Aurora 4x
Fiction => Aurora => Sematary's Fiction => Topic started by: Sematary on October 14, 2013, 05:19:52 PM
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I am a long time lurker on this forum and have decided to write an AAR for here. I have been playing Aurora for awhile and have written several AARs on other forums.
I am starting in 2050 with 3 billion population with a government type of Republic. Other options I have used are overhauls needed, realistic commander promotions, commander political bonuses, inexperenced fleet, real star systems, and orbital motion for planets, moons, and asteroids.
I will be, at least minimally, simulating the government and politics. There are 10 countries, each one has 3 senators in the Senate, and for every 7. 5 million people there is one seat in the House of Commons. Currently there are 400 seats in the House of Commons. There are 11 political parties currently that vie for power in both the houses. In the next post I will show both population data and the political party split.
I have spent something like 7+ hours working to set this up but so far have only gone a couple days in game so I honestly have no idea right now how awesome the story may be but here is to hoping.
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Each nation is somewhat arbitrarily split into high middle and low class because it fits into how I do the voting. Seats refers to how many of the seats in the House of Commons are voted for in that nation.
Name Percent of Pop Population Seats High/Mid/Low
China 19% 570 million 76 15/40/45
India 17% 510 million 68 10/20/70
Africa 17% 510 million 68 5/10/85
Indochina 15% 450 million 60 5/20/75
Europe 8% 240 million 32 40/40/20
Oceania 7% 210 million 28 33/33/33
United North America 6. 5% 195 million 26 20/60/20
Latin America 5% 150 million 20 10/50/40
Arabia 3% 90 million 12 10/30/60
Greater Japan 2. 5% 75 million 10 30/60/10
Party Name Seats in House of Commons Percentage of Seats Senators Percentage
African Union Party 11 seats 2. 75% 0 senators 0%
Asian Prosperity Party 42 seats 10. 5% 1 senator 3%
Conservative Party 62 seats 15. 5% 2 senators 6%
Commonwealth Party 8 seats 2% 2 senators 6%
Democratic Party 50 seats 12. 5% 6 senators 20%
Latin American Party 9 seats 2. 25% 1 senator 3%
Liberal Party 48 seats 12% 6 senators 20%
NATO Party 19 seats 4. 75% 0 senators 0%
Muslim Brotherhood Party 27 seats 6. 75% 2 senators 6%
Republic Party 76 seats 19% 8 senators 26%
Socialist Party 48 seats 12% 2 senators 6%
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January 2050
Martian Orbit
Cornelius smiled as he read the surveying screen over the shoulder of his Chief Scanning Officer. Looking up he called out to his Comms Officer “Ensign, please confirm our readings with the Hutton. ”
“Yes sir. ” The man called back before relaying the message. “Sir, the Hutton’s scanners are showing the same as ours. ”
Captain Cornelius Schneider walked to his command seat and plopped down grinning despite himself. Schneider was in command of Geology Task Group #1 consisting of the GEV Darwin and the GEV Hutton. This was the third planet they had scanned and the second that had large amounts of Trans-Newtonian materials. Venus had been their first and they had found just shy of 50 million tons of various minerals, though they were not very accessible. Mercury did not appear to have anything on it but Mars had almost 6 million tons of Vendarite and over half a million tons of Boronide. Neither of the other two geology task groups were having as much luck as he was.
GSV Fermi
“Pop open the champagne boys, we are going down in history. ” Commander Burrus ordered over the comm system. Taking a glass for himself he went to his briefing room to start the message that would be read by people for generations to come.
To Earth Command:
Top Priority Message
GSV Fermi
Commander Norris Burrus
At sixteen forty four and eleven seconds Earth Standard Time, the GSV Fermi and the GSV Newton, acting in concert as the Gravity Task Force #2, discovered what is believed to be a jump point. Our Chief Science Officer, Lieutenant Commander Toni Yehl confirmed this at sixteen fifty after several minutes comparing our readings with what were expected. This jump point lies almost halfway between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus, nearer to Uranus by a little over one hundred million kilometers, on a heading of eleven degrees from the Sun.
After sending the message he made sure that Commander Temme of the Newton had her crew celebrating as well. Not only was this a historic occasion that should be marked by celebration but the crews had earned it, they had beaten the Aristotle, Einstein and Oppenheimer in finding the first jump point.
February 2050
First Human Jump Exploration
EX Enterprise
Merry Couture sits tall in her commander’s seat as the jump point comes up. The Enterprise and the Valiant were the fastest ships the Republic of Earth had, they could go 5,000 km per second and to reach the jump point they were going break neck speed, but right now they seemed to be crawling along. She checks the time as they finally reach the point, 22:35 EST. Opening the comms through both her ship and the Valiant she takes a breath before starting. “Crews of the RES EX Enterprise and RES EX Valiant, this is Commander Merry Couture Senior Officer of the Jump Exploration Task Group. This is a moment that you will all want to remember for the rest of your lives. We are about to become the first 210 humans to pass through a jump point and the first humans to leave our solar system. I want everyone to their stations in five minutes with jump engines ready for transit in ten minutes. Be ready for anything, we have no idea what will happen or what we will find. ”
Breathing deep she shut off the comms and watched as her bridge crew instantly started about their work making sure everything would be ready. It took six minutes for her jump crew to be ready with the engines, but the Valiant took a little longer at eight minutes. Opening a channel to the Valiant, “Commander Mastroianni, we will be jumping at my mark. ”
“Confirmed Commander, we are ready on your mark. ”
Setting the time of the jump at 22:43:30 Merry started her countdown, “15, 14, 13… 4, 3, 2, 1, MARK. ”
The jump engine started roaring as everything slid sideways before sliding back. Shaking her head a little she glanced at the clock before calling for a status report. The clock read 22:44:00, their jump had only taken thirty seconds but where had they ended up?
“All stations report ready and a successful jump. Sensors report offline but even now they report the static filling their screens is slowly clearing, they estimate about two to five minutes before sensors being fully ready. At this time comms can not establish contact with the Valiant. ”
It was a long five minutes before the sensors cleared up and communications could be established with the Valiant, who had made a successful jump. The Operations Chief began to report, “I am getting confirmation that we are in a binary star system and it is Alpha Centauri. We appear to be just inside the orbit of the third planet of Alpha Centauri A. A quick scan of the planets… This is incredible; the second planet appears to be very Earth like. Wait… wait a second. ” His voice trailed off before he looked up at Merry. “Congratulations Commander, you command the first task group that confirmed the existence of alien life. ”
Merry’s head snapped up “What? Report Lieutenant. ”
“We are getting thermal and electronic emissions from Alpha Centauri A II. Going off fleet readings of Earth, the second planet of Alpha Centauri A has a couple million living beings on it. ”
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[ooc]Thank you to everyone who has read so far. I hope you are enjoying it. I would really like feedback on the second scene in this update. [/ooc]
First Human Jump Exploration Continued
EX Enterprise
“Set toward the planet at a speed of 2,000 km/s and establish an orbit of 100,000 km. Relay those orders to the Valiant. Turn on active sensors. ” This was unbelievable. Alien life found just 4 light years from Earth. Maybe space was more populated than previously believed. She chose that distance because it would put them over twice as far out as the farther of the two moons of the planet and it would put them well within sensor range, enough that they could accurately map anything on the surface.
“Sir, at this speed it will take us almost 22 hours to reach the planet. ” The helmsman replied.
“I am aware of that Ensign. But in case of a future confrontation with these aliens it would be good not to show them just how fast we can go. ” The next few hours would drag by. Merry remained on the bridge until 00:00 when she gave the bridge to her XO.
Nine minutes into her second shift, klaxons started to blare. “Contacts baring 15 degrees mark 0 degrees. Three ships all appear to be around 8,400 tons but each are configured differently. Entering them into computer as new classes, designating Orc, Vampire, and Hydra. ”
Merry nodded as her Sensor Officer continued to stare at his display. “Distance to targets? Speed of targets?”
“They are at the edge of sensor range which makes distance approximately 33. 6 million km. Speed appears to be 1,714 km/s. They are on intercept and at current speeds distance will close to zero in 2 hours, 30 minutes, and 46 seconds. ”
“Keep a steady eye on your screen and bring up a tactical plot at the main table. ” She ordered as she got up and walked to the tactical table in the middle of the room. Now that she knew the baring of the ships she could zoom in on them in either this table or even on the main screen but the plot was good enough for her and it kept her aware of everything rather than just those three ships. “Inform the Valiant of the situation. With only their passive sensors on they may not see the active contacts. Have them start collecting information about the other planets in the system but keep formation. ”
High alert is very hard to keep for long periods of time, even with ships heading your way, if there is nothing new happening. It’s just something the human body can’t handle; the amount of adrenalin needed to maintain that state is just too much. Her crew did good, keeping up full high alert for fifteen minutes. Five minutes later klaxons sounded for the second time that morning.
“Sir, new contact. ” The Sensor Officer almost yelled. “Baring 15 degrees, distance 722,000 km. ”
“Turn full astern, reverse course, head back to the jump point, and maintain speed. ” Merry ordered and opened up a communication line to the Valiant “Turn full around and head back to the jump point at current speed. There is a new contact less than a million clicks from us. ”
“Yes sir. Orders received. Valiant out. ” Commander Mastroianni’s voice sounded over the channel, he sounded as calm as ever.
“Contact designation Chimera is matching our speed. They are turning on sensors, we are close enough for a full analysis of their sensors. Their sensors are sensitivity 12 and resolution appears to be 73 with a range of 8 to 9 million km. ”
“How the bloody hell did they manage to get so close to us before we noticed them?”
“Their size appears to be 1,000 tons, sir. The LASS is not designed to see ships that small. We can see a 5,000 ton ship at 33 million km but as a ship gets smaller the range we can see it at goes down quickly. ”
“Turn complete. The contact should be at about 9,000 km now. ” The helmsman interjected.
“Confirmed. Contact Chimera is at 9,000 km astern and is matching our pace exactly. ”
Merry checked the timer on the table, over 9 hours at current speed until they reach the jump point. Fleet regulations encouraged ships to be no more than 10,000 km from each other, which meant this contact was possibly closer than the Valiant was. That was a distance she was not comfortable with being. “Well lets test the speed of this contact. Increase speed by 500 km/s to 2,500 km/s. ”
“Aye-aye Commander. ”
“Distant contacts are continuing at previous speed, they are falling away quickly. Chimera has increased speed to 2,499 km/s. ”
“Increase speed 2,750 km/s. ”
“Contact Chimera is keeping steady at 2,499 km/s. It seems we have discovered its top speed. ”
“Good. ” Merry watched the tactical plot as first the original contacts fell away then an idea struck her. “Did we ever try to establish communications with them?”
The Communications Officer checked his logs before responding, “No sir. We did not try to establish contact at any time. ”
“Send a greeting in a tight beam to the planet. ” Hopefully this oversight would not be analyzed forever as the blunder that led humanity into its first interstellar war. “I am going to my cabin, send tactical plot there and alert me of any changes. ” She figured that she’d better get started on the paperwork for this.
February 2050
The Hague, Earth
The Senate floor was in chaos. It was fifteen hours into the emergency meeting of the Senate and House of Commons after Commander Merry Couture had returned with her thrice damned report. Three bills had been successfully passed in that time. The first was that the Navy should get a team together to continue trying to decrypt the alien’s language. The second was that there should be a First Contact medal. The third was that Commander Couture and Commander Mastroianni should receive this medal. None of those bills passed without dissent but on those issues the two main factions could agree on.
The Democratic and Liberal Parties had banded together in a group to push communications with the aliens. With 12 senators this group controlled 40% of all votes. The Republic Party answered this by getting the Conservative and Commonwealth Parties together on a pro-war stance. This group also contained 12 senators and had 40% of the vote. The Muslim Brotherhood senator declared the meeting blasphemous and began to vote no on every measure. The Asian Prosperity Party senator and the Latin American senator advocate a wait and see approach where the jump point is monitored but no action regarding the aliens are taken. They claim any other action is not in the interest of the people they represent. The Socialist senators are gathering all information they can before voting on anything. Because of this most votes are 12 for, 15 against, and 2 abstentions.
The House of Commons floor was not much better. The Republic, Conservative, and Commonwealth Parties had the NATO Party join them for 41% of the vote while the Democratic and Liberal Party found themselves with just under 25% of the vote. It was clear that in the House of Commons more than anywhere else the pro-diplomacy coalition was going to have to wheel and deal.
Steven Baker knocked firmly on the door of Maki Ichirou, the head of the Asian Prosperity Party’s House of Commons representatives. “Mr. Maki, I am Steven Baker. ” He said as the door opened.
Ichirou nodded, “Yes I know who you are. I assume the Democratic Party has a backdoor offer of some kind for me?”
“Yes. We do. If you lend the voice of your members to our next vote the Democratic and Liberal parties are willing to start a new bill calling for the expansion of civilian shipping companies and make sure that the next company is from Greater Japan. ” He smiled easily as he sat down.
“The votes of my group along would not be enough to even match the voting block arrayed against you. And on top of that you would only be able to deliver 25% of the vote for this bill you talk about. ”
Steven looked at the representative trying not to show the borderline contempt he held for many of the people who shared his profession. “Your 42 seats would add ten and a half percent which would make your party the third largest party in our coalition. It would be quite the start to outmatching the pro war bloc. In exchange for this we are willing to start a bill that would help you, as a party for regional prosperity should want. If you proposed that bill it would die without much support even if we did support it. However, if someone else pushes it forward less people will think of the fact that this company will just happen to be Japanese and they will be more likely to vote for that. But this is all a side show and you know it, just icing on the cake.
“The cake is how you swing this and get your senator on our side by pointing out that we can adopt the wait and see while trying to establish contact. If communications are established you can then point out how you were willing to deviate slightly from your party’s wait and see line in order for the betterment of mankind. If communications are not ever established then you can come forward extolling the virtues of your party’s original line. Either way you win AND your home country gets a civilian shipping line out of it. ”
Ichirou smiled as one would expect a snake to smile before sitting down with a flourish. “Ah, Mr. Baker you are as cagey as I was told to expect. You push away the words that tend to so clog up the communication that we profess, and get right to the heart of the matter. You put me in a position where both my self interests and my country’s interests are met as well as those of my Party’s. No matter what loyalty I hold most dear you push a way for that loyalty to be served while giving me a way to hide the shameful loyalty and pick and choose which public one to push. In plain English you have given me an offer I can not refuse. ”
Live Broadcast, The Hague, Earth
Bruce Mathews walks up to the podium and looks at the camera. “As most of you know by now, five days ago humanity made contact with aliens for the first time. Ever since then the Republic Government has been in a deadlock. During this time my party, the Socialist Party, has been gathering all of the information it can on the situation. That information gathering ended just a couple hours ago and resulted in a vote that ends the deadlock. The Republic Navy has confirmed that in the best case scenario the small amount of battle ready ships we have will not be in prime fighting condition for over a year and without jump gates to stabilize the jump point there will be no way for the ships to traverse the jump point. ”
He shuffles his papers around a little before continuing, “That is why we have decided that we should do everything we can to find a way to communicate with these aliens. We also have passed a bill to greatly expand both the military arm of the Republic Navy but the nonmilitary arm. Now I have some time for questions. ”
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March 2050
EX Valiant
“Approaching jump point now. ” Ensign Barker stated calmly from his position at the helm.
“Thank you, Ensign. ” Commander Fred Mastroianni replied as he hit the intercom button on his chair. “Jump crew, prepare the engines for jump in two minutes. Sensor crew, activate the active sensors just prior to jump. ” And then the wait began. This would be his third jump and the first time he was in overall command. The Enterprise had remained at the Alpha Centauri jump point with its sensors pinging away, while he went to check out this new jump point that was found.
The first thing that struck Fred was how dark it was as everything cleared itself from the jump. “How far are we from the star in this system?”
“We are about 1. 6au from the star, or roughly the distance of Mars from the Sun. This star appears to have about 30% of the Sun’s diameter and 0. 5% of the light. It appears to be possibly Wolf 359, though if it is then all measurements of Wolf 359 are off. ”
“Thank you Ensign Martin. ” Fred replied while setting up the plot table. Getting out of his command chair, he walked over to the table and started watching the remaining information from their basic search fill itself in. “There are no planets here, or so it would seem. ”
Ensign Martin looked up from his monitor, “No sir. Wolf 359 appears to have nothing orbiting it of note. ”
“Ok then. There is no point in remaining in system if there is nothing to explore. There may be more jump points here but we do not have the sensors to find out and no ship with the sensor capability has a jump drive. Let’s go home and report a dead system. ”
San Francisco, United North America, Earth
Commander Gene Jetton rubbed his eyes; he had been staring at his screen for hours now trying to fit the key piece in. He was part of a group that had been quietly assembled in mid February to try to start communication with the aliens of Alpha Centauri. They were located not too far from UC Berkeley because that is where Hershel Finucane, the world’s leading scientist in Xenobiology, and his grad student Stacey Majid were located. Early on in the process Dr. Finucane’s insights were invaluable but as time had gone on Gene now doubted the need for them to continue to consult the team.
Glancing at the clock he noticed that it was 2 am which meant that the rest of the team would get here in about three hours and Gene hadn’t even left yet. They had been working for a month every single day, devoting all day to this riddle and so far they hadn’t really gotten anywhere. Thanks to the Enterprise and Commander Merry Couture the team had a large sample of the alien’s language, both samplings from the planet made on the first sweep and from several jumps in which English hails and information was sent to planet and repeated transmissions from the aliens. All that had to be done was to figure out how they structured their language and then everything would start falling into place. It had to be that easy, had to. Gene tried one more thing and set the computer to try his new formatting before he fell asleep at his desk.
The next thing Gene realized was he was being roughly shaken by Brigadier General Ahmed Patin, the leader of their team. Blinking as he sat up, Gene noticed the entire team crowded around him. “What? This isn’t the first time I have fallen asleep at my desk. ” He defensively snapped at everyone.
Ahmed cleared his throat loudly and pointed at the screen. Gene rubbed his eyes again and looked taking a moment before finally the excitement dawned on him. The screen was flashing with each written transmission rearranging itself into the familiar left to right top to bottom format any English speaker was trained to use. “Good work Gene, it appears as though you have cracked the format of this language. We are one large step forward in translating this language. ”
The Hague, Earth, four days later
“May I present Brigadier General Ahmed Patin of the Translation Team?” the man at the door asked as Julianna Lancour sat down at her desk. “Yes, bring him in. ”
Ahmed walked in the room in full dress uniform and bowed slightly, “Thank you for seeing me Madam President. I have news from my team. ” He took the time to quietly look around the room and noted its opulence. The hardwood walls made of the highest grade wood, the deep red curtains on the large windows and the carpet that matched. And to think this was just her personal office, the public office for the President of the Republic of Earth was much more opulent.
“What is the news, General?” She snapped back, a little harsher than she had first intended. She was tired of everyone announcing to her what they were about to tell her before actually getting to the point and telling her. She knew he had news; she was briefed on it while he was on a plane traveling half way around the world.
“We have established full communication with the alien race. They call themselves the Bilios Conglomerate, or at least that is the closest translation that we have. As of right now there does not appear to be any threat from them but we are still in the opening stages of introducing ourselves. The breakthrough happened yesterday and I caught the first flight here, just arrived. ”
“Interesting. You are dismissed. ” Was her reply. As General Patin turned around and walked away Julianna’s mind went into overdrive. Not only was humanity not alone in the cosmos, but now just a month after first contact they were in full communications with the aliens. And to top it off they were not an immediate threat like the Republic and Conservative parties had preached. This was a large win for both the Democratic and Liberal parties, too bad this wasn't an election year.
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April 2050
Naval Headquarters, Earth
Vice Admiral Vern Mucher sat down at the head of the table with a giant tactical plot screen behind him. Also sitting at the table was the rest of his staff; Captain Vernell Heywood, Head of Communications, Captain Suzanne Dowd, Head of Fighter Operations, Captain Isabell Stiltner, Head of Naval Intelligence, Commander Yvonne Dreger, Head of Logistics, Commander Brian Hoston, Head of Fleet Operations, Captain Rich Sipe, Head of Public Affairs, and Captain Agnes Laizure, Head of Survey.
Vern cleared his throat before beginning the meeting, “The last three months have completely reshaped every paradigm of Humanity. We have discovered Jump Point Physics, we have found two jump points in our own solar system, left our solar system for the first time, made contact with the first alien race we have ever discovered, and have recently established full communications with them. Let’s start this meeting hearing from Captain Stiltner and her analysis of the Conglomerate. ”
Captain Stiltner shuffled through her papers for a minute as she thought on her word choice, “To start off with our intelligence on the Bilos Conglomerate primarily comes from the first, and to date only real, contact with the race. Commanders Couture and Mastroianni were very complete in their information gathering however. We have seen four space faring ships of theirs and our tactical computers have labeled each a different class.
“The Orc, Vampire, and Hydra classes were the first to be spotted and all seem to have the same characteristics, leading my department to wonder if the computers were wrong. Each ship has a cross section of 168, which is slightly more than the Essex class carrier’s cross section of 155, this puts our estimate of the tonnage at 8,400. Neither Enterprise class ship got close enough to confirm a thermal signature for the ships but their fastest observed speed was 1,714 m/s, which puts them significantly slower than the minimum top speed of 4,500 m/s our fleet maintains. We don’t know anything more about these three classes but it can be assumed that they would each function in different, albeit unknown, roles if they are indeed separate classes.
“The Chimera is much different than the other classes. With a cross section of 20 it is assumed to have a tonnage of 1,000 which is about 1/3rd of the size of the Enterprise class, the smallest class of independent ship we have. It has a thermal signature of 50 and an estimated top speed of 2,500 m/s although we have only observed it going a maximum of 2,499 m/s. The largest problem we have with this ship is our sensors can only detect it at about 280,000 km while the other classes can be detected at almost 11 million km.
“It is hard to tell what engine and other technology they have from this information but it is tentatively believed that their over all technological level is lower than our own based on four observed vessels. ”
Vern nodded and then pointed to Captain Laizure, “Commander Laizure, what is your assessment of Alpha Centauri’s possible strategic importance?”
“Possible strategic importance? Well that is impossible to assess with our current information. ” Agnes replied heavily as if the expectations of her were unrealistic, “We have no idea what jump points may or may not exist in Alpha Centauri, either where they go or how many of them there are. On top of that we have no idea how mineral rich the system is. All I can really comment on is its possible suitability for colonization. Alpha Centauri A II, the home planet of the Conglomerate appears to have a breathable atmosphere and its not tidally locked. That being said the Conglomerate mostly live under ground and for good reason, in the time it takes that planet to rotate around its axis once the Earth rotates 112 times while a year for that planet is equal to a day and a half or 168 Earth days. The average temperature of Earth is ~57 F while Alpha Centauri A II can be estimated to be closer to 86 F. Beyond that there is Alpha Centauri A III’s seventh moon which is similar to Phobos or Deimos, Mars’ moons. Without mineral or gravity surveys of the system there is no real reason not let the Conglomerate keep their system. ”
She paused for a second, she had to focus on her wording momentarily. “There are two ways to survey the system of course. The first would be to build the theoretical jump gate on both sides of the jump point and then send our ships through, though that would take a year or more and may allow the Conglomerate to access our system. The second way would be to design a new jump engine and create new classes of survey vessels that are jump capable. That would also take one to two years. However it would have the upsides of both not allowing access to Sol and to have the vessels for possible future exploration. ”
“Yes, thank you Agnes. Your insights are valued as always. ” Vern said stiffly. She was the best surveyor they had but she was intolerably pessimistic. “Now moving on, Commander Dreger, which course would you suggest?”
Yvonne smiled as all eyes fell to her. “Well, to be perfectly frank, I would suggest the latter although we might want to build a jump gate on this side of the jump point in case we need to quickly respond to a threat in Alpha Centauri. Our ships could rush through and do battle while the construction ship could jump in and start constructing a gate on that side. All of this is possible but no matter how we slice it, the importance of Alpha Centauri will have to remain a mystery for at least a year. ”
Commander Hoston looked at clock for several seconds before looking at the group, “Right about now, the Coontz should be arriving at the Alpha Centauri jump point to begin construction on a jump gate. The Amerigo Vespucci should arrive at the Wolf 359 jump point in a few days to start building one there. Vice Admiral Mucher and I already had those thoughts and sent the two ships out a couple of days ago. When finished the Amerigo Vespucci will jump to the other side of the point and begin construction on a gate on that side to allow for a gravitational survey to begin. The Coontz will not, however, and will either return to Earth or will go to another jump point if one is found between now and the completion of that gate. ”
“Very good, Commander. In other news, the President and Congress want us to start transporting infrastructure and eventually colonists to Mars ahead of the completion and moving of the eight North Carolinas to Mars orbit in July 2051. In addition to the North Carolina class terraformers the recent expansion that was authorized will add eight Oregon class colony ships, two Lexington class battleships, one Essex class carrier without compliment of fighters approved at the moment, and seven Fletcher class destroyers. No Spruance class cruisers have been authorized. ”
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This is a very interesting game. Do you mind showing us the ship designs? I always find it interesting to see how other people design ships.
EDIT: Just realized this is half a month old. Sorry if it isn't active anymore.
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Can you give us an eta on the next update?
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This is a very interesting game. Do you mind showing us the ship designs? I always find it interesting to see how other people design ships.
EDIT: Just realized this is half a month old. Sorry if it isn't active anymore.
Thank you very much for posting. I can show ship designs after the next update, and I would love to have your thoughts on them.
Can you give us an eta on the next update?
Sure. I can have an update done today or tomorrow. I lost a lot of drive to write when it was seeming like people weren't actually reading it.
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Sure. I can have an update done today or tomorrow. I lost a lot of drive to write when it was seeming like people weren't actually reading it.
You can use the "Thread viewed" count as a guide to how many people have read it, compared to actual posts. :)
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You can use the "Thread viewed" count as a guide to how many people have read it, compared to actual posts. :)
I know but even that hit a point where there were only a couple views in a day and I don't know this forum well enough to know how good that is.
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I know but even that hit a point where there were only a couple views in a day and I don't know this forum well enough to know how good that is.
This might give you an idea :)
http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php?action=stats
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It does thanks.
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April 2050
Sol System
GSV Aristotle
“This is Captain Renato Dubrey of the GSV Aristotle, CO of the Gravity Task Group 1, to Earth Republic Naval Command. My task group has found a third jump point in the Sol system. It is located one hundred million kilometers inside the orbit of Neptune, approximately four and a quarter billion kilometers from the Sun at a heading of one hundred and seventy four degrees. It is also about one point three billion kilometers from the jump point to Wolf 359 on a heading of one hundred and eighty eight degrees.” As Renato finished sending his first report he waited looking out at the point before him. He knew the Einstein and the Oppenheimer were also out there somewhere in his field of vision but they were just too small to be seen. The sensors told him that just in front of him was a massive gravitational anomaly that could be used to catapult a ship many light-years away but all he could see was the normal emptiness of space. Neptune was in a different part of its orbit so he couldn’t even see that planet. Just black emptiness as he faced away from the Sun.
The crackle of an incoming message broke Captain Dubrey out of his thoughts, “This is Earth Republic Naval Command to GSV Aristotle. Message received. Jump point is being uploaded to strategic maps. Thank you.”
“Command, currently there are two more locations to scout out and both are on Gravity Task Group 2’s list. Request orders to return to Earth for refit of our ships and to await reassignment.”
“Request granted, Captain. We will see you home in a few days.”
The Hague, Earth
Steven Baker swiveled in his chair looking at the large screen a few feet away. On it a very happy Japanese man was cutting a large ridiculously large red ribbon with even more ridiculously large scissors. All of this was to celebrate the opening of Postlewaite Lines, a civilian shipping company with nothing to do. Of course that didn’t matter, and it was also just a matter of coincidence that Maki-san, esteemed House of Commons representative, happened to directly own 20% of the company. To be fair, with the recent start of construction of various types of infrastructure to help colonize Mars Postlewaite might have jobs to do soon.
Again it didn’t matter to him if Postlewaite ever had a job or was anything more than a company in name only; it was payment for 10% of the vote on a critical issue. Communications had been established with the aliens and it turns out they are not inherently violent. Or at least they either don’t want to or can’t wage war against Earth. The Left won on one of the biggest issues that mankind had ever faced. The Enterprise had been sitting on the jump point for two months now with no movement, so it was very unlikely that they had anything to worry about for now.
With that thought his tablet started to beep. Reaching over Steven picked it up and read the message, Payment received, good doing business with you. He shook his head as he put it back down. Another part of the necessary back scratching, Morrical Freight Company was subsidized $1,000,000,000 to keep them quiet about getting competition. These two companies had already started bickering back and forth over what future jobs they might get. Talk about counting your eggs before they hatch, he thought wearily.
Mars Orbit
“This is the FT Dart to TR Aaóuane, do you copy? I repeat, this is FT Dart to TR Aaóuane.” Commander Kathryn Kugler tried hailing the terraforming ships again. Her task group was about two hours out from the planet and the only Earth ships in the area refused to answer. She was starting to get annoyed and thinking about reporting Commander Katie Balding, the leader of the terraforming task group, when her radio crackled to life.
“This is TR Aaóuane to FT Dart. We read you.” A male voice sounded over the channel.
“TR Aaóuane, I was under the impression that you are commanded by a Commander Katie Balding, is that correct?” She snapped, after trying to hail the damned ships for over an hour she can’t even get ahold of the damned commander.
“That is correct. This is Lieutenant Anthony Nolan. I am the Chief Engineer on board and I currently have the con. We read you and the FT Eden about an hour and a half away from orbit, is that correct?” This Lt. Nolan was annoyingly calm, though they could be going space crazy by now. Each North Carolina class terraformer had three hundred people on board, but by three months of only having contact with six hundred people in two ships with very little extra room, they could be going stir crazy.
“Of course it’s correct. We are going to be descending into low orbit and starting construction on the first habitats. We will be here for two days max before you can go back to your jobs. We have a total of fifty trips that we will be making over the next three months assuming the factories back home can keep up. We will stay out of your hair if you stay out of ours.”
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Now, as promised the designs for my ships. I will also give an order of battle.
Essex class Carrier 7,750 tons 152 Crew 1457 BP TCS 155 TH 168 EM 0
4516 km/s Armour 2-34 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 0
Maint Life 9.59 Years MSP 1175 AFR 48% IFR 0.7% 1YR 23 5YR 347 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 51
Hangar Deck Capacity 2000 tons Magazine 360
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (7) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 12.2 billion km (31 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
RIM-100 Standard (90) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 22.7m Range: 40.9m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 290/174/87
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
MASS MR3-R1 (1) GPS 42 Range 3.4m km Resolution 1
Strike Group
5x SF-1 Aries Fighter Speed: 5797 km/s Size: 6.9
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
SF-1 Aries class Fighter 345 tons 10 Crew 135.9 BP TCS 6.9 TH 9.6 EM 0
5797 km/s Armour 1-4 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0.6
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 69% IFR 1% 1YR 16 5YR 242 Max Repair 42 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Magazine 4
40 EP Internal Fusion Drive (1) Power 40 Fuel Use 280.02% Signature 9.599999 Exp 20%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres Range 0.9 billion km (44 hours at full power)
Size 4 Box Launcher (1) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC100-R100 (1) Range 100.8m km Resolution 100
RIM-100 Standard (1) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 22.7m Range: 40.9m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 290/174/87
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
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
Lexington class Battleship 6,650 tons 187 Crew 1504 BP TCS 133 TH 144 EM 0
4511 km/s Armour 4-31 Shields 0-0 Sensors 16/16/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 16
Maint Life 9.01 Years MSP 1131 AFR 44% IFR 0.6% 1YR 25 5YR 376 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 0
Flag Bridge Magazine 196
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (6) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 14.2 billion km (36 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Missile Launcher (4) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20
Missile Fire Control FC100-R100 (1) Range 100.8m km Resolution 100
RIM-100 Standard (48) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 22.7m Range: 40.9m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 290/174/87
MASS MR3-R1 (1) GPS 42 Range 3.4m km Resolution 1
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH2-16 (1) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 16m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 16m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Spruance class Cruiser 5,500 tons 188 Crew 1213.5 BP TCS 110 TH 120 EM 0
4545 km/s Armour 3-27 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 22 PPV 8
Maint Life 35.29 Years MSP 3034 AFR 11% IFR 0.2% 1YR 5 5YR 71 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 188
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (5) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres Range 17.2 billion km (43 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (1x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Missile Launcher (2) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20
Missile Fire Control FC100-R100 (1) Range 100.8m km Resolution 100
MASS MR3-R1 (1) GPS 42 Range 3.4m km Resolution 1
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Hutton class Geological Survey Vessel 3,950 tons 110 Crew 1136.5 BP TCS 79 TH 96 EM 0
5063 km/s Armour 1-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/6 Damage Control Rating 11 PPV 0
Maint Life 20.09 Years MSP 1978 AFR 11% IFR 0.2% 1YR 9 5YR 140 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,050,000 Litres Range 100.7 billion km (230 days at full power)
Improved Geological Sensors (3) 6 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Newton class Gravitational Survey Vessel 3,950 tons 110 Crew 1136.5 BP TCS 79 TH 96 EM 0
5063 km/s Armour 1-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/6/0 Damage Control Rating 11 PPV 0
Maint Life 18.62 Years MSP 1978 AFR 11% IFR 0.2% 1YR 11 5YR 162 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,050,000 Litres Range 100.7 billion km (230 days at full power)
Improved Gravitational Sensors (3) 6 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Oregon class Colony Ship 54,750 tons 359 Crew 2648.5 BP TCS 1095 TH 2700 EM 0
2465 km/s Armour 1-128 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 30 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Cryogenic Berths 150000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 25
300 EP Commercial Internal Fusion Drive (9) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 15.9 billion km (74 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Tanker class Freighter 67,100 tons 219 Crew 1203 BP TCS 1342 TH 2700 EM 0
2011 km/s Armour 1-147 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 11 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Cargo 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 25
300 EP Commercial Internal Fusion Drive (9) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 13.0 billion km (74 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Enterprise class Exploration Ship 3,000 tons 104 Crew 651 BP TCS 60 TH 72 EM 0
5000 km/s JR 1-50 Armour 2-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 16/16/0/0 Damage Control Rating 12 PPV 0
Maint Life 39.22 Years MSP 1628 AFR 6% IFR 0.1% 1YR 2 5YR 31 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 0
J3000(1-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 3000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 1
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (3) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 37.9 billion km (87 days at full power)
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH2-16 (1) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 16m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-16 (1) Sensitivity 16 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 16m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Fletcher class Destroyer 4,400 tons 153 Crew 1022 BP TCS 88 TH 96 EM 0
4545 km/s Armour 2-23 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 14 PPV 10
Maint Life 29.45 Years MSP 2033 AFR 11% IFR 0.2% 1YR 5 5YR 68 Max Repair 100 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 2
Magazine 190
100 EP Internal Fusion Drive (4) Power 100 Fuel Use 47.5% Signature 24 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 4.3 billion km (10 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (1x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Missile Launcher (2) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20
Size 1 Missile Launcher (2) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
Missile Fire Control FC100-R100 (1) Range 100.8m km Resolution 100
AM Missile Fire Control FC10-R1 (1) Range 10.1m km Resolution 1
RIM-100 Standard (24) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 22.7m Range: 40.9m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 290/174/87
MEADS 100 (94) Speed: 40,000 km/s End: 1m Range: 2.3m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 453/272/136
MASS MR3-R1 (1) GPS 42 Range 3.4m km Resolution 1
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Coontz class Construction Ship 71,300 tons 269 Crew 2406 BP TCS 1426 TH 2700 EM 0
1893 km/s Armour 1-153 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 21 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 120 days
300 EP Commercial Internal Fusion Drive (9) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 2.0 billion km (12 days at full power)
CIWS-120 (2x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
North Carolina class Terraformer 61,700 tons 300 Crew 1823 BP TCS 1234 TH 1800 EM 0
1458 km/s Armour 1-139 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 18 Max Repair 500 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Spare Berths 1
Terraformer: 2 module(s) producing 0.004 atm per annum
300 EP Commercial Internal Fusion Drive (6) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 14.1 billion km (112 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Portland class Planetary Defence Centre 21,600 tons 284 Crew 2808 BP TCS 432 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 14-69 Sensors 1/42 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 45
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months Flight Crew Berths 500
Hangar Deck Capacity 3500 tons Magazine 1485
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range N/A
CIWS-120 (3x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
PDC Size 1 Missile Launcher (5) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 5
PDC Size 4 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 10
AM Missile Fire Control FC10-R1 (1) Range 10.1m km Resolution 1
Missile Fire Control FC100-R100 (4) Range 100.8m km Resolution 100
RIM-100 Standard (310) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 22.7m Range: 40.9m km WH: 6 Size: 4 TH: 290/174/87
MEADS 100 (245) Speed: 40,000 km/s End: 1m Range: 2.3m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 453/272/136
MASS MR3-R1 (1) GPS 42 Range 3.4m km Resolution 1
LASS MR33-R100 (1) GPS 4200 Range 33.6m km Resolution 100
Strike Group
10x SF-1 Aries Fighter Speed: 5797 km/s Size: 6.9
This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 9 sections
Currently the only battle task group we have is the Lexington Task group which is on training exercise. It consists of the following ships.
The Lexington, a Lexington class battleship
The Essex, an Essex class carrier
The Spruance, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia, all Spruance class cruisers
The Fletcher, Brighton, Valencia, and York, all Fletcher class destoryers
The Aries, Vancouver, Vermont, Vladivostok, and Westminster, all SF-1 Aries Fighters
The only other task group worth talking about is the Earth Orbital Defense
The Chicago, New York, and Portland are all Portland class Planetary Defense Centers
Each PDC has 10 SF-1 Aries broken into two squadrons of five.
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They look like pretty solid designs to me. However, the fighter's MFC is way overpowered for the missile it carries. I also doubt the usefulness of the active sensor, as most engagements will start with your capital ships already having the enemy on sensors. I'd suggest maybe having a dedicated scout fighter instead, using saved space on the fighter to increase speed.
Your capital ships also seem to have very long maintenance lives, but that isn't really too big a deal, even if it is a bit inefficient.
Also, I really like how much story you have managed to put into this in only 4-5 months of in-game play.
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They look like pretty solid designs to me. However, the fighter's MFC is way overpowered for the missile it carries. I also doubt the usefulness of the active sensor, as most engagements will start with your capital ships already having the enemy on sensors. I'd suggest maybe having a dedicated scout fighter instead, using saved space on the fighter to increase speed.
Your capital ships also seem to have very long maintenance lives, but that isn't really too big a deal, even if it is a bit inefficient.
Also, I really like how much story you have managed to put into this in only 4-5 months of in-game play.
I am glad you think they look solid. All of the fire controls are a lot better than the current generation of missiles for two reasons, one is its hard with my current tech to get they to match up nicely, and two I like to be able to have a fire control last for at least a couple missile generations. If I were to replace the sensor it would probably be to have another box launcher, that being said the sensor gives me flexibility while deploying the ships.
They do have a long maintenance life because I try to put the IFR as low as possible, I had a game where the ships had IFRs of 0.8 or higher and I had ships in for overhaul every couple of months.
I am glad you like it. I am generally hazy on where in the month it is while in story but I will tell you we are only half way through April. There is a lot happening and I want to give as many stories as possible screen time as it were.
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May 2050
Sol Jump Point 3
Merry smiled as her ship reached the jump point. After three months of being stationed at the Alpha Centauri jump point her ship was reinstated as the head of the Jump Exploration Task Group and she was able to leave Sol again. HQ had been in full communications with the Bilios for two months now and they had reached the conclusion that the Bilios were of no immediate threat. “Valiant, this is the Enterprise, Commander Mastroianni, please report ship readiness.”
She waited a few seconds before the reply came in, “Enterprise, this is the Valiant. I am reading green all across the board. Ready to jump on your mark.”
“Thank you Fred. Mark in 15, 14…2, 1 Mark.” The rushing roar of the jump engines was starting to become something she was used to, but the feeling of sliding sideways that came at the moment of the jump was something Merry just didn’t think she would ever be used to.
As soon as they jumped the bridge was filled with a blinding white light. “What is going on? Is there some sort of problem with the view screen?” She shouted as she threw up her arms to protect her eyes.
“Um, no sir.” Came the hesitant answer of her Operations Chief. “Polarizing view screen now, it appears the main star of this system is just very bright. We were not prepared for it.”
The light on the bridge finally dimmed to an acceptable level which prompted Merry to look around. “Where are we?”
“We appear to be orbiting Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky. It is a binary system, the main star, Sirius A, is 62 times as bright as the Sun, while the secondary star, Sirius B is just over 1% of the Sun’s brightness.”
“Thank you Lieutenant. Am I correct in reading that there are six planets orbiting the main star, and two orbiting the secondary? With about 60 moons between them?” Merry directed the question at her Sensor Officer who took a moment to reply.
“Yes sir. You appear to be correct. The first four planets are orbiting Sirius A in an orbit smaller than Sirius B while the farther two are well outside Sirius B’s orbit. Judging by our current knowledge of White Dwarfs like Sirius B the first four planets have only had a chance to develop in the last several million years. If there was ever any life in this system it would have had to develop on one of the moons of Sirius A V or VI but would probably have died out as Sirius B transitioned into its current state.”
“Good. There appears to be no place for any colony of any sort so we will head back and mark this system as mineral and military value only.”
June 2050
Barcelona, Europe, Earth
Greg hastily walked through the patio and onto the very well manicured lawn ignoring the bright sunlight and the overall beauty of his surroundings. He was a man on a mission. There was news he had to deliver to his boss and he had to deliver it now. After a several minute walk, just long enough for him to start subtly sweating in the heat and his black suit, he reached the hammock that his boss was laying in. “Excuse me sir, but there is news that you will want to hear.”
Bruce Mathews sat up and looked at his man through mirrored sunglasses, “Yes Greg?” The head of the Socialist party in the House of Commons was not a man who allowed petty news to bother him on vacation, though important news was to be shared immediately.
“It seems as though Morrical Freight Company has launched the first civilian ship, sir.” Greg cleared his throat and waited. Either this would be deemed important and he would be, if not rewarded, then at least left alone or this would be deemed petty and he would possibly be in the market for a new job.
“I see.” Bruce pondered this for a moment before getting up and holding his hand out for a tablet. “Continue.” He said as he started to look at the information on the screen while walking back toward the house.
“Apparently it is called a Morrical Small F5, it is a freighter that appears to be just over 34,000 tons. Cost of this ship seems to be about $660,000,000 most of it coming from the subsidy given to them by the government some months ago. Their share price has risen to $3.00 a share from $2.00 a share and will most likely continue to rise in the near future.” Greg stopped for a moment to take a deep breath so he could continue while matching his boss’ pace. “Back to the ship, it is reported to be slightly faster than the Navy’s Tanker class freighter and has almost twice the range, though given that the F5 is about half the size of the Tanker that is to be expected. It also has about half the cargo space and takes over a day to load while the Tanker class can fully load up in 20 hours.”
Bruce nodded as they entered the house and he started setting up for a meeting in the living room area of the house. “Good, how recent is this news? Also how many other senators and representatives do you think know about this?”
“By this point, given that the walk is about two and a half minutes from the house to where you were, the news broke about seven minutes ago. If they aren’t being currently informed of it they will be soon, either that or a large number of aides will be looking for new jobs come tomorrow.”
“That is exactly what I want to hear. Now we are going to have to start a meeting with all senior party members as we process this development. It is exactly what we wanted to happen and I believe it is the private sector’s response to the moving of infrastructure to Mars that the Navy began almost two months ago. Lets see, the North Carolinas will be done in about a year so that will cause an uptick in how quickly Mars can be terraformed, if I am not mistaken the current estimates with just two North Carolina class put Mars at being fully terraformed in the 2150s. The new ships should bring that down to the early 2070s.”
3rd July 2050
Live Broadcast from The Hague, Earth
“People of the Earth, rejoice on this day. This is the day that Earth stops being the only populated planet in our solar system. Earlier today six hundred thousand of your fellow humans have landed on Mars to make the red planet their home. They are starting to fill habitats constructed for them over the past few months as they wait for their new home to become habitable. Mars is our first colony away from our home, the first of many.”
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July 2050
Nicosia, Syria-Thaumasia, Mars
Levi Barlow stood in the crowd as the second group of colonists landed not too far outside the colony. This would bring the population up to just shy of a million people living primarily in Nicosia. Most of the rest of them were setting up a new city called Cairo. Apparently the names had something to do with some books or movies or something that were written a long time ago, Levi didn’t really know or care that much to be honest. His arm reflexively raised to shield his face as the Oregon got low enough to start kicking up dust, not that his arm would do anything that the visor on his environmental suit wouldn’t do. The thing that struck him the most about the dust, and everything on this planet for that matter, was that it was no where near red but rather a light brownish color. He felt a little sad for these people though, current policy was to cryogenically freeze people for the trip even though it was only a couple of days. The memories of what it was like to wake up from the freeze were still fresh in his memory, he could almost smell the bile still.
Levi checked his watch noting the time. He would have to leave here before the 300,000 people had fully disembarked and long before they shuffled off to the immigration office. On Earth Levi had built computers for a living, but here on Mars that was not an option, at least not yet. He was part of a team that built the electronics for the new construction factories being put up. A couple had been brought from Earth but many, many more would be needed if Mars was ever going to be a productive colony. He didn’t complain too much though, he was not one of the people actually putting together the factories or one of the poor blokes who worked in the mines. Really he was solidly part of the very small middle class that existed on Mars, and considering that most of what could be considered high class worked for the Republic directly, he was sitting pretty.
The Hague, Earth
“Maki-san, I have news about the Morrical Freight Company.”
Ichiro looked up at his manservant with heavily lidded eyes, “Yes? What is the news?”
He was hoping the news was not another rise in Morrical’s stock prices. His company, Postlewaite, had launched a freighter much larger than Morrical’s freighter but the stock prices had remained at $2 a share, and now Morrical had just launched another ship just a couple days ago. It was a fuel harvester of all things, its job was to stop at a gas giant and collect sorium and refine it before bringing it back to Earth to sell.
“The ship has laid in a course. It is heading to Neptune.”
“Really? That is an odd choice. Neptune has less sorium than Earth does and its harder to get. I would imagine they would go to Uranus where over 25 million cubic tons of sorium exists.” This was interesting. There were seven bodies known to contain sorium in the solar system and Neptune had the forth largest, though he did have to admit that the scans showed that sorium could be rather easily harvested from Neptune’s atmosphere.
Perth, Oceania, Earth
“Religion has a long history of disputes it has had with science, one of the most notable examples is Galileo, but in the 1920s the game changed. Starting with State of Tennessee vs. Scopes, religion has been increasingly against science. I would argue in all this time science has only had one real dispute with religion, this dispute started in 1984 by Thomas Pierson and Dr Jill Tarter. In 1984 these two incorporated the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Institute, better known as either SETI or the SETI Institute.
“Bayesian Logic, also known as Occam’s Razor or Occam’s Principle, is the foundation of scientific thought and when on the subject of life outside earth it would postulate that we are not alone. Not only can we postulate this but mathematics, astrophysics, and astrogeology all support this by proving that the Sol system is a rather average system and is one of uncountable systems in existence.
“Yet with all of this being true, religions around the world refused to accept the possibility until earlier this year when we made contact with the Bilos. In response to this there are people who are claiming that the Bilos must be the angels and such that are written in holy texts despite the lack of jump point knowledge of the Bilos. As of right now we do not know much about the history of the Bilos and most of that is still classified by the government. That being said for the Bilos to have visited Earth before they would have either had to had jump point knowledge and then lost it in some sort of dark ages, which there is no record of or even records of the after effects of such a time. Or they would have had to use generation ships, and given what I know about the speed their technology is capable of now it would take them approximately seven thousand seven hundred years to travel from Alpha Centauri to Sol, though interstellar space none the less.
“I think that using math we can say with a fair amount of certainty that it is very unlikely that the Bilos ever visited Earth. And if that is the case then we know that there is no mention in any text we have, religious or not, of how many intelligent species are out there. Therefore it should be of critical importance that we assume we are not alone and that other, possibly greater threats, exit in the cosmos. Thank you all for attending, remember your papers are due on Friday and I will see you next week.”
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Just an update to all of my readers, I am playing the game forward right now. For the last entry I had reached the point I had played at the start of the entry so I am pushing ahead. I am about halfway through fall of 2050 and will probably go forward a couple years, taking detailed notes the whole way. We are also getting to the point where not much is happening. This will bring the clock forward and we may have months that aren't included.
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Nice update! I like how many small details you manage to bring into the story, such as Sirius' brightness, something I would never have even thought of.
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Thank you. When writing I try to imagine what the people would do or see. As for brightness, I am really photosensitive so I think about how bright things are a lot to the point where I criticize most sci fi movies and shows for the apparent lack of need of sunglasses in a time where everything is made out of white shiny smeg. But yeah I try to write details and something that could be published and people would want to pay money to read it.
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I know its been awhile since I have posted but I am getting to it now. I live in a place that is not used to snow and we have just had a weekend with more snow then there has been here in over two decades with more likely to come in the next day or two either that or the temp will jump up like it normally does and it will be nothing but rain for the next several months.
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July 2050
Operations Center, Department of Survey, Naval Headquarters, Earth
“GSV Darwin, this is Operations Center. Do you copy?” Ensign Vicky Eaton said into the intercom. Communications had recently had a major breakthrough when jump point theory was proven correct earlier this year, and the Republic of Earth Navy was field testing a new communications method which used small jump engine like devices to transmit messages. So although the GSV Darwin had just reported finishing surveys of the last dwarf planet deep into the Oort Cloud it would only take a minute or two for them to receive the message.
Aboard the Darwin, Captain Cornelius Schneider was gazing down at the gray lifeless rock below him. Eris orbited the sun at a distance of 14.5 billion kilometers and had no minerals worthwhile on its roughly 17 million square kilometer surface. It was peaceful though, being 96.9 AU from the sun, it was reduced to one of the two brightest stars in the sky, at this distance Sirius was a top contender for brightest star. It was just him and his one hundred and ten crewmembers orbiting the ninth largest object in the solar system. “Operations Center, this is GSV Darwin, we copy.”
A wave of relief came over Ensign Eaton, she hated the long waits between messages. Though with the old system it would have been much longer, almost 13 hours, and actually it would have been longer since Eris was currently on almost the completely opposite side of the Sun from Earth right now. “With the completion of your primary duties in the Sol System, your new orders are to move to Neptune and begin surveying moons and other natural satellites. The Irving and Jagger, which makes up Geology Task Group #2 have surveyed the moons out through Saturn and are now working on Uranus’ moons. After you have finished you will start surveying the asteroids and comets of the Oort Cloud. Operations Center over and out.”
Wolf 359 Jump Point
Commander Alexander Nappo looked at the giant structure floating in space in front of his ship. Every now and then electricity sparked along it, and he imagined the crackle and the smell of ozone his brain told him there should be. Of course there was no sound since sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum and no smell of ozone because there was no oxygen to turn into O3. But then again sometimes science took away the romance of things, or at least that’s what passed through Alex’s mind. This was a nerve wracking time for him, though he imagined that in just a few years this will probably no big deal and he was one of two commanding officers who were making it no big deal. Commander Alexander Nappo was in command of what was about to become the third ship to ever jump solar systems, and at 71,300 tons the Amerigo Vespucci outweighed the Enterprise and the Valiant by almost 24 times making it the largest ship to ever jump in human history.
Jump Gates were like giant jump engines that would shoot ships through the jump point as if the ship had a jump engine of its own. The Amerigo Vespucci was one of two ships that created jump gates and each ship only had space for four gates. While the Wolf 359 Jump Gate was not the first one constructed, the Coontz had finished the Alpha Centauri gate five days ago, it would be the first one to see use. In preparation for this event Alex had read the reports of both the Enterprise and the Valient’s logs regarding jumps several times and he had made it mandatory that his crew of two hundred and sixty nine do the same at least once.
And then came the moment where Alex could not delay any longer. It was time to make the jump. “All stations report go for jump.” He ordered with all the command he could muster. On the display screen in front of him one by one each station turned green, reporting that they were ready for the jump. Not that they had very much to get ready for, only the engine crew, bridge crew, maintenance crews, and the crew of the two CIWS were at stations right now. After inputting the commands he pressed the button to begin powering up the jump gate and he saw the electricity start flowing along and through the gate with increasing frequency before arcing out and hitting his ship. Then he had the most bizarre feeling in his life as everything seemed to be pulled sideways and then like a rubber band everything was snapped back into place.
“All good. A normal jump has taken place. We are successfully in Wolf 359. Message sent using residual energy from jump to Naval Command. We are go for construction on this side.”
August 2050
Naval Command, Earth
Vice Admiral Vern Mucher was sitting at his desk with a large view of the North Sea behind him when the two commanders were ushered in. This month would be a truncated staff meeting because most of the staff were not needed. Today he would only be meeting with Commander Brian Hoston and Commander Yvonne Dreger, Head of Operations and Logistics respectively. He finished reading a report as they stood at attention for a minute before finally sitting down at the chairs in front of his desk. “Since August is almost over and in two months your departments are the only ones who have had anything of note to do, this month’s staff meeting will consist of just the three of us. Commander Hoston, begin.”
Brian cleared his throat and began, “Sir, as you know the Amerigo Vespucci became the first vessel to travel through a jump gate and after a delay of ten minutes we received word that they had successfully jumped and would be beginning on creating the jump gate on the other side. We have had one update from them and they have had no problems. This second update was possible because the Gravity Task Groups 1 and 2 were sent to Wolf 359 to begin gravitational surveys of that system. Hopefully something is found because that system is currently considered a dead system with no use. The task groups were reassigned now because there is no use of them in Sol since they have completed the gravitational survey of Sol and had sufficient shore leave and their fuel reserves are large enough that they will not reach 50% before the gate on the Wolf 359 side is completed. The only other thing to note on pertaining to Naval Operations is the Coontz is still continuing on to the Sirius jump point. It has been in transit for over a month now and is still a little over a week away.”
“Thank you Commander. Now Commander Dreger, what do you have to report?”
“The construction of the MEADS 100 anti missile missiles has finished, and we have a stockpile of 2,000 of them. We have about 750 of 2,000 RIM-100 anti ship missiles and the ordnance factories that were producing the MEADS are now producing RIMs, which has taken a year off the estimated finish date. The RIM-100s should finish in mid 2051. We imagine these stockpiles will not be enough if we start a war with another race but by that point we may be at a different generation of missiles so I have ordered that the stockpiles do not get too big at the moment.”
Vern nodded as he thought about what his two staff members said. “Good thinking Commander Dreger. Though with how slow we seem to be making the RIM-100s, I fear that a stockpile of 2,000 might be depleted faster than it could be replaced in case of war. We will see when that day comes. I can not imagine that humans and the Bilos are the only two races out there. I also can not imagine that all will be as cordial as the Bilos either. How many RIM-100s can the Lexington Task Group hold in one go?”
At that question Yvonne looks through some of the papers she has and does some quick math before answering, “I believe about 422, sir.”
“So with one resupply the Lexington Task Group will go through just over 1/5th of our stockpile. That doesn’t even include the Earth Orbital Defense. By the time the RIM-100 production is complete I want either a revised stockpile level or plans for a new generation of missiles.”
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September 2050
Wolf 359
Commander Norris Burrus sipped from his cup of orange juice as he sat in his command chair. After several months shore leave his crew was at it again, searching for jump points, this time in a new system. Wolf 359 was considered a useless system right now, and how could it not be? It was just a dim star. But there were now four ships speeding through the system in pairs trying to find new jump points somewhere in this system.
At 3,950 tons the Newton class of ships was tied for the second smallest independently operating class in the Republic Earth Navy. Norris was amused that the three smallest were designed to have the longest deployments, the Newton and the Hutton were survey ships and the Enterprise class was an exploration ship. There was no floor space right now; every inch was used to store food because this deployment was going to be at least six months before there was a jump gate to go back to Sol. Some of his men even spent most of the time in the hallways moving from room to room using nothing but their arms swinging above the crates.
The interior was painted in middle to dark gray, he believed it was called Timber Gray or something like it. It was almost pleasing, and it looked fairly bright when the lights were on. This was shaping up to be a long deployment if he was already contemplating the color of the ship. With three sensor arrays it shouldn’t take too long per survey point and the other gravity task group was heading to point thirty so they should both do fifteen survey points.
And anyway this is the most important work that can be done for the Republic. One garden world has been found and it’s settled by aliens. Terraforming is proving to be a long term prospect so it was up to ships like the Fermi and the Newton to find new jump points and it was up to ships like the Enterprise and the Valiant to then find more garden worlds.
The bridge is filled with a somewhat pleasant alert. “Lieutenant Woodard, report.” The words came out of Norris’ mouth the moment he had processed the sound of the alert.
Lt. Glen Woodard, the chief sensor officer, looked up at the Commander. “We have one jump point found bearing from Wolf 359 is 212 mark 160, distance is 348 million kilometers.” As he was finishing his first report, several more lights on his display started flashing, “Wait a second. We have two, I repeat, two jump points discovered. There is a second one bearing 226 mark 48 707 million kilometers from Wolf 359.”
Norris jumped out of his chair in his surprise as he was trying to process Lt. Woodard’s report. Fighting back against the adrenaline, he forced himself to sit back down, his cup forgotten at his side. “Is the Amerigo Vespucci within contact range?”
Lt. Lloyd Petty, the chief communications officer, took this moment to reply, “Yes sir. We can hail the Vespucci but I do not believe it will do much good.”
Swinging the command chair toward the officer Norris raised his eyebrow, “And why is that Lt. Petty?”
Lloyd swallowed, he hated these moments more than anything. “Because sir, there have been no recent jumps and none are planned until the completion of the jump gate. We will not be able to communicate with Naval Command and neither would the Vespucci. For the next forty nine days and fourteen hours we will be out of contact with Command.”
Of course he was right, Norris had forgotten. As a sailor he was not used to operating completely independently of Naval Command. “Ok. Well report the findings to Captain Dubrey of the Aristotle, he is the senior officer in this system. Also log an official message with the Vespucci to be sent in case of jump or on competition of the gate, priority one.”
Orbit over Margret, Uranus, Sol
Commander Lon Gonder was opened his eyes to find his vision swimming in the dark. “Lights on slowly, setting dim three.” He croaked as he rubbed his head and realized he was on the floor of his room. Slowly he remembered that he had woken up by being lifted off his bed and hitting the bulkhead and he must have been then thrown to the floor. As this processed he suddenly realized the implications and jumped up, struggling to put on pants he started running full tilt to the bridge. Klaxons were blaring but the pounding of the blood in his ears overpowered the noise and the rushing of blood in his eyes put a red haze over everything so he didn’t notice a difference as red alert was put into effect and the red lights started flashing throughout the ship.
The hallways were filled with people running in every direction or standing outside their berths desperately looking for information but everyone pressed themselves against the wall as Lon ran past. Eight months into a quiet survey of Sol’s moons were suddenly shattered. After what seemed like an eternity he reached the last door and as it silently opened for him, he was greeted by a bridge under control, busy but under control.
“What. What happened?” He gasped out after a couple of seconds. With things clearly under control his extreme adrenaline rush was failing quickly leaving him fatigued, and he was starting to realize he was out of breath.
Lt. Jamaal Vega snapped to attention seeing him, “Commander on deck.” First Officer Vega called out. “We have encountered a problem with one of our engines sir. Engine three failed but maintenance crews are already on it. I apologize for what must have been a rude awakening.”
Lon slowly walked to the command chair and grasped it, putting his weight onto it as he caught his breath. “Thank you Lt. Vega. Carry on.” He walked around to the front of the chair and sat down.
“Thank you sir.” Jamaal replied as he went back to monitoring the situation and leading repair efforts. He made a note to himself that he would have to change the duty rosters for at least maintenance and possibly engineering after the repairs were done.
Lon flicked on the intercom for the entire ship as he canceled the red alert. He sat in the newly reestablished silence on the bridge for a couple of seconds before starting, “This is your commander. As I am sure all of you know there was a red alert that I just canceled. There is nothing to worry about. One of our engines suffered a failure and is in the process of being repaired. If you are not on duty please go back to your berths and clear the hallways. Thank you.”
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September 2050
Cambridge, Europe, Earth
Neil had read through the data several times now and it was finally starting to sink in. He had done it. The solution to how electronic warfare measures could be scaled up while still being economically viable was sitting here right in front of him. All he had to do was write a paper on the data and publish it to a peer-reviewed journal, as well as sending a copy to The Hague, which would probably provide him with funding for the rest of his life with a discovery like this.
Electronic warfare was a century old by now and had been in its infancy in the Second World War, as most electronic devices were. Then as time marched on electronics became more and more useful until about sixty years ago where they transitioned into something required for day to day life. And as long as anything electronic was used in the military there was an arms race to counter the electronics and to counter the counter measures. But the weapons of the future, the present really, was in energy beams that traveled the speed of light or missiles propelled by Trans-Newtonian Physics. The main anti ship missile used by the Republic of Earth Navy traveled at 1/10th the speed of light. Old models of electronic warfare just couldn’t deal with speeds that high.
Now Neil had figured out how to make models that could deal with those speeds. He just had to secure funding and then his team could start working on prototyping the next step in counter measures.
Nicosia, Syria-Thaumasia, Mars
Levi walked into the main room of the pub and sunk into a chair at one of the several small tables. Next week would mark the forth month of living on Mars, and he knew plenty of people who were thinking about catching rides back to Earth already. The Dart and the Eden were showing up almost weekly to build more infrastructure for them, with most living space and more connected hallways to limit time spent outside. That being said he understood why people would want to leave, you either worked 12 hours a day 5 days a week in a mine or you worked 12 hours a day 5 days a week in a factory. On top of that you had to spend twenty minutes struggling into a pressure suit if you wanted to go outside or even take one of the mag lev trains to a different complex. Of course the mines and the factories were in different complexes from the living areas, so they got into suits at least twice a day.
As he was finishing his second pint the pub started filling up with people just off their shift. In short order he was joined by some of the guys he knew who were on a different shift than he. “Hey, what’s up?” he asked as he motioned for a round of drinks for the table.
One of the men, named Mark, looked at him with a gleam in his eyes, “We are thinking about quitting our jobs and want you to join us.”
Levi was quite taken aback by the suggestion “What are you talking about? Why would you quit?” He had a feeling that there was more to this but Mark hadn’t gotten to it yet, or at least he hoped.
“We want to start a private company. Right now the Mag Levs are the only transport around the planet, we are thinking about starting a transport company. The first models would be ground based, at least until the terraformers start getting around to doing something about the dust storms. We can build them but we need someone who is good with electronics to make them go, as it were.”
“That sounds reasonable but I think we should actually build one or two prototypes before we actually quit our jobs.” Levi replied thinking it was not a bad idea as long as they didn’t rush into it without thinking about what would happen. “What would we call the company?”
“I was thinking Nicosia Transport.”
October 2050
New York City, United North America
Trevor Lee was watching the stock news and contemplating his next move. Stock prices had been all over the place the last several months, especially with the colonization of Mars. The new Trans-Newtonian Companies were starting to gain importance, there were three shipping companies now. Morrical Freight was the biggest with a share price of $3.02, with Postlewaite Lines getting a bump in price to $2.01 now that there was Prestige Carrier Line. Postlewaite had a ship which made it a more viable company than Prestige so it made sense. This was the problem with the new companies though, there wasn’t really a stick to measure what their prices should be.
The price of most metals and precious minerals were plummeting in recent months. With most economies moving over to TN materials steel and other important building materials no longer had the importance they used to have and with a huge drop in demand the price had to drop as well. Not only was demand dropping but the mines on Venus and Mars were also pulling out some metals and precious minerals as well as TN materials which pushed up the supply, in some cases supply was now far exceeding demand. The biggest hits came to titanium and aircraft grade aluminum, without militaries needing those materials the companies producing them had to come up with other uses for the metals.
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A note to my readers, the next couple updates may be slow in coming. Partly because of the holiday season we find ourselves in, partly because I just recieved a new job, and partly because the next few updates have some really awesome stuff coming and I want to give myself enough time to give them justice.
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October 2050
To Earth Command:
Top Priority Message
GSV Aristotle
Captain Renato Dubrey
Gravitational Survey of star system designation Wolf 359 was completed on 25th October 2050, at 15:35:31 EST. This was completed four days, nineteen hours, and fifty nine minutes before the jump gate at the Wolf 359-Sol jump point was completed. There were nine jump points found a list of them will be as follows. My recommendation is for immediate exploration of the jump points found and a commendation be awarded to Commander Norris Burrus for finding the majority of the jump points. Only Jump Points 8 and 9 were found by the task group I command. Each jump point has a designation based on distance from Wolf 359. These designations have changed since their first discoveries and will have their final designations only included in my report.
The first jump point in the system, designation Jump Point 1, is the Sol jump point and is 236 million kilometers from Wolf 359 on a bearing of 41 mark 0.
Jump Point 2 is found 255 million kilometers on a bearing of 96 mark 13. This was part of a group of 3 found on 18th September.
Jump Point 3 is found 307 million kilometers on a bearing of 126 mark 0. It was found on 18th September.
Jump Point 4 is found 348 million kilometers on a bearing of 212 mark 160. It was found on 10th September.
Jump Point 5 is found 512 million kilometers on a bearing of 147 mark 330. It was the third jump point found on 18th September.
Jump Point 6 is found 707 million kilometers on a bearing of 226 mark 48. It was found on 10th September, and was the second jump point found.
Jump Point 7 is found 809 million kilometers on a bearing of 189 mark 189. It was found on 27th September.
Jump Point 8 is found 1.02 billion kilometers on a bearing of 41 mark 0. This was the last jump point found and was found on 18th October.
Jump Point 9 is found 1.67 billion kilometers on a bearing of 266 mark 300. This was found on 12th October.
One final recommendation is for Wolf 359 to be reclassified from a dead system to a system of large importance due to the large amount of jump points.
November 2050
Governors’ Office, Nicosia, Syria-Thaumasia, Mars
Hans Pfalzgraf took in stock of his new office. It was almost how he had requested it. One of the windows did look out onto the Mars landscape and the other did point into town as it were. And the ceiling was black but there were not the small lights in constellations as he had requested. He supposed he would have to put them in himself at some point in the near future. The carpet was comfortable and the right shade of blue and the desk was a good aged wooden desk from his homeland in the Alps. The chairs were comfortable and modern with a feel of older chairs. All in all it seemed to be a good office.
Sitting down he decided to start learning everything he could about Mars and the colony he was now the leader of. He was more than a little nervous because everything about him set him apart from the colonists. For starters, Europe was the least represented of the countries on Mars, most were from United North America and Latin America. Next was how he was brought to Mars. There were about 2.49 million people living here and all of them came by colony ship, except one him. He hitched a ride on the Dart as the Dart and the Eden made their last infrastructure run to Mars. And worst of all there was the fact that he was assigned here. There was no vote by the Martian people, just an announcement one day that he would be their governor. In fact Mars was not currently represented by the Republic at all. They had no senators, and no representatives. Hans was acutely aware that he could very well become a symbol of all that was wrong, politically at least, on Mars.
As he contemplated this he reassessed who was luckier between him and his friend Wilford Appel. Wilford had just been appointed the Governor of Venus, ruler of seventy two automated mines, one mass driver, and the skeleton crew that was required to run them. But Wilford would never have to worry about mass riots or anything else that may come from a colony denied due process.
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great update what happens next
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November 2050
EX Enterprise, Earth Orbit
Merry just stared at her orders. Nine jump points were found in Wolf 359 and now her task group would have to explore all of them. Not only that but any that might have life in them would require her to go in system and investigate. And there was no refuels scheduled for her task group so they would be alone the entire time, unless they found new life that is.
Breathing deeply for a minute she called for a meeting of all senior officers of the task group in the board room of the Enterprise in half an hour. She also announced that every crew member of each ship should be in a place to listen to a task group wide message during the meeting.
The half hour went by far too quickly as she sat in the small room off the board room writing notes for the speech she was going to give. And far too soon she was walking out of the room and behind the podium. In front of here stood the heads of each department on both the Enterprise and the Valiant as well as the first officer of each. Looking at the faces once more her eyes settled on Commander Mastroianni for a second and a small smile from him helped steel her nerves. Flipping a switch ensured her microphone would carry her words through both ships and she was ready to begin.
“Men and women of the Jump Point Exploration Task Group, this is Commander Merry Couture. Half an hour ago I received our new orders and this will be our longest deployment yet. You may have heard that a few days ago Captain Renato Dubrey and the Gravitational Survey Task Groups finished their survey of the system Wolf 359 and just logged their report at the end of last month. Well today Naval Headquarters have decided to do with the report and have given us orders coming straight from Vice Admiral Mucher.
“There are eight unexplored jump points in Wolf 359 and our task group is to explore each of them. We have no scheduled refuels or resupplies in that time. Our orders are to go to Wolf 359 and explore each jump point and if the system holds a planet that could hold life we are to cautiously approach. I am sorry to say we will be spending the holidays away from family. Thanksgiving for sure, if we are lucky we may be home by New Year’s but in all probably it will be at least mid January before we are on our way back home. Possibly even as late as St. Patrick’s Day.”
As she paused for breath the silence was immediately filled with the senior officers starting to talk among themselves. She felt sorry for them, she knew that a lot of them had family or at least husbands and wives. And now just three weeks from Thanksgiving they were learning that they would spend the entire holiday season in deep space exploring star systems farther away from Earth than any human had ever been before.
After giving them a minute she signaled for silence before continuing, “We will start getting supplies for this deployment tomorrow, we plan on leaving docks on the nineteenth. Senior officers are to set duty rosters today giving as much shore leave as they can manage. I know a departure date of the nineteenth is five days before Thanksgiving and if I could delay us a week I would but our orders are clear that we are to leave no later than the nineteenth.”
Thanksgiving
Enterprise, Wolf 359
Merry’s table was set out rather modestly if one was to measure it by a Thanksgiving feast, but by a Captain’s meal it was a feast for sure. They had entered Wolf 359 earlier that day and were about two days out from Jump Point 2. The commanders and their first and second officers were sitting at the table enjoying the meal. “You know,” Merry began, “I have read accounts of sea ships that had to deal with waves while eating and the food would slide up and down the table the whole meal. Even submarines had to deal with any time they changed direction or their depth.”
Lt. O’Brian, the First Officer of the Enterprise gave a weak smile at her remarks. “Small comfort. I am glad that we can at least send some messages to our families. With the jump gate completed and all.”
Commander Fred Mastoianni shot him a look. “Look I know it’s hard to not be with your family on this or any other day. But you signed up for the Republic Space Navy. As a military member you should expect to be sent out at any time. Imagine being a ground solider just three years ago. On their Thanksgiving far too many of them were fighting in the Katako-Kombe Counter Offensive. Military technology may have given us many wonderful advancements but trust me, jungle rot is still a danger. Ten thousand men were developing gang green on their toes as their families were sitting down to a meal.”
O’Brian lowered his head and stared hard at his potatoes for awhile after Fred finished. Merry broke the awkward silence after a bit addressing her first officer. “O’Brian, how is the crew taking being out of Sol for Thanksgiving?”
He straightened up and regained the decorum of a first officer being addressed by his superior officer. “It’s hard on everyone. Rations have been increased for the day and the communications officer is swamped with personal messages being sent and received. That being said it’s a good thing that we are traveling through an empty system today. No one is at anything near peak condition.”
She nodded at his report and looked to Lt. Jenkins, the First Officer of the Valiant, “How about the Valiant?”
Jenkins set her napkin down and smoothed it with her hands for a second before beginning. “As far as I know the Valiant is in the same state. I haven’t had a report since we transferred over here but I have no reason to believe anything has changed.”
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December 2050
Ex Enterprise, WX Ursae Majoris
Lt. O’Brian had been sitting in the command chair when they entered this system and he would continue to be here for the next four hours. It was his watch and the fourth system they had traveled through. At least for the JETG, the Jump Exploration Task Group, jumping was becoming completely normal. Over on the Valiant some lieutenant, Chekov or some such vaguely Russian name was the officer on watch, which put O’Brian as the commanding officer of the task group for the moment. Looking over to the Sensor Officer, “Mr. Chu, what can you tell us about this system?”
“It appears to be WX Ursae Majoris, also known as Gliese 412, which puts us about 15.75 light years from Earth, and is the second farthest we have ever been. Giclas 9-38 is about 17 light years from Earth so the record we set three days ago still remains. WX Ursae Majoris is about two fifths the mass of the sun and about three percent of its brightness. The B component of the system is about a sixth the size of the sun and the sun is about two hundred times brighter. A has seven planets orbiting it while B has eight planets and one hundred and twenty two asteroids orbiting it.”
O’Brian nods and brings up the results of DX Cancri, the first system they searched on this mission. After reading the write up, he addresses Lt. Chu again. “DX Cancri was the same size as the B star here and it had a possible habitable planet at a distance of one tenth of an astronomical unit. How are the planets in this system when looked through that light?” The unasked question that hung over the bridge crew’s head was is there any possibility of life in this system.
“The third planet in A could be terraformed eventually. Of the 42 moons in the A component none of them are good either are any of the other planets. In the B component, B 2 is the best candidate for terraforming in the system. Also with 20 moons, 17 of them in B 7 alone, and the asteroids there is probably decent mineral wealth here. With the large amount of gas giants in the system there is probably a lot of Sorium to be collected. But beyond that I don’t think we have to worry about alien life in WX Ursae Majoris.”
O’Brian nodded and thought for a moment. “Good, make sure your report reflects everything you told me. We would hate if the Commander missed something when she comes on duty. Helm, take us out of this system.”
There was a lot to think about. So far they had gone to DX Cancri, which had a possibility of life that didn’t pan out, Giclas 9-38 which had no good terraforming targets, Luyten’s Star which had a tidally locked cold terrestrial planet that couldn’t hold life, and now there was WX Ursae Majoris which didn’t have anything. When they had started he, and a lot of the crew to be fair, had romanticized themselves as the new Lewis and Clark expedition. Sure they didn't expect to find a new species in every system but they had just finished exploring the fourth dead system in a row. Maybe it was just luck that the Bilos Conglomerate lived so close to Sol, neighbors really. Maybe most systems were empty after all. Or maybe Sol and Alpha Centauri were the only systems in the entire cosmos that held lift. That last choice sounded unlikely but how would he know any different until they had found more species? They had five more jump points to check and one of them could very well be brimming with life.
January 2051
Ex Enterprise, Wolf 359
Merry was fuming. To say she was pissed off was an understatement. She was the commander of the task group who had done the most for humanity in its entire history. She was one of two officers who held the First Contact Medal. She just spent Christmas in Bernard’s Star orbiting a dwarf planet that is the best terraforming candidate outside of Sol, sure it was tidally locked and therefore would probably never get terraforming ships but still. She spent the New Year’s in Ross 128, a system with a lot of rocks and that’s about it. Now with her check in with Naval Command she learns that thirteen officers got a promotion. THIRTEEN. And she was not one of them. Sure Yvonne Dreger, the Head of Fleet Logistics should get Captaincy, but the commander of the Brighton, a destroyer, should get a promotion when all he had done was fleet training? Its like Naval Command was punishing her. Sending her to the most far flung places they could imagine wasn’t good enough. Now she has to watch others get promoted above her.
She looked up when she heard a knock on her door. “Come.”
Fred walked in smiling weakly at her before sitting down in one of the few empty spaces in her office. “So how are you taking it?”
She didn’t have to ask what he meant. Of course he had already seen the promotion report. Her smile was sharp as could be and dripping with sarcasm, “Just peachy. I love it when destroyer commanders get promoted over people who actually do anything for Earth.”
“I figured that was how you were taking it. If it makes you feel any better we are the two most senior Commanders in the Navy. So we should get Captain next round of promotions.” He wasn’t taking it too bad, or at least he wasn’t showing it. “Or maybe they are just waiting until we get back to Earth before promoting us.”
“You know this isn’t helping. But then again I am sure you know nothing will help right now. How many more systems do we have before we can end this tour?” She wouldn’t admit that his words had softened her anger quite a bit. She couldn’t let go of it, not yet.
He nodded and the air of friend was dropped and replaced by an XO talking to his Commanding Officer, “We have two jump points left. At a guess I would say they are red dwarfs of some kind. At least once of them will probably be a sixth of the mass of the sun and one two hundredth of the brightness either that or two fifths the mass and three percent of the brightness. Just a guess but I’d put money on it.”
Merry laughed at that. “Well odds would be something like three to one at best on such a safe bet. If I were you I’d bet that one of them was a quarter of the size of the sun and one percent of its brightness. But the red dwarf bet would be even money. Every star in this tour has been a red dwarf.”
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Due to several bugs I have run into recently I am going to call an end to this until 6.4 comes out. However in the meantime I am starting an Astra Imperia AAR here (http://aurora2.pentarch.org/index.php/topic,6700.0.html).