Celtic Campaign Year 3127

[welchbloke (OP)]

This thread is going to have multiple posts including some fiction:

19th Semivisonna 3127 – Herschel 5173 system discovered by 1st (Grav) Survey Sqn.

16th Elembiv 3127 – Luyten’s Star discovered by 1st (Grav) Survey Sqn.  The system has the wrecks of 5 of the the Arkangelsk Confederation’s (ArkCon) survey ships.  The scout Waunoer (CO Space Commander Meredith Nock) is detached to make an approach to see if it can detect what destroyed the ArkCon’s ships.

[welchbloke (OP)]

16 Elembiv 3127CC Luyten’s Star system.

As the incoming message attention-getter started flashing on her screen, Space Commander Meridth Nock turned to her comms officer with one eyebrow raised.
.‘Ma’am, the Space Commodore is on the vid-link’.
‘Put him through’.
‘Space Commander Nock, Sir’
‘Space Commander, I want you to conduct a fast pass towards those ArkCon ship wrecks that we have detected.  Don’t do anything stupid and bring that ship back intact.  Flag Out.’
Thinking to herself how much she hated that man, Nock turned to her Nav officer and said ‘You heard the Space Commodore, set a direct course for those wrecks, maximum burn’.
Nock felt her ship, the scout Waenoer, shudder with the effort of accelerating to its maximum speed of 13000 km/s.
‘Nav, Make sure you have a continuously plotted, maximum turn rate, escape route plotted.’
‘Escape course is already plotted and set to automatic update, Captain.’
Nock could hear the hurt tone in her Nav officer’s voice.  He was the best Nav officer she had ever seen, but he was prone to take offense easily.  Hiding a slight smile at the expense of her officer, Nock addressed her bridge crew.
‘Something destroyed those ships people, I want all passive sensors at maximum sensitivity.’  Turning to her XO she said ‘ XO, I want the crew on yellow alert.  We will go to red alert 100M km out from the wrecks.’

11:00UST 17 Elembiv 3127CC Luyten’s Star system.

The Wanoeur was still over a billion km from the ArkCon wrecks when the Sensor Officer called out.
 ‘Thermal sensor contact!’
Meredith Nock’s head snapped up from her admin screen.
‘Correction multiple thermal contacts’
‘This is the Captain, Red alert!’
Throughout the ship the red alert tannoy started sounding.
‘Sensors, how many thermal contacts?’
:Attempting to resolve now, standby’
‘Sensors indicate 40 independent contacts.  Contacts are thermal strength 800, estimate approximately 2000 tonnes each.’
Maintaining an air of calm she didn’t feel with 80 000 tonnes of possibly hostile warship bearing down on her, Nock said.  ‘Nav, bring us about evasion course alpha’
‘Comms, send a flash message to the Space Commodore.  Send updates every 2 mins’
‘Sensors, how fast are those contacts?’
‘Standby, the system is calculating estimated speed’
‘Speed of contacts is 10000 km/s’
‘Looks like we can outrun them.  Nav, maintain distance from target.  Sensors, get as much as you can, in 5 minutes we are going to go to maximum burn and head back to the fleet’.

18 Elembiv 3127CC Luyten’s Star system.

‘... and we gathered as much data on the targets as we could before leaving them behind and heading for the Fleet, Sir.’
The Space Commodore grunted an acknowledgement. ‘You did well, stand by to jump we are taking news of these aliens home.’
Before a shocked Nock could say anything the link was cut.  She was amazed; he had never congratulated her on her performance before.

[welchbloke (OP)]

25 Dvmannios 3127CC Daear System.

As the Home Fleet Intelligence Officer began his brief, Deputy Space Marshal Hugh Hall consulted the intelligence report in front of him.  1st (Grav) Survey Sqn had detected 40 apparently hostile ships in the Luyten’s Star System and now the Fleet Commander was giving him a chance to take the carriers of his own Carrier Group #1, the frigates of Frigate Sqn #1 and the missile cruisers of Cruiser Sqn #3 and investigate.  His seniority also meant that he was the task group commander.
26 Dvmannios 3127CC Daear System.
As his task group left orbit, Hugh Hall fought to suppress a grin.  Independent commands were very rare and not only did he have one he had the opportunity to conduct the Celtic Space Navy’s first offensive action.  ‘XO, have the training regime passed to all ship commanders, I want the task group sharpened to a fine edge before we get to our destination.’
‘Yes Sir.’

02:34 UST 13th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Hugh Hall felt the familiar sensation of nausea as his flagship, the Gorseinon, completed the transition back to real-space.  The cruisers of Cruiser Sqn #3 had already swept the JP and reported back that it was clear.  Now it was time to find the aliens in this system.

02:11 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Thermal contact, designate Tango 1, bearing 236 range 411M km’
Hugh had been expecting the call; his Penyrheol scouts had the same SSP-3t sensor as the Wanoeur and assuming the aliens turned around when they lost contact then the expected detection point was easy to plot.  The detection had occurred with 1k km of the point that his tactical team had plotted.
‘Red Alert, attempt communications’
‘Broadband transmission sent’
Turning to his left Hugh said, ‘XO, order the crews to their fighters, I want to be ready to launch  if necessary.’
‘Marshal, Tactical, firing solution locked in for target.  Target is 339 M km outside of max range, 12hrs 18 minutes to firing range.’
‘Marshal, Sensors, target has now resolved into 40 individual targets, designate Tango 1 through 40.  Thermal signature consistent with those detected by the Waneour.’
‘Marshal Hall to fleet, stand down to Yellow Alert.  Comms continue to attempt first contact.’
‘Marshal, Comms, no success yet; however, I am receiving an odd signal on a number of discrete frequencies.’
‘What kind of signal?’
‘Nothing intelligible, even to the translation software.  It almost sounds like a buzzing noise.’

08:00 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

After nearly 6 hrs of attempted comms whilst they closed with the aliens, Hugh Hall called his command staff together to discuss options.  The discussion amongst his staff was heated between those who want to continue to communicate and those who wanted to begin the engagement now whilst they still had a perceived advantage.  Ultimately, Hall knew that his orders had been explicit.  In the event of being unable to make contact he was conduct offensive operations to clear the aliens from the system and, if possible, determine their origin.
As the next spat flared up amongst his staff, Hall interrupted ‘OK, we’ve given them as much time as we can, launch the fighters, I want to intercept them as far away as possible.’

[welchbloke (OP)]

0801 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

As he returned to his command chair, Hall was cornered by his sensor officer ‘Sir, I have a revised count on the targets, there are now 56 of them.’
‘Tactical, Hall, make sure the fighters have a revised targeting package. Go with an allocation of 1 fighter per target and hold the remaining 4 back to engage any leakers.’
Hall was confident there wouldn’t be any.  The Bolt ASM carried by his fighters was state of the art and each fighter carried 6 of them.

Code: [Select]

Dreigiau F1 class Fighter    225 tons     16 Crew     72.2 BP      TCS 4.5  TH 120  EM 0
26666 km/s     Armour 1-3     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 1.8
Annual Failure Rate: 4%    IFR: 0.1%    Maint Capacity 20 MSP    Max Repair 28 MSP    Est Time: 5.44 Years
Magazine 12    

Lightning Mk1 SCAM (1)    Power 120    Fuel Use 5000%    Signature 120    Armour 0    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres    Range 0.8 billion km   (8 hours at full power)

Crossbow Mk1 BL (6)    Missile Size 2    Hangar Reload 15 minutes    MF Reload 2.5 hours
FMA-1 (1)     Range 6.7m km    Resolution 10
Bolt Mk2 ASM (6)  Speed: 99,000 km/s   End: 1.5m    Range: 9m km   WH: 4    Size: 2    TH: 660 / 396 / 198

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
This design is classed as a fighter for production and combat purposes

Code: [Select]

Bolt ASM: 2 MSP  (0.1 HS)     Warhead: 5    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 20
Speed: 99000 km/s    Endurance: 2 minutes   Range: 11.3m km
Cost Per Missile: 4.8
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 1980%   3k km/s 660%   5k km/s 396%   10k km/s 198%
0918 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

The Fighter Director had made a monumental mistake, the optimum launch time for the strike was 0915 not 0800.  After sacking the fighter director, Hall had spent a nervous hour watching the range count down.  Now, as the 60 fighters in the strike group raced away from the task force, Hall sent them a message that simply read ‘Belenus be with you, bring home victory’.

1021 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

As they entered firing range, 56 of the Dreigiau F1 fighters launched their missiles.  Hall watched the missiles on his command display as they separated from the icon representing the fighters and raced towards the alien ships at nearly a third of the speed of light.  A few minutes ago, the aliens had entered active sensor range and had been determined to have a mass of 800 tonnes each.  Now they were doomed and his rise had begun.

1022 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

The missiles had been in flight for barely 50 secs when they intercepted their targets.  As the results of the intercepts were correlated by the command system AI, Hall could barely believe his eyes.  None of the targets had been destroyed and only 15 of them had been damaged enough to slow down.  The remaining 4 fighters fired their missiles and the strike group turned for home.  As he tried to assimilate the information in front of him, Hall could hear a noise in the background; eventually, the noise made its way through his shocked senses, ‘Sir, what are your orders?’, ‘Sir, SIR?’.  
‘What?’ was all Hall could get out.
The Tactical Officer realising that his commander was practically catatonic, suddenly raised his voice and, for the benefit of the bridge crew shouted ‘Aye Sir, order the missile cruisers to fire when they have an optimum firing solution.’
‘Yes, Yes fire when able.’

1023 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

The 24 remaining missiles intercepted the aliens and actually destroyed 4 alien ships.  ‘At least they can be destroyed’ though Hall morosely.
‘Marshal, Tactical, cruisers will be in firing range at 1200.’

1201 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

It had been a very uncomfortable time for the task group commander as the minutes counted down without any sign of retaliation by the aliens, but the aliens had just entered the range of the Arrow missiles of his Gweilch class missile cruisers.  Each cruiser fired 5 missiles at each target and then shifted fire to another set of targets.  Initially, unnerved by the results of the first missile strike, Hall had wanted to fire a full salvo of 30 arrows at each target.  He had been talked out of this by his Tactical Officer who, after analysing the results of the fighter strike, recommended 5 Arrows per target to guarantee a kill.

Code: [Select]

Gweilch class Missile Cruiser    17500 tons     1777 Crew     4626 BP      TCS 350  TH 3200  EM 420
9142 km/s     Armour 5-60     Shields 14-400     Sensors 16/16/0/0     Damage Control Rating 31     PPV 60
Annual Failure Rate: 116%    IFR: 1.6%    Maint Capacity 3469 MSP    Max Repair 280 MSP    Est Time: 4.12 Years
Magazine 1140    

Merlin Mk2 SCAM (16)    Power 200    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 200    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,350,000 Litres    Range 277.7 billion km   (351 days at full power)
Gamma R400/10 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  70 Litres per day

Blowpipe Mk1 AML (10)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 10
Longbow Mk1 ASL (10)    Missile Size 5    Rate of Fire 40
SMA-1 (2)     Range 67.2m km    Resolution 20
SMA-2 (2)     Range 6.7m km    Resolution 1
Dart Mk1 AMM (440)  Speed: 92,000 km/s   End: 1.9m    Range: 10.8m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 920 / 552 / 276
Arrow Mk1 ASM (140)  Speed: 60,000 km/s   End: 20m    Range: 72m km   WH: 10    Size: 5    TH: 320 / 192 / 96

SSA-1 (1)     GPS 140     Range 1.1m km    Resolution 1
SSA-2 (1)     GPS 5600     Range 44.8m km    Resolution 20
SSP-1t (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m km
SSP-1e (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  16m 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

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

Code: [Select]

Arrow ASM: 5 MSP  (0.25 HS)     Warhead: 16    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 18
Speed: 60000 km/s    Endurance: 25 minutes   Range: 90.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 9.2
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 1080%   3k km/s 360%   5k km/s 216%   10k km/s 108%
1232 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

As he watched the last of the alien ships explode 20 million km short of his ships, Hall realized the Tactical Officer had been right.  It had put a significant dent in the missile stocks, but the mobile aliens had been eliminated.  Orders were sent to the cruisers and frigates ordering them to close with the static aliens and destroy them.

1525 UST 14th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

As the last of the static alien ships exploded under laser fire; Hall read the nonsense his Intelligence Officer had sent him:

INITIAL ASSESSREP LUYTEN’S STAR ALIENS:  FOLLOWING EXTENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DEBRIS AND RECORDINGS OF THE ENGAGEMENT, IT IS ASSESSED THAT THE LUYTEN’S STAR ALIENS SHIPS ARE NOT, IN FACT, SHIPS; THEY ARE ACTUALLY ORGANIC CONTRUCTIONS THAT APPEAR TO BLEED WHEN THEIR NATURAL ARMOUR BELT IS PENETRATED.

‘You believe this rubbish?’
‘Yes Sir, and I am aware that I have staked my reputation on it.’
‘Hmmm, we’ll let fleet intelligence decide if you still have a reputation.’
‘There is one thing that isn’t on the report Sir.’
‘Something more impossible than this cach?’
‘It may be that these things are combat drones, if so what have they been protecting?’
With that uncomfortable thought in his head, Hall ordered the task force to turn towards the ArkCon wrecks.  
‘I guess we will find out soon enough.’

[welchbloke (OP)]

1527 UST 15th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Sensors, Penyrheol reports a new contact at extreme range thermal strength 1200 designate Bravo 1.  Based upon known alien characteristics estimate target mass as 6 000 tonnes.’
‘Nav, continue to close with target.’
‘Aye, Sir.’

1530 UST 15th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Sensors, Penyrheol reports Bravo 1 currently moving at 1000 km/s.’

1535 UST 15th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.
‘Marshal, Tactical, assuming that Bravo 1 has a max speed of 1000km/s it is possible the actual mass is 60 000 tonnes.’
Hall turned to his Tactical Officer and gave him his best stare.  ‘Don’t be ridiculous, I will not tolerate unfounded pessimism on my bridge.’

2203 UST 15th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Sensors, Bravo 1 is now at 224 million km/s and has been actively scanned by Penyrheol.  Bravo 1 has a confirmed mass of 60 000 tonnes!’
Hall turned to stare at his Tactical Officer, who was inspecting one of his displays intently and, sensibly, made no comment.

0328 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Hugh Hall watched his tactical screen as the 60 fighters of his carrier strike sped towards the behemoth that his fleet had been tracking for the last 24 hrs.  About 6 hrs ago the ship had obviously detected his forces as it left orbit of the asteroid it had been close to and headed directly towards them.  After an hour or so it had become apparent that no more of the drone warships had been launched and, given the massive speed advantage of his fleet, Hall had become confident that he could control this engagement.  

0342 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

The 60 Dreigiau fighters launched 360 Bolts at the massive alien ship and turned for home.  Still no drones appeared and Hall felt his confidence rise even further.

0343 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

The Bolts struck home and flattened the alien ship’s massive shields.  Hall studied the display intently but he couldn’t see any sign of internal damage.  Unbelievable, 360 missiles hadn’t killed it.  Then another set of icons appeared on his display.
‘Marshal, Sensors, new contacts designate Tango 57 through 76.  Speed 10000km/s, bearing directly.’
‘Marshal, Tactical, the large alien ship fired meson weapons to intercept some of our missiles, postulate that the drones are also meson armed.’
‘Marshal, Tactical, Cruisers are opening fire using targeting protocol Hall Charlie.’
On his tactical display, Hall watched as groups of 5 Arrows appeared, each targeted on a different drone.

0348 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Hugh Hall watched as the last of the drones exploded under the weight of the Arrow barrage.
‘Tactical, order the fleet to close to 1 million km of the Bravo 1.  Cruisers are free to engage at will.’

0350 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Tactical, cruisers have expended Arrow stocks.  Switching to Dart.  Target’s shields are regenerating and absorbing some of each volley’
‘Tactical, order the frigates to close to effective laser range, they are only doing minimal damage at the moment.  We need more weight of fire; we are just knocking the shields down again and stripping layers of armour off.’

Code: [Select]

Dart AMM: 1 MSP  (0.05 HS)     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 35
Speed: 92000 km/s    Endurance: 2 minutes   Range: 13.5m km
Cost Per Missile: 2.4083
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 3220%   3k km/s 1050%   5k km/s 644%   10k km/s 322%
0352 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Tactical, Tan 001 has suffered significant internal damage from meson fire, the frigates are pulling out of range.

0354 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Tactical, the alien ship is streaming fluid and appears to have slowed.  Thermal signature has also reduced.’
‘Tactical, I want that thing dead; order the frigates to close again.’

0356 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Punctuated by cheers, the Tactical Officer called out ‘Marshal, Tactical, target has exploded.’
‘Well done everyone, Tactical, I want a status report on missile stores and damage.’

0400 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Hugh Hall looked at his display and shook his head, out of an original inventory of 420 Arrows and 1320 Darts his cruisers only had 170 Dart AMMs left.  Tan 001 had lost 50% of its engines and 25% of its weapon batteries along with 378 of her crew.  In exchange the aliens had lost seventy six 800 tonne drones and a 60 000 tonne ship.
‘Tactical continue on course to the asteroid that monster was in orbit of; I want to make sure we have cleansed this system.’

0837 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

‘Marshal, Sensors, Penyrheol has detected 6 new targets designate Charlie 1 through 9. Thermal strength 160, speed 1333 km/s estimate tonnage as 6 000 tonnes.’
‘Marshal, Tactical, concur with Sensors assessment.’
‘Tactical, instruct the frigates to close and engage.’

1029 UST 18th Rivros 3127 CC Luyten’s Star System.

Hall watched his display as the last of the 6 000 tonne alien ships exploded, it was now obvious that they were unarmed.  They had tried to run from the frigates; given the frigates were nearly 5 times as fast as the aliens it had been a futile gesture.
‘Tactical, order the frigates to re-join the fleet.  Nav, shape a course for home.’
With their magazines practically empty, the first Celtic ships to ever engage in space combat headed home.

[welchbloke (OP)]

0800 9th Anagantios 3127

Before taking her seat, Deputy Space Marshal Amynedd Grunna looked around the briefing theatre.  She shared a brief smile with the rising star of the officer corps, Deputy Space Marshal Trevon Kenderick, he was 10 years younger than her and likely to get promoted before her.  Despite all that he was a difficult person not to like.  Then she saw Hugh Hall, another officer that had been tipped to be a high flyer.  Hall had graduated from the Academy in the same class as Kenderick and had enjoyed the same accelerated promotion as the fleet expanded.  Something had happened in the Luyten’s Star System; Hall had come back a hero and had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.  Yet, the rumours were that he had screwed up and was out of favour with the 1st Space Lord.  One of the more outrageous rumours claimed that his Tactical Officer had pulled his fat out of the fire in the middle of the battle.  

As she sat down the lights dimmed and the Commanding Officer of Home Fleet, Chief Space Marshal Torlan Carduggan stepped up the podium.

‘Good Morning everyone, you are here to receive a briefing on Operation VERTICAL.  Op VERTICAL will be a sweep of the V577 Monocerii system designed to eliminate any traces of the organism known as the Star Swarm that have been detected in that system.’

Amynedd heard a few snorts at that statement.  The sensor data taken from the battle with the first Star Swarm did indeed indicate that what were first thought to be some kind of organic looking ships were in fact organisms in their own right.  Once this had become public knowledge and combined with the strange buzzing noise that they generated on the communications frequencies, the press had soon coined the term Star Swarm.  It appeared that the term had been accepted as official by the Navy.

‘The friendly forces for Op VERTICAL are BB Div#1, Carrier Groups #1 and #2, Cruiser Sqn #1 and Frigate Sqn #2 under the overall command of Deputy Space Marshal Ithel.’

That last piece of information got Amynedd’s attention, it looked like Hall was out of favour; why else was he not in charge?

Ithel replaced the Chief Space Marshal at the podium.

‘We have learnt a great deal since our first encounter with the Swarm, I do not intend to lose anyone in this engagement.  So pay particular attention to the briefs from the Int and Tactical Officers.’

Amynedd looked at Hall and saw that instead of looking angry at the implied criticism, he looked pretty sheepish.  ‘What happened out there?’

At that moment the theatre lights dimmed and a grainy long range shot of a grey organic looking asteroid appeared in the projection tank.

‘This Sirs and Ma’ams is the best shot we have of a fully functional combat drone of the Swarm.  This has been given the reporting name SWARM SOLDIER.’
‘It appears the Swarm Soldiers are armed with some kind of Meson weapon.  The range of this weapon is not known as they were all destroyed before they could fire.’

A new image appeared on the screen.
‘This is the SWARM QUEEN, massing 60 000 tonnes it is a tough target with massive shields and a thick armour belt.  It is also armed with 8 turreted meson weapons with a range of 60 000km.’

A third image obviously much smaller than the last appeared in the tank.
‘This is the SWARM WORKER; it appears to have no weapons and was observed to be mining an asteroid.  The reasons for this activity are unknown.’

The rest of the brief washed over Grunna as she read through her briefing pack.

[welchbloke (OP)]

1300UST 9th Anagantios 3127

As she looked around the bridge, Amynedd Grunna couldn’t help but feel glad that she was the captain of the Iwerddon.  She had been the captain of Iwerddon , second of the Cymru class battleships, since the day it was commissioned into the Service.  She was sure that she had one of the best command crews in the fleet and yet she couldn’t help but feel nervous about how they, and her, would react under fire.  As Grunna watched the bright orb of her home world get smaller in the view plate, Iwerddon took up the number 3 slot in formation with the jump battleship Cymraeg and the lead ship of her own class the Cymru.  It was a long trip to the V577 Monocerii system and Grunna intended to train her crew to a fine edge during the transit.

To no one in particular she said ‘No time like the present.’

‘Tactical, training RED ALERT, missile defence, scenario Grunna 62-Charlie.  Commence immediately.’

As the red alert tannoy sounded throughout the ship, Amynedd brought up her readiness screen and assessed how quickly the various sections declared themselves combat ready.

2105UST 1st Ogronnos 3127

As Iwerddon’s sensors stabilised, Amynedd thought to herself ‘No more training, now it’s for real.’

‘Tactical, maintain Yellow Alert.’

0524UST 5th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, new thermal Contact designate Tango 1 bearing 065 range 411 M kms.’

‘Tactical, Maintain Yellow Alert. Sensors, let me know the moment the fleet scout resolves that target into multiple targets.’

0526UST 5th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Sensors, fleet scout has resolved Tango 1 into 17 Swarm Soldiers, designate Swarm Soldier 01-17.’

0639UST 5th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Swarm Soldiers have entered range, we have been assigned Swarm Soldiers 03 and 04.  Fleet volley timed to fire in 15 secs.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, Arrows away, time to target 12 mins.’

0651UST 5th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Arrows have impacted the targets, both destroyed.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, only one Swarm Soldier remains number 11.  Cymru is firing a further 5 Arrows at the target.’

0659UST 5th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Swarm Soldier 11 destroyed.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, new orders from flag.  The fleet is to continue on course and backtrack the course of the Swarm Soldiers.’

‘That takes us away from the main planetary system.  What possible targets are there on the course?’

‘The only body on this course is a comet, range 2.7 billion kms.’

‘Tactical, stand down to Yellow Alert.’

[welchbloke (OP)]

0325UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

Amynedd Grunna blinked as the lights in her cabin snapped on.  ‘Marshal, Tactical, please report to the bridge’

As she strode onto the bridge, Grunna snapped ‘Report.’

‘Marshal, long range sensors on the fleet scout have detected a thermal contact orbiting the comet that we have been heading for.  The signature is consistent with the Swarm Mother class.’

‘Time to firing range?’

’Nineteen and a half hours.’

‘Unless the Flag orders otherwise, we will go to red alert at 30 mins out.’

2248UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, the recce drone fired by the fleet scout has just got within sensor range of the comet.  There are 9 Swarm Workers around the comet.’

‘Tactical, any Swarm Soldiers detected?’

‘Marshal, Tactical, negative, based upon the previous engagement, it is assumed that there are some berthed to the Swarm Mother.’

2254UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Arrows away, target is Swarm Mother.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, it appears that the fleet fighter director has miscalculated.  The fighters and FACs are being affected by hostile ECM and will not fire for a further 30 secs.’

2256UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Arrows have hit the target.  Target shields down and there is evidence of some internal damage.’

‘Marshal, Sensors, 20 Swarm Soldiers have been detected launching form the Swarm Mother. Designate Swarm Soldiers 18-37.’

‘Marshal, Communications, new targeting assignment from Flag, we have been assigned Swarm Soldiers 20 and 21 as targets.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, Bolts have hit the Swarm Mother, more internal damage observed.’

‘Marshal, Tactical, Arrows away, targets are Swarm Soldiers 20 and 21.’

2258UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, the last of the Swarm Soldiers has been destroyed; targeting has been shifted back to the Swarm Mother.’

‘Marshal, Communications, the Flag has ordered the fleet to close to 500 kms of the target.’

2301UST 8th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, the Swarm Mother has exploded.’

‘Marshal, Communications, the Flag has ordered Cease Fire. The frigates have been ordered to close with the Swarm Workers and destroy them.’

0435UST 11th Ogronnos 3127

‘Marshal, Tactical, Swarm Workers have been destroyed by Frigate Sqn #2.’

‘Marshal, Communications, the Flag has instructed the fleet to turn for home.’

Selecting the ship-wide intercom, Grunna spoke into her throat mike. ‘This is the Captain, the last Swarm Workers have been destroyed.  This crew has performed exceptionally and I would like to personally thank you for your professionalism, you have done yourselves and your ancestors proud.  I call on the Ship’s Druid to make an offering to this ship’s patron god, Ogma. Captain out’

[welchbloke (OP)]

22nd Ogronnos 3127 – Ross 85 system discovered by 1st (Grav) Survey Sqn.  The Ross 85 system contains 6 planets including a terrestrial world orbiting 9.1M km away from an M-Class star.  Due to a surface temperature of 153.1 degrees and the lack of any atmosphere the planet has a HI of 1.94.

19th Cvtios 3127 – Iota Persei system discovered by 1st (Grav) Survey Sqn.  The Iota Persei system has 8 planets, including a terrestrial world with a surface temperature of -43 degrees.  This world has a breathable atmosphere and a Hi of 0.53.  The planet is logged as a possible future terraforming site.

27th Cvtios 3127 – Giclas 175-42 system discovered by 1st (Grav) Survey Sqn.The system’s K-Class star has 9 planets around it including 2 terrestrial planets.  One of the planets has a surface temperature of 112 degrees; the other has a temperature of -112 degrees. With HIs of 1.7 and 2.02, neither planet is a particularly suitable colony location.

[welchbloke (OP)]

This was the first year that the Celts engaged in combat.  Their designs fared well against the swarm and I was pretty satisfied with them.  The first battle was pretty sweaty for me; I thought I was going to run out of missiles before the damned Swarm Mother was destroyed.  My tactics evolved as a result of my first engagement.
The other notable activity was the creation of an extra-solar colony.  In time, the Celts would develop this planet into a fleet base.

Once I decided to start keeping enough records to write this campaign up I was a little concerned that I wouldn't get attached to the campaign as I didn't have a key protagonist.  As it transpired, Amynedd Grunna kept turning up in battle after battle and became my protagonist by default.

[welchbloke (OP)]

In addition to the designs posted in the prologue the following designs were introduced into service in 2127:

Code: [Select]

Aran Fawddwy Batch 2 class Freighter    157050 tons     1243 Crew     3979.2 BP      TCS 3141  TH 10000  EM 0
3183 km/s     Armour 1-259     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 21     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 333 MSP    Max Repair 125 MSP
Cargo 125000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 125    

Donkey Mk2 SCAM (20)    Power 500    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 500    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 2,050,000 Litres    Range 469.8 billion km   (1708 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
This design was an upgrade to change the engines to non-hyper capable versions.

Code: [Select]

Tawe class Jump Freighter    73000 tons     778 Crew     2952 BP      TCS 1460  TH 5000  EM 0
3424 km/s    JR 2-25(C)     Armour 1-155     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 25 MSP    Max Repair 1056 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 25    

JC73K CJD     Max Ship Size 73000 tons    Distance 25k km     Squadron Size 2
Donkey Mk2 SCAM (10)    Power 500    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 500    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,550,000 Litres    Range 764.2 billion km   (2583 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes
This design was created to give cargo sqns the ability to operate outside of the jump gate network.

Code: [Select]

Aran Benylln Batch 2 class Freighter    66250 tons     653 Crew     2031.4 BP      TCS 1325  TH 5000  EM 0
3773 km/s     Armour 1-145     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 17     PPV 0
Maint Capacity 326 MSP    Max Repair 125 MSP
Cargo 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 50    

Donkey Mk2 SCAM (10)    Power 500    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 500    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,050,000 Litres    Range 570.5 billion km   (1750 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

This design was an upgrade to change the engines to non-hyper capable versions.