The Northern Coalition (AAR)

[Mel Vixen]

If you have the required material you could always send some Deep-space-trackingstations out there with the help of your civs. *shrugs* If you have construction battalions you could also install some PDCs as hardpoints into the Asteroid rings.

Didnt you have another sorium source on the outer edge? You could send one of the harvesters out there install a small facility on one of the outer dwarfs/asteroids as refueling station.

Lastly you could always use a Comet as Taxi if one goes into that area.     

[Alfapiomega]

The NCN has "comm/sensor buoys" now so it would be possible to send a ship out to launch one on each of the jump points.  And I must admit the reasons for doing so are becoming harder and harder to ignore.  You will see the buoys in the next update.  I'll add in the debate since it is a logical thing to do...as it was said by Alphapiomega knowing the evil horde is on the way before they reach the orbit of jupiter is probably a good thing.

Fundamentally, thinking on this more I would say that the current time is about the first time when it was at all logistically possible to consider probeing the jump points.

Just for information:

Jump Point   Distance   Bearing
1                     0.5         106 (Laland 85113)
2                     0.8         277 (Wolf 359)
3                     3.1         23 (Alpha Centauri)
4                     3.9         8
5                     4.2         152
6                     5.3         308
7                     5.9         151

distances are in billions of km.

Jump Point 4, 5 are probably now within reasonable range of the NCN ships after they are refit with the latest engines.  The refit Terrier series has a range of 9 billion km.  The George Vacouver Mod1 refit has a range of 44 billion km so the BuSurvey ships are not the issue.   The Wounded Knee series after their refit will have 18 billion km range.  

Arguments against not doing something are starting to fall under the wheels of progress it looks like.

Glad to hear you agree with my logic! In my let's play scouting out the solar system and laying out a net of probes and tracking stations will be number one priority. You might never use those buoys but if you need them, they better be there

EDIT: btw after checking the wiki I would suggest making several listening posts on the outer asteroid ring. As it turns out the listening posts do not need people to take care of them so you could just take one freighter/cargo group and do a couple of round trips with them. Although I have no idea how many you would need for a total coverage. But doing that might be better than the bouys as they will be detected while the posts could remain hidden even after potential enemies come through.

[Paul M (OP)]

Well I have all of 2284 played out and just have to do the write ups...so the debate will come in during the 2nd one for 2284 I think.

The gas gaints all have sorium though only Jupiter and Saturn have high availabilities so theoretically I could establish harvesters out there but I would then need to establish some sort of colony else they would have to return to the inner system periodically.  It is not an optimal solution since the jump points are fixed and the planet moves so there will be times when it is further away from the jump point than is Earth.  When I look at a map of Sol JP3 is just inside the orbit of Uranus.  The furtherst out is outside the orbit of Neptune while the others are between those two planets.   There is really no convient way to get fuel out there except by tanker.  The good news is that a mission to "mine" the outer jump points likely can refuel from civillian harvesters so it is a fuel neutral prospect.

As far as long range sensors go the current plan is complete 10 for Earth (that requires 2 more to be built) then to build a total of 6 each on Mars and Ganymede. 

The NCA does not have construction brigades so listening posts are not really an option at the moment.  I can only hope that sooner rather than later a logistics/ground combat scientist shows up, but if not I will start using my biology specialist for this task and see if he gains any skill.

[Alfapiomega]

Well I have all of 2284 played out and just have to do the write ups...so the debate will come in during the 2nd one for 2284 I think.

The gas gaints all have sorium though only Jupiter and Saturn have high availabilities so theoretically I could establish harvesters out there but I would then need to establish some sort of colony else they would have to return to the inner system periodically.  It is not an optimal solution since the jump points are fixed and the planet moves so there will be times when it is further away from the jump point than is Earth.  When I look at a map of Sol JP3 is just inside the orbit of Uranus.  The furtherst out is outside the orbit of Neptune while the others are between those two planets.   There is really no convient way to get fuel out there except by tanker.  The good news is that a mission to "mine" the outer jump points likely can refuel from civillian harvesters so it is a fuel neutral prospect.

As far as long range sensors go the current plan is complete 10 for Earth (that requires 2 more to be built) then to build a total of 6 each on Mars and Ganymede. 

The NCA does not have construction brigades so listening posts are not really an option at the moment.  I can only hope that sooner rather than later a logistics/ground combat scientist shows up, but if not I will start using my biology specialist for this task and see if he gains any skill.

What about building the tracking stations on Earth and transporting them via freighters?

[Paul M (OP)]

[ooc]The first part of 2284.  Lots of stuff moving but still the most important thing was the development of the new civillian engine.  Ignore the code block thing before this...for some reason that showed up in the preview and so I put in the /code to remove it.  ahhh hah now it is gone![/ooc]

AD 2284 (January 1 to June 30)  All Alone in the Dark

The entire freighter fleet of BIC is out of Sol for the first time in the Bureau's history during this time.  In orbit around Earth the Tribals of 4th Squadron are one by one ending their first maintenance checks, the Algonquin will take the longest of the 4 ships but is again space worthy on the 12th of June.  Three days later the ships are back at the Wolf359-Sol jump point.  However, one difference could be noted as orbiting the jump point now were 4 groups of 5 Mk. 1 mines that had been deployed by the FFH Normandy on the 3rd of May.  The mines were deployed at a range of 50,000 km from the jump points locus and could interidict an inbound Wolver ship showing up at up to 200,000 km from the locus itself.

The 1st Geosurvey team finishes with the asteroid Lamberta on the 12th of June and the Upholder transports them to their next target asteroid, Hilda.  They start their survey of this body on the 13th of June.

On Mars the target value of an oxygen pressure of 0.05 atm is achieved and the terraformers, spread out over the surface of the planet, begin the task of increasing the overall thickness of the atmosphere by adding nitrogen gas.  Their goal is to increase the amount of nitrogen to 0.35 atm so that the amount of oxygen can be increased to a level that could be breathed with only minimal support systems.  The most optimistic estimates are that in less than 20 years Mars's atmosphere will be tolerable to humans.  [ooc]I actually invested a bit of time to add 0.005 atm "safe greenhouse gas" to the mix to reflect the amount of water in the atmosphere before starting on the nitrogen seeding.[/ooc]


Industrial Efforts, Earth, Sol
Primary Industrial Tasks
AD 2284 (January 28) The refit PDC Fort Brandon to the Fort Rostock standard is finished.
AD 2284 (February 3) Construction of additional colonial lifesupport and housing systems for BIC ends.
AD 2284 (May 11) Ten new construction factories are built.  They are intended to not only boost Earths industrial output but also to be moved offplanet.
AD 2284 (June 6) Construction of two Maintenance Facilities is done.  This allows ships up to 9400 tonnes to be maintained.
AD 2284 (June 6) Construction of five new ordnance factories begins.

Secondary Industrial Tasks
AD 2284 (March 5) An older mine is converted to tele-operated for shipment off planet.
AD 2284 (April 20) Further colonial prefabricated sturctures for BIC offworld colonies are completed [ooc]Infrastructurex28[/ooc]
AD 2284 (April 20) Construction of a new Fuel Refinery starts.

Missiles and Fighters
AD 2284 (January 28) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (March 5) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (April 20) Construction of 30 Mk 1 Mine (Batch 1) completed.
AD 2284 (May 6) Construction of 20 Comm/Sensor Buoy (Batch 1) completed.
AD 2284 (May 6) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles begins.
AD 2284 (February 24) The Fairmile B3(EW) 003 is accepted by the NCN.  This is the last pinnance of the B3 flight.
AD 2284 (February 24) The first pinnance of the new Fairmile C1 (EW/SAR) flight starts assembly in England.

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Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) class Pinnace    210 tons     3 Crew     37.5 BP      TCS 4.2  TH 9  EM 0
2857 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 55.84 Years     MSP 56    AFR 0%    IFR 0%    1YR 0    5YR 1    Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.2 months    Spare Berths 82    

Bombadier Backboard NPM1-150 (1)    Power 12    Fuel Use 190.97%    Signature 9    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres    Range 2.2 billion km   (9 days at full power)

Seimens SAMS Vigilant 51-0050 (1)     GPS 10     Range 500k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
After reviewing mission requiredments the NCN approached Fairmile to modify their B-Flight pinnances to allow them to accomadate crew from life pods.  Fairmile was able to do so, with the C-Flight of their standard pinnance which now includes extended life support for up to 82 extra passengers. [ooc]I did not include a bridge which I had been up till this point and used the space for a single full sized crew quarter.[/ooc]

Research Developments
AD 2284 (February 8 ) Dr. Natasha Gray's team sucessfully tests the protype of the Mk 1 Mine and starts development of the Comm/Sensor Buoy. [ooc]The Comm/Sensor buoy was at least originally intended to be essentially something solely for realistic role playing.[/ooc]
AD 2284 (April 5) Dr. Natasha Gray's team turns over the plans for the Comm/Sensor Buoy to the NCN and the research centre is tranfered to Dr. Lauren Wheeler's and her team who begins research into turret design improvements (Turret Tracking Speed (10% Gear) 3000 km/s).
AD 2284 (May 16) Dr. VíkingR Hœkillson's team along with the engineers from MAN reveal the prototype MAN NP CE-200 engine.  The laboratory space is returned to Dr. Stephanie Rees who is developing advanced onmount power storage concepts.

The development of the new MAN engine is praised by BIC as one of the most significant advances in Astronautical Engineering in the last decade.  It delievers on average 10 billion km more range to any ship it is installed on.  Based on this engine performance, once refit, the standard ICG Colussus/Bauxite groups can make nearly 2 Earth-Faewald round trips without refueling.  The range of the heavy transport groups Kingston/Wiskey (EE) classes is equally expanded.  The NCCFB points out that the engine nearly doubles the effective production capacity of harvesters devoted purely to BIC traffic.  

Comm/Sensor Buoy

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Missile Size: 2 MSP  (0.1 HS)     Warhead: 0    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Speed: 0 km/s    Engine Endurance: 0 minutes   Range: 0.0m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.6   Sensitivity Modifier: 50%
Resolution: 180    Maximum Range vs 9000 ton object (or larger): 400,000 km
Cost Per Missile: 0.96
This buoy is equipped with Pentabit storage and onboard system for fast, high bandwidth data transfer.  In addition to the Seimens sensor module are both a high power directional antenna and a short range microwave transmiter.  This allows the buoy to communicate with planetary traffic control to send information on arriving and departing ships in the case of settled systems or for use by passing ships as a "mail drop" for exploration.  Additionally it can store transmissions of ongoing survey progress.  Encryption is used for data security but all NCN ships can strip and read the buoys memory cores.   [ooc]If I had known how easy it was to use mines this system would have been in use earlier, as it is I assumed such a system existed in the story.[/ooc]


Naval Yard: Victorias-Esquimalt Graving Yard, Sol
AD 2284 (January 28) Retooling for Guardian Mod1.3 class is complete.
AD 2284 (March 30) Glasgow (Edinbourgh Mod1 class) exits the slip and joins the queue of Edinbourgh's awaiting full bunkering.
AD 2284 5th April 5) Edmonton and Banff (Edmonton Mod1.3 class) plus Guardian and Sentry (Guardian Mod1.3 class) are refit to the latest standard.

Naval Yard: Deschimag A.G. Weser, Sol
AD 2284 (January 13) Retooling for Enchanter Mod1 class ends.  The Enchanter will be refit to this standard.  Sorcerer, the second ship of this class, is started.  It is intended to start the third of the class when the second is approximately 25% complete.

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Enchanter Mod1 class Jump Ship    9,000 tons     217 Crew     1042.25 BP      TCS 180  TH 300  EM 270
2222 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 2-38     Shields 9-300     Sensors 15/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 7.14
Maint Life 2.77 Years     MSP 362    AFR 129%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 68    5YR 1025    Max Repair 158 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Flight Crew Berths 8    
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons     Magazine 92    

Saab JA3-180     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce NP E-M80Si (5)    Power 80    Fuel Use 63%    Signature 60    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 620,000 Litres    Range 19.7 billion km   (102 days at full power)
GE Barrier A119 (9)   Total Fuel Cost  81 Litres per day

TorAr Goaltender Laser Array (1x1)    Range 30,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-1     RM 1    ROF 15        3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grundig Sureshot Mk1-25/20X  BFC (1)    Max Range: 40,000 km   TS: 2500 km/s     75 50 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CANDU AHW 6MW (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Falcon Counter Missile (42)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 2.8m    Range: 2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 60 / 36 / 18
Arrow Anti-Ship Missile (10)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 16.6m    Range: 12m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 64 / 38 / 19

Seimens SCMS Super Vigilant 53/3-0050 (1)     GPS 33     Range 1.6m km    Resolution 1
Seimens SSS 53-3000 (1)     GPS 1800     Range 11.6m km    Resolution 60
NorTEL IR Array 0-3 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km
Bell Phased Array P3-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km

Strike Group
1x Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) Pinnace   Speed: 2857 km/s    Size: 4.2

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Civillian Yard:  Robert Napier and Son's Ltd., Sol
AD 2284 (February 14) Lough (Loch (EE) class) is complete and is dispatched to Jupiter to begin harvesting as the lead ship of FHG IX arriving on March 4.
AD 2284 (February 19) Firth (Loch (EE) class) is complete and is dispatched to Jupiter to begin harvesting as the lead ship of FHG X arriving on March 9.

Civillian Yard:  Litton-Ingals Shipbuilding Corp., Sol
AD 2284 (April 20) Kingston and Hamilton(Kingston class) are built and the first two Whiskey class ships begin construction.  These two ships will be held in Earth orbit awaiting refit to the EE standard.
AD 2284 (June 2) Retooling for Kingston (EE) class finishes.

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Kingston (EE) class Colonist Transport    42,600 tons     230 Crew     1121.5 BP      TCS 852  TH 400  EM 0
469 km/s    JR 2-25(C)     Armour 1-108     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 0
MSP 99    Max Repair 76 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0    
Cargo 10000    Cryogenic Berths 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 20    

Saab CJA 2-900     Max Ship Size 45000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2
MAN NP CE-200 (2)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 34.1 billion km   (841 days at full power)

Seimens Civ Navi 2M/5000 (1)     GPS 500     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 100
NorTEL Civ IR Telescope (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes


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Whiskey (EE) class Freighter    42,600 tons     120 Crew     497.5 BP      TCS 852  TH 400  EM 0
469 km/s     Armour 1-108     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
MSP 18    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1    
Cargo 35000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 20    

MAN NP CE-200 (2)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 34.1 billion km   (841 days at full power)

Seimens Civ Navi 2M/5000 (1)     GPS 500     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 100
NorTEL Civ IR Telescope (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Civillian Operations in Sol
AD 2284 (June 22) The civilian mining colony on Encke has been expanded to 13 civilian mining complexes


Northern Coalition Army
AD 2284 (January 28) The Rosetta Peacekeeper Detachment graduates from training at Camp Wainwright. Col Mason Dixon is assigned to the newly raised formation.  The Glasgow Highland Infantry Division is disbanded and its troops are used as the cadre to form the Glasgow Highland Bn now armed with TN weapons.  Training will be accelerated due to the troops not being raw recruits.

BIC Operations in Alpha Centauri

Faewald's industrial park is running full out in its attempt to keep up with the colonies expanding population.  Still no matter what is tried the population remains around 100,000 above what the lifesupport can easily support.  For the colonial population of 2.2 million this represents less than a 5% over capacity but it is still troublesome and the Peacekeepers are kept busy maintaining watch on demonstrations and dealing with simple theft of spare parts.  BIC informes the Governeress that they will be shipping more factories and hopefully the colonies production will make up the difference.  ICG I arrives on May 19 and departs on June 12 with all load of TN minerals for Earth.  The harvester group FHG I arrives in Faewald orbit on April 18, completes their shore leave on June 1 and is back at Doineann on June 9.


BIC Operations in AD Leonis

This year sees Forge traffic control majorily busy with all the BIC, BuSurvey and NCN traffic through AD Leonis.  What is clear to the Farm operations staff is that the ships from ICG V and ICG VI are going to cause a fairly major downward dip in the Farm's levels.  Both ICGs will be arriving in Forge orbit with only fumes in their tanks (fuel <5%) so that is between the pair of ICGs nearly 1.5 million litres of fuel they will require.  Still the situation looks to be acceptable and there does not seem to be a need to change the Harvesters established cycle.  On January 3 FHG IV returns to Deeper Sky to resume harvesting fuel.  FHG III spends January 13 to February 24th in Forge orbit enjoying the colonies liberty row.  On May 25 the ships of FHG VII arrive from Earth and their crews are released for R&R until June 1 when the FHG moves to Deeper Sky to harvest the fuel it needs for the next stage of its journey to FL Virginis.  FHG V arrives on June 28 for crew R&R.  About the only fly in the ointment is that none of the ICGs stopped by to let their crews have any shore leave which dissappoints the local industry but BIC claims this is due to rushed nature of this years colonization effort.


Outsystem Survey Efforts and Naval Operations

2nd Squadron arrives in Gliese 505 to relieve 3rd Squadron of escort duties on May 15 (having left Sol on April 9).  After confering for two days 3rd Squadron departs for Sol arriving on June 27.  The ships then enter refit at Victorias Esquimalt.  Interstellar Survey II finishes survey operations in Gliese 505 on June 22 and on the way home does a geological survey of comet #17 in LHS 292.

FL Virginis

ICG VII arrives at Biforst on April 25.  Pre-fabricated colonial shelters, life support gear, equipment for a mine, 20,000 colonists and the colonial govenor Mr. Chang Cayouette are offloaded at the new colony site "Thorsheim" on Biforst.  Bifrost is as air-less and water-less as Mercury in Sol but even though it orbits a mere 25% of the distance from its primary as Mercury does the world is cold.  Tidely locked to the dim red star it is a world of sharp shadows.  The colony site is located near the highest concentration of duranium to be found.  As Bifrost is rich in TN minerals and the gravity is a third Earth normal so it like Faewald in that it is a good place to establish a local mining and manufacturing centre before attempting to Terraform Asgard.  It will also provide an idea fuel farm location to support freighters bringing colonists and material from Earth but also those on the way to Rosetta.

Gliese 505

Interstellar Survey II finishes geological surveys of all system bodies.  The gravitational survey excludes the location of further jump points in the inner system or near the entrance jump point but the bulk of the outer system is un surveyed when IS II departs the system for Sol.

AD 2284 (January 21) Minerals Discovered on Gliese 505-A Asteroid #131: Mercassium 876 (1)  
AD 2284 (January 24) Minerals Discovered on Gliese 505-A Asteroid #203: Duranium 35 (1)  Tritanium 23 (1)  
AD 2284 (January 24) Minerals Discovered on Gliese 505-A Asteroid #200: Duranium 35 (1)  Tritanium 23 (1)  
AD 2284 (March 17) Minerals Discovered on Gliese 505-A Asteroid #1: Duranium 4,940 (1)  Corbomite 125 (1)  Vendarite 2,611 (1)  Uridium 1,537 (1)  
AD 2284 (March 18) Minerals Discovered on Gliese 505-A Asteroid #4: Duranium 1,331 (1)  Neutronium 2,190 (1)  Mercassium 1,866 (1)  Vendarite 1,384 (1)  Corundium 3,457 (1)  

Gliese 526

ICG VI with the Colonial Governeress Ms. S. Whitehouse arrives on April 4.  During offloading the colony gains a factory complex, considerable amounts of pre-fabricated colonial support systems and a further 20,000 colonists.  The ICG departs immediately for Sol, having crossed paths with ICG V while inbound.  There are now 40,000 colonists on the planet and they can expect contact with Earth once per year.  BIC is planning to send a single FHG to this system to reduce the fuel burden on Forge's farm.


LHS 292
AD 2284 (June 27) Minerals Discovered on LHS 292-A Comet #17: Neutronium 3,124 (1)  Vendarite 9,268 (0.7)  Uridium 13,246 (0.9)  Gallicite 3,713 (1)  


Luytens Star

Interstellar Survey III plus Alpha and Beta Grav survey missions leave Sol on January 17 and arrive in Luytens Star exactly a month later to start the survey of the outer system for more jump points.

[Mel Vixen]

Are you planning to build a bigger buoy / mine network? If yes you should consider a collier/minelayer for your fleet.

[Paul M (OP)]

What about building the tracking stations on Earth and transporting them via freighters?

The ring of them in the asteroid belt will be established that way...but for the moment the plan is to build up 10 at Earth as that allows Earth traffic control to basically monitor the entire inner system regardless of Earth's position.  After that depending on what I am seeing on my Sol display for coverage I'll revist the asteroid girdle.  It is also a long term planning item but at the moment the NCC is dealing with a great many "long term planning items" so it is a question of priority.

Are you planning to build a bigger buoy / mine network? If yes you should consider a collier/minelayer for your fleet

The Protecteur and Edinbourgh classes are resupply ships so they have magazine capacity for this task.  But the idea is good one and will go into the Navy discussions.  But in answer to the question the NCN is not intending extensive use of mines, though they will buoy most of their jump points.  The buoys allow them to leave messages and such for other ships.  Communication is the biggest problem the NCC faces as it moves no faster than a ship.  They have discussed courier boats but at the moment the plan is another "long term planning item."   I just have to watch that I give orders based on what Earth knows when deploying ships...but for the most part Forge also functions as a bit of a communications hub relaying the last planned position of say the NCN squadron to its relief.

[Paul M (OP)]

AD 2284 (July 1 to December 30) Looking at the Way Forward

In early July Commissioner Buxtorf re-organizes and streamlines the processes involved with purchasing orders for the NCC giving all related industrial efforts a boost in efficiency by easing the bureaucratic burden on their call for tender and other actions.  [ooc]2284 (July 3) Civilian Administrator Tobias Buxtorf has increased his Factory Production Bonus to 45%[/ooc]

The arrival of Interstellar Survey II in August brings to the NCC the information that the prospects of future expansion beyond Forge via the LHS 292 system look bleak as it seems unlikely that open jump points will be found at distances from Sol that allow for easy exploitation.  It is also clear that the systems beyond LHS 292 are going to take around 30 years to develop to a level that gives them a significant level of self economic expansion. 

This leads to several rounds of high level discussions between Commissioner Buxtorf and BIC, BuSurvey, the Science Directorate, and Commadore Frasier.  Cpt. Anna Cox in charge of BIC operations presents a summary of the current situation and the projection for the future.  Based on an analysis of the development of Faewald it is clear that the time to establish a substantial colonial presence on a marginal world is around 20 years, representing some 80 trips by an ICG.  It is also clear that the establishment of a functional industrial park was delayed too long in the case of Faewald and should be started earlier in the future.  The paper goes on to report that the economic situation for the systems off LHS 292 looks to be remarkable with 2 terraforming targets, several rich systems and good harvesting prospects.  But clearly there is a need to establish a new construction yard at Earth for the construction of Polestar class freighters and possibly other smaller ships to service this area.  It is also suggested that the slip size of the primary civillian yards be increased to 3 so as to facilitate the typical 3 ship group used by BIC.  Fuel harvester production should continue to establish 12 FHGs and then refits to the EE standard for the ships of the ICGs should proceed.  After construction of 2 Heavy Transport Groups is complete BIC recommends the construction of Terraformers begins.

BuSurvey presents the options for exploration beyond the systems reachable from LHS 292.  The options are to finish the survey of Epsilon Indi, to complete the survey beyond Gliese 408, or to explore beyond Wolf 358.  In all cases this will require at least a degree of BIC support as all these options are at considerable travel time from Earth.  Wolf 358 would require higher security as at least two Wolver systems are known to be present off Wolf 358 and the two unexplored jump points are those furthest away from the entrance jump point.  The, by now, standard appeal to probe the next furtherest out jump points in Sol is again presented.  This time, given the ranges to the next nearest extra-Sol target jump points, is approximately as far as to the Sol jump points the opposition to the proposal is considerably reduced.  It is fairly clear thought that unless a new eden was found beyond the jump point BIC would not be able to exploit the systems but both from the prinicple of knowing what is there and the military value of pushing back the frontier from Sol there is little resistance to the BuSurvey proposal that it makes more sense now than ever before to probe at least some of the jump points in the outer reaches of Sol.

The Science Directorate presents its report on the state of Earth's growing complex of research facilities.  They present a time frame for the completion of Phase 1 of the Centre's of Excellence Road Map as 2-3 years.  Further the development of salvage technologies both for ship and ground use will take around 15 years due to the lack of a specialist in this field.  They suggest that upgrades for NCN ships will begin to start in or around 5 years time, so the Navy should plan for 2290 as an approximate date for the start of a major round of refits.

Commadore Frasier presents the NCN's planning document.  It addresses first the topic of the ships of TG1, stating that the older vessels are clearly reaching obscelence.  The NCN proposes to retain the 3 London Class Escorts in service, adding to them a Guardian FFG to form a squadron capable of interdicting a jump point.  Their support squadron will be 2 Edmonton class jump tenders, a further Guardian FFG, and a Protecteur resupply vessel.  A new independant light ressuply squadron will be formed from 2 Guardian FFGs, 2 Protecteur resupply vessels, and an Edmonton class jump tender.  The Terriers and any remaining Guardians will be scrapped.  An alternative is to retain a single Terrier in service to function as a minelayer, a proposal that is still be investigated.  Two new squadrons identical to Squadron 5 would be added to fill out the Task Group.  The Fuel footprint of this proposal raises objections from the NCCFB but the NCN maintains that from a military point of view the Terrier squadrons are of little value.

Raising the ante even more the NCN proposes the best solution to the question of future expansion is Wolf 359.  Commadore Morgenrot and Cpt. Nimm are the authors of a plan to send the entirety of TG2 back into Wolf 359 to hopefully engage and destroy the Wolver ships thought to be present.  They feel that so long as it is possible to engage the Wolver ships one at a time that they have a reasonable expectation of sucess.  They also point out that Wolf 359 is a massive prize as it has a habitable world, known resources of considerable value, alien wreckage and there  must be considered the possibility of ruins as well.  This is clearly a political question that will require approval from the Government and Assembly but they both feel it is worth while to consider what they tend to call a recon-in-force.

These discussions continue through the fall.  The Government is somewhat cool to the idea of throwing the bulk of its combat worthy ships against the Wolvers but requests a detailed briefing in the next year to give Commadore Frasier time to refine the plan and most importantly to get a better idea of when exactly the operation can be expected.


Industrial Efforts, Earth, Sol
Primary Industrial Tasks
AD 2284 (July 28) Construction of 5 Ordnance Factories is completed.
AD 2284 (September 19) Construction of 5 Fighter Factories ends.
AD 2284 (December 24) Construction of two Terraforming Installations is ended.  An installation is transfered, via civillian contract, to Ganymede and Io.
AD 2284 (December 24) Construction of Research Lab begins.

Secondary Industrial Tasks
AD 2284 (July 18) Construction of a new Fuel Refinery completed.  In total 3.99 million litres of fuel are produced each year.
AD 2284 (September 3) New colonial pre-fabrications and lifesupport systems for BIC are produced.  [ooc]Infrastructure x32[/ooc]
AD 2284 (December 19) An older mine is converted to tele-presence operated for deployment off world.
AD 2284 (December 19) More colonial support equipment is being prepared to support BIC outsystem colonization.

Missiles and Fighters
AD 2284 (July 18) Construction of 46 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (August 19) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (October 18) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (November 19) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2284 (December 14) Construction of 20 Mk 1 Mines (batch 2) completed.
AD 2284 (December 14) Construction of 48Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles begins.
AD 2284 (July 13) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 001 the lead pinnance of the C flight leaves the factory.
AD 2284 (October 13) C1(EW/SAR) 002 completes factory trials.
AD 2284 (December 24) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 003 is accepted by the NCN procurement department.


Research Developments
2AD 284 (November 24) Dr. Stephanie Rees's team completes the prototype of the "Super Capacitor" for on-mount power storage (Capacitor Recharge Rate 2) and begins development of what is dubbed the "Super Duper Capacitor" (Capacitor Recharge Rate 3).


Naval Yard: Victorias-Esquimalt Graving Yard, Sol
AD 2284 (August 4) Stromness (Edinbourgh Mod1 class) the last Edinbourgh class ship is completed.
AD 2284 (September 3) Mastiff and Foxhound (Terrier Mod1.4 class) plus Warder and Lookout (Guardian Mod1.3 class) finish their refits to the latest standard.
AD 2284 (September 28) Shetland (London Mod1.4 class) ends her refit.  This completes 3rd Squadron Battlegroups Modernization.
AD 2284 (October 13) Perryvale (Edmonton Mod1.3 class) completes refitting to the most modern standard.

Naval Yard: Deschimag A.G. Weser, Sol
AD 2284 (September 24) Enchanter (Enchanter class) is built but immediately begins her refit to the Mod 1 standard.
AD 2284 (November 9) Retooling for Tribal Mod1 class is finished.

Code: [Select]

Tribal Mod1 class Destroyer    9,000 tons     221 Crew     1076.35 BP      TCS 180  TH 300  EM 270
2222 km/s     Armour 2-38     Shields 9-300     Sensors 15/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 30.28
Maint Life 4.38 Years     MSP 374    AFR 129%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 31    5YR 472    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Flight Crew Berths 19   
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons     Magazine 172   

Rolls Royce NP E-M80Si (5)    Power 80    Fuel Use 63%    Signature 60    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 620,000 Litres    Range 19.7 billion km   (102 days at full power)
GE Barrier A119 (9)   Total Fuel Cost  81 Litres per day

TorAr Goaltender Laser Array (2x1)    Range 30,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-1     RM 1    ROF 15        3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grundig Sureshot Mk1-25/20X  BFC (1)    Max Range: 40,000 km   TS: 2500 km/s     75 50 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CANDU AHW 6MW (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Nordion Arbalist ASM Launch System (2)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 150
Nordion Buckler CM Launch System (6)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 30
Telus ASMFC 53-1000 (1)     Range 20.1m km    Resolution 20
Grumman SCMFC 52-50 (2)     Range 3.0m km    Resolution 1
Falcon Counter Missile (72)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 2.8m    Range: 2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 60 / 36 / 18
Arrow Anti-Ship Missile (20)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 16.6m    Range: 12m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 64 / 38 / 19

Seimens SCMS Super Vigilant 53/3-0050 (1)     GPS 33     Range 1.6m km    Resolution 1
Seimens SSS 53-3000 (1)     GPS 1800     Range 11.6m km    Resolution 60
NorTEL IR Array 0-3 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km
Bell Phased Array P3-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km

Strike Group
1x Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) Pinnace   Speed: 2857 km/s    Size: 4.2

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The refit of the Tribal replaces the smaller 40 series engines with the 80 series, which reduces the ships maximum velocity to 2222 km/s.  The extra space gained is used to add an auxillary bridge to help the ship cope with combat damage plus doubles her main magazine capacity substantially boosting the ships combat endurance.

Civillian Yard:  Robert Napier and Son's Ltd., Sol
AD 2284 (December 9) Hydrate (Petrol (EE) class) ends construction and is dispatched to Jupiter to join FHG IX, arriving on December 27.
AD 2284 (December 14) Crude Oil (Petrol (EE) class) is completed and is dispatched to Jupiter to join FHG IX, arriving on 2285 January 3.

Civillian Yard:  Litton-Ingals Shipbuilding Corp., Sol
AD 2284 (October 23) Whiskey and Vodka(Whiskey class) are build and are held in Earth orbit to be refit to the EE standard.
AD 2284 (December 9) Kingston and Hamilton (Kingston (EE) class) complete their refits, their now free slips are taken over by the refits of the Whiskey and Vodka.


Civillian Operations in Sol
AD 2284 (July 23) The supply of Sorium on Encke has been exhausted


Northern Coalition Army
AD 2284 (September 9) The Glasglow Highlanders Bn graduates from Infantry training excersizes in Camp Wainwright.  As the lead formation of II Extrasolar Brigade Brigadier General H.  Astridarson takes command of the formation.  Along with the Rosetta Peacekeeper detachment they board the Troop Transport Squadron (-) in Earth orbit and depart for Rosetta.  The Templebar Rifles starts training a few days later.


BIC Operations in Alpha Centauri

Faewald's industrial park starts producing lifesupport material and material to expand the living tunnels in larger lots but even with this change the gap refuses to narrow.  ICG IV arrives on September 5 and departs for Earth on September 28.  The ships had a new mine, prefabricated colonial support facilities and a further 20,000 colonists.  FHG II arrives to refill the farm on September 10 and the ships remain in orbit until October 23, and then depart for Doineann arriving on station at the gas giant on Novemeber 2.  ICG II arrives on November 17 and departs on December 9.  The ships carried a factory to expand the industrial park, prefabricated colonial support facilities and 20,000 new colonists. 


BIC Operations in AD Leonis

FHG V completes its shore leave and returns to harvesting on August 9.  FHG VIII arrives from Sol on September 26 and the ships crew enjoy the colonies R&R facilities until November 4 when they move Deeper Sky to begin harvesting operations to build up their fuel supply for the next part of their journey to FL Viginis.  From November 15 to December 29 FHG VI is in Forge orbit while its ships crew let off some steam ashore.  This time period sees the expected drop in the Farm level predicted by the forcasters come true as both ICG V and ICG VI arrive in Forge orbit with fuel tanks more than 95% empty.   


Outsystem Survey Efforts and Naval Operations

FL Virginis

FHG VII arrives in Biforst orbit on November 29 and remains there til December 14 to allow its crews to recuperate from their voyage.  The group moves to planet A-III to begin harvesting operations on the 16th, leaving the farm on Biforst with 298,000 litres of fuel. 

Luytens Star

Interstellar Survey III remains on the jump point to LHS 292 while Alpha and Beta grav survey missions complete the survey of the system.  On September 3 it is clear there is but a single jump point and the Oberons set course for IS III and the 4 ships jump out of the system heading for WD 1142-645 on September 24.
AD 2284 (September 3) Gravitational Survey Completed in the Luytens Star system. The system has a total of 1 jump points

WD 1142-645

2nd Squadron Battlegroup has been onstation at the entrance jump point from LHS 292.  Interstellar Survey IV arrives in system on September 17 and the SC Trail Blazer conducts a geological survey of the 2 dwarf planets and their single moons and Comet #1 and #2.  While this is going on the John Franklin performs the initial gravitational surveys near the entrance jump point and starts on the survey locations nearest the white dwarf primary.  On the 9th of October the two grav survey missions and IS III join them.  IS III survey's comet #3 and performs two gravitational surveys with another planned on its way back towards the entrance jump point.  The two Oberons head in opposite directions to cover the gravitational survey of the outer system.

AD 2284 (September 27) Minerals Discovered on WD 1142-645-A Comet #2: Neutronium 40,515 (0.8 )  Corbomite 9,024 (0.8 )  Mercassium 3,123 (0.7)  Uridium 133 (0.9)  Corundium 12,950 (0.8 )  Gallicite 6,048 (0.9) 
AD 2284 (October 7) Minerals Discovered on WD 1142-645-A I: Tritanium 200,704 (0.4) 
AD 2284 (October 17) Minerals Discovered on WD 1142-645-A II - Moon 1: Gallicite 20 (1) 
AD 2284 (November 1) Minerals Discovered on WD 1142-645-A Comet #1: Duran 11,080 (0.8 )  Corb 13,510 (0.9)  Boron 11,668 (0.9)  Vend 7,142 (1)  Sorium 17,355 (0.7)  Corun 6,969 (0.8 )  Gall 2,549 (0.8 ) 
AD 2284 (November 18) Minerals Discovered on WD 1142-645-A Comet #3: Neutronium 2,504 (0.9)  Corbomite 41,520 (1)  Boronide 5,567 (1)  Gallicite 3,379 (0.9) 

[Paul M (OP)]

[ooc]There had been a request for the industrial details and so on so here is the current status of things in the NCC.  Clearly Earth is the industrial centre, but it is completely dependant on the civillian sector for enough minerals to operate.  [/ooc]

AD 2285 Status Summary

Planet          Curr.    Max       Administrator    Factories                                                                                   Other Facilities
                   Pop      Pop

Earth          1162.2   ---        Mr. T. Buxtorf    CF:256, MM:27, AM:3, OF:35, FF:10, MF:47, FC:10                 Academy: 2, Comercial Space Port: 1, Ground Combat Training: 1, Deep Space Tracking: 8
Luna             98.52  98.42    Ms. S. Telgen     CF:10, FC:5
Mars             82.60  78.78    Mr. C. Martyn     CF:10, MM:50, FC:5                                                              Terraformer: 12 (0.0158 atm/year)
Io                 34.14  34.01    Mr. S. TyggRson MM:50                                                                                 Terraformer: 2 (0.0028 atm/year)
Venus           11.08  10.60    Ms. B. Wells       AM:15
Ganymede      0.97    0.92    Mr. T. Wong                                                                                                  Terraformer: 2 (0.0025 atm/year)
Faewald          2.88    2.75    Ms. N. Jackson    CF:6, MM:18                                                                        Deep Space Tracking: 2
Rosetta           0.05    0.14    Ms. S. Whitehouse  CF:(1), MM:1
Biforst             0.04   0.14    Mr. C. Cayouette   CF:(1), MM:1
Forge              0.01   0.02     Mr. B. Haegwinson  AM:5                                                                               Deep Space Tracking: 2

population is in millions
CF: construction factory, MM: mine, AM: auto mine, OF: ordinance factory, FF: fighter factory, MF: maintenance facility, FC: financial centre
Number in () indicates the facility is currently non-operational

Current Mineral Status

                                 Earth Stockpile              NCC Sol Production        Extra-Solar Production          Civillian Production
Duranium                         23K/--                            189                                    336                                  6938
Neutronium                      43K/--                            754                                    182                                   2716
Corbomite                        23K/--                            108                                     246                                   --
Tritanium                         43K/85                            --                                       161                                  672
Boronide                          3.8K/--                            --                                       274                                   --
Mercasium                        40K/--                            431                                      26                                   784
Vendarite                           3K/--                             314                                     14                                   --
Sorium                             64K/--                            21                                       213                                  840
Uridium                            37K/--                            658                                     147                                  1722
Corundium                        22K/--                            21                                       15                                   840
Gallacite                             4K/--                            220                                     213                                  --

For Earth Stockpile value is: amount present in thousands of units/production per year.

NCC Mining Sites          Mines                     Civillian Mining Sites             CMCs
Sylvia                             15                            Enecke                              13
2001KC77                       10+MD                     Wolf-Harrington                 12
Odysseus                        10+MD                     Reinmuth                          10
Elenora                           10                            Haumea                             9
Banshee                            4                            Neujmin                            8
                                                                     Van Biesbroeck                   6
                                                                      2000NT33                         8


Construction Yard                             Type               Maximum Hull Size             Slips

Deschimag A.G. Weser                  Naval Yard                      9 000                       3
Litton-Ingals Shipbuilding Corp.    Civillian Yard                   45 000                       2
Robert Napier and Son's Ltd.        Civillian Yard                   30 000                       2
Victorias-Esquimalt Graving Yard   Naval Yard                       4 500                       6
 

Fuel Farm                     Refineries       Production          Current Fuel              Harvester Groups
                                                       (L per year)             (Liters)
Earth                                86                  3.99m                 2.37m                2 NCC (not at full complement), 6 Civillian Harvesters
Forge                                --                     --                     1.40m                4 NCC
Faewald                            --                     --                      0.28m                2 NCC
Biforst                              --                     --                      0.30m                2 NCC (one currently in Forge harvesting fuel for journey)

NCC FHG's can process 644,000 litres of fuel per year

Science Directorate

Research Leader              Laboratory Complexes          Task
Dr. C. Rowley                             7                             Research Points 320 per year
Dr. S. Rees                                 3                            Capacitor Recharge Rate 3
Dr. K. Holmkellson                      2                             Terraforming Rate 0.0015 per year
Dr. L. Wheeler                             1                            Turret Tracking Speed (10% Gear) 3000 km/s
Dr. L. Herz                                  1                             Fire Control Speed Rating 2000 km/s


Financial Summary 2284
Income:
Income Tax:               30 537.3
Export Tax:                  1 880.0
Shipping Tarrif:            1 865.0
Financial Centres:            436.2
Total:    34 718.4 CCUs

Expenses:
Civillian Mineral Purchases:                16 430.6
Ship Building:                                     6 598.8
Research:                                           3 923.3
Installation Construction:                     3 324.3
Maintenance Facility Operation:            1 338.8
Shipyard Modification:                            550.9
Ordinance Production:                            436.5 
NCA Expenses:                                      318.2
Civillian Fuel Purchases/Contracts:          210.5
PDC refits:                                            163.6
Total:  33 381.4 CCUs

Terraforming Status

Planet               Temperature (Delta)          Atmsophere Pressure          Composition
Mars                      231.6 K (6.6 K)                       0.1933 atm              N₂: 68.92%, O₂:  25.91%, H₂0: 2.57%, CO₂: 2.57%
Ganymede              126 K (1 K)                            0.0297 atm              N₂: 66.52%, O₂: 16.74%, CO₂: 16.74%
Io                          125.8 K (0.8 K)                       0.011 atm                N₂: 54.87%, CO₂: 45.13%

[Paul M (OP)]

[ooc]One of the problems with long range planning I am finding is that the information I have is often not sufficient to the task.  I know for example when something will be done, but I don't really know when the next 4 items in the queue will be finished or prior to sticking a ship into refit how long that refit will take.  I can make some rather crude guestimates but detailed planning I have to keep as rather more flexible then reality would likely accept.  Also it is often not clear what sort of things suddenly overlap...in other words I lack a staff that manage these sorts of details.  So from time to time simple logistics can bite me hard in the butt.[/ooc]

AD 2285 (January 1 to June 30)  Developing the New Routine

Saying that one intends to send three ICGs per year to Biforst as it turns out is easier than actually doing so.  This year is going to be a learning experience.  How much fuel is needed for the trip, how many mines, or factories to be sent, how much building supplies and pre-fabricated colonial structures need to be prepared?  These are questions that need answers and the answers need to be tested against the reality of the situation.

The 1st Geosurvey team spends this time surveying the asteroid Hilda, except for a period between May 3 and June 8 when the Upholder crew R&R time interupts their operations.  So far the rock has not been completely surveyed.

A tragedy overtakes the NCN in the early part of January.  During a routine yearly medical exam Cpt. Diana Nimm is diagnosed with a rare medical condition that could cause anurisms to form during combat boost, the condition was apparently the result of exposure to long periods of low or zero G.  Cpt. Nimm (a commander at the time) had been the lone surviving senior officer from the 1-1-1 Incident in Wolf 359 and had been over her carreer in command of 3rd Squadron and of late 5th Squadron.  As one of the two authors of the Operation Hat Trick, her loss is a major blow to the Navy's bid to recon Wolf 359.  At her official farewell reception Commadore Frasier and the other senior officers of the Navy gave tributes to one of the most respected officers in the Navy.  It is also one of the rare times that Cpt. Nimm was hard pressed to finish her own response.  Even from outside of the NCN ranks tributes to her career are made, as she was seen by many as heroic figure and was well respected by nearly everyone in the Government independant of where they sat in the Assembly.  She had long been seen as contender for Commadore Frasier's position.  As for her future plans the NCN's public affairs office issued a statement stating that she was evaluating her options while taking her remaining accumulated leave.

Commander Cameron Vaughan is promoted to Captain to fill the command slot now open and it remains to be seen if he can fill the vacc suit left by Cpt. Nimm.  His first posting as a Lt. Cmdr was as the CO of the RV Paul Bunyon (2279), followed by command of the ICBM base Goose Green (2280), and then Planetary Defence Centre Fort Detroit (2281-present).  He was promoted to Commander in 2281.  This promotion marks his return to ship command and is his first independant command.

On January 10, Commadore Frasier is again behind the podium, this time at the retirement party for Dr. Natasha Grey who is retiring (age 66) from the Science Directorate.  He comments that her career ended with a bang, accompanied by a hologram of the first sucessful implosion fission missile warhead test.  The retirement party was well attended by NCN officers as the development of the new warhead is considered one of the most significant advances of the last decade.  Her position as lead researcher in missile development will be taken over by Dr. Tristan Brashear.


Industrial Efforts, Earth, Sol
Primary Industrial Tasks
Construction of a research complex is ongoing.

Secondary Industrial Tasks
AD 2285 (February 5) More colonial support equipment is completed for BIC extra solar colonies. [ooc]Infrastructure x32[/ooc]
AD 2285 (May 3) A new Fuel Refinery goes on line.  Current production is now 4.04 m litres per year.  The farm currently holds 1.93 m litres.
AD 2285 (June 18) More colonial support equipment is completed for BIC extra solar colonies. [ooc]Infrastructure x32[/ooc]
AD 2285 (June 18) An older Mine begins conversion to telepresence operated.

Missiles and Fighters
AD 2285 (February 15) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (March 16) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (May 18) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (June 23) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (June 23) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles has begun.
AD 2285 (March 1) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 004 completes her space trials.
AD 2285 (May 8 ) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 005 is accepted by the NCN and a new C1 pinnance starts production in the factory.


Naval Yard: Victorias-Esquimalt Graving Yard, Sol
AD 2285 (January 30) Airedale and Borsoi (Terrier Mod1.4 class) plus Picket (Guardian Mod1.3 class) finish their modernizations.
AD 2285 (February 26) Dorset (London Mod1.4 class) ends her refit and means that 1st Squadron is now at the most modern standard for the combat ships.

Naval Yard: Deschimag A.G. Weser, Sol
AD 2285 (February 20) Enchanter (Enchanter Mod1 class) is refit to the most modern standard and becomes the lead ship of 4th Squadron Support Group.
AD 2285 (March 11) Sorcerer (Enchanter Mod1 class) completes her space trials and joins 4th Squadron Support Group.  Two slips are now available for refits of the Tribal class.

Civillian Yard:  Litton-Ingals Shipbuilding Corp., Sol
AD 2285 (January 24) Whiskey and Vodka (Whiskey (EE) class) complete refit and are assigned to the Heavy Lift Group I completing it.


NCN Operations in Sol

4th Squadron is split into two divisions.  The Sarcee and the Mohawk form the 4(-) detachment and are released for training excersized in early March.  When the second slip is freed up in the Deschimag Yard on March 11, the detachment is directed to proceed to Earth arriving on March 15 and beginning their refit to the Tribal Mod1 standard.  1st Squadron departs for WD 1142-645 on March 21 to relieve 2nd Squadron.  The Borsoi is carrying 10 comm/sensor buoys which will be deployed on each jump point that the ships pass through.  This is the start of the network that is planned to be emplaced throughout human settled space.

NCN ordinance services calculates that 356 Arrow and 588 Falcon missiles are necessary to fully supply Earth's forts.  They state it will take most of this year to reach that level of Falcon Counter Missiles but well into next year to produce sufficient Arrow missiles, considering that 2nd, 5th and 6th Squadrons still need to be re-equipped with the modern missiles.  It is also noted that the Arrow missile while sufficiently long ranged for ship mounted fire control is considerably shorter ranged than the PDCs fire controls, so they recommend that a Long Range version be considered for development.


BuSurvey Outerreaches of Sol Expedition

Interstellar Survey II was dispached to explore the outer edges of Sol.  The two ships would target first the comet Ikeya-Zang and then the dwarf planet Makemake, they would then cut across the outer edge of the solar disc to the planet Orcus and its moonlet Vanth, and after that they would head for Quaoar and its moon Weywot.  Commander Sophia Ford (CO of the James Cook) and Lt. Cmdr Conner Lowe (CO of the Voyageur) would be returning to the inner system in November after refueling from the civillian harvester at Jupiter.  There was hope that at least one of the 3 dwarf planets would become a valuable new source of mineral wealth for the NCC.

AD 2285 (February 18) Minerals Discovered on Ikeya-Zang: Duranium 24,126 (0.9)  Neutronium 224 (0.9)  Boronide 23,547 (1)  Mercassium 5,655 (0.7)  Vendarite 8,218 (1) 

Civillian Operations in Sol
AD 2285 (April 17) The supply of Uridium on Van Biesbroeck has been exhausted
AD 2285 (March 21) The civilian mining colony on 2004 NT33 has been expanded to 9 civilian mining complexes
AD 2285 (June 18) The supply of Corundium on Van Biesbroeck has been exhausted


BIC Operations in Alpha Centauri

A total amount of new support equipment sufficient for slightly more than 70,000 people is completed by the local industrial park.  ISW III arrives on March 6 with a full load of colonial support equipment, prefabricated buildings and lifesupport supplies plus 20,000 new colonists and departs on March 27, after loading the colony's mines mineral production into the ships.  On March 17 the ships of FHG I arrive in Faewald orbit and refill the farm from their fuel tanks before the crews are released for shore leave.  The ships depart orbit on April 22 and are back on station by April 30.  The colony's population exceeds 3 million during this time period and for the first time significant amounts of local industry are noted in the colonies industrial data base.  Local industrial concerns are assisting the NCCs industrial park by providing enough expansion and life support materials for 40,000 per year.  Other local industry is a burgeoning textile production industry and there are now signficant demands for other goods such as:  cosntruction material and machinery.  Hardly surprising given the struggles to house the burgeoning population.  The Farm holds 0.43 m litres of fuel at the start of July.


BIC Operations in AD Leonis

Things slow down for Forge traffic control during the first half of this year which is a break the fuel farm needs.  From January 9 to February 21 FHG IV is in orbit around Forge while the ships crew enjoy liberty.  FHG VIII, the second group for the FL Virginis system, had spent weeks harvesting fuel at Deeper Sky until its tanks were 50% full before deaparting for the jump point.  On the 13th of March FHG VIII jumps out of the system.  From March 6 to April 22 it is the turn for FHG III to take a break from fuel harvesting.  Passing through the system on the way back to Earth the ships of the Troop Transport Squadron arrive at Forge on May 1 and after giving their ships crew liberty for a week resume their journey to Earth on the 8th.  They arrive back in Earth orbit on the 19th.  ICG VII on its way to Biforst arrives on April 29 and departs orbit heading for the jump point to LHS 292 on May 13.  On its way to relieve 2nd Squadron, 1st Squadron arrives in system on April 8.  The Borsoi deploys a comm/sensor buoy and the squadron sets course for Forge and a refueling stop.  On April 23 just before jumping out of the system the Borsoi deploys another comm/sensor buoy ensuring that Forge traffic control now knows who is entering and leaving the system on the most travelled route.  2nd Squadron will pass through in May, the squadron arrives in the system on May 6, swings buy Forge for refueling and then departs to Lalande 21185 on May 21.  They will arrive in Earth orbit on June 9.  The farm is down to the lowest level in several years with only 0.5 m litres in it at the start of July.


BIC Operations in FL Virginis

The human colony named Trussvale on Biforst is doing well.  The colony has grown to ~50,000 people and the mine is up and running though not at full production capacity yet.  FHG VII is in orbit around the local gas giant (planet A-III) and is busy harvesting fuel.  On April 6 FHG VIII arrives from AD Leonis and the crews transfer the bulk of the fuel in their ships tanks to the farm before starting rotating liberty parties.  The ships remain in orbit until April 22 and by the 23rd are back in the business of Sorium fuel refining.  The farm ends this 6 month period with 0.6 m litres of fuel in the tanks.


BIC Operations in Gliese 526

The colony of Rosswell is also around 50,000 people by the end of this period.  As well it it's mine is up and running but not at full capacity.  The NCC archeology team has established a base camp near the alien city and has begun preliminary site surveys with drones.  The peculiar atmosphere of Rosetta means that oxygen and fuel is stored in the drones tanks.  The survey drones and the STOL plane that they use to travel back and forth burn the methane in the air to save on fuel.  The city is laid out in a circular pattern with primary radial or spoke avenues and secondary interconnecting arc streets.  It was clearly at one time a sea port due to extensive dock facilities found at the old sea shore.  So far the team has focused on mapping the city in its entirety and has only explored a few buildings in detail.  The arrival of the 2nd Extrasolar Expeditionary Brigade's troops on Febuary 6 helps immensely in securing the site.  By the first week in March one company is deployed to secure the cities perimeter, and assist the archeology team's efforts.  The colony itself is awaiting its next visit by ICG V and the arrival of FHG IX.  The Troop Transport Squadron remains in orbit until the 10th and then deaprts for Earth.


Outsystem Survey Efforts and Naval Operations

Interstellar Survey III is on its way back to Earth during this time, arriving in Earth orbit on April 7.  When 1st Squadron arrives in LHS 292 on April 23 it contacts 2nd Squadron Support Group (on station at the jump point to WD 1142-645) and based on the discussion sets course for the jump point to FL Virginis as the general impression is that any further expansion will be via Gliese 505.  Borsoi deploys comm/sensor buoys at the jump point to AD Leonis and FL Virginis.  2nd Squardon departs for Earth on April 24, jumping into AD Leonis on May 6.

WD 1142-645
By April 10, Interstellar Survey IV is on station at the jump point to LHS 292 while the two grav survey missions continue their operations.  It is felt to be dubious that there is further jump points in this system.  By June 5 Beta Grav Survey mission has joined them, and by June 29 the final results are in...the system is a dead end.  The Oberons now have 20 months on their clocks and the decision is made that they will head back to Earth.  IS IV and Beta GSM are at the jump point but Alpha GSM is still on the way to it by the end of June.

AD 2285 (June 29) Gravitational Survey Completed in the WD 1142-645 system. The system has a total of 1 jump points

[Brainsucker]

Nimm is retired. I like her as character. It seems that the NCN has lost one of her combat experienced officer.

Btw, what is the "Operation Hat Trick" that written by Captain Nimm? I'm interested about it. Is it about your latest space wars doctrine or just an operation plan for an NCN military operation?

[Paul M (OP)]

Nimm is retired. I like her as character. It seems that the NCN has lost one of her combat experienced officer.

Btw, what is the "Operation Hat Trick" that written by Captain Nimm? I'm interested about it. Is it about your latest space wars doctrine or just an operation plan for an NCN military operation?

I liked her too...yeah that was a kick in the knee (or another soft and tender place) for the NCN.

HAT TRICK is the operation plan for a recon in force of Wolf 359 authored by Nimm and Morgenrot.  They think there are 3 wolver ships there and they hope for a "hat trick" (3 goals). 

[Brainsucker]

why not put her behind the desk? Like becoming an operation officer or something that operate on Earth. But perhaps it is better for her to retire. So, who will replace her as one of your important character?

I must reread again to make a short list of the important Characters in this AAR.

Can you give a list of where your important characters position? Like where is Benson? Where was Nimm before she retired? Where is Morgenrot etc.

[Paul M (OP)]

why not put her behind the desk? Like becoming an operation officer or something that operate on Earth. But perhaps it is better for her to retire. So, who will replace her as one of your important character?

I must reread again to make a short list of the important Characters in this AAR.

I didn't choose to retire her...that was a medical retirement triggered by Aurora's code so it was serious medical issue.  I'm not sure who will replace her...but there is a bunch of new captains who will have to start making a name for themselves.

[Paul M (OP)]

AD 2285 (July 1 to December 30)  If It Ain't One Thing It Is Another

Preparations are well underway in the Navy for a summer 2286 start to HAT TRICK when a couple of issues showed up on the table.  The first was if sufficient numbers of missiles would be ready.  The refits of the Tribals and the missile capacity of the Gargolyes would impose a serious strain on the production system.  Even with the forseen expansion of the ordinance production facilities the numbers of missiles are large and there is the need to re-arm the forts.  This pushes the earliest start date to late summer of 2286.  Then came the second blow from an unexpected source.  The NCC commission bluntly states it is stopping all upgrades to the heavy frigates and will not contemplate new military construction as there are two concurrent mineral crisis apparent by the end of the year.  The most critical is the Gallcite issue but also the level of Boronide is critical given the intention to start building the Amazon class of terraformers. 

By the end of the year the level of Gallacite had dropped to 50% of its initial value and within a hair of being critical.   Gallacite is not a widely mined material but it is critical for engines.  Venus and Faewald are the main producers of the material and their combined yearly production is barely sufficient for maintenance and missile/fighter construction.  As the new engines that have been developed offer considerable civillian fuel savings the refit of BICs ICGs is considered a critical next step in solving the ongoing fuel issues.  But still this costs the NCN their new Collier/Light Tanker design for 4th Squadron, on the positive side it does mean that refit schedules will not need to be taken into consideration for the timing of HAT TRICK.

Code: [Select]

Quiver class Collier    9,000 tons     178 Crew     1095.7 BP      TCS 180  TH 300  EM 270
2222 km/s     Armour 2-38     Shields 9-300     Sensors 15/15/0/0     Damage Control Rating 5     PPV 17.28
Maint Life 4.31 Years     MSP 380    AFR 129%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 33    5YR 493    Max Repair 50 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Flight Crew Berths 12   
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons     Magazine 315   

Rolls Royce NP E-M80Si (5)    Power 80    Fuel Use 63%    Signature 60    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,020,000 Litres    Range 32.4 billion km   (168 days at full power)
GE Barrier A119 (9)   Total Fuel Cost  81 Litres per day

TorAr Goaltender Laser Array (2x1)    Range 30,000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-1     RM 1    ROF 15        3 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Grundig Sureshot Mk1-25/20X  BFC (1)    Max Range: 40,000 km   TS: 2500 km/s     75 50 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
CANDU AHW 6MW (1)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Nordion Buckler CM Launch System (3)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 30
Grumman SCMFC 52-50 (1)     Range 3.0m km    Resolution 1
Falcon Counter Missile (115)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 2.8m    Range: 2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 60 / 36 / 18
Arrow Anti-Ship Missile (40)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   End: 16.6m    Range: 12m km   WH: 4    Size: 5    TH: 64 / 38 / 19

Seimens SSS 53-3000 (1)     GPS 1800     Range 11.6m km    Resolution 60
Seimens SCMS Super Vigilant 53/3-0050 (1)     GPS 33     Range 1.6m km    Resolution 1
NorTEL IR Array 0-3 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km
Bell Phased Array P3-15 (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  15m km

Strike Group
1x Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) Pinnace   Speed: 2857 km/s    Size: 4.2

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Quiver class has 6 standard magazines and so is capable of resupplying two Tribals with missiles.  The ship also has over 1 million litres of fuel onboard which means it can transfer about 10% of a full load to the two tribals during re-munitioning operations.  The ship is equipped with sufficient point defence systems to enable it to accompany the Tribals into combat.  As an added bonus the ship is inter-build capable with the Tribal class.   

The Commission clearly states that they are re-ordering their priorities and that after their mandated upgrade of the last of Earth's older forts they intend to boost the automatic mines on Venus, the regular mines on Faewald, establish a set of mines on asteroids that have both Gallacite and Boronide.  These are all actions that will mitigate the issue and will over 5 years hopefully see the stockpiles of these materials start to grown.  There are huge reserves of Gallacite on Venus, and Faewald has a reasonable supply of the TN mineral.  Faewald and Banshee have large reserves of Boronide.  The plan to increase Faewald's industrial park will be converted somewhat to one that emphises the transfer of mines and construction factories equally.  The situation could change if new civillian mining complexes are established on comets that have the two minerals but for the moment there is no sign of this happening.

The Farm on Earth again drops below its maindated million litre reserve value.  Mr. Buxdort again interceeds to hold the system in operation as the drop was caused by three sudden larege similtaneous draws on the farm.  The political game over this starts anew but by the end of the year the values for the farms on Earth and on the outer colonies is again at a healthy level.  Earth has 1.91 m litres of fuel in the farm.

Commadore Frasier is again called on to say good by to a long time collegue as Cpt. Anna Cox who has for years ran BIC's spaceborne operations turns in her resignation effective November 15.  Stating her increasing age (she is 61) and poor health she states it is time for fresh blood.  This puts the NCN's review board into a bit of a quandry.  Cpt. Cox had been the head of BIC's operations by choice yet few of the current senior officers had her interest in the logistics side of Naval operations.  The Board debated the situation and solutions before the chairman approached Commadore Frasier with the suggestion that it now be a 2 year rotating position between the senior naval staff.  He agrees to the suggestion and Cpt. R Unnvaldrson becomes the next head of BICs spaceborne operations.  The retirement party for Cpt. Cox is well attended by politicians and members of the commission as BIC has been a key element in NC politics for many years.  Cpt. Cox had been incharge of more than 1.5 million tonnes of cargo ships and fuel harvesters.   Their cargos and had the responsibility for ensuring the development of Faewald over the years plus Forge and the new colonies Biforst and Rosetta.  BICs harvester fleet had helped alleviate to a huge degree the fuel situation for the NCN.  As Commissioner Buxtorf points out in his speach a good fraction of the existing Gallacite on Earth is from Faewald's mines...so is present only due to the existance of BIC.

BIC in a Nutshell

BICs organization chart is composed of the following elements:  Interstellar Colonization Groups (ICG), Heavy Lift Groups (HLG), Fuel Harvesting Groups (FHG) and Insterstellar Terraforming Missions (ITM).

ICG:  1 Colussus Jump Freighter, 2 Bauxite Long Range Freighters.  Cargo capacity:  20,000 people in cryosleep, 60,000 SCU (standard cargo units).  8 Groups in operation.
HLG:  1 Kingston Jump Transport, 2 Whiskey Freighters.  Cargo capacity:  50,000 people in cryosleep, 80,000 SCU. 2 groups in operation.
FHG:  1 Loch Jump Harvester, 2 Petrol Harvesters.  Fuel Production per year: 644,000 litres. 10 groups in operation. 2 more authorized.
ITM:  2 Amazon Jump Terraformers.  0.0024 atm per year atmospheric modification.  (Planned 3 Terraformer Missions)

Total:  260,000 people in cryosleep; Cargo Total: 600,000 SCU; Fuel: 6,44 million litres per year maximum.

Cpt Unnvaldrson (age: 44) has spent most of his career commanding forts, but spent 4 years as the commanding officer of both Oberon Survey ships, and 5 years in command of the Colussus jump freighter.

Two new Captains are promoted:  Commander Veronika Zweig (Novemeber 10) and Commander Aaron Manning (December 16).  This leaves the NCN with a total of 8 Captains at the end of the year.

The 1st Geosurvey team's efforts on Hilda so far have not born fruit and the team continues to survey the asteroid.

Industrial Efforts, Earth, Sol
Primary Industrial Tasks
AD 2285 (July 3) The latest Research Complex is finished and turned over to Dr. C. Rowley for her ongoing efforts into virtual reality assistance to scientific researching.
AD 2285 (October 5) Ten Construction Factories are built and the mandated goal for Earth's construction capacity is reached.  [ooc]90% of the factory capacity = 4800 build points[/ooc]
AD 2285 (October 30) Two more Maintenance Facilities are added.  Ships up to 9800 tonnes can now be serviced.
AD 2285 (November 10) Pre-fabricated buildings and life support systems for BIC outsystem colonization are produced.  [ooc]Infrastructure x64[/ooc]
AD 2285 (December 26) Two more Deep Space Tracking Stations join the constellation in near Earth space.  Their compined reach is now sufficient to monitor an area of space with a radius equal to Earth's orbital diameter against a signature of a typical Naval ships drive.  [ooc]Blue ring against signature of 121 is now the diameter of Earth's orbit.[/ooc]
AD 2285 (December 26) The contract for the construction of five new Ordnance Factories is signed.

Secondary Industrial Tasks
AD 2285 (October 5) An older mine is converted to teleoperated for eventual deployment off Earth.
AD 2285 (November 20) Pre-fabricated buildings and life support systems for BIC are completed.  [ooc]Infrastructure x32[/ooc]
AD 2285 (November 20) The work on a new Fuel Refinery starts.

Missiles and Fighters
AD 2285 (August  25) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (September 25) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiled completed.
AD 2285 (November 25) Construction of 48 Arrow Anti-Ship Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (December 26) Construction of 120 Falcon Counter Missiles completed.
AD 2285 (December 26) Construction of 10 Comm/Sensor Buoys (Batch 2) begins.
AD 2285 (July 18) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 006 end her trials at the factory and joins the NCN.
AD 2285 (September 25) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 007 completes her acceptance tests.
AD 2285 (December 6) Fairmile C1(EW/SAR) 008 lands onboard the Gryphon class ship Hippogriff marking the completion of 4th Squadrons pinnance group.

Naval Yard: Victorias-Esquimalt Graving Yard, Sol
AD 2285 (July 8 ) Retooling for Protecteur Mod2.3 class completed.
AD 2285 (August 15) Beagle and Bloodhound (Terrier Mod1.4 class) plus Watchman (Guardian Mod1.3 class) end refit.
AD 2285 (August 25) Paul Bunyon and Pius Antorius (Protecteur Mod2.3 class) complete their refits.
AD 2285 (September 9) Cheshire (London Mod1.4 class) completes refitting to the most modern standard.  She is the last of TG1's warships in need of refit.

Naval Yard: Deschimag A.G. Weser, Sol
AD 2285 (July 3) Wizard (Enchanter Mod1 class) exits the yard and joins 4th Squadron Support Group, completing the jump ship complement.
AD 2285 (August 3) Mohawk and Sarcee (Tribal Mod1 class) are refit to the most modern engine standard.
AD 2285 (December 26) Algonquin and Comanche (Tribal Mod1 class) finish their refit.  4th Squadron's refit is now complete.

Civillian Yard:  Litton-Ingals Shipbuilding Corp., Sol
AD 2285 (July 23) Brännvin and Schnapps (Whiskey (EE) class) finish construction.  The join Heavy Lift Group II in Earth Orbit.
AD 2285 (September 19) Retooling for Amazon class completed.

Code: [Select]

Amazon class Terrraformer Jumpship    44,500 tons     236 Crew     1038 BP      TCS 890  TH 400  EM 0
449 km/s    JR 2-25(C)     Armour 1-111     Shields 0-0     Sensors 5/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 6     PPV 0
MSP 87    Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 6   
Terraformer: 1 module(s) producing 0.0012 atm per annum

Saab CJA 2-900     Max Ship Size 45000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2
MAN NP CE-200 (2)    Power 200    Fuel Use 6.19%    Signature 200    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 16.3 billion km   (420 days at full power)

Seimens Civ Navi 2M/5000 (1)     GPS 500     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 100
NorTEL Civ IR Telescope (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  5m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Amazon is BICs first terraformer.  Typically BIC has built 1 jump ship with 2 consorts without jump engines but it proved impossible to provide a non-jump capable consort that was inter-buildable with the Amazon so the decision was made to produce a mission of two ships both with jump engines this gave some protection against malfunctions.  It also makes the missions flexible in how they are deployed.  It is intended to produce a smaller non-jump capable terraformer solely for deployment in Sol at a latter date.


Civillian Yard:  Robert Napier and Son's Ltd., Sol
AD 2285 (September 30) Oil Sands (Petrol (EE) class) is finished and dispatched to Jupiter to join FHG X arriving on October 14.
AD 2285 (October 5) Coal Oil (Petrol (EE) class) completes her trials and is dispatched to Jupiter to join FHG X arriving on October 19.  FHG X is now at its full complement of harvesters.

Northern Coalition Army
AD 2285 (September 9) The Templebar Rifles Bn ends their advanced infantry training period in camp Wainwright and Brigadier General Daniel Dennis joins his men for the trip to Victoria where they will board the Ceylon for transport to Faewald.  They arrive on December 26 and at least the advance elements of the Battalion are able to celebrate a late Christmas on the planet while the bulk of the unit is still deboarding.  Recruits for the new Travel'n Third Infantry battalion arrive shortly after to begin their basic course.

Civillian Operations in Sol
AD 2285 (October 20) The civilian mining colony on Haumea has been expanded to 10 civilian mining complexes
AD 2285 (December 6) The civilian mining colony on Encke has been expanded to 14 civilian mining complexes

BuSurvey Outerreaches of Sol Expedition

IS II completes it survey of nearest three of the outer dwarf planets of Sol and arrives back at Earth orbit on November 10 after refueling from the civillian harvesters at Jupiter a few days earlier.  Unfortunately none of the 5 bodies surveyed are found to contain any TN minerals.  This leaves Eris and Sedna as possible sources but they are at such a distance from Earth that there is currently little interest in exploring them.  The ships of IS II enter overhaul to be ready to escort the Oberons on their next survey mission currently planed to be Gliese 505.


BIC Operations in Alpha Centauri

The industrial park is operating full out and produces materials to expand the colonies living area for more than 80,000 new colonists but the deficite over the period slowly climbes from around 120,000 to 150,000.  The outbound leg of the maiden voyage of Heavy Lift Group I ends at Faewald on July 4.  The HLG I had 50,000 new colonists and enough support equipment and housing modules for nearly 110,000 people.  The ships remain in orbit until the 18th and then leave for Earth without refueling from the farm.  ICG I arrives on September 23 and remains in orbit until October 15.  This ICG was loaded with 20,000 new colonists, 1 construction factory for the industrial park and more living quarters and life suport materials.  FHG II's crews reach the 12 month mark and on November 8 arrive in Faewald orbit for shore leave, they return to Doineann to resume harvesting on the 28th of December missing the chance for Christmas off the ships by less than a week.  ICG IV arrives at Faewald on December 30 with a load of 20,000 colonists, equipment for a new mine and more prefabricated living quarters and life support spares.  At the end of the year the fuel farm contains 0.74 m litres.


BIC Operations in AD Leonis

Forge traffic control is again busy but this time the ICGs on both legs of their journeys are stopping for more than refueling but to also give their crews shore leave.  ICG V and VI spend time in Forge orbit enjoying the colonies liberty row.  Interstellar Survey IV and the Grav Survey Missions just refuel on the way back to Sol in early September, the ships will arrive at Earth on October 5th.  FHG V spends from August 10 to September 19 in Forge orbit letting their crew blow of steam and then is back at Deeper Sky harvesting on September 20.  At the end of the year the farm is at 0.83 m litres.


BIC Operations in FL Virginis

On August 4 1st Squadron arrives in system.  The Borsoi is detached to emplace comm/sensor buoys on the jump points to Gliese 505 and Gliese 526, this mission is completed with the return of the Borsoi on August 21.  The Protecteur refuels the other ships in the squadron and then rebunkers at Biforst, returning to the Squadron on August 26.  On August 27, ICG VII arrives with 20,000 new colonists, a mine and enough lifesupport and prefabricated housing for 70,000 people.  They depart for Forge on September 9.  On December 22, FHG VII arrives in orbit around the colony to give its crews a special holiday shore leave.  The fuel farm ends the year with 0.99 million litres.