Author Topic: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4  (Read 6783 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

  • Aurora Designer
  • Star Marshal
  • S
  • Posts: 11649
  • Thanked: 20349 times
NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« on: July 16, 2010, 12:15:22 AM »
12th October 2028
Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 01 departs Alpha Centauri for the Ganymede fleet base, leaving behind the aviation cruiser Kiev and her twenty-four Sukhoi-40 fighters. Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 02 has already replenished its stocks of P-501 Garpun missiles from the Tu-50 bases on Ganymede and is en route to Alpha Centauri to rendezvous with Kiev. All three missile boat divisions are also heading for Alpha Centauri. With only two alien ships remaining, Soviet Fleet Headquarters has decided to use all its available assets to try and eliminate them without waiting for supplies of the P-503 Ametist.

14th October 2028
Soviet gravitational survey ships complete a survey of Ross 128, finding a single new jump point. A Project 1215 Fyodorov class transits the jump point and emerges in Wolf 1061, a red dwarf system with eight planets and a small asteroid belt. The second planet has acceptable gravity, ideal temperature and a minimal nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere. A definite candidate for future terraforming and a good location for a future Soviet base as the Soviet Union expands down the Alpha Centauri chain.

Code: [Select]
Wolf 1061-A  M4-V  Diameter: 556k  Mass: 0.26  Luminosity: 0.012

Wolf 1061-A I:  Colony Cost: 66.52,  Temperature: 1507.3,  Gravity: 1.00,  Orbit: 510k
Wolf 1061-A II:  Colony Cost: 2.00,  Temperature: 25.6,  Gravity: 0.41,  Orbit: 15.7m
    Nitrogen 74%, Oxygen (0.01) 22.1%, Carbon Dioxide 3.9%,  Pressure: 0.03
Wolf 1061-A III:  Colony Cost: 2.00,  Temperature: -29.4,  Gravity: 0.50,  Orbit: 35m
    Carbon Dioxide 83%, Nitrogen 17.0%,  Pressure: 0.15
Wolf 1061-A V:  Temperature: -184.2,  Gravity: 0.95,  Orbit: 135m
    Total Moons: 20
Wolf 1061-A VI:  Temperature: -211.8,  Gravity: 0.29,  Orbit: 286m
    Total Moons: 31
Wolf 1061-A VII:  Temperature: -223.9,  Gravity: 9.8,  Orbit: 444m
    Total Moons: 15
Wolf 1061-A VIII:  Temperature: -241.2,  Gravity: 0.11,  Orbit: 858m
    Total Moons: 1
Wolf 1061-A XI:  Temperature: -260.5,  Gravity: 0.03,  Orbit: 5.1b

Jump Points
 1) Ross 154:    Distance: 2.91b   Bearing: 323
15th October 2028
NATO fighter factories complete work on Akagi's strikegroup. All five Enterprise class carriers now have their full assigned order of battle, including both fighters and ordnance. Two additional Daring class area defence cruisers are under construction and will be added to the two carrier groups that include a pair of carriers.

24th October 2028
The Soviet Union is ready to take on the last two alien ships in Alpha Centauri. Raketnyy Korabl Otdel 02 is back in the system, still under the command of Kontr-Admiral Bogdanov. His task group has been reinforced by the aviation cruiser Kiev, which together with her sister ship Minsk gives him a fighter force of forty-eight Sukhoi-40s. All thirty Molniya class fast attack craft are also under his command, as well as his cruiser force of one Project 1201 Orlan, three Project 1204 Atlants and four Project 1200 Berkuts. Including a simultaneous fighter launch, his fleet is capable of firing a single wave of six hundred P-500 Palash and four hundred and twenty P-501 Garpun anti-ship missiles, although that would deplete almost all the remaining Soviet missile stockpile, except for those reserved for the Tupolev-50 bomber force. Well aware of the massive overkill of Vitse Admiral Kravchenko's recent attack, he decides to hold the larger P-501s in reserve and launch a strike with his P-500s only. If necessary, his fighters can re-arm and launch a second strike along with the P-500s.

Six hundred Palash missiles streak toward the two defending bases. The first anti-missiles intercept them two point seven million kilometers from the alien bases and Soviet missiles start to vanish from tracking screens. The attacking wave is rapidly depleted by constant explosions but the alien point defence cannot stop it entirely. Five hundred and seven Soviet missiles are destroyed short of their targets and fifteen more are hit by point blank point defence. The other seventy-eight all strike the alien bases. One base is hit forty-two times and explodes. The other suffers thirty-six hits and survives, although its condition is unknown. None of the alien ships have ever shown any sign of atmospheric loss when hit and the best guess of the analysts of the Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye (GRU), which is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the Red Army General Staff, is that the alien ships are effectively computer-controlled robots, similar to the ground forces encountered on asteroid #15.

With no real information on the damaged base and unwilling to send a huge missile wave against a potentially crippled target, Kontr-Admiral Bogdanov orders the fighters to be re-armed. Forty minutes later, a single fighter leaves Kiev and launches three P-500s against the base. The missiles make it all the way to their target before being destroyed by point blank point defence fire. With no apparent threat from alien missiles, Bogdanov decides to take the Frunze and the three Project 1204 cruisers close to the alien base and destroy it with railguns. They halt one hundred and sixty thousand kilometers away and open fire. A hail of railgun rounds batters the alien base. Although each individual hit causes minimal damage, the four Soviet warships can fire one hundred and forty-four rounds per minute between them. Within forty seconds, the last known alien unit in Alpha Centauri is finally destroyed.

The Soviet Union has to count the cost of defeating the alien threat. Four colony ships, the only two available geological survey ships, four airborne battalions, a regimental headquarters and a huge amount of ordnance that will take years to replace at current build rates. The colonization and exploitation of Alpha Centauri has been slowed down considerably. The wreckage of five alien ships is available for examination but unlike NATO the Soviet Union does not yet have salvage technology. Its development is a priority. Although the aliens in Alpha Centauri have been neutralized, there is also the question of their origin. All the ships and ground forces were apparently computer-controlled robots and could have been in the system for some time. Even so, they had to be built somewhere and so far no evidence has been uncovered to suggestion they were built in Alpha Centauri. All Soviet forces are made aware that further alien encounters are possible, perhaps even likely.

10th December 2028
A Chinese geological survey ship transits a newly discovered jump point in 70 Ophuichi and discovers the Gliese 701 system, which has a red dwarf primary orbited by four planets and a large asteroid belt. Six days later a probe of a second new jump point reveals it links to the Wolf 629 system, also with a red dwarf primary. Neither the former system nor the three planets of the latter have any colonization potential. The Chinese survey of 70 Ophuichi continues.

26th December 2028
The Soviet Union completes its survey of Wolf 1061 and finds a single new jump point leading to Gliese 588, a an unremarkable red dwarf system with eight planets and two large asteroid belts. Soviet territory now comprises a chain of four systems starting with Alpha Centauri.

20th February 2029
NATO makes the decision to evacuate the one point five million colonists from Titan. The future primary base of the NATO naval forces is almost certain to be in Epsilon Eridani so further development of Titan is unnecessary. Construction factories and engineers will be all be transported from the Saturnian moon to the ideal habitable moon in Epsilon Eridani, leaving just the PDC-based maintenance facilities. With no requirement left for the existing population, they can be relocated and the orbital habitats made available for any future colonies on uninhabitable worlds.

30th April 2029
The NATO survey cruisers Galileo and Kepler are launched from the Norfolk Navy Shipyard. These are the first gravitational survey ships in NATO service since Intrepid was destroyed during its survey of Epsilon Eridani. The first task of the new ships will be to complete the survey of that system. While NATO has been standing still in terms of exploration, the Soviet Union has charted seven systems in the Alpha Centauri chain and China has explored four systems in the Barnard's Star chain.

29th June 2029
NATO locates a new jump point in Epsilon Eridani. While the two Galileo class ships continue the gravitational survey ships, the geological survey ships Beagle and Endurance are directed to investigate the jump point. Beagle carries out the probe and emerges in Tau Ceti, a system with a G8V primary, fifteen planets and three hundred asteroids. Although none of the planets are immediately habitable, Tau Ceti V has a breathable atmosphere and acceptable gravity. The temperature of -54C makes the colony cost 2.44. Two moons of Tau Ceti IV are also long-term terraforming candidates, albeit with a considerable amount of effort required. Beagle and Endurance begin a geological survey. They will be reinforced by Discovery, which is dispatched to the system from Earth orbit.

30th June 2029
Beagle and Endurance are one hundred and forty million kilometers into Tau Ceti when Beagle detects six ships from the same alien race they encountered in Epsilon Eridani closing on their position. Both ships immediately reverse course and head back toward the jump point. The six alien ships are of three different classes. Four are designated as Artemis class by the tactical computer and one each as Archidamus and Leonidas. All are 6450 tons and capable of 6975 km/s. The alien ship armed with energy weapons that was destroyed in Epsilon Eridani was designated as Zeus class.

[attachment=1:3lq6o4ew]TauCeti-1.GIF[/attachment:3lq6o4ew]

Thirty-five minutes after the initial contact, Beagle is hit by six anti-ship missiles with strength-8 warheads. The fragile survey ship explodes, spilling life pods in the wake of the spreading debris. The alien ships change course to pursue Endurance and she is destroyed thirty minutes after Beagle. With no jump gate on the Tau Ceti - Epsilon Eridani jump point there is no way for NATO to know the ships have been lost.

14th July 2029
The geosurvey ship Discovery arrives in Tau Ceti and immediately detects the wrecks of Beagle and Endurance. She jumps back into Epsilon Eridani and raises the alarm. The Independence carrier group is sat on the Sol - Epsilon Eridani jump point but NATO Fleet Headquarters does not want to leave the system open to a surprise attack from the Soviet Union or China so the Enterprise / Graf Zeppelin carrier group is ordered to leave Titan and move through Epsilon Eridani to the Tau Ceti jump point, where they will be joined by a Gateway class construction ship. While the Gateway is building a new jump gate, the carriers will launch a combat patrol through the jump point using the Discovery as an escort.

19th July 2029
A second new jump point is discovered in Epsilon Eridani. The other available geosurvey ships, Endeavour, Nimrod and Victoria, are dispatched to probe it, with firm instructions that one of the ships is to remain at the jump point while the other two check out the system. Endeavour carries out the initial transit and discovers the system of Teegarden's Star, which has a faint M6-V red dwarf primary orbited by seven planets. None of the planets, or the system's fifty-four moons, are habitable or good candidates for terraforming. Nimrod and Victoria head in-system to begin a geological survey while Endeavour monitors their progress from the jump point.

27th July 2029
The Enterprise and Graf Zeppelin, along with their escorts, arrive at the Epsilon Eridani - Tau Ceti jump point. The first act of the task group commander, Rear Admiral Arno von Kolbe, is to send Discovery into Tau Ceti, escorting an E-27A Sentinel and an F-24A Cobra. Once her sensors have recovered from transit effects, the Sentinel detects a single Leonidas class ship at the edge of sensor range, near the wreck of the Beagle. Because of the lack of information regarding the destruction of Beagle and Endurance, NATO is unaware of the presence of five more alien ships in Tau Ceti. Discovery returns to Epsilon Eridani to report and the Admiral decides to use the survey ship to ferry through two squadrons of F-24A Cobras. VFA-11 Red Rippers and VFA-136 Knighthawks are soon assembled in Tau Ceti and ready for action. The alien Leonidas class heads toward the jump point and the Cobras advance to meet it.

[attachment=0:3lq6o4ew]TauCeti-2.GIF[/attachment:3lq6o4ew]

Due to the ECM of the target, the F-24A Cobras' maximum fire control range is reduced to forty-three million kilometers rather than the usual sixty-two million. Even so, that is well outside the range at which the aliens ship's active sensor can detect something as small as a fighter. VFA-11 Red Rippers fires first, launching forty-eight AGM-1A Sabres at the Leonidas, while VFA-136 holds its missiles for a possible second strike. Twenty-one minutes after launch, fifteen strength-6 missile detonations are detected in close proximity to the alien ship. Four more missiles were shot down by alien point defence and the other twenty-nine failed to hit their target. The Leonidas survives the attack but its speed is reduced to 4650 km/s. In an attempt to preserve missile stocks, only six F-24As from VFA-136 launch their missiles at the damaged ship. Seven hit, which is enough to destroy the target. All twenty-four F-24As return to the jump point and are escorted through in pairs by Discovery so they can land on the Enterprise to refuel and reload. Discovery returns to Tau Ceti to act as a message courier.

28th July 2029
The E-27A Sentinel on the Tau Ceti - Epsilon Eridani jump point detects eight new alien ships at one hundred and thirty-eight million kilometers. They are designated as four Artemis class, an Archidamus, an Apollo, a Cypelus and a Poseidon. All are 6450 tons, except for the Poseidon which is 12,900 tons. Until this point, NATO has only encountered single alien ships - the Zeus in Epsilon Eridani and the Leonidas in Tau Ceti - so the sight of an alien fleet is extremely disconcerting. After Discovery transits into Epsilon Eridani to deliver a report, Rear Admiral von Kolbe has some difficult decisions to make. In particular, whether to attempt to fight the aliens in Tau Ceti or give up the system and defend the Epsilon Eridani side of the jump point. He doesn't have long to decide though as the alien ships will be at the jump point within six hours. Von Kolbe is aggressive by nature so within a few minutes he orders both carriers to launch their full complement of F-24As, seventy-two fighters in all, and Discovery begins ferrying them into Tau Ceti. For the moment, he holds back the twenty-four A-28A Pythons and their heavier missiles as a reserve.

The wave of NATO fighters moves out to meet the approaching alien fleet. Five alien ships, comprising all four Artemis and the Archidamus, precede the other three by one point five million kilometers so the strike targets the first group only, hoping that any point defence in the second group will be unable to protect the leading group. Each Artemis is targeted by fifteen Cobras and the Archidamus is targeted by twelve; a total of two hundred and eighty-eight AGM-1A Sabre anti-ship missiles. Three hundred thousand kilometers from the target a dozen Sabres are destroyed, presumably by anti-missiles. Which ship or ships fired those anti-missiles is unknown.

Chaos ensues as the missile wave reaches its targets. Thirteen strength-1 detonations just short of the alien ship indicate more anti-missiles and several more Sabres are shot down by point blank point defence. Ninety-four strength-6 explosions, presumably AGM-1As, are registered amongst the alien ships, followed by a couple of small power system explosions and a huge strength-72 magazine explosion. NATO sensors are momentarily blinded by the concentrated destructive power. When they clear, four new wrecks are visible and the surviving Artemis class is apparently dead in space. The F-24A Cobras reverse course and head back to the jump point. The other three aliens move to the location of their wrecked and crippled sisters and hold position. Two hours after the destruction of the alien ships, with the Cobras all re-arming back aboard their carriers, the aliens begin to approach the jump point yet again, but only at a speed of 774 km/s. Rear Admiral von Kolbe's staff believe this indicates the crippled ship has repaired an engine and the others are simply keeping pace with their slowest ship.

Thirty minutes later, the F-24As are ready to launch and Discovery begins ferrying them back into Tau Ceti. Rear Admiral von Kolbe sends a recommendation to Fleet Headquarters, suggesting they look urgently at a requirement for transporting fighters through a jump point which an Enterprise class carrier is unable to transit. Two hours after the NATO fighters return to the system they launch a second strike against the alien fleet. A pair of fighters target the crippled Artemis while sixteen each target the other 6450 ton ships, the Apollo and Cypelus. The remaining thirty-eight Cobras all target the 12,900 ton Poseidon.

The progress of the second wave of NATO missiles toward its targets is far less smooth than the first. Anti-missiles began to explode two point five million kilometers from the alien ships. Although they detonate in small groups, with between five and twenty intercepting the NATO missiles every few seconds, they steadily reduce the size of the missile wave. By the time the AGM-1A Sabres reach their destination, their numbers have been reduced by sixty percent. In all, forty-five Sabres strike their targets. Six hit the Apollo, seventeen hit the Cypelus, destroying it, and twenty-two strike the 12,900 ton Poseidon. The already crippled Artemis does not suffer any further damage. As before, the source of the anti-missiles is unknown. The three surviving alien ships, all of which have suffered damage, continue on course toward the Epsilon Eridani jump point.

The seventy-two F-24A Cobras from Enterprise and Graf Zeppelin return to Tau Ceti for a third time. By now, the small alien fleet has increased speed to 1550 km/s, indicating repairs are ongoing. On the assumption the alien ships are unlikely to either mount as much resistance in terms of point defence or require as many hits to destroy them as undamaged ships, only half of the available missiles are launched against them. One hundred and forty-four AGM-1A Sabres close on their position, split equally between the Poseidon and the Apollo, except for sixteen missiles directed against the Artemis. NATO optimism with regard to the effectiveness of the alien point defence is dashed by a first in a series of small nuclear detonations two million kilometers from the alien ships. Only a third of the NATO anti-ship missiles survive to reach attack range. Even so, eight hits on the Apollo class are sufficient to destroy it. The Poseidon is struck ten times and its speed reduced to 1936 km/s. The crippled Artemis survives once more and even manages to increase its speed to 2324 km/s.

After receiving further instructions from Rear Admiral von Kolbe via Discovery, the rest of the AGM-1A Sabres carried by the F-24A Cobras are launched against the last two ships. Von Kolbe is determined to end this particular battle as quickly as possible. The Artemis continues toward the jump point but the Poseidon reverses course and runs. The fighters give chase to ensure they remain within fire control range. This time there is no point defence fire, which suggests the Apollo may have been equipped with point defence missiles, and the wave of Sabres is massive overkill. Six hits are enough to kill the Poseidon and three are needed to kill the Artemis. No more alien ships remain on the sensors of the E-27A Sentinel stationed at the Epsilon Eridani jump point.

The fighters return to their carriers in Epsilon Eridani. No immediate re-arming is possible though as the carriers' stocks of AGM-1A Sabres have been exhausted. Two McKinley class colliers accompanying the carrier group have enough additional AGM-1As to re-arm three quarters of the F-24A Cobras. Usually they would carry enough for a complete reload but 25% of their stocks were used to replenish the carrier magazines after the destruction of the Leonidas class. The two colliers head back to Earth to load additional missiles.

5th August 2029
NATO completes design work on a new fighter, the J-30A Vanguard class Jump Scout. This is the first jump-capable fighter, although its jump drive is limited to allowing the Vanguard itself to jump and cannot be used to ferry other fighters through a jump point. The role of the J-30A is provide a jump-capable scout for the Enterprise class carriers so they can check the far side of jump points for hostile activity. Once they are available, one Vanguard will be deployed on each carrier in place of an R-26A Krait.

Code: [Select]
J-30A Vanguard class Jump Scout    300 tons     8 Crew     82 BP      TCS 6  TH 36  EM 0
6000 km/s    JR 1-50     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 7%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 17 MSP    Max Repair 63 MSP    Est Time: 2.25 Years

Blohm + Voss F300 Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 300 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 1
Pratt & Whitney F150 Ion Engine (1)    Power 36    Fuel Use 7000%    Signature 36    Armour 0    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 0.9 billion km   (39 hours at full power)
SN/APS-3 Active Search Sensor (1)     GPS 6300     Range 69.3m km    Resolution 100
9th August 2029
Three NATO colonies are now well established in Epsilon Eridani. The largest is Jamestown, on the habitable eighteenth moon of Epsilon Eridani II, which has a population of almost eleven million. The smaller colony of Roanoke, on the twenty-second moon of the same super-jovian, has a population of four point three million while New Amsterdam on Epsilon Eridani III has one point seven million colonists. Fifty construction factories and ninety maintenance facilities are in operation at the Jamestown colony, which means the two Marine Expeditionary Forces can relocate there from Titan as the maintenance facilities can handle the Iwo Jima class assault carriers and their escorts. Roanoke has ten Terraforming Installations, which are adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere in order to bring the temperature within the range of human tolerance.

24th September 2029
With no sign of additional alien ships approaching the Tau Ceti - Epsilon Eridani jump point, NATO is ready to begin a probe of the inner system. Rear Admiral von Kolbe decides on a long range mission by a pair of A-28A Pythons loaded with recon drones and escorted into Tau Ceti by Discovery. Between them the two fighters have four RLN-6A Raven Reconnaissance Drones and four RLN-7A Shadow Passive Recon Drones. One drone of each type is launched at Tau Ceti V from a distance of over one hundred million kilometers. The planet is the most likely to be inhabited as it has a breathable atmosphere, although the temperature of -54C gives it a colony cost of 2.44. Neither drone detects anything in orbit.

The Pythons move further in-system and launch drones at Tau Ceti III and the fifth and seventh moons of Tau Ceti IV, all of which are colony cost 2.00. Soon after the drones arrive at the fifth moon of Tau Ceti IV without detecting anything, they vanish amidst forty-eight strength-1 detonations; presumably overkill by anti-missiles. The Pythons are ordered to close on Tau Ceti IV and use their onboard active sensors. Their sensors have a range of thirty-seven million kilometers and a resolution of 160 so they close to twenty-six million before kilometers activating them. Two new alien contacts are detected in orbit of the gas giant, both of which are previously unknown classes. The first is 12,400 tons and designated as Themistocles class, while the second is 12,900 and designated as Achilles class. Neither ship makes any attempt to leave orbit and pursue the two A-28A Pythons. The gas giant and its moon are half a billion kilometers from the Epsilon Eridani jump point, which rules out a strike by F-24A Cobras until the jump gate is complete and the carriers can enter Tau Ceti. A long range attack by A-28As is a possibility, though Rear Admiral von Kolbe sees no real downside to waiting to conduct a more decisive strike. His colliers have made two trips to Earth and stripped the homeworld of all available AGM-1A Sabres to bring his magazines back to almost full capacity. A new AGM-1B Sabre is now in production with eleven percent more speed but slightly less range.

27th September 2029
Two Pegasus class salvage ships are launched from the Pan United Shipyard. Their first task is salvage of the alien Zeus class ship that was destroyed in Epsilon Eridani.

Code: [Select]
Pegasus class Salvager    22,100 tons     462 Crew     702.4 BP      TCS 442  TH 1350  EM 0
3054 km/s     Armour 1-70     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 20 MSP    Max Repair 200 MSP
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day

Commercial Ion Engine (9)    Power 150    Fuel Use 7%    Signature 150    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 232.7 billion km   (881 days at full power)
28th September 2029
The gravitational survey of Epsilon Eridani is completed, confirming that only three jump points exist, leading to Sol, Tau Ceti and Teegarden's Star

10th October 2029
Two Tokamak fusion reactors are salvaged from the wreckage of the alien Zeus class warship.

12th October 2029
The first in a new class of jump-capable command cruisers is laid down at the Harland and Wolff Shipyard. The Alexander is an updated and much larger version of the Redoutable class Command Ship, which includes a newly developed jump drive, the first NATO ECM system, more fuel efficient engines, an improved EM sensor and greater endurance. Its envisioned role is to lead a squadron dedicated to both exploration and combat that will serve on the edge of known space. The primary striking power of the NATO naval forces is concentrated in the Enterprise class carriers, which are restricted to operating within systems connected by jump gates. The Alexander will allow smaller but still very capable ships, such as the Virginia class cruiser and the Illustrious class light carrier (see below), to project power into systems outside the jump gate network.

Code: [Select]
Alexander class Jump Cruiser    15,000 tons     1359 Crew     3234.8 BP      TCS 300  TH 1200  EM 0
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 4-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 25/110/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 120%    IFR: 1.7%    Maint Capacity 2022 MSP    Max Repair 630 MSP    Est Time: 1.84 Years
Flag Bridge    

Blohm + Voss BV1500 Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce RR60 Ion Drive (20)    Power 60    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres    Range 120.0 billion km   (347 days at full power)

Guardian CIWS (2x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
SN/SPY-19 Area Surveillance Array (1)     GPS 50400     Range 554.4m km    Resolution 120
SN/SPY-20 Small Target Detection System (1)     GPS 12600     Range 138.6m km    Resolution 20
SN/SQR-21 Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 25     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  25m km
SN/SLR-22 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 110     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  110m km

ECM 10
The Illustrious class light carrier is intended to operate in squadrons led by an Alexander class jump cruiser, enabling the carrier to transport its small strikegroup outside the jump gate network and providing such squadrons with fighter cover. While the new design does not have the versatile and much larger strikegroup of the Enterprise class, the combination of the F-24A Cobra and the Sabre anti-ship missile has already proven effective in engagements in Epsilon Eridani and Tau Ceti.

Code: [Select]
Illustrious class Light Carrier    15,000 tons     872 Crew     1881.6 BP      TCS 300  TH 1200  EM 0
4000 km/s     Armour 3-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 10     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 180%    IFR: 2.5%    Maint Capacity 784 MSP    Max Repair 105 MSP    Est Time: 2.38 Years
Hangar Deck Capacity 5000 tons     Magazine 600    

Rolls Royce RR60 Ion Drive (20)    Power 60    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 100.0 billion km   (289 days at full power)

Guardian CIWS (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
AGM-1B Sabre Anti-Ship Missile (150)  Speed: 30,000 km/s   End: 33.3m    Range: 60m km   WH: 6   Size: 4   TH: 100 / 60 / 30

SN/APS-6 Active Search Sensor (1)     GPS 12600     Range 138.6m km    Resolution 120
SN/SLR-24 EM Detection Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

Strike Group
18x F-24A Cobra Strikefighter   Speed: 7200 km/s    Size: 5
1x E-27A Sentinel Early Warning Craft   Speed: 4500 km/s    Size: 8

27th October 2029
The People's Republic of China requests the loan of a jump gate construction ship from NATO to build jump gates either side of the Sol - Barnard's Star jump point. They offer geological survey data on Barnard's Star as recompense, although that data is not much use as the Chinese have annexed the system. After much discussion NATO agrees to the Chinese request. Not because of the geological survey data but because NATO would prefer the Chinese to expend their energies on space exploration rather than causing mischief because they are restricted to the Sol system. NATO has three Gateways in service, two of which are building gates in Epsilon Eridani at the Tau Ceti and Teegarden's Star jump point. The third is immediately available.

17th December 2029
The Soviet Union launches two new Project 1216 'Molchanov' class geosurvey ships. The geological survey of Alpha Centauri, which has been on hold since the destruction of the first two Molchanovs, can finally resume.

10th January 2030
The NATO survey of Teegarden's star is completed, revealing the location of just one additional jump point beside the one leading to Epsilon Eridani. Galileo and Kepler move to the new jump point and Galileo transits. She emerges in TZ Arietis, a red dwarf system with seven unremarkable planets, none of which are habitable or suitable for terraforming. Galileo transits back into Teegarden's Star to summon Kepler and the two ships begin a survey of the new system.

17th February 2030
A Soviet Project 1216 'Molchanov' class survey ship discovers a ruined alien city on the second moon of Alpha Centauri-B V, the same system body that was protected by the alien bases. The moon itself is much larger than Earth and has a gravity of 2.06G, well above human tolerance. The atmosphere is nitrogen - methane and the surface temperature is -5C. The best guess of Soviet scientists is that the city must have been a colony of a methane-breathing high-gravity race. Whether this race originally built the robot controlled ships or was one of their victims is unknown. A xenology team is assembled and dispatched to the moon to learn more about the ruins.

9th March 2030
NATO completes a gravitational survey of the TZ Arietis system, finding three new jump points. The two NATO survey ships Galileo and Kepler are already two jumps away from the nearest military support, in Epsilon Eridani, so they head back with their report rather than carrying out probes.

3rd April 2030
A jump gate is completed at the Tau Ceti - Epsilon Eridani jump point, opening up Tau Ceti to NATO carrier groups. The Graf Zeppelin / Enterprise group moves into the system and heads for Tau Ceti IV, where alien ships were detected in September 2029.
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

  • Vice Admiral
  • **********
  • U
  • Posts: 1108
  • Thanked: 1 times
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #1 on: July 16, 2010, 05:19:03 PM »
Isn't it interesting that the Chinese, who have less military, happen to not encounter stellar enemies?
 

Offline ShadoCat

  • Commander
  • *********
  • Posts: 327
  • Thanked: 1 times
    • http://www.assistsolar.com
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2010, 05:50:17 PM »
Quote from: "UnLimiTeD"
Isn't it interesting that the Chinese, who have less military, happen to not encounter stellar enemies?

I wonder if this will break the "Chinese get creamed in Steve's games" trend.

Offline UnLimiTeD

  • Vice Admiral
  • **********
  • U
  • Posts: 1108
  • Thanked: 1 times
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #3 on: July 16, 2010, 06:44:20 PM »
Chinese totally deserve to be creamed.
They killed Kenny!
Then again, who didn't.
 

Offline Anarade Relle

  • Warrant Officer, Class 2
  • ****
  • A
  • Posts: 66
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2010, 04:22:25 AM »
Take that, aliens!
 

Offline Spartanius

  • Leading Rate
  • *
  • S
  • Posts: 10
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2010, 04:12:48 PM »
Excellent story so far.
 

Offline boggo2300

  • Registered
  • Rear Admiral
  • **********
  • Posts: 895
  • Thanked: 16 times
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2010, 05:41:25 PM »
Quote from: "ShadoCat"
Quote from: "UnLimiTeD"
Isn't it interesting that the Chinese, who have less military, happen to not encounter stellar enemies?

I wonder if this will break the "Chinese get creamed in Steve's games" trend.


But thats one of the underlying laws of the universe!!

Matt
The boggosity of the universe tends towards maximum.
 

Offline UnLimiTeD

  • Vice Admiral
  • **********
  • U
  • Posts: 1108
  • Thanked: 1 times
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #7 on: July 19, 2010, 07:07:47 PM »
Steve can probably change those.
It'll be a lot of coding, but he'll probably do it at some point.
 

Offline TrueZuluwiz

  • Zulu
  • Warrant Officer, Class 1
  • *****
  • Posts: 97
Re: NATO vs Soviets: Part 4
« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2010, 06:33:06 PM »
They have broken the Unwritten Law? But....but....but that can only be made up for by sarcasm! Oh, if only Doug were 'ere.
Expecting the Spanish Inquisition