11th October 1902HMS Amethyst and the geological survey cruisers HMS Eclipse and HMS Isis transit the innermost jump point of the Sol system. Venus is 150 million kilometres distant at the moment and heading away from the jump point so the transit causes no problems with the Khaghan Federation. That might change in a few months as Venus moves much closer. The three Royal Navy ships emerge five hundred and sixty million kilometres from DX Cancri, an M6-V red dwarf with eight planets. The second planet is a terrestrial world with a nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere of 0.28 atm, gravity of 0.59G and a surface temperature of -42C. HMS Eclipse and HMS Isis head in-system to begin a geological survey while HMS Amethyst remains at the jump point.
14th October 1902HMS Sapphire and the survey cruisers HMS Juno and HMS Minerva transit Sol's second jump point and arrive in Luyten 726-8, a binary system of two red dwarfs orbiting each other at eight hundred million kilometres with eleven planets, sixty-seven moons and seventy asteroids between them. The jump point is two point two five billion kilometres from the primary. The second planet of the B component is a terrestrial world with a thin nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere of 0.13 atm, gravity of 0.47G and surface temperature of -62C. As in DX Cancri, the scout cruiser remains at the jump point while the other two cruisers begin a geological survey.
5th November 1902HMS Juno discovers sixty-three million tons of accessibility 0.9 Duranium on the innermost planet of Luyten 726-8-A. There are huge quantities of nine other minerals but all except Corbomite are at 0.1 accessibility. The planet is a large, dense terrestrial world with gravity of 2.94G and an atmospheric pressure of 138 atm. The only option for mining would be automated mines.
726-8-A I Mineral SurveyDuranium 62,989,090 Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 33,593,620 Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 76,176 Acc: 0.7
Tritanium 24,681,020 Acc: 0.1
Boronide 35,760,400 Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 3,732,624 Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 11,587,220 Acc: 0.1
Uridium 2,742,336 Acc: 0.1
Corundium 84,640,000 Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 15,649,940 Acc: 0.1
6th November 1902The Khaghan Federation discovers the jump gate close to the orbit of Saturn. A pair of Ogadei class geological survey ships are immediately dispatched to investigate. Rather than the British sense of exploration and adventure, the reasons for the Khaghan transit are a desire to find exploitable worlds combined with an acceptance of potential losses should the two ships fail to return. Historically, Khaghan commanders have been content to accept high losses if justified by what they perceive as a favourable risk-reward ratio.
12th November 1902HMS Pathfinder arrives in DX Cancri after completing the gravitational survey of Wolf 359. Her sister ship HMS Fearless will arrive in eleven days.
28th November 1902A debate has been continuing among senior members of Her Majesty's Government for several days. There are partially habitable planets in both DX Cancri and Luyten 726-8 that could be colonised by the British Empire. There are no jump ships of sufficient size to escort freighters or colony ships into those systems and due to the length of retooling required for large jump-capable ships, none will be available for well over a year. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary has RFA Apollo, a jump gate construction ship, that could build gates on both sides of one of the two jump points in about a year. However, that would also open up the systems to the freighters and colony ships of the other powers as well, unless orders were given to the Royal Navy to secure the jump point for the Empire. Besides the provocation of the other powers that such a blockade could cause, it might prove difficult to execute for DX Cancri, given the proximity of the jump point to the orbit of Venus.
Eventually, the decision is made to use RFA Apollo, primarily because of fears Tianxia could develop a jump-capable ship large enough to escort freighters before the British Empire. To leave options open regarding a blockade, the jump point to Luyten 726-8 is selected as the first at which a first jump gate will be built. The geological survey of DX Cancri was recently completed without finding any particularly good mining sites and the location of the Luyten 726-8 jump point out near the orbit of Jupiter means it can be defended without threatening the home worlds of the other powers. Jupiter will pass within seventy-five million kilometres of the jump point but only every twelve years and the first such occurrence is more than eight years in the future.
5th December 1902The war cruisers Shaoguan, Xiamen and Xiangtan join the Imperial Fleet, taking the total number of Imperial war cruisers to fifteen.
8th December 1902HMS Amethyst transits Sol's fourth jump point. She appears one point seven billion kilometres from Proxima Centauri, a red dwarf star that is Sol's closest stellar neighbour. Only three planets orbit the M6-V primary. Two are gas giants, one of which has twenty-five moons and the other is tidelocked to the star and therefore moonless. The innermost world is an airless dwarf planet smaller than Earth's moon. The planet has gravity of 0.11G and a surface temperature of -68C so it could support a small human colony if sufficient infrastructure was provided. HMS Eclipse heads for the planets to carry out a geological survey while HMS Amethyst and HMS Isis move on to jump point five.
13th December 1902HMS Amethyst enters jump point five and emerges in Barnard's Star, a system with an M4-V red dwarf primary and seven planets. The three innermost planets have acceptable gravity but minimal or no atmosphere and surface temperature well outside the tolerable range. HMS Isis begins a geological survey while HMS Amethyst holds position on the jump point.
18th December 1902HMS Juno makes a welcome discovery. The second moon of Luyten 726-8-A IV has significant, accessible deposits of eight different minerals, including 320,000 tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium and almost six hundred thousand tons of accessibility 0.7 Gallicite, the mineral currently causing the most concern for British industry. The moon itself has sufficient gravity for a human colony but the surface temperature is below -200C so automated mines seem to be the only realistic option. RFA Apollo is already building a gate on the Sol side of the jump point to Luyten 726-8, Until gates on both sides are completed, there will be no way to transport mines to the moon.
Luyten 726-8-A IV - Moon 2 Mineral SurveyDuranium 320,000 Acc: 1
Corbomite 627,264 Acc: 0.6
Tritanium 614,656 Acc: 0.6
Boronide 46,656 Acc: 1
Mercassium 304,704 Acc: 0.9
Vendarite 92,416 Acc: 0.8
Sorium 186,624 Acc: 0.7
Gallicite 577,600 Acc: 0.7
6th January 1903The Khaghan Federation builds its first freighter. The Timurad class is a basic design and significantly slower than the freighters of Tianxia and the British Empire. Even so, it will allow the Federation to establish off-world mining colonies for the first time. A colony ship is also under construction but will not be available for over a year.
Timurad class Freighter 39,200 tons 155 Crew 547.4 BP TCS 784 TH 1000 EM 0
1275 km/s Armour 1-102 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 9 Max Repair 25 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Ghazan-100 Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (10) Power 100 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 100 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 17.3 billion km (157 days at full power)
11th January 1903The gravitational survey cruisers HMS Adventure and HMS Foresight are constructed by the Vickers Orbital Shipyard. They are assigned to carry out a survey of Luyten 726-8
27th January 1903HMS Amethyst transits jump point six. She appears seven billion kilometres from Procyon, an F5-IV yellow white sub-giant star. The solar system is huge, with nine planets, fifty-seven moons and well over four hundred asteroids spread across three belts. The outmost asteroid is more than two hundred billion kilometres from Procyon. Procyon IV is a good candidate for terraforming with gravity of 1.17G, a nitrogen - carbon dioxide atmosphere of 1.37 atm and a surface temperature of -7C. The system also has a B component; a planetless white dwarf orbiting at two point four billion kilometres. HMS Eclipse has recently completed her mission in Proxima Centauri so she transits into Procyon to begin a geological survey.
1st March 1903HMS Fearless and HMS Pathfinder complete their gravitational survey of DX Cancri, which lies beyond Sol's innermost jump point, locating two new jump points. HMS Amethyst makes a brief stop at Earth to take on fuel and supplies then moves into DX Cancri to investigate the new jump points.
2nd March 1903HMS Sapphire and HMS Minerva arrive at jump point eight on the inner edge of the Kuiper Belt, five billion kilometres from Sol. Unfortunately the geological survey ship has made a wasted voyage. HMS Sapphire transits and finds a planetless red dwarf star, identified as Ross 248. Both ships begin the long journey home.
4th March 1903HMS Amethyst transits the second jump point of DX Cancri and arrives in AD Leonis, the first system to be explored that is not directly adjacent to Sol. The M4V red dwarf has a single terrestrial planet with a dense atmosphere and high surface temperature plus a number of comets. HMS Juno surveys the planets and the comets near the star before both ships re-enter DX Cancri.
9th April 1903RFA Apollo completes the jump gate on the Sol - Luyten 726-8 jump point. She enters the system and begin construction of the gate on the far side.
17th April 1903HMS Amethyst transits the third jump point of DX Cancri. She emerges six hundred million kilometres from Luyten's Star, a red dwarf one quarter the mass of Sol orbited by six planets. She is not accompanied by any survey ships so she moves back though DX Cancri into Sol and heads for the Luyten 726-8 jump point as the gravitational survey in that system is close to completion. The second scout cruiser, HMS Sapphire, is positioned at the Sol - Procyon jump point, waiting for the geological survey ships HMS Isis and HMS Minerva to join their sister ship HMS Eclipse in the Procyon system. After that she will head through DX Cancri to AD Leonis, where she will rendezvous with the survey ship HMS Juno. The Royal Navy's gravitational survey ships are deployed in Luyten 726-8 and Barnard's Star.
6th May 1903In light of the valuable geological deposits discovered on the second moon of Luyten 726-8-A IV by HMS Juno and the fact that jump gate construction is already underway, the British government decides that it will announce its claim on the Luyten 726-8 system within a few weeks and blockade the jump point against ships of the other two powers. To avoid conflict against both Tianxia and the Khaghan Federation, which such an announcement could provoke, diplomatic overtures are made to the Federation. Past attempts to establish a dialogue with Emperor Guangxu have failed so, despite past hostility, the Federation is seen by the British as the best option. In addition, the heavy cruisers Andromeda and Argonaut, escorted by a pair of destroyers, are dispatched to Luyten 726-8 in preparation for the announcement.
8th May 1903HMS Foresight and HMS Adventure complete their survey of Luyten 726-8, finding three additional jump points.
18th May 1903Tianxia mounts an expedition to investigate Sol's seventh jump point, which has an ancient gate. Until now, no transit has taken place due to concerns that there may not be a gate on the far side. However, Royal Navy vessels have been detected heading to and from the gate so Shao Jiang Cheng You Qiao, commander of the Imperial Fleet, believes that sufficient evidence exists that the jump point has two gates. The expedition comprises the war cruiser Haikou, two geological survey ships and two gravitational survey ships. The Khaghan Federation remains unaware of this jump point as its sole gravitational survey ship has only surveyed about half of the Sol system.
21st May 1903HMS Amethyst enters the innermost jump point of Luyten 726-8. She emerges in Gliese 682, a system that comprises an M5-V red dwarf, six planets and over seventy moons. The second planet has a breathable atmosphere, the first such world to be found outside the Sol system. Gravity at 0.96G is very close to that of Earth but the surface temperature is -75C, resulting in a thick ice sheet covering most of the planet. After escorting HMS Foresight and HMS Adventure into Gliese 682 so they can begin a gravitational survey, HMS Amethyst heads for the second unexplored jump point in Luyten 726-8.
29th May 1903HMS Amethyst arrives in the system of 82 Eridani. The primary is a yellow G5-V star slightly smaller and dimmer than Sol but still very familiar to human eyes. Only four planets and a small asteroid belt orbit the star. The second planet, a gas giant smaller than Saturn but larger than Uranus and Neptune, has seventeen moons, six of which have acceptable gravity and a surface temperature in the region of -40C. None of the moons has an atmosphere but hostile environment colonies could be established on all six if desired. In addition, there are twelve comets in the system that would be worthy of a geological survey. HMS Amethyst departs 82 Eridani and sets course for the last unexplored jump point in Luyten 726-8.
5th June 1903HMS Amethyst completes her investigations of the jump points of Luyten 726-8 when she enters GJ 1002, another red dwarf system, this time with six planets, fifty-six moons and over two hundred and fifty asteroids in a single dense belt. None of the planets are habitable, or candidates for terraforming.
10th July 1903The British Empire and the Khaghan Federation come to an agreement over Luyten 726-8. In exchange for the Khaghan supporting the British claim on Luyten 726-8 and its jump point to Sol, the British Empire will support a Federation claim on DX Cancri, which lies beyond the innermost jump point in the Sol system. As part of the negotiations, the British provided the astrographic details of DX Cancri, including a world that is colony cost 2.00 for the Khaghan and could be terraformed into an ideal habitable world, plus the location of the other jump points in the system. In addition, because the Khaghan currently have no way to exploit that system, the British Empire agreed to construct jump gates between Sol and DX Cancri.
The treaty benefits the Federation becomes it gives them sole access to a jump point that lies within the orbit of Venus. The Sol jump point is within six hundred million kilometres of the DX Cancri primary so the Khaghan ships will have a short journey between home and potential colony worlds, compensating for their slow speed in comparison to the other Solarian powers. T'mjn believes he has scored a diplomatic victory, allowing the Federation the time and resources to eventually defeat the British and Tianxia. The British benefit from the mineral deposits in Luyten 726-8 and their own terraforming candidate, plus access to the systems beyond Luyten 726-8, which include a planet with a breathable atmosphere in Gliese 682, potential colony sites in 82 Eridani and plenty of real estate in GJ 1002 to survey for further mineral deposits. The Royal Navy plans to eventually build a naval base beyond the jump point where its facilities will be far more secure from attack. The unknown factor is the reaction of Tianxia to the agreement. However, with the British Empire and the Khaghan Federation supporting each other's claims, both nations believe the Martians will have to accept the fait accompli.
23rd July 1903The gravitational survey of Barnard's Star is completed, revealing four additional jump points. HMS Sapphire probes the new jump points and discovers the following systems.
Epsilon Indi: A trinary system with six planets and large asteroid belt orbiting primary and a single planet orbiting the C component. The third planet has gravity and temperature within human tolerance and a nitrogen - CO2 atmosphere of 1.44 atm, making it an excellent terraforming candidate as only 0.1 atm of oxygen is required to make this an ideal habitable world.
EZ Aquarii: A trinary of three red dwarfs with eleven planets and two asteroid belts between them. The second planet of the B component is a potential terraforming candidate.
Altair: The primary is a white A7-IV sub-giant three times the mass of Sol with six planets and over a hundred asteroids. The most distant planet is one hundred and sixteen billion kilometres from the star
Groombridge 34: A binary system of two red dwarf stars orbiting twenty-four billion kilometres apart with seven planets between them, none of which are habitable
25th July 1903The British Empire and Khaghan Federation make their joint declaration that they are claiming the systems beyond Sol's second and first jump points respectively. The announcement is a great shock to the Imperial court on Mars, partly because the barbarians have the temerity to declare those systems off-limits to the Imperial Fleet but mainly because the barbarians are apparently working together against the interests of Tianxia. The British Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour, informs the Empire that the Luyten 726-8 system will henceforth be known as Victoria, in honour of the Queen who has now reigned over the Empire for sixty-six years. British cargo ships and colony ships are already en route to Victoria with infrastructure and settlers, even though it will be three weeks before the Victoria - Sol jump gate is completed. The Khaghan Federation cannot take any action until RFA Apollo moves on to the Sol - DX Cancri jump point.
On Mars, there is great debate about how to handle the situation. Despite their usual caution, there are calls from several senior officers of the Imperial Fleet to severely punish the barbarians. Emperor Guangxu is equally angry but eventually decides to hold off on any punitive action for the moment. He believes that an attack on one of the barbarian home worlds might succeed but trying to attack both of them would be difficult, especially if the barbarians choose to co-operate. Equally, attempting to force an entry through the British gate would leave Martian ships unable to fight back for several minutes against any defenders that might await them. Guangxu informs his commanders that Tianxia will wait until two new developments change the balance of power before deciding on what action to take. Three ships of the jump-capable Taizhou class are under construction and each one will be able to escort two war cruisers on a squadron jump, greatly reducing the effects of transit. Gauss technology is also close to becoming available. One that technology is ready, the Jianghu class battlecruisers will be refitted with gauss turrets, dramatically reducing the effectiveness of British missiles.
Taizhou class War Cruiser Leader 6,400 tons 168 Crew 1155 BP TCS 128 TH 640 EM 0
5000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 7-30 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.88 Years MSP 508 AFR 72% IFR 1% 1YR 90 5YR 1354 Max Repair 315 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
J6500 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 6500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Xiang-320 Magneto-plasma Drive (2) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 260,000 Litres Range 15.2 billion km (35 days at full power)
Tsang-300 Area Search Active Sensor (1) GPS 44100 Range 298.2m km Resolution 140
Shen-32 EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
ECM 20
August 2nd 1903A British colony of 200,000 is established on Victoria-B II.
August 13th 1903The Victoria - Sol jump gate is completed. RFA Apollo heads for the innermost jump point to fulfil the British government's commitment to build a jump gate for the Khaghan Federation.
23rd August 1903RFA Aeolus, a second gate construction ship, joins the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She is dispatched to Victoria to build a jump gate on the Victoria - Gliese 682 jump point.
12th September 1903HMS Adventure and HMS Foresight complete a gravitational survey of Gliese 682, finding three new jump points. HMS Amethyst is assigned to investigate. The first leads to HIP 86961, a binary of two red dwarfs orbiting twenty-billion kilometres apart which have thirteen planets between them. Two hundred and fifty asteroids are spread across two belts and the Trojan points of three gas giants. The second jump point is far more interesting as it connects to Proxima Centauri, which lies beyond Sol's fourth jump point. This creates both dangers and opportunities. Danger in the sense that a second route into British territory exists but opportunity in that ships could be moved in and out of Victoria without the other Solarian powers being aware.
The third of the newly discovered jump points links to Gliese 667, a trinary system of two orange K-class stars and a red dwarf. The red dwarf orbits less than five hundred million kilometres from the K4-V primary while a K5-V orbits at two billion kilometres. The relative closeness of the three stars restrict the K-class stars to three planets each and the red dwarf to just two planets, although the K5-V is also surrounded by a dense belt of three hundred asteroids. The second and third planets of the primary are both terraforming candidates with a colony cost of 2.00. Gliese 667-A II has a nitrogen - CO2 atmosphere of 0.8 atm and surface temperature of 75C while Gliese 667-A III has an almost breathable nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere of 0.51 atm and a surface temperature of -45C. HMS Amethyst moves back into Gliese 682 and heads for the Proxima jump point to rendezvous with HMS Adventure and HMS Foresight and escort them into Proxima Centauri.
13th September 1903The Khaghan Federation builds three more Khan class Orbital Weapon Platforms. There are now twelve of the heavily-armed 16,000 ton bases in orbit of Venus, along with forty-eight Kublai class FACs.
18th September 1903The Khaghan Federation constructs a second gravitational survey vessel.
20th October 1903Tianxia creates an updated version of the Jianghu class battlecruiser. The Jianghu-B sacrifices four twin 10cm laser turrets, two 20cm lasers, a fire control system and a layer of armour in order to fit four twin gauss cannon turrets and increase its maintenance life. The barrage of anti-missile fire that a squadron of Jianghu-Bs can generate should severely reduce the effectiveness of hostile missile fire. An eighth Jianghu is already under construction in the Imperial Shipyard so only a single Jianghu can be taken in for refit to the new B model, at least for the moment.
Jianghu-B class Battlecruiser 32,000 tons 852 Crew 5485.6 BP TCS 640 TH 3200 EM 4500
5000 km/s Armour 5-89 Shields 150-300 Sensors 1/24/0/0 Damage Control Rating 14 PPV 166.24
Maint Life 2.04 Years MSP 1554 AFR 564% IFR 7.8% 1YR 496 5YR 7439 Max Repair 252 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 1024
Xiang-320 Magneto-plasma Drive (10) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 11.7 billion km (27 days at full power)
Gui-Jia Shield (50) Total Fuel Cost 900 Litres per hour (21,600 per day)
20cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (6) Range 256,000km TS: 5000 km/s Power 10-4 RM 4 ROF
Twin Gauss Cannon R3-100 Turret (4x6) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 3 ROF
Laser Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 5000 km/s
Point Defence Fire Control (2) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 20000 km/s
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (4) Total Power Output 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Anti-Ship Missile Launcher (16) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 40
Glowmoth Fire Control (2) Range 119.3m km Resolution 140
Glowmoth Anti-ship Missile (256) Speed: 38,000 km/s End: 54.7m Range: 124.7m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 126/76/38
Missile Warning Sensor (1) GPS 63 Range 5.0m km Resolution 1
Tsang-240 Area Search Active Sensor (1) GPS 35280 Range 238.5m km Resolution 140
Shen-24 EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
ECCM-2 (1) ECM 20
25th November 1903HMS Sapphire escorts HMS Minerva and HMS Isis out of Procyon. The Royal Navy has been conducting geological survey operations in Procyon for eleven months, with three ships operating until September when HMS Eclipse departed. Even so, less than half of the bodies in the huge system have been surveyed. The remaining unsurveyed bodies are all more than thirty billion kilometres from the sub-giant primary and therefore even if they had significant mineral deposits they would not be economically viable.
26th November 1903The gravitational survey ship HMS Fearless is refitted to replace her two Parsons PNE-3 Naval Ion Drives with a pair of Parsons PN6E Magneto-plasma Drives. Two more ships, HMS Prometheus and HMS Perseus are being built to the new design, known as the Prometheus class, and HMS Pathfinder will soon begin her own refit.
Prometheus class Survey Cruiser 10,000 tons 226 Crew 1567.6 BP TCS 200 TH 672 EM 0
3360 km/s Armour 6-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/24/3/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 20
Maint Life 5.08 Years MSP 980 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 63 5YR 949 Max Repair 144 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 260
Parsons PN6E Magneto-plasma Drive (2) Power 336 Fuel Use 17.22% Signature 336 Exp 7%
Fuel Capacity 1,100,000 Litres Range 115.0 billion km (396 days at full power)
MK 1 Torpedo Launcher (4) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
Barr and Stroud FT-1 Torpedo Fire Control (1) Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
Mark I Whitehead Torpedo (52) Speed: 24,000 km/s Range: 114.8m km WH: 6 Size: 5 TH: 80/48/24
Type 1 Active Sensor (1) GPS 17280 Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
EM24 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
13th December 1903The Khaghan Federation discovers the gated jump point just outside the orbit of Neptune. A pair of 2300 ton Ogadei class geological survey ships are dispatched to investigate.
15th December 1903The Imperial battlecruiser Jianghu completes her refit to the Jianghu-B design. Her sister ship Hengshui will be the next Jianghu class to be refitted.
16th December 1903A fuel depot is established at the mining colony on the second moon of the Victoria-A IV. This is partly so that the freighters currently transporting automated mines from the existing colony on the comet Wolf can refuel but it will also aid the survey forces operating in the systems beyond Victoria. The tanker RFA Acanthus makes two trips to the colony to deliver the fuel.
22nd January 1904HMS Adventure and HMS Foresight complete the gravitational survey of Proxima Centauri, finding two new jump points in additions to those to Sol and Gliese 682. HMS Amethyst transits both and discovers Lacaille 8760 and WD 1142-645, both of which are unremarkable systems with no habitable planets. All three ships move back through Gliese 682 into Victoria rather than moving into Sol and potentially revealing a path between Victoria and Proxima to the other Solarian powers.
26th January 1904Tianxia completes construction of Jiaxing, the eighth Jianghu class battlecruiser. The ship is immediately taken back into the shipyard to be refitted to the Jianghu-B model.
2nd February 1904The war cruisers Changzhi, Jishou and Jiujiang are launched from the Xianfeng Shipyard. The Imperial Fleet now includes eighteen war cruisers to support the eight Jianghus. The strength of the Imperial Fleet is beginning to worry the senior officers of the Royal Navy. Current Royal Navy warship strength includes eight battleships supported by four heavy cruisers, ten survey and scout cruisers and eight destroyers. However, the battleships are only half the size of their Martian counterparts and much slower while the survey and scout cruisers are armed with only four torpedo launchers and four 20cm lasers respectively. Seven orbital defence monitors are available for missile defence but they are extremely slow and only intended for deployment in Earth orbit. Two new battleships are under construction, along with three Town class light cruisers and three Tribal class destroyers, all of which are new designs capable of matching the speed of the Imperial Fleet. Even so, they will not change the odds by much, especially if Tianxia keeps building more ships. The British Empire is suffering a financial crisis which has significantly slowed its industrial production and a Gallicite shortage. Both of these will have to be addressed for the Royal Navy to maintain a credible defence against the Imperial Fleet.
11th February 1904The Khaghan Federation completes its gravitational survey of the Sol system
27th February 1904The Khaghan Federation launches its first colony ship, the Hazara.
Hazara class Colony Ship 29,150 tons 224 Crew 1049 BP TCS 583 TH 1200 EM 0
2058 km/s Armour 1-84 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 22 Max Repair 25 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Cryogenic Berths 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Ghazan-100 Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (12) Power 100 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 100 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 23.3 billion km (130 days at full power)
12th March 1904The deposits of Uridium on Earth are exhausted, although substantial reserves are available. Boronide and Mercassium will run out within two years. Even so, it is still Gallicite that continue to cause concerns despite almost sixty thousand tons of deposits remaining on Earth. Their low accessibility is a major problem. Off-world mining colonies have been established on the comets Wolf and Faye and recently on the second moon of Victoria-A IV, all with the intention of mining Gallicite. Faye will run out of Gallicite within three months, although Wolf should be able to continue for a couple more years. The mining colony in Victoria will provide a the long-term supply of Gallicite so automated mines are already being moved from the comets in Sol.
Earth Mineral SurveyDuranium 302,901 Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 94,517 Acc: 0.3
Corbomite 121,762 Acc: 0.2
Tritanium 168,561 Acc: 0.2
Boronide 4,766 Acc: 0.16
Mercassium 4,766 Acc: 0.16
Vendarite 25,612 Acc: 0.2
Sorium 26,775 Acc: 0.46
Corundium 180,711 Acc: 0.2
Gallicite 59,212 Acc: 0.2
The resource problems for Tianxia are much greater. All the deposits of Boronide, Uridium and Corundium on Mars have already been exhausted and Mercassium will run out within six months. Corbomite and Gallicite will follow within two years. Reserves are low, with 6600 tons of Boronide, 9400 tons of Uridium and 4800 tons of Mercassium. Two hundred and forty Martian automated mines are deployed on the comet Huixing, mainly for its Mercassium. There are few other options within Sol for mining those minerals and even those options have only a few thousand tons. The first three jump-capable ships will be available within two months so Emperor Guangxu hopes that mineral reserves can be found in nearby systems. Otherwise there will be little option except to strike at the barbarians and take their mineral supplies.
Mars Mineral SurveyDuranium 103,871 Acc: 1
Neutronium 149,551 Acc: 0.7
Corbomite 1,862 Acc: 0.15
Tritanium 37,254 Acc: 0.2
Mercassium 840 Acc: 0.12
Vendarite 28,402 Acc: 0.3
Sorium 12,158 Acc: 0.42
Gallicite 3,064 Acc: 0.19
Huixing Mineral SurveyDuranium 24,944 Acc: 0.8
Tritanium 1,428 Acc: 0.7
Mercassium 40,982 Acc: 0.8
Gallicite 5,089 Acc: 0.8
8th April 1904The British Empire launches its first freighter with a magneto-plasma drive. The Hercules class has twice the cargo capacity of the previous Castle class and a 10% speed advantage.
Hercules class Freighter 75,000 tons 299 Crew 1404 BP TCS 1500 TH 3600 EM 0
2400 km/s Armour 1-158 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 12 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Cargo 50000 Cryogenic Berths 200 Cargo Handling Multiplier 25
Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (9) Power 400 Fuel Use 5.3% Signature 400 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 22.6 billion km (109 days at full power)
Type 4 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1920 Range 14.0m km Resolution 120
EM8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
18th April 1904As a result of the new colony in Victoria, the British colony on Io is abandoned and the settlers are brought back to Earth.
23rd April 1904RFA Apollo completes construction of the gate at the DX Cancri - Sol jump point, opening up the DX Cancri system (the Darkhan system according to Khaghan nomenclature) to the Federation While RFA Apollo heads for the Victoria chain, the two Khaghan freighters and the single colony ship establish the Federation's first off-world colony on Darkhan II.
10th April 1904Three Taizhou class war cruiser leaders join the Imperial Fleet, finally allowing Tianxia to begin exploring the remainder of Sol's jump points. Each Taizhou is joined by a pair of Kaifeng class Imperial war cruisers to form three 3-ship squadrons. Those squadrons depart for jump point four, six and eight respectively, with the second squadron planning to cover jump point five as well. Three groups of four survey ships each, comprising two Changsha class geosurvey ships and two Zhanjiang class gravsurvey ships, head for jump points four, five and six. Emperor Guangxu has yet to make a decision on whether to force entry to jump points one and two.
17th June 1904The British Empire completes a gravitational survey of GJ 1002, a red dwarf system adjacent to Victoria, revealing it to be a dead-end system. The geological survey is still underway but already two of the gas giants in GJ 1002 have been identified as good sources of Sorium. GJ 1002 IV has 480,000 tons of accessibility 1.0 Sorium, while GJ 1002 V has thirty-four million tons of accessibility 0.8 Sorium. Given that the only route into this system is through Victoria, it would seem an ideal location for the ten Royal Fleet Auxiliary fuel harvesters. While their current location, Jupiter, also has accessibility 1.0 Sorium, it leaves them extremely vulnerable to attack. RFA Aeolus has recently completed jump gates on either side of the Victoria - Gliese 682 jump point so she is directed to add gates to the Victoria - GJ 1002 jump point, allowing the fuel harvesters to enter the system.
27th July 1904After the creation of the first Khaghan colony in the Darkhan system, a group of enterprising Khaghan businessmen formed a shipping line named Tumen Marine. The company has now built its first colony ship and is offering passage from Venus to Darkhan II.
2nd August 1904The British Empire launches its first terraforming ship, which is immediately dispatched into Victoria to begin adding greenhouse gases to the Victoria colony.
Genesis class Terraformer 61,500 tons 310 Crew 1579 BP TCS 1230 TH 1200 EM 0
975 km/s Armour 1-138 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 16 Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Terraformer: 2 module(s) producing 0.0024 atm per annum
Commercial Ion Drive (4) Power 300 Fuel Use 5.3% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 13.8 billion km (163 days at full power)
11th August 1904In the months following the launch of its jump-capable Taizhou class war cruiser leaders, the Imperial Fleet surveyed Proxima and Barnard's Star then probed the seven jump points in those systems, including the jump point to Gliese 682 which, unbeknown to Tianxia, was connected to Victoria. As the systems surrounding Proxima were less promising, the attention of the Imperial Fleet was drawn to the systems around Barnard's Star. Two gravitational and two geological survey ships were assigned to both EZ Aquarii and Epsilon Indi. All of this territory had previously been explored by the Royal Navy, although no British surveying activity took place beyond Barnard's Star. Meanwhile, a third group of Imperial survey ships was deployed in Procyon. While the Royal Navy surveyed all of the system bodies within twenty billion kilometres of the Procyon primary, it did not carry out a gravitational survey as the high mass of the star made this a significant task. The Imperial Fleet did undertake such a survey and located a jump point with an existing gate.
On 11th August 1904, the First Imperial War Cruiser Squadron enters the gate and arrives in Sirius, a binary system with an A1-V primary and a white dwarf companion. Two planets orbit each star, three of which are gas giants and the fourth is a terrestrial world with a atmosphere seventy times as dense as Earth. There is a gate on the Sirius side. The limited endurance of the Imperial war cruisers becomes apparent when the squadron commander realises he has insufficient fuel to return through Procyon to Sol. As there is no way for one of the Imperial Fleet's Zhuhai class tankers to enter Procyon, let alone Sirius, one of the Zhanjiang class gravitational survey vessels in Procyon will have to sacrifice most of its fuel to allow the war cruisers to return home.
22nd August 1904The Swan Hunter Orbital Shipyard launches the first three Tribal class destroyers, HMS Gurkha, HMS Mohawk and HMS Zulu The Tribals are an upgraded version of the River class with magneto-plasma drives, six twin laser turrets instead of four, improved armour and more modern reactors.
Tribal class Destroyer 8,000 tons 218 Crew 1419 BP TCS 160 TH 800 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 5-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 49.68
Maint Life 2.2 Years MSP 333 AFR 170% IFR 2.4% 1YR 92 5YR 1387 Max Repair 80 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Parsons PN5 Compact Drive (5) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 160 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 270,000 Litres Range 11.3 billion km (26 days at full power)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (6x2) Range 64,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5
Barr and Stroud FX-2 Beam Fire Control (3) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 16000 km/s
Stellarator Fusion Reactor (6) Total Power Output 36 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Type 3 Active Sensor (1) GPS 5760 Range 42.1m km Resolution 120
Type 2 Active Sensor (1) GPS 32 Range 2.6m km Resolution 1
7th September 1904The Khaghan Federation launches its first jump-capable ship. The Mughal Jump Freighter class uses a commercial drive so it is unable to escort military vessels through a jump point. However, it is able to probe the two jump points in Darkhan, the locations of which were provided by the British Empire.
Mughal class Jump Freighter 75,000 tons 357 Crew 1504.2 BP TCS 1500 TH 2000 EM 0
1333 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 3-158 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 191 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Cargo 25000 Cryogenic Berths 600 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
JC75K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 75000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Ghazan-100 Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (20) Power 100 Fuel Use 13.26% Signature 100 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 18.1 billion km (157 days at full power)
Tumen-1 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1000 Range 5.0m km Resolution 100
12th September 1904An Imperial survey vessel discovers a ruined alien outpost of the sixteenth moon of Sirius-B II. A Xenology team is dispatched to investigate. In the meantime, just in case the team finds anything that be could recovered, Tianxia begins training several construction brigades and designs a troopship to transport them.
Yuntai Mountain class Troop Transport 26,400 tons 160 Crew 775 BP TCS 528 TH 1600 EM 0
3030 km/s Armour 2-78 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 18 Max Repair 64 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Troop Capacity: 5 Battalions
Tsien-320 Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 320 Fuel Use 3.04% Signature 320 Exp 4%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 56.1 billion km (214 days at full power)
17th September 1904The recently constructed Royal Navy scout cruiser Diamond probes the two jump points that have so far been found by the ongoing gravitational survey in 82 Eridani, adjacent to Victoria. The first leads to the planetless white dwarf star Luyten 302-89. The second connects to Kapteyn's Star, a red dwarf with seven planets, sixty moons and six hundred asteroids in two large belts. Half the asteroids orbit within half a billion kilometres of the system primary while the rest orbit between six and eleven billion kilometres. A significant amount of real estate for the Royal Navy survey ships to cover. HMS Isis is the first geological survey ship to arrive and begins work immediately.
23rd October 1904The Royal Navy receives the first three Town class light cruisers. Belfast, Edinburgh and Sheffield are intended to provide anti-missile protection for Royal Navy task groups in the same way as the Minotaur class orbital defence monitors provide protection for Earth. The Town class light cruiser and the Tribal class destroyer have the same speed as the warships of the Imperial Fleet and begin to address the technological imbalance between Tianxia and the British Empire.
Town class Light Cruiser 9,600 tons 206 Crew 1620.2 BP TCS 192 TH 960 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 6-40 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 15
Maint Life 2.43 Years MSP 527 AFR 147% IFR 2% 1YR 123 5YR 1849 Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 735
Parsons PN4 Magneto-plasma Drive (3) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 19.5 billion km (45 days at full power)
Anti-Torpedo Launcher (15) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Barr and Stroud Anti-Torpedo Fire Control (3) Range 11.5m km Resolution 1
Mark IV Whitehead ATT (735) Speed: 48,000 km/s Range: 17.7m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 208/124/62
Type 5 Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 144 Range 11.5m km Resolution 1
Type 3 Active Sensor (1) GPS 5760 Range 42.1m km Resolution 120
EM8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
28th October 1904A new type of construction ship joins the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. RFA Hephaestus is equipped with a commercial jump drive and can therefore serve as a temporary jump gate for commercial traffic while she is constructing a gate.
Hephaestus class Construction Ship 83,000 tons 313 Crew 2030 BP TCS 1660 TH 2000 EM 0
1204 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 1-169 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 15 Max Repair 166 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days
JC83K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 83000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Commercial Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 400 Fuel Use 5.3% Signature 400 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 20.4 billion km (196 days at full power)
Type 4 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 1920 Range 14.0m km Resolution 120
EM8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
16th November 1904A Khaghan Ogadei class geological survey ship in the Kharkhorin system (known to the British Empire as Luyten's Star) detects forty-four strength-160 thermal contacts at point blank range. Seconds later the small ship is ripped to pieces by a hail of energy weapon fire. The jump freighter Mughal, holding position at Kharkhorin - Darkhan jump point, transits into Darkhan and transmits a warning to Venus via the Darkhan - Sol jump gate. The signatures of the alien craft did not match those of the Royal Navy or the Imperial Fleet, which means the Khaghan Federation is faced with an extra-solar enemy.
The naval forces of the Federation comprise twelve Khan class orbital weapon platforms and sixty-two Kublai class FACs. The Federation Council, which is a group of clan chiefs led by T'mjn that act as governing body of the Federation, considers deploying a group of fast attack craft at the Darkhan - Kharkhorin jump point but the FACs are designed for war within the Sol system, not for long-term operations. Instead, Federation forces are held at Venus and an Ogadei is dispatched to the jump point to act as an early warning picket. The Khaghan colony in Darkhan is closer to Venus than it is to the Kharkhorin jump point. In the meantime, the Federation begins consideration of designs for a larger warship that can fight battles outside the Sol system. There is no discussion regarding informing Tianxia or the British Empire of the incident.
18th November 1904The Khaghan Federation begins retooling its Gerelgin Shipyard to build the Chakhar class battleship. In many ways the Chakhar is a Khan class orbital weapons platform with engines added. The number of 12cm railguns and Qasar-5 Missile Launchers have both been cut from twelve to eight and the armour has been upgraded to ceramic composite. Engines and fuel have been added and both engineering and crew accommodations have been expanded. The three slipways of the Gerelgin shipyard have been upgraded in recent years from 16,000 tons to 20,000 tons, making this the upper limit of the new battleship's size. The next largest Federation naval shipyard complex is the Qioyor Shipyard, which has a single 8000 ton slipway, followed by the Kazan Shipyard with two 2800 ton slipways. The Boragin and Gurban shipyards have eight and four slipways respectively, but only at 1000 ton capacity.
Chakhar class Battleship 20,000 tons 528 Crew 2550.04 BP TCS 400 TH 800 EM 0
2000 km/s Armour 8-65 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 90
Maint Life 2.13 Years MSP 558 AFR 457% IFR 6.3% 1YR 165 5YR 2472 Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 770
Cheren-80 Military Engine (10) Power 80 Fuel Use 81% Signature 80 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,500,000 Litres Range 16.7 billion km (96 days at full power)
12cm Railgun V2/C3 (8x4) Range 40,000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 2 ROF 10 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Jagun-1 Railgun Fire Control (2) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 3000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (6) Total Power Output 27 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Qasar-5 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 75
Qasar-1 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Ulaghan-2 Point Defence Missile Fire Control (2) Range 9.0m km Resolution 1
Ulaghan-1 Missile Fire Control (1) Range 65.7m km Resolution 120
Chagatai Hoyor ASM (100) Speed: 14,400 km/s End: 75.4m Range: 65.2m km WH: 6 Size: 5 TH: 48/28/14
Nassan Hoyor AMM (268) Speed: 16,800 km/s End: 6.6m Range: 6.7m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 61/37/18
Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 90 Range 4.5m km Resolution 1
Primary Search Sensor (1) GPS 14400 Range 65.7m km Resolution 120
January 1st 1905As of January 1905, the industrial strengths of the three Solarian powers are as follows (with changes from January 1899 in parentheses)
TianxiaPopulation: 1137m (+137)
Factories: 1240 (+40)
Refineries: 400
Mines: 680 (-120)
Automated Mines: 280 (+120)
Research Facilities: 31 (+11)
Shipyard Capacity: 135,400 Naval (+22,400), 922,000 Commercial (+226,000)
British EmpirePopulation: 1649m (+149)
Factories: 1800
Refineries: 600
Mines: 980 (-220)
Automated Mines: 460 (+220)
Research Facilities: 70 (+10)
Shipyard Capacity: 195,000 Naval (+65,000), 927,000 Commercial (+338,000)
Khaghan FederationPopulation: 2178m (+178)
Factories: 2350
Refineries: 800
Mines: 1460 (-140)
Automated Mines: 400 (+200)
Research Facilities: 50 (+20)
Shipyard Capacity: 54,000 Naval (+32,200), 295,000 Commercial (+295,000)
8th March 1905All eleven Braemar class Fuel Harvesters of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary arrive at the fourth planet of GJ 1002, a gas giant with half a billion tons of accessibility 1.0 Sorium. GJ 1002 is a dead-end system adjacent to Victoria and will provide a much safer harvesting location than Jupiter. The heavy cruiser Diadem will watch over the harvesters.
10th March 1905The battleships HMS Formidable and HMS Implacable join the Royal Navy. They are the largest warships ever built by the British Empire and are capable of the same 5000 km/s speed as the battlecruisers of the Imperial Fleet. Compared to the preceding Majestic class, they have 33% more speed, two additional torpedo launchers, increased magazine capacity, improved protection, and marginally greater range. The Royal Navy now has ten battleships in service, ranging from 16,000 tons to 22,400 tons in size.
Formidable class Battleship 22,400 tons 488 Crew 3506.2 BP TCS 448 TH 2240 EM 0
5000 km/s Armour 12-70 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/24/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 70
Maint Life 1.91 Years MSP 978 AFR 401% IFR 5.6% 1YR 347 5YR 5200 Max Repair 160 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 1
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons Magazine 1190
Parsons PN4 Magneto-plasma Drive (7) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,250,000 Litres Range 20.9 billion km (48 days at full power)
MK 1 Torpedo Launcher (14) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
Barr and Stroud FT-1 Torpedo Fire Control (2) Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
Mark III Whitehead Torpedo (238) Speed: 32,000 km/s Range: 114.8m km WH: 6 Size: 5 TH: 106/64/32
Type 1 Active Sensor (1) GPS 17280 Range 126.2m km Resolution 120
EM24 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
26th March 1905The Khaghan Federation launches Aimak, its first military jump-capable vessel. For the first time, Khaghan gravitational survey ships will be able to move beyond the Darkhan system, escorted by Aimak. The Federation geological survey ships are commercial vessels and can be escorted through jump point by either Aimak or the jump freighter Mughal.
Aimak class Jump Cruiser 8,000 tons 235 Crew 899.2 BP TCS 160 TH 400 EM 0
2500 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 3-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 20
Maint Life 2.38 Years MSP 281 AFR 128% IFR 1.8% 1YR 68 5YR 1019 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
J80 Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 8000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Cheren-80 Military Engine (5) Power 80 Fuel Use 81% Signature 80 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 540,000 Litres Range 15.0 billion km (69 days at full power)
12cm Railgun V2/C3 (4x4) Range 40,000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 2 ROF 10
Jagun-1 Railgun Fire Control (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 3000 km/s
Pebble Bed Reactor (4) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Primary Search Sensor (1) GPS 14400 Range 65.7m km Resolution 120
28th April 1905By the end of 1904 Tianxia had settled on Barnard's Star as its primary axis of exploration. The system had five jump points, leading to Sol, EZ Aquarii, Epsilon Indi, Altair and Groombridge 34. Two expeditions, each comprising a Taizhou class Imperial war cruiser leader, two Kaifeng class Imperial war cruisers, two gravitational survey ships and two geological survey ships, were assigned to explore the systems beyond EZ Aquarii and Epsilon Indi, both of which had two jump points, including the link to Barnard's Star. EZ Aquarii led to Gliese 832, which had a single additional jump point leading to Luyten 205-128. Both geological and gravitational surveys are currently underway in Luyten 205-128 with three new jump points discovered so far but not yet explored.
Epsilon Indi led to Luyten 347-14, which had six additional jump points, connecting to 70 Ophuichi, Delta Pavonis, Gliese 615 GJ 1224, and Herschel 5173 with one yet to be explored. As of April 28th 1905, the geological survey is still underway in Luyten 347-14 while the two gravitational survey ships, Weifang and Yantai, have moved into Gliese 615. With a good candidate for a colony world in Epsilon Indi and a good mining site in EZ Aquarii, the Emperor has put on hold any plans to force the inner two jump point in Sol, at least for the moment. The creation of the first extra-solar Martian colonies is on hold though until the first jump gate construction ships are available.
Weifang suddenly detects twenty strength-160 thermal contacts at point blank range. She has barely time to transmit a message to her sister ship before she is struck seven times by some form of energy weapon. One of her two engines is taken out, as is a gravitational survey sensor. Most importantly, her fuel storage is damaged and all her fuel blasted in space, leaving the ship unable to move. Ten seconds later a second volley damages most of her remaining systems and a third volley destroys the ship entirely. Forty-one of her one hundred and seven crew escape in the ship's life pods. Yantai is one point eight billion kilometres away on the far side of the red dwarf primary. With no way to rescue Weifang's crew, her commander, Shang Xiao Xia Guo Cui, orders a retreat to the Luyten 347-14 jump point. The jump point already has a gate so he also sends a message to Zhong Xiao Shen Yun Jian, who commands the war cruiser squadron in Luyten 347-14 that is providing military support for the expedition.
Shen has a single-jump capable vessel in the entire expedition, the Imperial war cruiser leader Taizhou. He orders that ship to move to the Epsilon Indi jump point and orders the two geological survey ships in Luyten 347-14, Changsha and Dongguan, to rendezvous with Taizhou. The latter ship is five billion kilometres distant in the outer asteroid belt. His own ship, the Imperial war cruiser Xiamen, and her sister ship Xiangtan head for the Gliese 615 jump point to meet the fleeing Yantai.
to be continued...
