On May 8th, the task group of the Latin Alliance that entered Alpha Centauri a month earlier arrived in orbit of the Enclave home world. Given recent events it seemed unlikely that this visit would end well. However, they left peacefully, splitting into three groups as they departed. With the closest Latin ships more than two hundred million kilometres from the Enclave home world of Alpha Centauri-A III, Jovian sensors detected seven strength-15 detonations in their wake. These were quickly followed by a strength-18 secondary power explosion, two secondary magazine explosions in excess of strength-40 and the appearance of the wreck of a Martian destroyer. There were obviously Martian ships that had continued to pursue the Jaguar after the departure of the Colbert.
A day later, the first civilian colony ships arrived at the Jovian colony on Alpha Centauri-B III. The two ships were operated by the Denoon Transport Corporation, commonly known as DTC, and had been constructed during the previous few months. DTC was created by a visionary business leader from Callisto in who believed that interstellar colonization was inevitable and the first company to take advantage of it would be in a dominant position.
Later that same day, Jovian sensors detected three strength-1 detonations just one point eight million kilometres from the Enclave home world, followed shortly thereafter by four more. The best guess of Jovian Naval Intelligence was the explosions were defensive fire against incoming missiles. Who had fired the missiles was unknown. The Enclave was at war with the Martian Union and the Republic of India so one of them was likely responsible but none of their ships were on Jovian sensors. The only significant force in the area was from the Latin Alliance but they had just visited the Enclave home world and left without incident. Over the next twenty minutes more than two hundred strength-1 detonations were detected. There was no sign of any of the inbound missiles reaching their targets. Forty-five minutes later an unknown target one hundred million kilometres from the Enclave home world was struck by seven strength-15 detonation.
A second attack on Alpha Centauri-A III occurred a few hours later but was easily dealt with by its formidable defences. Approximately one hundred incoming missiles were destroyed. Interestingly, two of the Latin Alliance ships had turned around and were now heading back toward the planet while the other four continued heading away. Eight hours passed before a third attack of fifty missiles, which was as unsuccessful as its predecessors. Ten minutes after the third attack Jovian sensors detected more than three hundred simultaneous strength-1 explosions in the same location as one of the Latin Alliance ships, thirty million kilometres from the Enclave home world. The active sensor signature of the Erebus class destroyer was replaced by a wreck beacon. Whether the Latin ships had launched the recent attacks on Alpha Centauri-A III was still unknown but there was no doubt the Skye Enclave was now at war with a third Solarian power.
Ten seconds later, a further thirty-five strength-1 detonations heralded the appearance of a second Erebus class wreck. The second Erebus had not been using its active sensors so had not previously been detected by Jovian sensors. Active emissions were still being detected from a 16,900 ton Latin Alliance Paraiba class cruiser that continued closing on the Enclave home world. Three hours after the destruction of the two Erebus class destroyers, thirteen strength-1 detonations were detected half a million kilometres ahead of the Paraiba; almost certainly interceptions of incoming missiles. Twenty-two more followed five seconds later and twenty-four more within the next ten seconds. Given the weight of defensive fire it seemed very likely that other Latin ships accompanied the Paraiba.
Despite those defensive efforts two hundred and forty-five strength-1 detonations were recorded in the same location as the Paraiba and its active sensor emissions ceased. Eight more defensive explosions were detected but they were a futile gesture against the incoming whirlwind. The Paraiba was struck a further thirty-eight times, triggering a secondary power explosion. A hundred thousand kilometres to port of the Latin cruiser, another ship was hit by one hundred and seventy-two detonations. Two power explosions and a huge magazine explosion preceded the appearance of the wreck of a 16,900 ton Rademaker class cruiser. Within the next ten seconds, three hundred and sixty more Enclave missiles blasted three Covadonga class destroyers into irradiated debris. The Latin Alliance task group was being torn to shreds. The wounded Paraiba survived for twenty minutes until a follow-up salvo from the Enclave orbital defences blew it to pieces. While the Skye Enclave’s ability to project power seemed limited by the apparent absence of its battle fleet, no hostile Solarian vessel could survive within thirty million kilometres of its home world.
Three Latin Alliance Jara class destroyers were holding position three hundred million kilometres from Alpha Centauri-A III while a Netzahualcoyotl class destroyer continued on course for the Sol jump point. A Martian Requin class vessel, probably a scout based on its speed of 6213 km/s, approached the planet but reversed course after closing to one hundred and seventy-five million kilometres and halted at two hundred and forty million, presumably in order to keep the Enclave home world under observation. On May 19th 2201 the Jaguar moved out from Alpha Centauri-A III and destroyed the Requin with a single salvo. The three Jaras closed on the Jaguar at almost 6000 km/s, marking them as probable scouts as well, until one of them took two strength-15 hits. One of them disappeared from Jovian sensors after ceasing active emissions and the other two withdrew.
In the early hours of May 24th, the Skye home world came under missile attack once again. The only nearby ships on Jovian sensors were an 18,700 ton Martian Chacal class battlecruiser at 120m km and a 28,000 Courbet class battleship at 180m km. Both were only visible due to their active sensor emissions. The attack was split into two waves. Based on the defensive missile detonations the first comprised one hundred and twenty missiles and lasted twelve minutes. The second, following seventy-five minutes later, comprised one hundred and forty missiles over a twenty minute period. As with all previous attacks no Solarian missiles reached the planet. Even though the Enclave was easily defeating all attempts to attack or approach its home world, there had to be a limit to its supply of anti-missiles. Both Martian active signatures headed for the Sol jump point.
The Jaguar ventured out from the Enclave home world once again on May 27th. One of the Latin Alliance Jara class scouts was struck by two strength-15 detonation. Three secondary power explosions followed and a wreck appeared. Four days later the Republic of India took its turn at a missile attack on Alpha Centauri-A III, or at least that was the opinion of Jovian Naval Intelligence as sensor emissions from a 22,650 ton Indian Brahmaputra class battleship were being detected two hundred million kilometres from the planet. Approximately one hundred and ten missiles were launched. None hit. The Brahmaputra moved away in the direction of the jump point. On June 3rd the Jaguar carried out another brief foray and took out a second Jara class scout. The third Jara was destroyed on the 6th.
On June 13th 2201 the Jovian survey ship Epimetheus discovered a new jump point in Alpha Centauri, three point eight billion kilometres from the primary and over four billion kilometres from the Jovian colony. As per standing orders she moved to investigate. The jump point had a gate but Epimetheus used her own jump engine to reduce the length of time her active sensor would be unable to function after the jump. She transited into Lalande 21185, a red dwarf star eight light years from Earth with seven planets and a small asteroid belt. The second planet had a nitrogen – oxygen atmosphere of 0.22 atm, too thin to breathe, and a surface temperature of -54C, making it a potential terraforming candidate. This jump point was the general direction from which the Intruder ship approached the Skye Enclave home world, but there was no sign of any alien ship near the Lalande side of the jump point and no wrecks visible in the system. Epimetheus transited back into Alpha Centauri to report, using her own jump engine once more as there was no gate on the Lalande side, and to resume her survey mission.
A new wreck joined the growing number near the Alpha Centauri-A solar system on June 14th as the Jaguar picked off a Martian geological survey ship in the asteroid belt. A week later, an Indian Nilgiri class destroyer, intercepted by the Jaguar four hundred million kilometres from Alpha Centaur-A III, took fourteen strength-10 hits. Up until this point the Jaguar had been using missiles with strength-15 warheads to the change to strength-10 was puzzling. Twenty-seven hours later, eight more strength-10 detonations were detected three hundred and sixty million kilometres from the Enclave home world but no ships from either the Enclave or any Solarian powers were in the area, at least based on what Jovian sensors could detect.
Three minutes later, Jovian sensors recorded four strength-4 detonations six million kilometres from the original explosions and a 950 ton wreck appeared, type unknown but possibly an Enclave FAC. Twenty-two more strength-4 detonations were detected within the next six minutes, along with five more 950 ton wrecks. The best guess of Jovian Naval Intelligence was that a flotilla of Skye Enclave fast attack craft had engaged a Solarian force, based on the relative position of the two sides, and was subsequently destroyed by the counter-attack.
A few hours after the battle Jovian freighters unloaded three more deep space tracking stations on Alpha Centauri-B III. With sensor strength now quadrupled, the sensor emissions from two Indian Vidyut class destroyers were detected three hundred and twenty million kilometres from the Enclave home world. One was lagging behind the other and moving at 2543 km/s compared to 2859 km/s for the lead ship. The Jaguar ventured out and two energy weapon impacts were detected in the same location as the leading Vidyut. The Vidyuts launched sixty-plus missiles at the Enclave home world from approximately seventy million kilometres. All were intercepted by anti-missiles. Both Indian destroyers then ran for the Sol jump point.
In late June, Jovian Naval Intelligence produced a situation report for the Federation President. In summary, despite ongoing conflict in Alpha Centauri, the strategic situation was stable for the Jovian Federation and recent events were generally favourable. The Sino-Russian conflict had effectively eliminated one Solarian power and seriously weakened a second. In the long term the Russian Federation would benefit from the increased population and industrial base but that would take many years. In the meantime the Russian fleet had been wiped out and its lunar orbital defences were weakened due to casualties and a lack of missiles. The Skye Enclave, which could have been a major threat to the establishment of the Jovian colony close to the alien city on Alpha Centauri-B III, was now seriously weakened due to conflict with the Republic of India, the Latin Alliance, the Martian Union and the alien race known as the Intruders. However, there was still the question of the missing Enclave battle fleet. Many of the ships that took part in the battle against the Secundus were absent from Alpha Centauri and no wrecks were visible in either Alpha Centauri or Lalande. Perhaps they would lie beyond another jump point. The Jovian survey of Alpha Centauri was still in progress. The three Solarian powers currently in conflict with the Skye Enclave were conducting hit and run raids rather than major attacks and their respective fleets were being reduced by the resulting attrition, lessening their ability to threaten the Federation in any future war. Only the United Mercurian Emirates and the Star Vikings had escaped conflict, at least in systems where the Jovian Federation could observe their activities.
On the colonization front, the population of Alpha Centauri-B III had reached 350,000 while Altair II had 640,000 settlers. In order to give the colonies more of a sense of identity, and to give the Jovian voting public more affinity with the interstellar colonization effort, both were officially named by the Jovian Senate, rather than being referred to by the astronomical body on which they were located. The larger colony in Altair was named Athens and the colony in Alpha Centauri was named Sparta. Colonization of Athens was easier because of the planet’s environmental conditions were close to human tolerance levels. Much more infrastructure was required on Sparta before colonists could be transported, which meant the two Jovian colony ships were usually dispatched to Altair. Four deep space tracking stations were in place at Sparta, along with five maintenance facilities. The long-term plan was to establish a naval base at the colony.
On June 24th, Epimetheus discovered a new jump point in Alpha Centauri, five hundred million kilometres from the primary on a bearing of 320. More importantly it was less than four hundred million kilometres from the Enclave home world. Admiral Charleston personally gave the go-ahead to investigate the jump point. While there was no state of war between the Federation and the Enclave, the latter power had been very aggressive towards any ships approaching the Alpha Centauri-A system and probing the jump point might trigger conflict. However, Jovian Intelligence was very keen to know what lay beyond the system’s jump points and even if an incident did occur, the Enclave’s ability to project power far from its home world seemed very limited.
On June 27th an Indian Nilgiri class destroyer strayed too close to the Enclave orbital defences and was blown to pieces by a hail of anti-missiles. A day later, two Greenhalgh class survey ships of the Latin Alliance suffered a similar fate. The Jaguar also conducted a brief sortie and destroyed a Martian Union geological survey vessel operating in the inner asteroid belt of Alpha Centauri-A.
Epimetheus transited the new jump point on June 30th. She emerged less than half a billion kilometres from the red dwarf star Luyten 142-23, which was almost sixteen light years from Sol. In line with the Jovian policy of renaming systems with non-mnemonic designations, the system was named Hesperus. Hesperus had nine unremarkable planets and almost a hundred moons, plus a few asteroids clustered in the Trojan points of the sixth planet, a huge super-jovian. Both sides of the jump point had gates and two Enclave Panther class construction ships were holding station on the Hesperus side. Once again, there was no sign of any wrecks. Epimetheus returned to Alpha Centauri to continue her survey.
A skirmish between Enclave and Latin Alliance ships took place on July 3rd. The Jaguar came under fire, presumably from a nearby Netzahualcoyotl class destroyer. The Jaguar’s point defence shot down numerous waves of six missiles each without suffering a hit. The only sign of a counter-attack was a single strength-10 hit on the Netzahualcoyotl. Two hours later five strength-8 detonations were detected fifty million kilometres from the Latin destroyer and an unknown 950 ton wreck appeared. Presumably a member of the Enclave FAC class that had yet to be directly detected by any Jovian sensor. A Latin Barroso class destroyer that had been following the Netzahualcoyotl now moved passed it toward the Enclave home world and the Netzahualcoyotl set course for the jump point. The Barroso did not get far. It was struck by eight strength-10 detonations and blew up. Three days later a Martian Colbert class destroyer launched a hundred missiles at the Enclave home world. The orbital defences handled the attack with their customary efficiency.
Shortly after the Martian attack the Jaguar broke orbit. However, rather than chase the attacking destroyer it appeared to be heading for Epimetheus, which was at one of the inner ring of survey locations. The Jaguar stayed on course for three days, bringing it within a billion kilometres of the Jovian survey ship. Admiral Charleston ordered the ship to abandon its current position and move to a survey location further out. Once Epimetheus pulled away, the Jaguar reversed course and headed home.
Meanwhile, the Zeus Shipyard orbiting Europa launched Immortalis and Imperator, the fifth and sixth Invictus class Missile Cruisers. The Dionysus Shipyard had recently completed three new Minotaur class destroyers, Centaur, Hydra and Medusa, taking the total for the class to seven. With the Federation Navy now significantly stronger Admiral Charleston decided to add an extra missile cruiser to the task group guarding Sparta. It was also time to bring Cerberus and Volantis home as they had been on deployment for almost a year. Therefore a small task group comprising the cruiser Inceptris, the destroyer Phoenix and the escort Leonis was dispatched to Alpha Centauri. On their arrival Cerberus and Volantis would return to the Jovian system for an overhaul.
On July 12th, the tracking stations on Sparta detected emissions from a new Enclave class, designated as Hammerhead. The emissions were close to the location of the Martian Colbert class destroyer that recently conducted a raid against the Enclave home world, now halfway between Alpha Centauri-A and Alpha Centauri-B. Shortly after the detection the Colbert appeared to shoot down four inbound missiles, based on four energy weapon impacts in its location. The Hammerhead reversed course and headed home at 4735 km/s. The best guess of JNI was that the Hammerhead was the Enclave fast attack craft.
Due to the number of deep space tracking stations on Sparta, the emissions of the Enclave population on Alpha Centauri-B IV could be detected directly. Because of planetary alignment, they could also detect a small Latin Alliance population on Alpha Centauri-B II. At the same time as the Latin population was first detected, a Martian Union task group passed through the Alpha Centauri-B system en route to the primary solar system. The composition of the task group was as shown below. They were closely followed by a 22,650 ton Indian Brahmaputra class battleship. Two point five billion kilometres closer to Alpha Centauri-A another Martian ship was in trouble. A Saphir class destroyer had been intercepted by the Enclave Jaguar. It was struck by two salvos, suffering eleven strength-10 hits. The resulting magazine explosion tore the ship apart.
1x Courbet class battleship: 28,050 tons
1x Chacal class battlecruiser: 18,700 tons
2x La Redoutable class escort cruiser: 18,700 ton (probable escorts due to resolution-1 sensor emissions)
2x Duquesne class destroyers: 9,350 tons (probable escorts due to resolution-1 sensor emissions)
2x Foch class destroyer: 9,350 tons (probable escorts due to resolution-1 sensor emissions)
2x La Galissonniere: 9,350 tons (probable escorts due to resolution-1 sensor emissions)
The Courbet class battleship was some several million kilometres ahead of the Chacal class battlecruiser, which itself was several million kilometres ahead of the escort group. As the task group proceeded across the system it came under attack several times. A pair of Enclave Hammerheads initiated the first assault, launching a small number of missiles that were shot down by the Courbet class battleship. The FACs returned home to reload and attacked again when the Courbet was three hundred and thirty million kilometres from the Enclave home world. As before, the Courbet destroyed the incoming missiles with its close range point defence but on this occasion the FACs strayed into range and the battleship blasted the two FACs into scrap metal with a missile attack of its own. While the Jaguar was proving resilient, the Enclave FACs were very short-lived when engaging the Solarian powers. Meanwhile the Jaguar was prowling the Alpha Centauri-A asteroid belt and picked off two Indian Ranvir class survey ships.
The Courbet came under attack again two hundred and sixty million kilometres from the planet, this time probably from the Jaguar which was two hundred and ten million kilometres ahead. The battleship killed seventeen missiles from two separate salvos, including eleven in the first salvo. Once again it seemed the Jaguar was firing off a few missiles as they were constructed. Even so, the point defence of the Courbet was impressive. The rest of the Martian task group was lagging further and further behind the battleship, with the Chacal class battlecruiser a hundred million kilometres astern and the escort group almost three hundred million kilometres km away. At one hundred and forty million kilometres from the Enclave home world the Courbet launched approximately twenty-five missiles, all of which were hit by anti-missiles by the orbital defences, then continued closing. At one hundred million kilometres the battleship was struck by a total of seventeen strength-10 detonations from two fresh salvos. Twenty-two more inbound missiles were hit by point defence. Once again the Jaguar was the likely source of the missiles, although the size of the salvos indicated more than one ship was firing.
The Martian battleship continued its approach to the Enclave home world. At thirty-four million kilometres, the Courbet was staggered by almost three hundred strength-1 detonations, followed by two power system explosions. Ten seconds later a second equally large salvo arrived and the battleship vanished amid a cataclysmic series of secondary explosions. Given that the destruction involved magazine explosions, Jovian Naval Intelligence believed the battleship must have been carrying short-range missiles and attempting to get within firing range. Analysts theorised that its earlier launch may have contained the last available long-range Martian missiles. Following the destruction of the Courbet class battleship, the Chacal launched over a hundred missiles from long range and retreated toward the jump point, followed by the escort group. All the missiles were shot down by the Enclave orbital defences. The Indian Brahmaputra class battleship passed the withdrawing Martian task group and made its own approach to the planet, suffering a similar fate to its Martian counterpart. Two colossal salvos of anti-missile missiles obliterated the 22,650 ton vessel.
The recent attacks by the Martian Union, Republic of India and Latin Alliance on the Enclave home world seemed futile, perhaps even suicidal. However, they were slowly exhausting the anti-missile stocks of the Skye Enclave. Once those AMMs ran out the planet was vulnerable without a battle fleet to protect it and the Enclave home world was a very valuable prize indeed. Its EM signature strength was 170,000 compared to less than 90,000 for the Indian and Latin populations, the largest in the Sol system. The Jovian President had even asked Jovian Naval Intelligence to examine options for a potential Jovian intervention should the Enclave defences fail. Going against three Sol-based powers was not realistic so the options would involve a Jovian invasion of the Enclave home world to prevent it falling into the hands of a rival power. The problem was that the Jovian ground forces were unlikely to be capable of securing a planet with such a high population and the first troop transport was not yet available. In July 2201 Jovian ground forces comprised a dozen mobile infantry battalions plus a dozen reserve units that would only be suitable as garrison troops. Plans were underway to expand the force, including the creation of brigade level headquarter units, and to implement a new command structure. This would take time however and the Enclave might not have that time.
On August 2nd the first pair of construction brigades completed training. Once the first transport was launched they would be moved to Sparta to begin recovery of alien installations in the alien city.
Three Vidyut class destroyers of the Republic of India carried out the next raid on the Skye Enclave. Halfway to the Alpha Centauri-A solar system they destroyed an Enclave FAC. Shortly thereafter they came under fire from the Jaguar and one of the destroyers suffered nine strength-10 hits and reduced speed. The Jaguar took advantage of its superior speed to reload at the Enclave home worlds and returned to launch a second strike against the two undamaged destroyers. Five salvos were launched, resulting in thirty strength-10 hits. One Vidyut was destroyed and the second left dead in space. Two hours later a follow-up salvo killed the crippled ship. The Indian destroyer damaged in the earlier attack managed to repair its engines and launched forty missiles against Alpha Centauri-A III. All forty were hit by anti-missiles. A further raid took place in late August when a Netzahualcoyotl class destroyer of the Latin Alliance tested the Enclave home world defences once again. Two hundred missiles were shot down without any hits being scored.
The Martian Union task group returned in early September, minus the Chacal but with the addition of two Colbert class destroyers. Once they passed through the Alpha Centauri-B system the only Jovian sensor contact was the emissions from one of the Colberts. The Jaguar came out to meet them, moving in the opposite direction on a parallel course. When combat ensued the Jaguar was actually further from its home world than the Martian ships. Both sides launched anti-ship missiles. The Union task group destroyed twenty-six inbound missiles using anti-missiles from the escorts while the Jaguar killed approximately a hundred missiles with its close range point defence. Both sides reversed course to head home.
Several hours later, the Jaguar came under a ferocious attack from an unknown source. Salvos of fifty anti-missiles arrived every ten seconds, overwhelming even the previously impervious point defence of the Enclave battleship. The view of JNI was that the Martian escort group that was no longer on Jovian sensors must have broken away from the Colberts after their missile attack and intercepted the Jaguar on its way home. The Jaguar was killing between ten and fifteen missiles from each salvo but the sheer number of inbounds meant its armour was being ground away. As the onslaught continued, the sensor emissions from a second Jaguar in the same location were detected, proving what JNI had believed for a while – that two Jaguars were operating in unison. In total, the combination of strength-1 detonations and strength-1 energy weapon impacts added up to over one thousand missiles before the attack ceased. One Jaguar slowed by 200 km/s.
Twenty minutes later the attack resumed and its ferocity was undimmed. Salvo after salvo smashed into the two Jaguars. One began to slow dramatically as secondary explosions inflicted even more damage. With startling suddenness the EM emission contact vanished and the wreck of a Jaguar appeared on Jovian tactical displays. The second Enclave battleship became the target and could not escape the relentless assault. After a thousand anti-missiles had been expended in the second phase of the attack, the Jaguar was reduced to drifting wreckage. The Solarian powers had finally overcome the formidable Enclave capital ships, leaving the way open for further attacks on the Skye Enclave home world.
In Altair, four Jovian survey ships were carrying out a gravitational survey. Due to the high mass of the A7-IV sub-giant star the survey was a significant undertaking with the survey locations much further apart than in Sol and requiring more survey time at each location. After seven months though the survey was finally coming to an end, with only a few locations remaining. One jump point had been found so far. While Helios was en route to investigate, Hyperion encountered a Russian Sovremenny class at one of the survey locations, which meant the Russian Federation might well be aware of the Athens colony. Helios transited the new jump point and arrived four hundred and fifty million kilometres from the brown dwarf star WISE 2056 + 1459. The star was planetless, although a few comets were in evidence. As per Jovian policy, the system was renamed Erebos.
On September 25th, the Jovian Federation launched its first salvage ship. The Aeolus class Salvager was capable of salvaging up to 500 tons per day, which meant it would require a very long time before it could hope to clear the wrecks in Sol and Alpha Centauri. A second Aeolus was laid down and a second slipway for the shipyard was under construction. The Aeolus could not begin work however until the five Minerva class freighters returned from delivering maintenance facilities to Sparta. In the meantime, it was possible the other Solarian powers were working on their own salvage vessels.
Aeolus class Salvager 18,500 tons 165 Crew 585.4 BP TCS 370 TH 900 EM 0
2432 km/s Armour 1-62 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 20 Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Salvager: 1 module(s) capable of salvaging 500 tons per day
Prometheus Stardrives PS-300C Commercial Ion Drive (3) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 39.3 billion km (186 days at full power)The Martian Union followed up their success with two separate raids by the Chacal class battlecruiser and a new Colbert class destroyer, which launched a total of one hundred and seventy missiles at Alpha Centauri-A III in early October. As expected, all the missiles were destroyed but the Enclave missile stocks could not be infinite. At some point, one of the Solarian raids would exhaust the Skye ordnance reserves.
The Jovian Federation launched its first troop transport on October 20th 2201. The Ares class could carry up to eleven battalions of ground forces or two construction brigades and was equipped with a jump drive. Although the jump drive was a luxury for a troop transport, the shipyard had previously constructed the Mercury class jump freighters so the fastest way to retool the shipyard was to model the Ares on the Mercury hull. The first mission of the Ares was to transport two construction brigades and a reserve battalion to Sparta. A second Ares was constructed five days later, along with a new Athena class sensor platform. Both ships were sent to Sparta, the former with remaining two construction brigades and a second reserve unit.
Ares class Troop Transport 65,000 tons 412 Crew 1558 BP TCS 1300 TH 2400 EM 0
1846 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 1-144 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 15 Max Repair 107 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 4
Troop Capacity: 11 Battalions Cargo Handling Multiplier 15
Vesta Interstellar VJ-65C Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 65000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Prometheus Stardrives PS-300C Commercial Ion Drive (8) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 44.7 billion km (280 days at full power)
FN/SPN-1 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 2080 Range 20.1m km Resolution 130
FN/SLR-2 Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m kmAeolus completed its first salvage operation on November 2nd, retrieving an ECCM system, a pair of 15cm near ultraviolet lasers, several gas-cooled fast reactors and a beam fire control from the wreck of a Chinese Dalian class cruiser. She moved on to a nearby Russian Bodry class cruiser. Meanwhile Epimetheus and Phoebe completed the survey of Alpha Centauri on November 5th confirming a total of three jump points leading to Sol, Hesperus and Lalande. The two Jovian vessels moved into the Hesperus system to begin a new gravitational survey.
On November 17th combat broke out once again near the Skye Enclave home world, on this occasion as a result of an apparent joint attack by the Latin Alliance and the Martian Union. A Martian Union task group was seventy million kilometres from the planet in the direction of the Sol jump point while a pair of Netzahualcoyotl class destroyers attacked from behind the planet’s orbital path. The first sign of combat was five strength-1 detonations two million kilometres from the Enclave home world in the direction of the Latin warships, almost certainly defensive anti-missile fire. Moments later over two hundred strength-1 detonations were detected in the same location as the Netzahualcoyotls followed by secondary explosions, one of them a cataclysmic strength-60 magazine explosion. Wreck markers appeared for both ships. Before their destruction the destroyer launched one hundred and ten missiles, which continued toward their targets after the loss of the launching ships. All were hit by Enclave anti-missiles. The Martians only launched approximately thirty missiles, which met a similar fate.
After the missile launch, the Martian task group continued closing on the Enclave home world. As they moved within range of the Enclave anti-missiles they came under fire. The task group launched its own anti-missiles in defence but they appeared to be limited in number and only ten inbounds were hit. Eighty-two more missiles were killed by energy-based point defence, which was impressive but not enough to blunt the attack Two hundred and twenty-three strength-1 detonations were recorded in the same location as the Martian task group. Ten seconds later a second wave of Enclave missiles scored a similar number of hits, resulting in a strength-36 secondary power explosion. At least one Martian ship had suffered significant damage.
The Martian ships put up valiant resistance with their point defence but the Enclave attack was simply too overwhelming. When the onslaught finally ceased, almost two thousand five hundred missiles had been fired against the Union task group and five new wrecks had been added to the graveyard of ships near the Alpha Centauri-A system; a Colbert class destroyer, two La Galissonniere class destroyer escorts and two Foch class destroyer escorts. Twenty-five minutes later the Enclave attack resumed, although Jovian sensors were not detecting any Martian ships. A further four hundred missiles resulted in four more wrecks; two more Colbert class destroyers and two Le Redoutable class escort cruisers. The Skye Enclave had more than avenged the loss of the Jaguar class battleships.
to be continued...
