EDA 10: Per Ardua ad Astra

[IanD (OP)]

Part 1. Per Ardua ad Astra

2049

State of the Earth Defence Authority 2049

Earth (All Sectors summed)
Earth
Pop: 6003.45 millions
Colony Cost: 0
Annual Wealth: 245744
Commercial Spaceport: L4
Deep Space Tracking Stations: L15
Military Academies: L5
Shipyards: 18/71
Maintenance Facilities: 178
Construction Factories: 2581
Ordnance Factories: 534
Fighter Factories: 310
Fuel Refineries: 723
Mines: 1589
Automated Mines: 591
Mass Drivers: 3
R&D Laboratories: 227
Finance Centres: 15
Ground Force Training Facilities: 18

Mars
Pop: 958.2 million
Colony Cost: 0
Annual Wealth: 40083
Commercial Spaceport: L3
Deep Space Tracking Stations: L3
Shipyards: 3/18
Maintenance Facilities: 105
Construction Factories: 614
Ordnance Factories: 443
Fighter Factories: 127
Fuel Refineries: 251
Mines: 372
Automated Mines: 40

Titan
Pop: 64.82 millions
Colony Cost: 7.28
Annual Wealth: 2131
Commercial Spaceport: L9
Deep Space Tracking Stations: L25
Shipyards: 1/5
Maintenance Facilities: 78
Construction Factories: 80
Fuel Refineries: 33
Mines: 117
Automated Mines: 156
Mass Drivers: 12
Ground Force Training Facilities: 1

Venus
Pop: 4.94 millions
Colony Cost: 20.43
Annual Wealth: 170
Terraformer Stations: 27 (non operational)

Mining Colonies
Luna: 50 Automated Mines
Tethys: 50 Automated Mines
Comet Luken: 50 Automated Mines
Comet Beersatron: 50 Automated Mines
Comet Waresky: 40 Automated Mines
Asteroid #339: 25 Automated Mines
Callisto: 76 Civilian Mining Complexes
Iapetus: 55 Civilian Mining Complexes

Civilian Shipping Lines
Balducci Colony Group
Fleet:  134,050   Tonnes. 4 Nieuw Amsterdam Colony Transports.

Darr Trading
Fleet: 358,100    Tonnes. 8 Nieuw Amsterdam Colony Transports, 4 Port class freighter.

Lane Freight Group
Fleet:   45,000 Tonnes. 1 Port class freighter.

Maggart Corporation
Fleet: 2,360,050 Tonnes. 25 Nieuw Amsterdam Colony Transports, 40 Port class freighter.

Ryzkhov Shipping Company.
Fleet:  88,900 Tonnes. 4 Nieuw Amsterdam Colony Transports.

EDA Navy Order of Battle

The EDA Navy is currently centred on five carrier battle groups.

Battle Group Illustrious (Earth)
Illustrious class CV: Illustrious, Victorious. Each with 18 Hurricane F2 and 2 Atlantique Mk II embarked.
Province class CG: Bavaria, Cheshire, Cornwall.
Mountain class CLE: Krakatoa, Olympus, Matterhorn, Mount Kilimanjaro, Mount McKinley.
Vigilance class Scout: Vigilance.
Whale class munitions ships: Blue Whale, Fin Whale
Star Class Tanker: Starsurge, Starspring

Battle Group Téméraire (Titan)
Illustrious class CV: Téméraire, Le Triomphant. Each with 18 Hurricane F2 and 2 Atlantique Mk II embarked.
Province class CG: Burgandy, Cardigan,
Mountain class CLE: Carpathian, Etna, Mount Everest, Himalayas, Mount Fuji,
Vigilance class Scout: Observer.
Whale class munitions ships: Grey Whale, Bowhead Whale.
Star Class Tanker: Starpool, Star Reach.

Battle Group Foudroyant (Mars)
Illustrious class CV: Foudroyant, Formidable. Each with 18 Typhoon F1 and 2 E2 Sentinels embarked.
Mountain class CLE: Mount Rainier, Mount Rushmore, Pyrenees, Rockies, Ural.
Vigilance class Scout: Sentinel.
Whale class munitions ships: Humpbacked Whale, Right Whale
Star Class Tanker: Star Cluster, Star Race.

Battle Group Forrestal (Earth)
Forrestal class CV: Forrestal, Saratoga. Each with 30 A3 Vengeance fighters embarked.
Province class CG: Essex, Flanders, Kent.
Mountain class CLE: Eastern Ghats, K2, Vesuvio.
Vigilance class Scout: Sentry.
Whale class munitions ships: Sei Whale, Minke Whale
Star Class Tanker: Star Regent.

Battle Group Zuikaku (Earth)
Forrestal class CV: Zuikaku, Shokaku. Each with 30 A3 Vengeance fighters embarked.
Province class CG: Crimea, Devonshire.
Mountain class CLE: Mount Blanc, Sierra Nevada.
Star Class Tanker: Star Rover.

1st Flotilla (Titan)
Bird Class FAC: Albatross, Auk, Avocet, Bald Eagle, Bateleur, Bittern, Black Swan, Blackbird, Bowerbird, Brambling, Bullfinch, Buzzard and Cassowary, Blackbird, Jay, Canary, Albatross and Buzzard, Cockatoo, Crow, Condor, Cuckoo and Cormorant, Catbird, Crane, Crossbill, Crossbill, Curlew, Cygnet, Dunlin, Egret, Eider and Emu.

2nd Flotilla (Titan)
Gomati Mk III Missile Boats: Halibut, Grampus, Dolphin, Finback, Hammerhead, Herring, Hawksbill, Lamprey, Lionfish, Mackerel, Cod, Conger, Cuttlefish, Darter, Devilfish, Barracuda, Bowfin, Batfish, Billfish, Catfish.

3rd Flotilla (Earth)
Gomati Mk IV Missile boats: Corporal, Argonaut, Dorado, Corsair, Cutlass, Gato, Kraken, Manta, Marlin, Moray, Nautilus, Pike, Porpoise, Razorback, Remora, Requin, Whale and Shark.

Leaf Class Tanker: Apple Leaf, Plum Leaf, Bramble Leaf, Pear Leaf. These vessels are currently operated in a search and rescue role.

Gravitational Survey Vessels: Marc Aaronson, George Ogden Abell, Antonio Abetti.

Troop Transport Squadrons.
(Each Task Group can transport a full division, including all command elements.)

Task Group Eisenhower (Titan)
General Class: Eisenhower
Okinawa Class: Okinawa, Philippines, Saipan

Task Group Wellington (Mars)
General Class: Wellington,
Okinawa Class: Guadalcanal, Anzio, Narvik

Task Group Guan Yu (Mars)
General Class: Guan Yu,
Okinawa Class: Guam, Messina, Tarawa.

Fleet Auxiliaries (Mars)
State Class munitions ships (obsolete): Alabama, Alaska, Ohio, Montana

PDCs Earth Force
Two Vengeance class PDCs.
Two Peacekeeper class PDCs
Two Rampart class PDCs
Two Astrodromes class PDCs, each with 18 Hurricane F1 and two Atlantique Mk I fighters embarked.
One Great Wall class PDCs
Four Nikhab class PDCs
37 Defender class PDCs

PDCs Mars Force
Two Astrodromes class PDCs, each with 18 Hurricane F2 and two Atlantique Mk II fighters embarked.
5 Defender class PDCs

PDCs Titan Force
Two Astrodromes class PDCs, each with 18 Hurricane F2 and two Atlantique Mk II fighters embarked.
3 Defender class PDCs

April 2049

6th April 2049
By the 6th April the Leif Ericsson had arrived on station and now awaited the arrival of battle Group Illustrious, enroute from Titan, Commodore Fu Wen Wen commanding. This gave Commander Christopher Atkinson of the Leif Ericsson a chance to survey the area and test the jump engine short of actually opening a jump point. When that happened no one had any idea what would occur. There were some cranks on Earth claiming it would cause the Universe to implode! Due to secrecy principally to avoid embarrassment should nothing happen, most of the crew were just told the ship was testing alien engine technology, and not that it was a star drive.

 14:43 8th April 2049
Battle Group Illustrious arrived on schedule. It was now arrayed around the gravitational anomaly. Commodore Fu gave Commander Atkinson the go-ahead to run up the jump engine to operating power. On the Leif Ericsson the jump engine wound up with a teeth jarring whine, as it reached it full power Commander Atkinson gave the order “slow ahead.” From the Missile Cruiser Bavaria positioned so as to directly oppose the Ericsson, it looked like there was a distorting mirror between themselves and the Ericsson, Space rippled; the Leif Ericsson entered the distorted area of space and seemed to writhe, becoming shorter, as it moved further inwards it appeared to slowly disappear like a Cheshire cat fading out. Seconds later the Leif Ericsson had gone, no explosion, no flash, no debris, nothing, just gone!  Sensors on the fleet scout Vigilance recorded a large gravitational surge as the vessel disappeared, but there was no other sign it had ever existed within the 4 billion kilometre range of the Vigilance’s sensors.

On the Ericsson Commander Atkinson felt like he was turning inside out and his skin was trying to crawl off his body, the sensations suddenly vanished, space, which had rippled around them stabilised. Commander Atkinson took a few minutes to regain his composure, and his crew applied themselves, somewhat shakily, to their tasks. His first utterance in a croaky voice was “Astrogation, what happened? Report position.” The reply was unnerving, “Unknown sir.” “Well get the XNAV (X-ray Pulsar-based Autonomous Navigation) position then.” “Working on it sir, need to check the results, they’re not making any sense, I need a diagnostic on the instrumentation.” “What do you mean?” “Well according to the XNAV system we are approximately 27 light-years from our previous position and we are now approximately 6177.6 million kilometres from the Sun on a bearing of 338^o, instead of 148 million and 283^o. Oh, and the Earth has disappeared along with Battle Group Illustrious!” A stunned silence echoed around the command deck.  Atkinson made the only decision possible “Departmental conference in twenty minutes.”

Twenty minutes later Commander Atkinson sat around the conference table with his Department heads, Executive, Astrogation, Engineering, Logistics and Weapons, although the latter was a junior officer as all the Leif Ericsson packed was a couple of CIWS and a few shields. Commander Atkinson briefed his departmental heads on the purpose of the trials, which up to now only his Number One and Chief engineer were fully aware of. The Astrogation report was the one everyone wanted to hear, so after the Executive officer had outlined the situation regarding the crew and Engineering, Weapons and Logistics reported everything green, it was Astrogations turn.  “We are presently 6177.6 million kilometres from a G-type yellow dwarf, which the spectral star catalogue identifies as Beta Canum Venaticorum, 27 light-years from Sol in the constellation Canes Venatici. It has a well-developed planetary system. Preliminary sensor information indicates that there are four terrestrial planets with colony costs of 3.14, 4.17, 5.56 and 5.96, three of the four below-100^oC and the fourth not far above that.” “So our star drive works!” exclaimed Atkinson, “so it appears,” replied Astrogation wryly. “Right!” Stated Atkinson, “let’s see if we can return from whence we came. Astrogation, turn us 180^o on the spot, chart our position just in case, once that’s done I want Engineering to run up that alien engine again and we’ll see if we can return. I want us ready to go in ten minutes.” The conference broke up, Departmental heads returning to their posts.
Once more Atkinson assumed his position on the bridge. The alien device began its warbling shriek, at its peak Atkinson ordered “slow ahead” as the space in front of them began to ripple. The inside out and crawling skin sensations began to pervade the crew, but not as strongly this time and the Leif Ericsson moved forward towards its place in history.

16:43 8th April 2049. Sol.
Thirty minutes after she disappeared, space began to ripple at the gravitational anomaly once more; the Leif Ericsson reappeared in Sol System. Commodore Fu was first in line for a report, “inviting” Commander Atkinson to come across to the Illustrious for debriefing.
The Earth Defence Authority and Mankind had found its gateway to the stars! The Ericsson returned again to the Beta Canum system and probed the inner system with its large search sensor, but no alien ships or populations were detected.

The Navy’s assumptions for the defence of Sol System were thrown into disarray; an alien enemy fleet could suddenly appear inside Earth orbit. Each population centre needed its own defence force, or a defence in depth, which was very attractive to EDA politicians, there could be TN minerals just waiting to be scooped up on planets in other solar systems. Thus the TN economy could continue indefinitely. In addition Beta Canum had no less than four planets, which would be easier to terraform than Venus. Very quickly designs were drawn up for a new generation of gravity and geological survey vessels. An indigenous jump engine was called for, however, the results were disappointing, it was more than twice the size of the alien engines. Professor Segovia, the principal protagonist for Jump Point Theory was co-opted to improve the native designs. It was decided to use the less than optimal gravity survey vessels of the type used to survey Sol System to see if there were any gravitational anomalies in the Beta Canum system. The tanker Plum Leaf would accompany them. Only when this survey was completed would the other gravitational anomalies in Sol System be explored.

16th April 2049. Sol.
The Earth Defence Authority Director Bha Karamchand welcomed Commander Atkinson and the crew of the Leif Ericsson, Earth’s first extra-solar pioneers home, on their return to Earth after an extensive debriefing. Director Karamchand made a speech marking the event as unparalleled in human history, dwarfing the discovery of the New World. Beta Canum Venaticorum did not have any habitable planets, but it did have four relatively easily terraformable planets and it was beyond reason that there would not be fresh virgin planets around other stars for the Human race to utilise.  The stars were now open for business! A gravitational survey would be undertaken in Beta Canum to start giving our scientists an idea of the extent of the wormhole network.
Privately Vice Admiral Boris Bogdanov the Navy’s Commander-in-Chief, was more cautious, reminding the Director of the Intruder incursion and the need to be ready to defend ourselves. He pressed Director Karamchand to expand the Navy to counter possible alien threats. The spectre of the Intruder incursion hung over the bright new future. Director Karamchand promised him a new carrier battle group in the Navy appropriations later in the year.

21st April 2049. Sol.
The Mariner Ship Building ‘Yard began to retool for the new Geologist class geological survey vessels.

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Geologist class Geological Survey Vessel    1000 tons     100 Crew     520 BP      TCS 20  TH 43.75  EM 0
6250 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/4     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 16%    IFR: 0.2%    Maint Capacity 162 MSP    Max Repair 150 MSP    Est Time: 3.19 Years

Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (1)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 43.75    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 180,000 Litres    Range 540.0 billion km   (1000 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Improved Geological Sensors (2)   4 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
The Shangri-La ‘Yard at Titan started retooling for the new gravitational survey vessels.

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Astronomer  Mk II class Gravitational Survey Vessel    1000 tons     100 Crew     420 BP      TCS 20  TH 43.75  EM 0
6250 km/s     Armour 1-8     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/2/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 16%    IFR: 0.2%    Maint Capacity 131 MSP    Max Repair 109 MSP    Est Time: 3.38 Years

Magnetic Confinement Fusion Drive E6 (1)    Power 125    Fuel Use 60%    Signature 43.75    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 180,000 Litres    Range 540.0 billion km   (1000 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Gravitational Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
12th May 2049. Sol.
The EDA Resource Commission reported that the civilian mining operation on Callisto has been increased to 77 civilian mining complexes.

17th June 2049. Sol.
Mariner Ship Building at Mars laid down ten new geological survey vessels; appropriately the geologist class was to be named after famous geologists.  The vessels were to be the Louis Agassiz, Georgius Agricola, Claude Allègre, Robert T. Bakker, Etheldred Benett, Stephen E. Calvert, Henry De la Beche, William Fyfe, Victor Goldschmidt and M. S. Krishnan.
.
7th July 2049. Sol.
Professor Segovia completed a paper that described how further improvements in the construction of jump engines could be made and thus make a smaller unit. However, the jump engines were still far larger than the alien examples recovered from Titan and the work continued.

17th July 2049. Sol.
The Jimmie Fresh logistics research group completed work on the design of the smaller company drop module for the Army.

22nd July 2049. Sol.
The Emily Davey energy weapons research group completed work on the theory for a 35cm Plasma Carronade. This weapon now awaits a more powerful capacitor before entering service.

30th July 2049. Sol.
The defensive systems research team lead by Malcolm Stenzel completed the design work for Theta R300/R20 shields to be introduced on all new construction.

The EDA Resource Commission reported that the civilian mining operation on Iapetus has been increased to 56 civilian mining complexes.

1st August 2049. Beta Canum.
The gravitational survey in Beta Canum found a new gravitational anomaly.

16th July 2049. Sol.
Professor Segovia’s laboratories completed work on reducing the requirements of a jump engine such that it could be mounted in a fast attack craft hull, but it could no longer open a portal for other vessels, just one for the ship mounting the system.

Balducci Colony Group has increased the frequency of its service to Mars. This has necessitated the purchase of a further Nieuw Amsterdam Mk IV Mod1.

9th September 2049. Sol.
The Shangri-La ‘Yard at Titan laid down the first vessels in an improved class of gravitational survey vessels, the Giorgio Abetti, Charles Greeley Abbot, Charles Hitchcock Adams, John Couch Adams and Walter Sydney Adams.

20th September 2049. Sol.
Maggart Corporation brought another Port class freighter into service.

13th October 2049. Sol.
The EDA Resource Commission announced that all known deposits of Duranium have been exhausted on Earth. Earth now has no deposits of any TN mineral remaining, although it is not impossible that a new geological survey may locate some minor deposits that were missed in the initial survey. The EDA Resource Commission also reported that the civilian mining operation on Callisto has been increased to 78 civilian mining complexes. The EDA Resource Commission released the news that a mining colony will be placed on Asteroid #81 and Comet Burton as Mars is running short of Uridium. Asteroid #81 and Comet Burton have the largest known deposits of the mineral in the Solar System at some 13,000 and 8,500 tonnes respectively. The Comet also boasts significant deposits of Duranium, in the order of 30,000 tonnes.

The Dai Yong Ju sensor research group completed work designing a new family of sensors for the Navy.

24th October 2049. Beta Curam.
The gravitational survey in Beta Curam has found a second gravitational anomaly.

15th November 2049. Sol.
The JaingYang Naval Orbital Shipyard completed the CLE Trollheimen she will join Battle Group Zuikaku. The CLE Tian Shan was laid down.

22nd November 2049. Beta Canum.
The gravitational survey of Beta Carum has been completed and the system possesses a total of three gravitational anomalies.
Sol.
The next gravitational anomaly in Sol System to be explored was to be the one from which it is very probable the Intruders came through, between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus on a bearing of 270^o.

26th November 2049. Sol.
Ryzkhov Shipping Co. acquired a new Nieuw Amsterdam class colony transport, as demand for passage to Mars is still high.

6th December 2049. Sol.
The Leif Ericsson transited the second gravitational anomaly in the Sol system, to find an M4V red dwarf, identified as Gliese 526, 6.4 light-years from Sol and another large planetary system. One planet had a colony cost of 1.8! Once again the Ericsson‘s large sensor did not pick up any alien activity.

The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed work on inertial confinement drive theory. When a drive system is derived from this technology most of the Navies designs will require modernising. This is only likely to happen for new construction, it is not currently envisaged that there will be a large refit programme.

Darr Trading in anticipation of another good quarters results have brought another Nieuw Amsterdam class colony transport into service.

11th December 2049. Sol.
The EDA Resource Commission reported that the civilian mining operation on Iapetus has been increased to 57 civilian mining complexes.

Professor Segovia has just completed a study of a set of alien ship component modules found on Titan. No one else had been able to work out what they were for. However, Professor Segovia, drawing on her experience of research on jump engines, is certain that these components are to construct a fixed “Star Gate”, which when set up over a gravitational anomaly will enable the portal to another star system to be opened without the use of a ship equipped with a jump engine. The portal so opened would be inherently more stable due to the configuration and power of the gate that would draw on vacuum energy for its power supply. A simple signal to the star gate would be sufficient for it to discharge its energies to open the anomaly and allow the passage of any number of ships of any tonnage through the gate. The only drawback was that the gate would be one way only, thus a Star Gate would be required on either side of the anomaly to allow travel backwards and forwards. One big advantage of such a pair of gates is that they generate multi-photon groups of entangled particles when the portal is first opened between the two gates and can, using the entangled photons action at a distance phenomenon, transmit tight beam laser or radio frequency messages between the gates without having to open the portal.
Professor Segovia noted It would be possible for such a module to be fabricated on Earth, but the alien units are far advanced on anything those Earth-made modules would be capable of, being able to construct a Star Gate in half the time or less of the Earth produced modules. It was therefore decided to build ships utilising the alien modules. They would be the largest ships ever constructed at 81,200 tonnes. Because Professor Segovia used the term jump point in her papers so frequently it was rapidly adopted by the Navy and a little later by the popular press so that gravitational anomalies came to be known as jump points, the jumping off point to other star systems.
In light of Professor Segovia’s findings on Star Gate technology the EDA Resource Commission has recommended that Venus colony be abandoned and population and installations transferred to a terraforming colony in Beta Canum.  The EDA Directors and Governors, given the poor prospects for the Venus colony have accepted this recommendation. However the colony cannot be set up until a set of Star Gates have been emplaced on the gravitational anomaly, to allow the passage of freighters and colony transports as well as the terraformers. Director Karamchand himself authorised the construction of the Star Gate construction vessels.

20th December 2049. Sol.
The EDA Resource Commission reported that the civilian mining operation on Iapetus has been increased to 58 civilian mining complexes.

30th December 2049. Sol.
The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed an old project to design a drone ion engine. The team will now work on the design of a new family of propulsion units using the inertial confinement drive theory the team discovered earlier.

[IanD (OP)]

Part 2: The Stars Our Destination!

2050

10th January 2050. Sol.
The Balducci Colony Group on the back of a favourable quarters trading launched a new Nieuw Amsterdam class colony transport.

The JaingYang Naval Orbital Shipyard completed the CLEs Black Mountains, Atlas, Kamnik Alps and Bighorn. This will ensure that each carrier Battle Group will have five escort cruisers and a further five intended for the new carrier group to be authorised under the 2049 Naval appropriations. Construction of the latter five will be held back and they will be built to an improved specification.

5th January 2050. Sol.
The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed design of a commercial Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive. Pratt & Whitney have secured the contract to manufacture the drive units.

The EDA Resource Commission reported that the civilian mining operation on Callisto has been increased to 79 civilian mining complexes.

The design of the Gate class construction ships has been finalised. They will be built in the Deutsche Werfte commercial orbital ‘Yard once it has finished its current contract for five improved salvage vessels and the necessary enlargement of the construction bays has been undertaken.

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Gate class Construction Ship    81200 tons     1078 Crew     4835.4 BP      TCS 1624  TH 2240  EM 0
3940 km/s     Armour 1-167     Shields 0-0     Sensors 18/32/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 37 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 90 days

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (16)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 390,000 Litres    Range 172.9 billion km   (507 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Thermal Sensor TH1-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-32 (1)     Sensitivity 32     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  32m km

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
20th January 2050. Sol.
The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed the design of a military inertial confinement Fusion Drive that will be built by Rolls Royce. There is frenetic activity in the ‘Yards as they struggle to complete existing contracts and retool for the new classes. It is envisage that most of the older vessels in the fleet will not be refitted.

The Viktor Lenac ‘Yard started retooling for the Gomati Mk V missile boat. This class is a significant improvement over the Mk IV design. It has come a long way from the original Indian design and is almost unrecognisable as being derived from that primitive vessel.

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Gomati Mk V class Missile Boat    4000 tons     297 Crew     1252.2 BP      TCS 8  TH 224  EM 0
8000 km/s     Armour 1-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 23     PPV 26.4
Annual Failure Rate: 42%    IFR: 0.6%    Maint Capacity 587 MSP    Max Repair 192 MSP    Est Time: 3.29 Years
Magazine 176   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (4)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 160,000 Litres    Range 144.0 billion km   (208 days at full power)

Size 4 Box Launcher (44)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC138-R20 (1)     Range 138.2m km    Resolution 20
SIM-1 Longbow (44)  Speed: 31,200 km/s   End: 52.3m    Range: 97.9m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 270 / 162 / 81

Active Search Sensor MR122-R20 (1)     GPS 3840     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 20
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10% of normal

Compact ECCM-2 (1)         ECM 20

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 Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding ‘Yard began retooling for the Mk II Explorer class jump cruiser. It is expected that the Leif Ericsson will be refitted when her schedule permits it.

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Explorer Mk II class Jump Cruiser    9600 tons     809 Crew     4019.9 BP      TCS 192  TH 448  EM 1440
6666 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 5-40     Shields 48-300     Sensors 54/96/0/0     Damage Control Rating 24     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 210%    IFR: 2.9%    Maint Capacity 2916 MSP    Max Repair 1800 MSP    Est Time: 0.77 Years
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons     

J9600(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 9600 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (8)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 450,000 Litres    Range 168.7 billion km   (292 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per day

CIWS-160 (2x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR4032-R70 (1)     GPS 126000     Range 4,032.0m km    Resolution 70
Thermal Sensor TH3-54 (1)     Sensitivity 54     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  54m km
EM Detection Sensor EM3-96 (1)     Sensitivity 96     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  96m km

ECM 20

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
The BAE Systems ‘Yard has begun retooling before starting construction of a new pair of improved Forrestal class carriers.

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Forrestal Mk II class Carrier    20000 tons     1048 Crew     4984.8 BP      TCS 400  TH 896  EM 1440
6400 km/s     Armour 5-65     Shields 48-300     Sensors 54/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 47     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 457%    IFR: 6.3%    Maint Capacity 1090 MSP    Max Repair 240 MSP    Est Time: 0.99 Years
Flag Bridge    Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons     Magazine 1008   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (16)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 530,000 Litres    Range 95.4 billion km   (172 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per day

CIWS-160 (3x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Star Flash 7 AS (336)  Speed: 50,000 km/s   End: 5m    Range: 15m km   WH: 11    Size: 3    TH: 450 / 270 / 135

Active Search Sensor MR614-R80 (1)     GPS 19200     Range 614.4m km    Resolution 80
Active Search Sensor MR122-R20 (1)     GPS 3840     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-54 (1)     Sensitivity 54     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  54m km

ECM 20

Strike Group
30x Lockheed Messerschmitt A3 Vengeance Fighter   Speed: 14150 km/s    Size: 5.3

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 JaingYang Naval Orbital Shipyard will continue to manufacture the Mountain class escort cruiser but new construction will use an updated design.

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Mountain Mk II class Escort Cruiser    8000 tons     782 Crew     2637.2 BP      TCS 160  TH 392  EM 1200
7000 km/s     Armour 5-35     Shields 40-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 42     PPV 30
Annual Failure Rate: 256%    IFR: 3.6%    Maint Capacity 412 MSP    Max Repair 192 MSP    Est Time: 0.84 Years
Magazine 658   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (7)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 112.5 billion km   (186 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  200 Litres per day

Quad R8/C4 Meson Cannon Turret (1x4)    Range 80,000km     TS: 12500 km/s     Power 16-16     RM 8    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0
Fire Control S08 48-16000 (1)    Max Range: 96,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (7)     Total Power Output 16.8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2)     Range 9.2m km    Resolution 1
AMM-4 Spartan (658)  Speed: 65,600 km/s   End: 1.5m    Range: 6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 962 / 577 / 288

Active Search Sensor MR6-R1 (1)     GPS 192     Range 6.1m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR61-R20 (1)     GPS 1920     Range 61.4m km    Resolution 20

Compact ECCM-2 (3)         ECM 20

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 Howakistwerke Naval ‘Yard began retooling for the improved Whale Mk II munitions supply vessels intended for the Forrestal class carrier groups.

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Whale Mk II class Collier    10000 tons     629 Crew     2663.4 BP      TCS 200  TH 448  EM 1200
6400 km/s     Armour 4-41     Shields 40-300     Sensors 54/96/0/0     Damage Control Rating 26     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 133%    IFR: 1.9%    Maint Capacity 999 MSP    Max Repair 240 MSP    Est Time: 2.04 Years
Magazine 1746   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (8)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 310,000 Litres    Range 111.6 billion km   (201 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  200 Litres per day

CIWS-160 (2x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR614-R80 (1)     GPS 19200     Range 614.4m km    Resolution 80
Thermal Sensor TH3-54 (1)     Sensitivity 54     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  54m km
EM Detection Sensor EM3-96 (1)     Sensitivity 96     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  96m km

ECM 20

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
The Yokahama Dock Co. received the go-ahead to retool for the Star Mk II tanker /supply vessels for existing and future CV groups.

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Star Mk II class Tanker    8000 tons     296 Crew     1435 BP      TCS 160  TH 420  EM 0
7500 km/s     Armour 5-35     Shields 0-0     Sensors 18/32/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 5112 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (3)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 2,145,000 Litres    Range 9652.5 billion km   (14895 days at full power)

CIWS-160 (2x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Thermal Sensor TH1-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-32 (1)     Sensitivity 32     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  32m km

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
The Electric Boat commercial orbital ‘Yard won the contract to refit the Okinawa Mk III Mod 1 class troop transports. This will begin once the ‘Yard completes retooling.

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Okinawa Mk IV class Troop Transport    23750 tons     319 Crew     1989.9 BP      TCS 475  TH 1120  EM 0
6736 km/s     Armour 3-73     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 52 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP
Troop Capacity: 5 Battalions    Cargo Handling Multiplier 30   

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (8)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 245,000 Litres    Range 371.3 billion km   (638 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
The Astano ‘Yard gained the contract to refit the General class command transport vessels and began to retool for the Mk II General class command troop transport.

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General Mod 1 - Copy class Troop Transport    27350 tons     355 Crew     2152.5 BP      TCS 547  TH 1260  EM 0
6581 km/s     Armour 2-80     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 49 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP
Troop Capacity: 6 Battalions    Cargo Handling Multiplier 30   

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (9)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 329.1 billion km   (578 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
The General Dynamics ‘Yard won the contract for the new assault transport for the Army and started retooling for the Charles Upham class of Assault Transports designed to insert a brigade directly into a hot LZ. However construction of these vessels is not a high priority.

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Charles Upham class Assault Transport    11000 tons     592 Crew     3807.2 BP      TCS 220  TH 784  EM 3720
10181 km/s     Armour 10-44     Shields 124-300     Sensors 54/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 968%    IFR: 13.4%    Maint Capacity 216 MSP    Max Repair 240 MSP    Est Time: 0.09 Years
Drop Capacity: 5 Battalions    Cargo Handling Multiplier 30   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (14)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 255,000 Litres    Range 83.4 billion km   (94 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (31)   Total Fuel Cost  620 Litres per day

CIWS-160 (3x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR614-R80 (1)     GPS 19200     Range 614.4m km    Resolution 80
Thermal Sensor TH3-54 (1)     Sensitivity 54     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  54m km

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
The Northrop Grumman Naval ‘Yard began retooling for a modified fleet scout able to keep up with the new fast carriers.

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Vigilance Mod 1 class Fleet Scout    9500 tons     915 Crew     4703.3 BP      TCS 19  TH 504  EM 2400
7578 km/s     Armour 5-39     Shields 80-300     Sensors 18/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 47     PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 103%    IFR: 1.4%    Maint Capacity 2166 MSP    Max Repair 1800 MSP    Est Time: 1.08 Years

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (9)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 310,000 Litres    Range 117.5 billion km   (179 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (20)   Total Fuel Cost  400 Litres per day

Active Search Sensor MR4032-R70 (1)     GPS 126000     Range 4,032.0m km    Resolution 70
Active Search Sensor MR122-R20 (1)     GPS 3840     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10% of normal

ECM 30

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes
New designs for the venerable Nieuw Amsterdam class colony transport and Port class freighter were drawn up, however it is unlikely the EDA will purchase these vessels soon, leaving their operation to the commercial sector in the near future.

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Port Calais Mk V class Freighter    44950 tons     493 Crew     3082.4 BP      TCS 899  TH 2100  EM 0
6674 km/s     Armour 1-112     Shields 0-0     Sensors 18/32/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 43 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 30   

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (15)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 335,000 Litres    Range 268.3 billion km   (465 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Thermal Sensor TH1-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-32 (1)     Sensitivity 32     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  32m km

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

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Nieuw Amsterdam Mk V class Colony Ship    22150 tons     300 Crew     2042.2 BP      TCS 443  TH 980  EM 0
6320 km/s     Armour 1-70     Shields 0-0     Sensors 18/32/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 58 MSP    Max Repair 175 MSP
Colonists 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 20   

Pratt & Whitney ICF Drive E0.5 (7)    Power 400    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 140    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 270,000 Litres    Range 438.8 billion km   (803 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR92-R60 Nav (1)     GPS 2880     Range 92.2m km    Resolution 60
Thermal Sensor TH1-18 (1)     Sensitivity 18     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  18m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-32 (1)     Sensitivity 32     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  32m km

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
25th January 2050. Sol.
The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed the design for an uprated propulsion system for the next generation of fighters.

30th January 2050. Sol.
The Sam Peacock geological survey team has found a previously undiscovered deposit of 1000 tonnes of Tritanium, accessibility (1) on Comet Beersatron. The team believe that no new deposits exist and further exploration on Comet Burton would be fruitless.
The EDA Resource Commission reported that the small deposit of Vendarite present on Comet Waresky has been exhausted.
The Acharya Ghosh power systems research team completed the design for an uprated drive system for the next generation of fast attack craft.

14th February 2050. Sol.
The Charumati Khalsa missiles and kinetic weapons research team completed the design work on a new faster firing size 4 missile launcher that will be used in the improved Province class CGs.  The Olympus Mons ‘Yard is to begin retooling for The Province Mk II cruisers.

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Province Mk II class Missile Cruiser    11100 tons     1160 Crew     4037.9 BP      TCS 22.2  TH 504  EM 1920
6486 km/s     Armour 5-44     Shields 64-300     Sensors 54/96/0/0     Damage Control Rating 24     PPV 40
Annual Failure Rate: 246%    IFR: 3.4%    Maint Capacity 909 MSP    Max Repair 684 MSP    Est Time: 0.54 Years
Magazine 652   

Rolls Royce Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E5 (9)    Power 160    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 56    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 225,000 Litres    Range 73.0 billion km   (130 days at full power)
Theta R300/20 Shields (16)   Total Fuel Cost  320 Litres per day

Size 4 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Missile Fire Control FC184-R20 (2)     Range 184.3m km    Resolution 20
SIM-1 Longbow (163)  Speed: 31,200 km/s   End: 52.3m    Range: 97.9m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 270 / 162 / 81

Active Search Sensor MR122-R20 (1)     GPS 3840     Range 122.9m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR614-R80 (1)     GPS 19200     Range 614.4m km    Resolution 80
Thermal Sensor TH3-54 (1)     Sensitivity 54     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  54m km
EM Detection Sensor EM3-96 (1)     Sensitivity 96     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  96m km
Cloaking Device: Class cross-section reduced to 10% of normal

Compact ECCM-2 (2)         ECM 20

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
24th February 2050. Sol.
The EDA Resource Commission reported all known deposits of Uridium on Callisto have been exhausted. However, the EDA has substantial reserves of the TN element.

29th February 2050. Sol.
Mariner Ship Building at Mars completed the new geological survey vessels.  The vessels were the Louis Agassiz, Georgius Agricola, Claude Allègre, Robert T. Bakker, Etheldred Benett, Stephen E. Calvert, Henry De la Beche, William Fyfe, Victor Goldschmidt and M. S. Krishnan. The first five vessels constituted Geological Survey Squadron 1 and were detailed to explore Gliese 526. The second will constitute Geological Survey Squadron 2 and have been slated to accompany the expedition to explore jump point 3.

8th March 2050. Gliese 526.
First mineral survey results begin to come in from Gliese 526. Gliese 526-AIV Moon 27: Boronide 147,456 (0.9), Sorium 16,384 (0.9). The deposits are not vast but they are there with good accessibilities.

23rd March 2050. Sol.
A maintenance failure on the Leif Ericsson’s jump drive, while not hindering the ship’s operations has illustrated how fragile humanities grip on the stars is. Thus a new updated vessel has been authorised and the Leif Ericsson will be refitted after the final gravitational anomaly has been probed or she requires overhaul. There is continued activity at many of the ‘Yards as they retool to build warships with the modern drive systems as well as updating sensors, shields and weapons. The Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding ‘Yard laid down the CJ Ferdinand Magellan, the EDA’s second jump cruiser.

The Sam Peacock geological survey team has found a new deposit of 100,000 tonnes of Boronide accessibility (0.1) on Venus. They do not believe there are any further undiscovered mineral deposits.

8th April 2050. Gliese 526.
Gravitational survey completed in Gliese 526, there are a total of two jump points in Gliese 526. The tanker Plum Leaf and Geological Survey Squadron 1 will be left in Gliese 526 while the Leif Ericsson, the gravitational survey squadron and Geological Survey Squadron 2 will explore the third jump point in Sol System.

13th April 2050. Sol.
Professor Segovia published another paper further refining the design of jump engines. However they are still larger than the alien examples. But with only four alien engines extant and two either incorporated or being incorporated into starships the need for an Earth built engine with a capacity to open a larger portal so one of the Navy’s carrier groups could pass through is becoming urgent.

The Gandhari Jha Construction and Production research team have, by the reorganisation of workstreams, increased the production of ordnance factories by 20%.

23rd April 2050. Sol.
The Yu Jian Qing sensor research group completed the design of an improved  ECCM system for the Navy.

26th April 2050. V1581 Cygni.
The Leif Ericsson transited jump point 3. She appeared in a binary system identified by the XNAV system and corroborated by spectrographic readings as V1581 Cygni. This is a system of two red dwarfs some 15.4 light-years from Sol. V1581 Cygni-A had a well-developed planetary system. However what was really conspicuous was a stable wormhole 638 million kilometres from V1581 Cygni A on a bearing of 129^o. It stood out on the gravitational sensors like a beacon. This phenomenon was completely unexpected and unexplainable.  The Leif Ericsson could not detect the presence of any alien vessels within the system.

6th May 2050. Sol.
The Viktor Lenac ‘Yard completed the construction of the last Gomati Mk IV missile boats Trigger, Raton, Bashaw, Bass, Bonita and Runner. The decision has been taken to enlarge the 3rd Flotilla and construct Gomati Mk V missile boats for the 2nd Flotilla. The MK III’s will be scrapped once they have been replaced. The Narwhal, Cachalot, Tarpon, Perch, Pickerel and Permit were laid down.

11th May 2050. Sol.
The JaingYang Naval Orbital Shipyard completed the CLE Hindu Kush, she re-entered the ‘Yard to refit to the Mk II version, the only vessel of her class to be refitted. The Zagros, Appalachian, Adamant Range and Cerros de Escazú were laid down, these vessels will form the escort group for the new fast carrier group.

V1581 Cygni.
Geological Survey Report.
 V1581 Cygni-AVi Moon 26: Boronide  369  (1) , Sorium  5,069 (1).

17th May 2050. V1581 Cygni.
Geological Survey Report.
 V1581 Cygni-AVI Moon 16: Neutronium 144 (1).

24th May 2050. V1581 Cygni.
Gravitational Survey Report.
New jump point found in V1581 Cygni.

29th May 2050. Sol.
The Olympus Mons ‘Yard finished the CGs Labrador, Norfolk, Natal, New South Wales and Newfoundland. The vessels will bring up to strength the existing carrier Battle Groups while new construction to the new Mk II standard will form the escort for the new fast CV Battle Group.

7th June 2050. Sol.
The BAE Systems ‘Yard completed retooling for the improved Forrestal class and started construction of the fast carriers Eagle and Constellation.

22:43 V1581 Cygni. On board the CJ Lief Ericsson.
The sensor tech watched his screen, he was relieved every 60 minutes so he wouldn’t lose concentration, and thus he was staring intently at the screen even though it was nearly 23:00, (when he would be relieved), when three contacts suddenly appeared on the screen, at the exact position as the stable wormhole! The computer coded them as Orion class; they massed 6000 tonnes, their motives unknown. Strangely the computer designated the first contact as hostile, the other two as neutral.  As per standing orders he notified the officer of the watch, who checked the sensor was green and them announced over the intraship com “Captain to the Bridge.” A couple of minutes later Commander Atkinson entered the command deck at a run “what’s up Number One?” “Alien contact sir. “OK, initiate first contact protocols, order our survey vessels to withdraw, com the Bramble Leaf to standby to transit out and inform Mr Godall in Engineering that the jump engine will be needed shortly.” ”Aye, Aye sir” came the reply. Com lasers activated, beaming across the system. 
Five minutes later the alien vessels took off across the system at 8000 k/s.

8th June 2050 V1581 Cygni.
By 00:13 on the 8th June it was obvious the aliens had split up, the one marked hostile moving towards the Leif Ericsson, the EDA’s only operational jump ship! Commander Atkinson sent the Bramble Leaf back to request back up.
By 11:15 it was clear that the alien vessels were ignoring the messages beamed at them and the ships of Geological Survey Squadron 2, one alien ship had passed within 300 million kilometres of the lead geological survey vessel without appearing to notice it. Although ominously an alien vessel which the survey squadron must pass close to had halted as if awaiting them 500 million kilometres ahead. It took the sensor tech to blurt out “Captain! They’re carrying out a gravitational survey of the system!” That was exactly what it looked like. Commander Atkinson settled down to wait.

10th June 2050. V1581 Cygni.
05:17 The first of the gravitational survey squadron transited past the Leif Ericsson into Sol. It carried with it the message that the aliens were surveying the system and would soon discover the jump point that leads to Sol!

12th June 2050. V1581 Cygni.
The geological survey squadron transited taking with it the information that the aliens had almost certainly identified the jump point leading to Sol and they had ignored all first contact messages beamed at them from the Ericsson.
Nervous politicians authorised construction of another pair of fast carriers, although they would not be ready for years the Navy was not about to ignore the politicians largess. The BAE Systems ‘Yard laid down the Kaga and Hornet. The JaingYang Naval Orbital Shipyard began construction of the CLEs Drakensberg and Prince Olav that will form part of the new carriers escort.

V1581 Cygni.
While the aliens had remained incommunicado, they hadn’t appeared to make any hostile moves, thus Commander Bea, Senior officer of Battle Group Illustrious, decided to send the survey squadrons back into V1581 Cygni. Pear Leaf will provide support on the Sol side of the jump point. Titan is currently in a favourable position to support the fleet.

20th June 2050. Sol.
The fleet scouts Guardian and Scanner completed, but Guardian returned to the  ‘Yard to refit to improved Mk II and will be the eyes of one of the new fast carrier groups. The Picket was also laid down, intended for the other CV Battle Group.

Darr Trading had good second quarter profits, sufficient to bring into service one of the latest models of Nieuw Amsterdam colony transports, the Mk V.

Prof Segovia completed the latest phase of work on miniaturising jump engines and can now fit them into a 500 tonne craft.

25th June 2050. Sol.
The Howakistwerke Naval ‘Yard finished the munitions carriers Bryde’s Whale, Beluga Whale, Eden’s Whale and Pygmy Right Whale. The Bryde’s Whale, Beluga Whale re-entered the ‘Yard to refit to the faster Mk II version while the Eden’s Whale and Pygmy Right Whale joined Battle Group Zuikaku.

30th June 2050. Sol.
The Deutsche Werfte Commercial Orbital ‘Yard completed five of the new class of salvage vessels utilising the alien salvage modules found on Titan, the Edenton class. The five vessels were named Beaufort, Edenton, Sayaniy, Giorgy Kozmin and Mikhail Rudnitskiy. The ‘Yard is currently being expanded to build the Gate class construction ships.

The Brooke Macdonald sensor research team completed the design for the MR15-R20 search sensor for the new Lockheed Messerschmitt A3B Vengeance Mk II fighter. The new sensor reduces the mass of the craft to 250 tonnes. Thirty-two can fit in the hangers of the Forrestal class carriers. Assembly of the first fighters intended for the Eagle Battle Group commenced.

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L-M A3B Vengeance Mk II class Fighter    250 tons     14 Crew     83.3 BP      TCS 5  TH 33.6  EM 0
19200 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.7
Annual Failure Rate: 5%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 21 MSP    Max Repair 28 MSP    Est Time: 5 Years
Magazine 18   

FTR Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E500 (1)    Power 96    Fuel Use 5000%    Signature 33.6    Armour 0    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres    Range 1.4 billion km   (20 hours at full power)

Size 3 Box Launcher (6)    Missile Size 3    Hangar Reload 22.5 minutes    MF Reload 3.7 hours
Missile Fire Control FC18-R20 (1)     Range 18.4m km    Resolution 20
Star Flash 7 AS (6)  Speed: 50,000 km/s   End: 5m    Range: 15m km   WH: 11    Size: 3    TH: 450 / 270 / 135

Active Search Sensor MR15-R20 (1)     GPS 480     Range 15.4m km    Resolution 20

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
This design is classed as a fighter for production and combat purposes