June, 2024
The Russians launch their long-awaited large jump ship, the Skory. Minor repairs need to be completed on several cruisers, and two additional troop ships will be launched in July, and then the fleet will be ready for the largest mission in Soviet, or human history.
July, 2024
Late in the month the USSR launches two troop ships, completing its preparations. In addition, two Kirov Mk 2 class cruisers have received minor repairs to their sensor suites for damage received during training.
Prior to the launching of the planned mission to the Moskva system, Brigadir Nikolsky inspects the fleet. What he finds shocks him. Two additional Kirov class cruisers require repairs as well, and for the same reason. Brigadir Nikolsky orders the commanders and senior officers of all four cruisers arrested for treason. Under questioning, all four of the commanding officers admit that the damage to their sensors was suffered as a result of poor maintenance during training exercises.
Nikolsky is furious, and orders the commanders to be executed and the rest of the senior officers of the ships in question to be sent to Peoples Asteroid Mining Base 1 for ‘re-education’.
As a result, the mission is delayed until the repairs can be completed. Later in the year, a review of the maintenance procedures of the fleet is ordered and an exhaustive study is completed. The study determines that while the maintenance procedures were somewhat faulty, the real fault was in the original design of the Kirov. The original design team included only the minimum space necessary to carry maintenance supplies and spares, so that the maximum space could be devoted to weapons and defenses. As originally conceived, the Kirov would only be operating close to Earth, and it was not anticipated that it would operate on distant missions, much less in other systems. The result of this was that the maintenance and engineering space included in the ship was barely adequate to handle even the most minor failures. The reason that all four cruisers suffered sensor damage was that the sensors were one of the most complex individual pieces of equipment on the ship, and therefore required the most in the way of spares to fix if they failed. All four ships suffered minor failures early in their training voyages that depleted their stocks of supplies, and then when their sensors suffered a casualty, they did not have enough spares to deal with the problem. The authors of the report recommended that improved engineering spaces be included in the next generation of the design.
September 13, 2024
Seven Russian freighters and two colony ships drop from orbit and begin taking on cargo and passengers at the USSR’s Siberian launch sites. Shortly thereafter, six Russian troop ships drop from orbit as well and begin loading troops from bases in the heart of Russia.
Militaries and intelligence agencies all over the world began taking an interest shortly thereafter. Orbital surveillance showed that the freighters were loading infrastructure of a type that could be used to set up a new colony. That sent reports flying throughout the world’s governments. By now, all of the world’s governments were aware that the Indian Republic had given the Soviets jump technology well ahead of its public release, and that the Russians had been probing the Solar System’s inner warp points. The fact that the USSR’s freighters and colony ships were loading up was a clear indication that they had found something out there, so, once the various governments had reasoned that far, their interest grew even more intense.
The Russian government, as usual, was silent on the matter, leaving the other nations to speculate about what was going on.
September 15, 2024
The Russian freighters and colony ships complete loading their cargo, and lift off. Without hesitating, they pass through orbit and immediately head away from Earth at 1,159 kps. In an awe inspiring sight, nearly the entire Soviet fleet lifts out of orbit after them. Twenty cruisers and twenty four destroyers form a protective shell around seven freighters, two colony ships, six troop transports, and four jump ships.
The other governments were caught by surprise by the scale of the Russian expedition. They had expected the freighters and colony ships to lift out, of course, and most had anticipated a naval escort, but this was fantastic.
Almost all of the nations hurriedly dispatched ships to follow the Russians. The Alliance sent a squadron of fourteen ships built around the battlecruisers Sussex, Virginia, and Yorkshire. The Reich sent eight ships, including two of their massive battleships. The Japanese, perhaps worried that this might be a cover for an attack on their Titan mining complex, sent three ships to follow the Russians and dispatched the rest of their fleet at full speed to Titan. The Indians sent three ships as well. The Africans protested the Soviet action but took no actions of their own.
For two days and eight hours the motley fleet crossed the inner system, headed no where in particular. The Alliance squadron had grown restive as they approached Mars, but the Russian ship’s course only passed within 45 million kilometers and didn’t approach any closer. Martian planetary defense was on alert, and the rest of the Alliance fleet was ready to leave Earth orbit if necessary.
One troubling fact had arisen since their departure. An analysis of the activities of the Russians prior to their departure had shown that the troops loaded onto the transports were the armored core of their army. Four Armored Divisions and two Shock Infantry divisions were certainly not a colonial guard force, especially as they formed the Soviet strategic reserve. That was an invasion force, pure and simple.
The Japanese immediately went on the offensive, accusing the Russians of breaking their treaty, and pledging a massive response if the Soviet ships turned towards Titan. Both the Alliance and the Reich warned the Russians against any adventurism within the Solar System.
Everyone fell silent when, one by one, the Russian ships transited out of the system an hour later, leaving a single small jump ship on the warp point in the solar system.
See “Assault on Triumph” in a separate post.
October 20, 2024
The Alliance launches three Goddard class grav-survey ships. They are immediately dispatched to begin surveying the solar system.
Author’s Note: In this universe, Einstein returned to Germany after the ####’s were overthrown, thus a Reich ship might be named the Einstein, but it is very unlikely that an Alliance ship would be so named. I forgot and originally named the Alliance grav survey units the Einstein class. Oops.
November 26, 2024
The Alliance dispatches the Birmingham and two Admiral class destroyers to escort the scout watching the Russian fleet on the warp point, in response to aggressive posturing by the Russians.
December 1, 2024
The Reich launches three grav survey units, which are immediately dispatched to begin surveying the solar system.
Imperial Japan completes development of their jump drive, and immediately begins converting a shipyard to build their new Nagato class jump ship.
January 1, 2025
The Reich colony on Venus completes its first shipyard. The shipyard’s capacity must be expanded before it can be used to work on any of the Reich’s current ship designs.
The USSR’s premier shipyard completes retooling to construct the latest cruiser design, the Kirov Mark III. Unfortunately, this design is now considered outdated as a result of the Battle of the Moskva system, and the Mark III design is unlikely to be built. Instead, the Soviet R&D establishment is working on systems necessary for a Mark IV version which replaces the ineffective point defense systems of the Mark II and III with 10cm Mk 2 rail guns.
January 6, 2025
The Soviets complete development of the targeting systems for their Kirov Mark IV class cruiser.
Kirov Mk 4 class Cruiser 6000 tons 539 Crew 836.6 BP TCS 120 TH 400 EM 0
3333 km/s Armour 7-29 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 13
Annual Failure Rate: 144% IFR: 2% Maintenance Capacity 174 MSP
Nuclear Pulse Engine (10) Power 40 Efficiency 0.80 Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 56.2 billion km (195 days at full power)
10cm DP Railgun (1x4) Range 40,000km TS: 3333 km/s Power 3-3 RM 4 ROF 5 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
12cm Mk 2 Railgun (2x4) Range 80,000km TS: 3333 km/s Power 6-4 RM 4 ROF 10 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
DP Fire Control Mk 3 (2) Max Range: 144,000 km TS: 4800 km/s 93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Pebble Bed Reactor (2) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor S80-R20/100 (1) GPS 1600 Range 16.0m km Resolution 20
Sm Thermal Sensor TH1-8/100 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
The Kirov Mk 4 is a radical departure from the earlier designs. All gauss cannons have been replaced by a single 10cm dual purpose rail gun. In combination with the improved Mk 3 tracking systems the new 10cm rail gun is anticipated to be much more effective in the point defense role than the seven gauss cannons that it replaced. To accommodate the increased power needs of the 10cm rail gun the designers were forced to upgrade the second reactor to the larger version. Overall, the increased size of the generators, rail gun, and fire control systems meant that other system’s had to be sacrificed to maintain the 6,000 ton size mandated by the Skory class jump ships. In the end the thermal sensors were reduced in size, as was the armor protection. These reductions, however, allowed the designers to increase the ship’s engineering spaces and fuel capacity, giving the ship a longer cruising range.
February 1, 2025
The Alliance completes its grav survey of the Solar System, discovering nine warp points. The Alliance’s first jump ship will be launched in June.
March 26, 2025
The Reich completes its survey of the Solar System. The Alliance government is thrown into shock and dismay (the opposite of shock and awe) when the Reich announces its first interstellar mission at the same time. Apparently, even though the Reich was slower to complete the basic research for its interstellar ships, it was able to build the ships faster because of superior shipyard construction techniques and fewer scheduling conflicts.
The Raumarine recalls the last grav-survey ship that just completed the survey and begins organizing Interstellar Expeditionary Groups 1 & 2. The Reich government informs the Soviet Union that Raumarine ships will be transiting through the warp point that the People’s Navy is currently guarding, and that if Soviet ships interfere they will be destroyed.
The government of the USSR does not respond, but over the next several days it does begin increasing the readiness of its troops, and begins shifting armored units to its border with the Reich.
April 5, 2025
The Reich has finally completed its preparations for its first interstellar mission. Squadrons have been formed around the two Hamburg class Jump Tenders that were recently launched from the orbital yards, and the Reich’s main fleet is prepared to move in support of the squadron assigned to the warp point guarded by the Russians.
As the Raumarine prepares to leave orbit, the Kremlin finally breaks its silence. The Premier states unequivocally that the USSR will respond to any aggression by the Reich in a forceful manner, and that such a reaction will not be limited to deep space. Simultaneously with the Premier’s announcement, the Soviet Strategic Rocket Corps goes on high alert, as does the Soviet Army.
The Kaiserine does not believe that the Russians will start a war on Earth over the Raumarine probe of the Russian warp point, and the Admiralty assures her that the eight Russian cruisers and nine missile frigates as the warp point don’t have a hope of stopping the Raumarine. Therefore she announces that the Reich will not let vague threats stop it, and reaffirms the Reich policy of free transit throughout open space.
The Reich fleet once again prepares to leave orbit, but before it can another announcement rocks the world. The President of the Alliance announces that the Alliance will support the USSR against the unfounded aggression of the Reich. As the President makes this announcement, the Alliance Fleet leaves Mars orbit on a course for the Russian warp point.
The Reich is caught completely off-guard. In spite of the steadily cooling relationship between the Reich and the Alliance, the Reich Foreign Ministry had been confident that the Alliance would back up the Reich’s move to open the Russian warp point either with active assistance or with tacit support. Worse, where the Raumarine was confident that it could overawe the Russian fleet into standing aside through a show of force, the entry of the Alliance into the equation altered everything. While the Admiralty was still confident that the Raumarine could take both the Alliance and the Russian fleets, they were no longer certain that the Russians would back down without a fight.
After consulting with the Admiralty and her advisors, the Kaiserine announced that the Reich would not probe the Russian warp point for now, but reaffirmed the Reich’s basic belief in the right of free transit through open space. The two Reich exploration groups were authorized to probe the other eight warp points, and the Kaiserine called for an international conference to discuss the interstellar situation.
While there was no saber rattling, or nuclear brinksmanship, this apparently minor event marked the effective end of the de-facto alliance between the Reich and the Western Alliance.
April 6, 2025
The Reich’s Interstellar Exploratory Group #01 transits out of the solar system through the innermost warp point, discovering a binary system with two planets and a handful of moons. Over the next two to three months the Reich probe groups will be transiting all of the warp points in the solar system, except warp point #2, the Russian warp point.
Twice, the Reich squadrons would encounter Indian ships engaged in colonization or exploration efforts in the adjacent systems.
May 28, 2025
The Reich probe groups have completed their mission, and are returning to Earth. Their findings have been transmitted to the Reich Admiralty, and the Reich’s military and political leaders have decided to focus their resources on the Hamburg system, which is connected to the solar system through one of the warp points in the inner system. The system has three habitable planets, although all require a fair amount of life support equipment for the colonists to survive.
Although the Reich has probed the warp points ahead of the Alliance, they only have one geo-survey ship, the Berne, which completed the survey of the solar system at the dawn of the trans-newtonian age. Worse, they have yet to begin work on a construction ship, unlike the Alliance which has launched two of the big ships.
June 2, 2025
Imperial Japan completes its grav survey of the solar system. Unfortunately, the first Japanese jump ship won’t be launched until October, 2026.
June 5, 2025
The Reich’s Interstellar Exploratory Group #02 begins survey operations within the Hamburg system.
June 10, 2025
Secure in their new relationship with the Alliance, the USSR withdraws the bulk of its fleet from the warp point. Several ships are put into overhaul status immediately upon returning to Earth.
June 10, 2025
The Alliance launches its first jump ship, the Drake. The Drake sets out to probe the solar system’s warp points, heavily escorted by the Alliance Navy. The Drake and her escorts assiduously avoid warp point #2, which has become known as the Russian warp point.
June 12, 2025
The Drake and two Alliance cruisers make transit through the warp point in the solar system’s asteroid belt. They find two Reich cruisers and a Reich jump ship loitering on the far side of the warp point. Testy messages as exchanged, and the Reich commander, Fregattankapitan Ernst Haverstein, is tempted to open fire now that the Alliance ships are out of the solar system, but in the end the Reich ships allow the Alliance ships to transit out.
June 27, 2025
Reich IEG #2 discovers extensive resource deposits on Hamburg II, Moon 13 (one of the habitable planets). Unfortunately, although the resource deposits are very large, there are only five minerals present, and all at low availability levels. In spite of this, the moon is currently the best colonization spot in the system, and the survey commander orders the cruiser carrying the geology teams to proceed to the moon so that a more detailed survey can be completed.
July, 2025
The Indian Republic launches its first Bangalore class terraforming ship. The new ship cannot be sent to another system yet, as the Indians do not possess a jump ship large enough to convey the large ship through a warp point.
September, 2025
The Alliance completes its scouting of the warp points in the solar system. Warp point #2 has been claimed by the Russians, and the Reich is known to be active in the system beyond warp point #3. After some debate, the Alliance decides to concentrate its initial survey efforts on Alpha Cephi, which contains three more-or-less earthlike planets. The Drake is ordered to return home to refuel and re-supply.
Late in the month the Drake is dispatched to Alpha Cephi, along with five warships, a scout, and five other survey ships.
October, 2025
The Alliance begins converting one of its mid-sized shipyards to build its new Orbital Defense Base class units.
ODB class Base 7950 tons 680 Crew 1847 BP TCS 159 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 12-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 78
Annual Failure Rate: 505% IFR: 7% Maintenance Capacity 145 MSP
Quad 20cm Mk 1 MB Laser Turret (2x4) Range 256,000km TS: 8000 km/s Power 40-20 RM 4 ROF 10 10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
OB Trt Fire Control (2) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 8000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (2) Total Power Output 48 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Cyberdyne Class A Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 3360 Range 33.6m km Resolution 40
Cyberdyne AM Search Sensor (1) GPS 56 Range 560k km Resolution 1
ECM 10
The ODB is designed to dominate near-Earth space, and is specifically intended to counter the African Union’s orbital bases. The massive armored laser turrets mounted by this unit occupy nearly half of its space.
November 14, 2025
The Reich completes its survey of the Hamburg system (located through the warp point in the solar system’s asteroid belt). The system’s two earth-like planets, with colonization indexes of 2.00 and 2.56, have disappointing resource deposits. While both contain large amounts of multiple resource types, the resources on both planets are present at very low availability levels, making them dubious mining propositions at best. The Reich survey commander was preparing to send a very disappointing report back home when the survey results from the last few moons came in and everything changed. A terrestrial moon of the outer gas giant was found to have large deposits of eight different minerals, including duranium and sorium, at availability levels ranging from 0.4 to 0.6. While the Reich surveyors had been hoping for much better results, the combination of habitable planets and a viable mining site make this system very desirable. When the report reaches the Reich government on the 15th, preparations are begun immediately for a massive colonization effort.
The Reich government is still opposed to the Russian’s outright seizure of an entire solar system, and has proposed an international registry that would be maintained by an agency manned by all six governments. This registry would allow nations to claim planets or moons, but not entire systems, continuing the line of reasoning that led to the seizure of Mars and Venus by the Alliance and the Reich. This proposal was met with interest by the Indians, indifference by the Africans, and hostility by the Russians and the Alliance.
In spirit with the concept of an international registry, the Reich government announces its intention to found colonies within the Hamburg system, and offers to use this as the initial entry in such a registry. The Alliance counters with an announcement that it is annexing the Alpha Cephi system in its entirety.
December, 2025
The Alliance Senate passes the McMann-Ochoa Act, laying down the framework for the administration of the interstellar colonies that are currently in the planning stages. Powerful economic and political interests within the Alliance are eager to gain access to the resources of interstellar space, but they are less interested in allowing political competition to their power to arise on the colonies. The McMann-Ochoa Act gives colonists several benefits, like reduced taxes compared to the citizens on Earth, but in essence creates second-class citizens by denying the colonists the right to self-government. The Act authorizes the creation of the Alliance Colonial Authority, which will administer the colonies for the Alliance government. There is no provision for self-rule or independence.
Intelligence Report, December 2025
Alliance
The Alliance is currently exploring the possibility of a closer relationship with the USSR, although no actual treaties have been signed yet. The Alliance State Department, long a proponent of the unofficial alliance with the Reich, is very uncomfortable with the current developments on the international scene and is working to repair the breach between the Alliance and the Reich. Unfortunately, the current Alliance administration is convinced that an agreement with one of the smaller powers will give the Alliance the advantage it needs to leap ahead of the Reich in establishing its interstellar colonies.
The Alliance Navy has grown concerned about the African Union, which has turned inwards and has shunned contact with other nations. To date the AU has launched eighteen bases into orbit around the Earth. Orbital surveillance shows that the bases are heavily armored and are armed with some sort of heavy beam weapon. War-games run by the Navy war college indicate that the bases, which are obviously optimized for close-range combat, could dominate orbital space in a conflict, at least until the Alliance and Reich Navies return from Mars and Venus. In response to these orbital units the Alliance Navy plans to build at least six bases of its own.
The Alliance’s focus over the next several years will be the colonization of the Alpha Cephi system. The Alliance government is currently investigating the possibility of building terraforming ships, like those built by the Indian Republic, to bring the inhabitable planets of the Alpha Cephi system closer to Earth-standard.
Reich
The Reich is focusing on its colonization efforts in the Hamburg system, and is exploring the possibility of an alliance with the Japanese, now that the Alliance is growing closer to the Russians.
The Reich Navy has completed a very large R&D effort aimed at improving its sensor and fire control systems. This has been a problem area for the Raumarine in the past, and the development of the new sensor technology has allowed the Raumarine to standardize its capabilities and close gaps in its capabilities. In addition, the Raumarine is taking this opportunity to deploy two new missiles, one optimized for short-range combat and the other optimized for very long range combat. The new short-range missiles have the same warhead as the standard Reich anti-ship missile, but most of the fuel has been replaced with larger engines, giving the missile a speed of 32,000 kps. The long range missile has a smaller warhead and isn’t as accurate, but has over twice the range of the standard anti-ship missile. As a consequence of the addition of new missile types, the Raimarine has decided to increase the magazine size of its units by 50% during the same refit that will add the new sensors.
USSR
The USSR is currently trying to rebuild its fleet and come up with a new plan to subjugate the Novarans. So far it has been unable to develop such a plan, however, the new relationship with the Alliance may be a way for the USSR to gain advantage over the Novarans, if a way can be found to limit Alliance meddling in the Novaran system once the conquest is completed.
Japanese Empire
The Japanese Empire is struggling to catch up with the other nations. It has completed its survey of the solar system, but its first jump ship won’t be launched until December, 2026, meaning that the other nations will have had over a year to exploit their finds before the Japanese can begin exploring beyond the solar system.
Indian Republic
The Indians have been struggling to build up their colony on the planet of Ludhiana in the Gliese-754 system. The Indians chose this system to colonize specifically because the warp point linking it to the solar system is the furthest out from the sun, making it the least interesting because it has the longest travel times associated with it. The Indians did this to avoid being caught up in competition with the other nations, but the long travel times and the limited size and capabilities of the Indian transport fleet have meant that growth is slow. The colony on Ludhiana is composed of 660,000 people, with enough infrastructure for 1.6 million. The cargo shipment from Earth was composed of three deep space sensor stations and six mines, making the colony a going concern.
The Indian government is growing concerned about the international situation. They had hoped that tensions would decrease once interstellar travel became a reality, however, it seems that the new technology has actually increased tensions.
African Union
The Union has focused completely on building up its ability to fight in near-Earth space by building orbital bases optimized to engage the ships of the other nations fleets as they orbit Earth, and powerful missile bases on the ground capable of engaging the other nation’s missile ships at long range. In addition, the Union has built several PDC’s equipped with meson weapons to intercept missiles from other nations. The Union now plans on building bases equipped with anti-missile missiles so that missile salvoes launched at their orbital bases can be engaged before they reach their targets.
[attachment=0:17kdm25p]Table 2025.gif[/attachment:17kdm25p]
