Following the shock of the Martian invasion in 1897, the world was in chaos , Martian forces had landed and attacked cities across the globe bringing down governments and ruining infrastructure. The red weed still choked many rivers and fields despite the deaths of those who had brought it to Earth. England had been the centre of that Invasion but here the Martians had died first, here they had built the largest of their bases and here it would be that the secrets of their technology would be cracked.
In Europe even the death of the Martians did not bring peace, France torn by factions plunged into civil war between Bonapartists, Republicans and Royalists, Germany a new state was in chaos following the death of the Kaiser in the destruction of Berlin and plagued by refugee's from neighbouring lands seeking sanctuary, The Austro Hungarian empire was dead with all of the minor nations rising up to seek their independence , Russia torn by revolution collapsed the survivors of the Tsar's family fleeing to England while the various rebel groups killed each other and the peasants starved.
In Asia chaos reigned as the rice crops proved particularly vulnerable to the red weed, only in Japan Australia and India did government survive. North America and South America had been particularly hard hit with Atomic weapons being detonated at several points across South and Central America. North America was fairly hard hit by landings near major cities but remained sufficiently intact to try to take advantage of England's misfortune and seize Canada although they rapidly bogged down against fierce Canadian resistance. In the Middle East and Africa the last bastions of stability where the colonies of the European powers the Ottoman's had disintegrated , and the Suez canal was blocked following the destruction of the Great Pyramids by Martian atomic bombs.
Many worried that the downward spiral into anarchy would soon affect the whole world. In England only the firm example of King Arthur the second oldest surviving son of the Queen killed by the Martians , held by many to be a hero for his leadership of the troops from Aldershot against the Martians. In January 1899 the great breakthrough came when English scientists discovered the basics of the Martian technical miracle and managed to recover some of their existing technology the program under the leadership of the 3rd Sea Lord Admiral Jackie Fisher lead to Britain deploying the surviving Martian Tripods. The Tripod Squadrons of the Royal Navy able to restore order in the colonies and end the conflict with the Americans. Further successes in decoding Martian technology soon allowed for the production of chemicals which targeted the Red weed, initially available in only limited supplies it was still enough to save agriculture and water supplies across the British Empire. Further technological progress would be made in 1900 cumulating in the development of one the Martian flying machines and it’s use to produce the first Spaceship the HMS Victoria to be sent to see what the threat from Mars was , the same technology used to build the HMS Victoria had allowed the production of what where probably crude by Martian standard missiles to defend Earth against any return visit by the Martians.
While this technological development had been ongoing events in the world of politics had not stood still. In March 1899 surviving members of the Russian royal family had decided to offer the crown to King Arthur in return for the British restoring order in Russia after years of turmoil , starvation and even it was rumoured cannibalism. After consultation with the Prime Minister and Parliament King Arthur accepted on the condition that governance of his Majesties dominion of Russia would be in the legal tradition established by the dominions of the Empire granting civil rights to the Russian peasants. When the Russians agreed the Tripods moved in followed by cargo’s of grain and engineers to rebuild the infrastructure , the moderates and the starving in Russia welcomed them in, the radical Marxists could not face the Tripods in battle . Impressed by the power of the British and aware that King Arthur’s son was arguably the legitimate claimant to the German throne as a result of the death of the Kaiser and his immediate family , the German government sought terms for recognising Arthur as Regent and his heir as Heir to the thrones of Germany and Britain, given access to the Martian technology and equality with Britain within the Empire the Germans accepted. By the time of the launch of HMS Victoria the Northern states of the former USA, Portugal, Sicily and Austria had joined the empire and negotiations with other states was ongoing. Perhaps the most controversial decision forced through by his majesty was to grant self governing Dominion status to the provinces of India granting them equality with the White dominions.
By the start of 1902 when HMS Victoria was finally completed the British Empire and Commonwealth dominated the world controlling most of Europe, India, North America, Australia, Russian Asia and Southern Africa. Outside of these domains there where organsied nations in the form of the French Empire, Japanese Empire and a few nations in South America. China beyond the control of Japan was a total mess with agriculture still a fraction of its pre invasion level. The martian technology was still limited to England with production of Martian technology slowly spreading to the dominions now that there was a firm base in England.
The arrival of the HMS Victoria at Mars was something of an anticlimax most people expected it to be attacked by the Martians however it arrived to find Mars a dead world with ruined cities and no atmosphere or signs of Life. Careful investigation eventually revealed a Martian base there but the Martians seemed to be very few in number and had died about the same time as those on Earth. Teams of Scientists where ferried to Mars to study the ruins and the HMS Victoria set off to search the other planets of the Solar system soon joined by HMS Albert the second ship built by man. Clearly the Martians where not in fact Martians in the end it was concluded they where aliens from another solar system who had traveled here in a large ship. The Government decided to study the ruins on Mars to determine what they where. In the meantime infrastructure on Earth was built up to allow larger ships to be built to defend the Earth against further visits from the ‘Martians’. Initially there was a great rush to build up the fleet but as the years went by without further sightings of the Martians and with the problems on Earth the fleet would shrink and receive little further construction , as it was known that the drive flare of an approaching ship would be seen several years before it reached the solar system.
As the years passed Earth grew more united , the Scandinavians joined the Empire after the Crown prince of Sweden married Princess Margerat heir to the Imperial throne. The rest of Europe was brought into the empire sometimes by force as the Empire decidedthat their actions threatened the stability of the realm. Noticeably in 1909 France was conquered after French agents where caught trying to stir up trouble in Ireland and India. By 1912 all of Europe was part of the Empire and mining operations had required the occupation of several areas of Africa , Asia and South America.
The Martian ruins where still a mystery , as they seemed designed for humans , a large colony had grown up there although the industry found there had been transported to Earth and as the planet was already mined out mines where moved to Rhea, Titan and Mercury where extensive mineral deposits where found, indeed by 1930 with Earths minerals exhausted all of the Empires mining was on there 3 bodies. The answer to this mystery came in 1929 when in one of the last ruins to be explored on Mars a data cache was found , the first to be found since 1915 revealing the existence of Warp points allowing FTL travel. This caused an Uproar.
On Earth there had recently been scandals about the weakness of the Royal Navy their ships where at least a generation behind current developments . In 1928 During the fleet exercises the young Captain Andrew Cunningham of the Royal Navy commanding the simulated Martian force had successfully reached bombardment range of Earth after achieving the simulated destruction of the Mercury mining colony. This has given fuel to the opposition politician Winston Churchill who has been a voice in the wilderness calling for the strengthening of the fleet. Now there was a real threat the Martians could come back any day , and appear only days from Earth. Public Hysteria went wild , the Navy published a requirement for 6 New Battleships to defend Earth as well as an immediate development of Jump technology and Cruisers to expand into the stars, the government offered 4 Battleships and a smaller exploration program. When the dust settled the new government with its 1st Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill serving under Prime minister Neville Chamberlain was committed to building 8 Battleships and expediting the survey program.
1st January 1930
Mankind and the British Empire stand on the brink of the discovery of the stars, over the protests of the Admiralty so far the fleet build up is only partially complete, however the public is clamoring for progress and the Prime minister giving in to the public mood has ordered the navy to begin the exploration program. The status of the Navy and Fortification command is below.
Home Fleet
1st Home Fleet Battle Squadron
HMS Lancelot
HMS Gawaine
HMS Leonidas
HMS Roland
The 2nd Battleship squadron is under construction consisting of 4 more Champion class Battleships, HMS El Cid, HMS Galahad, HMS Percival , HMS Beowulf.
Both Squadrons will have a Galileo class Scout assigned.
Champion class Battleship 26000 tons 2473 Crew 5102.8 BP TCS 520 TH 960 EM 2040
1846 km/s Armour 10-78 Shields 68-375 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 12 PPV 166
Annual Failure Rate: 450% IFR: 6.3% Maintenance Capacity 1472 MSP Max Repair 252 MSP
Flag Bridge Magazine 1236
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (12) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres Range 46.2 billion km (289 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (27) Total Fuel Cost 405 Litres per day
Single Gauss Cannon R1-100 Turret (6x3) Range 10,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 1 ROF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25cm Railgun V5/C4 (3x4) Range 250,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 15-4 RM 5 ROF 20 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 2 2
Fire Control S06 48-16000 (3) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Fire Control S08 128-8000 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 8000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (5) Total Power Output 15 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Size 8 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 8 Rate of Fire 60
Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC84-R40 (2) Range 100.8m km Resolution 40
Missile Fire Control FC63-R1 (4) Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Armstrong M1 Defense Missile (356) Speed: 32,000 km/s End: 3.1m Range: 6m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 298 / 179 / 89
Armstrong M Long Range Bombardment Missile (60) Speed: 22,000 km/s End: 78.1m Range: 103.1m km WH: 10 Size: 8 TH: 102 / 61 / 30
Armstong M Hardened Bombardment Missile (50) Speed: 22,000 km/s End: 28.4m Range: 37.5m km WH: 10 Size: 8 TH: 102 / 61 / 30
Active Search Sensor S189-R1 (1) GPS 189 Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor S252-R40 (1) GPS 10080 Range 100.8m km Resolution 40
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECCM-1 (2) ECM 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
Survey Forces have located 4 Jump Points out of the Solar System which have been designated in order the Atlantic , the Baltic, the Pacific , the Mediterranean. A fleet has been assigned to each jump route at the moment only half the cruiser’s for the fleets have been finished.
Fleet Cruiser Squadron
3 Illustrious Class Cruisers
2 Invincible class Escort Cruisers
It is planned to add a Drake class Jump cruiser to each Squadron as soon as the Jump Engine has been developed and the cruisers manufactured.
Currently only the Atlantic and Baltic Fleet Cruiser Squadrons are in Service with the Pacific fleet Cruiser Squadron under construction.
Illustrious class Cruiser 12000 tons 1222 Crew 2395.2 BP TCS 240 TH 960 EM 750
4000 km/s Armour 5-46 Shields 25-375 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 12 PPV 44
Annual Failure Rate: 96% IFR: 1.3% Maintenance Capacity 1497 MSP Max Repair 189 MSP
Flag Bridge Magazine 536
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (12) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 650,000 Litres Range 162.5 billion km (470 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 150 Litres per day
Size 1 Missile Launcher (4) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Size 5 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 40
Missile Fire Control FC84-R40 (1) Range 100.8m km Resolution 40
Missile Fire Control FC63-R1 (2) Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Armstrong M1 Defense Missile (136) Speed: 32,000 km/s End: 3.1m Range: 6m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 298 / 179 / 89
Armstong M Cruiser Missile (80) Speed: 26,900 km/s End: 37.2m Range: 60m km WH: 7 Size: 5 TH: 143 / 86 / 43
Active Search Sensor S189-R1 (1) GPS 189 Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor S189-R40 (1) GPS 7560 Range 75.6m km Resolution 40
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECCM-1 (1) ECM 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
Invincible class Escort Cruiser 11950 tons 1151 Crew 2424.8 BP TCS 239 TH 960 EM 750
4016 km/s Armour 5-46 Shields 25-375 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 12 PPV 50
Annual Failure Rate: 95% IFR: 1.3% Maintenance Capacity 1522 MSP Max Repair 189 MSP
Magazine 336
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (12) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 600,000 Litres Range 150.6 billion km (434 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 150 Litres per day
Single Gauss Cannon R1-100 Turret (2x3) Range 10,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 1 ROF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
25cm Railgun V5/C4 (3x4) Range 250,000km TS: 4016 km/s Power 15-4 RM 5 ROF 20 5 5 5 5 5 4 3 3 2 2
Fire Control S08 128-8000 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 8000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Fire Control S06 48-16000 (1) Max Range: 96,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (5) Total Power Output 15 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC63-R1 (4) Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Armstrong M1 Defense Missile (336) Speed: 32,000 km/s End: 3.1m Range: 6m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 298 / 179 / 89
Active Search Sensor S189-R1 (1) GPS 189 Range 1.9m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECCM-1 (1) ECM 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
Survey Squadron
Agincourt Survey command ship,
3 Newton class Grav Survey Ships
2 Cornwall class Geo Survey Ships
1 Galileo class Scout Ship
All Survey Squadrons are at Full strength
Agincourt class Survey Command Ship 3000 tons 292 Crew 589 BP TCS 60 TH 160 EM 0
2666 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 12% IFR: 0.2% Maintenance Capacity 736 MSP Max Repair 150 MSP
Flag Bridge
J3000(3-50) Jump Drive Max Ship Size 3000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (2) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 700,000 Litres Range 699.8 billion km (3038 days at full power)
This design is classed as a non-combatant for maintenance purposes
Newton class Gravsurvey Ship 2900 tons 278 Crew 690 BP TCS 58 TH 320 EM 0
5517 km/s Armour 3-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/8/3/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 11% IFR: 0.2% Maintenance Capacity 892 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (4) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 310.3 billion km (651 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points
This design is classed as a non-combatant for maintenance purposes
Cornwall class Geosurvey Ship 2900 tons 278 Crew 690 BP TCS 58 TH 320 EM 0
5517 km/s Armour 3-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/8/0/3 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 11% IFR: 0.2% Maintenance Capacity 892 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (4) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 310.3 billion km (651 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points
This design is classed as a non-combatant for maintenance purposes
Galileo class Scout 3000 tons 289 Crew 526 BP TCS 60 TH 320 EM 0
5333 km/s Armour 3-18 Shields 0-0 Sensors 80/80/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 12% IFR: 0.2% Maintenance Capacity 658 MSP Max Repair 80 MSP
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 (4) Power 80 Efficiency 0.60 Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 300.0 billion km (651 days at full power)
Thermal Sensor TH10-80 (1) Sensitivity 80 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 80m km
EM Detection Sensor EM10-80 (1) Sensitivity 80 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 80m km
On the 16th of January all 4 Survey Squadrons are in place and transit through to begin the new age of Exploration.
From the Atlantic Jump point the New York System is discovered with a nebula and no habitable planets in the solar system.
The Baltic jump point opens into the Kiel system a D3 Star with a few asteroids.
The Mediterranean jump point opens into the Naples system with a few asteroids and a couple of gas giants.
The Pacific Jump point opens into the Sydney system an F-0 Star orbited by a large solar system including an Earth like planet . Immediately the Jump ship transits back to inform the Admiralty and bring through the HMS Galileo . The Galileo creeps into the system at 2000km/s until it is confirmed that the world is not settled by anyone , however there are Martian ruins visible on the planet below.
Survey operations commence in all four systems. HMS Copernicus the scout attached to home fleet picks up two xenology teams from Mars and loads them for transfer to the new world . This new habitable world is named Victoria in memory of the Queen killed by the Martians.
Work on the Jump gate is brought forward and more modern colony ships and Freighters are ordered from the yards.
