4th April 2030
A second Troop Transport, the Hipparchus, is launched by the Kawasaki Shipyard
26th April 2030
Golden Gate, the first jump gate construction ship to be built by the Colonial Alliance, is launched from the Swan Hunter shipyard. Her first mission will be to construct jump gates at the Alpha Centauri - Barnard's Star jump point.
Golden Gate class Construction Ship 61200 tons 733 Crew 1517.4 BP TCS 1224 TH 1200 EM 0
980 km/s Armour 1-138 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maint Capacity 15 MSP Max Repair 38 MSP
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days
Commercial Ion Engine (8) Power 150 Fuel Use 7% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 21.0 billion km (248 days at full power)27th April 2030
The People's Republic of China establishes a mining colony on Saturn's moon, Rhea. A Colonial civilian mining operation is present on the same moon.
Rhea Survey Report
Duranium 763,924 Acc: 0.9
Corbomite 44,204 Acc: 0.7
Tritanium 70,168 Acc: 0.6
Mercassium 244,386 Acc: 1
Sorium 40,994 Acc: 0.7
Uridium 236,857 Acc: 1
30th April 2030
The geological survey ship Louis Pasteur is engaged in a survey of the Lacaille 9352 system, three jumps from Alpha Centauri via Barnard's Star and Epsilon Indi. After surveying the inner planets without incident, she is en route to the outermost planet, a gas giant with thirty-three moons, when she detects active sensor emissions just two point three million kilometers ahead of her. They do not match the emission of any human ship. Unfortunately the Colonial Alliance does not have any sensor data on the aliens in either Procyon or Epsilon Indi so there is no way to know if this sensor data corresponds to either of those races. The gravitational survey ship Tycho Brahe is in the same system, holding position at the Epsilon Indi jump point. Since the moratorium on exploration of new systems, several of the Newton class gravitational survey ships are being used as escorts for the non-jump-capable Darwin class geological survey ships.
Louis Pasteur immediately reverses course and runs from the alien, while sending greetings in all the languages in her database. There is no reply and the alien continues to close. Her top speed is 2666 km/s and the alien has a speed of 6197 km/s so there is no chance of escape. Seventy-five seconds after detecting the alien sensor emissions, Pasteur is struck by three anti-ship missiles with strength-9 warheads and blown to pieces. Thirty-three survivors make it to the life pods but Tycho is almost two billion kilometers away and cannot approach without risking the same fate. Instead, her captain, Commander Tiffani Leon, takes her ship into Epsilon Indi and heads for the Barnard's Star jump point. Reporting the incident is now her highest priority.
27th May 2030
Tycho Brahe arrives in Alpha Centauri, brining the new of Pasteur's destruction. A third alien threat now looms over the Colonial Alliance, or possibly one of the existing alien threats has appeared from a new direction. The transformation of the Alliance from a primarily peaceful organization dedicated to evacuating as many people from Earth as possible, to a military organization dedicated to protecting humanity from the danger of alien attack, continues apace. Although the first Colonial warship is still five months away, military considerations dominate all aspects of Alliance planning, particularly in the fields of economics and research. In response to this particular threat the Alliance can do little but monitor the situation. Despite the fact she is completely unsuitable for the task, Tycho is ordered to return to Epsilon Indi and picket the Lacaille 9352 jump point. She has no active sensors and minimal passive sensors, which means she will have to sit virtually on top of the jump point. Rear Admiral Williams proposes a scout class, designed to picket jump points and investigate new systems.
27th June 2030
India launches a 35,150 ton vessel, which is assumed to be either a freighter or colony ship. Until now, India has only built small survey ships. A few days after launch, the new ship starts making trips to an asteroid in the Mars - Jupiter belt, presumably setting up an Indian mining colony.
23rd August 2030
Three Colonial planetary defence centres are constructed on Earth. Similar in capability to the Pegasus class destroyer but with faster firing launchers and much stronger armour, they form a last line of defence should Earth come under attack. Although their magazine capacity is limited, they will be able to quickly resupply from planetary stockpiles.
McKinley class Planetary Defence Centre 4150 tons 485 Crew 642.48 BP TCS 83 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 10-23 Sensors 1/96 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 40
Magazine 220
Mk 2 PDC Guided Missile Launching System (10) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20
CF/SPG-3 Missile Fire Control (2) Range 72.0m km Resolution 75
RGM-5A Javelin Anti-ship Missile (55) Speed: 22,500 km/s End: 47.6m Range: 64.3m km WH6 Size: 4 TH: 75 / 45 / 22
CF/SPS-4 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 7200 Range 72.0m km Resolution 757th September 2030
The Chinese launch a second 42,850 ton freighter, which joins the first in transporting automated mines to Rhea.
12th October 2030
Pegasus and Minotaur, the first warships of the Colonial Alliance, are launched from the Blohm + Voss Shipyard. After taking on their Javelin anti-ship missiles, they begin a series of maneuvers in near-Earth space to improve their ability operate as a fleet. The next two Pegasus class ships will be completed more quickly as several important components have already been built by construction factories. They will also be a slightly different design, known as the Flight II model, due to a new type of magazine that increases the destroyer's ordnance capacity by seven percent and decreases the chance of a catastrophic magazine explosion in the event of damage.
8th December 2030
The People's Republic of China launches a new class of spacecraft, designated as the Laertes class. At 2500 tons it is the same size as the Jianghu and Polonius class survey ships but with a much higher top speed of 2400 km/s. The two Laertes begin a series of formation maneuvers, which suggests they are warships practicing in much the same way as the Colonial Pegasus class.
10th December 2030
A Chinese geological survey ship has entered Alpha Centauri and is carrying out a survey. No Chinese ships have entered Alpha Centauri in several years, breaking an unspoken agreement that the Chinese would leave Alpha Centauri alone and the Alliance would ignore the other jump points from Sol. For the moment, the survey is allowed to continue without hindrance as the system has virtually no mineral deposits and allowing the Chinese to see that might reduce any interest they have in the system. The entry of Chinese ship into Alpha Centauri so soon after the launch of suspected Chinese warships seems an unlikely coincidence.
23rd December 2030
The Non-Aligned States launch four 1000 ton spacecraft. Until this point, their only vessels have been two 800 ton geological survey ships. At first, the best estimate of Colonial Intelligence is that these are likely to be gravitational survey ships. That view changes when the ships begin fleet maneuvers at 1250 km/s. It would appear that despite their relatively primitive technology, the Non-Aligned States have managed to design and build their own warship class, albeit on a small hull.
13th January 2031
The Chinese Ambassador to the Colonial Alliance reports that a Chinese geo survey ship has been destroyed in the Luyten 726-8 system, which lies between Sol and Epsilon Eridani. Just before its destruction the survey ship reported one hundred and fifty separate thermal contacts to a gravitational survey ship stationed at the Luyten 726-8 - Sol jump point. It is unknown if this is the same alien race that destroyed a Chinese ship in Epsilon Eridani but that seems very likely. Hostile alien ships have now been reported in two systems adjacent to Sol, Luyten 726-8 and Procyon, as well as in Epsilon Eridani and Lacaille 9352, at the end of the Alpha Centauri chain. It can only be a matter of time before Sol is attacked. Given the huge number of alien ships reported in Luyten 726-8, mankind may soon face its darkest hour. Rear Admiral Williams proposes that every effort should be made to design and build some type of captor mine so that the Alpha Centauri - Sol jump point can be fortified against a massed alien attack and Colonial forces can withdraw behind those fortifications. Colonial R&D teams begin work immediately.
5th February 2031
The construction ship Golden Gate completes the construction of jump gates either side of the Alpha Centauri - Barnard's Star jump point. She moves on to the Barnard's Star - Epsilon Indi jump point.
13th March 2031
The Republic of India launches a second freighter and the Union of South American Nations launches a colony ship. The USAN uses its new ship to establish a settlement on Mars, which is the first populated colony created by any Earth power except the Colonial Alliance.
20th March 2031
Sydney Harbour, the second Golden Gate class construction ship, is launched by the Swan Hunter shipyard. She heads for Barnard's Star so she can transit into Epsilon Indi when Golden Gate completes the jump gate to that system.
23rd March 2031
Earth's deposits of Neutronium are exhausted. The mineral situation on Earth is becoming serious, with three minerals exhausted and several other close to running out, including Duranium.
Earth Survey Report
Duranium 17,112 Acc: 0.31
Tritanium 25,705 Acc: 0.32
Boronide 11,390 Acc: 0.25
Vendarite 11,922 Acc: 0.1
Sorium 714 Acc: 0.11
Uridium 113,884 Acc: 0.2
Corundium 23,126 Acc: 0.27
Gallicite 119,284 Acc: 0.2
28th March 2031
The Non-Aligned States launch another four of their small, 1000 ton warships, giving them eight in that class. Despite their limited industry and technology, the Non-Aligned States now have more armed vessels than all the others powers combined although in terms of mass, each of the two Pegasus class destroyers is equal to all eight NAS ships.
3rd April 2031
The Pegasus - Flight II class warships Medusa and Phoenix are launched by the Blohm + Voss shipyards. China launches the first in a new 5000 ton class, designated the Bernado, which joins the two Laertes class on maneuvers. Earth's powers are beginning to increase the number of warships in service, although the USAN and India do not appear to have commissioned any so far.
25th April 2031
China launches a second Bernado class warship.
27th April 2031
China establishes a small colony on Mars
10th June 2031
China launches three more member of its 2500 ton Laertes warship class, taking its total number of warships to seven.
12th June 2031
Earth's supply of Sorium is exhausted.
25th June 2031
A new jump-capable freighter us launched from the Bath Iron Works shipyard. The Atlas-J will be able to escort freighters, colony ships and terraformers into systems outside the jump gate network, which at the moment only includes Sol, Alpha Centauri and Barnard's Star. This will be the only ship of its type for some time as shortages of minerals have curtailed all but essential industrial activity. Essential in this case meaning military-related.
Atlas-J class Jump Freighter 41000 tons 585 Crew 1104.2 BP TCS 820 TH 2100 EM 0
2560 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 1-105 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maint Capacity 17 MSP Max Repair 121 MSP
Cargo 10000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5
JC41K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 41000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Commercial Ion Engine (14) Power 150 Fuel Use 7% Signature 150 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,250,000 Litres Range 783.7 billion km (3543 days at full power)5th July 2031
Sphinx, the fifth Pegasus class destroyer, joins the Fleet.
16th July 2031
Two Aeolus class Minelayers are laid down in the Atlantis Shipyard. The Aeolus is a new design, created to meet to the need of the Colonial Fleet to fortify jump points. It carries twenty-five RGC-7A Spiculum Captor Mines, each of which can fire a spread of six CGM-6A Gladius Anti-ship Missiles at targets up to one point five million kilometers away. The Spiculum has an active sensor capable of detecting targets of 2500 tons or greater at a range of two million kilometers. This also happens to be the same size as the smallest Chinese warship class, Each Gladius can detect similar size targets at 200,000 km. When the Aeolus detects an eligible target, it will launch all six Gladius ASM at the target location. As they approach the designated location, the missiles will attempt to detect the target on their own sensors, at which point they will home in and attack.
Aeolus class Minelayer 6000 tons 594 Crew 755.2 BP TCS 120 TH 360 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 1-29 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 30
Annual Failure Rate: 72% IFR: 1% Maint Capacity 315 MSP Max Repair 180 MSP Est Time: 1.72 Years
Magazine 750
NPO Energomash Ion Drive (6) Power 60 Fuel Use 70% Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 64.3 billion km (248 days at full power)
Mk3 Minelaying System (1) Missile Size 30 Rate of Fire 300
RGC-7A Spiculum Captor Mine (25) Speed: 0 km/s End: 1350d Range: 1.5m km WH: 0 Size: 30 TH: 0 / 0 / 0RGC-7A Spiculum Captor Mine
Buoy Size: 30 MSP (1.5 HS) Armour: 0
Reactor Endurance: 45 months
Active Sensor Strength: 4 Resolution: 50 Maximum Range: 2,000,000 km
Cost Per Buoy: 27.28
Second Stage: CGM-6A Gladius Anti-ship Missile x6
Second Stage Separation Range: 1,500,000 km
Materials Required: 6x Tritanium 9x Boronide 6.4x Uridium 4.13x Gallicite
Development Cost for Project: 2728RPCGM-6A Gladius Anti-ship Missile
Missile Size: 2.5 MSP (0.125 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 23500 km/s Endurance: 1 minutes Range: 2.0m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.4 Resolution: 50 Maximum Range: 200,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 2.38
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 235% 3k km/s 70% 5k km/s 47% 10k km/s 23.5%
Materials Required: 1x Tritanium 0.4x Uridium 0.73x Gallicite Fuel x5021st July 2031
Another new class, the Hyperion Fast Attack Craft, is ready for production. The Hyperion is designed to approach its target at high speed and launch sixteen Javelin Anti-ship Missiles from box launchers. The box launchers enable a considerable weight of fire from such a small hull but can only be reloaded at a population with maintenance facilities, or potentially in the future within hangar bays that are currently being discussed for research and development. Four Hyperions are laid down in the Rotterdamsche Shipyard
Hyperion class Fast Attack Craft 1000 tons 44 Crew 124.2 BP TCS 20 TH 120 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 9.6
Annual Failure Rate: 8% IFR: 0.1% Maint Capacity 84 MSP Max Repair 32 MSP Est Time: 7.6 Years
Magazine 64
Rocketdyne Boosted Ion Engine (1) Power 120 Fuel Use 700% Signature 120 Armour 0 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 12.9 billion km (24 days at full power)
Mk4 Box Launcher (16) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
CF/SPG-3 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 72.0m km Resolution 75
RGM-5A Javelin Anti-ship Missile (16) Speed: 22,500 km/s End: 47.6m Range: 64.3m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 75 / 45 / 2222nd July 2031
A small Alliance colony is established on Epsilon Indi I, which eventually will act as a small forward base for surveying further down the Alpha Centauri chain. The colony on Alpha Centauri II has reached a population of forty-three million and is home to forty construction factories and ninety fuel refineries. A small number of terraforming installations are in operation on Alpha Centauri II and have gradually lowered the temperature from 70.5C to 67.2C. The seven Genesis class Terraformers in service with the Colonial Fleet are en route to Ross 154 II where they will begin raising the temperature from -75C. This planet has large quantities of all eleven minerals, albeit at accessibility 0.1 except for Duranium and Corbomite, and is likely to be the future home of many of the Alliance's manned mining complexes. However, the colony cost of 3.41 will have to be lowered to make this a viable option.
7th August 2031
The Pegasus - Flight II class destroyers Centaur and Gryphon join the Colonial Fleet, taking the total number of Pegasus class ships to seven.
12th August 2031
According to Press reports, a South American geology team operating on Mars has found almost one hundred and fifty thousand tons of accessibility 0.8 Duranium. Until this point, Mars was thought to be completely devoid of Trans-Newtonian minerals. Given the increasingly desperate mineral shortages plaguing all human powers, this is likely to result in all powers attempting to colonize Mars, except possibly the Alliance due to its long-term strategic goal of moving all industry into the Alpha Centauri chain, and exploit the valuable mineral resource.
18th September 2031
India launches two 3000 ton spacecraft of a new class. A few days later, one of them enters the Wolf 359 jump point, confirming that India has joined China and the Colonial Alliance in possessing jump-capable spacecraft.
28th September 2031
A Xenology team operating on Epsilon Indi I has deciphered the language and symbology contained within the ruins on that world. The ancient alien race that built the outpost is identified as the Alarion Republic. Twenty installations have been identified as potentially recoverable so the two Colonial Engineer Brigades will be dispatched to start recovery operations. They are currently stationed on Alpha Centauri II, where a second Xenology team has been attempting to survey the ruins on that world for over five years.
3rd October 2031
The Qin Carrier Alliance, a Chinese civilian shipping line, has launched a colony ship. This is the first non-Alliance civilian ship.
11th October 2031
The 46th Engineer Brigade on Epsilon Indi I recovers four million litres of fuel from the ruined Alarion outpost.
6th November 2031
Jump gates have been built either side of the Barnard's Star - Epsilon Indi jump point, making Epsilon Indi the fourth system in the jump gate network.
3rd October 2031
The Qin Carrier Alliance launches a freighter. With a civilian colony ship and a civilian freighter in operation, the small Chinese colony on Mars will begin to grow.
14th December 2031
The People's Republic builds a jump gate at the Sol - Wolf 359 jump point. This is presumably part of a long term plan to access the extensive mineral resources in that system.
1st January 2032
The average surface temperature of the Earth has increased by nine degrees in the last twelve years and is now 31C. Once it reaches 44C, Earth's population will need specialized infrastructure or they will start dying in large numbers.
5th January 2032
India and South American civilian shipping lines both launch their first ships. A colony ship for the Indians and a freighter for the USAN. The eighth Pegasus class destroyer, Hydra, is launched by the Colonial Alliance.
9th January 2032
The gravitational survey of the Fomalhaut system is completed. Fomalhaut, adjacent to Epsilon Indi, has a white A3-V primary of 2.5 solar masses. More massive stars tend to have more jump points and require much longer to survey. In this case, Fomalhaut has a total of ten jump points. Due to the moratorium on further exploration, the Colonial Fleet's survey ships have concentrated on surveying all eleven systems of the Alpha Centauri chain without entering any newly discovered jump points. Besides the nine unexplored jump points in Fomalhaut, there are five in FL Virginis, two in Ross 154 and two in Wolf 1061. The only unsurveyed system in the chain is Lacaille 9352, which is out of bounds due to the hostile alien presence. Tycho Brahe still holds position on the Epsilon Indi - Lacaille 9352 jump point, watching for any sign of alien ships emerging from Lacaille 9352.
[attachment=0:3khqlknz]Galaxy3.GIF[/attachment:3khqlknz]
28th April 2032
The ninth and tenth Pegasus class destroyers, Manticore and Unicorn, are launched by the Blohm + Voss Shipyard. No more Pegasus class ships are planned and the shipyard is being retooled to build the Scylla class Command Ship. The Scylla has far more capable sensors than any previous Colonial design plus a flag bridge for a task force commander and his staff.
Scylla class Command Ship 8000 tons 720 Crew 1498.4 BP TCS 160 TH 660 EM 0
4125 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 4-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 30/55/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 85% IFR: 1.2% Maint Capacity 702 MSP Max Repair 320 MSP Est Time: 1.79 Years
Flag Bridge
Rolls-Royce RR800 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 8000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
NPO Energomash Ion Drive (11) Power 60 Fuel Use 70% Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 160.7 billion km (450 days at full power)
CF/SPS-11 Area Search Sensor (1) GPS 24000 Range 264.0m km Resolution 75
CF/SQR-10 Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 30 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30m km
CF/SLR-9 EM Detection Sensor (1) Sensitivity 55 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 55m km7th May 2032
Four Hyperion class Fast Attack Craft are launched from the Rotterdamsche Shipyard, taking the total number of the class to eight. The first four FACs, Aegir, Calypso, Hyperion and Janus are based at Alpha Centauri II. The newly built FACs, Fenrir, Pandora, Phoebe and Prometheus, will be based at Epsilon Indi I, forming the first line of defence against any alien move out of Lacaille 9352. For the moment, all ten Pegasus class destroyers are based on Earth but they will soon be redeployed to Alpha Centauri II, which will become the primary base for the Colonial Fleet.
May 16th 2032
Ross 154 is added to the jump gate network and a small colony is established on the second planet, which, as noted earlier, has large quantities of all eleven mineral, mostly at minimal accessibility.
18th May 2032
The minelayers Aeolus and Averna are built by the Atlantis Shipyard. One hundred RGC-7A Spiculum captor mines have been manufactured by Colonial ordnance factories and the minelayers can carry twenty-five each. Their first task is to transport half the mines to Alpha Centauri II for storage and then return to Earth to collect the rest. For the moment, the mines will not be deployed in case they attack ships from another Earth power entering Alpha Centauri. However, the Colonial leadership is seriously considering declaring the Alpha Centauri chain to be Colonial territory and deploying the mines to enforce that. Their primary concern is that such a move could start a catastrophic war in the Sol system, which could fatally damage any chance for human victory in the increasingly likely event of an alien attack.
20th June 2032
The bulk of the Alliance's maintenance facilities have been redeployed to Alpha Centauri II. The Pegasus class destroyers will now be based in Alpha Centauri and the four Hyperion class FACs previously based at Alpha Centauri II will move to Earth.
12th July 2032
The survey ship Johannes Kepler transits into Proxima Centauri via the Sol jump point to assist Isaac Newton in a gravitational survey. She find no sign of her sister ship, which entered the system several months previously. The obvious conclusion is that another human survey ship has been destroyed by alien activity. The alien ring around Sol continues to tighten with hostile ships either reported or suspected in Procyon, Luyten 726-8 and Proxima, all of which are adjacent to Sol, plus Epsilon Eridani and Lacaille 9352. This latest incident finally convinces the Colonial leadership that drastic action is required and they take the decision to fortify Alpha Centauri and declare it to be Colonial territory. Orders are given to the two minelayers to begin deploying captor mines at the Alpha Centauri - Sol jump point and a standing picket of two Pegasus class destroyers is set up at a distance of five million kilometers.
The Colonial Alliance announces the annexation of Alpha Centauri to the other four human powers and warns of the minefield at the Alpha Centauri - Sol jump point. The other human powers complain, although half-heartedly in most cases. India and the USAN have no military forces so they can nothing about the Colonial declaration, even if they wanted to. The Non-Aligned States do have a force of eight small 1000 ton warships but they are seriously out-gunned by ten 8000 ton destroyers and eight Colonial fast attack craft. As with India and the USAN, their limited resources are fully devoted to building up their small colony on Mars. Only China issues a serious protest and threatens military action to force the jump point if the mines are not removed. The People's Republic has eight known warships, two of which are 5000 tons and the rest 2500 tons. Their armament is unknown.
In the interests of avoiding a inter-human conflict while alien threats lurk all around, negotiations are held with the Chinese government in an effort to find a compromise. After several days of talks, the Chinese agree to recognize Colonial sovereignty over the Alpha Centauri chain in exchange for Colonial military assistance in clearing the Procyon system of any alien presence. The Chinese have already begun work on a jump gate at the Sol - Procyon jump point, which will be ready within four months. They expect to launch two more of their small warships within two weeks and a further two in January 2033 so they suggest late January 2033 as the date for the operation. The Colonial Alliance agrees to commit four Pegasus class destroyers to the Chinese-led fleet. Ideally, a Scylla class command ship would provide support but the first will not be available until December 2033. The Chinese also approach the Non-Aligned States and ask them to commit some or all of their small warships. The NAS is not prepared to make any immediate promises but does state it will reach a decision before the end of the year.
to be continued...
