The Annals of the Terran Defence League.
I got bored waiting for the EDA Campaign to work itself through so started this game to keep me occupied. It will not be as detailed as the previous one and only include what I consider to be the more interesting bits.
Prologue
The hyper-dimensional being Hzxlwk was minding its own business when the highly energetic burst of neutrinos passed through it. It was harmless enough but of longer duration than usual. Out of curiosity it backtracked the shower to its origin, a yellow G0 variable star. Now that was an unusual source for such an energetic subatomic shower, especially a one-off. It conferred with a few of its fellows and they decided to go and look at what could have caused such a phenomena. It took them no time to translate to the location of the yellow star. Once there the mystery deepened before becoming clear. The source of the neutrino packet was not the star but a small rocky planet within the G0 stars sphere of influence, but that shouldn’t give off such radiation! But on closer examination it was determined it was inhabited by a lowly species of four-dimensional creatures who had just turned their nice habitable planet into a radioactive wasteland. The neutrino burst had originated from the weapons they used. Having determined the source the hyper-dimensional beings departed commenting on the stupidity of such creatures, all that is but one who guiltily remembered in its infancy playing with this planet several thousand time-spans ago. It wondered if its actions then could in part be responsible for the shortly to be completed demise of this four-dimensional life form.
To expiate any possible guilt it determined to give the species a second chance. While its powers to the four-dimensional life forms were god-like it was only one and it took time even for it. The hyper-dimensional being set to cleaning up the radiation, which wasn’t difficult, a bit of elemental transformation and it was done, but it was fiddly. The descending nuclear winter was within its capabilities to halt but again time consuming. It managed to speed things up a bit by communicating with the four-dimensional creatures to which it appeared as a giant filmy figure of fire with large silver shot gold wings, or occasionally as a pillar of fire and at other times as a fabulous winged dragon or other apparitions and induced them to help where they could. It took a century or two and many of the four-dimensional life forms succumbed, but eventually the environment had been cleaned up although it was sadly diminished. Only then did the hyper-dimensional being take time to look at the stellar neighbourhood. It was not a very salubrious one. It would be a pity for all its work to be undone by the forces at large close to this star so quickly (as it saw time). Well the survivors of the four-dimensional creatures were a little more rational and sophisticated than the last time he visited, so perhaps it could carry out a little more elemental transformation deep within the planet and impart them some knowledge that may be of some use in preserving them and their planet if they had the wit to understand it. With that done it left leaving them a message which bluntly said you’re on your own now I will not be back!
First Contact.
23rd May 42 of the New Calendar. Barnard’s Star.Commodore Nicholas Sinclair sat in his command chair quite satisfied with life aboard the fleet carrier Aisne, the rest of Battle Group #3 was spread about it as it cruised to the jump point. Battle Group #3 consisted of the Fleet Carrier (CV) Aisne, embarking 41 A-6A Star Slayer fighters, the Jump Carrier (CVJ) Swiftsure embarking 20 A-6A Star Slayer fighters, the Fleet Scout Searcher (SC), the Missile Frigates (FG) Black Prince, Defence, Warrior and Destroyer accompanied by the Tribal class Escorts (ES) Afghan and Amazon and the Fleet Tanker/Supply Vessel (AO/K) Sudmark.
The mission had a propitious start, from the blessing in the Cathedral of the Church of the Second Coming to the finding of an HI 0 planet in 61 Cygni along with an HI 1.9 planet in both the A and B components. Minerals were a little sparse but there were just enough. The fleet was now cruising in Barnard’s Star system towards the last unexplored jump point in the system which the Battle Group would probe.
25th May 42NC Barnard’s Star.Battle Group #3 entered the unexplored jump point and no time later emerged into the light of the single G8-V star of the Tau Ceti system, 11.9 light-years from Sol. The planetary system looked promising with two HI 2.85 planets two and four orbits out from the star. The Fleet Scout Searcher activated its massive MR4320-R100 search sensor, all looked clean on first inspection and the fleet settled down to wait on the arrival Survey Squadron.
18:15, 30th May 42NC. Tau Ceti.Alarms echoed through the vessels of Battle Group #3, the Searcher had detected four gravitational signatures of alien ships emerging from behind Tau Ceti-A IV. Could these be emissaries of the Forces of Darkness that they had been had warned about towards the end of His Second Coming? Crews ran to action stations. The four alien ships burned towards the Battle Group. Data on the vessels trickled in.
Four Neutral Ship Contacts! Contact ID: Prince of Wales. Thermal Signature 8752, cross section indicates they are of 109,350 tons, current velocity 4000 k/s. Commodore Sinclair was a little disturbed by the tonnage, the aliens massed three and a half times that of Battle Group #3. He ordered that the first contact team should attempt to open communications. The aliens however, ignored all attempts and continued to advance towards the fleet.
31st May 42NC. Tau Ceti.The aliens were still on approach and still ignoring all attempts at communications. As a precaution Commodore Sinclair launched his fighters and the CV Aisne, CVJ Swiftsure and AO/K Sudmark transited into Barnard’s Star system. Commodore Sinclair transferred his flag to the FG Black Prince. The fighters accompanied by the SC Searcher drew off the jump point by 25 million kilometres and all vessels still in Tau Ceti raised shields.
06:30 1st June 42NC. Tau Ceti.The alien vessels reached the Battle Group and all four attempted to ram the FG Destroyer, the slowest of the Terran ships present. Commodore Sinclair was dumbfounded of all the responses this was not what he expected. Before he could formulate a response the aliens twice more attempted to ram the Destroyer, at which point he ordered all vessels to fire on the aliens. The Black Prince targeted Prince of Wales 001, the Defence targeted the Prince of Wales 002, the Warrior targeted Prince of Wales 003 while the Prince of Wales 004 targeted by the Destroyer, Afghan and Amazon. Five seconds after issuing the orders missiles launched and the Afghan and Amazon opened fire with their 10cm near UV lasers scoring eleven hits on Prince of Wales 004 with no obvious effect. The aliens again attempted to ram Destroyer, once more missing by the narrowest of margins. Then the missiles, launched at point blank range struck home! Each alien behemoth was engulfed in a nuclear holocaust such as that which would have sterilised the Earth had He not intervened directly. Three of the aliens were attacked by 104 size 4 SIM-1 Javelin missiles, while number four was targeted by 100 SIM-1 Javelins and 16 size 1 AMM-1 Daggers. The aliens intercepted 21 Javelins and four Daggers with point defence, the rest punched through. The alien vessels had no detectable shields so the elemental fire burned straight into the hull, great craters and fissures opened in the hulls, the plasma burned into the ships cores. There were no internal explosions but the ships structures could not take such punishment for long and the four alien vessels turned into a collection of wreckage. In less than three minutes it was all over, no life pods released from any of the hulks.
Between 29 and 35 Javelins had been required to destroy each alien vessel. Commodore Sinclair winced as the excess missiles destroyed themselves; he wondered how he was going to explain the level of overkill to the auditors when the fleet returned to Earth. Still, since the aliens were routed so easily they were clearly a Lesser Force of Darkness. He shook his head no doubt the Church would tout it as another miracle to set beside the great tomes left behind after the Second Leaving, great books, superhuman works of art, each page of which was a thin sheet of tungsten carbide, each a single crystal! The leaves were embossed with a legible script formed of diamond, sapphire, emerald, ruby, other semi-precious stones and obsidian. But each letter, each line was a single crystal. The books contained all the knowledge mankind so nearly lost and most importantly the Trans-Newtonian primer, which provided the impetus to give man the stars and a final thin volume, The Book of Foes, warning of the dangers lurking out there in the darkness. Still it might induce the Church to support the Navy in lobbying the politicians to release funds for updated missiles, the Navy had been denied funding for the last two cycles of major improvements in missile technology, the SIM-1 Javelins were still propelled by ion engines! Commodore Sinclair ceased ruminating and ordered the Battle Group to close Tau Ceti-A IV and see what they could find there.
Two hours later Battle Group #3 was off Tau Ceti-A IV and once again the alarms were going off. This time it was the missile and active sensor alarm, a salvo of eight missiles were inbound.
Missile Contact (x2) TCS 24
Missile Contact (x8) TCS 2 Thermal: 7 Active Sensor S0.9/R101 The warning came so late that the Han Anti-ship Missiles were at 10,000 kilometres before point defence kicked in, the CIWS systems on the CVJ Swiftsure accounted for four while the lasers on the Afghan accounted for the remaining four. The Battle Group moved to the moon of Tau Ceti-A IV and the Afghan launched four Dagger AMMs at the two size 24 satellites detected in orbit over Tau Ceti-A IV. Seconds later both targets exploded as the Daggers successfully intercepted their targets.
1st July 42NC. Tau Ceti.The first contact team completed analysing their data. The contact team believed this race is too alien and communication can never be established. All future contact would be classed as hostile.
Postscript.The Survey Squadron discovered a destroyed alien outpost on Tau Ceti-A IV and a xenological research team established it had belonged to the Empire of Hat Yai, which had a TL-1 level of technology. The alien vessels were considerably in advance of this.
Salvage of the alien ships revealed internal confinement fusion drives CIWS-250, EM1-18 detection sensor, MR54-R84 active search sensors, cryogenic storage modules and cargo handling systems. Evidence of active grav sensor strength 36 was found within one of the wrecks. In short they appeared to have been colony transports, yet they still attacked! It was impossible to assert whether there had been a crew aboard the vessels or whether the cryomodules had been occupied. Only the CIWS-250 was beyond the League, but the League had yet to deploy much of this technology.
Appendix A – Ship Schematics.
Agincourt Mk II class Carrier 27,500 tons 1721 Crew 5164.52 BP TCS 550 TH 1120 EM 1140
5818 km/s Armour 1-81 Shields 38-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 20 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 310% IFR: 4.3% Maint Capacity 3289 MSP Max Repair 360 MSP Est Time: 1.97 Years
Hangar Deck Capacity 10000 tons Magazine 600
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 Mil (40) Power 80 Fuel Use 60% Signature 28 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 555,000 Litres Range 60.5 billion km (120 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (15) Total Fuel Cost 225 Litres per day
CIWS-160 (3x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
SIM-2 Rapier (200) Speed: 34,700 km/s End: 12m Range: 25m km WH: 9 Size: 3 TH: 219 / 131 / 65
Active Search Sensor MR177-R20 (1) GPS 7200 Range 177.1m km Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
Strike Group
41x A-6A Star Slayer Fighter Speed: 9896 km/s Size: 4.85
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 purposesShips Present: Aisne.
Vanguard class Jump Carrier 27,500 tons 2249 Crew 7058.94 BP TCS 550 TH 1120 EM 960
5818 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-81 Shields 32-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 38 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 158% IFR: 2.2% Maint Capacity 7136 MSP Max Repair 2256 MSP Est Time: 1.5 Years
Hangar Deck Capacity 5000 tons Magazine 450
J28500(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 28500 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 Mil (40) Power 80 Fuel Use 60% Signature 28 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 550,000 Litres Range 60.0 billion km (119 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (13) Total Fuel Cost 195 Litres per day
CIWS-160 (3x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
SIM-1 Rapier (150) Speed: 26,000 km/s End: 16.5m Range: 25.7m km WH: 7 Size: 3 TH: 86 / 52 / 26
Active Search Sensor MR177-R20 (1) GPS 7200 Range 177.1m km Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
Strike Group
20x A-6A Star Slayer Fighter Speed: 9896 km/s Size: 4.85
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 purposesShips Present: Swiftsure.
A-6A Star Slayer class Fighter 243 tons 4 Crew 64.25 BP TCS 4.85 TH 16.8 EM 0
9896 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 2.25
Annual Failure Rate: 4% IFR: 0.1% Maint Capacity 17 MSP Max Repair 18 MSP Est Time: 5.85 Years
Magazine 15
FTR Magneto-plasma Drive E600 (1) Power 48 Fuel Use 6000% Signature 16.8 Armour 0 Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 30,000 Litres Range 3.7 billion km (4 days at full power)
Size 3 Box Launcher (5) Missile Size 3 Hangar Reload 22.5 minutes MF Reload 3.7 hours
Missile Fire Control FC26-R20 (1) Range 26.6m km Resolution 20
SIM-1 Rapier (5) Speed: 26,000 km/s End: 16.5m Range: 25.7m km WH: 7 Size: 3 TH: 86 / 52 / 26
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 purposesResolution Mk II class Scout 10,000 tons 961 Crew 4641.6 BP TCS 200 TH 336 EM 540
7000 km/s Armour 3-41 Shields 18-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 20 PPV 11
Annual Failure Rate: 76% IFR: 1.1% Maint Capacity 5046 MSP Max Repair 2400 MSP Est Time: 1.88 Years
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E6 Mil (14) Power 100 Fuel Use 60% Signature 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 180,000 Litres Range 54.0 billion km (89 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (7) Total Fuel Cost 105 Litres per day
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2) Range 90,000km TS: 33350 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S12 96-16000 (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (3) Total Power Output 6 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR4320-R100 (1) GPS 240000 Range 4,320.0m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR8-R1 (1) GPS 48 Range 8.6m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesShips Present: Searcher.
Tribal Mk II class Escort 10,650 tons 1032 Crew 3128.56 BP TCS 213 TH 360 EM 240
7042 km/s Armour 3-43 Shields 8-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 17 PPV 41
Annual Failure Rate: 129% IFR: 1.8% Maint Capacity 1285 MSP Max Repair 230 MSP Est Time: 2.44 Years
Magazine 308
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E6 Mil (15) Power 100 Fuel Use 60% Signature 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 155,000 Litres Range 43.7 billion km (71 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (3) Total Fuel Cost 45 Litres per day
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (3x2) Range 90,000km TS: 33350 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S12 96-16000 (3) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 16000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (1) Total Power Output 0.8 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (1) Total Power Output 1.6 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 AR-0 (2) Total Power Output 16 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
Missile Fire Control FC7-R1 (2) Range 7.8m km Resolution 1
AMM-1 Dagger (308) Speed: 30,000 km/s End: 2.8m Range: 5.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 190 / 114 / 57
Active Search Sensor MR77-R20 (1) GPS 1920 Range 77.3m km Resolution 20
Active Search Sensor MR8-R1 (1) GPS 48 Range 8.6m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
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 purposesShips Present: Afghan, Amazon.
Victory Mk II class Missile Frigate 10,000 tons 621 Crew 2428.6 BP TCS 200 TH 392 EM 840
5600 km/s Armour 4-41 Shields 28-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 15 PPV 60
Annual Failure Rate: 160% IFR: 2.2% Maint Capacity 759 MSP Max Repair 135 MSP Est Time: 2.17 Years
Magazine 400
Magneto-plasma Drive E6 Mil (14) Power 80 Fuel Use 60% Signature 28 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 155,000 Litres Range 46.5 billion km (96 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (11) Total Fuel Cost 165 Litres per day
CIWS-160 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Box Launcher (100) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC185-R20 (3) Range 185.9m km Resolution 20
SIM-1 Javelin (100) Speed: 24,700 km/s End: 43.3m Range: 64.1m km WH: 5 Size: 4 TH: 107 / 64 / 32
Active Search Sensor MR66-R20 (1) GPS 2700 Range 66.4m km Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
ECCM-2 (1) ECM 20
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesShips Present: Destroyer.
Victory Mk III class Missile Frigate 10,000 tons 616 Crew 2639.4 BP TCS 200 TH 336 EM 900
7000 km/s Armour 4-41 Shields 30-375 Sensors 15/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 15 PPV 62.4
Annual Failure Rate: 160% IFR: 2.2% Maint Capacity 825 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP Est Time: 2.72 Years
Magazine 416
Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E6 Mil (14) Power 100 Fuel Use 60% Signature 24 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 45.0 billion km (74 days at full power)
Delta R375/15 Shields (12) Total Fuel Cost 180 Litres per day
CIWS-160 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 16000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Size 4 Box Launcher (104) Missile Size 4 Hangar Reload 30 minutes MF Reload 5 hours
Missile Fire Control FC115-R20 (3) Range 115.9m km Resolution 20
SIM-1 Javelin (104) Speed: 24,700 km/s End: 43.3m Range: 64.1m km WH: 5 Size: 4 TH: 107 / 64 / 32
Active Search Sensor MR77-R20 (1) GPS 1920 Range 77.3m km Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH3-15 (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 15m km
ECCM-2 (3) ECM 20
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposesShips Present: Black Prince, Defence and Warrior.
Nordmark Mk II class Support Vessel 13,550 tons 337 Crew 1189.4 BP TCS 271 TH 630 EM 0
6642 km/s Armour 1-50 Shields 0-0 Sensors 5/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
Maint Capacity 3055 MSP Max Repair 88 MSP
Magneto-plasma Drive E0.6 Commercial (9) Power 200 Fuel Use 6% Signature 70 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 1,070,000 Litres Range 2369.0 billion km (4128 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor MR39-R100 (1) GPS 3600 Range 39.6m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH1-5 (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposesShips Present: Sudmark.
