January 1, 2254
The Strug Battle Group completes its probe of Helium VIII, finding nothing. As the two outer planets were probed without result prior to the destruction of the original probe ship, Kadar Psenamy orders a probe of the asteroid belt. It would be too time consuming to visit every asteroid, so Psenamy sets a course that will take the Group through the entire belt, bringing them fairly close to every asteroid.
January 21, 2254
Kadar Psenamy declares the mission complete and the Helium system safe, at least for now. The Kadar orders the Group back to Strug Home. Although he would prefer to remain in-system and protect the survey ships that will certainly arrive once the all-clear is given, the group is short on fuel and is operating nearly two months from home. It is time to return.
February 22, 2254
The Strug Battle Group jumps out of the Helium system, leaving behind a scout and a jump ship to picket the system and watch for any new enemy activity.
March 12, 2254
The Battle Group settles into orbit over Strug Home and again is met by overjoyed celebration. The Council has decided to emphasize the positive, that the threat has been eliminated, and has downplayed the fact that the enemy’s stronghold was not found. Plans for the exploitation of Barsoom and the survey of Helium are dusted off and work is begun again.
April 28, 2254
Strug grav survey ships discover a warp point in the Helium system. The jump ship and scout picketing the warp point to the Barsoom system sets out to probe the new system.
May 11, 2254
Strug ships probe the new warp point. The new system is designated as the Dak Kova system, and it is a binary system with a pair of G4-IV sub-giants with a single Strug Home type planet with one moon and a few asteroids. The planet is barren and sweltering at 789 degrees. The planet has an oppressive carbon dioxide and nitrogen dioxide atmosphere, and obviously could never sustain life. The Strug probe ships withdraw back to Helium.
May 24, 2254
The Council is forced to scale back ship construction and focus all industrial construction on improving the home world’s financial situation.
June 10, 2254
A Strug geo survey ship moving through the Helium asteroid belt discovers a small outpost on one of the asteroids not far from the locations where the battles between the Strug Battle Group and the Helium aliens took place. The contact is only a strength 5 thermal contact, so it is obviously very small, likely some sort of listening post or possibly a mining colony. The ship immediately backs off and sends an emergency message to the picket group at the warp point. The message takes almost six hours to reach the warp point, and immediately after receiving it the picket group jumps to the Barsoom system and relays it to the picket group at the warp point to the Home System. The message takes another four hours to arrive on Strug Home. The Council goes into emergency session immediately after receiving the message, and in short order Kadar Psenamy ordered to the Helium system with a task group and troop carriers. Unfortunately, the Battle Group Psenamy commanded before is in overhaul status, so the ships will have to be brought out of overhaul as soon as possible. Worse, the only troop transports available are too large to squeeze through a jump point opened by a standard jump ship, so the expedition will have to wait until the jump gates now under construction in the Barsoom system are completed.
Bahram Vallis Flt II class Troop Transport 19500 tons 218 Crew 580 BP TCS 390 TH 1000 EM 0
2564 km/s Armour 1-64 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 19 MSP Max Repair 50 MSP
Troop Capacity: 5 Battalions Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Civ Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 200 Fuel Use 6% Signature 200 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 76.9 billion km (347 days at full power)
This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
The Flight II version of this class includes magneto-plasma drives and increased cargo handling capacity to speed the loading and unloading of troops.
June 19, 2254
Strug survey ships discover a third warp point in the Helium system.
June 24, 2254
A fourth warp point is discovered in the Helium system.
July 18, 2254
The jump ship stationed in the Helium system probes the third warp point and discovers a binary F7-V/K6-V system with one potentially habitable planet orbiting the “B” component. No ships or populations are detected, but the planet is nearly seven billion kilometers away. Without the support of armed warships the CO of the probe group is reluctant to continue into the system, so the group returns to the Helium system and sets out for the fourth warp point. The new system is named Issus, after an ancient Strug city.
July 28, 2254
The Strug probe the fourth warp point discovered in the Helium system, discovering their first ever trinary system. The system’s primaries are a K2-V, a K5-V, and a tiny M9-VII. The tiny M class star orbits within a reasonable distance of the primary, while the K5-V has a distant orbit, making it impossible for the Strug to reach. The system’s primary has one planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere, meaning that both this system and the Issus system might house the threat first encountered in the Helium system. This system is named Kab Kadja, after another ancient city.
August 21, 2254
The grav survey of the Helium system is complete, with no new warp points discovered after the fourth. As per standing orders all three Star (Flight II) ships depart for Strug Home for refit and overhaul.
September 4, 2254
The geo-survey of the Helium system is complete and the results are disappointing. Two of the gas giants contain large deposits of moderately accessible sorium, and one of the moons contains an extremely small amount of a single trans-newtonian mineral. The geo-survey units set out for Strug Home until the neighboring systems can be cleared by the military.
November 10, 2254
Late in the day the Helium Attack Group departs Strug Home under the command of the newly promoted Padwar Psenamy. Padwar Psenamy has been given direct command of the only ADC in the Strug Fleet and is the only viable choice for command of a group which will likely be going into combat. The Group consists of an ADC, 2xCLE, 2xMS, 6xGB, and 2xTroop Transports carrying two full assault brigades (each Assault Brigade consists of 1xHQ, 1xHvy Aslt, and 3xAslt Inf.).
January 9, 2255
The Helium Attack Group is in position one mkm from the rather large asteroid that houses the alien outpost. On Padwar Psenamy’s order one of the troop transports accompanied by the two CLE’s races towards the rock. Seven minutes later the attack group screeches to a halt just off of the rock and the transport’s skin peels back in large swathes as the embarked troops begin swarming towards the asteroid. The sight is breathtaking as the 13th Assault Brigade attacks the rock in perfect order.
The initial wave of assault troops is on the rock in minutes, but it will take just over a day for the transport to deliver the entire brigade. Once they were down the Strug troops secured the surface relatively quickly, but then the difficult work of digging out the secure alien installation began. Two days later the Strug were the proud owners of a completely automated long-range sensor station. No resistance was encountered, and no aliens of any sort were discovered in the installation.
February 13, 2255
The Strug finally complete their R&D program to upgrade their military and civilian sensors. Although no immediate refits are planned, all newly constructed units will have the upgraded sensor suites. A design for an improved scout is finalized and plans are made to begin production once the current production run of ADC’s is complete.
Tithonium Chasma Flt II class Scout 9900 tons 956 Crew 2448 BP TCS 198 TH 560 EM 0
5656 km/s Armour 3-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 330/330/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 78% IFR: 1.1% Maintenance Capacity 1545 MSP Max Repair 525 MSP
LP MP Drive (14) Power 80 Fuel Use 60% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 181.8 billion km (372 days at full power)
Scout Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 26250 Range 262.5m km Resolution 50
Scout Thermal Sensor v2 (1) Sensitivity 330 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 330m km
Scout EM Detection Sensor (1) Sensitivity 330 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 330m km
ECM 10
This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
At first, the Naval Design Board planned on upgrading the existing Tithonium Chasma class scouts to the new design, hence the Flight II designation, however, it soon became clear that this will not work. The Flight II design is almost twice as large as the original scout design, due to the larger sensor arrays, and the inclusion of an EM sensor array. Rather than degrade the new scout design, the Design Board decides to scrap the old scouts and build new units, however, by that time the Flight II designation had become ingrained and they ultimately decided to leave it that way.
This class is an important addition to the Strug Fleet. The Fleet’s gunboats have proved to be a match for the enemy’s warships, but their effectiveness is dependent on the fleet being able to launch them soon enough to intercept the alien ships before they can launch their missiles at the fleet. The sensors of the current scout design have not proved consistently able to do this; therefore, this new design with its more sensitive and larger sensors should be a vast improvement.
April 2, 2255
The last jump gate in the Strug Home-Barsoom-Helium warp line is complete, and the Strug begin implementing their plans for expansion. In spite of its barren nature, Helium is seen as the key to future expansion, as all future Strug growth will have to move through the system. Therefore, the highest priority is given to the project to establish a major naval base in the system, supported by a self-supporting population with significant planetary defenses capable of standing off any alien attack. This is a major, long-term project for the entire Strug civilization.
After some consideration, the Council decides that the new base and population center will be on the third moon of Helium VIII, a centrally located planet. After more debate, the Council decides that the population will be composed entirely of Colonists rather than Strug, for the simple reason that they are more suited for the new world and will require less modification of the environment than would be needed for a Strug population. This decision also satisfies ongoing discontent on The Sister over lingering radiation and a constantly declining population. The Colonists have long agitated for a new planet for their population, or at least a major colony.
The new colony is to be named The Redoubt. Orders are dispatched to the transports already in Helium to deposit their troops on the new colony site to secure the moon. In addition, the fledgling Strugforming corps is dispatched to the moon to begin alterations.
To aide in the establishment of the forward base, a new research program is planned. The final phases of the sensor improvement project, which would improve planetary sensor ranges and the survey instruments of the Survey Corps is scrapped, and instead research begins immediately on improved Strugforming methods, to be followed by the development of improved engines that will hopefully reduce the travel time to and from the Helium system. Currently the round trip from Strug Home (or The Sister for that matter) to The Redoubt is a distance of 21.5 billion kilometers, meaning that the standard freighter would require one hundred and twenty days for the trip. This fact will mean that the effort will require a tremendous amount of time; therefore the Council has prioritized engine research to reduce the trip time.
May 12, 2255
The Helium Attack Group completes its probe of the Kab Kadja system without finding any evidence of alien habitation. Padwar Psenamy declines to travel to the two outer planets due to the long travel time, but neither has habitable moons and thus they aren’t considered candidates for alien populations. The Group sets out for the Issus system next.
July 4, 2255
The Helium Attack Group is approaching Issus B, the site of the most likely candidate for a population for the hostile aliens encountered in the Helium system. At 2025 hours the attached scout detects an alien ship 79 mkm’s away, in between the Group and the B component of the system. The contact has the same basic emission patterns as the alien ships encountered in the Helium system, to the point where the Group’s Intelligence Team is able to identify it as belonging to the same race, however, this is a new design not seen before. The contact is designated as Scorpion-001 and appears to mass 4,150 tons.
Padwar Psenamy orders the Group to halt and for the shields to be raised. Once that is done he orders the communications staff to begin efforts to contact the aliens. At this point Psenamy isn’t confident enough of the identification of the aliens to order an attack, but isn’t willing to leave himself open to attack in turn either. Because he has no way of knowing whether or not missiles are already en route, Psenamy orders the Group’s six gunboats to be launched and for them to intercept the alien ship. It will take the gunboats eighty eight minutes to reach maximum attack range, and Psenamy hopes to more certain by that time.
Minutes later some of the doubt is lifted off of Psenamy. The contact is determined to be approaching the Group at 4819 kps, exactly the same speed as the ships encountered in the Helium system. While not definitive proof of their identity, Psenamy is growing more and more certain that they are the same race as that encountered in Helium.
Ninety minutes later the gunboats are in position and the aliens continue to close on the main group, after ignoring every attempt by the Strug to communicate. Padwar Psenamy decides that their continued avoidance of communications and the fact that they continued to close on the Strug Group constitutes a hostile act and orders the gunboats to open fire.
Once again the gunboats discover that the enemy ships have fiendishly effective ECM and that they will be forced to close to at least 6.7 mkm’s, so they again turn towards the oncoming alien ships. One hundred and seventy five seconds later four of the six gunboats launch five missiles each at the alien ship. The remaining two gunboats hold their missiles in reserve.
Several minutes later the twenty missiles reached attach range of the alien ship. Eight out of the twenty missiles hit, causing several breaches in the alien’s hull, but the enemy ship proved tougher than anticipated. Although it was streaming atmosphere and was reduced to less than half of its original speed, the ship still forged ahead. The remaining two gunboats launched their missiles a few seconds later. Four missiles from the second salvo slammed into the target, destroying it utterly. Once again no life pods were detected. The gunboats turned back towards their motherships for rearming.
July 6, 2255
The Helium Attack Group arrives as Issus B-IV, the only planet with an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere. The planet is dead, without any hint that any intelligent life forms ever visited it.
July 8, 2255
The Helium Attack Group has now probed every planet in the B component and found nothing. There is an asteroid belt, but Padwar Psenamy feels that it would be too time consuming to visit every asteroid looking for a tiny outpost, so he orders his group to set course for the system’s A component.
July 19, 2255
The Helium Attack Group completes its probe of the A component, finding nothing. Padwar Psenamy orders the group to return to Helium.
November 6, 2255
The Helium Attack Group returns to Strug Home and is met with planet-wide celebration. Once again, Padwar Pesnamy is hailed as a savior of the Allied Principalities.
December, 2255
The colony on The Redoubt is now composed of 1.56 million Colonists. The colony is a paper tiger, though. So far, no defenses have been constructed and no naval units have been stationed there, but that is soon to change. Now that a population is in place, the Council is under increasing pressure to begin moving defenses into place, as well as the support infrastructure for a permanent naval presence.
September 24, 2256
Strug salvage units complete their recovery efforts on one of the wrecks of the alien ships in the Helium system. Analysis of the wreck shows that the aliens have more advanced active sensors than the Strug. Several intact components are recovered from the debris, including an intact internal confinement fusion drive, which is a technology just being developed on Strug Home.
Several hours later a second Strug salvage ship completes work on a second wreck, discovering advanced magazine technology. In addition, several shipboard systems are recovered.
November 5, 2256
A Strug salvage ship completes work on the final wreck in the Helium system, discovering advanced missile launcher technology, along with several ship systems. The salvage ship sets out for The Redoubt to drop off the resources and systems, and then sets out with its sister ship for Strug Home to download the data on the technology that they have recovered.
December 19, 2256
The Strug launch four brand new fuel harvesters on this date:
Fuel Refinery class Fuel Harvester 35000 tons 535 Crew 1110 BP TCS 700 TH 1200 EM 0
1714 km/s Armour 1-95 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maintenance Capacity 20 MSP Max Repair 60 MSP
Fuel Harvester: 5 modules producing 160000 litres per annum
Civ Magneto-plasma Drive (6) Power 200 Fuel Use 6% Signature 200 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,750,000 Litres Range 1499.8 billion km (10127 days at full power)
This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
These ships will be immediately dispatched to the Helium system, where they will drop off 90% of their fuel at The Redoubt and then proceed to The Redoubt’s gas giant primary, where they will begin harvesting that planet’s atmospheric sorium deposits. The new Refinery Corps is an important lynch pin of the growing Strug presence in the Helium system.
May 3, 2257
The Strug Survey Corps completes its geo-survey of the Issus system without finding any alien outposts.
One of the planets and several asteroids do have sizeable deposits of resources at good availability levels, making this system a prime mining site once The Redoubt has been established.
June 4, 2257
The Redoubt now has enough maintenance facilities to support ships up to 9,000 tons, so the Council has decided to begin forward-deploying naval units to the new base, both for defensive duties and to give the new base the ability to project Strug naval power into the adjacent systems. The bulk of the fleet is tied up in training missions or scheduled for overhauls, so the initial deployment will be limited to two motherships, their attendant gunboats, and an older scout. While the lack of missile-defense ships would have been seen as problematic at best, even just a year ago, the intelligence gained by the salvage of the destroyed alien ships has given the navy very good intelligence on the alien’s capabilities. A missile targeting system was recovered from one of the wrecks and analyzed, and the system’s maximum range was 72.2 mkm’s against a ship unprotected by ECM. Given the fact that the older scouts are more than capable of detecting the alien ships at least 100 mkm’s away, the mothership’s gunboats will be able to intercept the alien ships sufficiently far away to prevent a missile launch.
The current plans are to bolster the defensive force as soon as the current training/overhaul cycle is complete.
June 5, 2257
Strug survey ships complete a grav survey of the Dak Kova system, discovering one additional warp point. Four days later, a Strug jump ship probes the new warp point in the Dak Kova system, a G6-V primary system with one potentially habitable world.
December, 2257
R&D is completed on several new engine designs based on internal confinement fusion technology, and a massive expansion and retooling of the orbital shipyards begins to take advantage of this new tech. The Council has decided to require all new civilian designs to have a minimum speed of 5,000 kps, to reduce the transit time in between the Home system and The Redoubt. To accommodate this requirement, most civilian designs have had to increase the tonnage devoted to engines, even with the newer, more powerful engines, and this means that the yards will have to be expanded to handle the new designs.
February 7, 2258
Strug survey ships complete the grav survey of the Issus system, discovering one additional warp point. The warp point connects to a binary system. The system primaries are a K0-V and a T7-VII. Five planets and fourteen moons orbit the A component, none of which are even potentially habitable.
April 5, 2258
The first two prefabbed colonial defense base class PDC’s are delivered to the Redoubt, and the engineer regiments already stationed there begin assembling them.
Colonial Defense Base class Planetary Defence Centre 8300 tons 1289 Crew 1462.8 BP TCS 166 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 5-36 Sensors 1/252 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 105
Magazine 363
PDC Missile Launcher (5) Missile Size 20 Rate of Fire 100
PDC AM Missile Launcher (5) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
Lg Missile Fire Control v2 (1) Range 113.4m km Resolution 60
AMM Fire Control v2 (1) Range 3.2m km Resolution 1
Hvy Active Search Sensor v2 (1) GPS 8400 Range 84.0m km Resolution 50
Lg AM Active Search Sensor v2 (1) GPS 252 Range 2.5m km Resolution 1
ECCM-1 (2)
This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 4 sections
August 19, 2258
A Strug jump ship probes the first new warp point found in the Kab Kadja system, discovering a G1-V star buried deep within a nebula. The star boasts two potentially habitable planets.
September 7, 2258
The probe of the second newly discovered warp point in the Kab Kadja system reveals a quaternary system. The central star is a G5-V, which is orbited by a second G-5V and an M7-V. The second star (the second G5-V) is orbited by a K9-V. All four stars are in relatively close proximity, and easily reachable by Strug ships.
There are ten planets, fifteen moons, and three asteroid belts in the system. Two of the planets are potentially habitable.
Update, December 2258
The Redoubt is well established at this point. PDC’s are under construction by the Engineering Corps, there is a major Army presence, and a permanent naval squadron stationed overhead. In addition, a naval base with enough maintenance capacity to support medium sized ships (including the fleet’s motherships), has been established. Finally, the burgeoning Strug Refining Corps has delivered a significant amount of fuel to the base and is currently stationed at VIII producing more fuel for the growing civilian and naval squadrons assigned to the system.
Now that The Redoubt is well established, the Council has begun making plans for expansion beyond the Helium system. No definite plans have been made yet, as Council is currently planning on using the new internal confinement fusion drive ships to shuttle between Strug Home and the Helium system, while the older and slower colony ships and freighters will be used to expand beyond the Helium system.
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