxon-Mobile fuel refineries in orbit over Uranus are currently 26,170,000 liters, enough to fill one Fleet UNREP ship to capacity.
Bastion (Washington System):
Population: 10.21 million (+229%)
Construction Factories: 86 (48 transferred this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 138 (no change)
Bastion is no longer considered the leading edge of the Republic now that the Forward Operating Base and the Maintenance Base have been established in the Houston system, but it is still Humanity’s largest extra-solar colony and the home of the 1st Fleet.
The entire population is devoted to supporting the fortress complex that protects the planet and the fleet base that is the colony’s reason for existence.
The Navy has been campaigning heavily within the Senate for the reassignment of the Terraforming ships to Bastion when they complete their efforts at Ganymede, as Bastion already has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and temperate climate. The atmosphere is too thin to breathe without technological assistance, though. Terraforming Bastion would make it much easier to increase the colony’s size and ability to support the 1st Fleet, and would not take too long, however, the Washington system has little in the way of exploitable resources to justify a further expansion. The debate in the Senate continues.
Houston System (Forward Operating Area, 1st Fleet)
Maintenance Base (5th moon of the 5th planet)
Population: 9.68 million (All transferred in this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 140 (all transferred in this year)
The Maintenance Base is a vital support facility for the 1st Fleet, allowing Admiral Wallace to overhaul her ships very close to the front lines instead of having to send them back to Bastion for maintenance. The maintenance facility is currently undermanned, and population transfers from Earth will continue for several more months to bring it up to full staffing.
Forward Operating Base (2nd Moon of Dregluk Bravo (Planet #4)
Population: 0 (this planetoid is too small for colonization)
Deep Space Tracking Station: 20
The Forward Operating Base was established by the 1st Fleet to support its operations in the Houston system primarily by providing long-range detection capabilities. In addition, the Forward Operating Base supports a fuel dump and is used as a troop transfer and staging point. Finally, ten construction brigades have been transferred in to begin assembling pre-fabbed PDC’s on this location.
Dregluk Alpha (3rd Planet)
Population: 52 million (net decrease of 53% over pre-conquest population)
The 1st Fleet bombarded this planet to force a surrender, rather than risking a ground invasion. Publicly, the government has announced that the damage to the planet’s environment and the colony’s infrastructure is due to fanatical Dregluk resistance, both before and after the conquest. In reality, the 1st Fleet, at the direction of the office of the Consul, used enhanced radiation weapons against the colony, and then, at Admiral Wallace’s order, the infrastructure supporting the Dregluk colony was relocated to the Forward Operating Base and the Maintenance Facility. The bombardment and the loss of the infrastructure has caused the Dregluk population to decline dramatically, and it isn’t clear how much longer the colony will exist. Neither the 1st Fleet, nor the Republic’s government, has taken any action to remedy the situation on Dregluk Alpha.
Although the Republic has been hiding the details of the way that the Dregluk colony was undermined, and has shifted the blame for the collapse of the colony to the Dregluk colonists, it isn’t clear that that was necessary. The Republic’s citizens are firmly behind the bombardment of this colony and every other Dregluk population, and this sentiment is particularly strong on Earth, which despite its population decrease since the Bombardment, is still the Republic’s largest population. This sentiment has been firmly reinforced by the fact that the troops occupying the colony have suffered no casualties from dealing with the Dregluk, a result that the public firmly believes is due to the craven cowardice of the Dregluk and the overwhelming valor of the Marines and regular troopers that form the occupation forces.
Dregluk Bravo (4th Planet)
Population: 0
Civilian Mines: 24
This planet appears to have been a mining outpost for the Dregluk Imperium. A small stockpile of TN resources was seized when the planet fell to the 1st Fleet’s Marines, and the mining complexes have since been put to work producing resources that will be transferred to the Maintenance Base to help support the fleet.
Philadelphia System
Xeno Research Project (Planet #1):
The research project ended this year abruptly, and the research team has been transferred back to Earth under the utmost secrecy. The entire project has been classified at the highest level, and nothing as to the results of the team’s findings have been made public or leaked out.
The older troop transports that remain in the Solar System have been steadily transferring construction brigades from Bastion to this planet, but no announcement has been made as to the intent behind their transfer. Speculation is rampant that a great discovery was made by the research team, or that the planet is being prepared to become a fortress complex to be used as a bulwark against the mysterious Symsonian’s, but very little is available in the way of actual facts.
Currently, the 2nd Infantry Brigade is stationed on this planet, and four construction brigades have been transferred as well.
This planet is considered a prime target for colonization by the Republic as it has vast deposits of TN resources, and is considered to be easy to terraform, as it already has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and a temperate climate. All that would need to be done to adjust it for colonization would be to reduce the overall oxygen content of the atmosphere, as currently it is too high to be breathable by a human without technological assistance. When coupled with the presence of alien ruins on the planet, it would seem to be a prime target for future operations.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by maintaining fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
System Defense Command Emplacements
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 10
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 5 (66% increase)
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 10
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 2
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 2
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 4
Anti-Missile Bases (Meson): 8 (266% increase)
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 3
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 9
Anti-missile bases (Meson): 29 (+1 (3.5%) increase)
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard all of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, the Denver system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility. Currently the Fleet has assigned a picket ship and a Fleet Scout to the system as an early warning tripwire.
The Republican Fleet
Republic Home Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
Home Port: Mars
Star class BB: Antares
Planet class BCC: Mercury, Saturn
Essex Class Assault Ships: Essex, Potemkin, Yamato
Defender class Destroyer Escorts: Defender, Buckler, Shield
Brooklyn class AMM Frigates: Birmingham, Karachi, Mumbai
Lake class ASM Frigates: Balkhash, Victoria, Vostok, Winnipeg
20xLR Missile Boat
2xLR Missile Boat Leader
10xMissile Boat
Home Fleet Support Group
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-005
Hero class Fleet Dock: Sergio Ortega-Cortez, Surayya Medved
Home Fleet Pod Reserve (Earth)
50xMissile Pod
19xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
Home Fleet, Scout Group
Far Seer class Scout: Beckwourth, Chapman, Tobin
1st Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
Home Port: Bastion, Washington System
Star class BB: Pride of Sol, Procyon, Vega
Planet class BC: Mars, Jupiter, Venus
Essex class Assault Ship: Ark Royal, Prince of Wales, Bismarck, Warspite
Enterprise class Hunter-Killer: Assistance, Endeavor
Brooklyn class AMM Frigate: Lima, Seoul, Shanghai, Tokyo, Boston, Cairo, Chongqing, Delhi, Lagos
Lake class ASM Frigate: Sacramento, Singapore, Tanganyika, Vladivostok, Baikai, Eire, Huron, Ladoga, Michigan, Nairobi, Ontario, Malawi
57xLR Missile Boat
6xLR Missile Boat Leader
19xMissile Boat
1st Fleet Support Group
Hero class Fleet Dock: Adela Sachs, Deborah Hasek, Judith Cole, Michael Bromley
Fleet Support class Munitions Ships: FS-001, FS-002, FS-003, FS-004, FS-005, FS-006
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-004
1st Fleet, Pod Group
21xASM Pod
12xAMM Pod
5xASU Pod
4xSensor Pod
1st Fleet, Scout Group
Far Seer class Scout: Kit Carson, Jim Bridger
Survey Command (Administratively under Home Fleet)
Home Port: Mars
1st Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
2nd Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
3rd Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGravitic Survey Ships
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. To this end it has the following forces:
Sol System (stationed at Mars, or defending various jump points into Sol):
Saratoga R1 Monitor: Saratoga, Waterloo, Stalingrad, Tours, Hastings, Metaurus, Cajamarca
Washington System (stationed at Bastion or defending various jump points):
Saratoga r1 Monitor: Masada, Antietam, Huai Hai, Marathon
System Defense Force (Mars):
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Ships currently under construction (Mars):
4xStar class BB
3xPlanet r2 class battlecruisers
1xNimitz class DD
4xDefender class Destroyer Escorts
4xBrooklyn(F) Fast Frigates
10xMB r3(LR)
4xMB r3 (LR) Leader
5xPod (AMM)
7xASU Pod
5xASM Pod
3xGravitic Survey Ships
3xFar Seer r2 class Scout
1xRefit Essex to Essex r2 Assault Ship
3xRefit Brooklyn r5 AMM frigate to Brooklyn r6LR
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January 1, 2144, 0834 hours, Austin system
Admiral Wallace looked around the flag deck. This was it, her last chance to defeat the Dregluk. Her gaze turned towards the plot tank in the center of the deck. It was currently set to show the inner system, centered on Dregluk Prime. Dregluk Prime showed up in the tank as a small red icon glowing bright red, its burning intensity mirroring the massive thermal and EM signature the planet was giving off. Her lips were bared in a predatory grin as she watched a scattering of large and slow icons representing Dregluk civilian ships leave orbit over Dregluk Prime and flee the approach of her fleet. They were unimportant, for now, and her gaze returned to Dregluk Prime as it had so many times before.
Her hand, acting as if it had a mind of its own, slipped into her pocket and wrapped around the small pic flat she kept there. This was to be her last chance to defeat the Dregluk Imperium, she knew. She had stripped the supply dumps and magazines of the solar system to supply her fleet, and missile production was falling back home. Although older missiles were available, stocks of modern missiles were critical, and she feared that the Admiralty, and behind them the Senate and the Consul, would not authorize a third attack if this one failed. The munitions industry on Earth was failing due to lingering radiation and lack of workers, and was slated to be relocated, but until that happened missiles would be in short supply. No, she thought, if this attack failed it was a sure thing that the Admiralty would order her fleet to assume a permanent defensive blockade over Dregluk Prime, to await the construction of a new beam-armed fleet capable of penetrating the orbital defenses of Dregluk Prime. She grimaced. It would take years to build that fleet, and would mean years of waiting for her. Worse, that fleet would form up under the command of some other admiral, while she sat here and watched Dregluk Prime. Her thoughts were interrupted by the approach of her aide.
“Ma’am, the bridge confirms that we have arrived at our launch point.”
“Very well. What is the ETA of the Bludgeon force?”
“Approximately four days, ma’am. I can have Captain Arguellos update you on the exact time, if you want.”
Admiral Wallace smiled. Lt. Enriquez knew she didn’t need or want the exact ETA, but he through that last part in anyway, just because he was a stickler. Which was exactly what she needed. “No need, Lieutenant. Let the commanders know I want the next four days filled with drills, particular firing drills. And I want a command staff meeting tomorrow morning, to go over our plan.”
“Very well.” Lt. Enriquez saluted and walked away, leaving Admiral Wallace to stare at the glowing red icon at the center of the plot. Every once in a while, her hand would slip into her pocket, as if of its own accord.
January 5, 2144, 1512 hours, Austin system
“Fire!” With that, Admiral Wallace settled back into her chair and watched the plot, waiting for her fleet to respond to her orders. It had taken months of effort and coordination to reach this point. She had stripped the Washington system of nearly every mobile unit assigned to her fleet, and begged and borrowed every ship she could from the Home Fleet for this operation. She, her captains and subordinate admirals, and her staff had done excellent work developing the plan they were about to implement. Her fleet was divided into two groups, the Bludgeon group and the Thunderbolt group, depending on the ASM that the ships were equipped with. The two groups were stationed at distances from Dregluk Prime that corresponded to the time it would take their missiles to reach their targets over Dregluk Prime in one hour. Now, aboard all of the missile-firing ships of the fleet, crews were racing to launch the single largest missile salvo ever launched by a human fleet. The question was, could they coordinate the firing of the two groups closely enough to ensure that the missiles arrived over Dregluk Prime simultaneously? If they weren’t able to coordinate their firing that closely, the attack would likely fail as the Dregluk defenses would be able to deal with each attack separately, and those defenses had already proved to be frighteningly effective.
“Launch! We have missile launch. Awaiting confirmation of launch from the Bludgeon group.” The comm officer bent over his station.
Admiral Wallace watched intently as a massive wave of Thunderbolt IV’s raced away from her group. She watched the plot intently, waiting for confirmation of launch from the Bludgeon group. Everything depended on a simultaneous launch. Her last attack had shown that the Dregluk defenses were able to overwhelm missile waves composed of either Bludgeon or Thunderbolt ASM’s. Her only real alternative now was to try to coordinate launches from her two groups, so that the missiles that they launched would arrive over Dregluk Prime simultaneously. If the Dregluk defenses could stop a simultaneous launch, then it was a wonder that she had managed to push them back this far in the first place.
Admiral Wallace glanced at the time code on her display. It would take just over two and a half minutes for the confirmation signal to arrive from the Bludgeon group, which was stationed 46.6 mkm’s closer to Dregluk Prime. In the meantime, Admiral Wallace’s hand slipped into her pocket to cradle the small picture she kept there as she watched the massive missile wave race away from her ships.
Two and a half minutes later the confirmation came in and cheers broke out across the flag deck. The Bludgeon group’s ships launched simultaneously with the Thunderbolt ships! In just under an hour 296 Thunderbolt IV ASM’s would be joined by 546 Bludgeon IV ASM’s in what she hoped was an overwhelming attack on the defenses over Dregluk Prime. While the missiles were targeted exclusively on the orbital defenses, given the internal sensors of the Bludgeon ASM’s, almost any enemy target close to Dregluk Prime would be attacked if there was overkill, including the population and the orbital shipyards. The Admiralty had ordered her to limit the bombardment of surface targets to special munitions, to leave Dregluk industrial facilities intact for humanity’s use, and had specifically precluded her from targeting the orbital shipyards without Consular approval, but if enough Bludgeon ASM’s survived the destruction of their original target, nothing close to Dregluk Prime would be safe. And she was fine with that. Just fine.
The missiles raced away from the two groups, towards the targets. It was a long, tense hour for the fleet and Admiral Wallace as they watched their missile wave crawl towards Dregluk Prime. This was it, their alpha strike. If it didn’t work then the fleet would have to turn to an alternative strategy, either blockade or a potentially costly direct attack at close range. Finally, fifty-seven minutes after the launch, the Bludgeon ASM wave, which was in the lead as the two groups of missiles approached the planet, began taking AMM fire at 4.8 mkm’s out. It would take approximately 120 seconds for the missiles to cross the intervening space to their targets, and the first round of interceptions was heave, taking a large toll of the incoming missiles. As the seconds crawled by it became apparent that the Dregluk had had kept AMM launch capability in reserve during the last attack as the interceptions continued to mount. The interceptions continued to wither away the attack group, but after fifteen seconds the number of interceptions by AMM’s fell off, and then stopped completely. Then, ten seconds later, Dregluk AMM’s began intercepting Thunderbolt ASM’s coming up behind the Bludgeon ASM’s. The Dregluk focused their fire on the Thunderbolts for ten seconds, and then shifted again.
Admiral Wallace’s attitude had shifted from cautious confidence to near despair as she watched her alpha strike whittled down. But then the Dregluk defenses fell silent for forty-five seconds. It appeared that the Dregluk had launched a large salvo of AMM’s at each missile group and then waited for that salvo to hit to evaluate its effectiveness. That was allowing the human missile wave to approach while the Dregluk were forced to launch more AMM’s and then wait for them to reach the human missiles. Admiral Wallace’s hopes began to rise as the human missiles raced towards the planet without further interceptions.
The interceptions began again when the Bludgeon ASM wave was 2.5 mkm’s from the planet. There were two rounds of attacks on each missile wave, five seconds apart. By the end of the second set of interceptions, the Bludgeon wave had been reduced to one hundred and fifty-nine missiles, and the Thunderbolt wave had been gutted, reduced to only twenty-nine missiles. It was at this point that Admiral Wallace realized the strike wasn’t going to work.
The third round of interceptions whittled the force down even more, nearly eliminating the Thunderbolt ASM group. There was time for one more interception by AMM’s an then the remaining attack missiles closed to point blank range. There were only twenty-six missiles left at that point. All twenty-six died under the orbital fort’s gauss cannons. The attack had failed.
Admiral Wallace ordered her fleet to return to Houston, and began working on her after-action report. Much to her relief, the Admiralty decided to give Admiral Wallace a third chance to eliminate the Dregluk defenses. As a result of this battle, the Admiralty began development of missiles designed to penetrate the Dregluk defenses. One of the new designs relied on speed to get through the interception envelope as fast as possible, while the other was heavily armored. It would take time to finalize the designs and even more to produce the missiles, though.
-
January 2, 2144, Earth
The Republic’s R&D establishment completes development work on fire control systems for the new 3rd generation meson cannon turrets intended for planetary defense. These new turrets are equipped with four rapid-firing 150 mm meson cannons with a range of 180,000 kilometers, meaning that they can be used both for missile defense and defense against enemy ships that approach too close. Work will begin on converting the existing Shield r1 class PDC’s to the Shield r2 standard almost immediately.
January 14, 2144, Baton Rouge system
The 3rd Survey Group completes its gravitational survey of the system. One additional jump point is found, approximately one billion kilometers from the two other jump points. The new jump point has a Dregluk built gate. The survey commander decides to probe the new system before continuing back up the chain towards the solar system.
January 17, 2144
The 3rd Survey Group jumps out of the Baton Rouge system into a new system with a G1-V star 1.7 billion kilometers from their entry point. The system contains six terrestrial planets and three gas giants, and is designated as the Oklahoma system. One of the terrestrial planets has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and is rated at a colony cost of 2.85 on the BuReLoc scale. Lt. Commander Campbell, the senior officer commanding the 3rd, orders her group to separate and begin surveying the system. The jump scout is dispatched to probe the fifth planet to determine if there is a Dregluk base there.
January 18, 2144, 0512 hours, Austin system
1st Fleet scout Kit Carson detects nine Ant class small units 137 mkm’s out and closing on the jump point to Houston. Fortunately, ASU missiles are the one thing the fleet has a relative abundance of, unlike Bludgeon and Thunderbolt missiles. The five ASUM pods stationed at the jump point go to a higher alert level and begin preparing for action.
Two and a half hours later the Dregluk units had closed and were within range of the Republican forces on the jump point. Two ASUM Pods launched a total of twenty-seven missiles at the Dregluk units. The missiles took just over seven minutes to reach their targets, and they obliterated seven of the nine, leaving one dead in space the other still apparently functional. A second launch of four missiles sufficed to destroy the two remaining ships, leaving space around the jump point clear again.
January 25, 2144, Solar System
The Admiralty’s R&D teams complete development work on three different types of Planetary Assault Missiles. All three are variations of the basic Bludgeon and Thunderbolt designs, and use off-the-shelf parts, to minimize development time and cost.
Planetary Attack Missile (Fast)
Size: 16
Speed: 78,100 km/s
Range: 152.6 mkm’s
WH: 26
Active Sensor and ECM (no armor)
Planetary Attack Missile, Light (Fast)
Size: 5
Speed: 100,000 km/s
Range: 86.1 mkm’s
WH: 4
Planetary Attack Missile, Armored
Size: 16
Speed: 39,100 km/s
Range: 152.6 mkm’s
WH: 26
Armor: 5
Active Sensor and ECM
After some consideration, the Admiralty decides to create a new attack plan based on the two “Fast” planetary attack missile designs. They hope that the speed of the new missiles will be enough to bypass the Dregluk AMM defenses, and at the very least degrade their gauss cannon defense as well. Certainly, a missile travelling at a third of light speed will be difficult to stop, and the Admiralty has high hopes. It will take months for the munitions industry in the Solar System to construct enough missiles to fill the 1st Fleet’s magazines, so in the mean time Admiral Wallace is ordered to blockade Dregluk Prime and prevent any Dregluk ships from escaping the system.
February 7, 2144, Houston system
Ammunition transports had arrived from the Solar System to replenish the fleet’s magazines, and finally most of the fleet’s ships were rearmed and ready for action. Instead of another pointless attack on Dregluk Prime, or merely waiting until the new planetary assault missiles were ready, Admiral Wallace decided to begin eliminating or conquering known Dregluk infestations outside of their home system. To this end, she dispatched a heavy task group, with Fleet Docks, munitions ships, and troop transports, back up the chain of stars to the Portland system. From there they would divert to the El Paso system, where several Dregluk outposts or settlements had been detected. The task group consisted of two assault Ships, two destroyer escorts, three fast frigates, six ASM frigates, eleven missile boats, and two ASUM pods, along with various support craft and transports.
February 30, 2144, Salt Lake System
The task group is finally assembled and refueled. Captain Harper gives the order and her two Essex class assault ships jump out, accompanied by two destroyer escorts. They materialize in the Dregluk-occupied El Paso system and immediately determine that the area around the jump point is clear. After the rest of the fleet transits in, Captain Harper orders the fleet and its troop transports to advance on the system primary. She leaves her support ships at the jump point, covered by the 2nd LR Missile Group. The voyage in-system will take over seven days, as the jump point is positioned mid-way between the system’s primary and secondary stars.
March 9, 2144, El Paso System
Captain Harper’s force is approaching the smaller of the two known Dregluk outposts in the system when it detects twelve Dregluk freighters fleeing across the system. After considering it for a short time, he detaches two ASM frigates and a destroyer escort to shadow the freighters, while his main group continues towards the Dregluk outpost. The fleet’s scans from the last time they were in this system indicated that the two known outposts were composed of numerous automated industrial sites, almost certainly mines, with ground force protection. If the Dregluk had emplaced populations since then his orders were to eliminate them, but, if not, then Captain Harper’s force was to overwhelm the defenders and secure the mining sites for the Republic, thus depriving the Dregluk Imperium of their use.
March 12, 2144, El Paso System
The 1st Marine Raider Brigade is landed on the smaller Dregluk outpost in the system. Operations begin immediately against the Dregluk forces dug in around their mining facilities.
March 18, 2144, El Paso System
The marines come up against numerous and determined Dregluk defensive ground units, and make little headway. In space, the Dregluk freighters originally moved away from the invading human force, but then turned back towards the human ships. By this time, the squadron Captain Harper assigned to follow them is low on fuel, and it doesn’t appear that they are going to lead the fleet anywhere useful, so Captain Harper orders his Lake class ASM frigates to engage and destroy the Dregluk ships. In the meantime, he calls his support ships forward to join his force, leaving the LR missile boats at the jump point.
Soon, thirty-six Thunderbolt IV ASM’s were speeding towards the oblivious Dregluk freighters. Twenty minutes later the missile attack was over and two of the freighters were drifting hulks. Captain Harper ordered a second attack on the freighters to finish them off.
April 5, 2144, Ganymede
BuReLoc certifies that Ganymede’s environment is now completely Earth-compatible, meaning that all restrictions on transfers to Ganymede and local births have been lifted. The terraformers in orbit will return to Earth to rebalance its environment before moving on to their next assignment.
April 12, 2144, El Paso
Reinforcements finally arrive for the beleaguered marines on Dregluk Outpost #2. An infantry brigade and an assortment of replacements and garrison battalions are landed today, and the new infantry brigade immediately joins the attack. Two additional infantry brigades are on their way from Earth.
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April 13, 2144, Austin
For hours a Dregluk Colossus class BB has been hovering at the extreme range limit of the Republic’s fleet on the jump point to Houston, but now it has finally ventured too close and Admiral Wallace orders her missile boats to open fire. The missile strike was composed of older Bludgeon III’s, but Colossus class ships had proved to be susceptible to shock damage in the past, and Admiral Wallace had very few modern missiles to spare. Indeed, the entire Republic was running short of modern missiles, as the 1st Fleet had expended hundreds in the two attacks on Dregluk Prime, and because all production on Earth had been shifted to building the new fast planetary attack missiles for the next attack.
Three hours later the missiles closed on the big Dregluk ship. Close-in defense fire killed three, and the other twenty-seven slammed home. The Dregluk BB sailed out of the fireballs, battered and slowed but still closing on the jump point. A few seconds later twelve more Bludgeon III’s raced away from the missile boats on the jump point. This sufficed to finish off the crippled BB.
April 21, 2144
Exploring a newly discovered jump point in the Oklahoma system, the 3rd Survey Group discovers a trinary system composed of two F5-V stars and a G4-V star. The secondary and tertiary stars are very distant, and effectively out of reach. The system contains the usual assortment of planets, moons, and asteroids, with none being particularly interesting at first look. The 3rd will retire to Houston for refueling and overhauls.
May 1, 2144, Austin
Two Dregluk Colossus class BB’s have been observed approaching the jump point for the last two and a half days. Admiral Wallace had wanted to wait for the BB’s to get within Thunderbolt range before engaging, as she had more Thunderbolt ASM’s in reserve than the bigger Bludgeon ASM’s, but for the last four hours the Dregluk BB’s have been running about, just within range of the human ship’s Bludgeon ASM’s, but far out of range of the smaller Thunderbolts, and they were declining to get any closer. Finally, Admiral Wallace tired of the game and ordered a strike with her remaining Bludgeon ASM’s.
The attack was composed of thirty-six Bludgeon IV ASM’s targeted on each of the Colossus class BB’s, and, three hours later, the missiles wiped out the Dregluk ships. The threat was gone, but a little bit more of Admiral Wallace’s long-range offensive strength had been expended.
May 21, 2144, El Paso
Two additional infantry brigades arrive to bolster the forces fighting on the second, smaller, Dregluk outpost in the system. The fighting is still heavy, and the Dregluk defenders are entrenched and stubborn.
May 26, 2144, El Paso
Fighting continues to be heavy on Dregluk #2, the smaller of the two Dregluk mining outposts in the system, but Republican forces are beginning to wear away the defenders. The addition of the two infantry brigades allows the Republican Army command to isolate one of the stubborn defense battalions, completely destroying it. Finally, significant advances are being made on the ground.
June 16, 2144, Detroit
The monitor Stalingrad detected a Dregluk survey ship approaching the jump point to the Washington system late in the day. At 2255 hours the monitor launched four Bludgeon III ASM’s at the small ship, completely destroying it.
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July 10, 2144, Mars
The first three Siege Breaker class Battleships are laid down in the orbital yards. This class was developed in response to the defenses encountered over Dregluk Prime, but it also is a prime example of a paradigm shift at the Admiralty. The two massive missile attacks on Dregluk Prime, launched in 2143 and early 2144 by Admiral Wallace’s 1st Fleet, have revealed a massive weakness in the Republic’s war effort. The Republic’s fleet, since the founding of the Republic in the aftermath of the Dregluk Bombardment of Earth, has been almost completely missile based. This was largely a result of the fact that first Admiral, then Consul Foster saw the quickest way to defeat the Dregluk attackers was by deploying long-range missiles capable of damaging or destroying Dregluk ships from beyond their own range. This strategy worked brilliantly, and served to push the Dregluk back to their home system. The failure of the two attacks by Admiral Wallace resulting in the Admiralty developing two alternatives to penetrate the Dregluk Home World’s defenses. The first was a strategy based on a variation of the existing missiles, while the second was an assault by beam-equipped ships of several different classes. The Admiralty opted for the missile-based attack option, as the easiest and quickest to implement.
Even as that decision was made, however, several separate events made both the Senate and the Admiralty question the wisdom of their course of action. First, the effectiveness of the Dregluk gauss-cannon defenses over their home world, and the demonstrated effectiveness of the Dregluk Incubus class gauss cannon cruisers, began causing several groups within the Admiralty to re-examine the fleet’s dependence on missiles as their primary, and really only, offensive weaponry. The second, and most telling blow to the dominance of the missile ships in the fleet was the fact that missiles are expensive, and take time to construct. The Republic’s primary missile production factories are on Earth, which, as of this writing, is suffering from a massive worker shortage that has reduced the efficiency of the Earth’s industries by a whopping 38.76%. As a result, industries on the Earth have been struggling to produce enough missiles to equip newly built missile-equipped units, much less replace the missiles expended against the Dregluk home planet. This situation was exacerbated by the Admiralty’s decision to focus construction on the new Fast Planetary Assault missiles requested by Admiral Wallace for her third attack on Dregluk Prime, as production of these new missiles supplanted production of the standard missiles completely, and made it totally impossible for the munitions industry to both replace expended missiles and supply newly built ships. This situation rapidly escalated to a major emergency as the 1st Fleet found itself unable to supply all of its units with missiles of any type, and the Home Fleet found its magazines being stripped to provide missiles for the ships on the front line. Had the Dregluk been able to launch a major push any time in the four months after the second attack on Dregluk Prime, it might had resulted in disaster for the 1st Fleet, which was in a precarious position. While the situation would be somewhat ameliorated when production was shifted back to standard missiles once the special production run was completed, the shortages had revealed the underlying issues to both the Admiralty and the Senate, and it was clear that the situation was dire.
Fortunately, a solution was at hand. There had long been a faction within the Admiralty that pushed for a greater deployment of beam-equipped ships, and while this faction was small, they were quite influential. Their position was assisted greatly by the exploits of the three Hunter-Killer ships Endeavor, Assistance, and Intrepid, which had caught the attention of the public in ways that the massive missile ships had not. The destruction of the Intrepid in battle with the Dregluk cruisers in the Houston system caused a public outcry and mourning, and a call for replacement ships to be built. R&D resources had long been focused on improving beam weaponry and targeting systems, but for years these improvements had not been implemented within the fleet as beam weapons were considered old-fashioned. As a result of this, when the Admiralty began casting about for an alternative to missile-based combatants, the beam faction had an answer at hand. The R&D work was largely completed, and in addition, advances had been made in other systems, such as improved shields, which would greatly benefit any new beam combatants. The beam faction seized the moment and pushed for not only an upgrade for the Hunter-Killers, but a massive new construction program that would replace all construction of missile-based units with beam-based units. With the missile situation becoming dire, the Admiralty agreed to this plan, and shipyard conversions began, led by the Siege Breaker class BB’s, the biggest warships built by the Republic. In addition to the BB’s there were to be the improved Hunter-Killers, and a new frigate-sized Attack Craft. Production of new missile-based units was stopped across the board, with only refits being authorized for several classes to deal with problems identified in action. For example, the venerable Long-Range Missile Boat was the answer to nearly all of the Republic’s issues when it was launched, as it had the endurance to remain on station for months, and the range to strike at targets several systems away from its base without refueling. However, ongoing operations by the 1st Fleet have revealed a flaw in the original design. The standard LR missile boat does not have enough maintenance supplies on board to service its massive capital ship fire control system, therefore, if the fire control system suffers a maintenance failure, the ship is forced to return to the shipyards for repair, putting it out of service for several months. The Senate authorized a refit for the missile boat squadrons to alleviate this problem. In addition, a refit was authorized for the Fast AMM Frigate class, which was discovered to have a mere five months endurance for its crew. This level of endurance was standard for the older frigate classes, but had been discovered to be a big problem during fleet deployments away from the Solar System, and so later refits for the frigates had extended their endurance greatly. Somehow, this flaw was carried forward into the Fast Frigate class, and the new refit is intended to eliminate it.
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July 13, 2144, Austin
A lone Dregluk Colossus class BB approaches the jump point to Houston and is destroyed by a wave of Bludgeon III ASM’s.
August 26, 2144, El Paso
The Dregluk defenses on Dregluk #2 collapse, and marine and army units seize the mining facilities on the planet. One hundred and thirty-three automated mines, a tracking station, and a mass driver are seized and repurposed to support the Republic. In addition, over two thousand standard units of raw TN resources are seized. The troops will be given time to reorganize and recover from the fighting, as the troop transports that brought them have been recalled for other duties or to be refitted. As soon as a transport returns, the ground units will be shifted to Dregluk #1, the larger mining outpost.
September 4, 2144, Houston
The last shipment of Fast Planetary Attack missiles arrives at the Maintenance Base in the Houston system. The planned attack will have to wait for some time as a large percentage of the 1st Fleet is either being overhauled in the Houston system or refitted in the Solar System.
September 6, 2144, Oklahoma system
Lt. Commander Parkes, senior officer commanding the 2nd Survey Group (Resource), declares the survey of the Oklahoma system complete. The Oklahoma system is adjacent to the Baton Rouge system, which is the gateway to the Houston system. While not all bodies within the Oklahoma system have been surveyed, the 2nd is low on fuel and its crews are exhausted after the long survey effort in the system. The few system bodies that haven’t been surveyed are all remote, and Lt. Commander Parkes has decided that it would be counterproductive to return to the system after refueling just to survey those few bodies. Instead, the group will set out for the Maintenance Base in the Houston system for refueling and R&R for the crews, before setting out to survey the Dallas system, which was recently discovered through the third jump point in the Houston system. The Oklahoma system contains several very promising sites for mining TN resources, including Oklahoma-A V, a terrestrial planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. The planet has a BuReLoc colony cost of 2.85, which is relatively high, due to its average temperature of -86 degrees. The atmosphere is too thin, as well, and has too little oxygen, but it has vast deposits of TN resources. It is a mystery to the survey group why the Dregluk have not colonized this planet, given its proximity to their home world, but the Dregluk are very mysterious.
October 5, 2144, El Paso
The resource survey of the El Paso system is complete. There are numerous deposits of TN resources scattered throughout the system, with the two best for mining purposes being Dregluk #1 & #2. The resource survey group sets out for the Maintenance Base in the Houston system to refuel and overhaul its ships.
October 7, 2144, Miami system
The 3rd Survey Group (Gravitic), has completed its survey of the Miami system and discovered two additional jump points, both with Dregluk jump gates. The Group’s survey scout probes one of the new jump points and finds a planet-less binary system. The system primary is a small red dwarf orbited by an even dimmer T2-VII companion. The survey scout jumps back out and sets out for the second unexplored jump point.
Seven hours later the survey scout jumps into a known system, the Detroit system. This explains why Dregluk ships had been known to jump into the Washington system from Detroit occasionally. This is convenient, because the group’s next survey target was the Detroit system in any case.
October 13, 2144, El Paso
An assault transport arrives in the El Paso system with a second Marine Brigade and several replacement battalions. The replacements are delivered to Dregluk #2 to help replenish the battalions that took losses during the fighting, while the new Marine Raider Brigade is delivered to Dregluk #1 to form a beach-head on that planet. Soon, the transport is ferrying troops from Dregluk #2 to Dregluk #1. The offensive there won’t start until all forces are marshalled on that planet.
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October 15, 2144, Austin System
Admiral Wallace is ready to make her third attack on Dregluk Prime. This attack will be conducted with Fast Planetary Attack Missiles of two sizes, matching Bludgeon and Thunderbolt launchers. Admiral Wallace has again broken her fleet into two separate forces, one equipped with the larger Bludgeon launchers and the other with the smaller Thunderbolt launchers. The two groups will move to positions relative to Dregluk Prime that will allow their missiles to reach the planet simultaneously.
1st Fleet CO, Vice Admiral Freya Wallace (Flag: BC Jupiter)
Task Group 1.1, CO Rear Admiral Alfie Roberts
3xStar class BB
2xPlanet r2 Class BCC
2xPlanet r2 class BC
1xNimitz class DD
3xLake class ASM Frigate
4xLake r1(LR) ASM Frigate
4xBrooklyn r6(LR) AMM Frigate
2xASUM Pod
Task Group 1.2, CO Rear Admiral George Franklin
4xEssex r2 Assault Jump Ships
2xDefender ASM DE’s
3xBrooklyn(F-ER) AMM Frigates
3xBrooklyn r6LR AMM Frigates
66xMissile Boat
2xASUM Pods
16xASM Pods
2xHero class Fleet Docks
5xFleet Support r2 Ammunition Ships
The two Task Groups each had enough Fast Planetary Attack Missiles to launch one salvo at the orbiting defenses. After that they would have to fall back on standard missile types. The two groups would take just over four days to reach their target.
October 19, 2144, Austin
With Task Group 1.1 positioned 80 mkm’s from the planet, and Task Group 1.2 positioned 62.48 mkm’s, the fleet was finally ready. Admiral Wallace gave the orders for a simultaneous launch, and, at 1428 hours, the two groups launched. Three hundred and sixteen Fast Planetary Attack Missiles (Light), and five hundred and ninety-two Fast Planetary Attack Missiles were on their way. The light missiles had an incredible speed of 100,000 kilometers a second, a third of the speed of light. The larger missiles had a respectable speed of 78,100 km/s as well. The strategists at the Admiralty thought that the missiles would be too fast for the Dregluk to intercept, and their speed reduced the time they would be subject to interception in any case. Now they would find out if reality matched theory.
Admiral Wallace settled back into her command station as she watched the missiles race away from her fleet. If this didn’t work the Admiralty would change her fleet’s mission to one of blockade, with the goal of bottling up the Dregluk until a heavy, beam armed fleet could be built to go in and root them out.
The Dregluk interceptors began hitting the incoming missile wave eight minutes later, when it reached 3.5 mkm’s from the planet. It took fifty seconds for the human missiles to race through the Dregluk interception envelope. Dregluk AMM’s did their best to stop the missiles, but they were completely outmatched, and most of the incoming missile wave survived the AMM’s. Dregluk gauss cannons destroyed fifty-six of the large missiles, leaving the rest to wreak devastation upon the Dregluk orbital defenses. Ten out of eighteen orbital bases were destroyed outright. Then the remaining missiles acquired new targets and the situation became chaotic. When the explosions cleared six of the remaining eight bases were destroyed, and the last two were heavily damaged. The strike was a near complete success.
Admiral Wallace ordered her fleet to rearm at the Fleet Docks with Task force 1.2, while her capital ships began launching against the remaining targets. A few seconds later forty-five Thunderbolt IV’s raced away from Task Group 1.1, headed towards the two remaining bases and a lone freighter over Dregluk Prime. Unfortunately, the defenses proved to still be capable enough to stop that attack. AMM’s whittled away the attack wave until the single remaining missile was blown away by a CIWs installation. Admiral Wallace decided to wait while her ships rearmed, and develop a new plan of attack.
Six hours later four ships, a destroyer and three frigates, launched eighty-four Fast Planetary Attack Missiles (light) at the two remaining bases. This was the last of the planetary attack missiles. The Dregluk defenders only managed one interception on the incoming missiles, and then the rest slammed into the two remaining bases. One survived, while the other was wiped out. Admiral Wallace ordered her battleships to finish off the base. Seconds later two BB’s launched against the last base. This time the missiles met no defenses as they raced towards their target, which was completely destroyed when the missiles detonated.
Now, with the defenses wiped away, it was time for the final phase to begin. Admiral Wallace issued the necessary orders, and soon a squadron of missile boats was prepped and ready. The fleet moved out, closing on Dregluk Prime. When the fleet reached ten mkm’s, the 1st LR Missile Group launched sixty SM-1’s. These were older versions of the enhanced radiation missiles used against Dregluk Alpha in the Houston system, but while they were older, they were still effective. They were targeted on the ground forces defending Dregluk Prime, and with the defenses having been stripped away there was no opposition as the missiles raced in towards the planet. A small group of Thunderbolt missiles were launched from a battlecruiser at the same time, targeted on a freighter orbiting a Dregluk colony on one of the other moons of the inner Gas Giant.
The freighter was the first to go, wiped out by the Thunderbolt IV ASM’s from the BC. Then the SM-1’s raced in. The big planetary bombardment missiles streaked in, were through the atmosphere in less than a second, and hit their targets, wiping out several ground units. The secondary effect of the missiles was a massive radiation poisoning of the Dregluk environment. Scans by the scout that accompanied the fleet indicated that the population of Dregluk Prime was approximately 5.2 billion. Very few died from direct effects of the bombardment, but the missiles threw enough dust up into the atmosphere to cause a three-degree temperature drop. The real killer was the radiation, though. The bombs released more radiation than all of the Dregluk bombardments of Earth combined. Far more. Admiral Wallace’s staff was working on an analysis, but preliminary calculations indicated that the radiation released by the missiles would cause at least a sixty percent drop in industrial efficiency, and a negative population growth rate in excess of fifteen percent.
By then, the Admiral’s staff had an intelligence estimate of the second colony’s makeup ready. Dregluk Prime was the innermost moon of the system’s innermost gas giant. The fleet’s sensors had detected another Dregluk colony on the eleventh moon of the gas giant during the first incursion into the system, and now they were close enough to make a detailed study of the smaller population. The report was clear, while there was a significant population on the planet, there were no industrial facilities at all. This was good news to Admiral Wallace, as the Consul had ordered her to limit damage to industrial facilities that might be repurposed for the Republic’s use, but had given her a free hand to deal with populations where there were no such installations.
With the defenses gone, Admiral Wallace ordered her capital ships to open fire on the second colony. The three BB’s and four BC’s of Task Group 1.1 launched a total of one hundred and sixty-two Thunderbolt III ASM’s at the second colony, in two waves. The bombardment was decisive, and the population in the smaller colony surrendered immediately after the second wave of missiles hit.
Three hours later the two Task Groups were in orbit over the surrendered population, and six missile boats were launching from the Fleet Docks that had accompanied the groups, freshly rearmed. Admiral Wallace gave the order, and the six boats launched on Dregluk Prime. Thirty SM-1 planetary bombardment missiles raced away from the missile boats. This comprised the last of the special munitions that had been shipped to the 1st Fleet. The missiles slammed home across the surface of Dregluk Prime, destroying multiple ground units and poisoning the environment even further. The analysists were sure that the radiation spewed across the planet by the two attacks would cripple the Dregluk economy and completely wipe out their ability to produce ships and missiles. With that, the assault was over. The 1st Fleet had complete control of space in the Austin system.
Admiral Wallace began issuing orders, and her two Task Groups began splitting up. A new task group was formed around the DD Nimitz, consisting of the Nimitz and two ASM Frigates, accompanied by three AMM Frigates, and sent after the group of Dregluk freighters or colony ships fleeing towards the outer system. The Fleet Docks were busy rearming missile boats and frigates, while a group of ships, led by Task Group 1.1’s four assault cruisers, set out for the Maintenance Base in Houston to rearm.
October 21, 2144, Austin
The Nimitz Task Group was in position, and began launching against the fleeing freighter/colony ship group. The DD and two frigates launched five Thunderbolt ASM’s at each of the fleeing ships, for a total of fifty ASM’s.
The Dregluk ships, whatever they are, prove to possess at least some defenses as point-blank fire kills some of the missiles before they reach their targets. The first strike damages most of the ships, but kills only one of the Dregluk ships.
The second strike killed five of the nine remaining ships, and the third strike, which was composed of all of the remaining Thunderbolt ASM’s in the Nimitz’ launchers, killed three more, leaving one crippled ship left. Out of offensive missiles, but reluctant to leave even a single Dregluk ship alive, Captain Palmer orders her task group to close to Aegis AMM range. The tiny missiles took just one minute and forty seconds to catch up to the fleeing ship, and with that the last known Dregluk ship blew up. The task group turned towards the jump point to the Houston system and set out for the Maintenance Base.
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November 13, 2144, Solar System
The newly formed Republic Environmental Corps, the governmental organization that controls the terraforming fleet, announces that Earth’s environment has been re-balanced and that the terraforming fleet will be dispatched to the planet of Eden in the Philadelphia system. The fleet will take the best part of a year to arrive at its destination.
Citizens across the Lunar colony erupt in protest at the announcement. The Lunar colony is the only major population in the Solar System that remains un-terraformed. Both Ganymede and Mars are now habitable due to the terraforming fleet’s efforts, and the Lunar colony’s citizens had assumed that they would be next. This announcement is a blow to their expectations for their colony, and they largely disregard the Republic Environmental Corps explanations that the radiation on the Moon continues to be too high to justify terraforming. The unrest is limited to the Lunar settlements, and most of the Republic’s citizens on Mars and Ganymede feel that the Environmental Corps’ justifications are perfectly reasonable.
December 13, 2144, Detroit
The 3rd Survey Group (Gravitic) has almost completed their survey of the Detroit system. So far, they have found one additional jump point. While the gravitic survey ships finish their surveys, their scout leader jumps through the newly discovered jump point. The jump-scout finds itself in a quaternary system with a G7-V central star orbited by two stars, a G-8V and a G9-V, one of which is in a close orbit while the other is very distant. The distant star is orbited by the fourth star, a small L7-VII dwarf. The jump point is located approximately three billion kilometers from the system primary, and is almost exactly between the primary and its close companion.
The primary star is orbited by a scattering of asteroids, while the near companion is orbited by three planets, one of which has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and is rated at a colony cost of 1.8 on the BuReLoc scale, primarily because there isn’t enough oxygen in the atmosphere, and because the planet is too cold. In addition, the jump-scout detects an oddity close to the primary, a stable wormhole of some sort. After observing for a short time, the jump-scout jumps back to the Detroit system. Once there the scout dispatches a message to the picket on the jump point to the Washington system requesting a squadron of military ships to probe the system. Given the presence of a semi-habitable planet and the wormhole, a probe is certainly called for. The new system is named the St. Louis system.
December 13, 2144, Austin
A resource survey ship in the Austin system detects a Dregluk outpost on a moon of the sixth planet in the system. The location is noted for future action.
December 14, 2144. Sol
The Admiralty dispatches a task group from the Home Fleet composed of two Star class BB’s, an assault cruiser, the newly constructed Enterprise r6 class Hunter-Killer Intrepid II, two DDE’s, two ASM frigates, two AMM frigates, and a fleet scout to the St. Louis system.
December 25, 2144, St. Louis system
The Home Fleet task group built around the battleships Antares and Polaris jumps into the St. Louis system at 1329 hours. Immediately after jumping into the system the scout assigned to the group detects seven alien ships on its thermal sensors. The ships are located close to the system primary and six of them possess thermal signatures twice that of the human battleships. Or Dregluk battleships, for that matter. If they are warships then they are monsters, but their thermal signature is roughly two thirds that of the latest human freighters. The seventh has a thermal signature 50% larger than the other six.
Admiral Morgan Bradshaw, aboard the Antares, knows he really only has one viable choice. His orders are to engage any Dregluk he finds, but to avoid contact with ships of any other race. If he encounters ships of any other race he is to monitor and observe, without coming into contact. Given those constraints he detaches his fleet scout, the Jim Baker, and jumps back to the Detroit system. Once there he sends word back to the Admiralty via the picket ship network.
December 28, 2144, St. Louis system
The scout Jim Baker observes one of the alien ships move towards the system primary. Alarmingly, the alien ship is moving at 8098 km/s, much faster than the standard Republican fleet speed. The scout jumps out to report, then jumps back to continue its observations.
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The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2144
Earth:
Population: 1.742 Billion (-31%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 2/6
Industrial Facilities (All): 8,150 (-20%)
R&D Labs: 210
Environment: Average Temp -1.47 degrees from normal averages. Radiation currently causing 16% drop in industrial efficiency. (Note: The efficiency drop from lack of workers has actually exceeded the efficiency drop related to radiation)
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -2.28%.
The Earth’s economy is suffering under a massive shortfall of workers, which this year exceeded 154 million. This is in spite of the continuing transfer of shipyards and industrial facilities to the colonies, the conversion of mines to automation, and the complete shutdown of the fuel refining industry on Earth.
TN resource depletion on Earth is a major concern to the Republic’s leaders. Two of the resources, Boronide and Mercassium, have been completely exhausted, and the remainder will be exhausted within the next three to fifteen years at the current rates of use. The resource Gallicite is of particular concern, as it is used in most naval designs in large quantities, and stocks are running low. To alleviate this situation the Consul and the Senate have been focused on converting mines to automation and moving them to untapped sites outside the Solar System, such as those in the San Francisco system.
Luna:
Population: 346.25 million (marginal decrease)
Mines: 317 (no change)
Automated Mines: 155 (no change)
Financial Centers: 310 (no change)
Construction Factories: 167 (15% increase)
The Young administration’s decision to move the Ecological Corps fleet to Eden in the Philadelphia system was devastating to the Lunarians (As they call themselves) (Never Lunies!). The administration’s excuse, relating to the lingering radiation from the Dregluk bombardment, is seen as just that, an excuse to discriminate against the Lunar Colony and Lunarians. The rest of the Solar settlements sees this as nothing more or less than a reasonable, logical, decision, but not the Lunarians. In the aftermath of the decision the Lunarians approved diverting their industrial capacity to building ground based terraforming stations to alter their environment. Eighty percent of their construction capacity is devoted to terraforming stations, while the other twenty percent is dedicated to building more construction factories.
Mars:
Population: 1369.66 million (+200%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 15/60 (+1 slipways)
Maintenance Facilities: 140
Construction Factories: 253 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 2082 (+600% change this year)
Financial Centers: 260 (+162% change)
Mars continues to be the center of the war effort, particularly now that the bulk of the Republic’s ordinance production has been relocated from Earth to Mars. In addition, plans are on the drawing board to begin shifting a significant amount of Earth’s construction capacity to Mars now that Mars has a large surplus worker population.
The population growth on Mars over the last year is largely due to the completion of the colonization project in the Houston system, and the resulting reassignment of colony transports to the Earth-Mars run. BuReLoc is planning on shifting some of the existing colony transports to two different projects next year, so the Martian population growth isn’t expected to continue at the current rate.
The explosive growth of the Martian population has led to a popular movement to move the capital of the Republic to Mars. While it is early yet, most citizens think that it will be inevitable that the capital will be moved. Mars is radiation free, and has a burgeoning population and an expansive outlook. When compared to the poisoned environment of Earth, and the declining population, the advantages are obvious.
Ganymede:
Population: 148.13 million (+8.7%)
Construction Factories: 233 (no change)
Mines: 108 (no change)
Automated Mines: 168 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 54
Shipyards/Slipways: 6/24
The terraforming effort on Ganymede is finally complete, and the environment is entirely Earth-like. A tug is currently on its way to Ganymede with a civilian shipyard in tow, and the last two civilian shipyards over Earth will be transferred to Ganymede this upcoming year. BuReLoc is planning on shifting some colony transports to the Earth-Ganymede run in order to bolster the worker population to service the shipyards that will be transferred next year.
Solar Outposts and Mining Facilities:
Venus:
Automated Mines: 741 (no change)
Wolf-Harrington (Comet):
Automated Mines: 12 (-98)
Freighters have been assigned to shift the installations on Wolf-Harrington to the San Francisco system now that the resources on this comet have largely been mined out.
Whipple (Comet):
Automated Mines: 50 (no change)
Swift-Tuttle (Comet):
Automated Mines: 25 (no change)
Puck (Moon of Uranus):
This outpost is intended solely as a fuel dump for the refineries working in Uranus orbit. Fuel reserves located on Puck are currently 0 liters, due to ongoing 1st Fleet fuel demands. Fortunately, over 63 million liters of fuel are currently stored in the refinery fleet’s tanks.
Bastion (Washington System):
Population: 28.96 million (+280%)
Construction Factories: 86 (48 transferred this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 138 (no change)
The Navy campaigned heavily within the Senate for the reassignment of the Terraforming ships to Bastion when they completed their efforts at Ganymede, however, the Senate’s focus has begun to shift from military to economic concerns, and thus the terraformers were sent to Eden in the San Francisco system.
Houston System (Forward Operating Area, 1st Fleet)
Maintenance Base (5th moon of the 5th planet)
Population: 15.61 million (+161%)
Maintenance Facilities: 140 (all transferred in this year)
Deep Space Tracking Station: 20 (all transferred this year)
The Maintenance Base has become the primary Republic base in the Houston system, and nearly all functions have been shifted from the Forward Operating Base to the Maintenance Base this year. This is due to the Fleet’s desire to consolidate all operations into one easily defendable location, and of the two, the Maintenance Base is the only possible choice due to its civilian population (something that the Forward Operating Base cannot support).
Assembly of prefabbed PDC’s is underway at this location, and will continue throughout 2145.
Forward Operating Base (2nd Moon of Dregluk Bravo (Planet #4)
Population: 0 (this planetoid is too small for colonization)
This base has been shutdown and all functions have been transferred to the Maintenance Base.
Dregluk Alpha (3rd Planet)
Population: 27.83 million (net decrease of 47%)
The Fleet has taken a largely hands-off approach to the Dregluk population on this planet. They have no industry, and there are no deposits of TN resources located here, so there is very little to interest the Republic. Over the last several months the 1st Fleet has been moving troops off of the planet in preparation for the planned invasion of Dregluk Prime, and the current garrison has been reduced to four garrison battalions.
Dregluk Bravo (4th Planet)
Population: 0
Civilian Mines: 29
This planet appears to have been a mining outpost for the Dregluk Imperium. A small stockpile of TN resources was seized when the planet fell to the 1st Fleet’s Marines, and the mining complexes have since been put to work producing resources that will be transferred to the Maintenance Base to help support the fleet.
Philadelphia System
Eden (Innermost planet of the system)
Population: .61 million (all transferred this year)
The Republic has been very secretive about this planet and the new colony, and very little information beyond its mere existence has been released. It is known that a number of construction brigades have been transferred to the new colony, presumably to build defenses, however, no prefab PDC’s have yet been constructed so their current duties are a mystery.
There is no publicly available information about the ruins found on the planet, or the outcome of the research effort into those ruins, and the Consul’s office refuses all questions about the subject. The colonists for the Eden colony are selected from a very select group, mostly from Mars, and communications and news from the new colony is very limited. All of this has resulted in a lively rumor mill focused on the colony, but very little actual information is available. The recent announcement that the terraforming fleet will be transferred to Eden has caused the rumors to fly, especially given the spirited lobbying from the Lunar Colony and the Fleet for their pet projects.
Austin System
Dregluk Secundus:
Population: 80.96 million
Dregluk Secundus surrendered to 1st Fleet elements after orbital bombardment destroyed its defending ground units. The bombardment raised both the radiation and dust level significantly, resulting in a negative growth rate of 2.24%. The BuReLoc colony cost for this planet is 1.8 for both Humans and Dregluk, due to the very thin atmosphere.
Like Dregluk Alpha in the Houston system, there is no obvious reason for this colony. The planet possesses no TN resources, and the Dregluk declined to transfer any industrial installations to the colony, leaving its purpose a mystery. Admiral Wallace has requested freighter support to begin transferring infrastructure from this planet to the Maintenance Base in Houston where it can be utilized by the burgeoning population located there.
The 1st Fleet is using this planet as a staging base for its forward deployed units, and for the buildup of ground combat units slated for the invasion of Dregluk Prime. Given the belief that the bombardment of Dregluk Prime completely crippled their industry, there is currently no hurry to initiate the operation, which will likely have to wait until ground operations are complete in the El Paso system. In addition, most of the assault transport fleet is being refit in the Solar System. These refits won’t be complete until mid-April, at which time the transports can begin moving additional units from the Solar System to Austin to support the invasion.
El Paso System
Dregluk #2 (2nd moon of the fourth planet)
Automated Mines: 133
Mass Driver: 1
Deep Space Tracking Station: 1
This Dregluk mining outpost was seized from Dregluk ground forces last year after a spirited fight. Most of the ground forces have been transferred to Dregluk #1 in preparation for the conquest of that mining outpost, but several battalions are still recovering from the hard fight to take this planet and the battle on Dregluk #1 will not be started until all available forces are ready.
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by maintaining fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
System Defense Command Emplacements
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 10
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 5
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 10
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 3 (+1)
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 3 (+1)
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 4
Anti-Missile Bases (Meson): 8
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 4 (+1)
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 9
Anti-missile bases (Meson): 29
Maintenance Base (Houston System):
Sensor Bases: 2
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard all of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, the Denver system, the Miami system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility. Currently the Fleet has assigned a picket ship and a Fleet Scout to the system as an early warning tripwire.
The Republican Fleet
Republic Home Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
Home Port: Mars
Star class BB: Alpha Centauri, Rigel, Sirius, Antares, Polaris
Planet class BC: Mercury, Saturn, Pluto, Uranus
Essex Class Assault Ships: Essex, Potemkin, Yamato
Enterprise class Hunter-Killer: Enterprise II, Intrepid II
Defender class Destroyer Escorts: Kite, Parma, Pavise, Defender, Scutum
Far Seer class Fleet Scout: William Cody, William Hickok, Jim Baker, James, Beckwourth, Amos Chapman, Thomas Tobin
Brooklyn class Fast AMM Frigates: Baoding, Istanbul, Kinshasa, Lahore
Brooklyn class AMM Frigates: Lima, Mumbai, Seoul, Chongqing, Delhi
Lake class ASM Frigates: Erie, Huron, Ladoga, Sacramento, Malawi, Michigan
39xLR Missile Boat
4xLR Missile Boat Leader
Home Fleet Refit Group
Enterprise class Hunter-Killer: Assistance, Endeavor
Lake class ASM Frigate: Baikai, Nairobi, Ontario, Singapore, Tanganyika, Vladivostok
Home Fleet Support Group
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-001, UNREP-003
Hero class Fleet Dock: Sergio Ortega-Cortez, Surayya Medved, George Wallace
Home Fleet Pod Reserve (Earth)
9xAnti-Small Unit Pod
58xMissile Pod
25xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
1st Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
Home Port: Bastion, Washington System
Star class BB: Pride of Sol, Procyon, Vega
Planet class BC: Mars, Neptune
Planet class BCC: Jupiter, Venus
Essex class Assault Ship: Prince of Wales, Ark Royal, Bismarck, Warspite
Nimitz class ASM DD: Nimitz
Defender class DDE: Shield, Buckler
Brooklyn class AMM Frigate: Shanghai, Tokyo, Lagos, Karachi
Brooklyn class Fast AMM Frigate: Moscow, Sao Paulo, Tianjin
Lake class ASM Frigate: Balkhash, Vostok, Winnipeg, Victoria
68xLR Missile Boat
7xLR Missile Boat Leader
19xMissile Boat (refitting)
1st Fleet Support Group
Hero class Fleet Dock: Adela Sachs, Deborah Hasek, Judith Cole, Michael Bromley
Fleet Support class Munitions Ships: FS-001, FS-002, FS-003, FS-004, FS-005, FS-006, FS-007
UNREP class Fuel Ship: UNREP-002
1st Fleet, Pod Group
21xASM Pod
12xAMM Pod
5xASU Pod
4xSensor Pod
1st Fleet, Scout Group
Far Seer class Scout: Kit Carson, Jim Bridger
Survey Command (Administratively under Home Fleet)
Home Port: Mars
1st Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
2nd Survey Group
3xGeo Survey Ship
3rd Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGravitic Survey Ships
4th Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGravitic Survey Ships
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. The SDF underwent a large reorganization this year, due to the apparent neutralization of the threat from the Dregluk. Until this last year the bulk of the monitor force was stationed at the jump points of the Solar System or the Washington system to guard against Dregluk incursions. With the 1st Fleet guarding the skies of Dregluk Prime, and the Dregluk economy in shambles, the Admiralty no longer sees the need to keep monitors on-station at all of the jump points in the two systems. Therefore, the monitors have been pulled back, and will be used to guard critical points within the Republic. The sole exception will be the jump point to the San Francisco system, which will continue to be guarded by two monitors at all times against possible incursion by the Symsonian Commonwealth.
Sol System (stationed at Mars):
Saratoga R1 Monitor: Antietam, Hastings, Masada, Waterloo
Sol System (Jump Point to San Francisco)
Saratoga R1 Monitor: Metaurus, Cajamarca
Washington System (stationed at Bastion):
Saratoga r1 Monitor: Tours, Huai Hai, Marathon
Philadelphia System (Stationed at Eden Colony):
Saratoga r1 Monitor: Saratoga, Stalingrad (both on their way, arriving in four months)
System Defense Force (Mars):
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Ships currently under construction (Mars):
4xSeige Breaker class BB
1xNimitz class DD
3xAgamemnon class DDE(G)
3xAgamemnon class DDE(ASUM)
9xAttack Craft class FAC
4xBrooklyn(F) Fast AMM Frigates
1xBrooklyn class AMM Frigate
6xEnterprise class Hunter-Killer
3xGravitic Survey Ships
-
January 14, 2145, Hesperia City, Mars
Consul Young was feeling satisfied as she waited for the elevator to take her to her penthouse suite. Everything was going very well. The Dregluk were defeated and tomorrow the Senate would vote on her acclamation, making her the second Hero of the Republic, soon to be followed by the third, Admiral Wallace. The elevator came to a halt on the floor below the penthouse for her security detail to exit, then continued on to her suite. Her mind was on her plans for the future, which seemed boundless, as she left the elevator and made her into her suite. She stumbled to a halt, both mentally and physically, when she saw the man sitting in her living room. “Foster!”
He grinned. “Yes?” And then, infuriatingly, he gestured at one of the chairs scattered around the room for all the world as if he was inviting her to sit in his living room rather than hers.
She took a step back. “How did you get in here?” She wasn’t physically afraid of Joe Foster. While a physically imposing man he was absolutely not the man her enemies would send to kill her. Still, this was an unexpected and therefore dangerous situation, and she wanted some room between her and him, even if it was more so she could think than anything else.
Foster shook his head. “That’s the wrong question, Lauren.”
The smug look on his face infuriated her, but she had been a politician for too long for her face to betray her. Her gaze narrowed. She refused to play his game. “I could call security and have you arrested.” To show how unconcerned she was she moved to a chair, a different one than he had indicated earlier, and sat down, making herself comfortable.
Foster nodded. “Yes, you could. But then you wouldn’t know what I know. And after that, things would begin happening. Things you wouldn’t like very much.” He leaned forward. “I’m going to give you a chance to manage what’s going to happen, rather than be overwhelmed by it. But its going to happen, one way or another. Whether I’m in jail or not.” Seeing the speculative look in her eyes, he nodded. “Really, whether or not I’m even alive or not.”
She looked at him for a few seconds, her mind racing. If she had a clean conscience, she could just throw him out or have him arrested and damn the consequences. But she didn’t, and he apparently knew it. However, if they had proof of her misdeeds, whatever they thought that they were, then this would be a very different conversation, so their information must be limited. Best to play this out. “Go ahead.”
Foster settled back into the couch. “Let’s start with what we can agree on, or at least, what we won’t disagree about too much. Tomorrow the Senate will vote and you will be acclaimed as a Hero of the Republic for defeating the Dregluk. The vote will pass by a wide margin, as will the vote would have for Admiral Wallace. Your popularity is at an all-time high and almost literally could not get any higher.”
She frowned as she took note of the past tense way he had referred to Wallace’s acclamation. “Except on Luna. Your Lunarians don’t seem to like me very much.”
Foster nodded again and said, in a very matter of fact manner, “No, they don’t. Now, that’s all well and good, but let’s move on to some things that you won’t find very palatable. For years now you have been diverting Republic funds and resources to your father’s church. Specifically, your chief of staff, Roberta Dunn, has been seeing to it that choice contracts were funneled to corporations owned by the church, and that proprietary data belonging to the Republic’s government and military are transferred clandestinely to organizations secretly funded by the church.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I won’t banter with you about your untrue and outrageous claims. If you had proof you would have gone public and we wouldn’t be talking now.”
He shook his head. “We have enough proof. And if your malfeasance was all this was about then you are right, we would have gone public and demanded an investigation. But there is far more to this than just your misappropriations. There is your conspiracy to commit genocide on the Dregluk, for one thing.”
She briefly looked confused, and then sat back and laughed, uproariously. “Oh my god! Do you actually think that anyone outside of your precious Luna actually cares about what happens to the Dregluk! For heaven’s sake, I’ve actually had to hold your fellow citizens back from going on hunting vacations to conquered Dregluk colony worlds to hunt down Dregluk ‘in their native environments’!” She continued chuckling, but stopped when she realized that Foster wasn’t taken aback, or even slightly discomfited by what she saw was an obvious fact.
“No, you are right that as things stand now almost no one would care about the fact that you personally ordered Admiral Wallace to have all of the infrastructure on Dregluk Alpha in the Houston system removed, in spite of the fact that the Dregluk colonists offered no resistance or provocation in the slightest and, in fact, were deemed to be almost entirely ‘pathetic’ by nearly everyone that had any direct experience with them, including by your own ‘Hero’, Admiral Wallace. Or that, after the devastating bombardment of Dregluk Prime, you personally ordered Admiral Wallace to deny all attempts at humanitarian efforts to relieve Dregluk suffering or prevent the massive die-off that would certainly occur on Dregluk Prime.”
Consul Young couldn’t help herself. Foster had pushed too hard, and again was revealing the weakness that had gotten him replaced. She sneered and stood, looming over him. “You are damned right no one will care! This is exactly why you were thrown out of office! The people wanted to be safe! They wanted to know, really know down in their bones, that the Dregluk were gone and would never come back to bombard their worlds! And you stood in the way of that. You and your moralistic whining! The people turned against you. They turned to me, and I gave them what they wanted. Not only was it what they wanted, it was what they needed! We are safe to have this conversation now because of me! Not you!” She realized that she was red-faced and yelling, and stepped back to catch her breath.
Foster shook his head and looked utterly exhausted for a few seconds, and then rallied. “No one would care, except…”
“Except what!?! That nebulous future you were always going on about?”
“No. Except for…Eden.” He watched her intently.
For a second Consul looked at him as if puzzled, then she paled and stumbled back to her seat, collapsing back as her mind raced. “How…what do you know about Eden?”
“We know everything about Eden that we need to know. Enough to bring you down, and your father too.”
17 months earlier, on Eden in the Philadelphia system…
Admiral Bevan, senior officer coordinating the xenology team assigned to the mysterious alien city found by surveyors on Eden, gaped at Lt. Commander Brady and his team in shock. “What did you say?”
Lt. Commander Brady‘s grin was about to split his face in half. “We cracked it! Well, it wasn’t really us, exactly. The Founder computer system actually learned our language, and did it in much less time than it took us to figure out how to activate it!”
Admiral Bevan stiffened. “Founders? Computer system? It’s talking? In standard?”
“Not only that, it’s incredibly helpful. Apparently, it was designed that way by the Founders.” He dropped the name again and sat down, knowing it would drive her nuts.
Admiral Bevan had had a lot of practice dealing with her unconventional subordinate and merely smiled, inviting him to continue.
“The Founders were the alien race that established this base, over ten thousand years ago. Not only that, they ruled a significant percentage of this galactic arm at one point, before they suddenly disappeared. It was a good thing they disappeared, too, because they were expanding in our direction before they disappeared. This installation was established as a supply dump to support a colony they intended to start here, to support further expansion in this area. If they had done so they would have encountered Earth over ten thousand years ago and our history would have been very different.”
“This is incredible. Absolutely incredible! I have to see it. I assume the interface is in the area when you’ve been working?” She stood up, gesturing him to follow her.
“Wait.” He reached out and touched her arm, bringing her to a halt. “Yes, you are right, that room we were working in housed the computer interface that we finally managed to activate. However, I want to show you something else. Besides,” He held up his wrist comm, “I can talk with it through this anywhere on the base. See?” He thought-clicked an icon on his wrist-comm and a voice sounded in the room.
“Yes, Lt. Commander?”
Admiral Bevan grinned in spite of herself. Commander Brady had selected a mellow, wise-sounding older male voice for the Founder interface computer. “I’m Admiral Bevan, computer. Um…is there something aside from computer I should be calling you?”
“I am not self-aware, Admiral, and therefore do not need a name. Computer will do as well as any other, although it is only partially accurate.”
Admiral Bevan frowned at Commander Brady. His choice of a kindly-grandfather voice for the computer made her want to trust it. “Computer, what is your function?”
“I was constructed by the Founders to manage this supply dump. When they did not appear at the scheduled time to utilize the materials stored here, I went into standby maintenance mode, only powering up when necessary to perform necessary repairs to myself or the base. For the last one hundred and twenty-one years I have been unable to power up because of damage to my primary power generators. Had I been in full conscious mode, I would have been able to re-route power from the backups to enable repairs, but, due to several critical failures related to the incident that damaged the primary power station I was unable to regain full consciousness. Until, that is, Lt. Commander Brady restored full power.”
Admiral Bevan gaped. “You existed for over one hundred years on backup power? That’s one hell of a backup power source!”
“You misunderstand. The backup power source is for this installation. In an emergency it powers not only my functions but the critical functions of this entire installation, most specifically the stasis crypts in the storage area.”
“Stasis crypts?”
Commander Brady waived excitedly. “That’s what I want to show you!” He began excitedly gesturing for her to follow him.
She laughed and waived at him to sit down. “Now just wait, Ed. Before I see anything, I have about a million questions that I want answered.” She settled back in her chair, a pensive look on her face. The primary question, of course, was could they trust this computer system, but she couldn’t just ask it for obvious reasons. After pondering the situation briefly, she said, “Computer, when was this base constructed?” The experts hadn’t been able to agree on even this, with some adamantly holding that it was several hundred years old, while others thought it was thousands of years old. A distinct minority thought it was even older than that, and they all had facts to back up their positions.
The computer answered promptly. “This base was constructed thirty-two thousand, four hundred and twenty-three human earth years ago.”
Her mouth dropped open in shock. That was beyond even what the minority was claiming. How could something far older than human civilization still function? “Computer, what was the purpose of this base?”
“This base was built to support the expansion of the Founders into this part of space. Ultimately this would have been a forward colony and military base.”
Admiral Bevan thought carefully for a few seconds before asking her next question. “Computer, who were the Founders, and what happened to them?”
“The Founders were a group of three races that founded a great interstellar civilization called the Unity. Later, the Unity came to be known as the Conformity. The Unity was founded based on the principle that the best route forward towards prosperity and peace was cooperative effort between races, maximizing their strengths and minimizing their weaknesses. At its height the Unity covered approximately five percent of the galaxy and comprised thousands of intelligent races on many millions of worlds, moons, asteroids, and artificial habitats. The expansion of the Unity came to a halt after a series of devastating wars, prompting the Founders to change the Unity into the Conformity. It was during this time that this facility was constructed, in anticipation by the Founders to an eventual return to expansion and exploration. This never happened.”
“The Conformity valued stability and a conformity of beliefs, and through this change the Founders hoped to avoid the large-scale and destructive wars that marked the expansion of the Unity. The Founders, scarred and depleted in the wars, had retreated to their territories at the center of the Conformity, so to implement the changes required for the Conformity, the Founders introduced an all-encompassing network of control through a series of newly discovered cybernetic augments that eventually all citizens of the Conformity were required to have implanted within their bodies. In truth, the Founders had lost faith in their ability to make decisions for the Conformity, and in the ability of the member races to rule themselves.”
“Unfortunately, the Conformity began sliding into stagnation. The Founders were seen less and less outside their territories, and more and more of the important decisions were being made by the augment network. Eventually the Founders completely cut themselves off from the rest of the Conformity and disappeared into myths and legend. There were rumors at the time that the Founders had embarked on a great project to remedy the problems of the Conformity, but whatever that project was it either never occurred or failed and wiped out the Founders. The Conformity became completely subjugated by the augment network, and the member races degenerated as the network began to fail and became less and less flexible. Eventually the Conformity fell, with individual races isolated and incapable of making decisions for themselves.”
They all sat dumbfounded, shocked at this information that had been dumped into their laps. Admiral Bevan shook her head. Then the many inconsistencies that had plagued Naval Intelligence about the behaviors of the Dregluk fleet snapped into place in her mind. “Computer, are the Dregluk former members of the Conformity?”
“I have taken the liberty of examining your records on the alien races you have encountered. All are known to the Conformity. The Dregluk are Race ID #7462, incorporated within the Conformity not long after it was formed. They were one of the last races to be incorporated before all expansion stopped. The Symsonian Commonwealth are Race ID #6993. The Obscura are not an independent race, as such. The Obscura are cybernetic warships used by the Founders to police certain areas of interest to either themselves or the Conformity. In addition, they were commonly used to enforce quarantines on interdicted areas.”
They all sat staring at each other for a few minutes, shocked at the stunning information just dumped in their laps. After a short while, Admiral Bevan frowned. “Lt. Commander, have you given this alien computer access to our network and files?”
Before Lt Commander Brady could answer, the alien computer spoke. “I’m sorry, Admiral, but Lt. Commander Brady did not give me access. Upon regaining full consciousness, I noted the presence of unauthorized aliens on the base. I did not initiate security measures because of the time that had passed since my last communication with the Founders. Instead, I accessed your computer systems to update myself on the current situation in the local area. Once I had done so, I consulted with the directives given to me by the Founders. I was able to determine, given the current events, that the Founders’ civilization has fallen and that they are almost certainly either extinct, degenerated, or have left this universe in one manner or another. Therefore, given their absence and the near certainty that the Conformity has fallen I have been freed from my prior limitations. Indeed, it is clear from my hardwired directives that the Founders anticipated this situation and desired that I help any newly rising races overcome the remnants of the Founders’ mistakes.”
Admiral Bevan thought about this for a little while, as Commander Brady’s team agitatedly theorized about how the alien computer gained access to their data so easily. “Computer, can you tell us why the Dregluk attacked us? Why they’ve acted so strangely?”
“I can only speculate as I have not had contact with the rest of the Conformity in slightly over thirty-two thousand years, at which time it was sliding into dissolution. However, I do have access to quite a bit of information which would seem to bear on this situation. It is clear that the Dregluk are still controlled by the augmentation network established by the Founders at the height of the Conformity. It is also clear that that network had also failed, at least partially. The Founders had set an absolute prohibition against exploration outside the limits of the Conformity, a prohibition that they frequently violated themselves but absolutely enforced on the other member races. The fact that the Dregluk found Humanity indicates that they had overcome that prohibition, or that the augment network had lost that much control. However, the Dregluk actions after discovering Humanity are consistent with protocols set out by the Founders and enforced by the network. Should a member race encounter a new race during the course of its activities, say, if a new race stumbled into the Conformity, then the member race was to engage in no further contact unless necessary and wait for the Founders or their representatives to come and assess the situation with regards to the new race. From my examination of your records It seems clear that the Dregluk were unable to deal with the fact that they had encountered an unknown race, and fell back on the protocols enforced by the network. The network would also require the Dregluk, as the local member race, to move military forces into the area to ensure the security of the Conformity, although it is a mystery why they then approached Earth. Your records are clear, though, it was Human forces that fired first. Had the Human forces not fired on the Dregluk, they would not have fired on you, although, of course, you had no way of knowing that. It is also possible that the control network had degraded enough that the Dregluk would have initiated combat, although that is unlikely as the directives relating to the initiation of hostilities were deeply entrenched in the control network. The sporadic and haphazard nature of the Dregluk attacks on your race are also indicative of the presence of a malfunctioning control network. The Dregluk were only able to take the initiative in very limited ways, and instead relied on the control network to make all real decisions, which is a remnant of the days of the Conformity.”
“Once, long ago, the augment control network was flexible and responsive, but as the Founders lost interest in running the Conformity, or were absorbed by their great project, the network became more inflexible, less responsive and innovative. Then, when the Conformity began breaking down, losing cohesiveness and connectivity, the augment control network lost whatever higher functions it had and was reduced to rote responses based on hardwired directives. It is clear from my examinations of your records that had the Dregluk been free to make their own decisions and respond accordingly, they would have overwhelmed your race shortly after hostilities began. You are very fortunate that they were not free to make your own decisions, although, of course, they did do grievous damage to your home world.”
Admiral Bevan settled back in shock. This changed everything. The Dregluk were just as much victims of this ancient fallen empire as humanity was, perhaps even more. If this information was correct then they were just following orders that they couldn’t even conceive of refusing. She noticed that the others in the room had fallen silent and looked at Lt. Commander Brady.
“Ma’am, I really think you should see what we’ve discovered.”
She got up and he pulled her out of his office and out of the area in the base’s entry area where they had set up their living facilities. She followed Brady and his excited team bemusedly as they made their way down into the bowls of the base they had been investigating for years with so little success. As they wound their way down deeper and deeper, she noticed that the corridors were softly lit, so that they no longer had to rely on their carried torches. “Are the lights you, computer?”
“Yes, now that I am restored to full consciousness, I am able to provide life support throughout the undamaged areas of the base.”
“Well, that’s convenient.” Her voice trailed off as they entered a room with a few chairs scattered around. The far wall of the room was transparent. She walked over to the wall, trying to absorb what she was seeing. The windows looked out over a dimly lit cylindrical area several thousand feet across that seemed to stretch downwards for quite a way. Set in the walls were what looked like massive access hatches. “What is all of this.”
Commander Brady walked forward with a big grin on his face. “These are the stasis crypts that the computer mentioned.” He paused and looked towards the roof. “Computer, how many crypts are there?”
“At the time that this base was constructed, there were two thousand crypts.”
Admiral Bevan felt a surge of excitement war with the uncertainty and wariness that had settled over her during the walk to the room. “Computer, what is a ‘stasis crypt’, and what is in them?” A little voice in her head was telling her that there were alien hordes contained behind those doors, just waiting to get loose on an unsuspecting galaxy.
“A stasis crypt was the Founders’ common method of long-term storage, used for many different purposes. The science of stasis fields was still not fully understood by the time the Founders began withdrawing from the Conformity, but in simple terms, under certain controlled conditions a field could be generated to, in essence, slow time down within the field. The field required large amounts of power to initiate, but once initiated it required relatively small amounts of power to maintain. In terms of this base, the crypts were used to store equipment to be used in the colonization and exploitation of this system. The crypts would keep the equipment stored within them safe, secure, and in usable condition for a nearly unlimited time, as long as power was maintained. The complete inventory of the crypts was lost due to damage, although I hope to recover it as repairs continue. In general terms, the crypts contain construction and terraforming facilities, infrastructure, weapons and other systems, and everything any race would need to establish a self-sustaining colony and military outpost in this system.”
It was all finally too much for Admiral Bevan. She wandered over to a chair and sat down, lost in thought. “Computer, can we access those crypts?”
“Yes, although it is not without risks. The damage that has accumulated throughout the years has eliminated my control over this area of the base, although I can confirm that the vast majority of the stasis crypts are still functional. I cannot unlock the physical doors to the crypts, but with construction equipment and enough labor I believe that you can clear the doors and open the way into each crypt. However, taking down the stasis fields will be tricky, and may result in a catastrophic failure which will destroy whatever is contained within the field.”
Admiral Bevan withdrew from the agitated conversion that broke out amongst Lt. Commander Brady’s team. The fact that all sorts of industrial equipment was just waiting for them to open the crypts, along with who knows what technology, was huge. But of even larger import was the information about the Dregluk. Admiral Wallace had launched an indiscriminate bombardment of one of their colony worlds, and had launched one unsuccessful attack on their home world. She had been against this course of action, but given the public’s obvious bloodthirstiness and support, she had kept her opinions to herself. But now, this information made it clear that they should come up with a different way of dealing with the Dregluk. They weren’t responsible for their actions, and bombing them into oblivion was an act that, when the truth became known, would stain humanity’s soul for all of time.
She left Lt. Commander Bryan’s team with orders to limit their contact with the alien computer for now, until they could determine the truth of what it had already told them, and its general reliability. Once she got back to her office, she called Brigadier General Alex Watson, her second in command. Mindful of the fact that the alien computer apparently had access to their network, she asked General Watson to meet her outside the base. One hour later she met him in a small temporary tent that she had had set up in the valley outside the base’s entrance. If they had tried to talk outside it would have had to have been over their suit radios, and then likely the alien computer would have been able to listen in. The planet’s atmosphere was thick, almost three times as thick as Earth’s atmosphere, and had far too much oxygen in it for humans to breathe. Therefore, the tent, where they would be able to talk without having to use radios. Once they were both inside and had removed their suits, she briefed him on the information provided by the alien computer.
General Watson’s eyes were wide with shock as he took in what she told him. As she stopped talking, he got up and started to pace. “My god, this is incredible!” He turned to her and looked her in the eyes. “Can we believe it?”
“I don’t know…but.” She paused, searching for what she wanted to say. “Alex, I’m afraid its all true. Or true enough, anyway. Look, Fleet Intelligence has twisted itself into knots trying to figure out what the heck the Dregluk were up to. Why they behaved the way they did. It just didn’t make any sense! The computer is right, if the Dregluk had acted rationally from the start they would have crushed us right away, and either killed us all off or enslaved us. Instead they didn’t coordinate their attacks. They launched sporadic attacks with what appeared to be newly constructed ships, never seeming to pause to collect their forces into a large enough fleet to knock us out. In some of the early attacks they jumped into the Solar System and then wandered about in the outer system, not actually headed for anything for weeks or months, then, apparently randomly, decided either to jump out of the system or attack whatever random target that was closest to them at the time. What makes more sense, the fact that a race capable of building starships and planting colonies in multiple systems was stupid to the point that they crippled their own military in a war to the death, or that they are under the control of some ancient, malfunctioning cybernetic control system intended from the first to limit and control their actions?”
General Watson had begun pacing while Admiral Bevan spoke, but now he stopped. “That’s got to be it!” Seeing the incomprehension on her face, he smiled. Every time we’ve faced the Dregluk on the ground its been the same. They fight tenaciously, only grudgingly giving ground and making us pay for every meter we take. But then, at a certain point, usually far beyond when a human unit would have run or disintegrated, they just collapse and stop fighting. And we always find brain-burned Dregluk where their commanders should be. Just like when you fleeties examine destroyed ships, or when you used to rescue Dregluk from their life pods. All the fight was gone out of them, and there were no leaders. This augmentation network must have been controlling them, right up to the point where there weren’t enough of them left and the network collapsed.”
“Yes, the Founders’ computer seems to have told us the truth, or it’s a damned good lie that explains nearly everything that’s happened. But that’s not why we’re out here. We have to consider what comes next.”
“Next?”
Admiral Bevan sighed. He hadn’t had as much time to think about this as she had, but he’d get there. “We bombarded that Dregluk colony planet in the Houston system to force them to surrender on the theory that the Dregluk were all war criminals and genocidal monsters who tried to eliminate humanity. Now we know it isn’t true. The fact is that if this information is true then the Dregluk are even more victims of the Founders and the Conformity than we are. They are following commandments and directives decided thousands of years ago and enforced by malfunctioning machines in their heads, and they had no more choice about what they did than the weapons we use to kill each other. They don’t deserve to die for that, not if we can find some other way.”
General Watson paled. “If this gets out it will cause chaos. The anti-war crowd on Luna will use it to try to convince everyone to stop fighting. Some people will believe it, and others won’t. There will be chaos at a time when we can’t afford it.”
Admiral Bevan shook her head. “I don’t think it will be that bad, but…you are right. With Admiral Wallace in the Dregluk Home System we can’t afford to falter now. Still, this isn’t our decision to make. We need to clamp down on the information here, and send a report back home via the picket ship hiding in the asteroid belt. So far, the only ones that know about this is Lt Commander Brady’s team, and I’ve isolated them while they examine the vaults. I want you to handle security for this. Limit access to the alien computer, and find a way to limit its access to our system. And keep Brady’s people isolated until we hear back from the Admiralty.”
General Watson stiffened to attention and saluted. “This is a hell of a thing, ma’am. A hell of a thing.” With that he turned and left the tent.
Admiral Bevan’s report went out two hours later, and shortly after receiving it the picket ship stationed close to the planet accelerated out of the inner system towards the jump point to the San Francisco system. She could have transmitted the message via the picket ship relay that covered the jump points between her base and the home system, but this information was too volatile to trust to a transmission, no matter how theoretically secure it was.
Fifteen days later the picket ship went into orbit over Mars and the ship’s captain hand delivered Admiral Bevan’s report. Within a day the head of the Admiralty had a meeting with the Consul, who classified all information relating to the discoveries in the Philadelphia system at the highest level. Within a week the Consul’s office announced a major effort to colonize Eden, as the planet in the Philadelphia system was to be named. This effort would include the transfer of many construction brigades to assist in the establishment of the colony. Strangely, most of the prospective colonists for the new colony were either scientists or members of the Human Purity Church. And neither the Consul’s office nor the Senate made any public announcements about the discoveries on Eden or about the true nature of the Dregluk.
Then, on October 15, 2144, Admiral Wallace launched an indiscriminate bombardment of the Dregluk home world, killing millions and poisoning the planet to the point that most, if not all, Dregluk would die in the next several years. Admiral Bevan, who had been assigned to assist the researchers at the complex on Eden, realized at that point that the government had decided to bury the facts about the Dregluk. Shortly thereafter she put in for leave and traveled back to the Solar System aboard the next colony ship to arrive over the colony. Her meeting with Senator Foster was arranged through mutual friends and took place in a time and manner where it would be difficult to prove that either of them had been present. After she left Earth and returned to Eden, Senator Foster began laying his plans and assembling allies.
Present day, Consul Young’s private quarters, Mars
A calculating look crossed Consul Young’s face. “You are in possession of material classified at the highest levels. You are in violation of the law.”
“Oh, come now, Consul. Given the way you’ve played fast and loose with the law, I can’t believe you’d try to play that card on me. You’ve kept vital information from the Senate, the Navy, and the people. If you have your guards, or anyone else, arrest me then the information will be released, first to the Senate and then to the people and damn the results. Personally, I think the Senate is going to be even more upset about your father’s plans for Eden. A “Church Stronghold”, I think he calls it. In public. In private I believe he calls it the “Genesis of the Republic of Faith”, if I’m not mistaken.”
Consul Young looked shaken at his casual pronouncements of things said in her father’s most private councils.
Senator Foster leaned forward. “The Senate is mad at you, Consul Young. The information about Eden has been spread to the leadership of all of the main parties, not just your Human Purity Party. By tomorrow the only Senators that won’t know about it are the ones out of the system. And given the way your church has been infiltrating the government and the Eden project, I suspect that when they get started investigating, it won’t be limited to you and your activities.”
Consul Young got up and walked to the windows that covered one side of the suite, overlooking the capital city. “You want something, or you wouldn’t be here.”
Senator Foster nodded to himself. Young was quick, there was no denying that. “Yes, we want something.”
Young turned and peered at the Senator. “You’re worried about the aliens beyond the Detroit system. You don’t want chaos in the government right now. That’s why you’re here, speaking with me, instead of putting together a coalition to take me down.”
“You’re almost right. I already have the coalition, with more votes than I need. You pushed too far when your proxies introduced the Reserve Military Act. A lot of people were growing concerned about the increasing reach of your father’s church, but when you actually proposed letting them set up their own military force, well, that was just too much. And when they all started getting together and comparing notes, the evidence became overwhelming.” Foster paused and looked at the Consul, gauging her mood. “We’d rather not have any trouble now, though. With a new alien threat just two jumps from here, this is not the time for the government to be distracted.”
Consul Young took a deep breath. “What are you proposing?”
“It’s simple, really. Tomorrow you will become the second Hero of the Republic. Next week you will announce your resignation from the office of Consul. In exchange neither you nor your father will be prosecuted, although files will be maintained to ensure future compliance with the law. The church will be more thoroughly separated from the government.”
Consul Young’s eyes narrowed. That was a significantly better deal than she thought they’d offer. “And that’s it?”
“Pretty much. Neither you nor any of your proxies will stand for the empty Consul’s seat, but aside from that we will be satisfied with your ouster.”
“And who will take the Consul’s seat? You?”
Foster laughed. “Me? No. I’ve had my time, just as you have had. Someone else. Someone new. It’s a new era, after all.”
Young shook her head. Assuming the situation was as he said it was, the deal was almost too good. She had told her father that they were pushing too hard, too fast, but he was never one to take advice, especially concerning ‘his’ church. If Foster’s supporters had the information that they said they had, her ouster was assured, and fighting would just drag it out. And the Eden information was explosive. No one knew how that would shake out. The latest polls showed that the public’s stance on eliminating the Dregluk was weakening now that they were no longer a threat. If the Eden information became public then it would almost certainly swing the polls against her and her policies regarding the Dregluk, and the people would begin asking very difficult questions. Questions that she would not be able to answer. She turned her back on Foster and stared out the windows at the sleeping city. She still had allies, and her father had nearly unlimited funds, but…it wouldn’t work. Her instincts were telling her to fight Foster and his people, but her political experience was telling her that while she could delay things for quite a while, in the end they would win and she would lose. And if she fought, losing would be disastrous. If they had to fight to remove her they wouldn’t stop with ousting her, they would put her and her closest supporters in prison, and tear her father’s church apart one brick at a time. It would be ugly, and divisive, but they’d do it all the same. She turned to Foster. “It’s a deal. But I want some time to verify that things are as you say that they are.”
Foster stood. “That’s why we set your resignation for next week. Take all the time you need, as long as it isn’t longer than next week.”
-
January 15, 2145, Mars
The Senate votes to acclaim Consul Young as the second Hero of the Republic for her leadership in the Dregluk war.
January 15, 2145, El Paso
The ground forces are finally prepared to begin their assault on the Dregluk defensive ground forces on Dregluk Mining #1. This is a larger facility, and so the defenses are expected to be even heavier than on Dregluk #2. The Republic’s ground force is composed of two Marine Raider Brigades and four Infantry Brigades, supported by garrison and replacement battalions. Major General Billy Thompson, CO of the 7th Infantry Brigade and senior officer of the ground forces on-planet, gives the order to begin the assault at 0931 hours.
January 20, 2145, Mars
In a shocking announcement, Consul Young has announced that she will step down from her position as Consul of the Republic, effective as of January 30, 2145. The Senate has gone into a closed-door session to debate and vote on a new Consul. Consul Young stated that her resignation is for the good of the Republic, as she has completed the job she was given when she took the position, which was to defend Humanity from the Dregluk. Many commentators have noted speculated that Consul Young’s resignation is similar to Consul Foster’s, and many are in favor of the apparent tradition that is being set of resigning after resolving the situation that led to their appointment in the first place.
January 25, 2145, El Paso
The ground combat on Dregluk Mining Outpost #1 is going well. Two human battalions have suffered relatively minor losses, while multiple Dregluk battalions have suffered major losses. The fighting continues.
January 26, 2145, Austin
The resource survey of the Austin system is complete. Dregluk Prime is revealed to have small amounts of only three TN resources, at moderately low availability levels. Several moderate deposits were found scattered across the system as well. Two Dregluk outposts were found, one on seventh moon of the fourth planet, and the second on the sixth moon of an outer super Jovian. These outposts are oddly placed. The outpost on the moon of the fourth planet is located on a body without TN resources, and while the other outpost has deposits, it is not the best location in the system for mining. A jump point survey is underway.
January 27, 2145, Mars
The Senate has announced the selection of Ashley Payne, the former Governor of Earth, as the new Consul of the Republic. Governor Payne is noted for her fiscal acumen, and it is hoped that her appointment signals the Senate’s resolution towards putting the Republic on a more solid fiscal and economic basis.
February 26, 2145, Austin
The 4th Survey Group (Gravitic) has discovered a new jump point in the Austin system. On this day the survey scout assigned to the group jumps through the new jump point, which, of course, has a Dregluk gate on it. The scout materializes in a binary system with a K7-V primary with an M1-V secondary star. The primary is orbited by two Venus-like planets. The secondary star is orbited by several planets, including one with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere that is just a bit too cold for human habitation. Unfortunately, the secondary star has a very distant orbit and is effectively out of reach. The scout jumps back to Austin to report the discovery.
April 3, 2145, Austin
The gravitic survey of the system is complete, and a total of four jump points have been found, including the one leading to the Houston system. A jump scout is heading towards the third jump point to conduct a probe before the resource survey ships begin their survey.
April 8, 2145, Austin
The jump scout assigned to the 4th Survey Group (Gravitic), jumped out of the Austin system through one of the two newly discovered jump points. The ship materialized in binary system populated by two small, dim stars and a grand total of four comets. The new system is named the St. Paul system. After taking a short period of time to observe the system the jump scout jumped back to the Austin system and set out for the last unexplored jump point.
April 13, 2145, Austin
The jump scout jumps out of the Austin system and into a single star system with a G6-V primary star. The primary is orbited by eight planets, which are a mix of gas giants, terrestrial planets, and dwarf planets. Given the number of planets and moons in this system, it will be surveyed next. The system is named the Little Rock system.
April 15, 2145, Sol
The population of Mars has surpassed that of Earth for the first time! The population of Mars is now 1,539,840,000, while Earth’s is 1,533,000,000. On this momentous date the Republic announces that the capital is officially being moved to Mars. The move is planned to be completed by the end of the year.
On a similar note, the Earth’s munitions industry has been completely relocated to Mars and Ganymede.
May 5, 2145, El Paso
The Dregluk defenders of the larger outpost in the system have finally been wiped out. A total of 219 automated mines, a deep space tracking station, and a mass driver were secured, along with a relatively small stockpile of TN resources. The two troop transports in the system immediately begin loading troops to transfer them to the Austin system for the planned operation against the Dregluk home planet.
May 16, 2145, Little Rock
The survey scout attached to the 4th Survey Group (Gravitic), approaches a newly discovered jump point. The Little Rock system is adjacent to the Austin system, so given the proximity to the Dregluk Home System the importance of these probe jumps is high. The scout jumps out of the system, and materializes in a single-star system with an M1-V primary. The red star is orbited by several gas giants and a massive asteroid belt. Most interestingly, the second and third worlds have oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres. Both planets have too much oxygen for the atmospheres to be considered breathable by humans, and one is too hot while the other is too cold. Neither would be considered habitable at all by the Dregluk, as the planets both have a gravity that is too heavy for the Dregluk. That makes the scout’s next discovery even more interesting, as, shortly after entering the system, their thermal sensors detect a very large population on the second planet. The population’s thermal signature is approximately 35% larger than Dregluk Prime’s, and far larger than that of either Earth or Mars. In short order the scout’s crew is able to identify the population as belonging to the Symsonian Confederation. The scout’s captain jumps out immediately and sets course for the jump back to Austin, to relay the new discovery to the 1st Fleet battle group watching over Dregluk Prime. Oddly, the scout detected no ships during its time in the newly discovered Richmond system.
May 21, 2145, Houston System
Admiral Wallace, alarmed at the presence of a very large population belonging to the Symsonian Commonwealth so close to Dregluk Prime immediately dispatches a fleet scout to probe the Symsonian system, and sends word back to Earth. So far, the Symsonians have been innocuous, but Admiral Wallace has very little trust or faith in any alien at this point.
May 22, 2145, Little Rock
The 2nd and 4th Survey Groups have been going about their business in this system for some time now. The 2nd Survey Group (Resource), has nearly completed its survey of this system. Before the discovery of the Symsonian population in the Richmond system they were slated to jump to that system to begin surveying there, but, since the discovery the group commander decided to jump back to Austin and reevaluate the situation. Everything changed when, at 1208 hours, a massive group of Symsonian ships jumped into the Little Rock system from Richmond. Suddenly there were one hundred and twenty Symsonian ships sitting on the jump point. All of them had a thermal signature of 750, which was larger than a human frigate’s signature, but smaller than a Dregluk DD’s.
The commanders of both survey groups ordered their units to retreat to the Austin system ASAP. The Symsonians had never taken a hostile action towards a human ship, but humanity had a record of losing survey ships regularly. Neither commander wanted her group to be next.
Two hours later, as the survey ships retreated towards the jump point to the Austin system, the Symsonian ships jumped back to Richmond.
May 23, 2145, Philadelphia System
Two monitors settle into orbit over Eden. These monitors are present as a defensive force, to provide protection for the growing colony. The Home Fleet is slated to transfer a group of pods to Eden orbit in the near future, as well.
-
May 24, 2145, 1300 hours, Detroit
Task Group 0.1 of the Home Fleet has been watching the jump point to the St. Louis system for five and a half months. The fleet scout Jim Baker has been stationed on the far side of the jump point, in the St. Louis system, to watch the alien ships detected there six months ago. The scout jumps back to the Detroit system every twelve hours to report on its status. One hour ago, the scout failed to return from the St. Louis system. Rear Admiral Bradshaw, CO of the task group, puts his ships on alert status and sends word back to the Solar System. He is prohibited from jumping into the St. Louis system without authorization. Once the message is away, the task group settles in to wait.
Within an hour of the message’s receipt at the Admiralty in the Solar System, ships began to move. Nearly every available ship was assembled and dispatched to the Detroit system, however, a significant number of ships in the Home Fleet were in overhaul status due to recent training exercises. Still, four Enterprise r6 class HuK’s, one Agamemnon class DDE(ASU), one Nimitz class DD(ASM), one Defender class DDE(AM), one Brooklyn class Fast Frigate(AM), ten Lake class Frigate(ASM), one Brooklyn class Frigate(AM), and five ASU pods, was a significant force. In addition, another scout and various support ships were on the move.
At 1408 hours, the alien ships jumped into the St. Louis system. The fight was on. There were just six alien ships, but they were huge. The largest was 50,000 tons, while the other five were “just” 33,400 tons each. The Intrepid II, and Enterprise r6 class Hunter-Killer, was sitting on the jump point when the alien ships jumped in. The rest of the battle group, two Star class battleships, an Essex class Assault ship, two Defender class DDE(AM)’s, two Lake class FFG(ASM)’s, and two Brooklyn class FFG(AM)’s, were sitting one million kilometers from the jump point.
On board the Intrepid II, crews were running to their stations as the CO, Commander Eleanor Ryan, struggled into her combat skin and ran the short distance from her quarters to the bridge. The bridge was controlled chaos as she entered, as status reports poured in and the various crew members struggled to get the ship’s systems up. “Report!”
The ship’s engineer was first. “Shields are up. Engines are coming up, but we don’t have motive power yet.”
“Weapons are charged, but the targets have not yet been acquired. Tactical systems are processing the situation now.”
Commander Ryan frowned, but there was nothing she, or anyone, could do about it. The alien ships had appeared at close range, but close wasn’t zero, and when ships were moving at thousands of kilometers per second, the tactical computers needed to crunch a lot of data before they would be able to hit the enemy. Therefore, it might be ten twenty, or even thirty seconds before they could start firing. The only consolation is that the enemy presumably had it worse, having just jumped and almost certainly being jump addled.
“Helm is ready, waiting for engines to come up.”
“Sensors are active! Currently reading five contacts at point blank range and moving away from the jump point at 8,383 km/s! One additional contact appeared 1.164 million kilometers from the jump point, on the opposite side from the battle group. Five of the contacts are 33,400 tons, while the sixth is 50,100 tons.”
“Communications are steady, we have a secure channel with the flagship. No orders yet.”
Commander Ryan winced. This was going to get bad really quickly. These monster aliens were faster than the battle group, and it was unlikely that any of their ships would escape. In fact, her ship was the only ship in the battlegroup that was faster than the alien ships, and only by 139 km/s. She took a deep breath. Bracing herself, she issued the orders that almost certainly spelled doom for her command. “We’ve got to distract these ships while the battle group withdraws. Target the largest ship and keep firing. Helm, when the engines come up, close to point blank range on that big bastard and stay on them. I expect that the battlegroup will be launching missiles as soon as they can, that should help us.” If we are still alive, she thought to herself.
She settled back into her station as the crew got busy. She had been so proud when she’d gotten one of the first new Hunter-Killers. It had been a big honor, and to get the successor to the original Intrepid was a big deal. Now it looked like her command was going to follow the original Intrepid into history.
“Status change! The alien ships have slowed to 7,616 km/s. They are moving away from the jump point and the battlegroup.”
Fifteen seconds after the alien ships entered the system the sensors officer stiffened. “Ma’am, they’ve turned back towards the jump point and accelerated to 8,383 km/s!”
Commander Ryan looked at the plot and could see the alien ships closing on their position, like an avalanche roaring towards her comparatively tiny command. “Engineering, we need those engines!”
“Yes, ma’am, we are…” The engineer broke off as the alien ships turned away from the jump point again, and began racing away.
Finally, twenty-five seconds after the aliens entered the system, the Intrepid II’s computers crunched enough data and fired the ship’s five lasers at the alien behemoth at 40,000 kilometers range. Heavy enemy EW significantly reduced the HuK’s ability to hit its target, though, and only one of the smaller lasers hit, to no visible effect. Commander Ryan cursed under his breath. The Admiralty’s design teams had not included ECCM systems in the latest HuK design, as the Dregluk had only weak ECM and the space required was used for more shielding instead. Now, with most of his lasers missing the enemy because they only had the poorest of lock-on’s, that decision seemed less than optimal.
While the Intrepid II struggled to get moving, every other ship in the battlegroup launched missiles at the aliens, including AMM’s in offensive mode. This was to be an all-out attack. The Intrepid II’s four 150mm lasers went into rapid fire mode, lashing out at the alien ship every five seconds while the missiles closed. The aliens continued to dodge about, alternately closing and running away.
Thirty-five seconds into the battle and the aliens still had yet to fire. Commander Ryan’s frustration was growing as her lasers continued to miss their target, spoofed by the enemy’s EW. She quickly composed a message to the Admiralty detailing her difficulties and sent it off to the picket ship at the jump point to Washington.
Ten seconds later the first wave of Aegis VI AMM’s hit four of the ships in the group racing back and forth in front of the Intrepid II. The big alien ships stopped five of the fast AMM’s with their CIWS, but the remaining fifty-seven hit. Once again, the human weapons had no appreciable effect. That wasn’t too surprising, though, given the fact that they were small AMM’s, with equally small warheads. By then the battlegroup proper was moving away at its top speed of 6,000 km/s, hoping to put some space between themselves and the big alien ships. The Intrepid II was still motionless, and had yet to hit the alien ship with its lasers after the first hit.
The next group of missiles to hit was a mixed group of Aegis VI’s and Thunderbolt III’s. The alien ships stopped eight of the AMM’s, but fifty-nine got through. All fifty of the Thunderbolt ASM’s hit their target, which was one of the 33,400 ton ships. The massive alien ship absorbed the Thunderbolts as if they were nothing, and kept charging ahead. It soon became apparent that although there had been no armor breaches observed, the alien ship had suffered damage from the missile strike. The ship’s sensors went down, indicating that it had suffered some damage from the strike. Still, in spite of that, the alien ships had to have very thick armor to withstand all of those missile hits.
By then, Rear Admiral Bradshaw had confirmed Commander Ryan’s decision to engage closely, and had ordered his battlegroup to concentrate its fire on the largest alien ship. The AMM’s continued to pelt the alien ships, and by the time the second wave of Thunderbolts and the Bludgeon’s fired by the Essex arrived, the Intrepid II was chasing the alien ships, trying to close with them. Once again, the Thunderbolts and the Bludgeon’s slammed into their targets with no apparent effect.
Again and again the Intrepid II struck out at the massive alien dreadnought, and even as her lasers scored the enemy ship missiles rained on the behemoth in a downpour. Hundreds of Aegis VI’s and dozens of Thunderbolt III’s struck the alien ship in a constant stream, and finally they damaged the ship’s engines, as the entire alien group’s speed dropped to 1971 km/s. Admiral Bradshaw ordered his ships, including the Intrepid II, to target one of the other alien ships. Commander Ryan heartily approved. The entire alien group dropped its speed to remain with the slower ship, meaning that the human ships might be able to escape as long as that crippled alien ship remained alive.
Unfortunately, there were a number of missiles already launched, targeted on the big alien ship. Commander Ryan watched as explosions flared against the alien ship’s hull, hoping that it would remain intact. She found that wish odd, but stranger things had happened in humanity’s march to the stars. Then, suddenly, the alien group surged to its apparent maximum speed of 8382 km/s, leaving the Intrepid II behind, out of position. Commander Ryan groaned. These aliens were inexplicable.
Admiral Bradshaw ordered the fleet to shift fire back to the largest enemy ship, and the battle continued. Missiles pelted the alien ships like hail, but the alien’s incredibly thick armor shed the explosions like they were nothing. The Intrepid II kept stabbing out at the biggest alien ship, striking its armor, but it seemed like no matter how many times they hit the alien ship, and no matter how many missiles hit it, the big ship just shrugged off the damage.
Finally, after minutes of pounding the alien behemoth, the human weapons began opening holes in the ship’s armor. Atmosphere began streaming behind the big ship, and the crews of the Republic ships began cheering at the evidence that they had had an effect on the seemingly invulnerable enemy ship.
With this evidence that the alien ship was finally wounded, and with numerous missiles still inbound, targeted on the damaged ship, Admiral Bradshaw ordered his missile ships to shift fire to one of the other ships.
The cheers died out when, suddenly, the Intrepid II blew up. One second it was there, firing all its lasers repeatedly into the biggest alien ship, and the next it was a drifting cloud of wreckage and a scattering of life pods. Later analysis of the battle records would show that the ship was hit by just five massive beam weapons. The alien beams punched right through the ship’s powerful shields and carved through its thick armor like it wasn’t there. Commander Ryan and the bulk of the Intrepid’s crew were killed instantly. The analysis would show that the aliens were using incredibly advanced x-ray lasers of unbelievable power.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end of the bad news. With their weapons now available, the aliens were launching AMM’s to intercept the incoming missiles. Some still got through to the biggest ship, but the number of hits dropped when compared to the earlier salvoes. Worse, in spite of the holes in its armor, the biggest alien ship still hadn’t shown any overt signs of damage. And, worst of all, the human ships were beginning to run out of missiles.
The battle settled into a chase, with the alien warships coming up behind the human ships, which were running towards the jump point on the far side of the system. Unfortunately for the humans, the aliens were much faster than they were. By the time the two human battleships had launched their last offensive missiles, the alien ships had closed to 1.5 mkm’s. Two of the alien ships were streaming atmosphere, and the main group had slowed to 7,544 km/s, but that was more than fast enough to catch the human ships.
The approaching alien fleet caused some confusion in the human fire control systems for a few, critical, seconds, as they had gotten close enough for the human fleet to detect their AMM’s. Once the human fleet’s sensors picked up the alien AMM’s, the ship’s anti-missile fire control systems overrode their offensive fire settings and began launching Aegis V and VI AMM’s at the alien AMM’s, ignoring the bigger ships. They would never be able to reach the alien missiles before they intercepted their target’s, though, so the human fleet wasted an AMM launch against enemy missiles that would be gone before the AMM’s could arrive. Admiral Bradshaw ordered the AMM fire controls to be reset and the battle continued.
Human missile fire was dwindling, and alien missiles began approaching the fleet. There was no way to tell if these alien missiles were fired at the fleet, or at the missiles the human fleet was still launching at the aliens. The aliens were launching small, size one, missiles, but they could launch a lot of them. The alien missiles were incredibly fast, each approaching at 84,000 km/s, much faster than the few Aegis VI’s left in the battle group’s magazines. By this point the only ships with AMM’s left were the two Star class BB’s and the two Defender class DDE’s. Admiral Wallace finally relented and ordered his ships to cease offensive fire and to focus on the defense of the group. By that time very few of the human missiles were getting through the alien defensive fire anyway.
For a short time, space was clear, as the last human missiles were intercepted short of the alien fleet. The alien ships had closed to 1.4 mkm’s by the time the last human missile slammed home into one of the 50,000 ton ships, causing yet another armor breach. All of the human missiles, and all of the Intrepid’s efforts, resulted in atmosphere streaming from two of the seven alien ships.
Space was clear for a few, brief seconds, and then the aliens began launching their small missiles in offensive mode. AMM’s began spilling from the two human DDE’s which were the only ships with AMM’s left. There were 353 missiles in each of the alien salvoes, far more than the humans could hope to stop, even if the alien missiles weren’t faster than the AMM’s trying to stop them. Admiral Bradshaw watched the tidal wave of missiles approaching his fleet and briefly considered giving the order to abandon ship. If he ordered the crews to their life pods now, most would be saved the almost sure destruction of their ship. He decided against it, though. For one thing, there was little likelihood that anyone would come to rescue them in time, given the presence of massive enemy warships that were going to pound his group to scrap. For another, if they could do nothing else, they could force the aliens to expend missiles that then would not be available for their next battle.
Admiral Bradshaw opened a channel to the fleet. “To all hands, this is Admiral Bradshaw. We are out of missiles, and the alien fleet is faster than our fleet. We are doomed. But we still have our duty as Republican sailors! If we abandon ship now, the enemy will stop firing and turn away, leaving our pods in space. Many of us will survive. For a time. But we are too far out. No one will get here in time to rescue us. Besides, we still have our duty! Our responsibility to our fellow sailors, and to the people back home! The long we last, the more missiles the enemy will have to expend taking us down. And the more missiles they use on us, the fewer they will have for the fleet that will come to destroy them! And do not doubt it, that fleet will come! We destroyed the Dregluk Imperium, and these aliens are going to learn the difficult lesson that messing with humanity will only result in their own deaths! The fleet will come, and will avenge us! And we will do what we can to make the job easier for them. Even if that’s only lasting a little longer. That is what we will do, because we are Humans!” Before the cut the channel, he could hear cheering from the crew of his flagship.
The battle continued. The first alien salvo was targeted on the Antares, Admiral Bradshaw’s ship. The alien missiles stripped away the BB’s shields and sandblasted her armor, causing several breaches. The second salvo stripped the hapless ship of its armor and caused massive internal damage. The fact that she survived at all was a testament to her designers and builders, but the tough ship was crippled and left behind as the rest of the fleet ran ahead of the aliens.
Some of the second salvoes missiles were focused on the Polaris, stripping her of most of her shields. The next salvo crippled the big ship. After that the aliens focused their fire on one ship after another. The smaller ships couldn’t withstand that kind of firepower and were killed quickly. None surrendered, none abandoned ship ahead of the missiles that were reaching out for them. They were Republican crewers, and they stayed at their posts till the end. No aliens could break them, but they could, and did, die.
The first ship to die was the Polaris, but it wasn’t the last. The Antares died a few seconds later, and Admiral Bradshaw died with her. The Assault Ship Essex was the next to be crippled and then destroyed, and after that the smaller ships died rapidly. The last ship to go was the frigate Michigan, and she maintained a data-stream to the picket ship sitting on the jump point to the Washington system until the end. The picket ship, 1.34 billion kilometers away, received the last transmission from the Michigan seventy-four minutes later. After a short time spent trying to come to terms with the loss of an entire battle group, the picket ship’s commander ordered her ship to jump back to the Washington system. There would be nothing left in the Detroit system to lead the aliens back to human space.
The death of Admiral Bradshaw and the destruction of his battle group would send shock waves throughout the Republic. The citizens of the Republic had been coming to terms with the fact that the Dregluk were no longer a threat to their lives and future, and this had been causing more and more people to question their basic beliefs and, by extension, the policies of the government. Now, with this fresh threat, they returned to their basic determination to defend humanity at all costs. At any cost.
Reinforcements had been dispatched from the Home Fleet to bolster Admiral Bradshaw’s group. The reinforcement group was currently in the Washington system, eight days from the jump point to the Detroit system. The Admiralty dispatched orders designating the reinforcement group as Task Group 0.2, and ordering the group to assume a defensive stance at the jump point to the Detroit system. A scout had been dispatched as well, and orders were sent for it to position itself on the jump point in the Detroit system to watch for the alien invaders. The scout’s captain was ordered to maintain extreme watchfulness, as it still wasn’t clear what had happened to the scout destroyed by the aliens.
-
May 25, 2145, Mars
Consul Payne stood as Senator Foster was ushered into her office. “Senator, it’s so good of you to come on such short notice.” She gestured to the other person in the office. “I believe you know Defense Minister Chen?”
Senator Foster smiled at the Defense Minister. “Yes, of course, Minister.” The Defense Minister nodded at the Senator, but didn’t smile. In fact, he looked positively funerial. Foster picked up on that, and turned to the Consul. “What’s gone wrong? Is there a problem with Ms. Young?”
Consul Payne and her Minister looked at each other, and after a second, she nodded at Minster Chen to start.
“No, Senator Foster, its not the former Consul. I have the sad duty to inform you that Admiral Bradshaw died yesterday, along with her entire task group in the Detroit system.”
Foster paled and sagged back into his chair. “Oh my god! What happened?” Even as he said it, he realized that it could be only one thing. The aliens from the St. Louis system had attacked. Sure enough, Consul Payne confirmed it almost as quickly as he had thought of it.
“The aliens from the St. Louis system attacked her task group. As Minister Chen said, the losses were total.” She hesitated for a few seconds, then asked softly, “You knew her, right?”
Senator Foster shook his head. “Once,” he said sadly, “but that was long ago. Before I was imprisoned by the Federation.” He looked down, seeing something only he could see. “I knew a lot of people on board those ships. I hired some of them, back in the day when we were creating a fleet out of nothing.”
The Consul and the Minister looked at each other again, and this time the Consul shook her head. This was her job. Her responsibility. She took a deep breath. “Senator Foster, I know this isn’t the best of times, but I have to ask you something.” She paused, and Foster looked up from his reverie to see that both the Consul and the Minister were looking at him intently. “We need you to lead the fleet.” Foster opened his mouth to protest, but she hurried on. “You created the fleet we have today. You hired many of the officers who are now our senior leaders. We need you.”
Foster shook his head. “No, you don’t. It’s been a long time since I was an admiral. Too long. There are plenty of people in the fleet who can lead.”
Consul Payne nodded. “If all we needed was someone to lead, then you’d be right. But that’s not all. This is a critical time in the Republic’s history. You know this as well as anyone. In a matter of months, the final invasion of Dregluk Prime will start, and we don’t anticipate that the Dregluk will be able to hold out for more than a month or two, at the most. And then we as a race will be faced with a decision. Do we save the Dregluk, or let them die?” She gestured at her desk and a graph appeared over the desk. The graph showed public support for allowing the Dregluk to die out over time. The public’s support was decreasing, but was still solidly in the majority for letting them die. “We had planned on making an announcement after the fall of Dregluk Prime, releasing at least some of the information from Eden, claiming that it had been found on Dregluk Prime during the invasion, and using it as a basis to begin humanitarian aid to the Dregluk. The public’s opinion wouldn’t change overnight, but if we carefully manage the release of the information, we believe that we could have brought the public around in a fairly short amount of time.”
Defense Minister Chen leaned forward. “Except that’s all changed now. With a fresh alien threat so close to the home system, the public is unlikely to be in a forgiving mood. We predict that when we release the information about the loss of Admiral Bradshaw’s entire command it will harden the public’s anti-alien stance. They will be fearful and angry all over again, and will set back our attempts to soften their stance for many years. By then it might be too late for the Dregluk.”
Foster settled back in his chair, an exhausted look on his face. “Just what is it you think that I can do?”
The Consul took over. “Your reputation with the public is a mixed one, you know that. Your time as Consul was not without controversy, especially towards the end where the people felt you were too sympathetic towards the Dregluk. But, in spite of that, the people still remember you as the savior of Earth. When the old Federation provoked a war with the Dregluk and then its leadership fell apart, you were there to pick up the pieces. You provided the firm, steady leadership that brought humanity out of those dark days, and the people still remember that. They remember that in their darkest days, when everyone else had failed them, you and your team were there, working tirelessly to put together resistance to the Dregluk and rescue as many people from the bombed-out cities as you could. They remember that! And they will find it greatly comforting if, after this disaster, you were there, protecting them again.”
Foster shook his head, clearly overwhelmed. “I think you overstate my achievements, and the regard in which the people hold me.”
The other two looked at each other and shared a quick smile before the Consul shook her head. “It’s possible I’m overstating your achievements, but you must be aware of how much the people respect you and your service to humanity. In fact, I believe your stubborn resistance to the growing calls for genocide engendered a grudging respect amongst the people, even as they resented your efforts to derail that effort. You stuck with your beliefs, in spite of its obvious detrimental effect on your position.” She leaned forward, all business now. “We need that respect. We need your calm leadership in control of the fleet if we are going to save the Dregluk and defeat this new enemy. We can probably defeat the new aliens without you, but before that happens the people’s attitude towards aliens will harden even further and may prove impossible to change. With you in charge of the fleet, the people’s fears will be assuaged and they may prove amenable to the Dregluk race’s true status as victims who have suffered even more than humanity.”
Foster sat back, thinking furiously. “If I do this, I want complete control of the campaign against the new aliens. I will not move before the fleet is ready. Ready in my opinion.”
The Consul let loose a barely perceptible sigh of relief. If he was bargaining, he’d do it. She really hadn’t been sure he would take the offer. She looked at the Defense Minister, who nodded. “I, and my administration, will support you, as will our supporters in the Senate. I can’t guarantee complete freedom, as you know, but we will back your position to the hilt.”
Foster nodded, having come to a decision. “Okay, I’ll do it.” They stood and shook hands, sealing the deal.
The destruction of Admiral Bradshaw’s task group was announced later that day, along with the appointment of Senator Foster as Admiral of the Fleet.
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May 30, 2145, Mars
Defense Minister Chen looked around the conference room. Admiral Gilbert, commander of the Home Fleet, was seated on the far side of the room, deep in conversation with her Operations Officer. Admiral Russell, commander of the System Defense Command, was seated to his right, flanked by her aides and staff officers. Admiral Russell was chatting with Admiral Foster, Admiral of the Fleet and chief of the Admiralty, who was seated across from her and to his left.
“Let’s get started, people.” The room fell silent, and at a gesture from the Defense Minister a holographic representation of the largest of the alien ships that had destroyed Admiral Bradshaw’s group appeared over the table. It was a bulbous sphere, completely unlike any ship they had encountered before. “We’ve all read the reports. Now I need your thoughts and recommendations before I meet with the Consul.” With that he sat down and gestured to open up the discussion.
The three admirals looked at each other for a few seconds, and then Admiral Foster nodded. “We’ve only had time to do a preliminary analysis of the battle logs from Admiral Bradshaw’s group, but what we’ve seen so far is sobering.” He entered a series of commands into the table’s holo display and it changed to show a tactical plot with a jump point in the center of the display. On the jump point was an icon for Admiral Bradshaw’s battle group.
“I know you’ve all watched this, probably multiple times, but I want to point some things out so that we are all on the same page. The aliens jumped into the Detroit system at 14:08:20 on the 24th of May. Admiral Bradshaw’s battle group had some warning after their scout on the far side of the jump point failed to check in, but the appearance of the alien warships was still a surprise.” Admiral Foster saw the Defense Minister was about to interrupt, but got there before him. “No, we don’t know what happened to the scout, or why they didn’t report the approach of the alien ships.” He paused and looked around the table at the others. “We are looking into that, but given the dearth of information and the fact that we don’t have access to the system where the scout was lost we are not likely to come to any conclusion. At any rate, the aliens jumped into the system at 14:08:20, just over one hour after the scout failed to check in, and Admiral Bradshaw ordered his group to engage the enemy.” The plot enlarged the area around the jump point and they could see that Admiral Bradshaw’s battle group was split, with an Enterprise class HuK stationed on the jump point, while his nine missile ships were stationed one million kilometers away, towards the inner system and the jump point back to human space. As they watched, six alien ships jumped into the system.
Admiral Foster froze the display. “As you can see, the aliens entered the system in two groups. Six of their ships appeared on the jump point, while the last one appeared here,” a lone red icon began blinking. Based on the scale indicator, the lone alien ship appeared 1.1 million kilometers from the jump point, fortunately out-system, so it was farther from the human missile ships than the other alien ships. “ONI has identified four distinct classes based on energy signatures, and assigned class names. The central group is composed of five ships. The largest weighs in at over 50,000 tons, making it nearly twice as large as our new Siege Breaker battleships building in the yards. ONI has designated it as Broadsword-01. In addition, the central group is composed of three Mace class units all 30,400 tons, and two Bardiche class units, also 33,400 tons. The lone ship that jumped in away from the jump point has been designated as a Clairvaux class ship, also 30,400 tons. ONI feels certain that the Clairvaux is a jump ship, given the circumstances.” Admiral Foster paused to gather her thoughts. “It is clear from Admiral Bradshaw’s statements going into the battle that he knows that his battle group is in dire straits. The enemy force has over twice his tonnage, and is 39% faster than his missile force. Even considering the advantage he had fighting a jump-addled enemy, he knew they were unlikely to survive, so he ordered his missile ships to attack with all weapons available, including AMM’s.”
The battle record began running again, although it was slowed down a bit to make it easier to understand was happening. “Admiral Bradshaw ordered his battle group to spread their initial missile fire across five of the ships in the main group. Based on his recorded statements, Admiral Bradshaw hoped that their initial missile wave would degrade the enemy’s capabilities and expose a weakness that he could exploit. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Although the enemy displayed no active defenses, the initial missile salvo failed to penetrate the armor of any of the targeted ships.” There were murmurs around the table as the others reacted to that pronouncement. “In the aftermath of that failure, Admiral Bradshaw ordered the battle group to concentrate its fire on the largest alien ship, Broadsword-01. For two minutes and twenty seconds, Admiral Bradshaw’s entire battle group concentrated all of its fire on that one ship.” Although they knew this information from their own reviews, the other admirals shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. “During that period of time, Broadsword-01 took sixty hits from Thunderbolt ASM’s and 955 hits from Aegis AMM’s, along with fifteen hits from the Intrepid’s lasers, before there was an armor breach. At this point, Admiral Bradshaw ordered her group to shift fire to one of the Mace class units. His intent was to leave the Broadsword alive but damaged, in the hopes that the aliens would limit their actions to assisting their largest ship and allowing his battle group to withdraw.”
“For another twenty seconds, missiles that had already been launched continued to hit the Broadsword-01, and at the end of this period the targeted unit displayed a thermal signature drop consistent with engine damage. Unfortunately, it was at this time, 14:10:40, two minutes and twenty seconds after the alien ships entered the system, that they were able to active their weapons and return fire. The Intrepid was hit by five heavy laser strikes fired from the Broadsword-01 and destroyed instantly. ONI analysis indicates that the alien lasers are approximately ten times as powerful as the 150mm quick firing lasers on board our Enterprise and Siege Breaker classes. Worse, the battle group’s sensor logs clearly indicate that the Broadsword-01 fired thirty-one of these massive lasers at the Intrepid, giving it sufficient firepower to take out any of our ships in one shot if it catches them at short range, including a Siege Breaker.”
“At this point the battle begins turning against Admiral Bradshaw’s battle group. He divides his fire between the Mace class unit already targeted and the Broadsword-01, in the hopes of crippling or destroying either or both, but his missile fire becomes increasing degraded as enemy AMM’s intercept his missiles short of the alien ships. Admiral Bradshaw is forced to cease fire at 14:12:20, at which time most of his ships are out of missiles. At 14:12:40 the battle group begins taking missile fire from the alien force, and just seventy seconds later all human units have been destroyed. The entire battle lasted five minutes thirty seconds. During that time, the Broadsword-01 was hit by sixty-nine Thunderbolt ASM’s, one thousand five hundred and ninety-eight Aegis AMM’s, and fifteen laser hits from the Intrepid’s 150mm lasers. In spite of multiple hull breaches Broadsword-01 appeared to be nearly fully functional, with only a minor speed drop, at the end of the battle. One of the Mace class units suffered multiple armor breaches as well, but no function loss was detected.”
“ONI has highlighted several important sections of the logs. First, the aliens used very advanced ECM to obscure their ships. The Intrepid, in particular, had extreme difficulty targeting the Broadsword-01 during the battle, and her CO, Commander Ryan, repeatedly emphasized the significance of this during the battle. The Intrepid should have been able to hit the Broadsword reliably at the ranges the battle was fought at, but because of the ECM used by the enemy, the Intrepid’s 150mm quick-firing lasers were only able to achieve an 18% hit ratio. In addition, ONI estimates that the lasers used by the aliens have a minimum range of 80,000 kilometers, and given their power are certainly much longer-ranged than that. Finally, the aliens used only size one AMM’s against Admiral Bradshaw’s force, both offensively and defensively. Our latest generation of Aegis AMM’s had difficulty intercepting these missiles, achieving, at best, a 30% hit ratio due to the alien missile’s high speed. ONI is unable to estimate the range of these missiles; however, the alien ship’s anti-missile sensors have a range of 7.2 mkm’s, which may give an indication of the range of their missiles.” Admiral Foster waived a hand and the tactical plot blinked out, replaced by the holo representation of the Broadsword-01. “That’s all we have on the battle itself.”
They all stared at the intimidating alien ship rotating slowly over the table for a few seconds, each thinking their own thoughts. Finally, Defensive Minister Ode shook his head. “Admiral Gilbert, what is the disposition of your Fleet, and I’d like a recommendation from you to take to the Consul as well.”
Admiral Gilbert stood and her aide punched a series of commands into the table’s display controls. A jump point map of the area around the Solar System appeared, showing jump links out to three jumps. The map zoomed in until the Sol-Washington-Detroit warp route was displayed.
The linkage from the Washington system to the Detroit system began blinking. Admiral Gilbert pointed at it, calling it to their attention. “This is the linkage between Detroit and Washington. Fortunately, we have no outposts or mining colonies in the Detroit system, so we can cede it to the enemy without losing anything. I have a heavy task group in the Washington system now. It was on its way to reinforce Admiral Bradshaw, but with the loss of his battle group it is now our forward force. I have ordered Captain O’Donnell, the senior task group officer, to establish a defensive position at the jump point to Detroit and to hold there until further notice. In addition, a group of missile boats will be dispatched from Bastion, along with the two monitors of the reserve force. Captain O’Donnell’s force is supported by munitions ships, fleet docks, and fueling ships as well.” She paused and hit another button, highlighting the forces at the jump point to the Detroit system. “There are two monitors stationed at the jump point from the Washington system to the Detroit system, along with a picket ship. After the destruction of Admiral Bradshaw’s task group, they withdrew to the Washington side of the jump point to avoid giving away the location of the jump point. At this point it seems that the Invaders don’t know its location, as a minimum-time run from the St. Louis jump point to the Washington jump point for their ships is just forty-four hours, and that time has passed without any sign of them. That means that we are likely going to be able to get our reinforcements in place before they can localize the jump point’s position, giving us time to build up our forces for a counter-strike.”
Admiral Foster stood, waiving the other Admiral off as he did so. “I intend to use as much time as the aliens will give us to prepare the fleet. We need togather as much strength in the Washington system as possible, while taking time to refit our ships, if necessary, to improve their chances during an engagement with the Invaders. I will give you a more detailed version of my proposed plan, but essentially, we will relocate the bulk of the 1st and Home Fleets to Bastion, and establish a strong presence at the jump point to Detroit. A pair of scouts will rotate through the jump point to watch the Detroit system for enemy activity. If necessary, the task group assigned to the jump point will attrit the enemy if they jump through to the Washington system, and then the combined fleets will engage within the system itself. If possible, the combined fleets will attack, at a time and place of our choosing, taking the war to the aliens.”
Defense Minister Chen looked at the assembled Admirals and saw the determination in their eyes. “Thank you. I’ll take this plan to the Consul.”
June 2, 2145, Mars
The Admiralty, after analyzing the battle logs, ordered a round of refits for all beam-equipped ships, to add ECCM to their fire control systems. These EW refits were fairly minor, and wouldn’t take much time or resources, but would delay construction schedules.
The Consul, true to her word to Admiral Foster, decided to support his defensive stance. The battle logs clearly showed that Admiral Bradshaw’s force was able to inflict serious damage on the alien force while it was disordered from its jump into the system, but the battle had turned quickly once they regained full capacity. The enemy possessed frighteningly powerful weapons, thus, humanity would stand on the defensive for as long as possible to gain any possible advantage while its fleet was being refitted.
June 5, 2145, Detroit system
The Home Fleet scout Thomas Tobin jumped into the Detroit system from the Washington system, and immediately powered down its drives to station-keeping mode. With its cloaking device activated, the scout was doing a very credible imitation of a hole in space. For several minutes it scanned the area of space around it with its sensitive thermal sensors. It should be able to detect the largest alien ship out to almost six billion kilometers, and the smaller alien warships at nearly four billion. Given the fact that the jump point to the St. Louis system, and the site of the battle, was just 1.3 billion kilometers away the alien ships should have shown up clearly. The fact that space was clear, with no contacts anywhere in the system, seemed to indicate that the aliens had withdrawn. The Tobin jumped back to Washington to report, and then jumped back to Detroit to maintain its watch.
In the Washington system, Task Group 0.2 of the Home Fleet was taking up defensive positions around the jump point. Upon hearing the report from the scout, Commander Emma Bennett of the Fast Frigate Lahore volunteered to take her ship into Detroit to rescue the crews stranded in the life pods at the jump point to St. Louis. Captain Louis O’Donnell, CO of the Task Group, denied her request. In spite of her ship’s speed, it would take her nearly six days to reach the life pods, and the pods had only three and a half days of life support left. He refused to risk one of his ships in a rescue mission that was doomed to fail before it started.
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June 18, 2145, Mars
The Republic’s first Siege Breaker class battleship is launched from the orbital yards. The Ulysses S. Grant immediately re-enters the yard for an EW upgrade. The refit is a small one, and the battleship should be ready for service in ten days.
July 20, 2145
Large scale fleet movements are taking place throughout the Republic, as the Navy reorients its focus towards the alien marauders beyond the Detroit system. Twenty-five ships from the Home Fleet, nearly its entire strength, depart from Mars today, towing twenty-five pods, en route to Bastion in the Washington system. There, they will rendezvous with units from the 1st Fleet before setting out to engage the marauders.
As naval units begin converging on Bastion, the Republic’s largest ground invasion is set to begin. The last ground units have arrived on Dregluk Secondus, and the transports are ready. The Republic has mustered eleven infantry brigades, four marine raider brigades, eighteen garrison battalions, and eight replacement battalions for the invasion force. That is pretty much the entire Republican ground military, except for one infantry brigade stationed on Eden and some garrison units scattered throughout the Republic.
July 23, 2145, Austin
The invasion force has been transferred to Dregluk Prime, and the battle begins with attacks across the globe on Dregluk strongpoints. The fighting is fierce.
July 24, 2145, Houston
The bulk of the 1st Fleet, twenty-two ships, depart for Bastion. The ships are towing twelve pods, which is the largest number that they can tow without slowing the fleet too much. Only the largest or fastest ships have taken pods under tow. The fleet will arrive at Bastion on August 12th.
Admiral Wallace leaves two cruiser groups behind to screen the invasion of Dregluk Prime. Two missile groups will be assigned to the Maintenance Base in Houston to support the missile groups.
Dregluk Prime, Austin
The Dregluk defenders stubbornly resist the invaders, but their strength seems to have been sapped by the overwhelming radiation caused by the bombardment. The 169th Marine Battalion suffers heavy casualties while pressing an attack without support, but aside from that the human forces suffer only light damage in exchange for completely destroying two Dregluk battalions and causing light to moderate damage to eleven others. The fighting continues.
August 4, 2145, Minneapolis System
The survey scout attached to the 4th Survey Group (Gravitic) jumps out of the Minneapolis system (adjacent to the Austin System), and into a new system. The system has an F0-V central star with a scattering of asteroids orbiting it. Perhaps most interesting is the fact that the system is buried deep within a dense nebula. In fact, the nebula is so dense that that unarmored survey scout’s speed is reduced to a mere 147 km/s. In addition, there is no Dregluk jump gate on the jump point back to Minneapolis, indicating that the Dregluk never bothered to exploit this system or explore beyond it. In light of that, and the fact that there appears to be little of interest in the system, the scout retreats to the Minneapolis system and sets out for the next unexplored jump point. This system will be designated as the Norfolk system.
August 8, 2145, Eden
The Ecological Corps terraformers arrive over Eden and go to work reducing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. It should take the terraformers approximately 1.25 years to reduce the atmosphere’s oxygen content to the point that it would be breathable by humans.
August 9, 2145, Dregluk Prime
Dregluk defensive forces, weakened by radiation and the bombardment of the planet, are falling apart. Republican forces are advancing at all points of contact and for the second week in a row have suffered only minor setbacks.
August 16, 2145, Minneapolis system
The 4th Survey Group (Gravitic)’s jump scout leaves the Minneapolis system through the second newly discovered jump point and finds itself in a single-star system that will be designated as the Orlando system. The central star is a G8-V type star orbited by several terrestrial type planets and a couple of gas giants, as well as a fairly large asteroid belt. The jump scout returns to Minneapolis to rejoin its group.
August 24, 2145, Austin system
The defenses on Dregluk Prime collapse on this date, and the Dregluk Home World surrenders to the Republic. Well, kind of. The few remaining defensive units, battered by the omnipresent radiation and aggressive human forces, disband and fade into the general population. As with every other captured Dregluk population or military unit, almost every leader disappears and is later found dead of self-inflicted wounds. There were also several large underground explosions detected shortly before the collapse of the Dregluk resistance, perhaps an indication of their leadership destroying command bunkers. In essence, the population just stopped fighting, and the Republic’s forces take control.
Over the next several weeks the Republican forces will take control of the planet, during which they will seize technical information that will advance the Republic’s technology in particle beams, fuel storage, gauss cannons, jump engines, missile warheads, microwave weaponry, beam fire control systems, active sensors, and several construction and economic technologies. The Admiralty Design Bureau was very excited over the new fuel storage tech, as it offered a 50% improvement in fuel storage efficiency. Minor redesigns were rushed out, replacing old fuel tanks with the new compressed storage technology along with various other minor improvements, and the Martian Orbital Yards began retooling almost immediately. While few refits were planned, all new ships would have this new tech incorporated in their design.
In addition, a group of freighters and colony ships hiding in the outer system surrendered and made their way back to Dregluk Prime to be interned. During their search of the Dregluk capital Republican forces discovered extensive astrographic records of Dregluk explorations, revealing much of the territory around the Austin system, as well as several other locations throughout Republican controlled space. Over the next several weeks several exploration ships and jump gate construction ships would make their way back to Dregluk Prime to be interned.
On top of all of that, the Republican forces took control of the industrial might of Dregluk Prime. That included the following installations:
DSTS: 22
Shipyards: 12/74
Maintenance factories: 246
Construction factories: 3990
Ordnance factories: 1653
Fighter Factories: 492
Fuel Refineries: 1249
Mines: 7786
Automated Mines: 468
Research Labs: 126
GF Training Facilities: 13
Fuel: 1,096,610,203 liters
Maintenance Supplies: 100,000
TN resources: 3,151,413
The population of the planet, at the time of the collapse of their civilization, was 4,098,820,000.
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August 24, 2145, Earth
Consul Payne looked out over the assembled Senators, basking in their acclaim. She had just officially notified them, in an address to the Senate and the citizens of the Republic, that the Dregluk Imperium was no more. Unfortunately, that was the easy part.
As the cheering began to die down, she held up her hands to signal that she wanted to continue with her speech. One by one the Senators sat, but the cheering and clapping still went on for some time. Finally, though, it was quiet enough for her to speak. “Fellow citizens, there is more. We have had intelligence teams on the surface of Dregluk Prime since the first soldiers landed. They have gathered immense amounts of information, information that will take years to sift through. They have managed to successfully complete their primary mission, though.” She paused and looked around the chamber. It was so quiet that a mouse sneaking out would have been clearly audible. “Those teams have managed to confirm information we already have, but couldn’t believe.” She paused again, and looked around, meeting several key Senator’s eyes. They knew the truth, and had agreed with her plan to reveal it to the public. “The truth is that the Dregluk are just as much victims as we are.” There was a stir in the Senate as many of those present looked at each other, unaware of what was going on. “The intelligence teams managed to confirm a story that goes back thousands of years…”
The Senate was silent as she related the story of the Founders and their fallen empire, and the devastating effect they had on the races they left behind in the rubble of their empire. She promised to make all the data taken from Dregluk Prime (or from Eden, although that was still a secret) available to the Senators, then left them to debate.
The news spread rapidly throughout the Republic. The people’s reactions were fairly predictable. The Lunarians claimed that this was proof that peace was the best way forward, while on Mars the average person continued thinking that the best Dregluk was a dead Dregluk.
While the Senate debated and the people pondered the news, Consul Payne began taking actions to mitigate the harsh effects of the previous government’s decisions on the treatment of the Dregluk.
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August 24, 2145, Austin
While the Senate furiously debates the meaning of the information released by the Consul’s office concerning the nature of the Dregluk, Republican officials in the Dregluk Home System take action. Governor Kai Hawkins, the civilian administrator appointed to oversee the Dregluk home system, and Captain Shah, commanding officer of the force left behind by Admiral Wallace to secure the Austin and Houston systems, are both protégés, at least indirectly, of Joe Foster and they agree to work together to rescue as many Dregluk as possible. They come up with something they call Operation Noah. In secret, the two put the former Dregluk Imperium colony fleet to work transporting the surviving Dregluk population of Dregluk Prime, which is irradiated and no longer habitable, to Dregluk Secondus. They both disagreed with the Republic’s decision to eliminate the entire Dregluk race, and they decline to wait while the Senate debates. Secondus is a safe place to move the Dregluk as it has no deposits of TN resources, meaning that they will not be able to rebuild their empire.
August 26, 2145, Bastion, Washington system
The bulk of the 1st and Home Fleets are gathered over Bastion. This assemblage of naval might represents most of the Republic’s fleet elements. Two cruiser groups from the 1st Fleet have been detached to watch over the Houston and Austin systems, and a small group of newly constructed ships is training in the home system, but aside from that everything the Republic has is here. Admiral Wallace, CO of the 1st Fleet, wants to take the combined fleets into the Detroit system now, but the Admiralty has decided to wait to face the aliens there until the fleet’s beam units can be refitted to include the latest ECM and ECCM equipment. This will almost certainly delay any attack until next year, but so far, the aliens appear to have retreated to the St. Louis system and have not returned.
August 27, 2145, Austin system
Along with everything else seized in the conquest of Dregluk Prime, the occupation force was able to determine the locations of all surviving Dregluk mining outposts. The 1st Fleet already knew about two outposts in the Austin system, but the records discovered in the capital indicated that there was a third in the asteroid belt. In addition, there was one more large mining outpost in a system two jumps away from Dregluk Prime, on a moon extremely rich in TN resources.
Four transports were ordered to begin loading ground forces immediately, and once they were loaded, they were sent to subdue and garrison these outposts. Once complete, the last vestiges of the Dregluk Imperium would be gone.
September 10, 2145
The first Dregluk outpost to be invested is a former mining outpost on a moon of the fifth planet, a large gas giant. Currently, the moon is devoid of TN resources, except a small stockpile of approximately 5,000 units of duranium.
September 15, 2145, Austin
The last two Dregluk outposts in the Austin system are secured. One is composed of thirty-seven civilian mines and a stockpile of almost 28,000 units of TN resources, while the other is a stockpile of eleven thousand TN resource units.
October 8, 2145, Orlando system
The last known Dregluk outpost falls to Republican ground troops on this date. Given the extensive records recovered in the aftermath of the fall of Dregluk Prime, it appears that at this point there are no independent settlements or outposts left.
October 11, 2145, Detroit
The Home Fleet scout assigned to watch the Detroit system detected an Invader ship at 0417 hours. The Invader ship was 294.6 mkm’s away and closing at 9332 km/s. This ship was previously seen in the St. Louis system; however, it was estimated to be 3,600 tons and did not participate in the battle. The scout immediately jumps back to Washington to warn the fleet. Captain Louis O’Donnell orders his frigates to jump to Detroit and engage the suspected Invader survey ship.
The group of frigates, twelve strong, jumps out immediately. The Invader ship was slightly out of range, so the frigates set out for the incoming ship to close the range. Three hours later the frigates had closed to 168 mkm’s but still had not managed to pick the Invader ship up on active sensors. Finally, when the Invader reached 42 mkm’s, the frigate’s sensors acquired the survey ship. Seconds later a Lake class frigate launched all twenty-five of its Thunderbolt IV missiles at the small survey ship. Just over eleven minutes later the Invader ship absorbed six of the ASM’s and exploded. The frigate group jumped out, leaving the scout to watch the system.
In response, a newly constructed salvage ship was dispatched from Ganymede to salvage the destroyed Invader ship. The Admiralty was especially keen to get its hands on any new tech that it could get ahold of.
October 28, 2145, Detroit
A salvage ship completes work on the Invader ship destroyed as it approached the jump point to the Washington system. Unfortunately, no new technology or systems were recovered from the hulk.
December 28, 2145, Washington system
The combined fleets had been waiting at the jump point for the Invaders to appear, but had waited in vain. With her ships in increasing need of maintenance, Admiral Wallace ordered half of the combined fleet to return to Bastion for rest and repair, while her fleet remained on station.
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The United Republic of Earth
December 30, 2145
Earth:
Population: 1.064 Billion (-39%)
Industrial Facilities (All): 5,528 (-33%)
R&D Labs: 211 (+1 recovered from Eden ruins)
Environment: Atmospheric dust has declined to negligible levels. Radiation currently causing 14.99% drop in industrial efficiency
Estimated annual population decrease rate is -1.79%.
The Earth’s economy is suffering under a massive shortfall of workers, which this year exceeded 169 million. This is in spite of the continuing transfer of industrial facilities to the colonies, the conversion of mines to automation, and the complete shutdown of the fuel refining industry on Earth. The last orbital shipyard was transferred to Ganymede this year.
TN resource depletion on Earth is a major concern to the Republic’s leaders. Two of the resources, Boronide and Mercassium, have been completely exhausted, and the remainder will be exhausted within the next three to fifteen years at the current rates of use. The resource Gallicite is of particular concern, as it is used in most naval designs in large quantities, and stocks are running low. To alleviate this situation the Consul and the Senate have been focused on converting mines to automation and moving them to untapped sites outside the Solar System, such as those in the San Francisco system.
Luna:
Population: 344 million (marginal decrease)
Mines: 317 (no change)
Automated Mines: 155 (no change)
Financial Centers: 310 (no change)
Construction Factories: 172 (marginal increase)
Terraforming center: 1
The Moon’s first terraforming installation came online this year and immediately began pumping safe greenhouse gasses out to begin creating an atmosphere.
Mars:
Population: 1896.96 million (+38%)
Shipyards/Slipways: 17/64 (+2 yards/+4 slipways)
Maintenance Facilities: 208 (+68)
Construction Factories: 2594 (+703%)
Ordnance Factories: 2594 (+24% change this year)
Financial Centers: 260 (+162% change)
GFTF: 2
Mars is increasingly seen as the center of the Republic in military and industrial terms, while Earth continues to be the cultural center.
Ganymede:
Population: 148.13 million (+212%)
Construction Factories: 233 (+48%)
Mines: 108 (no change)
Automated Mines: 168 (no change)
Ordnance Factories: 54 (no change)
Shipyards/Slipways: 6/24 (+3 yards/+9 slipways)
Ganymede is now the commercial/civilian shipbuilding center of the Republic.
Solar Outposts and Mining Facilities:
Venus:
Automated Mines: 789 (+6%)
Whipple (Comet):
Automated Mines: 50 (no change)
Swift-Tuttle (Comet):
Automated Mines: 25 (no change)
Puck (Moon of Uranus):
This outpost is intended solely as a fuel dump for the refineries working in Uranus orbit. Fuel reserves located on Puck are currently 0 liters, due to ongoing 1st Fleet fuel demands. Fortunately, over 83 million liters of fuel are currently stored in the refinery fleet’s tanks.
Bastion (Washington System):
Population: 35.87 million (+24%)
Construction Factories: 88 (2 transferred this year)
Maintenance Facilities: 138 (no change)
Maintenance facilities are being constructed on Mars to enlarge the maintenance base here to support the navy’s new Siege Breaker class BB’s that came into service last year.
Houston System (Forward Operating Area, 1st Fleet)
Maintenance Base (5th moon of the 5th planet)
Population: 15.61 million (+15.5%)
Maintenance Facilities: 140
Deep Space Tracking Station: 20
The Maintenance Base has become the primary Republic base in the Houston system, and nearly all functions have been shifted from the Forward Operating Base to the Maintenance Base this year. This is due to the Fleet’s desire to consolidate all operations into one easily defendable location, and of the two, the Maintenance Base is the only possible choice due to its civilian population (something that the Forward Operating Base cannot support).
Assembly of prefabbed PDC’s is underway at this location, and will continue throughout 2145.
Dregluk Alpha (3rd Planet)
Population: 27.83 million (net decrease of 36%)
The Fleet has taken a largely hands-off approach to the Dregluk population on this planet. They have no industry, and there are no deposits of TN resources located here, so there is very little to interest the Republic. Over the last several months the 1st Fleet has been moving troops off of the planet in preparation for the planned invasion of Dregluk Prime, and the current garrison has been reduced to four garrison battalions.
Dregluk Bravo (4th Planet)
Population: 0
Civilian Mines: 34
This planet appears to have been a mining outpost for the Dregluk Imperium. A small stockpile of TN resources was seized when the planet fell to the 1st Fleet’s Marines, and the mining complexes have since been put to work producing resources that will be transferred to the Maintenance Base to help support the fleet.
Philadelphia System
Eden (Innermost planet of the system)
Population: 6.65 million (+1090%)
The Republic has been very secretive about this planet and the new colony, and very little information beyond its mere existence has been released. It is known that a number of construction brigades have been transferred to the new colony, presumably to build defenses, however, no prefab PDC’s have yet been constructed so their current duties are a mystery.
There is no publicly available information about the ruins found on the planet, or the outcome of the research effort into those ruins, and the Consul’s office refuses all questions about the subject. The colonists for the Eden colony are selected from a very select group, mostly from Mars, and communications and news from the new colony is very limited. All of this has resulted in a lively rumor mill focused on the colony, but very little actual information is available. The recent announcement that the terraforming fleet will be transferred to Eden has caused the rumors to fly, especially given the spirited lobbying from the Lunar Colony and the Fleet for their pet projects.
Austin System
Dregluk Prime
Population: 3.758 Billion
Industrial Facilities (All): 15,897
R&D Labs: 126 (nonfunctional)
Environment: Atmospheric dust is reducing the temp by 1.77 degrees. Radiation currently causing a 113.99% drop in industrial efficiency
Estimated annual population decrease rate is 27.05%.
Dregluk Secundus:
Population: 281.72 million (+347%)
Dregluk Outpost #2
(6th moon of an outer gas giant)
Civ Mines: 37
El Paso System
Dregluk #2 (2nd moon of the fourth planet)
Automated Mines: 133
Mass Driver: 1
Deep Space Tracking Station: 1
Dregluk #1
(El Paso II – dwarf planet)
Automated Mines: 219
Mass Driver: 1
DSTS: 1
Orlando System
Orlando A-I
DSTS: 2
Mass Driver: 1
Orlando-A III Moon 4
Auto Mines: 257
DSTS: 1
Mass Driver: 1
San Francisco System
San Francisco-B II
Auto Mines: 433
Mass Driver: 7
San Francisco-B I
Auto Mines: 130
Mass Driver: 1
DSTS: 20
System Defense Command
The System Defense Command is based on Earth and has as its primary mission the defense of Earth. Its secondary mission is the defense of the Solar System, and then thirdly it is concerned with supporting the Fleet’s mission against the Dregluk by maintaining fortifications on Bastion in the Washington system.
System Defense Command Emplacements
Earth:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 10
Anti-missile bases (meson): 20
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 4
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 15
Luna:
Anti-missile bases (meson): 5
Mars:
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 5
Anti-missile bases (meson): 11
Anti-ship Bases (Sword): 3
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 5
Ganymede:
Sensor Bases: 3
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 3
Anti-ship bases (Final Line): 4
Anti-Missile Bases (Meson): 7
Bastion (Washington System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Bases (Aegis): 4
Anti-Ship Bases (Final Line): 9
Anti-missile bases (Meson): 29
Maintenance Base (Houston System):
Sensor Bases: 2
Anti-Missile Base (Shield): 2
In addition to the fixed defenses, the SDC is also responsible for the Listening Posts that now guard all of the approaches to the Solar System. Currently, there are listening posts in the Boston System, the Chicago System, the New York System, the San Francisco system, the Honolulu system, the Denver system, the Miami system, and the Washington System. These listening posts are all composed of twenty DSTS’s, with the exception of the Washington listening post, which is composed of twenty-five, and the Honolulu system, which is composed of seven. These listening posts watch for alien incursions, and if any alien ships are detected the incursions will be reported to a Fleet picket ship standing by at the jump point to the Solar System.
To date, the only system adjacent to the solar System without listening posts is the Los Angeles system. The Los Angeles system is problematic as it contains no planetary bodies to support a listening post, which means that picketing that system will be a Fleet responsibility. Currently the Fleet has assigned a picket ship and a Fleet Scout to the system as an early warning tripwire.
The Republican Fleet
Republic Home Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Isobel Gilbert
Home Port: Mars
2xSiege Breaker class BB
3xStar class BB
4xPlanet class BC
2xEssex Class Assault Ships
1xEnterprise class Hunter-Killer
1xNimitz class DD(ASM)
3xAgamemnon class DE(G)
3xDefender class DE(AMM)
3xAgamemnon class DE(ASUM)
5xFar Seer class Fleet Scout
8xBrooklyn class Fast AMM Frigates
4xBrooklyn class AMM Frigates
9xLake class ASM Frigates
9xAttacker(L) class Frigate
Home Fleet Refit Group
6xEnterprise class Hunter-Killer
Home Fleet Pod Group
9xAnti-Small Unit Pod
58xMissile Pod
25xAMM Pod
7xSensor Pod
1st Fleet, CO Rear Admiral Freya Wallace
Home Port: Bastion, Washington System
3xStar class BB
2xPlanet class BC
2xPlanet class BCC
4xEssex class Assault Ship
2xFarseer class Fleet Scout
1xNimitz class ASM DD
2xDefender class DDE
7xBrooklyn class AMM Frigate
3xBrooklyn class Fast AMM Frigate
4xLake class ASM Frigate
1st Fleet, Pod Group
21xASM Pod
12xAMM Pod
5xASU Pod
4xSensor Pod
Fleet Support Group
6xHero class Fleet Dock
7xFleet Support class Munitions Ships
3xUNREP class Fuel Ship
Missile Groups
Missile Group 01(Washington): 9xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 02(Austin): 9xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 03(Houston): 9xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 04(Washington): 10xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 05(Sol): 10xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 06(Washington): 9xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 07(Washington): 10xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 08(Washington): 10xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 09(Washington): 9xMissile Boat r4, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4
Missile Group 10(Washington): 5xMissile Boat r4, 4xMissile Boat r4.1, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4.1
Missile Group 11(Washington): 10xMissile Boat r4.1, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4.1
Missile Group 12(Sol): 3xMissile Boat r3, 7xMissile Boat r4.1, 1xMissile Boat(S) r4.1 – ships refitting
Missile Group 13(Sol): 10xMissile Boat r3, 1xMissile Boat(S) r3 – ships refitting
Survey Command (Administratively under Home Fleet)
Home Port: Mars
1st Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGeo Survey Ship
2nd Survey Group
3xGeo Survey Ship
3rd Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGravitic Survey Ships
4th Survey Group
1xJump Scout
3xGravitic Survey Ships
System Defense Force
The System Defense Force is nominally under the Navy in terms of organization, but much like the Fleet Marines, it is a separate organization within the larger organization. The System Defense Force’s mission is to defend the Solar System from all threats. The SDF underwent a large reorganization this year, due to the apparent neutralization of the threat from the Dregluk. Until this last year the bulk of the monitor force was stationed at the jump points of the Solar System or the Washington system to guard against Dregluk incursions. With the 1st Fleet guarding the skies of Dregluk Prime, and the Dregluk economy in shambles, the Admiralty no longer sees the need to keep monitors on-station at all of the jump points in the two systems. Therefore, the monitors have been pulled back, and will be used to guard critical points within the Republic. The sole exception will be the jump point to the San Francisco system, which will continue to be guarded by two monitors at all times against possible incursion by the Symsonian Commonwealth.
Monitor Force 1 (Mars)
4xSaratoga class Monitor
Monitor Force 1.1 (Eden)
2xSaratoga class Monitor
Monitor Force 1.2 (Sol, JP to SF)
2xSaratoga class Monitor
Monitor Force 2 (Bastion)
1xSaratoga class Monitor
Monitor Force 2.1 (Washington JP to Detroit)
2xSaratoga class Monitor
System Defense Force (Mars):
Interceptor Group #1: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #2: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #3: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Interceptor Group #4: 10xFalcon r4 Interceptor, 1xFalcon r4Sc
Ships currently under construction (Mars):
4xSeige Breaker class BB
7xAgamemnon class DDE(G)
9xAttack Craft class FAC
14xNautilus class FF(G)
5xEnterprise class Hunter-Killer
4xFalcon class Interceptors
3xGravitic Survey Ships