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Offline IanD (OP)

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An Alternative October
« on: October 25, 2012, 10:57:38 AM »
The Cuban Missile Crisis in Aurora! An Alternative Outcome!

14th October 1962.
U-2 spy plane from US discovered Soviet missile bases under construction on Cuba. IL-28 bombers already detected enroute to Cuba at the end of September.

October 18 1962.
President Kennedy met with Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Andrei Gromyko, who claimed the weapons were for defensive purposes only.

October 19 1962.
Frequent U-2 spy flights showed four operational missile sites. The US military was put on high alert to enforce a blockade of Cuba and made ready to invade the island at a moment's notice. The Strategic Air Command (SAC) distributed its shorter-ranged B-47 Stratojets to civilian airports and started dispersing its B-52 Stratofortresses to their war stations.

22nd October 1962.
As if the world situation could not get any worse the Peoples Republic of China attacked India across the disputed Himalayan border.  Large scale hostilities were in progress.

23rd October 1962.
Moves were made by Washington to secretly offer the removal of Jupiter missiles in Turkey, only emplaced in April of this year if the Soviets would remove their missiles from Cuba.

25th October 1962.
Adlai Stevenson, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations confronted Soviet Ambassador Valerian Zorin in an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the presence of the missile bases in Cuba. Ambassador Zorin refused to answer.

26th October 1962.
Readiness level of SAC forces increased to DEFCON 2. B-52 bombers were armed with their war loads and made ready on 15 minutes' notice. One hundred and eighty of SAC’s bombers were on airborne alert at all times, some one hundred and seventy ICBMs and IRBMs stood on ready alert.  Twenty-three nuclear-armed B-52s were sent to orbit within striking distance of the USSR.
USS Essex and USS Gearing tried to intercept the Soviet tanker Bucharest but failed to locate her.

27th October 1962.
CIA reported that all Soviet missile bases in Cuba were completed and ready.
US Navy began harassing Soviet submarines by dropped practice depth charges on a Soviet Foxtrot class submarines approaching Cuba. Each of these submarines were equipped with a single nuclear armed torpedo. The U.S. destroyer, the Charles P. Cecil, forced the Soviet submarine B-36 to surface after it exhausted its batteries trying to escape from the US destroyer.
When B-59 was the subject of these attacks an exhausted Captain Valentin Savitsky, lost control and announced. “We're going to blast them now! We will die, but we will sink them all." The carrier USS Randolph and eleven destroyers were harassing the B-59. The Soviet submariners made ready their weapon; Captain Savitsky manoeuvred the B-59 within range of one of the Randolph’s escorting destroyers and fired the nuclear-armed torpedo. Two minutes thirty seconds later the fifteen-kiloton warhead detonated, the fireball and shockwave took out the entire US battle group, and incidentally the B-59.  
This disaster resulted in the US military demanding the immediate invasion of Cuba which President Kennedy was unable to resist. SAC went to DEFCON 1.

28th October 1962.
US forces invade Cuba, 30 minutes after the start of the invasion Soviet IRBMs were launched from Cuba against the US homeland. Air raid sirens echoed in US cities, Radio programmes broke in to regular programs to give a four minute warning and advised the populace to seek shelter (Protect and Survive!). B-52s retaliated and attacked cities in the USSR.
In the wake of the missile attack on the US the Soviet tank armies in Europe began to move. The European theatre very quickly had to resort to the use of nuclear land mines in Germany.
In three days there was a general nuclear exchange.

31st October 1962.
USSR transmitted its unconditional surrender to NATO. After which Harry Preston declared himself President-General of the USA as the senior surviving US government appointee. He was backed by the surviving military for want of anyone else to follow.
President-General Harry Preston authorised a nuclear attack on the Peoples Republic of China. His reasoning was: “Better to get rid of all the Reds in one go!” After some hundreds of nuclear warheads were expended nothing more was heard from Peking. Chinese border units surrendered to Indian Republican forces in the disputed region.

30th December 1962.
President-General Harry Preston was announced as the leader of the Western Alliance (even though it now contained the shattered remains of the USSR and claimed China). The Alliance was a shadow of its former self.
The Indian Republic was the only major power left to oppose the Western Alliance. At the moment relations were barely cordial, India blamed the Alliance for the devastation brought on the world by the nuclear war.

1st September 1977.
This date marked the formation of Earth Gov. President-General Harry Preston was out manoeuvred in a bloodless office coup and deposed. Mark Walton was installed as President of the Western Alliance. Harry Preston’s former Security Chief Moshe Reay took over the new planetary command facility and was installed as Arbiter for Earth in the newly constituted Whole Earth Government.  This body, supported by most of the military, was constituted as over arching the old Western Alliance and all wars were banned as was the use of nuclear weapons against Earth targets. Never again would the inhabitants of Earth fear annihilation in the nuclear fire. The organisation soon became known as the Earth Government and even more rapidly became Earth Gov, with Arbiter Reay at its head.
The Greater Indian Republic remained aloof, outside the organisation, but recognised it was not in a position to actively oppose Earth Gov. Earth Gov did not feel strong enough at the present to force the GIR into the fold having a tenuous hold at best over large areas of the former USSR and China. The refugees of most other nations on Earth were coerced to join Earth Gov, some even willingly.  They did not constitute a meaningful number.
The nuclear winter had now passed, but the lingering radiation was still causing a 19.94% reduction in industrial output and a 4.98% reduction in growth. The population of the world was still decreasing. South America was depopulated as was most of Africa.

The state of the Super Powers

Earth Gov.
Population:  517.86 million
Annual Wealth Creation: $ 8499 million
Sector Command HQ, level 1
Deep Space Tracking Station – Strength – 250 Level  1
ShipYards/ Slipways 3/3 (Cape Canaveral, Biakonur and Jiuquan Launch facilities.)
Maintenance Facilities: 4
Conventional Industry: 531
Research Labs: 3
Ground Force Training Facilities: 1
Armed Forces
Conventional Armoured Divisions: 9
Conventional Infantry Divisions: 12
Missile Complexes: 33 (not all possess ICBMs, not even most)

The Greater Indian Republic.
Population: 208.67
Annual Wealth Creation: 1430 Million Rupees
Deep Space Tracking Station – Strength – 250 Level  1
ShipYards/ Slipways 1/1 (Satish Dhawan Space Centre Launch facility.)
Maintenance Facilities: 6
Conventional Industry: 346
Research Labs: 1
Financial Centres: 4
Ground Force Training Facilities: 1
Armed Forces
Conventional Armoured Divisions: 4
Conventional Infantry Divisions: 5

India did not receive any nuclear strikes on its original core territory and thus lost a much smaller proportion of its industry, but was starting from a much lower base. The GIR now covers the whole of the Indian subcontinent, Mongolia and most of Indochina, the rest being uninhabitable. Much of the Indian military was lost in the Sino-Indian war and had still not been replaced.

Aribter Reay announced a new dream for Mankind, Mars may be inhospitable but it was not contaminated by insidious radiation. He wanted an expedition to Mars by the end of the century! To this end the Cape Canaveral launch facility was already being enlarged to build the great ships required and could already build space ships of 3000 tons.
  
6th April 1980. Earth Gov.
Mars Explorer 001 entered earth orbit.  The ship loaded infrastructure and headed for Mars.

Code: [Select]
Mars Explorer class Freighter    7,550 tons     42 Crew     103.2 BP      TCS 151  TH 6  EM 0
39 km/s     Armour 1-34     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 0.42 Years     MSP 9    AFR 456%    IFR 6.3%    1YR 21    5YR 322    Max Repair 5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 3    
Cargo 5000    

Rolls Royce Marsburner 2 EP  (3)    Power 2    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 2    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres    Range 0.8 billion km   (231 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

16th June 1980. Earth Gov.
Mars Explorer 001 reached Mars and set up the first human base on the alien world.

1st July 1980. Earth Gov.
Mars Explorer 002 entered Earth Orbit. It then set out to join Mars Explorer 001.

26th September 1980. Earth Gov.
Mars Explorer 003 entered Earth orbit from the Cape Canaveral launch facility.

16th October 1980 . Earth Gov.
The Cape Canaveral launch facility launched the fourth and  fifth Mars Explorer freighters into Earth orbit.

22nd July 1982. GIR.
The population of the Greater Indian Republic reached its nadir at 201.7 million, less than half that of 1962, but finally growth was not a negative figure.

29th November 1984. Earth Gov.
The first two Mars Express colonist transports entered Earth Gov Space Service. The two craft loaded colonists for the first permanent Mars colony. Mars Express is nearly 60% faster that the Mars Explorer class and it is hoped they will be able to make trips when the planets are in less favourable positions, which currently the Mars Explorer class freighters are unable to do. However, like the Mars Explorer freighters, the Mars Express fleet will still require frequent overhauls. The Mars Express fleet will eventually consist of five such vessels. Monica Cosme, an ally of Arbiter Reay, was installed as the first governor of the new Mars colony.

Code: [Select]
Mars Express class Colony Ship    5,000 tons     140 Crew     214 BP      TCS 100  TH 6  EM 0
60 km/s     Armour 1-26     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.02 Years     MSP 27    AFR 200%    IFR 2.8%    1YR 9    5YR 132    Max Repair 5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2    
Passengers 250    

Rolls Royce Marsburner 2 EP  (3)    Power 2    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 2    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 40,000 Litres    Range 1.6 billion km   (308 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

14th February 1985. Mars.
First colonists arrive on Mars and start the first permanent Mars colony.

24th June 1985. . Earth Gov.
Final Mars Express colonist transport entered Earth Gov Space service

26th December 1985. Earth Gov.
Population of Earth Gov territories finally bottomed out at 473.22 million. From now on the population should increase. The total world population was approximately 675 million people, down from 3.3 billion in 1962.

6th December 1986. Earth Gov.
The Mars Explorer freighters were withdrawn from regular service pending their replacement with the faster and more economic Mars Loadmaster. To build the new Mars Loadmasters the Cape Canaveral construction and launch site will have to construct an orbital assembly yard as the ships could not climb out of the Earth’s gravity well without fatally stressing the hull. The other two launch sites would follow suit as they were also enlarged.

9th January 1987. Earth Gov.
Earth Gov Space rented out Mars Explorer 005 to visit the inner planets to a consortium of surviving universities. The mission would consist of the orbital mapping of Venus and the dark side of Mercury. If a suitable landing site could be found in the terminator region of Mercury a geology team would land and take samples.

14th February 1987. Venus.
The planetary science team aboard the Mars Explorer 005 spent three weeks constructing maps of the Venusian surface across the EM spectrum.

9th March 1987. Mercury.
Mars Explorer 005 arrived at Mercury and began mapping the dark side.

Earth Gov.
Mars Loadmaster 001 & 002 entered Earth Gov Space service.

Code: [Select]
Mars Loadmaster class Freighter    8,750 tons     67 Crew     134.8 BP      TCS 175  TH 10  EM 0
57 km/s     Armour 1-37     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.15 Years     MSP 19    AFR 306%    IFR 4.3%    1YR 15    5YR 221    Max Repair 5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2    
Cargo 5000    

Rolls Royce Marsburner 2 EP  (5)    Power 2    Fuel Use 90%    Signature 2    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres    Range 1.1 billion km   (231 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

24th March 1987. Mercury.
A geology team successfully landed on Mercury and retrieved several hundred kilos of rock samples after which they returned to Mars Explorer 005 which then broke orbit for Earth.

3rd May 1987. Earth Gov.
Mars Explorer 005 returned to Earth to massive scientific acclaim.

13th June 1987. Earth Gov.
Mars Loadmaster 003 & 004 left the Canaveral orbital construction facility and entered Earth orbit.

18th September 1987. Earth Gov.
The last Mars Loadmaster freighter built to supply the Mars run entered Earth orbit from the Canaveral assembly ‘Yard.
The Mars Express class freighters were now to be scrapped.

1st November 1988. Earth Gov.
Scientists from the planetary science team that visited Venus and Mercury announced the discovery of several unique minerals in the samples collected from the surface of Mercury. These minerals yielded several new elements which were from some of the islands of stability in the periodic table, theorised but never before discovered. Initial investigations of these elements appeared to reveal some astounding properties. Professor Dominick Whiston would be leading a team to fully elucidate the properties of these unique elements.

6th March 1989. Mars.
The population of the Martian colony exceeded fifteen thousand. Earth Gov Space is very pleased with the Mars Loadmasters; they can now complete four trips before an overhaul is required. This was approaching the same reliability as that achieved by the Mars Express colonist transports, which were now cleared for six Mars trips before overhaul.


This Story may or may not be continued.


Edited to correct tense!
« Last Edit: October 25, 2012, 11:38:59 AM by IanD »
IanD
 

Offline boggo2300

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #1 on: October 25, 2012, 04:20:26 PM »
I hope it does Ian,  I really like what you've done here!

Matt
The boggosity of the universe tends towards maximum.
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #2 on: December 21, 2013, 03:07:12 PM »
v6.21 Difficulty  150%. This is a continuation of the Earth Gov Time Line.

Recent History
The Earth Gov had prospered. It had faced a superior alien foe and outfought it and while not an easy fight it had been decisive. However, the people were tired and the treasury spent. Ships were modernised but little new construction authorised. It was still taking several divisions to keep the Sivans pacified, and the Arbiter was as tired as any one else. Then in 2068 a new Arbiter ascended to the throne. He was full of fire and promised a new era of exploration. The old tired pursuit of renegade Sivans was abandoned and the other jump points out of Sol given  renewed priority ,especially the LHS 292 arm which had no less than eight jump points to explore. That in a few short years lead to:

Catastrophe

19th December 2071, Sol
Lieutenant Commander Laura Conway, senior officer of Battle Group Pacific sat in the command couch on the bridge of the EGS Bittern. She was scrolling through the latest downloads from the LHS292 gate as the Battle Group closed on the jump point to LHS 292. Her stomach had that sinking sensation you get as a rollercoaster gathers speed on its first drop. It was not reassuring. The Geejays, the new aliens from GJ1123, were investing LHS 292 in force blowing away any ship unlucky enough to enter their engagement envelope, which was large. Their vessels were three times faster than hers and probably a lot newer, the Type 5 Brilliant class frigates were 27 years old, although they had the fire control and shield refits. The Navy had few ships which were not two decades old with obsolete weaponry. The Type 9 Concord class frigates were also wartime builds refitted with the technology captured from the Sivans. But their replacements, the Type 40 Diamond class frigates had been stopped at eleven units and the Type 41 class cruisers had been cancelled while their replacements, the Type 42 cruisers were still not on the slips. All in the name of if we wait just a little longer the new engines will be available, but it was now too late. A cold wind was blowing through the Naval Construction Division.

The Geejays were three jumps from Sol as the Sivan Confederation had been, but the Sivans had kept the bulk of their forces in Iota Persei. The only exceptions being the first battle of HR511 when retreating EG forces had been massacred by long range missile fire coming from well beyond their own sensor envelope and the second battle of HR511 when Sivan forces had attempted to pursue retiring Earth Gov forces late in the war and been roughly handled by the jump point guard. Other than that they had only sent survey vessels into Lalande 21185 (where the Earth Gov colony of Hope was situated) with HR511 a no-mans land between them until just before the final offensives which defeated them. The Geejays on the other hand had destroyed the jump point picket in Luyten 143-23 with just two ships, abet large ones, and now had invested LHS 292 with a sizable fleet. LHS 292 contained the EG colony of Prospect of some 37 million souls and was currently defenceless, the PDCs months away from completion.

23:11
The intercom buzzed for attention in Conway’s cabin, she had been working on routine papers so was able to answer with alacrity. “Captain here.” “Skipper jump point transit detected from Prospect, its not one of ours!” “I’ll be right up, Conway out.”

Minutes later Conway stepped out of the gangway onto the bridge still sealing her pressure suit, “what have you got for me George?” “Three vessels of 7,850 tons, range 313 million kilometres confirmed bogies, definitely Geejays Skipper.”
“Comms signal the Battle Group to engage, simultaneous launch on my signal.”
“Aye aye Captain.”
“Weapons, lock on Bogie 01 and prepare to fire.”
“Sir Bastion’s launching.”
“Damn them! Comms remind Lieutenant Commander Andrews that simultaneous means together, Weapons get our first salvo away then resync the Battle Group for the follow-on salvos at the other two vessels.”
Two minutes later the magazines of Battle Group Pacific were dry and 512 Stonebow missiles were in flight.

20th December 2071 01:02:23, Sol.
The first salvo of missiles exploded in a maelstrom of thermonuclear fire about Bogie 01. It emerged from the conflagration but was obviously sorely hurt, trailing plumes of frozen atmosphere and debris. Point defence fire was thankfully wholly inadequate. The other two vessels suffered similarly as the follow-on salvos engulfed them; all were turned into airless wrecks as the seven-kiloton warheads tore into them. Lieutenant Commander Conway found it comforting that at least her missiles hurt them and they are not as invulnerable as first thought.

21st December 2071 07:00:18,LHS 292.
The last message from the frigate Arbalest was received via the gate, it had just engaged one of four Geejay frigates with sixteen Firebolt missiles and achieved one hit. That was followed two minutes later by the frigate's omega buoy transmission which indicated the Arbalest had been destroyed. It had been an unequal engagement, the 4000 ton Arbalest was an antique, the last Earth Gov naval presence in LHS 292 had been destroyed.

21st December 2071
12:11 Battle Group Pacific, Sol System, LHS 292 jump point.

The Comms officer suddenly spoke “Skipper, we’ve lost the system surveillance feed from the gate, even the carrier wave has gone.  Prospect’s been hit and hard, they cut off in the middle of reporting several 22-kiloton explosions around the colony.” The atmosphere on the bridge sank to a new grim low. Thirty-seven million people inhabited, or at least had inhabited Prospect colony, the Earth Govs largest and most successful colony, until now. The Earth Gov position was even worse than it appeared at first since a jump point in LHS 292 connected to AD Leonis thence to WX Ursa Majoris and then to Lalande 21185, the site of the other major Earth Gov extra-solar colony and it was as unprepared and less able than Prospect had been. There was a Battle Group on the way from Iota Persei to try and close that jump line but  it was still several days out and had not even reached Lalande 21185 yet and it consisted of more of the obsolete B class frigates.

22nd December 2071 07:24:28 Battle Group Pacific, Sol, LHS 292 jump point.
The news just got blacker and blacker as the mining colony on LHS 292-A 1 was obliterated from orbit. But there were no more probes of the Sol Jump point and reinforcements were on their way.

The Battle of Christmas

24th December 2071 06:24:53, LHS 292, Sol jump point.
Battle Group Whirlwind appeared out of the wormhole, sensor techs trying to bring up sensors as rapidly as possible. The Navy had returned to LHS 292, too late to save Prospect colony and it remained to be seen for how long they would remain in system. Their job was to block transit through the LHS 292-Sol jump point with Battle Group Pacific on the other side to pick up any strays. It was also hoped that Battle Group Whirlwind would act as a magnet for the Geejay forces in LHS 292. Vice Marshal Mariano Tiano was Battle Group Commander–in-Chief aboard the FHJ Whirlwind. He was also Senior Officer in system.
The bridge was a hive of activity, Sensor’s and Weapon’s coaxing their recalcitrant systems back to life after the jump.
When sensors began to function once more it could be seen there were five distinct groups of bogies. Bogie Alpha consisted of two 15,850 ton vessels, Bogie Beta consisted of four 7,850 ton vessels Bogie Gamma consisted of two 7,900 ton vessels, Bogie Delta consisted of three 15,750 ton vessels and Bogie Epsilon consisted of four 23,700 ton vessels. In addition there were several Geejay survey vessels in system, but they were not a threat, just targets of opportunity. Marshal Tiano was pensive as he regarded his repeater screens on his flag bridge. Whirlwind was the first vessel to be so equipped. He heaved a sigh, so far so good.

25th December 2071. LHS 292. Sol jump point.
Battle Groups Cobra (Senior Officer Lieutenant James Whitehouse – Barricade) and Copperhead (Senior Officer Lieutenant Commander Jacquot Malet – Cambrian) entered LHS 292. Theirs was the most perilous of tasks. To travel 660 million kilometres, reach the Luyten 143-23 jump point and seal it against all attempts of the Geejay ships to return to their home system to rearm, or receive re-enforcements. They had obsolete ships and obsolete weapons but they were expendable.

07:17.
Battle Group Whirlwind received the first enemy missile salvo of many that were expected. These were 10 ton missiles travelling at 43,200 k/s, approaching in groups of three detected at 5.15 million kilometres with salvos fifteen seconds apart. These missiles at least were within the interception capabilities of the Wasp interceptor and the Battle Group could deal with that threat.

Captain Kent Stary (Flag Captain, Battle Group Whirlwind) had the bright idea of forward basing the Europe class jump frigates from Battle Group Pacific (currently on the Sol side of the jump point) to give more warning of approaching missiles. Vice Marshal Tiano thought it was worth trying and the order was passed via the gate. Shortly four elderly jump frigates appeared at the jump point and made their way to a point 5 million kilometres from Battle Group Whirlwind on an 89o bearing interposing themselves between the Battle Group and the enemy. Once in place some five million kilometres from Battle Group Whirlwind they were able to use their old Stinger missiles to thin out the salvos of missiles passing them. The idea had some merit.

Between the old Europe class and Battle Group Whirlwind’s own interceptors salvo after salvo was handily intercepted. After 19 salvos the missiles changed. Instead of two salvos of three missiles it became three salvos of three missiles. Now some missiles broke through and it was up to the Battle Group’s lasers to destroy them, which fortunately they did.

09:36. Priddy’s Hard, a munitions carrier, appeared on the jump point with welcome additional Wasp Mk I missiles, the magazines on the Tornado, Typhoon, Whirlwind and Sentinel were at about 75% by this time.

09:41 Bogie Beta entered the missile engagement envelope of all three Battle Groups and with the range at 418 million kilometres, close to the maximum of the range of the Stonebow missiles. Marshal Tiano was adamant that Battle group Whirlwind not engage the enemy and commed Battle Group Copperhead with the welcome news that they should be the first to carry the fight back to the enemy. Battle Group Whirlwind still had the option to retreat to Sol should the pressure become intolerable and Tiano knew that magazine capacity could not be replaced above that which Priddy’s Hard carried. Lieutenant Commander Malet however, was only too glad to empty Battle Group Copperhead’s magazines at the targets of opportunity, two salvos apiece for the four 7,850 ton targets. Priddy’s Hard with its greater velocity soon caught up with Battle Group Copperhead and magazines were replenished. At this time Battle Group Whirlwind had a break in the incoming ordnance and was able to relax for a little while.

10:59: The missile bombardment of Battle Group Whirlwind resumed. But it changed from a mere annoyance to an avenging fury as four salvos of ten 15 ton missiles travelling at 72,000 k/s hurled down on the Battle Group. Weapons officers struggled frantically to manage their boards; self destructing any Wasps which fell behind their targets and then could not intercept the faster anti-ship missile, but which the battle comp would assume were intercepting the missiles. Missile interception probability had dropped to between 20 - 30% and in under a minute the Battle Group’s lasers were called upon to provide the final defence. Captain Stary commed the Marshal, should the battle group retreat, but Tiano would hear none of it.

11:00:43. That final defence was not quite sufficient and three missiles penetrated the screen to impact the FJE Tornado, flattening shields and penetrating armour with but three seventeen kiloton detonations. Fortunately the only internal damage was the loss of an already empty fuel tank. To try and engage all missiles only two AMMs could be allocated at any one time to a hostile missile. The Wasps were slower than the incoming Geejay missiles, but they were all that was available.

11:01:03. Dragon was the next victim with two missiles leaking through to flatten shields and crater armour.

11:01:33. This time three leakers hit Diamond, fortunately without penetrating her armour. The old Europe class jump frigates were useless in trying to counter this new threat and Vice Marshal Tiano took the decision to withdraw them in light of Stary’s concern for the entire task force.

11:02:28. Daring was hit next, fortunately only being struck by one of the seventeen kiloton warheads, denting her shields.

11:03:18, Sentinel was the next victim, but managed to shrug off a single hit. There then followed a lull until 11:24:38 when the Geejays resumed their assault on Battle Group Whirlwind with more of the slower 10 ton 43,000 k/s missiles, but in larger numbers, three salvos of eleven missiles, however, these were vulnerable to the Stingers of the retreating Europe class FJEs and posed little threat while AMM stocks held up and the lasers of the Battle Group were sharp enough to deal with the handful of each salvo which broke through.

12:04:18. The missiles launched by Battle Group Copperhead nearly two-and-a-half hours earlier brought retribution to the arrogant alien ships as 72 Stonebow missiles in the first salvo howled in upon the unsuspecting vessels. Thermonuclear fireballs generated plasma lances which burnt into the fabric of the first ship to come under attack. 144 missiles had been allocated to each of the four vessels; they would prove more than enough to destroy the approaching alien squadron as the firmament was speckled with artificial stars of brief brilliance.
 
12:13:23. The “slow“ missiles were once again replaced by the appallingly fast missiles which closed faster than the Earth Gov counter missiles could intercept them. Without the laser batteries of the Battle Group all would have been already lost.

12:20:08. It had been assumed because the D class heavy frigates and the jump escort frigates were 10,000 tons that the elderly 8000 ton Europe class jump frigates would be ignored. This proved not to be true as forty of the 72,000 k/s missiles detonated around the elderly jump frigate Pacific. Thermonuclear knives slashed at the fabric of the ship. Devoid of any shields to deflect or trap such a destructive force the Pacific came apart at the seams spilling her crew into the unforgiving vacuum and cold of space just thirty seconds before she would have been relatively safe under the guns of Battle Group Whirlwind. Vice Marshal Tiano decided on the spot to withdraw the elderly, vulnerable vessels to Sol before another tragedy overtook them. However thirty seconds later even before the antique vessels could reach the jump point Arctic took a hit from one of the seventeen–kiloton weapons flaying her open and leaving her vulnerable but fortunately doing negligible internal damage.

13:38:53. Tornado was the next to suffer receiving significant but not vital damage  from seven  thermonuclear hammers which virtually denuded her hull of armour and destroyed non-vital systems such as engines.

13:39:18. This time it was Dragon’s turn again as a single missile impacted her shields.

13:39:43. Twenty five seconds later Tornado received another seventeen-kiloton kick as the defences failed to stop every missile. More non-vital systems failed, leaving almost nothing but the lasers, missile launchers and their associated fire controls and magazines. Damage control teams tried frantically to bring systems back on line

13:40:08. Now it was Diamond’s turn to go under the cosh as a missile hammered her shields causing energetic particles to scintillate as they were diverted around the hull and trapped in her shields, loosing energy as random photons.

13:40:33. Twenty-five seconds later and it was Diamond’s turn again to receive the enemy’s attention, this time the thermonuclear lances reached into the ship itself, fortunately only damaging crew quarters and an engine.

13:41:23. The deluge of missiles finally stopped. Battle Group Whirlwind had survived a little battered but still a potent force blocking the Sol jump point and now the Geejay forces in LHS 292 having expended their missiles were trapped as Battle Groups Copperhead and Cobra blocked their escape via the Luyten 143-23 jump point. 

18:41. BG Whirlwind finally had their chance to hit back as Bogie Alpha 01 & 02 entered its missile envelope. These were the 15,850 ton cruisers which had annihilated the antiquated jump point picket in Luyten 143-23. 88 Stonebow Mk I missiles spewed from the frigates as a down payment to avenge Prospect colony.

19:42 The Geejay forces Bogie Gamma and Bogie Delta attempted to withdraw via the Luytens 143-23 jump point. But Battle Group Copperhead was there to stop them and opened fire on Bogie Gamma 01 & 02.

20:23. As time wound down Lieutenant Commander Malet, senior officer of Battle Group Copperhead faced an unpalatable fact. The majority of all offensive action in LHS 292 had fallen to Battle Group Copperhead and while he had full magazines at the moment there were only 198 Stonebow missiles left aboard the support vessel Priddy’s Hard and he still had to engage three Bogies of 15,750 tons each in Bogie Delta, which would take double salvos at least and that still left the four ships of 23,700 tons of Bogie Epsilon to engage with empty magazines. Which only left Battle Group Cobra equipped with the shorter ranged Typhon missiles. Yet he dare not let the smaller ships escape. He opened a comm line to Tiano to apprise him of the situation.

20:19. The Stonebow Mk I missiles only carried seven-kiloton warheads, but ninety-eight of them were enough to carve Bogie Gamma 01 into a cloud of tumbling wreckage. A minute later Bogie Gamma 02 suffered the attention of sixty-eight more and it emerged from the cluster of thermonuclear explosions a broken wreck. 

21:42. Vice Marshal Tiano studied the plot on the flag bridge. Finally the enemy battlecruisers were heading for the Luyten 143-23 jump point. Vice Marshal Tiano was concerned the two Battle Group's already dispatched to cover that jump point may not be able to destroy an additional four large enemy combatants. Battle Group Copperhead had already destroyed two enemy ships, engaged two more with three more about to come under fire shortly. This would deplete Battle Group Copperhead’s missile stocks and leave only Battle Group Cobra.  Battle Group Cobra was armed with the shorter ranged, less able Typhon missiles and would have a correspondingly shorter engagement envelope and lower chance of success. Yet it was imperative the big ships did not rearm in their home system.

It was time for a risk. “Captain Stary lay in an intercept course for Bogie Epsilon and execute.” Stary replied “are you sure sir?” Tiano’s riposte could have blistered the paint work as he instructed Stary in his duties. Stary smartly answered “Aye aye sir! Navigation, plot an intercept course for Bogie Epsilon.” As he did so Stary looked and his navigator and shared the unsaid exclamation of “I hope he knows what he’s doing!”   Battle Group Whirlwind moved off of the jump point to Sol in pursuit of Bogie Epsilon.

22:02. Battle Group Copperhead began a multi-salvo launch against Bogie Delta.

23:19. With the range falling sharply it took just over the hour to see the results of the first attack on Bogie Delta. All three Geejay vessels emerged from the thermonuclear conflagration much to everyone’s disappointment; they had been hurt but not destroyed. It was going to take a second launch to secure their end. At the end of the launch each of the nine frigates in the Battle Group had just 14 missiles left. The support vessel Priddy’s Hard had already left to replenish at Earth and bring more missiles to Battle Group Copperhead.

26th Dec 2071, LHS 292.

00:32. The second wave of missiles fell upon the already stricken Geejay ships. Bogie Delta 01 was reduced to a tumbling airless wreck burnt by the plasma lances from fifty-seven Stonebow Mk I missiles. Bogie Delta 02 followed her sister into oblivion less than a minute later as the second salvo burst around it and reduced it to a cloud of wreckage. Bogie Delta survived a little longer than her compatriots, but it did her little good in the end which was short, messy and punctuated by the brilliant flashes of plasma powered knives dissecting her still living corpse.

There was one unanticipated result of the destruction of Bogies Delta and Gamma. Bogie Epsilon changed course away from the Luyten 143-23 jump point and into the outer reaches of LHS 292, and with their advantage in velocity could not be brought to action. Vice Marshal Tiano gave up the unequal chase and settled for blockading the more important jump points, to leave Bogie Epsilon lurking impotently in the outer fringes of the system.

Battle Group Whirlwind took consolation in destroying the Geejay survey craft still operating in LHS 292 apparently oblivious to their change of fortunes. Salvage vessels were called forward to begin harvesting the technological bounty the wrecks would provide. Search and rescue craft darted into the system to retrieve Earth Gov spacers and the alien GeeJay survivors, although they might not be so happy to be recovered.

To be Continued - Perhaps.



Earth Gov Forces


Battle Group Whirlwind

Task Group 2.1
Whirlwind FJE (Flag), Sentinel FSC, Daring, Dart, Dauntless.

Task Group 2.2
Tornado FJE, Decisive, Defender, Defiant, Devastator.

Task Group 2.3
Typhoon FJE, Diamond, Dragon, Drake, Dryad.

Battle Group Cobra
Task Group 5.1
Cobra FJE, Vigilant FSC, Baron, Barricade (SO),

Task Group 5.2
Adder FJE, Belisarius, Belknap, Bellatrix,

Task Group 5.3
Bushmaster FJE, Brooke, Bellephron, Beaufort.

Battle Group Copperhead
Task Group 3.1
Copperhead FJE, Searcher FSC, Caesar, Cambrian (SO), Concord.

Task Group 3.2
Rattlesnake FJE, Cavendish, Carron, Cassandra.

Task Group 3.3
Fer-de-lance FJE, Chevron, Chieftain, Camelot.

Battle Group Pacific
Task Group 4.1
Pacific FJE, Bastion, Bear Atlantic FJE.

Task Group 4.3
Arctic FJE, Bobcat, Bonadventure, Boreas

Task Group 4.2
North America FJE, Beatty, Bittern (SO), Boar


Code: [Select]
Broadsword III Type 8 class Frigate    4,000 tons     104 Crew     781.8 BP      TCS 80  TH 360  EM 0
4500 km/s     Armour 2-22     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 2     PPV 24
Maint Life 4.94 Years     MSP 244    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 17    5YR 249    Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 120   

90 EP Ion Drive (4)    Power 90    Fuel Use 130.9%    Signature 90    Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 215,000 Litres    Range 7.4 billion km   (19 days at full power)

Particle Beam-3 (1)    Range 150,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 7-4    ROF 10        3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Fire Control S04 128-4000 (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1)     Total Power Output 1.2    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Box Launcher (30)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC110-R100 (1)     Range 110.9m km    Resolution 100
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Firebolt II (30)  Speed: 33 600 km/s   End: 59m    Range: 118.9m km   WH: 6    Size: 4    TH: 145/87/43

Active Search Sensor MR109-R100 (1)     GPS 9975     Range 109.7m km    Resolution 100

ECCM-3 (1)         ECM 20

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ship in Action: Arbalest

Code: [Select]
Europe Type 12B class Heavy Jump Frigate    8 000 tons     198 Crew     1479.4 BP      TCS 160  TH 257.6  EM 0
4600 km/s    JR 4-100     Armour 4-35     Shields 0-0     Sensors 8/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 22
Maint Life 2.08 Years     MSP 347    AFR 170%    IFR 2.4%    1YR 107    5YR 1603    Max Repair 161 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 396   

J8000(4-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 8000 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 4
184 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 184    Fuel Use 63.82%    Signature 64.4    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 575 000 Litres    Range 20.3 billion km   (51 days at full power)

Twin Gauss Cannon R2-50 Turret (1x4)    Range 20 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.4 10.88-16000 (1)    Max Range: 21 760 km   TS: 16000 km/s     54 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 1 Missile Launcher (12)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC4-R1 (2)     Range 4.8m km    Resolution 1
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Stinger (395)  Speed: 39 200 km/s   End: 3.5m    Range: 8.2m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 235/141/70

Active Search Sensor MR4-R1 (1)     GPS 38     Range 4.2m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  8m km
ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Arctic, Pacific, Europe, North America.

Code: [Select]
Diamond Type 40 class Heavy Frigate    10 000 tons     289 Crew     3180.6 BP      TCS 200  TH 386.4  EM 630
5520 km/s     Armour 4-41     Shields 21-360     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 44
Maint Life 2.1 Years     MSP 795    AFR 200%    IFR 2.8%    1YR 240    5YR 3604    Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 355   

276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 660 000 Litres    Range 19.7 billion km   (41 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  84 Litres per hour  (2 016 per day)

Twin 12cm C4 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 240 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 8-8     RM 7    ROF 5        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
Fire Control S08 120-20000 (1)    Max Range: 240 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     96 92 88 83 79 75 71 67 62 58
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 2.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Stonebow (88)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 7    Size: 4    TH: 276/165/82

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
ECCM-3 (1)         ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Daring, Dart, Dauntless, Decisive, Defender, Defiant, Devastator, Diamond, Dragon Drake, Dryad.

Code: [Select]
Sentinel Type 22B class Surveillance Frigate    10 000 tons     289 Crew     5506.5 BP      TCS 200  TH 270  EM 1080
5625 km/s     Armour 3-41     Shields 36-360     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 8     PPV 22
Maint Life 3.05 Years     MSP 2753    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 443    5YR 6646    Max Repair 2500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 486   

375 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3)    Power 375    Fuel Use 44.55%    Signature 90    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 655 000 Litres    Range 26.5 billion km   (54 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  144 Litres per hour  (3 456 per day)

Twin 12cm C4 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 280 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 8-8     RM 7    ROF 5        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2
Fire Control S12 144-20000 (1)    Max Range: 288 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     97 93 90 86 83 79 76 72 69 65
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Wasp (485)  Speed: 56 000 km/s   End: 5.8m    Range: 19.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 616/369/184

Active Search Sensor MR2683-R20 (1)     GPS 50000     Range 2 683.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km
ECM 40

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Sentinel

Code: [Select]
Brilliant Type 5B Mod 1 class Heavy Frigate    8 000 tons     228 Crew     2344.9 BP      TCS 160  TH 289.8  EM 450
5175 km/s     Armour 4-35     Shields 15-360     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 42
Maint Life 2.08 Years     MSP 550    AFR 170%    IFR 2.4%    1YR 170    5YR 2547    Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 185   

276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 545 000 Litres    Range 20.3 billion km   (45 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (5)   Total Fuel Cost  60 Litres per hour  (1 440 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R2-50 Turret (1x4)    Range 20 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.4 10.88-16000 (1)    Max Range: 21 760 km   TS: 16000 km/s     54 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Typhon (46)  Speed: 33 600 km/s   End: 118m    Range: 237.9m km   WH: 5    Size: 4    TH: 134/80/40

Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km
ECCM-3 (1)         ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Bastion, Bear, Bobcat, Bonadventure, Boreas, Beatty, Bittern, Boar.

Code: [Select]
Cavalier Type 9 Mod 1 class Heavy Frigate    8 000 tons     237 Crew     2330.9 BP      TCS 160  TH 289.8  EM 540
5175 km/s     Armour 4-35     Shields 18-360     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 42
Maint Life 2.05 Years     MSP 546    AFR 170%    IFR 2.4%    1YR 174    5YR 2609    Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 3   
Magazine 160   

276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 440 000 Litres    Range 16.4 billion km   (36 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (6)   Total Fuel Cost  72 Litres per hour  (1 728 per day)

Twin 10cm C3 Visible Light Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 24 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 2    ROF 5        3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S02 12-12000 (1)    Max Range: 24 000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     58 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Stonebow (40)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 7    Size: 4    TH: 276/165/82

Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
ECCM-3 (1)         ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Chieftain, Chevron, Camelot

Code: [Select]
Cavalier Type 9B Mod 1 class Heavy Frigate    8 400 tons     249 Crew     2497.7 BP      TCS 168  TH 289.8  EM 630
4928 km/s     Armour 4-36     Shields 21-360     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 42
Maint Life 2.67 Years     MSP 743    AFR 141%    IFR 2%    1YR 148    5YR 2223    Max Repair 400 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 160   
276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 455 000 Litres    Range 16.2 billion km   (37 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  84 Litres per hour  (2 016 per day)

Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 90 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 3    ROF 5        3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S06 48-20000 (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (2)     Total Power Output 6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 30
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Stonebow (40)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 7    Size: 4    TH: 276/165/82

Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
ECCM-3 (1)         ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Caesar, Cambrian, Concord, Cavendish, Carron, Cassandra.

Code: [Select]
Typhoon Type 15F class Heavy Jump Frigate    10 000 tons     267 Crew     2548 BP      TCS 200  TH 386.4  EM 810
5520 km/s    JR 5-100     Armour 4-41     Shields 27-360     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 25
Maint Life 2.09 Years     MSP 637    AFR 200%    IFR 2.8%    1YR 196    5YR 2935    Max Repair 241.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   
Flag Bridge    Magazine 423   

J10200(5-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10200 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 5
276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 720 000 Litres    Range 21.5 billion km   (45 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (9)   Total Fuel Cost  108 Litres per hour  (2 592 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R2-50 Turret (1x4)    Range 20 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.4 10.88-20000 (1)    Max Range: 21 760 km   TS: 20000 km/s     54 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 1 Missile Launcher (15)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (3)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Wasp (422)  Speed: 56 000 km/s   End: 5.8m    Range: 19.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 616/369/184

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km
ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Whirlwind.

Code: [Select]
Typhoon Mk IA class Heavy Jump Frigate    10 000 tons     266 Crew     2699 BP      TCS 200  TH 386.4  EM 810
5520 km/s    JR 5-100     Armour 4-41     Shields 27-360     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 24
Maint Life 2.05 Years     MSP 675    AFR 200%    IFR 2.8%    1YR 214    5YR 3216    Max Repair 288 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 440   

J10200(5-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10200 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 5
276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 635 000 Litres    Range 19.0 billion km   (39 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (9)   Total Fuel Cost  108 Litres per hour  (2 592 per day)

Twin 10cm C3 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 192 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 7    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2
Fire Control S08 96-20000 (1)    Max Range: 192 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (4)     Total Power Output 6.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 1 Missile Launcher (15)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (3)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Wasp (439)  Speed: 56 000 km/s   End: 5.8m    Range: 19.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 616/369/184

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km
ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Typhoon, Tornado.

Code: [Select]
Vigilant Type 21B class Surveillance Frigate    8 400 tons     236 Crew     4589.9 BP      TCS 168  TH 289.8  EM 360
4928 km/s     Armour 3-36     Shields 12-360     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 19
Maint Life 1.51 Years     MSP 1366    AFR 141%    IFR 2%    1YR 674    5YR 10109    Max Repair 2500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 410   

276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 360 000 Litres    Range 12.8 billion km   (30 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (4)   Total Fuel Cost  48 Litres per hour  (1 152 per day)

Twin 10cm C3 Soft X-ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 180 000km     TS: 32850 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 6    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Fire Control S08 96-20000 (1)    Max Range: 192 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (4)     Total Power Output 6.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Omega Buoy (1)  Speed: 0 km/s   End: 0m    Range: 0m km   WH: 0    Size: 1    TH: 0/0/0
Wasp (409)  Speed: 56 000 km/s   End: 5.8m    Range: 19.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 616/369/184

Active Search Sensor MR2683-R20 (1)     GPS 50000     Range 2 683.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km
ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Searcher, Vigilant

Code: [Select]
Snake Type 14C class Heavy Jump Frigate    8 400 tons     209 Crew     1891.7 BP      TCS 168  TH 289.8  EM 540
4928 km/s    JR 4-100     Armour 4-36     Shields 18-360     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 20
Maint Life 1.97 Years     MSP 493    AFR 161%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 167    5YR 2511    Max Repair 241.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 401   

J8400(4-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 8400 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 4
276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 435 000 Litres    Range 15.5 billion km   (36 days at full power)
Epsilon R360/288 Shields (6)   Total Fuel Cost  72 Litres per hour  (1 728 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R2-50 Turret (1x4)    Range 20 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.4 10.88-20000 (1)    Max Range: 21 760 km   TS: 20000 km/s     54 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Wasp (401)  Speed: 56 000 km/s   End: 5.8m    Range: 19.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 616/369/184

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km
ECM 30

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Action: Cobra, Copperhead, Rattlesnake, Fer-de-lance, Bushmaster, Adder.

Intelligence recovered from GeeJay Survivors

Code: [Select]
IPV-1 class Jump Battlecruiser    23 700 tons     544 Crew     8802.5 BP      TCS 474  TH 6336  EM 0
13367 km/s    JR 4-50     Armour 15-73     Shields 0-0     Sensors 33/22/0/0     Damage Control Rating 9     PPV 60
Maint Life 0.9 Years     MSP 2089    AFR 499%    IFR 6.9%    1YR 2326    5YR 34883    Max Repair 1215 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 1140   

J24000(4-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 24000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 4
528 EP Plasma Core AM Drive (12)    Power 528    Fuel Use 23.35%    Signature 528    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 3 950 000 Litres    Range 128.5 billion km   (111 days at full power)

CIWS-250 (4x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 25000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Size 6 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 25
Missile Fire Control FC1309-R96 (3)     Range 1 309.5m km    Resolution 96

Active Search Sensor MR1309-R96 (1)     GPS 116640     Range 1 309.5m km    Resolution 96
Thermal Sensor TH3-33 (1)     Sensitivity 33     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  33m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1)     Sensitivity 22     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22m km
ECCM-2 (1)         ECM 20

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Number known to be in service: 4; Location: LHS 292
IanD
 

Offline Beersatron

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #3 on: December 22, 2013, 03:38:52 AM »
Looks like the BC had point defense but did it actually fire - or did you just leave out the interceptions in the write up?
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #4 on: December 22, 2013, 04:57:57 AM »
Looks like the BC had point defense but did it actually fire - or did you just leave out the interceptions in the write up?

I never got close to the BC, they are still lurking on the fringes of LHS 292. Three generations of engine tech later thanks to the wrecks and I am finally achieving some sort of parity (Solid core AM), but I had a Galicite crash and now in the middle of a Uridium crash so the 42 of the planned 70 cruisers are still only a collection of parts sans sensors, with the engines being manufactured in another system and the year is now 2078! ::) The 28 completed cruisers are one or two generations of engine tech behind solid core AM.

The other classes did intercept between 3-5 missiles each but in view of the numbers of missiles I employed they had no chance so did not write it up. Storming the system will be fun when the Earth Gov thinks its ready. I had five trapped survey vessels in their system which they finally found and intercepted with 60+ FAC capable of 30,000+ k/s. But all the Earth Gov has seen lately are construction ships, colony ships and survey ships which provided the last two engine techs.
IanD
 

Offline MarcAFK

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2013, 06:33:43 AM »
This is awesome, It's good to see how someone else setup a scenario in that timeline, my own Cold War plot hasn't gotten off the ground yet.
Looking forward to updates.
" Why is this godforsaken hellhole worth dying for? "
". . .  We know nothing about them, their language, their history or what they look like.  But we can assume this.  They stand for everything we don't stand for.  Also they told me you guys look like dorks. "
"Stop exploding, you cowards.  "
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #6 on: April 01, 2014, 03:24:03 PM »
Aurora v6.21 Difficulty  150%. This is a continuation of the Earth Gov Time Line.

 
Part 2 – Operation Judgement

Countdown.

4th March 2082.


Sol System, Earth.
Marshal Ryan Morton greeted Captain Kent Stary (senior officer, Battle Group Whirlwind) in his outer office. After the usual pleasantries they moved into Morton’s inner office. As they sat down Stary eyed the thick manila envelope on the desk adorned with various stickers and seals proclaiming it Ultra Secret.
Morton began “Captain as far as your crew are aware your Battle Group is just going to relieve Battle Group Marauder in LHS 292. However I can tell you that before you return you will see action in the Geejay’s home system. LHS 292 is just the first stop. You will be relieved by Battle Group Peregrine as soon as her last cruiser leaves its slip. Poor devils, a completely green ship may have to defend that jump point if it all goes west. We hope it doesn’t come to that. This is the biggest operation the Navy have ever conducted and your formation is one of my most experienced units. I called you in because I wished to give you the opportunity of asking any questions you might have before you go ahead of the main fleet as you will be unable to attend the usual briefing.”
“When can I tell the crews and is there any fresh intelligence on the Geejay’s? Otherwise we are as ready as we will ever be this side of a new sensor or drive system.”
“You are the first outside the planning staff to know when the assault will be, you can inform the Battle Group as soon as you are relieved by Battle Group Peregrine and what intelligence we have is in your pack, but little new I’m afraid.” Morton picked up and handed the heavy manila envelope to Stary. “Here are your detailed orders, familiarise yourself with them.  If there are no more questions, may your god go with you” Morton saluted Stary which he returned They shook hands as he left the office.
Battle Group Whirlwind boosted from Earth for the last time before Operation Judgement began.

29th March 2082.

Sol System, Earth.

Vice Marshal Lewis Akhtar looked across the podium at his audience, Captains Joshua Bates and Riley Steven, senior officers of the two Battle Groups Copperhead and Viper flanked him on the small stage. An intelligence officer stood farther back on the right. The ship's captains of the Battle Groups were seated in the rows of seats arrayed before them. “Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen” he began as the lights dimmed and the screen behind him came to life. “I know this is unusual to collect you together before a routine deployment but I have been given the honour of commanding the assault on the Geejays home system and I am to tell you that you will be part of it before you next return to Earth. You will each receive briefing packs when you leave, however I will lay out the assault plan and your role.” The screen began to depict the various Battle Groups involved and their position pre and post the assault phase. Akhar droned on. He had one of those unfortunate voices that started to send you to sleep before the end of the first sentence, but this time no one was in the least bit sleepy.   
Battle Groups Copperhead and Viper left for Luyten 143-23 to allow the current jump point guard to rotate home for overhaul and leave before the assault began.

25th June 2082.

Sol System, Earth.
Marshal Morton, Commander–in-Chief of the Earth Gov Navy, sat behind a small table with a trio of microphones on it, set on a stage. On his right sat Vice Marshal Lewis Akhtar, while on his left was Lieutenant Commander Midgett (Fleet Operations) and Lieutenant Henshaw (Fleet Intelligence). Morton looked over the table at a sea of expectant faces in the lecture theatre. The audience consisted of every flag officer, senior officer commanding and ship’s captain from the Battle Groups and Patrol Squadrons currently in Earth orbit. The Marshal opened proceedings with the words “Welcome ladies and gentlemen this is the formal briefing for Operation Judgment, the assault on the Geejay’s home system and our revenge for the obliteration of the thirty-seven million men, women and children of Prospect colony. Vice Marshal Akhtar will take you through this briefing, but I wish to add this, if any of you wonder why we are fighting this war take a trip to the Prospect Colony site and look at what these aliens have wrought. Now for the briefing I will hand you over to Vice Marshal Akhtar who will command the assault. Vice Marshal Akhtar if you would be so kind.” The briefing continued for two-and–a-half hours. The officers boarded shuttles and prepared to depart, each armed with a pack containing their orders and responsibilities. That is all except those of Battle Group Marauder who were still a few days off completing their overhaul. But it was thought that with their faster speed of passage they could soon make up the lost time. Several Battle Group senior officers decided to organise a visit to Prospect Colony as they passed through LHS 292 to remind themselves of why they were fighting this war.

29th June 2082.

LHS 292-A II – Ruins of Prospect colony.

Commander Laura Conway stood amide the wreck of Prospect colony; her foot stirred the black ash. She was still some distance from the epicentre of the attack which was still too hot to approach after more than ten years. Ten years in which Earth Gov had poured its treasure and brightest prospects into a fleet of new cruisers which it hoped could take on the Geejays on more equal terms. In a couple of weeks it would be put to the test. She still had her old command, a B class heavy frigate, the Bittern, and was still SO of Battle Group Pacific. (They had offered her one of the new Type 45A’s but she would have had to give up her Battle Group.) The landscape around her was bleak, the twisted remnants of buildings poked above a land scoured by thermonuclear fire. Looking away from ground zero Conway could see a few pale and deformed shrubs trying to reclaim the desolation; the wind blew cold, stirring the ash at her feet, her dosimeter beeped. Over the earpiece the pilot of the waiting VTOL transport announced “time to go commander, every one else is already aboard; you don’t want to miss the big show because you picked up a few too many rads for exoatmospheric duty.” Conway replied “on my way,” took one last look at the crushed hopes of the colonists, turned on her heel and walked back to the transport waiting for her.
Once Conway was onboard the VTOL took off in a swirl of black dust heading for Monument colony half a world away. The atmosphere on the returning flight was sombre. Conway was deep in contemplation on the journey back, what would it feel like to rain thermonuclear death down upon a helpless population? If all went according to plan that was an all too real prospect.

9th July 2085

Luyten 146-23. Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Vice Marshal Akhtar grimaced as he read the latest download from the gate. While the rest of his Battle Groups would arrive tomorrow, the overhaul for Battle Group Marauder had overrun and would now not arrive for another seven days. “Well” thought Akhtar, “we have waited nearly eleven years, I suppose a few more days won’t matter and Battle Group Marauder is a quarter of my cruiser strength.” But in the back of his mind he remembered the fast attack craft the Sivan’s had and the nasty surprise they were, we couldn’t even see them back then. Akhtar had a foreboding that he may be putting his hand into a mincing machine. After all the Geejay’s had eleven years to prepare their defences.

Knocking Down the Door.

16th July 2082.

22:58:38.
Luyten 143-23 Jump point to GJ 1123. Bridge, FH Bittern.

Commander Conway sat at her station in the worn command chair on the bridge of the EGS Bittern, perusing the operational orders for Operation Judgement. The bridge was crowded, every station manned, the crew at action stations, with both day and alterday watches at their posts.
Arrayed around the Bittern was the rest of her Battle Group waiting on the signal to jump. In all some sixty-nine frigates and sixty-three cruisers waited to revenge Prospect Colony. Conway wondered whether the Geejay’s had relaxed their jump point guard. Their actions since being thrown out of LHS 292 and Lutyen 143-23 had not appeared completely rational. Why periodically send out survey vessels, construction ships, colony vessels and transports into hostile territory without an escort? Conway shook her head, these aliens were just too strange to even communicate with let alone try and fathom their reasoning. The only intelligence they got was from various computers, handheld or otherwise. As the clock ticked down she gave her first command “Mr Jones order the Battle Group to squadron jump stations and shields up, switch the Marshal’s channel to ship wide.” The only reply was a brief “aye aye Skipper” as the tension on the bridge ratcheted up another notch. Bittern and her consorts shifted to close up to their respective jump ships. A move which was echoed in another eight of the ten Battle Groups stationed around the jump point. All was ready.
The ship wide comms system crackled. “This is Vice Marshal Lewis Akhtar. All Battle Groups stand ready to jump on my mark. May your god be with you. Mark!” For Conway the universe twisted sideways she felt the dizziness and disorientation of jump as the jump ship took the squadron through the jump point without further orders, the external view screen stabilised, a new star sat at its centre. “Crew to action stations, Weapons start targeting, fire as soon as scan and fire cons stabilise. Pilot move us to point beta, maximum acceleration.” Conway hardly realised she was speaking as the orders flowed out. Passive sensors located Geejay ships close in to the jump point.
Omega codes flowed across her screen from a couple of B class frigates, the Brilliant and Bulwark in Battle Group Europe were both crushed by massed lasers while Brazen was badly damaged. Well they certainly hadn’t caught the Geejays sleeping! There were ten bandits on the jump point, five of 15,800 tons, (two Imminent Consent class, two Seven Pillars class and one Fog of Revelation class) and five of 7,900 tons, (two Supremacy of Regulation class, one Wish Fulfilment class, one Pastel Figment class and one Vigilant Resolve class. Until now they had no intelligence on these types.

22:58:43.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Ten seconds in and Conway had no more Omega codes, but the Vigilant in Battle Group Cobra had been badly mauled. Interestingly the bandits were taking off away from the fleet muster points. Conway almost shouted “Guns, have we got scan and target lock yet?” The reply was a “Yes Skipper, sensor feed coming in, locking target, fire con still unstable!” Sensors spoke up “Sixteen new bandits 80.4 million kays and closing, 1000 tonners, looks like fast attack craft!”

22:58:43.
GJ 1123. CSV-501 Watchman, Battle Group Sparrowhawk.

There was a rumble through the ship as the Attack Shuttle Flight Six launched. Seven 370 ton craft hurtled off into space. Lieutenant Commander Anton Eriksson was pushed back into his pod his arms growing heavy as his attack shuttle left the cruiser and accelerated at over 30,000 kps. Just off centre to the right in Eriksson’s pod was the sensor feed from the Watchman, off to the left his fire control designator. As the fire con recovered from jump stress Eriksson mused on the simple idea of the attack shuttle as he floated in his pod cushioned by the gel surrounding him. It had started when the old jump frigates had been called forward in to LHS 292 during the Christmas Day battle. Some bright spark has suggested why not use a shuttle to carry an MR50/R1 sensor to extend the AMM range, cheap and expendable. Thus the Sentry Mk I was born. Very quickly after that another bright spark said couldn’t we replace the sensor with missile tubes? So the Warhawk was brought into being, all 450 tons of it. The Kittyhawk he was piloting was the second generation, smaller and faster but with larger missile tubes capable of taking the latest Mk III Snarks. Eriksson’s reverie was brought to an abrupt end as the fire con buzzed its angry ready status. Red icons a rash on the repeater screen. The weapons warrant officer, invisible to Eriksson in his own pod, as were the other three crew members, came over the intercom “Attack Six all report sensor feeds online.” Erikson keyed his intraship com. “Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
“Attack Six fire as fire cons stabilise, target Imminent Consent 002! Pilots plot a return course to the Watchman to reload – execute on launch, Eriksson out.”

23:58:48.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Back aboard the Bittern new hostile contacts scrolled across Conway’s screen as a long range sensor on one of the surveillance vessels activated. The data load was becoming overwhelming. The new series of contacts spilled across her display, thirty Stellar Wrath class of 7,900 tons, another eighty-six Glorious Heritage class 1,000 ton fast attack craft, another Pastel Figment of 7,900 tons, thirty-five Tikhonravov class of 31,150 tons, one hundred and seven of the Sirenum Fossae class of 33,700 tons, two Aonia Terra construction vessels of  66,850 tons, ten Borum Planum class of 15,800 tons, four Adamas Labyrinthus class of 15,450 tons and two Fingers of Dawn class of 15,800 tons; All a very distant two and a half billion kays out around the Geejays home world. “It was,” thought Conway “a target rich environment, if only their weapons worked!” More damage codes came in from Earth Gov frigates as lasers and point defence missiles pummelled them. The omega code from the Vigilant was among them. Six frigates were now crippled or destroyed.

22:58:53.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

At last Conway saw some good news, there were a trickle of missile launches and laser fire from the Fleet, but most were still awaiting their fire cons stabilising, Bittern’s among them. Damage codes from the Beaufort came in, critically damaged by AMMs and lasers; she was out of the fight whatever happened. Conway considered the list of Geejay vessels the sensor scans had brought in. Some were known classes and harmless transports but eighty-six Glorious Heritage fast attack craft, a Pastel Figment of 7,900 tons and ten Borum Planum of 15,800 tons certainly were not. That last class was known to be armed with twenty-seven twin lasers. Of the others the thirty 7,900 ton Stellar Wrath class and four Adamas Labyrinthus of 15,450 tons were almost certainly combat vessels or bases. Of the Tikhonravov and Sirenum Fossae class vessels, they might be non-combatants, but were currently an unknown quantity. If the one hundred and seven Sirenum Fossae were not transports Conway reckoned they were in for a thin time.   
 
22:58:58.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

More omega codes signalled the end of the Atlantic from her own Battle Group and the heavy frigate Brazen. Bastion was also hit. More of the Fleet’s sensors came on line providing more intelligence on the vessels previously identified. Fleet weapons were finally beginning to hit the enemy but only in penny packets for the moment. Fully three quarters of the Fleet had yet to stabilise their fire controls. Conway felt Bittern rock as her missiles left the launchers, her old compensators failing to completely damp down the oscillation. There was a shout from Weapons “birds away Skipper!” Bittern’s Stonebows joined those launched by three others of Conway’s Battle Group targeted at a Supremacy of Regulation.

22:59:03.
GJ1123, Jump Point to Leyten 143.23.

The various Battle Groups were beginning to assemble. Squadrons rendezvoused with their flag ships, defence networks meshed. Scorpion Mk IIIs intercepted incoming Geejay missiles very successfully considering they were anti-missile missiles travelling at 107,000 kps. Only about a third of the Fleet still had to stabilise their fire  cons, so things were improving, but a couple of 450 ton Sentry IIs and a Warhawk attack shuttle were destroyed. CA28 Firebird was also the target of twenty AMMs which didn’t manage to penetrate her shields.

22:59:08.
GJ1123, Jump Point to Leyten 143.23.

The Fleet was beginning to get its licks in but a dozen Snarks and eight Stonebows were blown out of space by Geejay interceptors. All the same ninety-two Stonebows hit their targets. A lot of the unemployed lasers of the fleet were now being pressed into anti-missile duty against AMMs used in the anti-ship role by the jump point defenders. Only seven Fleet vessels still had to stabilise their fire cons.

22:59:13.
GJ 1123, Jump Point to Luyten 143.23.

The Fleet saw three of the Geejay ships explode from the continued pounding they had received from missiles and lasers. Fog of Revelation, Imminent Consent 001 & 002 all of 15,800 tons died under the continual flail of 15cm lasers and tri-cobalt catalysed plasma spears from the missiles, their end coming suddenly as all ships of the Fleet finally got their fire cons on line. The Geejays missile defences began to crumble, only the intrinsic missile defences of the individual ships were left to them.

22:59:18.
GJ 1123, Jump Point to Luyten 143.23.

Supremacy of Regulation 001 and Wish Fulfilment both disappeared in a flurry of thermonuclear detonations, laser scalpels added to the carnage, carving off large pieces of hull. Conway was shaken as the omega code for the previously undamaged Diamond crossed her screen as it was torn apart by the ten 30cm lasers carried by a Seven Pillars class. She had been lucky as Battle Group senior officers went, she had only lost the jump frigate Atlantic, whereas Battle Group Europe had lost three heavy frigates.

22:59:23.
GJ 1123, Jump Point to Luyten 143.23.

Seven Pillars 002, Pastel Figment and Supremacy of Regulation 002 all came apart under the continual assault of the Earth Gov vessels; a thermonuclear pyre marked their end.

22:59:28.
GJ 1123, Jump Point to Luyten 143.23.

The last Geejay vessel on the jump point, Seven Pillars 001, disintegrated under the onslaught of ninety 15cm lasers and the thirty missiles which made it through this final vessel’s significant defences.  The jump point was finally clear of Geejay vessels.
Now the Fleet awaited whatever the Geejay fast attack craft had launched at it. Conway considered the tally so far, the Fleet had lost six frigates, with another crippled and four with minor damage. However the damage to Pathfinder and Defiant was only minor.

To Be Continued
 
IanD
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2014, 03:54:44 AM »
The Run Out.

22:59:33.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

The still open intership comm crackled aboard the Bittern. “This is Vice Marshal Lewis Akhtar. All Battle Groups stand ready move to point gamma as soon as replenishment has been completed. Munitions Group Two will transit in five, Akhtar out.”

23:07:23.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Four salvos of fourteen missiles lit up the threat board on Conway’s console. She began fervently hoping that they were not targeted on her Battle Group as her Battle Group was over 1.66 million kays from the rest of the fleet in tail-end Charlie position. From the angle of attack it looked like they were OK this time. However the velocity of the missiles was extremely worrying at 151,202 kps! That was more than twice as fast as any missile seen in LHS 292 and once again the battle comp had the wrong parameters and would have problems intercepting the oncoming missiles. In addition four of the fast attack craft were closing on the fleet at 30,000 kps. The fleet’s cruisers had launched at them as soon as they had stable fire cons to do so, but those missiles were less than halfway to target.

23:07:38.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

The results of the first Scorpion interceptors reaching the incoming missile wave scrolled across Conway’s display. Forty out of fifty-six missiles were destroyed, even using a preponderance of Scorpion Mk IIAs which were slower that the approaching missiles. Five seconds later fourteen more Geejay missiles died under the Fleet’s AMM fire. Ten seconds later there were only three missiles left and they were taken out by laser fire from the Fleet. When no more missiles assailed the Fleet it looked like only the leading fast attack craft had launched with the other eight perhaps still to come within range.

23:18:48.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Conway switched her console feed to long scan to pickup the results of the first interceptions of the Geejay fast attack craft. As she watched the screen two new wreck markers appeared, that was the good news, the bad news was the hit rate was only 50%, but that would do. In another five seconds the leading group had been wiped out. But Conway began to muse on the role of the old Stonebow missiles; perhaps they were only good for picking off cripples?

23:24
GJ 1123, Luyten 143-23 Jump Point.

By now all but two of the attack craft were debris and those two were dead in space. Battle Group Europe was directed to expend a single Stonebow per craft to destroy them, saving all the Snarks for better targets. Those single missiles proved to be more than adequate for the task.

23:59.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Conway looked at her analysis of the Bittern’s role in the recent action. It was right in there with the rest of the B class frigates, neither exceptional nor poor. Still her guess on some of the Geejay warships appeared correct. The Thirty Stellar Wrath class, designated Bogie 3, had broken orbit from the Geejay home world and were on an intercept course for the Fleet. The nasty surprise was that they massed 7,900 tons but still had a velocity in excess of 33,000 kps, faster than Bogie 4, the Glorious Heritage attack craft and were outpacing them. Still should give the Fleet the chance to tackle each force independently. Of course the eighty-six Glorious Heritage fast attack craft were on their way followed more sedately by Bogie 5, a pair of Fingers of Dawn cruisers (15,800 tons) and the remaining Pastel Figment escort (7,900 tons).   The ten Borum Planum class may be planetary defence stations. They were known to be laser armed having destroyed an Earth Gov Bird class survey vessel in the opening shots of the conflict. However they had not left orbit with the rest of the Geejay fleet.

Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.
Vice Marshal Akhtar called Battle Group Merlin forward into GJ1123 to double the number of platforms capable of launching the larger Snark missiles. He also ordered Battle Groups Sparrowhawk and Merlin to deploy their Sentry Early warning pickets 5 million kays ahead of the Fleet. The best they could hope for against the fast targets the Wrath class represented was a 50% hit rate with the Snarks and no more than 25% with the Stonebows at best . However the Stonebows were just about the same speed as the Stellar Wraths and might not hit at all! With the jump point assault over Akhtar handed over to Commodore Charlene Rutan (senior alterday flag officer of the Fleet), his vice on the alterday watch accommodated in CC451 Marauder.

17th July 2082.

11:05.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Vice Marshal Akhtar looked at the master plot in the holotank on his flag bridge. There had just been a status change. Bogie 3, the thirty Stellar Wraths, had just decelerated to 4600 kps and was keeping station just ahead of Fleet sensors at Fleet speed. He was now fairly certain that the Stellar Wraths were missile ships and may have launched already.
That was fine if they were using the Luhu missiles seen in LHS 292 with a 72,000 kps velocity and a seventeen-kiloton warhead. This belief was buoyed by the fact that the FACs, recently demonstrated to carry the appallingly fast Condor missiles were still on approach to the fleet. He guessed the Condor was a much shorter range missile.
The other missile the Geejays were known to use were codenamed the Sunder and Luhu anti-ship missiles. The Sunder was capable of 43,200 kps and armed with a twenty-two kiloton warhead. The Luhu was capable of 72,000 kps and armed with a seventeen kiloton warhead. Neither the Luhu nor the Sunder should pose too much of a problem for his Scorpion AMMs, but the Condor would.
Akhtar’s problem now was did he order the attack shuttles to target the FACs or the Stellar Wraths as they were to only asset which had a chance of catching the latter? But if he did that then they could not return, rearm and help against the FACs.

The flag bridge hatch hissed back on its bearings. Lieutenant Liam Bostrom walked in. He was Akhtar’s Intelligence officer.
“Marshal, we’ve just got the analysis on the fast attack craft and the Stellar Wrath class. Looks like the FACs are really short ranged; their sensors signature is S135/R96 with a range of just 130 million kays. The missile the fast attack craft are using looks to be the Condor, 151,000 kps, twelve-kiloton warhead but a range of only 172.8 million kays. We got that last titbit from a recovered hand comp in Luyten 143-23 after their last incursion. In fact we got the entire schematics for the Condor missile; there is talk of setting up a production line on Earth. However, the Stellar Wrath is another kettle of fish; its sensor signature is a massive S1215/R96 with a range of 1166.4 million kays.”
Akhtar smiled “Thank you Liam, you bring very welcome news. “Luigi (Lieutenant Luigi Goucher – Attack Shuttle Operations) order the attack shuttle flights to go for the FACs. I am guessing the Wraths will use the Luhu or perhaps Sunder missiles. We should be able to handle them.”
“Stacey, (Lieutenant Stacey Berkson- Operations), alert the Fleet to expect incoming in a few hours.”
A chorus of “Aye, aye Marshal” echoed Akhtars decisions.

11:55.
GJ 1123. Attack Flight 6 & 8.

Lieutenant Commander Anton Eriksson received the change of target gratefully but wished he had a full sized fire con; he could have launched and been back to his carrier by now. But here he was trying to avoid getting too close to the unknown quantity of the Stellar Wraths while sniping at the approaching Glorious Heritage FACs. With luck the two flights of Kittyhawks could destroy or cripple fourteen of them, probably a better return than attacking the Stellar Wraths, their original target.

12:40.
Attack Flight 6. GJ1123.

The voice of his weapons warrant officer came through Eriksson’s earpiece “target locked, birds are hot.”
“Very good Eddie. George, plot a rendezvous to home base and execute on launch, delta V 30,000 kps, let’s keep the lock. Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
“Attack leader to Attack Six and Eight, transmitting course and delta V, lock your targets, launch, launch, launch! Execute! Eriksson out.”
Fifty-six Snark Mk III missiles left their tubes looking for vengeance.

13:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Attack Flights Six and Eight launched and retiring. Range of Fleet to FACs eight hundred and forty point five two million kays Marshal”
“Thank you Luigi. Stacey, order Battle Group Merlin to fire along with the cruisers Sparrowhawk, Kite and Harrier, fire plan delta. The Type 45As will have to wait till they get a mite closer.”
“Aye aye sir”
One hundred and thirty-six more Snarks left their launchers on a date with Geejay fast attack craft.

14:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Stacey assign the remaining FAC targets to the type 45As please, fire plan delta, they may launch at their pleasure.”
“Aye aye Marshal.”

Aboard Battle Groups Merlin and Sparrowhawk all hands mustered to take more missiles into the magazine while they had a quite period. The crew were a little ambivalent about this. Sure the ordnance would be safer inside a cruiser rather than a munitions carrier, but once it was empty the only reloads were still in the factory on Earth.

14:18.
Attack Flight 6. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader to all Kittyhawks. The birds have roosted! Max delta V for home, well-done every one looks like we got at least twelve of them and damaged another two. Eriksson out.”

15:44.
Attack Flight 2. GJ 1123.

Attack Flights Two and Four finally reach a position just in range of the two crippled fast attack craft left immobile after the Kittyhawk attack. “Open intersquadron squawk please James” requested Commander Salvatore Lunetta, Attack leader of Attack Flights Two and Four.
“Live mike” came the answer.
“Attack leader to Attack Two and Attack Four, hold fire. Warhawks zero-two and zero-four, one bird at the two cripples, extreme range, lock and launch. Execute! Lunetta out.”
Some time later two single detonations marked the fate of the cripples.

15:48.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

The missiles from Battle Group Merlin made contact with the horde of Glorious Heritage fast attack craft approaching the fleet. Twenty-three died in a series of eight-kiloton detonations, nine others were damaged, most crippled and three managed to dodge all four of the missiles targeted against them. Akhtar examined the results.
His missiles had reached the FACs before the Wraths missiles had reached the Fleet. He now guessed they were using the slower Sunder missiles.

Attack Flight 2. GJ 1123.
Commander Lunetta came over the inter squadron net once more. “Attack leader to all Warhawks one bird at each of the cripples, lock and launch. Execute! Lunetta out.” The missiles sped away and as before were more than adequate to do the job at the end of their run.

16:34.
Attack Flight 2. GJ 1123.

Battle Group Sparrowhawk’s missiles reached their targets. Twenty-two FACs were consumed by tri-cobalt catalysed thermonuclear fire, three others were significantly damaged and immobilised while one other got lucky and avoided all four missiles intended for it.
 
For the final time Commander Lunetta came over the net. “Attack leader to Attack Two and Four.  There are three new cripples out there. Toby (Flight leader, Attack Flight Four, Lieutenant Toby Sykes ) it’s all yours after this launch as we will be out of missiles after this. Warhawks lock your targets and launch. Execute! Lunetta out.”

17:58.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Vice Marshal Akhtar watched the plot as the last half-a-dozen Geejay fast attack craft made a rendezvous with another salvo of Snarks from Battle Group Merlin. Five minutes later Akhtar showed one of his rare grins as the last of the Geejay missile boats burned in a thermonuclear hell. “Meinhard, (Lieutenant Meinhard Storch – Communications), send my compliments’ to Battle Groups Merlin and Sparrowhawk on a job well done! Luigi deploy the Kittyhawk flights and target the Wraths this time.”
There was another chorus of “Aye, aye Marshal.”

However, for all his delight in how well the operation had gone so far Akhtar was bothered as he mused over the master plot. Where were the Geejay missiles? They should have arrived by now surely? Were they waiting for the Fingers of Dawn to catch up with them?
Attack Flights Six and Eight left their hangers once more.

23:06.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Attack flights Two and Four report ready Marshal”
“Thank you Luigi, send them after the Wraths if you would be so kind” replied Akhtar.

23:26.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader to all Kittyhawks, good news boys and girls this time we get to mix it with the big boys. Attack Six target Wrath 001, Emily (Flight leader, Attack Flight Eight - Lieutenant Emily Bashow) you people in Attack Eight target Wrath 002. Delta V is 4600 kps course as before. Lock and launch. Execute. Eriksson out.”
No sooner had Eriksson issued his orders there was an angry buzzing over his intracraft comm.” The voice of his weapons warrant officer came through Eriksson’s earpiece “target lock failed, ECM strength twenty!”
“Damn,” thought Eriksson. “Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
“Attack leader, all Kittyhawks belay previous orders, continue to close to 360 million kays, repeat 360 million kays, max delta V. Eriksson out”

18th July 2082

00:06.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Comms” requested Eriksson, “those two cruisers and their escort (Bogie 5) are still closing the Fleet. Send a report up the line. Eriksson out”
“Wilco, Comms out.”

00:26.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader, all Kittyhawks, previous targets, lock and launch. Execute! Watch those cruisers coming up on us don’t want to get too close now. Eriksson out”

00:46.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader to all Kittyhawks. Course change to point delta, Max delta V. Lets get out of the way of the freight train coming down the tracks. Eriksson out.”
Now Eriksson thought about it he should have angled off line for the launch. His missiles would now have to pass through the approaching cruisers.

02:23.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader, well done every one, you got one Emily, great shooting and I don’t think the other one is in great shape. Back to the barn for a rinse and repeat. Max delta V. Eriksson out”

Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.
Commodore Rutan puzzled over the results of the missile strike on the two Wrath class vessels. Each vessel was only targeted by twenty-eight missiles apiece. Yet that resulted in one being destroyed and the other crippled. Of the Wraths that had been hit one had taken eleven hits the other only seven, then the latter exploded! It just didn’t make sense; it should have taken far more hits. The 7,900 ton ships destroyed in LHS 292 took at least seventy-two Stonebow missiles each to achieve the same result. Was it possible they were not warships? What were they if not warships? Were they just a big engine and sensor package?

02:44.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Bogie 5 now at 792.56 million kays Commodore.”
In the holotank the icon representing Bogie 5 crawled passed the demarcation line of Battle Group Sparrowhawk’s fire control.
“Very good Martine (Lieutenant Martine Lebrun – Alterday Operations). Alexandra (Lieutenant Alexandra Steele, Alterday Coms) contact Battle Groups Merlin and Sparrowhawk request they engage Bogie 5 specifically the Fingers of Dawn 001 and 002 respectively, fire plan alpha, with all dispatch.”
“Aye, aye Commodore” came the crisp reply. 
Thirty seconds later Alexandra announced “Battle Group Sparrowhawk birds away. Battle Group Merlin appears to have a hold. Will launch asap.”
Commodore Rutan harrumphed looking very unhappy. “I suppose it’s the best we can do, suggest Merlin puts in some extra training” she snapped.
“Aye sir”
Only a few seconds passed before Alexandra spoke up again “Battle Group Merlin birds away. Apparently they had to recalibrate the new ECCM 6 modules.”
Rutan smiled grimly. “I suppose they have the excuse that very few of their units are fully worked up yet. Jim (Lieutenant Jim Trier, Fighter Operations, alterday watch) direct Attack Flights Two and Four to target the Pastel Figment escort, it may do some good to degrade their defences”

03:45.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status Change!”rang out across the flag bridge, the flag lieutenants at their various consoles looked up.
“What have you got for me Martine?” inquired Rutan sharply.
“Bogie 5 has reversed course and is stationary with regards to the Fleet at seven hundred and forty-six point three nine million kays. Advise missile attack warning between two hours fifty-two minutes and four hours forty-eight minutes depending whether they are using Luhu or Sunder missiles. I would bet on the former being right”
“Thank you Martine. When do our missiles reach them?”
“Our birds are still approximately three hours fifty-three minutes from target Commodore.”
“Can’t be helped, hope the Geejays hang around long enough for them to get there. Alexandra alert the fleet if you would with the estimated time of attack.”
“Aye, aye Commodore.”

04:51.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change” rang out across the flag bridge once more.
“Go on Martine” answered Rutan stiffly.
“Bogie 3 (now twenty-eight Stellar Wraths) closing at 33,417 kps, one straggler closing at 20, 049 kps. Bogie 5 (two Fingers of Dawn and a Pastel Figment) no change.”
“Thank you Martine” Came the reply. “Curiouser and curiouser” thought Rutan, “just what were those vessels?”

06:38.
Flag Bridge,  CC451 Marauder.

“Your missiles are late Martine” noted Rutan.
“They’re not my missiles sir, but yes it appears so sir, but if that means they’re using Sunders I think we can only be grateful”
”Indeed so” replied Rutan snippily.
”Could they be using command control missiles without a terminal guidance package?” Rutan went on to muse quietly to herself.”
“How long till our birds reach their roost?”
“Approximately twenty-one minutes sir”

06:59.
Flag Bridge, Geejay Fingers of Dawn 001.

The Geejay Commodore positioned his small task group at 745 million kays from the approaching fleet; well outside what he knew was the range of the abominable aliens. It was some surprise then when his missile threat warning started sounding off and he could hear the staccato rattle of his point defence mounts as they clawed ten missiles out of space, but were woefully inadequate to deal with the approaching tsunami of missiles. Any further thoughts were cut short as one hundred and eighty-six of the two hundred and forty-eight missiles aimed at his ships detonated. Miniature thermonuclear suns burst into brief brilliance, tri-cobalt powered plasma lances reached deep into the vitals of the two Geejay cruisers. Only crumpled wreckage tumbled out of that short-lived incandescent cloud of star-hot pinpoints. There were still fifty-two missiles left looking to immolate themselves on a target.

07:00.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Distance to Bogie 3 Martine?” inquired Rutan
“560 million kays Commodore”
“Alexandra request Battle Groups Merlin and Sparrowhawk engage, fire plan beta”
“Aye Commodore.”
“Still no Geejay missiles Martine” asked Rutan in a softer, silkier voice.
“No Commodore.”
In the holotank four one-kiloton discrete flashes indicated that Pastel Figment wasn’t going to go quietly as it gradually winnowed the missiles still seeking a lock. Five seconds later five more explosions revealed that the Pastel Figment was not in range of the Snarks on-board target acquisition sensor.

07:15.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change” rang out across the flag bridge yet again.
“Yes Martine?” snapped Rutan.
“Bogie 3 now retiring at 33,417 kps. If Bogie 3 does not reverse course again it will outrun all missiles targeted at it. The straggler is also retiring but will not outrun the Stonebows targeted at it by the attack shuttles.”
Rutan couldn’t hide the disappointment etched on her face as she continued to study the holotank. The Fleet had expended nearly a thousand missiles on trying to intercept Bogie 3 on her orders. That was a significant fraction of the Mk III Snark missile supply and simply irreplaceable. Akhtar would not be happy at change-over.

07:23.
GJ 1123, Deep Space.

The Geejay escort, Pastel Figment, finally dealt with the last of the stray Snarks.

10:09.
GJ 1123, Deep Space.

Eight Stonebow missiles met with Stellar Wrath 001 and in a paroxysm of thermonuclear fire rent the hull asunder, spilling its secrets into the void, its paper thin hull withered like tissue paper under a blowlamp.

12:03.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar watched morosely as the signature of nine hundred and fifty-six Snark Mk III missiles flickered and disappeared from the holotank as they ran out of endurance. Commodore Rutan had been suckered! The only bright spot was Attack Flight Six closing on the Pastel Figment. That, and the fact he hadn’t run into a Geejay missile strike yet.

12:47.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Status Change” came the familiar call. “Bogie 3 now holding station at 1000 million kays, between the Fleet and the Geejay home planet at 4,600 kps.” 
Akhtar shook his head. Whatever Bogie 3 was they were they did not appear to be offensive. “Noted Stacey. Take them off the target list until they prove they are a real threat, we’ve wasted enough on them already.”
“Aye, aye Marshal.”

14:47.
Attack Flight 6. GJ 1123.

Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
“Attack leader to Attack Six and Eight, target is the Pastel Figment, lock and launch. Max Delta V, course parallel to target, Execute! Eriksson out.”

16:27. GJ 1123 Deep Space.
Twenty-eight Snark Mk III missiles lit up the Pastel Figment’s threat board, alarms wailed throughout the ship. Not one missile missed, not one was intercepted. Twenty-eight eight-kiloton warheads detonated as one. When the sensors cleared the Pastel Figment was still there, but leaking atmosphere and significantly slowed.

Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.
Aboard the Sparrowhawk Akhtar studied the plot intensely. This was a result he expected, the7,900 ton Pastel Figment survived twenty-eight missiles, unlike the identically sized Stellar Wrath class that fell apart with a quarter of the impacts the Pastel Figment had absorbed. Akhtar ordered Attack Flight Four to finish off the Pastel Figment with the older Stonebow missiles.

18:04.
GJ 1123, Deep Space.

Twelve of the tired old Stonebow missiles arrowed towards the Pastel Figment. The unresisting target was deluged in a series of seven-kiloton explosions. There was a fifty-one kiloton secondary detonation within the hull and the vessel ceased to exist in chunks more than a metre across.

21st July 2082

01:21.
Flag Officer’s Quarters, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar’s comm chimed melodiously. He sat up in his bunk and fumbled for the button in the dark. “Lights, Akhtar here”
“Lieutenant Steele, alterday watch duty comms sir. Commodore Rutan sends her regards. You wished to be notified of any significant status change. We have fifty-nine FAC detected 2653 million kays out on a bearing of 67o on an intercept course at 30,000 kps.”
Akhtar thought briefly, that far out Commodore Rutan could have waited until a more civilised hour. “As per plan, put Battle Groups Sparrowhawk and Merlin on alert to intercept the bandits as soon as they can achieve a lock, fire plan delta as we discussed at change-over. Put all Attack Flights on standby to intercept the FACs, also as agreed. Akhtar out”
“Aye, aye sir.”
Akhtar settled back down into a fitful slumber in which shoals of fast attack craft-shaped fish kept trying to nibble his extremities while he tried to swim through a sea the consistency of treacle.

08:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar strode through the hatch into his domain. “Status report please Stacey”
“Aye sir. Alterday watch designated the Glorious Heritage FACs approaching from 67o as Bogie 6. They are still some hours away out of our engagement envelope. Bogie 7 is the fourteen planetary defence forts around the Geejay home planet; it consists of ten Borum Planum class laser bases of 15,800 tons and four Adamas Labyrinthus orbital forts of 15,450 tons, range currently eight hundred and twenty-one million kays. All other contacts including Bogie 3 (Wrath class) are riding our sensor front away from the planet.”
“Thank you Stacey. Put the frigate Battle Groups on alert to engage planetary defences at 400 million kays, fire plan gamma. You can include Battle Groups Corsair and Marauder in that alert. Luigi, launch the attack shuttles.”
A chorus of “Aye, aye sir.” greeted his pronouncements.

14:53.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

Attack Flights Six and Eight were waiting in ambush 1.5 billion kays from the Fleet.
The voice of his weapons warrant officer came through Eriksson’s earpiece “targets in range.”
“Very good Eddie. Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
Attack leader to all Kittyhawks hold position, lock your target and launch. Execute! Eriksson out.”

17:19.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

Eddie came through Eriksson’s earpiece once more. “Birds have roosted, initial indications ten destroyed three damaged.”
“Thank you Eddie. Comms, intersquadron squawk please.” 
“Live mike”
“Attack leader to all Kittyhawks. Well done all. Set course for home, max delta V. Eriksson out.”

19:45.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Battle Group Merlin launching Marshal. Time and distance to target; two hundred and seventy-one point two minutes and eight hundred and sixty-seven point three four million kays ”
“Thank you Stacey. Hold Battle Group Merlin on further launches spread the load to Sparrowhawk at Eight hundred and four million kays.”
“Aye, aye Marshal.”

23:55.
Flag Bridge, CC451, Marauder.

Rutan watched the results of the second wave of missiles as they broke over the Geejay attack craft. The beleaguered vessels twisted and turned, dodged and dived, but too little avail. They were so fragile even a near miss was sufficient to cripple them but most failed catastrophically. When sensors cleared only two craft were still on course to intercept the Fleet and even as Rutan watched eight missiles separated from Battle Group Sparrowhawk on an intercept course to the surviving FAC.
 
To Be Continued
IanD
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2014, 04:00:55 PM »
Assault!

22nd July 2082

07:42.
Bridge, FH Bittern. GJ 1123.

Conway reflected on the run to the Geejay home planet. It had been anticlimactic so far. The crew were tired, manning defence stations throughout the voyage to the Geejay home world, one step down from action stations. The crew could only snatch brief catnaps interspersed with missile warnings which thankfully had so far all been false alarms. The new Type 45 cruisers had had the only excitement, launching missiles at various Geejay warships.
Conway ruminated once more on the impenetrable Geejay psyche. What had they been doing in the past eleven years? They certainly did not appear to have built up their navy much, apart from the fast attack craft and the Wrath class which didn’t actually appear to do anything. Certainly not a deep space capability the like of which the new cruisers gave the Earth Gov. They didn’t even appear to have replaced the losses suffered in LHS 292.  But now the Fleet had come within range of the Geejay home planet defences which Bittern would do its bit in reducing. The Bittern rocked slightly as its antiquated inertial compensators tried and failed to compensate for the main battery launch, disturbing Conway’s musings. Akhtar had ordered the first strike against the four Adamas Labytrinthus orbitals which were of unknown capabilities and could harbour anti-ship missiles. Conway watched her display as the missiles streaked away from the Fleet.

16:21.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar watched the holotank as it displayed the first attack on the orbital defences. A wave of six hundred and ninety-six Stonebow missiles had been launched at the four Adamas Labytrinthus orbital forts by the Fleet. Now Akhtar watched as the missile wave withered under anti-missile missile fire put up by the orbital defence stations. It was galling to get this far but then not be able to get to the planet itself. It appeared Akhtar needn’t have worried about anti-ship missiles mounted in the orbital fort if the volume of AMM fire was anything to go by. The closest Stonebow to the planet was over four million kays from the Geejay orbitals when it was destroyed.
Akhtar looked up and in a tired voice announced “Stacey order the Fleet to move away from the planet, point  zeta, two hundred and fifty million kays from the planet, I don’t want any new construction getting a free shot under that sort of anti-missile umbrella.”
“Aye aye Marshal” was came the subdued reply.

23rd July 2082.

09:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar and his staff were in the planning room off the flag bridge on CC403 Sparrowhawk. Lieutenant Stacey Berkson (Operations) was just summing up the results of simulations run overnight by the alterday staff. “It looks like we just don’t have enough missiles in the Fleet to overwhelm the missile bases; they were intercepting nearly two hundred missiles every five seconds. The laser bases are a known quantity but would be sufficient to take care of any leakers that may get through. So we need to increase the alpha strike or find another way to take out the Geejay planetary defences.”
Akhtar broke in “and what if we take the fleet into laser range?”
“There is no guarantee there would be any fleet to reach laser range. We based their AMM reserves on what we recovered from the Sivans, they had nearly two hundred thousand AMMs on their home world when we finally captured it. If we approach laser range of the bases at a fleet speed of 4,600 kps, we would have to endure approximately 85,000 of the Geejay anti-missile missiles. We have about 38,000 Scorpion interceptors in the Fleet.”
“Delbert, can we get any more missiles?”
Lieutenant Delbert Kitten (Logistics) replied “I have requested that the missiles equipping three patrol squadrons and any held by planetary defence centres be released to us, I received approval for the former early this morning, they released not only the missiles but the ships as well, but they will take two or three days to reach us. I have yet to hear about the latter. As for any other missiles, Naval Ordnance has set up production lines for the Geejay Condor missiles on Earth and Sivan, but it will take months before there are enough to make a meaningful attack with. Apart from a handful of Scorpion interceptors there are no more missiles anywhere in Earth Gov space!”

11:23.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Status change, new sensor contacts designated Bogie 8. six vessels, two Alacritous Mission class of 7900 tons, two Garuda class of 7900 tons and two Brilliant Carapace class of 7850 tons, unknown capabilities,  inbound, 2674 million kays on a bearing of 64o
“What’s out that way Stacey? That is the second force approaching from that direction.”
“The only thing we can see out there are the wrecks of our deep space survey vessels”
“OK, Luigi launch all attack shuttles, Stacey alert Battle Groups Sparrowhawk and Merlin, fire plan beta.”
“Aye sir, Attack Flight 2 has stood down, they’re out of missiles, this is the last strike Attack Flight 4 can make and the Kittyhawk flights can only make further attacks once ordnance has been redistributed Marshal.”
“Thank you Luigi.” Avenues were closing whichever way Akhtar looked.

12:22.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Status change, new sensor contacts designated Bogie 9, five vessels, Shrike class, 7900 tons, unknown capabilities, inbound, 2683 million kays on a bearing of 59o.”  
Akhtar turned and looked into the holotank which dominated the flag bridge. “Thank you Stacey, hand off the contacts to Battle Group Merlin, fire plan beta when in range. There must be more out there than a few wrecks surely?”

24th July 2082

05:31.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

“Attack leader to all Kittyhawks. Attack Six target is Brilliant Carapace 001, Attack Eight’s target is Brilliant Carapace 002, range is 358 million kays, Lock your target and launch.  Course for home is 246o, delta V is 13,366 kps until impact then max delta V. Execute! Eriksson out.”

06:30.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change, Bogie 8 has split, two Alacritous Mission class and two Garuda class continuing on course. Two Brilliant Carapace class have stopped, relative to the Fleet, now designated Bogie 10.”
Commodore Rutan barely looked up at this new development.

07:17.
Attack Flights 6 & 8. GJ 1123.

Fifty-six Snark Mk III missiles exploded as one. Not one missed. But both Brilliant Carapaces sailed out of the thermonuclear maelstrom without so much as a pressure leak.

07:55.
Attack Flight 4. GJ 1123.

The three Warhawks of Attack Flight Four were heading for their release point when Warhawk 006 suddenly exploded in a twenty-two kiloton detonation as a Sunder anti-ship missile found it. “Attack leader to Warhawk Four, abort attack run, evasive manoeuvres, return to carrier.” Before the order could be carried out Warhawk 004 disappeared in a second thermonuclear explosion. Lieutenant Toby Sykes threw his shuttle into a series of violent evasive manoeuvres in an effort to avoid the fate of his wingmen. Twenty minutes later he and his crew were still alive and heading for their carrier, but Attack Flight Four was a spent force.

25th July 2082

01:40.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

Battle Group Merlin engaged Bogie 8. It was left to Lieutenant Joel Morton (Intelligence) on alterday watch duty to note the fact for the Marshal’s perusal at change-over in the morning.

02:58.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change, Bogie 8 stationary relative to Fleet, assumed to be firing missiles Commodore.”
Irritably Rutan acknowledged Martine’s warning.  “Alexandra issue the relevant missile warning to the Fleet, get the timings from Lieutenant Lebrun.” Rutan returned to glowering at the holotank.

03:02.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

Battle Group Merlin engaged Bogie 9 at the extreme range of 854 million kays (range of Snark Mk III 862 million kays). After this action Lieutenant Blair Corona (Logistics, alterday staff) noted the Type 45 cruisers were down to 63% missile stocks or just six salvos.

04:03.
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change, Bogie 8 has split, two Alacritous Mission class still stationary relative to Fleet. Two Garuda class, now designated Bogie 11, on intercept course for Patrol Squadrons 1 and 3. Missiles maintaining lock. Bogies 9 and 10 also on intercept course for Patrol Squadrons 1 and 3.”
Rutan head snapped up at this sudden announcement. The two Patrol Squadrons represented two thirds of the available missile reserves throughout Earth Gov space, but their anti-missile defences were regarded as inadequate, primarily a pair of gauss cannon. These vessels were intended to patrol a jump point and not expected to stand off a missile strike. She was still smarting from the dressing down she got for wasting so many Snark missiles.  “Blair, have Battle Groups Sparrowhawk and Merlin finished transferring missiles?”
“Aye Commodore”
“Martine, signal Battle Group Merlin to proceed to the Patrol Squadrons position with all possible speed and provide them with missile defence until they are under the Fleet’s umbrella. Further request Battle Group Merlin to engage Bogie 10 at their earliest convenience. Direct Patrol Squadrons 1 and 3 to turn away from the Geejay vessels, heading to point Epsilon until Battle Group Merlin is in company, then to resume course for the Fleet.”
Lieutenant Lebrun passed on the orders for Battle Group Merlin to rendezvous with the two Patrol Squadrons to bolster their weak anti-missile defences and for the two Patrol Squadrons to turn away.

05:28.
GJ 1123. Deep Space.

One Hundred and thirty-six Snark missiles charged down upon Bogie 11, launched when Bogie 11 was part of Bogie 8. The two Garuda class frigates received scant warning, their last ditch point defence accounted for but one missile. Of the other missiles, a hundred and three eight-kiloton detonations marked their passing and that of the two frigates as the focussed plasma lances cut deep into their internal structure. Thirty-two missiles were left forlorn, looking for a target.

05:34.
GJ 1123. Deep Space.

Bogie 8 (two Alacritous Mission class frigates) fared no better failing to halt a single missile in their headlong rush to immolate themselves on the hull of the two Geejay warships. Only ninety-six brief stars speckled the dark as they perished in their thermonuclear incineration. Two more ships were left bleeding air and debris, life pods ejected from the stricken vessels. Yet more Snark Mk III missiles were left looking for a target.

06:55.
GJ 1123. Deep Space.

As Battle Group Merlin launched missiles to engage Bogie 9 (two Brilliant Carapace class frigates) the first Snarks reached Bogie 9. A rolling wave of detonations lit up space about the five Shrike class frigates as the waves of missiles broke over them. Spectrographs observed gases escaping from riven hulls. Magazine detonations and power supply secondary explosions lit up the thermonuclear conflagration that enveloped the vessels like miniature supernovae. When sensors cleared another five wrecks littered the system while one hundred and forty eight missiles were left looking for a fresh target.

08:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar entered the flag bridge to a vastly altered situation. All but two of the alien mobile units had been destroyed and Battle Group Merlin was a hundred million kays away from the Fleet. He sighed wishing that Lester Colleran was his deputy on alterday watch, he was much more objective and nothing like as cautious as Rutan. But seniority had won out. Akhtar could see no way that Battle Group Merlin could reach the Patrol Squadrons before the Geejay missiles did, however there was no point in countermanding the orders this late in the day.

09:56.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Marshal, Bogie 10 is stationary relative to the two Patrol squadrons, but closing on the fleet. Bogie 10 is due to be intercepted in twenty-two minutes forty-three seconds.”
Liam broke in “Analysis now suggests Geejay missiles are all command control guidance only.”
“Thank you Stacey, Liam. Meinhard please advise the Patrol Squadrons that they may have incoming should we fail to take out that pair of frigates. Let me know when the Bogies are destroyed or the Patrol Squadrons come under missile attack.”

10:18.
GJ 1123. Deep Space.

The two Brilliant Carapace frigates which constituted Bogie 10 appeared oblivious to the impending doom rushing upon them. Their armour scoured off in the previous attack, a mere forty-four missiles were required to seal their fate. The cloud of eight-kiloton explosions was suddenly dwarfed as a two hundred and fifteen kiloton magazine explosion spelt the end of one of the frigates. Once more there was no point defence fire and the Snark Mk III missiles maintained their perfect hit rate against all but the Geejay fast attack craft.

14:58.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Battle Group Merlin is in company with Patrol Squadrons 1 and 3 and on course to join the Fleet Marshal.”
Thank you Stacey.” Was Akhtar’s only reply as he contemplated the problem of the orbital defences around the Geejay home world.
“Lieutenant Kitten entered the flag bridge looking very please with himself. “Marshal! I have good news! Naval Ordnance have stripped all planetary defence bases bare, they are sending us nearly five hundred additional Stonebows sir.”
Akhtar looked up a false smile painted on his face “that’s excellent Dilbert, When are they due?”
“Just over twelve days sir.”
“Good, good, we can delay the assault that long.” But inside Akhtar felt crushed under the weight of expectation being piled on him. If he couldn’t break these damnable orbital defences he now felt he would be failing not just the Navy but the entire human race.


29th July 2082.

05:43
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

Lieutenant Lebrun logged the arrival of the final Patrol Squadron dedicated to the assault.

1st August 2082

16:42.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Marshal, Major General Benjamin Read has joined the Fleet with the first five divisions of the occupation force.”
“Thank you Meinhard, send a greeting to General Read and invite him over for dinner this evening!” Answered Akhtar with an enthusiasm he didn’t really feel. The problem of the orbital forts made him despondent.
“Aye, aye Marshal.”

7th August 2082

09:00.
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Akhtar and his staff were in the planning room off the flag bridge on CC403 Sparrowhawk for the morning briefing. Lieutenant Liam Bostrom (Intelligence) was holding forth. “We have a digest of the intelligence gathered from the Geejay prisoners rescued from their life pods, all of course from their hand comps. They got quite a lot of survey data for a few of new systems, HO Lirae, Giclas 9-38, NN3737 and Gliese 433” Liam said, nodding to Lieutenant Alice Rondelet (Survey). “It appears their survey ships got further than we thought. There was also a schematic of a Titan class coloniser, not a class we have seen. In addition tech specs on enhanced radiation warheads and superdense armour were also obtained, but the pièce de résistance was full schematics on the Sunder anti-ship missile. Neither the Condor nor the Sunder has any form of on-board guidance ability. Thus we are fairly convinced that the Luhu missile will not have any terminal guidance either. So kill their launch platforms and you kill their missiles, which is pretty much what we assumed was happening anyway especially after the last action. But it’s nice to confirm this.”
“Thank you Liam, now Stacey what about the operation to reduce the Geejay orbital forts?”
“We have analysed all the data available to us. It looks as though the Geejay interceptor is on a par with our Scorpion Mk I, but may have an increased range as demonstrated in the jump point assault and appears to be coupled with a much better sensor as revealed by our first probing attack.
 We have three options. Option one, launch a multi-wave missile attack in which we launch all the Stonebows we have and hope enough get through. Option two, take the Fleet in and hope it gets within laser range, by no means guaranteed even if it launches every missile it possesses at the same time. Option three; wait for a supply of Condor missiles to reach us from Earth.
The most effective and safest option is the third, but that will take six months or more. The most hazardous and direct option is the second, but the Fleet could be lost. Analysts are divided over the first option; results are guesstimates from totally ineffective to 25% chance of destroying some of the missile bases. The Geejays demonstrated the ability to kill nearly seven hundred missiles without one getting within four million kays of the planet. However, we have an improved alpha strike and lose nothing if this option fails except several thousand obsolete missiles.”
“And if the Geejays build a new fleet Stacey?”
“Then we are in a bind Marshal.”
“What are the numbers if I take all but Sparrowhawk and Merlin in?”
“As I noted at an earlier meeting the fleet would have to endure something in the region of 85,000 one-kiloton warheads, we have approximately 38,000 Scorpions of various marques, but Battle Groups Sparrowhawk and Merlin would have to keep approximately seven thousand. The Scorpions would have a base average interception, in percentage terms, of a little better than 53%, leaving a little under 65,500 missiles still to be dealt with. Estimating the efficiency of lasers and gauss cannon is difficult but I would be surprised if it’s better than 50%, leaving a possible 32,500 missiles to hit our ships.”
Faced with this Akhtar looked thoughtfully concerned. He could lose all the obsolete frigates and no one would be overly concerned, but if he lost the cruisers for no gain he would be very unpopular in all the wrong places. Six months was too long to wait for the new missiles.
He made his decision “I will go with a missile strike and see if we can overwhelm them, then we still have other options. Delbert send in a requisition for six hundred and thirty-two Condor missiles.”
"Aye aye Marshal.”

8th Aug 2082

10:43.
GJ 1123. Deep Space.

The Munitions carrier Priddy’s Hard reached the Fleet with the remaining stocks of Stonebows in the Earth Gov sphere. Battle Groups hurried to distribute the ordnance throughout the Fleet.

12:45.
Bridge, FH Bittern.

Conway felt the inertial compensators strain as the last salvo left Bittern’s launchers. Six thousand and ninety-six missiles were on their way to test the Geejay defences. She shook her head at the fire plan. It was a shot in the dark. Akhtar had committed all the Fleet except Battle Groups Merlin and Sparrowhawk (which were to provide space superiority cover). There was everything from B class frigates to Type 42 class cruisers all with differing reload rates so after the first salvo there would be no nice time on target salvos. Akhtar was using over six thousand missiles, hoping to overwhelm the missile defences, hoping one wave will buy time for the next to reach its target. But Conway reckoned there wasn’t a snowball’s in hell chance as they were spread out in waves twenty-five to thirty seconds apart. Conway calculated the Geejays interception probability as over 100%, ignoring such niceties such as crew quality.

14:09.
GJ 1123-A II.

The first missile interceptions occurred 4.9 million kays from the planet when ninety-nine Stonebows died. Losses of missiles continued, rarely less than a hundred missiles were accounted for every five seconds. The first missile wave of twelve hundred and ninety-six missiles perished just over 1.3 million kays from the orbital forts, closer than expected. But it had taken just 2 minutes thirty-five seconds to dispose of it. The second wave of only six hundred and ninety-six died forty-three seconds later and just over half-a-million kays out. The waves of missiles lapped ever closer to the orbital forts, until the first sixteen hits were scored at 14:12:33, then at 14:12:53 the first real success was scored and one of the anti-missile missile forts exploded raining debris onto the planet below while two other anti-missile missile forts were streaming atmosphere through their bent and buckled armour as several dozen Stonebows made it through the curtain of defences.

14:13:23.
GJ 1123-A II.

Another wave broke over the forts; another twenty-four missiles impacted one of the AMM forts. Interceptions had dropped to fifty or sixty per five seconds. Even so point defence fire took down hundreds of missiles and it was thirty seconds before any more hits on the missile forts were scored. The missile waves were now ragged, spread by ten or fifteen seconds, rarely coinciding. But that no longer mattered.

14:16:53.
GJ 1123-A II.

Seventy-two Stonebow missiles made it past all defence fire to hit the three remaining missile forts. A new constellation appeared briefly in the night sky of the Geejay home world. More meteors carved bright paths to the planets surface.

Bridge, FH Bittern.
Conway stared at her display open-mouthed, two more of the orbital missile forts had exploded, and there were still several waves inbound, although these were smaller waves. What had seemed like a pointless task however was proving more successful that could ever have been hoped for. An obsolete missile designed for the previous war was proving to be the downfall of the Geejay home world defences.

Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.
Akhtar studied the holotank, he watched as the Geejay defences came apart. As the three Geejay orbital forts rained wreckage onto the planet below he knew he had won, nothing the Geejays had could stop him now. The back of the Geejay defences had been broken.

14:13:58.
GJ 1123-A II.

Another new constellation of stars came briefly into existence above GJ 11213-A II; one hundred and eight Stonebows robbed of their target began to hunt for something else to destroy and now targeted two of the Boreum Planum laser bases. The armour on one failed completely and it added to the carnage on the planetary surface below, the other was leaking atmosphere by the time sensors cleared.  The Geejay defences were failing and tottering. Missile interceptions by the remaining AMM fort had fallen to under twenty every five seconds. Over the next minute more Stonebows penetrated the Geejay defences, gouging armour from orbital bases with spears of thermonuclear fire.

14:14:58.
GJ 1123-A II.

Sixty-eight Stonebows achieved planetary orbit. Four eight-kiloton explosions marked the end of the last of the AMM bases. In addition another Borum Planum laser fort shattered under the seemingly relentless onslaught.

14:15:18.
GJ 1123-A II.

Only the four missile bases had been targeted so all the Stonebow missiles were on their own internal target acquisition. While the laser forts caused great destruction amongst the missiles looking for something new to kill there were just too many to stop completely.

14:15:43.
GJ 1123-A II.

Two more bases fell burning out of orbit, streaking into the atmosphere, large chunks of molten armour turned into meteors bright enough to light up the daylight sky of the planet below. The remaining laser forts were little more than porous wrecks, air leaked from great gashes in their hulls. As point defence fire began to slacken, more missiles survived to select an ever diminishing number of targets.

14:16:03.
GJ 1123-A II.

Three of the four surviving laser bases came apart at the seams as over two hundred missiles homed in on their weak thermal sources. Focused tri-Cobalt plasma lances cut deep into their inner compartments, structural integrity weaken beyond endurance the forts broke up to add to the devastation, joining the storm of debris falling onto the planet.

14:16:23
GJ 1123-A II and Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

Twelve eight-kiloton detonations marked the end of the last orbital laser fort. Akhtar looked up from the holotank He had committed over six thousand missiles to the attack, but didn’t for a minute think he would achieve such an overwhelming result. He could see large chunks of the orbital bases crash onto the planet below, creating dust shrouded craters or worse, tsunamis from ocean impacts. As the last orbital fort died there were still over six hundred missiles seeking targets.
Akhtar slowly looked across the flag bridge at Lieutenant Storch “Send my compliments to General Read and inform him he may begin landing operations at his pleasure. Stacey signal Battle Groups Marauder, Corsair, Cobra, Copperhead, Europe, Pacific and Viper to occupy the high orbits around GJ 1123-A II. Release the three Patrol Squadrons to return to Earth to rearm. Delbert cancel that requisition for Condor missiles we no longer need them, also enquire what missile stocks the Fleet has left. I will join Commodore Colleran on the Corsair until the planet is secured.”
“Aye aye Marshal” came the jubilant replies, but there were a few quite sighs and groans. Akhtar’s staff knew they would be expected to transfer with him and Battle Group Corsair had its own flag officer. It would be a tight fit in the Corsair’s flag accommodation!
Thirty minutes later Lieutenant Kitten came back with the figures, “Marshal. The Fleet missile stocks are one thousand four hundred and ninety-two Snark Mk IIIs, nine Stonebows,mostly Mk Is and approximately thirty-eight thousand Scorpion interceptors of various marks sir.”
Akhar thought out loud “well we can’t use the Snarks just in case, and the nine Stonebows won’t be enough, so that leaves the Scorpions, we appear to have enough of them.”
“Pardon Marshal?”
“Nothing, nothing.”
Lieutenant Bostrom broke in, “Marshal, lasers will do, the atmosphere is only 0.66 atmospheres sir.”
Akhtar looked embarrassed. “Oh, of course, thank you Liam.”

A shoal of hundreds of hungry missiles hunted for prey around the planet. But the orbital shipyards were the only thing left in orbit of the Geejay home world, and they were stone cold, not a thermal source evident anywhere.

19:16
Observation Port, CC452 Corsair.

As the Corsair slid into orbit around GJ 1123-A II Akhtar looked out of the small observation port and down on the now dust shrouded world which had caused the Earth Gov so much trouble and 37 million colonists their lives. He could see the ship’s shields spark as they encountered debris from the fallen orbital forts.

9th August 2082

Planning Room, Flag Accommodation, CC452 Corsair.
The planning room was crowded; two flag officers’ staffs were jammed into it. The discussion was the recent assault on the Geejay orbital defences.
“What I don’t understand is why the missile strike succeeded?” queried Commodore Colleran.
“If I may Marshal? I think I can answer that.” Interjected Lieutenant Bostrom
“Go ahead Liam” murmured Akhtar.
“The handhelds recovered from recent POWs who survived the attack on the orbital forts provided us with some interesting intelligence Commodore; this included full specs on their Bahaina anti-missile missile. It’s slightly faster than our Scorpion Mk I at 108,000 kps, has a range of 106.92 million kays and a one-kiloton warhead, but a manoeuvre rating of only 16 compared to the latest marque of Scorpion’s 49. Thus its base probability of intercepting a Stonebow is only 48% compared to the Scorpion’s 119-128%. So we over estimated the logic of the Geejays because they are so far ahead of us in other techs like propulsion. They appear to put great store in a very long range, but it really compromised their ability to intercept our missiles.”
“Thank you Liam, it would have helped to know that before I ordered the attack” noted Akhtar.
A chorus of chuckles ran round the room.

10th August 2082

01:48
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

Alarms blared throughout the Fleet. On the Marauder’s flag bridge Commodore Rutan was paralysed with shock at her console.
“Commodore, thirteen frigate-sized vessels have broken away from the orbital ‘Yards, what do you want me to do?”
All Rutan could think of was she wouldn’t take responsibility for this debacle, “Wake the Marshal and sound Fleet action stations!”

Flag Officer’s Quarters, CC452 Corsair.
Akhtar’s comm chimed urgently, although it could hardly be heard above the clamour of the ships klaxon turning out the crew to action stations. Akhtar sat on the edge of his bunk struggling into his pressure suit under the illumination of the emergency lighting. He activated his comm set while muting the alarm. “Akhtar here”
“Lieutenant Steele, alterday watch, duty comms sir. Commodore Rutan sends her regards. Thirteen frigate-sized vessels are accelerating away from the ‘Yards sir.”
“I see, any ID”
“Acceleration profile matches that of the Stellar Wrath class, as does mass.”
“any incoming?”
“No Marshal.”
“Active sensors?”
“No Marshal.”
“Then I suggest they are Stellar Wrath class, and the fleet can stand down. That class has shown no inclination to hurt us and I doubt they will now.”
“Aye, aye Marshal.”
A minute later the klaxons aboard the Corsair ceased into blessed silence and Akhtar could resume his interrupted sleep, dreaming of ways to promote Colleran.

11th August 2082.

17:08
Flag Bridge, CC452 Corsair.

“Marshal, signal from General Read, landings and preparations for the attack completed, he will begin his assault at dawn of the planetary day cycle which is in 30 minutes, after you have eliminated all Geejay troop concentrations.”
“Thank you Meinhard, Stacey transmit the orders for operation Agni to Battle Groups Copperhead, Viper, Whirlwind, Marauder and Corsair. Start time is 17:10 GMT”
“Aye, aye sir.”

Cyclones of superheated air rushed out of the columns of superheated air created by sixty-two laser strikes every five seconds, mostly X-ray, burning into Geejay troop concentrations and bases. Thermal blooming and turbulence reduced but could not stop the dreadful beams. The bombardment continued for two minutes five seconds. The very ground became molten, liquid rock spraying out of ground zero impact sites.  Lightning storms played around the beam strikes as the ionised air sought to discharge itself. Fire storms raged across whole regions of the planet, significant quantities of dust were lofted high up into the stratosphere. Dawn was abruptly transitioned back to night as the early sunrise was blotted out by the dust cloud. The temperature began to drop catastrophically. The glowing craters outposts of warmth that were rapidly fading.

17:38.
GJ 1123-A II.

The Earth Gov troops moved out of their landing zones, into a dark forbidding landscape that stank of ozone, lightning still flickered in the dust filled sky. The only opposition were shell shocked civilians. The entire military infrastructure had been vaporised. Unfortunately it was intimately interconnected with the civilian infrastructure and large portions of that had been vaporised along with the military. There was no organised resistance but there was still an insurmountable problem!

Aftermath

15th August 2082

03:06
Flag Bridge, CC451 Marauder.

“Status change” rang the now unfamiliar call across the Marauder’s flag bridge.
“Yes, Martine” inquired Rutan sharply.
“Two large vessels leaving the ‘Yard Commodore. Thirty-one thousand one hundred and fifty tons, velocity 4815 kps, no active sensors, no incoming, profile fits Tikhonravov class Commodore.”
“Acknowledged Martine. Alexandra stand the Fleet down, tentative ID is that it is not a warship.”
“Aye aye Commodore, they are now designated Bogie 14.”

 06:30
Army HQ, GJ 1123-A II.

General Read was frozen; he also had a thumping headache. Army prefabs were good but they hadn’t counted on -38.6oC. He had a headache for two reasons. One was the whisky he had drunk last night; the other was the reason why he had over indulged last night. How do you govern a population you cannot communicate with! There were possibly thousands of incidents every day, hundreds of civilians killed by nervous troopers who only knew to respond with deadly force. The casualties were not all one-sided but on the whole the Geejay civilians just ignored his soldiers. How could he impose Earth Gov rule if the civilian population were totally uncooperative? He had been totally unable to start humanitarian relief for the Geejays own benefit. He needed more troops. As luck would have it another three divisions were enroute, two would arrive in a little more than twelve days.

23rd August 2082

GJ 1123-A II.
Two Geejay mining colonies were located on the third and sixth moons of GJ 1123-CI. The 4th Assault Division enroute to the Geejay home world was directed to subdue them.


7th September 2082

GJ 1123-A II.
Sufficient Earth Gov ground forces were finally available to occupy all strategic locations and take effective control of the planet. One hundred and six freighters, one hundred and two colony ships, thirty-five terraformers and two jump gate construction ships entered orbit of GJ1123-A II and were abandoned by their crews.

10th September 2082

06:30
Army HQ, GJ 1123-A II.

General Read woke once more to a morning barely different from midnight; he was again cold to the bone with a thumping headache, evidence of overindulgence in strong spirits the previous night. He now commanded what should be sufficient forces to impose his will on the defeated Geejay population. But the civilian population still would not submit to his writ. Incidents were if anything rising. It was proving impossible to govern this now unresisting but totally uncommunicative population. How do you rule a population you have no way of talking too? Your only sanction violence! His men could not even locate the war criminals that started the war so as to arrest them. He had seized what were obviously government buildings along with the sinews of war, the ordnance factories, maintenance facilities, naval academies, fuel refineries and dumps and the shipyards. Then he had moved on to the construction factories, mines, and research complexes and in doing so had gained enormous amounts of data that advanced Earth Gov technical abilities by decades, especially in power, propulsion and fuel efficiency. But as soon as he appropriated an installation the Geejays abandoned it and never returned.
He was thoroughly sick of this posting, his dream of the all conquering hero nothing but ashes. It wasn’t as if the Geejays attacked his soldiers, they just completely ignored them. If an armoured vehicle was in their way they would go round it or if that wasn’t possible just wait for it to move, for days if necessary. They certainly wouldn’t get out of the way if an armoured vehicle was coming up behind them; the Geejays just ignored it as though it did not exist. After the first few incidents it was found that just running over them was not an option. All Geejays appeared to have some degree of augmentation. Some of those augmentations could be lethal even to an armoured vehicle.
There was never any hint of recognition let alone communication. This was passive resistance taken to the extreme. He was at the end of his tether. Couldn’t the Geejays understand they were finished; Earth controlled the star system and the planet, but they just would not submit.

At about 08:00 his adjutant came in “General there are reports the civilian population is on the move. They appear to be heading for the stadium at the centre of each city, and its happening in every city and town across the planet!”
“Are they armed?”
“Not anymore than usual sir, but the movement started at precisely the same time in every population centre, those in outlying areas starting to move first then the rest, it’s very orderly but weird, very weird.”
“Are they still ignoring our soldiers?”
“Yes sir, that hasn’t changed one little bit.”
“OK, put the troops on alert, just in case the Geejays are up to something and keep a watching brief and notify Marshal Akhtar in case we require Fleet support.”
“Yes sir, will do.”
At that the adjutant left leaving Read to ponder just what the Geejays were up to.

12th August 2082

10:30
Flag Bridge, CC453 Sparrowhawk.

“Status Change!” broke the industrious silence on the flag bridge of the command cruise Sparrowhawk. The staff had been grateful when they were able to return to their own comfortable quarters, rather than roughing it on the Corsair.
“What have you got Stacy?
“Bogie 3 and Bogie 13 changed heading towards GJ 1123-AII, Marshal.”
“Well we believe they are harmless, so unless they are going to ram us they are still harmless. Have the Fleet stand to, but only fire if they attempt to ram or take any other offensive action.”
“Aye aye Marshal.”
Just over twelve and a half hours later the forty-one Stellar Wrath class ships entered orbit of the Geejay home world without incident. The crews immediately disembarked and the ships joined the ghost fleet orbiting GJ 1123-A II. On reaching the surface the crews went immediately to the nearest stadium, totally ignoring the presence of Terran troops. Marshal Akhtar spent an interesting hour or two inspecting the vessels which had once caused him so much needless concern.

13th August 2082

10:15.
GJ 1123-A II.

Almost twenty-four hours later a great noise was heard from all the stadia across the planet at exactly the same time. Then all was quiet, deathly quiet. It was some hours after the commotion that any of the occupying troops thought to intrude upon the alien conclave.

12:45
Army HQ, GJ 1123-A II.
The Adjutant entered General Read’s headquarters, interrupting the Read's lunch. “General, reports are coming in that something terrible has happened to the Geejays in the stadia, they are dead!” He announced in a strangled voice.
“What, all of them?” Read exclaimed his face paled visibly.
“Yes sir. Every stadia inspected so far has only dead Geejays in them, none remain alive.”
“You’re sure? All eight-and-a-half billion of them? What did they die of? What about the rest of the cities outside the stadia? Is it biological warfare?”
“We have yet to find a living Geejay anywhere on the planet sir. Autopsies have yet to be performed. There is no evidence of any agent sir.”
General Read took his head in his hands, his lunch forgotten.
 
On the conquered Geejay colony world of Luyten 143-23 the same act was played out at exactly the same time. The event extended to the crew of the battle cruisers trapped in LHS 292 appeared to have died at exactly that time. Even POWs on Earth and Monument died, as far as anyone could ascertain at exactly the same time. It was as though the Geejays had decided to remove themselves from the Universe and gone about it with a fanatical efficiency.  

20th September 2082

Planetary surface, GJ 1123-A II.
Commander Laura Conway stood in the middle of the street on what had been the Geejays home planet. A charnel house reek filled her nostrils. Although it was midday it was difficult to pick out the sun in the dust-shrouded sky. Fortunately the streetlights were still burning and in their light she could see the building two blocks down had been devastated by low-orbit laser fire, it had been a communications centre. The ruin was almost picturesque, its gaunt broken walls covered in a blanket of fresh snow.
There was a rumbling noise as a low loader with another pile of frozen bodies passed her. At the end of the street a park was being turned into a mass grave as the authorities tried to cope with eight-and-a-half billion corpses. In a way the freezing conditions helped, preserving the cadavers until they could be dealt with. Conway turned back to the ATV she had borrowed from the local depot. Her heated breathing mask emitted a stream of vapour as her breath rapidly condensed in the freezing atmosphere.  She had already heard her crew refer to the planet as Mausoleum; they thought it was a fitting adjunct to Monument. Having stood on two worlds destroyed by war she could only despair at the futility. She was glad her Battle Group was returning to Earth, but sad in that they were heading for the scrap yard. Still shouldn’t be too long before the new frigates came off the production lines.
Conway climbed into the ATV, her bulky environment suit catching on the door momentarily as she slid into the driving seat. Starting up she headed out of the city away from the smoking pyres burning close to the stadium in the city centre and out into the park-like countryside. Headlights picked out frozen pseudo-trees and bushes dotted amidst the landscape of snow covered gently rolling hills. Most of the wildlife in the temperate zone, if there had been much to start with, were finding conditions hard going. But she could see a section of soldiers turned farmers under floodlights dropping forage out the back of an amphibious truck for the pseudo-sheep suffering in the subzero temperature. Two or three six-legged bodies lay stiffly outstretched in the field.  Conway had heard from the more adventurous in her crew that they were good eating and the planet was just a big deep freeze for their delectation.

21st September 2082.

Bridge, FH Bittern.
Laura Conway entered the familiarity of her bridge for her final cruise in the Bittern, to Earth and the scrap yard. There would be a lot of beached commanders after this show, she wondered if she could get another command?
“Good shore-side Skipper? See the sights?” asked Jones her Weapons officer and also her Exec.
“I guess it was better than Prospect Colony, but not much. I won’t be sorry to leave.”
“Ready when you are Skipper.”
“Comms, transmit sailing orders to the Battle Group, arrowhead formation.”
“Signal sent Sipper”
“Mr Jones, take us out of orbit”
“Aye aye Skipper.”
The Bittern in company with the Battle Group Pacific left orbit of GJ 1123-A II.

22nd September 2082

GJ 1123-A II.
Commander Conway did not know how fortunate she was not to prolong her visit to the Geejay home world. The temperature had risen to -38.27oC, but the prolonged freezing conditions had finally frozen the surface of the oceans increasing the albedo and the temperature plummeted to -68.9oC, locking the planet into a new ice age.

GJ 1123-C I Moon 6 and Moon 3.
On the same day troops moved into occupy the two mining colonies on the moons of the gas giant GJ 1123-C I. They found no living soul.  They were automated operations but even the few supervisors were deceased. Initial indications were the operatives died at the same time as the rest of their race.

28th September 2082

Mausoleum, GJ 1123-A II
In the early hours of the morning 4.9 million cryogenically suspended colonists arrived to take possession of their new deep freeze home. There was adequate arctic accommodation for them but the planetary biosphere would have to be virtually rebuilt. They had an already heavily industrialised planet with 7259 construction factories, 10,212 mines, 732 automines, 1824 ordnance factories, 3043 fuel refineries, 415 maintenance facilities, 302 R&D complexes, 5 deep space tracking station, 23 military academies, 60 ground force training facilities and 61 shipyards, 33 commercial, 28 naval with 151 slips between them. Too be sure much of this largess would be distributed to other colonies, but it would take decades to make much of a dent in this stockpile.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2014, 04:25:45 PM by IanD »
IanD
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2014, 04:56:31 PM »
Operation Judgement Roster

Ship names in italics were lost in the operation.

Battle Group Sparrowhawk
Task Group 8.1
Sparrowhawk (CC, Fleet Flagship), Watchman (CSV), Havock (CA), Halcyon (CA), Hammerhead (CA), Hannibal (CA). Sensor Flight 5 – 3 Sentry Mk IIIs, Attack Flight 6 – 7 Kittyhawks
Task Group 8.2
Kite (CJ), Harbinger (CA), Harvester (CA), Hauberk (CA), Havelock (CA), Hazard (CA).
Task Group 8.3
Harrier (CJ), Hecate (CA), Harpoon (CA), Helios (CA), Helm (CA), Herald (CA).

Battle Group Corsair
Task Group 7.1
Corsair (CC), Guardian (CSV), Fenris (CA), Faun (CA),Ferret (CA), Faraday (CA). Sensor Flight 1 – 3 Sentry Mk IIs, Attack Flight 2 – 3 Warhawks  (two lost)
Task Group 7.2
Raider (CJ), Flare (CA), Foray (CA), Franklin (CA), Focus (CA), Fusion (CA).
Task Group 7.3
Viking (CJ), Fortune (CA), Fountain (CA), Forceful (CA), Flamberge (CA), Firebird (CA).

Battle Group Marauder
Task Group 6.1
Marauder (CC), Cerberus (CSV), Firedrake (CA), Falconer (CA), Fearless (CA), Fencer (CA). Sensor Flight 3 – 3 Sentry Mk IIs, Attack Flight 4 – 3 Warhawks (one lost)
Task Group 6.2
Buccaneer (CJ), Forester (CA), Furious (CA), Firefly (CA), Foresight (CA), Foxhound (CA).
Task Group 6.3
Reaver (CJ), Forward (CA), Firestar (CA), Flame (CA), Fulcrum (CA), Firebrand (CA).

Battle Group Whirlwind
Task Group 2.1
Whirlwind FJE (Flag), Sentinel FSV, Daring (FH), Dart (FH), Dauntless (FH).
Task Group 2.2
Tornado FJE, Decisive (FH), Defender (FH), Defiant (FH), Devastator (FH).
Task Group 2.3
Typhoon FJE, Diamond (FH), Dragon (FH), Drake (FH), Dryad (FH).

Battle Group Copperhead
Task Group 3.1
Copperhead (FJE), Searcher FSV, Caesar (FH), Cambrian (FH) (SO), Concord (FH).
Task Group 3.2
Rattlesnake (FJE), Cavendish (FH), Carron (FH), Cassandra (FH).
Task Group 3.3
Fer-de-lance (FJE), Chevron (FH), Chieftain (FH), Camelot (FH).

Battle Group Viper
Task Group 5.1
Viper (FJE), Pathfinder (FSV), Calypso (FH), Caprice(FH), Cassini(FH).
Task Group 5.2
Diamondback (FJE), Cataphract (FH), Cavalier(FH), Centurion(FH).
Task Group 5.3
Krait (FJE), Chasseur (FH), Crossbill (FH), Crusader (FH).

Battle Group Cobra
Task Group 1.1
Cobra (FJE), Vigilant (FSV), Baron (FH), Barricade (FH) (SO),
Task Group 1.2
Adder (FJE), Belisarius (FH), Belknap (FH), Bellatrix (FH),
Task Group 1.3
Bushmaster (FJE), Brooke (FH), Bellephron (FH), Beaufort (FH).

Battle Group Pacific
Task Group 4.1
Atlantic (FJE), Bastion (FH), Bear (FH).
Task Group 4.3
Arctic (FJE), Bobcat (FH), Bonadventure (FH), Boreas (FH).
Task Group 4.2
North America (FJE), Beatty (FH), Bittern (FH) (SO), Boar (FH).

Battle Group Europe
Task Group 3.1
Europe (FJE), Badger (FH), Basilisk (FH) (SO).
Task Group 3.2
Australia (FJE), Beowulf (FH), Blake (FH), Boadicea (FH).
Task Group 3.3
Asia (FJE), Brilliant (FH), Bulwark (FH), Brazen (FH).

Battle Group Merlin (Luyten 143-23, initially stationed at the jump point to GJ 1123)
Task Group 10.1
Merlin (CC), Harpy (CA), Hunter (CA), Hostile (CA), Hero (CA), Protector (CSV). Sensor Flight 7 – 3 Sentry Mk IIIs, Attack Flight 8 – 7 Kittyhawks
Task Group 10.2
Gyrfalcon (CJ), Hotspur (CA), Hyperion (CA), Hasty (CA), Hereward (CA), Heinsberg (CA).
Task Group 10.1
Goshawk (CJ), Hesperus (CA), Hardy (CA), Hector (CA), Hercules (CA), Hellhound (CA).

Battle Group Peregrine (Initial position: LHS 292, stationed at the jump point to Luyten 143-23)
Task Group 9.1
Peregrine (CC), Warden (CSV), Hermione (CA), Hornbill (CA), Hussar (CA), Hornet (CA). Sensor Flight 9 – 3 Sentry Mk IIIs, Attack Flight 10 – 7 Kittyhawks
Task Group 9.2
Eagle (CJ), Horus (CA), Huscarl (CA), Hyacinth (CA), Husky (CA), Hyena (CA).
Task Group 9.3
Kestrel (CJ), Heliotrope (CA), Hermes (CA), Hippogriff (CA), Heron (CA), Horizon (CA).

Patrol Squadron 1. (Initial position: Luyten 143-23, stationed at the jump point to GJ 1123)
Ashanti, Bedouin, Cossack, Maori.

Patrol Squadron 2. (Initial position: LHS 292 stationed at the jump point to AD Leonis )
Tartar, Zulu, Gurkha, Nubian

Patrol Squadron 3. (Initial position: Luyten 143-23, stationed at the jump point to GJ 1123)
Iroquois, Punjabi, Sikh, Somali.


Ship schematics of new classes.

Code: [Select]
Firedrake Type 42A class Attack Cruiser    15 000 tons     436 Crew     7128 BP      TCS 300  TH 312  EM 1800
8666 km/s     Armour 5-54     Shields 60-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 28     PPV 49
Maint Life 2.23 Years     MSP 2376    AFR 225%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 642    5YR 9631    Max Repair 812.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 829   

650 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (4)    Power 650    Fuel Use 46.25%    Signature 78    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 1 165 000 Litres    Range 30.2 billion km   (40 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (15)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4 320 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-20000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (2)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (120)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk II (349)  Speed: 131 000 km/s   End: 1m    Range: 7.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1790/1074/537

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (2)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Firedrake, Falconer, Fearless, Fencer, Forester, Furious, Firefly, Foresight, Foxhound, Forward, Firestar, Flame, Fulcrum, Firebrand.

 
Code: [Select]
Marauder Type 43 Mk IF class Command Cruiser    15 000 tons     413 Crew     6310.8 BP      TCS 300  TH 312  EM 2400
8666 km/s    JR 6-500     Armour 6-54     Shields 80-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 28     PPV 36
Maint Life 2.18 Years     MSP 2104    AFR 225%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 596    5YR 8944    Max Repair 812.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 3   
Flag Bridge    Magazine 579   

J15000(6-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 6
650 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (4)    Power 650    Fuel Use 46.25%    Signature 78    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 1 390 000 Litres    Range 36.1 billion km   (48 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (20)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per hour  (5 760 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R3-85 Turret (1x8)    Range 30 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 15-20000 (1)    Max Range: 30 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     67 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 4 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (56)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (355)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (1)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Marauder.

 
Code: [Select]
Guardian Mk II class Surveillance Cruiser    15 000 tons     352 Crew     7891 BP      TCS 300  TH 312  EM 1800
8666 km/s     Armour 5-54     Shields 60-300     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 31     PPV 10
Maint Life 2.19 Years     MSP 3617    AFR 163%    IFR 2.3%    1YR 1011    5YR 15165    Max Repair 2500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Flight Crew Berths 57   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     Magazine 370   

650 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (4)    Power 650    Fuel Use 46.25%    Signature 78    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 1 200 000 Litres    Range 31.1 billion km   (41 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (15)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4 320 per day)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (16)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (306)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR2683-R20 (1)     GPS 50000     Range 2 683.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km

ECM 50

Strike Group
3x -1 War Hawk Assault Shuttle   Speed: 24888 km/s    Size: 9
3x Sentry II Sensor Picket   Speed: 21276 km/s    Size: 9.4

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Cerberus.

 
Code: [Select]
Marauder Type 43 Mk IA class Jump Cruiser    15 000 tons     419 Crew     6862 BP      TCS 300  TH 312  EM 2040
8666 km/s    JR 6-500     Armour 5-54     Shields 68-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 27     PPV 33
Maint Life 1.8 Years     MSP 2001    AFR 257%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 768    5YR 11524    Max Repair 812.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 579   

J15000(6-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 6
650 EP Magnetic Fusion Drive (4)    Power 650    Fuel Use 46.25%    Signature 78    Exp 13%
Fuel Capacity 1 335 000 Litres    Range 34.6 billion km   (46 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (17)   Total Fuel Cost  204 Litres per hour  (4 896 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-20000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (56)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (355)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (1)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Buccaneer, Reaver.

 
Code: [Select]
Firedrake Type 42B class Attack Cruiser    15 000 tons     432 Crew     8059 BP      TCS 300  TH 384  EM 1800
10666 km/s     Armour 5-54     Shields 60-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 28     PPV 49
Maint Life 2.15 Years     MSP 2686    AFR 225%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 781    5YR 11709    Max Repair 1000 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 829   

800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (4)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 175 000 Litres    Range 33.6 billion km   (36 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (15)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4 320 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-25000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 25000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (2)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (120)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (349)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (2)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Fenris, Faun, Ferret, Faraday, Flare, Foray, Franklin, Focus, Fusion, Fortune, Fountain, Forceful, Flamberge, Firebird.

Code: [Select]
Guardian Mk III class Surveillance Cruiser    15 000 tons     348 Crew     8642 BP      TCS 300  TH 384  EM 1800
10666 km/s     Armour 5-54     Shields 60-300     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 31     PPV 10
Maint Life 2.14 Years     MSP 3961    AFR 163%    IFR 2.3%    1YR 1159    5YR 17391    Max Repair 2500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Flight Crew Berths 57   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3000 tons     Magazine 370   

800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (4)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 210 000 Litres    Range 34.6 billion km   (37 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (15)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4 320 per day)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (16)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk III (306)  Speed: 163 800 km/s   End: 0.8m    Range: 7.5m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 2675/1605/802

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR2683-R20 (1)     GPS 50000     Range 2 683.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km

ECM 50

Strike Group
3x -1 War Hawk Assault Shuttle   Speed: 24888 km/s    Size: 9
3x Sentry II Sensor Picket   Speed: 21276 km/s    Size: 9.4

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Protector.

Code: [Select]
Marauder Type 43 Mk IB class Jump Cruiser    15 000 tons     415 Crew     7793 BP      TCS 300  TH 384  EM 2040
10666 km/s    JR 6-500     Armour 5-54     Shields 68-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 27     PPV 33
Maint Life 1.71 Years     MSP 2273    AFR 257%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 936    5YR 14042    Max Repair 1000 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 579   

J15000(6-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 6
800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (4)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 345 000 Litres    Range 38.5 billion km   (41 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (17)   Total Fuel Cost  204 Litres per hour  (4 896 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-25000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 25000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (56)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (355)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (1)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Raider, Viking.

Code: [Select]
Marauder Type 43 Mk IIF class Command Cruiser    15 000 tons     409 Crew     7062.8 BP      TCS 300  TH 384  EM 2400
10666 km/s    JR 6-500     Armour 6-54     Shields 80-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 28     PPV 36
Maint Life 2.13 Years     MSP 2354    AFR 225%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 695    5YR 10431    Max Repair 1000 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Flag Bridge    Magazine 579   

J15000(6-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 6
800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (4)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 410 000 Litres    Range 40.4 billion km   (43 days at full power)
Theta R300/288 Shields (20)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per hour  (5 760 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R3-85 Turret (1x8)    Range 30 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 15-20000 (1)    Max Range: 30 000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     67 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Size 4 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 20
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Stonebow Mk II (56)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100
Scorpion Mk I (355)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR429-R20 (1)     GPS 8000     Range 429.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (1)         ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Corsair

Code: [Select]
Merlin Type 47F class Command Cruiser    17 500 tons     504 Crew     10447.7 BP      TCS 350  TH 576  EM 2850
13714 km/s    JR 6-750     Armour 6-60     Shields 95-300     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 29     PPV 47
Maint Life 2.1 Years     MSP 3452    AFR 264%    IFR 3.7%    1YR 1047    5YR 15698    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Flag Bridge    Magazine 583   

J18000(6-750) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 18000 tons    Distance 750k km     Squadron Size 6
960 EP Solid Core AM Drive (5)    Power 960    Fuel Use 37.86%    Signature 115.2    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 405 000 Litres    Range 38.2 billion km   (32 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (19)   Total Fuel Cost  285 Litres per hour  (6 840 per day)

Particle Beam-4 (1)    Range 320 000km     TS: 13714 km/s     Power 10-10    ROF 5        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Twin Gauss Cannon R3-85 Turret (1x8)    Range 30 000km     TS: 32900 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S02 30-32000 (1)    Max Range: 60 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     83 67 50 33 17 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S03 180-5000 (1)    Max Range: 360 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 92 89 86 83 81 78 75 72
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (9)     Total Power Output 10.8    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 5 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 25
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC885-R20 (1)     Range 885.5m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Scorpion Mk I (345)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430
Snark (48)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 328.3m    Range: 709.2m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 300/180/90
Scorpion Mk II (3)  Speed: 131 000 km/s   End: 1m    Range: 7.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1790/1074/537

Active Search Sensor MR965-R20 (1)     GPS 18000     Range 966.0m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km

ECCM-6 (1)         ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Merlin, Sparrow Hawk, Peregrine.

 
Code: [Select]
Merlin Type 47A class Jump Cruiser    17 500 tons     490 Crew     11138.7 BP      TCS 350  TH 576  EM 2850
13714 km/s    JR 6-750     Armour 6-60     Shields 95-300     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 30     PPV 40
Maint Life 2.28 Years     MSP 4077    AFR 239%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 1061    5YR 15910    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 583   

J18000(6-750) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 18000 tons    Distance 750k km     Squadron Size 6
960 EP Solid Core AM Drive (5)    Power 960    Fuel Use 37.86%    Signature 115.2    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 440 000 Litres    Range 39.1 billion km   (33 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (19)   Total Fuel Cost  285 Litres per hour  (6 840 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 73700 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-32000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (10)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 5 Missile Launcher (4)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 25
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC885-R20 (1)     Range 885.5m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Scorpion Mk I (343)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430
Snark (48)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 328.3m    Range: 709.2m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 300/180/90

Active Search Sensor MR965-R20 (1)     GPS 18000     Range 966.0m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km

ECCM-6 (1)         ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Kite Harrier, Gyrfalcon, Goshawk, Kestrel, Eagle.

Code: [Select]
Snake Type 14D class Heavy Jump Frigate    8 400 tons     202 Crew     2122.7 BP      TCS 168  TH 289.8  EM 1950
4928 km/s    JR 5-500     Armour 4-36     Shields 65-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 20
Maint Life 2.29 Years     MSP 553    AFR 161%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 143    5YR 2139    Max Repair 241.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 401   

J9000(5-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 9000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 5
276 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3)    Power 276    Fuel Use 60.27%    Signature 96.6    Exp 11%
Fuel Capacity 450 000 Litres    Range 16.0 billion km   (37 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (13)   Total Fuel Cost  195 Litres per hour  (4 680 per day)

Twin Gauss Cannon R2-50 Turret (1x4)    Range 20 000km     TS: 35100 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 2    ROF 5        1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01.4 10.88-20000 (1)    Max Range: 21 760 km   TS: 20000 km/s     54 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Scorpion Mk I (401)  Speed: 105 000 km/s   End: 1.1m    Range: 7.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1435/861/430

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Copperhead, Viper (refit).

Code: [Select]
Havock Type 45A class Attack Cruiser    17 500 tons     496 Crew     11306.2 BP      TCS 350  TH 576  EM 2400
13714 km/s     Armour 6-60     Shields 80-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 29     PPV 60
Maint Life 2 Years     MSP 3634    AFR 272%    IFR 3.8%    1YR 1206    5YR 18088    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 873   

960 EP Solid Core AM Drive (5)    Power 960    Fuel Use 37.86%    Signature 115.2    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 320 000 Litres    Range 35.9 billion km   (30 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (16)   Total Fuel Cost  240 Litres per hour  (5 760 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 73700 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-32000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Size 5 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 25
Missile Fire Control FC804-R20 (2)     Range 805.0m km    Resolution 20
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Scorpion Mk IIA (313)  Speed: 131 000 km/s   End: 1m    Range: 7.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 2139/1283/641
Snark Mk III (112)  Speed: 53 300 km/s   End: 269.6m    Range: 862.1m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 497/298/149

Active Search Sensor MR858-R20 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 858.7m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-5 (2)         ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Havock, Halcyon, Hammerhead, Hannibal, Harbinger, Harvester, Hauberk, Havelock, Hazard, Hecate, Harpoon, Helios, Helm, Herald.

Code: [Select]
Watchman Type 46A class Surveillance Cruiser    17 500 tons     396 Crew     10949.3 BP      TCS 350  TH 576  EM 2550
13714 km/s     Armour 5-60     Shields 85-300     Sensors 72/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 31     PPV 10
Maint Life 1.79 Years     MSP 4302    AFR 222%    IFR 3.1%    1YR 1673    5YR 25096    Max Repair 2500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Flight Crew Berths 2   
Hangar Deck Capacity 3500 tons     Magazine 658   

960 EP Solid Core AM Drive (5)    Power 960    Fuel Use 37.86%    Signature 115.2    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 265 000 Litres    Range 34.4 billion km   (29 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (17)   Total Fuel Cost  255 Litres per hour  (6 120 per day)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (2)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Scorpion Mk II (358)  Speed: 131 000 km/s   End: 1m    Range: 7.6m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 1790/1074/537
Snark Mk III (60)  Speed: 53 300 km/s   End: 269.6m    Range: 862.1m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 497/298/149

Active Search Sensor MR2683-R20 (1)     GPS 50000     Range 2 683.3m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-72 (1)     Sensitivity 72     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  72m km

ECM 60

Strike Group
7x -2 Kittyhawk Assault Shuttle   Speed: 32432 km/s    Size: 7.4
3x Sentry III Sensor Picket   Speed: 24000 km/s    Size: 5

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Watchman, Protector, Warden.

Code: [Select]
Tribal Type 23A class Patrol Frigate    10 000 tons     242 Crew     6165.6 BP      TCS 200  TH 288  EM 1950
12000 km/s     Armour 4-41     Shields 65-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 25     PPV 55
Maint Life 2.25 Years     MSP 1927    AFR 160%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 513    5YR 7693    Max Repair 1000 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 200   

800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (3)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 750 000 Litres    Range 32.2 billion km   (31 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (13)   Total Fuel Cost  195 Litres per hour  (4 680 per day)

Particle Beam-4 (2)    Range 320 000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 10-10    ROF 5        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Twin Gauss Cannon R3-50 Turret (1x8)    Range 30 000km     TS: 70200 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S01 15-32000 (1)    Max Range: 30 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     67 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S03 180-5000 (1)    Max Range: 360 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 92 89 86 83 81 78 75 72
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (17)     Total Power Output 20.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Box Launcher (50)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC804-R20 (2)     Range 805.0m km    Resolution 20
Stonebow Mk II (50)  Speed: 36 000 km/s   End: 194.4m    Range: 419.9m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 336/201/100

Active Search Sensor MR858-R20 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 858.7m km    Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR24-R1 (1)     GPS 100     Range 24.0m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECM 50

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Ashanti, Bedouin, Cossack, Maori, Tartar, Zulu.

 
Code: [Select]
Tribal Type 23B class Patrol Frigate    10 000 tons     242 Crew     6277.7 BP      TCS 200  TH 288  EM 1950
12000 km/s     Armour 4-41     Shields 65-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 25     PPV 56.2
Maint Life 2.28 Years     MSP 1962    AFR 160%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 510    5YR 7653    Max Repair 1000 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 30 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 208   

800 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (3)    Power 800    Fuel Use 41.93%    Signature 96    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 755 000 Litres    Range 32.4 billion km   (31 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (13)   Total Fuel Cost  195 Litres per hour  (4 680 per day)

Particle Beam-4 (2)    Range 320 000km     TS: 12000 km/s     Power 10-10    ROF 5        4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Twin Gauss Cannon R3-50 Turret (1x8)    Range 30 000km     TS: 70200 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S03 180-8000 (1)    Max Range: 360 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     97 94 92 89 86 83 81 78 75 72
Fire Control S01 15-32000 (1)    Max Range: 30 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     67 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (17)     Total Power Output 20.4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 4 Box Launcher (52)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC804-R20 (2)     Range 805.0m km    Resolution 20
Stonebow Mk III (50)  Speed: 66 600 km/s   End: 127.7m    Range: 510.3m km   WH: 8    Size: 4    TH: 732/439/219

Active Search Sensor MR24-R1 (1)     GPS 100     Range 24.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR858-R20 (1)     GPS 16000     Range 858.7m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Iroquois, Punjabi, Sikh, Somali, Gurkha, Nubian.

Code: [Select]
Havock Type 45B class Attack Cruiser    17 500 tons     499 Crew     11478.2 BP      TCS 350  TH 576  EM 2250
13714 km/s     Armour 6-60     Shields 75-300     Sensors 24/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 29     PPV 60
Maint Life 2 Years     MSP 3689    AFR 272%    IFR 3.8%    1YR 1229    5YR 18428    Max Repair 1200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 873   

960 EP Solid Core AM Drive (5)    Power 960    Fuel Use 37.86%    Signature 115.2    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 290 000 Litres    Range 35.0 billion km   (29 days at full power)
Xi R300/360 Shields (15)   Total Fuel Cost  225 Litres per hour  (5 400 per day)

Twin 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x2)    Range 420 000km     TS: 73700 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7    ROF 5        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
Fire Control S16 240-32000 (1)    Max Range: 480 000 km   TS: 32000 km/s     98 96 94 92 90 88 85 83 81 79
Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (5)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Size 5 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 25
Size 1 Missile Launcher (5)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC50-R1 (1)     Range 50.4m km    Resolution 1
Missile Fire Control FC885-R20 (2)     Range 885.5m km    Resolution 20
Scorpion Mk III (313)  Speed: 163 800 km/s   End: 0.8m    Range: 7.5m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 2675/1605/802
Snark Mk III (112)  Speed: 53 300 km/s   End: 269.6m    Range: 862.1m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 497/298/149

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR965-R20 (1)     GPS 18000     Range 966.0m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH1-24 (1)     Sensitivity 24     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  24m km

ECCM-6 (2)         ECM 60

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Ships in Class: Harpy, Hunter, Hostile, Hero, Hotspur, Hyperion, Hasty, Hereward, Heinsberg, Hesperus, Hardy, Hector, Hercules, Hellhound, Hermione, Hornbill, Hussar, Hornet, Horus, Huscarl, Hyacinth, Husky, Hyena, Heliotrope, Hermes, Hippogriff, Heron, Horizon.

Code: [Select]
-1 War Hawk class Assault Shuttle    450 tons     5 Crew     382.8 BP      TCS 9  TH 26.88  EM 0
24888 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 2.4
Maint Life 2.1 Years     MSP 53    AFR 16%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 16    5YR 241    Max Repair 280 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.2 months    Spare Berths 3   
Magazine 16   

224 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (1)    Power 224    Fuel Use 66.09%    Signature 26.88    Exp 14%
Fuel Capacity 20 000 Litres    Range 12.1 billion km   (5 days at full power)

Size 4 Box Launcher (4)    Missile Size 4    Hangar Reload 30 minutes    MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC257-R20 (1)     Range 257.6m km    Resolution 20

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
No. in Service: 6

Code: [Select]
Sentry II class Sensor Picket    470 tons     13 Crew     333.4 BP      TCS 9.4  TH 200  EM 0
21276 km/s     Armour 1-5     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 14.91 Years     MSP 222    AFR 3%    IFR 0%    1YR 2    5YR 28    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0   

200 EP Inertial Fusion Drive (1)    Power 200    Fuel Use 49.79%    Signature 200    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 60 000 Litres    Range 46.2 billion km   (25 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
No. in Service: 6

Code: [Select]
-2 Kittyhawk class Assault Shuttle    370 tons     5 Crew     468.2 BP      TCS 7.4  TH 28.8  EM 0
32432 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 5.34 Years     MSP 79    AFR 10%    IFR 0.2%    1YR 5    5YR 69    Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.3 months    Spare Berths 2   
Magazine 20   

120 EP Solid Core AM Drive (2)    Power 120    Fuel Use 462.98%    Signature 14.4    Exp 30%
Fuel Capacity 30 000 Litres    Range 3.2 billion km   (26 hours at full power)

Size 5 Box Launcher (4)    Missile Size 5    Hangar Reload 37.5 minutes    MF Reload 6.2 hours
Missile Fire Control FC450-R20 (1)     Range 450.8m km    Resolution 20
Snark Mk III (4)  Speed: 53 300 km/s   End: 269.6m    Range: 862.1m km   WH: 8    Size: 5    TH: 497/298/149

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
No. in Service: 21


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Sentry III class Sensor Picket    250 tons     8 Crew     379.6 BP      TCS 5  TH 14.4  EM 0
24000 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 9.34 Years     MSP 95    AFR 5%    IFR 0.1%    1YR 2    5YR 29    Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 2   

120 EP Solid Core AM Drive (1)    Power 120    Fuel Use 462.98%    Signature 14.4    Exp 30%
Fuel Capacity 70 000 Litres    Range 10.9 billion km   (5 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR48-R1 (1)     GPS 200     Range 48.0m km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
No. in Service: 9


What did the author think of this?
It took three months to play out! But that included building the cruisers.
The alien population and industry was larger than the combined Earth Gov holdings by a significant margin.
I thought it would be much harder than it was, the aliens were five propulsion and  power techs as well as a couple of fuel efficiency techs ahead of the Terrans, their missiles initially had twice the range of the Earth Gov missiles and were much faster with much bigger warheads. Their beam weapons were one tech down and they were behind in thermal and EM sensors but two techs ahead in gravitational sensors. The alien AMMs were not very good as they seemed to be aimed more at fighters than missiles. The aliens built far too few warships but did build 61 shipyards, and 40 unarmed scouts and a couple of hundred freighters and colonisers. (The only mitigating factor was the naval shipyards were between 4,000 and 24,000 tons, although many of the commercial ‘yards were above 100,000.) If they had been warships I may have lost, simply because I ran out of missiles. They did not appear to even replace losses. I’m guessing but I suspect that the FACs were not rearmed after destroying the Terran survey vessels (8 of 12 attacked at the jump point), but that may not be true, all their missiles lacked terminal guidance. With their tech lead they didn’t need to.

I don’t quite understand that because a planet is shrouded in dust, therefore a better heat absorber, an increased albedo lowers the temperature when it’s hidden behind a dust cloud? Explanations welcome.
IanD
 

Offline xeryon

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2014, 06:00:25 PM »
The suspended lighter colored dust in the atmosphere would reflect solar energy and prevent the solar energy from reaching the (presumably) darker ground and water surface.  The effect is also observed here on our planet when major volcanic eruptions occur, although the effect is considerably reduced in intensity as compared to what happened to GJ 11213-A II

As you noted: due to the substantial atmospheric reflection of solar energy the effect of the oceans freezing over and causing a sudden albedo increase should not have had as dramatic of an effect in proportion to the amount of dust in the sky.  i.e. What difference does it make what color the ocean is when the sun wasn't reaching it anyway?  This might be something to place in the future suggestions thread for Steve.

Excellent story, BTW.
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #11 on: April 03, 2014, 02:12:00 AM »
The suspended lighter colored dust in the atmosphere would reflect solar energy and prevent the solar energy from reaching the (presumably) darker ground and water surface.  The effect is also observed here on our planet when major volcanic eruptions occur, although the effect is considerably reduced in intensity as compared to what happened to GJ 11213-A II

As you noted: due to the substantial atmospheric reflection of solar energy the effect of the oceans freezing over and causing a sudden albedo increase should not have had as dramatic of an effect in proportion to the amount of dust in the sky.  i.e. What difference does it make what color the ocean is when the sun wasn't reaching it anyway?  This might be something to place in the future suggestions thread for Steve.

Excellent story, BTW.

Thanks for that xeryon.

The next question I have is should vacuum frequency lasers be allowed to bombard a planet through any atmosphere, and if so when should they stop as compared to infrared and visible frequency lasers?

Regards
Ian

IanD
 

Offline xeryon

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #12 on: April 03, 2014, 08:10:32 AM »
The technical answer for that will require someone with more physics knowledge than myself but from a gameplay standpoint the ability to perform planetary bombardment with all forms of lasers seems logical.  To think that in a future where a race is able to explore the universe but is unable to re-calibrate the frequency of a laser system seems silly.  There is the concern of the beam needing to pass through the vertical layers of the atmosphere which vary in atmospheric density.  My assumption is that beam strength could be calculated through a formula similar to beam strength reductions over distance with the variable being the atmospheric density factor instead of distance.  Different laser techs would further modify beam strength accordingly.

 

Offline chrislocke2000

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #13 on: April 03, 2014, 08:56:47 AM »
Interesting battle there and a nice write up. Am impressed with the number of missiles you managed to burn through there. It does however highlight how easy it is to destroy enemies with the current AI. Would think that would have been far more of a challenge for you if Steve's new updates were in effect.

Did you just kill off the entire population in the game or was this the result of you near enough glassing the planet?

Think I may just have to go back to progressing my own campaign now.
 

Offline IanD (OP)

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Re: An Alternative October
« Reply #14 on: April 03, 2014, 10:12:42 AM »
The technical answer for that will require someone with more physics knowledge than myself but from a gameplay standpoint the ability to perform planetary bombardment with all forms of lasers seems logical.  To think that in a future where a race is able to explore the universe but is unable to re-calibrate the frequency of a laser system seems silly.  There is the concern of the beam needing to pass through the vertical layers of the atmosphere which vary in atmospheric density.  My assumption is that beam strength could be calculated through a formula similar to beam strength reductions over distance with the variable being the atmospheric density factor instead of distance.  Different laser techs would further modify beam strength accordingly.

Thanks that makes me feel better about using the lasers to kill the alien ground forces.

Interesting battle there and a nice write up. Am impressed with the number of missiles you managed to burn through there. It does however highlight how easy it is to destroy enemies with the current AI. Would think that would have been far more of a challenge for you if Steve's new updates were in effect.

Did you just kill off the entire population in the game or was this the result of you near enough glassing the planet?

Think I may just have to go back to progressing my own campaign now.

The planet was far too valuable to glass! I confess to using  SM mode to expunge it as far as possible once they were conquered, I must have killed off some in the bombardment but that still left 8.5 billion, about half as big again as the player race. It does pose the question of what to do with a race you cannot communicate with once conquered.
 
I highlighted some reasons the aliens did so badly above. A big one was building almost anything but warships. They would also have put up a better fight if they had a shorter ranged, faster and more maneuverable AMMs.

The number of missiles used was high, which is as Steve intended. Apart from the missiles with the fleet there were 30 AMMs on Earth and that was it! My cruisers were multi-role but I am not sure they would have got in range of the bases if the missile strike had failed.


I am increasing the difficulty to 200% and see what happens until v6.4 comes out.  ;D

Regards
Ian
« Last Edit: April 03, 2014, 10:16:33 AM by IanD »
IanD