15th October 1896
The Salamis system, located three jumps from Britannia via Liverpool and Newcastle, is known as Washington by the United States so we have now changed its name on our star charts and I will refer to it as Washington in the future.
14th November 1896
Over the last two months, extensive negotiations have taken place with the representatives of the United States. The success of those negotiations has resulted in a defensive pact, in which both powers will support the other if it is attacked. The pact does not cover situations in which the British Empire or the United States is the aggressor and excludes the current conflict with the Mongol Empire. In addition a series of technology exchanges has been agreed, primarily involving the transfer of jump drive and jump gate technology, gravitational survey sensors and improved active sensor technology to the United States in return for technical information on fighter engines, hangar decks and box launchers.
20th November 1896
The two 18,000 ton Majestic class battleships Majestic and Magnificent are completed by the Swan Hunter shipyard. Armed with eighteen missile launchers and protected by a substantial belt of armour, they are by far the most powerful British warships ever built. Two new Majestics are laid down.
5th December 1896
The design of the first British carrier has been finalised. Based on the same hull as the Royal Sovereign Mod 1 class battleship, the Hermes class is fifty percent larger than its American counterpart, although its hangar capacity is only one third larger. The additional hull space has been devoted to increased fuel and ordnance storage, both of which are double that of the Midway class, plus a slightly greater proportion of engineering spaces. The reason for the emphasis on sustained operations is that the territory of the British Empire is far greater than the single system currently under American control. The first priority of the United States was on defence and their carrier design was based on the assumption that American carriers would likely be operating close to their sources of supply. Our own experience with the Mongol conflict is that warships could be away from home for a considerable time. The five battleships deployed in Marathon have been on station for eighteen months and are likely to remain there for at least another nine months. One option considered during design was to incorporate a larger hangar deck at the expense of logistical endurance and build a class of supporting vessels to carry additional fuel and ordnance for the carriers. A design for a collier class of 6000 tons was proposed but eventually deemed too expensive in comparison to a more balanced carrier design.
The design of the fighters that will operate from the Hermes class is still under review, pending the development of several new systems, including a fighter engine, box launcher, a fighter-based fire control system and a new anti-ship missile. As the Empire does not yet have any factories capable of building fighters, design of our first fighter has been a lower priority than the carrier. The Hermes class will be built in the Harland & Wolff shipyard, which will complete the first two Royal Sovereign Mod 1s within two months. As the yard will shortly begin retooling for the Hermes, the two battleships will be the only units of their class.
Hermes class Carrier 12000 tons 806 Crew 1404.4 BP TCS 240 TH 960 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 1-46 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 144% IFR: 2% Maintenance Capacity 585 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 4000 tons Magazine 720
Whitworth Ion Engine (16) Power 60 Efficiency 0.70 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 128.6 billion km (372 days at full power)
TH8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km25th December 1896
The first two jump-capable Perseus class Scout Cruisers have been completed by the Yarrow & Company shipyard. Both ships will be dispatched to Marathon in an attempt to learn more about Mongol defences in preparation for the eventual arrival of the Agamemnon class monitors.
28th January 1897
The two scout cruisers, Perseus and Andromeda, arrive in Marathon. Andromeda remains with the five battleships at the jump point, allowing the gravitational survey ship Copernicus to finally head for home, while Perseus closes on Marathon III, the Mongol homeworld. Almost immediately, her powerful electromagnetic sensor detects emissions from the Mongol population. After two days in the system, and still 580 million kilometers from Marathon III, the same sensor detects emissions from an active search sensor on, or in orbit of, the planet. Analysis of the Mongol sensor suggests it has a range of seventy-two million kilometers and a resolution of 30, allowing it to detect ships as small as 1500 tons at maximum range. This is very likely the sensor that allowed the Mongols to target and destroy Royal Oak.
30th January 1897
Expansion of the Vosper shipyard to an 8000 ton capacity is now complete, which will allow the building of a new class of jump cruiser, incorporating the recently developed J800 jump drive. The sixty percent increase in size from the Blenheim class jump cruiser will allow several ship classes to operate outside our jump gate network, including the Genesis class Terraformers and the Brunel class construction ships plus the currently building Agamemnon class monitors and Minerva class light cruisers. Although the Invincible class jump cruiser is unarmed, it will include a small hangar deck, allowing the embarkation of a small fighter strikegroup. Retooling of the Vosper shipyard will require six months.
Invincible class Jump Cruiser 8000 tons 664 Crew 1138 BP TCS 160 TH 660 EM 0
4125 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-35 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 85% IFR: 1.2% Maintenance Capacity 533 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 1500 tons Magazine 180
J800 Jump Drive Max Ship Size 8000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Whitworth Ion Engine (11) Power 60 Efficiency 0.70 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 128.6 billion km (360 days at full power)
Foxhunter 63/60 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 6300 Range 63.0m km Resolution 60
TH8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km2nd February 1897
Moving slowly to avoid detection by Mongol thermal sensors, Perseus reaches a point two hundred kilometers from Marathon III. Her huge Foxhunter 210/100 active sensor has a range of two hundred and ten million kilometers and a resolution of 100 so she is in a position to carry out an active scan. However, the only Mongol ship classes encountered so far have been 950 tons and 1000 tons, which Perseus could only detect at 8.4 million kilometers, so her captain, Commander Whitehead, has been ordered to try and move closer before activating her primary sensor. Because of the jump gates on the Britannia ? Manchester and Manchester ? Marathon jump points, Perseus is in direct contact with the Admiralty so we can monitor her progress in real time.
Twelve hours later she is seventy-four million kilometers from Marathon III, just outside the range of the Mongol active sensor. So far there is no sign she has been detected. After receiving final confirmation from the Admiralty, she engages the Foxhunter 210/100 and immediately detects seven ships in orbit, split between two different classes of 4250 tons. Well aware that the Mongol planetary sensors will have detected his sensor emissions, Commander Whitehead orders the Foxhunter 210/100 to be de-activated and accelerates away on a dogleg course back to the jump point. Perseus arrives without incident four days later.
5th February 1897
The Royal Sovereign Mod 1 battleships Renown and Redoubtable are launched from the Harland & Wolff shipyard, taking the total number of British battleships in service to eleven, including the two new ships, the two Majestics and the seven original Royal Sovereigns. No more Royal Sovereigns will be built due to the ongoing conversion of the shipyard to build Hermes class carriers.
15th February 1897
The three Minerva class light cruisers, Minerva, Venus and Isis are launched from the Thorneycroft Shipyard. Each 6000 ton Minerva is equipped with twenty fast-firing Vickers S1 Missile Launchers and a supply of 560 Javelin anti-missile missiles. Although the Javelins are of a very basic design and will have a limited chance of intercepting hostile missiles, they are cheap and can be deployed in considerable numbers. Unfortunately, our ordnance factories have been building Falchions for the forthcoming Agamemnons so the Javelins required for the Minervas are not yet available.
17th February 1897
The design for our first fighter has been finalised, or rather our first two fighters. The Avro 504 is intended for strike missions and is larger and slower than its American counterpart as the Admiralty wishes to retain the same size of missile as our warships to allow interchangeability. With the Mongols deploying small attack craft against us, the Avro 504 needs a fire control system capable of tracking them, which in turn has led to a reduced range due to the inherent problems involved in squeezing a fire control system into such a small spacecraft. As tracking range will be limited, the new Battleaxe anti-ship missile has been designed for a heavy, short-range punch. Complementing the Avro 504 is the Vickers FB5 Interceptor. The FB5 is smaller and faster, designed to destroy enemy fighters and provide a very limited anti-missile capability. Equipped with eight Vickers V1 Box launchers, the FB5 will carry the same Javelin anti-ship missiles as the Minerva class light cruiser. Its fire control system is intended for targets of 200 tons or greater, which it can track at two point five million kilometers. Its tracking range against small missiles will only be around 150,000 kilometers but that should still allow a launch if the fighters can be directed within intercept range.
Of course, neither the Avro 504 or the Vickers FB5 has any onboard search sensor so we will be following the American example in creating an unarmed fighter with appropriate sensors to accompany and direct strike missions. However, the difficulty in creating a small sensor that can detect hostile fighters at any appreciable range has led several of our ship design experts, including Sir Edward, to propose a huge ship-based active sensor that can detect fighters outside their own weapon range and direct FB5s to intercept. This sensor would be on a scale beyond anything previously envisaged. Research into appropriate sensor systems for all options is ongoing. For comparison with the two British designs, the summary of the American P-80 is also included below.
Avro 504 class Fighter-bomber 225 tons 12 Crew 42.9 BP TCS 4.5 TH 36 EM 0
8000 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 1.8
Annual Failure Rate: 45% IFR: 0.6% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
Magazine 12
FTR Ion Engine (1) Power 36 Efficiency 70.00 Signature 36 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (39 hours at full power)
Vickers V4 Box Launcher (3) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
Raven 12/20 Fighter Fire Control (1) Range 12.6m km Resolution 20
Battleaxe ASM (3) Speed: 21000 km/s End: 12.7 minutes Range: 16.1m km Warhead: 8 MR: 10 Size: 4FB5 class Interceptor 195 tons 12 Crew 42.9 BP TCS 3.9 TH 36 EM 0
9230 km/s Armour 1-2 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 1.2
Annual Failure Rate: 39% IFR: 0.5% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
Magazine 8
FTR Ion Engine (1) Power 36 Efficiency 70.00 Signature 36 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.3 billion km (39 hours at full power)
Vickers V1 Box Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Hangar Reload 7.5 minutes MF Reload 1.2 hours
Anti-fighter Fire Control (1) Range 2.5m km Resolution 4
Javelin Anti-missile Missile (8) Speed: 24000 km/s End: 44.6 minutes Range: 64.3m km Warhead: 1 MR: 10 Size: 1P-80 Shooting Star class Fighter 207.5 tons 12 Crew 38.6 BP TCS 4.15 TH 36 EM 0
8674 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 1.35
Annual Failure Rate: 41% IFR: 0.6% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
Magazine 9
FTR Ion Engine E800 (1) Power 36 Efficiency 80.00 Signature 36 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (34 hours at full power)
Mk 3 Box Launcher (3) Missile Size 3 Hangar Reload 22.5 minutes MF Reload 3.7 hours
APG-1 Fire Control (1) Range 21.6m km Resolution 45
AIM-1 Hawk (3) Speed: 20000 km/s End: 15.6 minutes Range: 18.7m km Warhead: 6 MR: 10 Size: 3
2nd March 1897
Design of the BE2 Scout Fighter has been finalised. The BE2 is intended to operate with the Avro 504 Fighter-bomber on long range strike missions where targets are outside the range of ship-based sensors.
BE2 class Scout Fighter 240 tons 22 Crew 80.2 BP TCS 4.8 TH 36 EM 0
7499 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 48% IFR: 0.7% Maintenance Capacity 0 MSP
FTR Ion Engine (1) Power 36 Efficiency 70.00 Signature 36 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (39 hours at full power)
Foxhunter 12/20 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1260 Range 12.6m km Resolution 2030th April 1897
With enough Javelin missiles now available to fill their magazines, the light cruisers Minerva and Isis are dispatched to the Marathon system to provide protection for the battleships. The third Minerva class, Venus, will remain with the Home Fleet until sufficient missiles are available.
20th June 1897
The two Agamemnon class monitors complete construction at the Armstrong Whitworth shipyard and take on board their Falchion Ground-attack Missiles. Escorted by the Apollo class cruisers Spartan and Thetis and the Minerva class light cruiser Venus, they depart immediately for Marathon.
27th July 1897
The two Agamemnons and their escorts arrive in Marathon, taking the total Royal Navy strength in the Mongol system to fourteen ships. Their order of battle is as follows:
5x Royal Sovereign class Battleship: Hood, Repulse, Resolution, Revenge, Royal Sovereign
2x Agamemnon class Monitor: Agamemnon, Menelaus
3x Minerva class Light Cruiser: Isis, Minerva, Venus
2x Apollo class Cruiser: Spartan, Thetis
2x Perseus class Scout Cruiser: Perseus, Andromeda
With all the required forces in place, the attack on the Mongol homeworld can finally take place. Fortunately, since the destruction of the Royal Oak eighteen months ago, the Mongols have made no attempt to attack the British force at the Marathon ? Manchester jump point. The reason for this is unknown, especially since the Mongols plainly have a long range missile capability, as demonstrated by the attack on the Royal Oak.
A year ago, as recommended by the Royal Commission, a new organization was established to analyze all available information on foreign powers and determine both their capabilities and their intentions. This organization, which has quickly become known as the Secret Service, is headed by William Melville, previously head of the Special Branch at Scotland Yard. Almost all of its resources have been devoted to the Mongol Empire, although recently a small section has been established with a focus on the United States. Mr Melville has been a regular guest at Commission meetings of late and his reports on the Mongol inactivity have concluded that for some reason the Mongols must either have difficulty in mounting their missile weapons on their usual small hulls or they are developing larger, missile-armed classes that are not yet ready for deployment. The detection of seven 4250 ton hulls in orbit of Marathon III six months ago shows the Mongols can build larger hulls when required and these may in fact be warships that have yet to be deployed against us. Mr Melville has also put forward his own theory that the Mongols may already have ships capable of attacking our fleet but are confident their defences can protect them while they build up sufficient numbers for a decisive strike. The Mongol response to the forthcoming attack will no doubt answer many of our questions.
The fleet splits into two task groups. The battleships Hood and Repulse, supported by Perseus, Isis and the two Apollos, remain at the jump point to guard against any Mongol attempt to enter Manchester. The remaining ships, under the command of Commodore John Jellicoe on the Resolution, head for a point one hundred and twenty million kilometers from Marathon III. After an incident free-voyage, they arrive four days later at 14.21 on August 1st. The scout cruiser Andromeda passes the necessary targeting information to Agamemnon and Menelaus, which lock their fire controls on target. Commodore Jellicoe gives the order and twelve Falchion ground-attack missiles streak toward the planet at 12,000 km/s. At intervals of sixty seconds, successive salvos follow the first.
As the sixth wave of missiles is launched, passive sensors on the Andromeda detect twenty strength-120 thermal signatures at nine point four million kilometers, approaching from the direction of the planet. A minute later, seven identical thermal signatures appear from the opposite direction. The hostile ships could not have arrived so quickly from the planet as a reaction to the missile fire so they must have been shadowing the fleet and moved in when the fleet came to halt. Based on the size of their thermal signatures and their speed of 6000 km/s, both groups are presumably the same class of fast attack craft that destroyed Ajax. Commodore Jellicoe informs the Admiralty that he intends to hold position and fire on both enemy forces once they move within weapon range. Attempting to fight a mobile engagement could result in the monitors losing tracking if they move out of range and he believes his battleships should be more than capable of dealing with the attack craft. In the meantime, the monitors continue launching their missiles.
As the larger group of Mongol ships reaches 8.3 million kilometers they are detected by Andromeda?s active sensors and identified as Torpedo-firing fast attack craft of 1000 tons. Twenty-five seconds after Commodore Jellicoe gives the order to attack, the three battleships in the task group, Resolution, Revenge and Royal Sovereign, open fire with Rapier anti-ship missiles, a faster but shorter ranged version of the Broadsword. Each battleship targets a single fast attack craft with all twelve launchers, planning to change targets for successive salvos.
Twenty seconds later the second group of fast attack craft move within active sensor range. Andromeda?s sensors quickly determine they are a previously unseen class. Commodore Jellicoe is concerned that these could be missile armed but changing the target of his battleships would cause those missiles in flight to reverse course. Therefore he decides to concentrate on the larger group while detaching his two Minerva class light cruisers and positioning them between the main body and the smaller group. Both cruisers have their short-ranged missile detection sensors active.
Five minutes after the first battleship missiles are launched, they intercept the incoming fast attack craft six point seven million kilometers from the main body, obliterating the first three targets. With six more waves of missiles already in flight, all three battleships cease fire and select new targets for the second wave. Amid a cascade of explosions, three more wrecks appear at six point four million kilometers. The fragile fast attack craft are being overwhelmed by the large salvos of fast moving missiles. Three more die at six point one million kilometers. Although impressed by the courage of the Mongolians, Commodore Jellicoe can find no reason for their apparently suicidal charge, which worries him considerably as the Mongolians have not previously shown any inclination to attack his forces in large numbers. His concern deepens when the Mongolians halt their approach at five point nine million kilometers and engage active sensors with a range of six million kilometers. Seconds later three more of their number vanish from sensors, leaving just eight of the original twenty. A total of ninety-nine British missiles are still in flight toward the Mongol force, twenty-seven of which are Rapiers and the rest Broadswords. The second group of seven Mongol FACs is six point one million kilometers from the main body and five point nine from the two Minervas. The next two waves of missiles eliminate six more FACs before the last two finally make a run for it, chased by thirty-six Broadsword anti-ship missiles. The result is inevitable. The wrecks of twenty Mongol fast attack craft, accompanied by life pods, are spread across a million kilometers of space.
Commodore Jellicoe is finally able to turn his attention to the second group of seven FACs, now five million kilometers from the two light cruisers. He orders the battleships to open fire once more, each one targeting a single FAC. Seconds after the order is given, Andromeda detects active sensors on the Mongolian FACs, with the same detection range of six million kilometers. He begins to suspect the first group was simply a distraction, with the task of pinpointing the locations of the British ships for the smaller group. If the second group is missile-armed then Mongolian missiles could already be in flight, using sensor data provided by their dead comrades. British Broadsword anti-ship missiles streak from the battleships? launchers, heading for the seven FACs. Jellicoe informs the commanders of the two light cruisers of his suspicions, warning them to be on their guard against an imminent missile threat. During the one-sided combat against the first FAC group, the two Monitors continued launching missiles against the Mongol planet. Seventy percent of their missiles are in flight with the first wave already fourteen million kilometers from the fleet.
Minerva and Venus suddenly detect twenty-one incoming missiles, split into seven salvos of three missiles each, and immediately begin launching Javelin anti-missiles. Each cruiser has twenty Vickers S1 launchers, with a reload time of just ten seconds, and two fire control systems. Commodore Jellicoe hopes that will be enough to counter the relatively small missile wave. He had feared that the Mongolian missile-armed FAC might have something similar to the box launchers used by the United States, allowing a huge one-off missile launch. Fortunately they appear to have conventional launchers. The performance of the Javelins proves disappointing, with an interception rate around twelve percent, but the Minervas can launch over two hundred missiles per minute between them. Fifteen of the Mongolian missiles are hit and destroyed, leaving six which home in on Minerva. Three miss and the other three explode against her armour. Fortunately they all hit in different locations and their strength-6 warheads do not penetrate. There is no time for relief as a second Mongolian missile wave is following the first.
With slightly less time to intercept, the two ships can only destroy eleven missiles from the second wave. Three more miss but the remaining seven slam into Minerva, blasting away most of her armour and knocking out her primary sensor, one of her two fire control systems, a missile launcher and two engines. All nineteen of her missile launchers are linked to her remaining fire control system, keeping her in the fight albeit with less flexibility. Venus detects a third wave of twenty-one missiles entering sensor range. The first wave of Broadsword missiles launched by the battleships is just over halfway to the seven Mongolian missile FACs.
Although nineteen missiles from the third wave are intercepted, both the survivors are on target. One fails to penetrate Minerva?s battered armour. The other strikes deep into her hull and explodes, destroying two engines, a single missile launcher and, critically, her remaining fire control system. As she is completely defenceless without any way to target her missiles, Commodore Jellicoe orders her to pull back to the main body, leaving Venus to face a fourth wave of missiles, just entering detection range.
As Javelin missiles from Venus begin to intercept the inbounds, the first wave of Broadswords reach the Mongolian FACs, instantly destroying three of them. The destruction of their launch platforms should remove guidance from several of the incoming Mongolian missiles, assuming the FACs are indeed launching the missiles. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which missiles are guided by which FACs so Venus will have to continue treating all missiles as live hostiles. In an valiant effort she kills thirteen missiles from the fourth wave, leaving eight which overtake the fleeing Minerva. The crippled light cruiser vanishes in a blinding white fireball. Two missiles that did not have time to intercept Minerva before she exploded home on Venus instead, gouging craters in her armour belt. Seconds later, the second wave of Broadswords destroys three more Mongolians FAC, leaving just one survivor.
A fifth wave of Mongolian missiles enters sensor range. After a flash of inspiration, Commodore Jellicoe orders Venus to move on a heading perpendicular to the incoming missiles so that any missiles targeted on her will change their own course while those without guidance will continue on their previous heading. Before Venus can respond, the last FAC is blown to pieces by thirty-six Broadsword missiles. As Venus finally gets underway, the remaining Mongolian missiles halt at her previous location, groping blindly in the darkness with no outside assistance. A sixth wave of missiles also enters sensor range and soon joins the hapless fifth wave. Only moments after the Mongolian missiles are rendered useless, Agamemnon and Menelaus fire the last of their Falchion ground-attack missiles. Three hundred and twelve Falchions are now en route to the Mongol homeworld.
Back at the Admiralty on Earth, Sir Richard comments that it is fortunate the Mongolians did not attack with more than seven of their new missile-armed fast attack craft or they did not have the same missile launcher technology as the United States. Their sensors or fire control systems were very limited in range and an Mongolian improvement in that area could also have proven disastrous for our fleet. Despite the regrettable loss of Minerva, Sir Richard believes the Royal Navy can count itself very lucky. The fleet is also running low on ammunition. Both monitors have empty magazines, each of the three battleships has used all of their Rapier missiles and over half of their Broadsword missiles and Venus has only sixty-nine missiles remaining from an original total of over five hundred. Any further Mongolian attack could prove embarrassing. Nevertheless, the senior officer in the Marathon system, Vice Admiral Tyron, elects to retain the two Royal Sovereigns, two Apollos and a Minerva at the Manchester jump point rather than sending them to reinforce Commodore Jellicoe?s fleet.
Two and a half hours later, the first Falchion missiles approach the Mongol planet. Two minutes before their arrival the seven Mongol vessels in orbit pull away, heading in the opposite direction to the incoming missiles, indicating that Mongolian sensors have detected the Falchions. That warning proves useless as they appear to have no anti-missile defences. The first salvo of twelve missiles strikes population and industrial centres, sending vast mushroom clouds into the stratosphere. A minute later the second salvo arrives, adding to the already raging fires and spreading more radioactive dust into the atmosphere. Sir Richard Hamilton transmits a message direct to the Mongol planet, relayed through the intervening jump gates, demanding an immediate surrender. The third salvos lands before the Mongol leader Kublai Khan responds defiantly, promising terrible retribution if the bombardment does not cease immediately. Sir Richard replies that this is not time for futile rhetoric and urges Kublai Khan to preserve the lives of his people. A fourth salvo lands, destroying more Mongolian cities and inflicting considerable damage to their industrial infrastructure. The voice of Kublai Khan is cut-off in mid-rant.
For ninety seconds only silence answers our communication attempts while Marathon III suffers the impact of twelve more Falchions. Finally a new voice, edged with panic, announces the unconditional Mongolian surrender and pleads for the bombardment to cease. Following hasty instructions from Sir Richard, Commodore Jellicoe orders his two monitors to redirect their missiles to a point in space close to the Mongol homeworld, halting further bombardment but allowing the missiles to be quickly dispatched to their original destination if required. The new voice identifies itself as Zhenjin Khan, son of Kublai and new head of the Mongol Empire. Kublai Khan was apparently killed by a direct hit on the Mongolian capital city after refusing advice to move a Mongolian planetary defence centre. The battleship Royal Sovereign is detached from the bombardment force and dispatched to Marathon III to land a liaison team to formalize the Mongolian surrender. Venus and the two monitors pick up the survivors from Minerva and the Mongolian fast attack life pods.
Meanwhile, the seven Mongol ships that recently left orbit are continuing to head away from Marathon III and have been joined by an eighth ship, which at 2250 tons is only detectable because the Mongolians have acceded to Sir Richard?s demand that they relay sensor data from the active sensors of their PDCs. According to the Mongols, the seven larger ships include three freighters and four colony ships while the smaller ship is a Hazara class Jump Frigate. They have all ignored orders to return to the planet and the fire control systems on the monitors cannot track them at such a distance. Therefore Sir Richard orders Zhenjin Khan to use the Mongol PDCs to destroy them. At first Zhenjin Khan refuses but when Sir Richard threatens an immediate resumption of the bombardment, the new Mongol leader is left with little choice. Fortunately, once the fleeing ships realise that their own PDCs are firing on them, they surrender and head back to Marathon III. Sir Richard orders the Mongols to send specifications for the captured ships to Commodore Jellicoe and the Commodore forwards them to Victoria. The summaries of the various classes are shown below.
Hazara class Jump Frigate 2250 tons 229 Crew 267.7 BP TCS 45 TH 180 EM 0
4000 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-15 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 4.5
Annual Failure Rate: 40% IFR: 0.6% Maintenance Capacity 74 MSP
Magazine 56
J2250(3-50) Jump Drive Max Ship Size 2250 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (3) Power 60 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 40.0 billion km (115 days at full power)
FAC Missile Launcher (2) Missile Size 3 Rate of Fire 90
FAC Missile Fire Control (1) Range 15.6m km Resolution 65
FA Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 640 Range 6.4m km Resolution 40Zanabazar class Freighter 4250 tons 186 Crew 288.2 BP TCS 85 TH 300 EM 0
3529 km/s Armour 1-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 144% IFR: 2% Maintenance Capacity 42 MSP
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5
Ion Engine (5) Power 60 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 42.3 billion km (138 days at full power)Mughal class Colony Ship 4250 tons 211 Crew 738.2 BP TCS 85 TH 300 EM 0
3529 km/s Armour 1-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 144% IFR: 2% Maintenance Capacity 109 MSP
Colonists 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 5
Ion Engine (5) Power 60 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 42.3 billion km (138 days at full power)Sir William White and Sir Edward Harland pore over the designs with great interest, noting that the colony ships and freighters are similar to our own in terms of technology, although they are slower and slightly smaller. They will be a useful additional to our fleet. The small jump ship has a very primitive jump engine and it is likely the Mongols have only just developed jump technology. It will perhaps have some limited use as a scout or courier vessel. The missile launchers on the Hazara class are probably the same as those used on the Mongolian?s missile-armed fast attack craft, based on the size of the missiles and the rate of fire. Interestingly, the fire control system has a much greater range than the search sensor so it is possible the Mongols were developing a new search sensor or, given the restrictions in size of the jump frigate and the fast attack craft, perhaps another class with a larger sensor designed to operate in concert with the fast attack craft or the Hazara. Unfortunately our bombardment wrecked almost all of the Mongolian shipbuilding capability and any new classes under construction were destroyed
Royal Sovereign arrives in orbit of the Mongol homeworld in the early hours of August 2nd and a delegation is sent down to the planet to formally accept the Mongol surrender. Under a plan put forward by the Earl of Rosebery, otherwise known as Sir Archibald Primrose, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and agreed by the rest of the Commission, Zhenjin Khan will be retained as leader of the Mongols under the supervision of a British military governor. He has already proven accommodating under the threat of force and his retention will make assimilation of the Mongols into the Empire far easier than if we try to impose direct British rule. Warships will remain in the system to encourage his continuing cooperation.
Damage to the population and industry of Marathon III has been considerable. Thirty-six million civilians were killed during the bombardment, leaving a population of one hundred and ninety-one million, and approximately thirty percent of the factories and mines were destroyed. Only a single shipyard remains and it has four slipways and a capacity of 1000 tons. In any event, the planet is unlikely to be productive for several years due to the understandable resistance of its citizens to submitting to the will of the Empire. That will change with time. The Empire has had considerable experience over the last two hundred years in integrating new cultures without the need for excessive force. The biosphere of Marathon III is contaminated with radiation and atmospheric dust, which will have a minor effect on production and has dropped the usual surface temperature by four degrees. There may also be a temporary drop in the Mongolian birthrate.
The Mongolians possess four Planetary Defence Centres, the design of which is shown below. With missiles that outranged those of our battleships and formidable armour, they would have proven extremely capable opponents in a fair fight. Fortunately our monitors and their Falchion missiles allowed an unfair fight. All four have surrendered and British officers are in command. As resources permit, British crews will take over the PDCs and British Army units will be stationed in their barracks. They will help in ensuring the loyalty of the indigenous population
Yuan class Planetary Defence Centre 15500 tons 1080 Crew 1501.6 BP TCS 310 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 12-55 Sensors 1/240 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 72
Troop Capacity 3 Divisions Magazine 1152
PDC Missile Launcher (12) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 45
LR Missile Fire Control (2) Range 72.0m km Resolution 30
PDC Missile (168) Speed: 20000 km/s Endurance: 50 minutes Range: 60m km Warhead: 6 MR: 10 Size: 6
PDC Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 7200 Range 72.0m km Resolution 30The slowness with which the Mongols introduced missile-armed warships is explained by two factors. Firstly, they had only eleven research facilities before the bombardment, compared to our own thirty-seven, and that has now been reduced to seven. Secondly, Marathon III has extremely limited supplies of Tritanium at 0.1 accessibility and the vast majority of the Tritanium they had already mined went into the construction of their PDCs. Once conflict began, the Mongols could simply not mine enough Tritanium to produce more than a few small ships and a barely adequate supply of missiles. According to Mongolian records, they were also attempting to build several Aimak class scout ships with new search sensors, enabling their few missile-armed ships to launch outside the range at which our own sensors could detect them. Fortunately the first units of the class were still under construction and were destroyed in their slipways by our bombardment. The small and extremely fast Aimaks could have proven a serious problem if we had waited any longer to launch our attack.
Aimak class Scout 500 tons 49 Crew 92.6 BP TCS 10 TH 120 EM 0
12000 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 2% IFR: 0% Maintenance Capacity 116 MSP
GB Ion Engine (1) Power 120 Efficiency 10.00 Signature 120 Armour 0 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 18.0 billion km (17 days at full power)
Hunter Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 2400 Range 24.0m km Resolution 75The geological survey report for the Mongol homeworld is shown below. As well as Tritanium, the planet is almost out of Mercassium, although the Mongols have stockpiled several thousand tons. There are nine thousand tons of Duranium in storage, which will help feed the Victoria?s voracious industry, so the first task of the three captured Mongolian freighters will be to begin transporting this Duranium to Britannia. The most valuable discovery is over seven million tons of easily accessible Sorium. Once Marathon III is fully productive, this could fuel our Empire for years to come.
Marathon III Survey Report
Duranium 88,769 Acc: 0.9
Neutronium 37,052 Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 24,260 Acc: 0.5
Tritanium 952 Acc: 0.1
Boronide 8,052 Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 768 Acc: 0.22
Vendarite 224,469 Acc: 0.9
Sorium 7,289,441 Acc: 0.9
Uridium 22,808 Acc: 0.4
Corundium 217,920 Acc: 1
Gallicite 67,560 Acc: 0.5
One item of very good news is that Joseph Chamberlain and the survivors of the Ajax and the Royal Oak have been found alive in a Mongol prison camp. The former Secretary of State for the Colonies is in poor health but he is expected to make a full recovery. Our own Mongol prisoners of war will be returned to their homeworld as soon as possible as another gesture of our magnanimity.
4th August 1897
A thorough search of the databases from Mongolian research facilities has revealed several areas of new technology, primarily with regard to the Mongolian torpedoes. We should be able to use this background knowledge to replicate the Mongolian weapons, if required.
5th August 1897
Once the Mongols realised that we were going to treat them reasonably, far more reasonably I might add than if they had been in such an advantageous position, they admitted that several of their ships were still at large. A second Hazara class jump frigate, three gravitational survey vessels and three geological survey vessels were involved in surveying nearby systems. All six of the survey ships were less than a thousand tons and far less capable than our own designs. Their design summaries are shown below.
Genghis class Geosurvey Ship 950 tons 90 Crew 268.8 BP TCS 19 TH 60 EM 0
3157 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/0/2 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 7% IFR: 0.1% Maintenance Capacity 177 MSP
Ion Engine (1) Power 60 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 94.7 billion km (347 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (2) 2 Survey PointsOgadei class Gravsurvey Ship 950 tons 90 Crew 268.8 BP TCS 19 TH 60 EM 0
3157 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/0/2/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 7% IFR: 0.1% Maintenance Capacity 177 MSP
Ion Engine (1) Power 60 Efficiency 1.00 Signature 60 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 94.7 billion km (347 days at full power)
Gravitational Survey Sensors (2) 2 Survey Points
The revelation that the Mongols have explored nearby systems led to a politely phrased demand for information on Marathon?s jump points and those systems so far discovered. Zhenjin Khan was eager to share. Marathon has five jump points, one of which leads to Manchester and the rest to the Mongolian-explored systems of Chengdu, Jin, Kara Khitai and Zhongdu, none of which have any features of particular interest. The Genghis class ships are in Kara Khitai, surveying the inner asteroid belt, while the Ogadeis are carrying out a gravitational survey of Chengdu. The second Hazara is located on the Marathon ? Kara Khitai jump point. After a short deliberation by the Royal Commission, Sir Richard contacted Zhenjin Khan and informed him that all the Mongol survey ships could retain their Mongolian crews and that they should continue with their current missions. This was a considerable surprise for the Mongolian leader but the ships were unarmed and could go nowhere without a jump ship or a jump gate. Allowing them to retain their crews would help convince the Mongols that becoming part of the Empire was not as calamitous as they might initially believe. The two Hazara class jump frigates were a different matter due to their jump capability. The second Hazara was ordered to return to Marathon III and surrender. British officers and some senior enlisted men from the Royal Sovereign would be transferred to both ships, although they would retain most of their original crews. In a further move to aid integration, Marathon III will henceforth be referred to by its Mongol name of Karakorum
With the take-over of the Mongolian government proceeding smoothly and the PDCs under control, the forces within the Marathon system can be redeployed. The battleship Resolution, the two Apollo class cruisers Spartan and Thetis, the Minerva class cruiser Isis and the Perseus class scout Andromeda are sent to join Royal Sovereign in orbit of Karakorum. Perseus will remain at the Marathon ? Manchester jump point for the time being while all other ships will return to Victoria for resupply, refueling and, where necessary, an overhaul.
to be continued...
Steve
