Author Topic: United Nations of Earth Campaign - Chapter One - 1/1/2028 to 6/17/2029  (Read 4987 times)

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Offline OAM47 (OP)

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January 1, 2028:  The transition on the first of the year went smoothly.  The first governor had been selected in advance, Derick Gaton, a moderate member of the United Kingdom's parliment before integration.  Gaton was an unpleasant fellow to be around, but no one could deny his competency.  His first task was to reorganize all of Earth's production into a more effeicient system. Currently the major projects consisted of building up the army to help maintain order, as well as getting more combat ships into orbit.  For civilian projects, a lot of research was still being done to get infastructure up to speed, and dealing with the ongoing envriomental crisis.

On the tech front, humanity had done an impressive job of reverse-engineering much of the alien technology from the crash sites.  Unfortunately, most of the best finds were not in coherent enough states to be replicated.  Most of the advances made had been in the field of sensors and, ironically enough, propulsion, despite the horrible state of the reactor remains.  Fortunately a lot of existing human tech could be easily modified for use in space.  What little laser fragments were found combined seamlessly with existing projects on Earth, and judging from the scant remains of tech data on the missiles the crafts used, humanity's ICBMs should reasonably do the trick in any space engagement.

In the fifteen years since humanity had started developing Trans-Newtonian technology a small space force had been assembled as an international effort.  The sum of the UN force consisted of two Eagle Eye class command ships, two Sword class cruisers, and three Defender class escorts.  The ratios did not exactly provide for the most effective use of force, but the program had hardly begun.  Only a few more command ships would be built in the near future.  As for the rest of the order of battle, the term “escort” was a bit misleading.  Defenders were actually larger than Swords, albeit only slightly.  However, they were outfitted with lasers for close range combat and missile defense.  The Swords would pack the real punch, each having ten missile launchers with a hyper-long range missile.

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Defender class Escort    12,650 tons     348 Crew     2076.2 BP      TCS 253  TH 840  EM 0
3320 km/s     Armour 3-48     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 9     PPV 49.2
Maint Life 4.17 Years     MSP 923    AFR 142%    IFR 2%    1YR 85    5YR 1275    Max Repair 240 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   

120 EP Ion Drive (7)    Power 120    Fuel Use 54%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,100,000 Litres    Range 29.0 billion km   (101 days at full power)

20cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 192,000km     TS: 3320 km/s     Power 10-3     RM 4    ROF 20        10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
Single 10cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (6x1)    Range 120,000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 4    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
CIWS-120 (2x2)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 3000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (1)    Max Range: 48,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (10)     Total Power Output 30    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Narowband Sensor 2400 (1)     GPS 240     Range 19.2m km    Resolution 1
Wideband Sensor 2400 (1)     GPS 28800     Range 210.3m km    Resolution 120

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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Eagle Eye class Command Ship    12,800 tons     352 Crew     1956.4 BP      TCS 256  TH 480  EM 0
1875 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 3-48     Shields 0-0     Sensors 90/120/0/0     Damage Control Rating 9     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.43 Years     MSP 860    AFR 145%    IFR 2%    1YR 200    5YR 3002    Max Repair 339 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   

J13750(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 13750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
120 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 120    Fuel Use 54%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 800,000 Litres    Range 20.8 billion km   (128 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (4x2)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Wideband Sensor 2400 (1)     GPS 28800     Range 210.3m km    Resolution 120
Narowband Sensor 2400 (1)     GPS 240     Range 19.2m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH15-90 (1)     Sensitivity 90     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  90m km
EM Detection Sensor EM15-120 (1)     Sensitivity 120     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  120m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]
Sword class Cruiser    12,000 tons     354 Crew     1995.8 BP      TCS 240  TH 720  EM 0
3000 km/s     Armour 3-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 20     PPV 50
Maint Life 5.15 Years     MSP 1039    AFR 115%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 65    5YR 980    Max Repair 240 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 290   

120 EP Ion Drive (6)    Power 120    Fuel Use 54%    Signature 120    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,200,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (128 days at full power)

Size 5 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 50
Missile Fire Control FC384-R100 (2)     Range 384.0m km    Resolution 100
LRASM-26A (58)  Speed: 9,600 km/s   End: 393.9m    Range: 226.9m km   WH: 9    Size: 5    TH: 51/30/15

Wideband Sensor 2400 (1)     GPS 28800     Range 210.3m km    Resolution 120

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 fleet also had a range of support vessels, of course, consisting of two freighters, two colony ships, and two science vessels.  No ship had left Earth orbit as of yet, due to technicalities of international law.  Now that that was no longer an issue, UN Fleet HQ was very eager to get started. 

Overall command of UN Space Forces was given to a high ranking Italian air force officer who had worked closely with scientists during the recovery efforts from the crash sites.  In the new UN ranking structure he was given the rank of Commodore, which he shared with an American officer who would be commanding in the field.  A multinational team was assembled for the General Staff to assist them.  Command on the ground was given to a Canadian Major General, Kristen Schulman.  She directly commanded the UN's “offensive” force, though being planet bound severely limited the applications of the best equipment yet produced.  Not like humanity had found any reason to use such force yet.  For that reason the majority of ground force funding, for the meantime at least, was directed towards lower quality troops that were acting as emergency police forces in the more battered regions of the globe.  Schulman gave this responsibly little attention, instead preferring to focus on the long term future and preparations for any “hostile first contact”.  Some were worried about what seemed like an obsession, but so far very few people had proven themselves adapt at learning the new tactics that Trans-Newtonian technology brought with it.

January 6, 2028:  The first results of the system survey are in.  The moon is reported to have a moderate amount of Corundium, but little else.  A disappointing first find.  However, several close in asteroids, as well as the nearest comets do have easy to access deposits of several key minerals.  A few days later there's some good news when a pass of Venus reports close to 30 million tons of Neutronium.  The deposits are mostly close to the surface, and a rover sent down by the science vessel literally finds rocks full of the stuff laying around.  The planet had three other minerals in quantities unimaginable only days before, but unfortunately so deeply buried that mining is impractical.

April 6, 2028:  Ground is broken on a mass driver facility and general spaceport at the intersection of the equator with the prime meridian in preparation for future off-world mining colonies.  The remote location is designed to minimize collateral damage in the event of an accident.

May 6, 2028:  The survey of the asteroid belt is mostly complete.  A pass by Mars reveals some large deposits of minerals, but buried too deep for practical mining.

August 6, 2028:  With Spaceport Zero coming online early in the month, military freighters and work ships ferry supplies to Venus to begin construction of a small base.  The first wave consists of materials for a small spaceport/mass driver complex, extremely functional compared to the lavishness of Spaceport Zero.  A “permanent” habitat is also established for the approximately five hundred maintenance and administrative personnel that will oversee the automated mines set to arrive soon.  The planet is only valuable for it's Neutronium, but so far that's a good enough reason for mining.  Rudy Earlywine, son of South African diamond tycoons, is placed in charge of the complex.  He's a strange character, but knows his stuff.  Most would see being assigned to Venus as an insult, but Earlywine takes it as a legitimate stepping stone on his career path.

August 22, 2028:  Saturn is surveyed.  Close to 29 million tons of Sorium are found in its upper atmosphere.  Plans are drawn up for long term harvesting.  Several inner system objects have significant amounts of Sorium, but even with the current small fleet, it would probably be only thirty years before alternative sources would be needed, to say nothing of the fuel consumption once the fleet expands.

September 12, 2028:  Quantities of four key minerals are found on Oberon, one of Uranus' moons.  All have at least 70% accessibility, and three have over 100,000 tons each at 90% accessibility or better.  Perhaps the best find is over a million tons of Duranium.

September 22, 2028:  Uranus is found to have three times the Sorium as Saturn, but lower in the atmosphere.  This combined with the distance makes it an unlikely candidate for harvesting any time soon.

October 22, 2028:  Over twice the amount of Sorium that is on Uranus is found on Neptune, higher up in the gas giant like with Saturn.  Once more, the distance does not make Neptune too attractive a prospect, but the information is good to know for the very long term future.

January 6, 2029:  Because of the shipbuilding program, Earth is experiencing a critical Uridium shortage.  Supplies are running out faster than expected.  Expansion of the Venus facility is halted to start a new base on the comet Whipple, which has a large amount of Uridium at 90% accessibility.

January 11, 2029:  Human scientists have been well aware of jump points since mid 2014.  However, once the survey of the Solar System got underway it was decided finding high value minerals should be the first priority.  Now that only the far reaches of the system are left to be cataloged, the UNS Diamond is directed to begin a gravitational survey.  The military command ships are already fitted with an experimental jump drive, and may probe any promising finds.

March 25, 2029:  With decreasing finds in the deep Solar System, the geological survey is put on hold for the time being, until starship ranges reliably increase.

May 26, 2029:  A jump point is found, about midway between Uranus and Neptune's moons, slightly offset from Galactic South (away from the center).  The fleet is dispatched to investigate.

June 17, 2029:  The fleet emerges in the Wolf 359 system.  Wolf 359 is a red dwarf, orbited close in by a super-terrestrial planet and four gas giants, three of which are several times larger than Jupiter.  The system is rounded out with a rather large asteroid belt at “edge”, though the Sol jump point is actually within this ring, at about twice the radius of Mars' orbit.  A few of the gas giants' moons are decent sites for bases, but overall there's really no prospects for long term habitation.

However, while the system would normally only be of mild interest, sensors detect radiation signatures of two ships between the third and fourth planets, one 7950 tons and one 15900 tons.  Though humanity knew alien life existed, few of the top officials believed signs of life would be discovered this close to home, and even fewer predicted it would be by signs of battle.  The truly puzzling thing was that there did not appear to be any reasonable explanation for the wrecks or their specific location.  Perhaps the battle had occurred at a time when a super-jovian leap point was nearby, but there really wasn't anything to the visible eye worth fighting over here...

It was decided the battle task force would cautiously move up to the fourth planet and check for any signs of colonies on the moons, before retreating through the jump point.  One command cruiser would stay behind to relay information as events unfolded...
 

Offline Marski

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Re: United Nations of Earth Campaign - Chapter One - 1/1/2028 to 6/17/2029
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2012, 02:10:46 AM »
Very interesting and well written, looking forward to next part.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2012, 02:18:22 AM by Marski »