Early preparations were underway to engage the massive Calana force in 91 Pegasi, and the 2nd Fleet was ordered away from the xenos' homeworld to trail the Armada at the edge of its sensor range until the rest of the Empire's forces were in position. One Admiral Lazarev-C class was detached and sent closer to the star to allow its scouts to investigate the two innermost planets in the system.

The Armada was moving at a glacial pace of 1819 km/s, far slower than the speed of its oldest vessels. Hosho, Kongo and Akagi classes all had an observed top speed of ~2700 km/s, although the capabilities of the latter two were unknown, they have been picked up by sensors before. In the meantime, Petr Veliki was detached from the Assault Carrier fleet and was sent ahead of the Armada to match its bearing and move in its destination's direction to reveal the stabilized My Pyxidis jump point with its powerful sensors. In the meantime, Tsessarevitch had finished unloading POWs at the newly set up Comet prison colony, with its population now exceeding four thousand. It was ordered to intercept the Armada's course vector in the outer system and begin a head-on approach, scouting for the jump point from the fringes of the system as Petr sought it from within.

This approach quickly paid off, as in the following hour the 2nd Fleet detected a convoy of six previously unseen large commercial ships protected by a Wakayama-class destroyer escort and Petr Veliki detected an unprotected convoy of four small Okayama-class commercial vessels of unknown purpose, both fleets maintaining the same course as the Armada. A single Admiral Lazarev destroyer left the formation to engage and defeat the Wakayama with its railguns, also taking out one of the smaller commercial vessels, before the High Command ordered it to cease fire and rejoin ranks, as the unknown ship classes warranted investigation due to the possible value they could hold. Ekaterina, the last carrier remaining in the Assault Carrier Fleet, was sent to attempt boarding action on the now-defenseless vessels, and the nearby 4th Combat Fleet was ordered to move much closer and maintain sensor contact with the Armada in its stead.

As Ekaterina was closing in, its breaching pods already an hour away from their mark, Petr Veliki's strike group, composed exclusively of Vepr-class gunships, had finally run down the Okayamas. The High Command didn't exhibit enough interest in the puny 20-kiloton vessels to wait for the Carrier fleet to catch up and enable their capture, so the Veprs received an order to fire at will. Three Okayamas blew up instantly, with the fourth sustaining heavy damage and beginning to frantically broadcast surrender calls. Their surrender was accepted, and Petr Veliki soon caught up with its strike group and sent an investigation party aboard the crippled vessel. Its true purpose was finally revealed: a civilian colony ship not unlike those of Russia's many shipping lines, designed to carry 50,000 Calana in cryogenic stasis. The convoy departed their homeworld with full holds, most likely the privileged who could afford the last ticket off-world, and 10,000 Calana still survived in the last undamaged cryo wing of the damaged ship. 190 thousand Calana civilians perished in this brief engagement.


The crews of Petr Veliki’s strike group could now boast the highest combined kill count in the Empire in more than one way.

Petr proceeded onward as the first wave of Ekaterina's boarding operations were finalized, proving the frugal High Command right, as the captured lesser ships revealed their purpose as fuel harvesters, receiving the designation FH Aomori. Regrettably, they posed no tactical usefulness at the present, as their tanks were dead empty. Boarding companies reentered their breaching pods and proceeded to invade the hulls of the two surviving 140 kiloton vessels, which proved to be an even more valuable prize - orbital miners, now designated OM Shiroyama. Its boarding pods recalled, Ekaterina turned to join the 2nd Combat Fleet, forming the core of a future assault group.

A day later, on October 29th, 2055, Petr Veliki encountered yet another contact on the same path, a small and very slow freighter, and carried out a boarding operation using its own marine complement. No cargo was found onboard, but not long after, a new contact of a different sort caused jubilation among the Petr’s crew - an unexplored, stabilized jump point was discovered right on the charted course. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the High Command still retained a few doubts about the jump points being connected and was unwilling to risk an entire assault carrier in a blind transit, lest the other side be guarded by a more formidable force than the one currently stationed in Mu Pyxidis, numbering 4 magneto-plasma destroyer escorts of the original Kagoshima class and 8 large Matsuyama-class troop transports. Fortunately, the slow Carrier Fleet happened to be in relative proximity to the jump point, so one of its MiG-55S scouts was ordered to perform a transit, ready to perform the same sacrifice that led to discovery of the 91 Pegasi years ago.

All doubts were cast aside as the fighter scout was torn apart by four volleys of point-blank railgun fire, and Rostislav left the Carrier Fleet and headed for the jump point, where Petr Veliki by now awaited. After closing range to four hundred million kilometers, Rostislav launched 10 Otvaga breaching pods, and the assault carrier waited for them to come close before performing a jump, landing outside the Kagoshimas’ puny range. The Calana fleet instantly began fleeing in-system as Petr launched its gunships, eliminating each escort in short order. Minutes later, the Otvagas entered Mu Pyxidis and performed a coordinated boarding operation against the Matsuyamas assisted by Petr’s household guard. It took several minutes to drill through the troop transports’ heavy armor, and some losses were sustained against the ships’ vast crews, but soon every Matsuyama was brought into the fold, boosting the Empire’s troop transport capability notably.

The transports had no way of reaching Russian territory at the present, as the custom jump tender commissioned to allow transit of the Sagara fuel harvesters years ago had since been relocated, but the Empire currently wanted for troops, not transports, so the High Command was content to order them through Kuiper 41 into the 98 Leonis system where some of their previously captured brethren already waited for its jump point to be stabilized. In the meantime, Petr Veliki would remain at the Mu Pyxidis side to provide advance warning should any of the numerous Calana warships have a change of heart and actually decide to fight for their home. The Otvagas have collected their marines and underwent a quick refuel in Petr’s hangars then five remained with the assault carrier in lieu of five Vepr gunships, which followed the rest to Rostislav in 91 Pegasi, allowing it to rejoin the Carrier Fleet.


Mu Pyxidis

On October 30th, 2055, Kornilov-M approached 91 Pegasi IV, revealing a population signature and yet another garrison of 60 thousand tons. It was ordered back towards the gas giant to provide sensor detection of the suspected fuel harvesters in preparation for the upcoming boarding operation by the Donets.

Later the same day, a Calana force guarding the jump point towards Lambda Delphini in Mu Pyxidis must’ve received reports of what happened to their counterpart and panicked, performing a sudden transit into Delphini and beginning to flee into Kuiper 41 of all places. Despite being over their maximum deployment time, the venerable Sapsan frigates blockading the jump point reacted with haste. This Calana force was larger than the one dispatched by Petr Veliki, but was similarly helpless even in the face of the previous-generation Russian railguns. Yet again, a Kagoshima after a Kagoshima fell, with one choosing to surrender after getting immobilized. Lacking any boarding capability, the Sapsans eagerly fired a few volleys at each of the 12 Matsuyama transports and two chose to surrender, with the rest continuing toward Kuiper 41. Uncharacteristically, the High Command let them flee to be captured at a later date, as every adjacent jump point had excellent buoy coverage, leaving the slow vessels no chance to escape in the end.

Sapsans were ordered to perform routine survivor roundup and interrogation until it was realized that the prisoners drastically outnumbered the Russian crews, and the frigates had no chance of retaining combat effectiveness and securing their captives at the same time. Furthermore, no vacant modern ships to take over the blockading duty were available in the area of operations, with most vessels not committed to the invasion recovering from the Kent campaign. The final solution was contemplated, then disregarded, and a tough decision was made to utilize two ancient, Ion-era Bogatyr(M)-class destroyers performing garrison duty at the nearest naval base, with a Bogatyr-P (M)-class jump destroyer to lead them. Those antique vessels, a modernization of the very first Russian destroyer class, carried the same amount of missiles as the newest destroyers, but were far slower, lacked shields or heavy armor, and had no close-range armament save for a dozen point-defense railguns. The High Command hoped this would suffice, as rapid-firing railguns and squadron jump capability, coupled with an adequate missile complement, were still a force to be reckoned with.



Map of known Calana forces in 91 Pegasi by November 1st.

As the events around Mu Pyxidis unfolded, the High Command was busy contemplating how to actually deal with the massive Great Armada. After detecting both 2nd and 4th Fleets, its projected trajectory began to flicker, alternating between the directions of the Kuiper 41 and the Mu Pyxidis jump point. As junior Russian officers were openly starting to make bets on whether the Armada will pass close enough by the surrendered Okayama and whether they will obliterate ten thousand of their kind in nuclear fire, the aliens seemingly decided on heading towards 91 Pegasi V instead, an unacceptable course of action that would put way too much distance between it and the Empire’s forces currently out of position. The 2nd Fleet executed a long, roundabout maneuver, placing itself between the Armada and the gas giant, at which point the xenos suddenly decided to head back to their homeworld instead. Only after the 4th Fleet moved to cut off their advance, did they resume their southbound course.

Defeating them was another matter entirely. A fighter strike was out of the question given the fleet’s formidable point defenses and Tsessarevitch’s inability to contribute its strike group until it returned from the outer system, an unacceptable delay given the erratic nature of the Armada’s course. Its bulk was far too large for a long-range Kinzhal strike to inflict significant damage, given their limited availability. Even elimination of the enemy's point defenses could not be guaranteed. Meanwhile, a Gonchaya strike would surely expose the Empire’s ships to retaliatory missile fire, with the High Command strongly suspecting Akagi and Kongo classes to possess significant ordnance capabilities due to both fielding long-range sensor suites, with the former also boasting an additional one capable of detecting smaller craft. Finally, consensus was reached: this was a job for the traitors’ fleet.

The Grand Trophy Fleet was brought into the invasion to break through the Calana homeworld’s defenses, and under no circumstance has the High Command considered employing it in anti-ship maneuver warfare, owing to its low top speed, meager armor and the short range of its missiles, with a Kanazawa-class barely being able to match the range of an old Gonchaya. Furthermore, the High Command initially had reservations about xenos being able to fight their own kind. However, the orbital defenses on 91 Pegasi III turned out to be meager, depriving the Fleet of its original role, and the Great Armada’s speed far lower than even that of the trophy ships. Furthermore, the glee with which traitors fired their launchers during the opening engagement of the invasion has left the High Command with no reservations about their desire to fight their brethren - or die trying.

The slow fleet was still halfway through the system, escorted by the Commercial Carrier fleet of similar speed, but by November 1st a detachment of Kanazawa-class ships were moving to close distance with the Armada, with the remaining Kochi-class ships resuming their course for the homeworld, their puny fire control range surely useless in the battle to come. Commercial carriers fell back, launching their fighters to escort the Kanazawas for the upcoming battle, ostensibly to provide point defense. In truth, there was little a hundred light railgun fighters could do to blunt the missile onslaught of the Armada, but the fighter screen had a second purpose: to decimate the traitors should they change their allegiance once again.

By then, the Carrier Fleet linked up with the 4th Fleet, and both maneuvered around the Armada behind the 2nd Fleet. Scout-fighters were placed in front of the 2nd Fleet and the Trophy Fleet to provide advance warning of the enemy missiles. The Armada’s course became erratic once again, but with Tsessarevitch and Donets still many days away, the battle had to begin here and now.

Russian Stellar Empire Order of Battle:
2nd Combat Fleet:
1x CVH Knyaz Pozharsky-class Assault Carrier: Ekaterina
2x Destroyer Task Group:
8x DD Admiral Lazarev-class Destroyer
2x DE Admiral Lazarev-E-class Destroyer Escort
2x CDD Admiral Lazarev-C-class Command Destroyer

Strike Group:
10x GS Vepr-class Gunship
5x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod
4x FTR MiG-65S

4th Combat Fleet:
Frigate Task Group:
6x FF Pustelga-class Frigate
1x JF Pustelga-P-class Jump Frigate

Old Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Krechet-class Frigate
1x JF Krechet-P class Jump Frigate

1x DD Admiral Nakhimov-class Destroyer

Kagoshima Task Group:
3x DE Kagoshima (IC)-class Destroyer Escort

Beam Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Orlan-class Frigate


Carrier Fleet:
1x CV Knyaz Potemkin-class Carrier
1x CV Kuzma Minin-class Carrier: Rostislav

Strike Group:
5x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod
20x GS Vepr-class Gunship
50x FTR MiG-55-class Fighter – A previous-generation railgun fighter.
8x FTR MiG-55S - A previous-generation scout fighter.

Grand Trophy Fleet:
17x DDG Kanazawa-class Missile Destroyer
110x FTR MiG-65
10x FTR MiG-65S

Calana Imperium Order of Battle:
The Great Calana Armada:
2x CL Nara-class Light Cruiser
13x CS Akagi-class Strike Cruiser
8x DE Wakayama-class Destroyer Escort
4x DDG Kongo-class Missile Destroyer
3x DDG Kochi-class Missile Destroyer
2x DDG Tokushima-class Missile Destroyer
2x DDG Kanazawa-class Missile Destroyer
1x FFG Omuta-class Missile Frigate
1x FFG Asahikawa-class Missile Frigate
6x FFE Hosho-class Frigate Escort

All fleets closed in to a safe 60 mkm range, then the Trophy Fleet was ordered to approach to a 49 mkm range and open fire as the 4th Combat Fleet began unloading their long-range missiles at the Calana point defense ships in preparation for the traitors’ missile attack. 


Opening salvos of the engagement.

As the first Russian missiles approached their targets, a massive Calana missile strike was detected by an advance fighter scout. Four hundred missiles were heading for the Trophy Fleet, which was still 55 mkm away and unable to return fire. More alarmingly, the missiles moved at 48 kkm/s, corresponding to the newest known generation of Calana ordnance, twice the speed of the obsolete Javelin missiles aboard the Kanazawas. Still, the 2nd fleet was ordered to close in to 49 mkm to unleash their own Gonchayas at the enemy while they were reloading.

The 4th Fleet’s strike did not achieve its objective, with five Hoshos slowed down or destroyed, but only two Wakayamas sustaining enough damage to break formation. This was not communicated to the 2nd Fleet, which enthusiastically launched several Gonchaya volleys at the enemy’s missile carriers before overstaying its welcome, as 15 minutes after the first Calana volley, just as it struck the Kanazawas leaving three destroyed and one crippled, another one was detected heading for the Russian ships.

The 2nd Fleet immediately disengaged, seeking a rendezvous with the 4th Fleet and the Carrier Fleet’s strike group to bolster its point defense. The Carrier Fleet maintained its distance, as it was calculated that insufficient time was available to get the 2nd Fleet under Knyaz Potemkin’s protective umbrella. Around the same time, Kanazawas were finally close enough to open fire.


The 2nd Fleet faces peril.

The rendezvous succeeded and every AMM still loaded on Lazarev-Es was fired, but it was not enough. The missiles struck two destroyers of the 1st Task Group, a command one, which lost half its engines, and a basic one, which lost its shield generator and was down to one engine. Both were immediately ordered to fall back to the Carrier Fleet, and the 2nd Fleet maintained a safer distance, leaving it to the traitors to trade blows with the Armada.

Soon it was evident that the missile exchange was going badly for the Kanazawas. Every enemy salvo destroyed two or three ships while the Javelins failed to do significant damage at first. Eventually the quantity of incoming ordnance began to decline and some very slow missiles began to be seen, indicating the enemy was running low on ammunition. The Kanazawas, of which by then only four remained, with one sustaining heavy damage, were also empty. Finally, the call was made for the 2nd Fleet to advance. By that time, the Armada lost an additional 5 Akagis, 4 Wakayamas and 2 Kanazawas.


The breakthrough.

The 2nd Fleet received several half-salvos during its advance, dealing with them effortlessly. It also began taking fire from the xeno close-range missile vessels, but those were few in number and some of their volleys targeted Ekaterina’s strike group, which was able to break target lock by sheltering in its hangars. A fighter scout was lost after moving too close to an immobilized Wakayama, but inevitably, the 2nd Fleet moved into railgun range and dispatched the Nara cruisers from a safe distance, at which point, the fate of the surviving Calana missile ships was sealed.


The Armada falls.

After destroying the last enemy ships, the 2nd Fleet split into two Task Groups once again to eliminate the remaining survivors that left the Armada’s ranks earlier due to sustained damage. Afterwards, all ships were ordered to regroup with the Collier Fleet for replenishment, with Rostislav having run especially low on maintenance supplies trying to repair the damaged Admiral Lazarev destroyers. Ekaterina, with its supply stores mostly intact, was ordered to round up the enemy survivors and dump them on the same comet that housed their comrades-in-arms. Three surviving Kanazawas were ordered to gather survivors of their fleet and station them in the same place, with little concern given by the High Command to how the traitors will be received by their former comrades-in-arms.

By November 2nd, 2055, Donets had finally approached Comet #3 and sent its strike group to expose and defeat enemy STO elements, with most strike craft suffering superficial armor damage in the process. It then proceeded towards the enemy commercial vessels by 91 Pegasi V, which were soon illuminated by the returning Kornilov. A massed boarding operation followed, and soon, the vessels were indeed exposed as fuel harvesters, receiving the designation Taiho and ordered to return to the gas giant whose moons’ garrisons soon suffered the same fate as the comet’s one. Continuous Vepr railgun fire has taken a toll on the Donets’s maintenance stockpiles, so it was ordered back into the Carrier Fleet. Two of the Orlan frigates, which didn’t partake in the previous battle, were ordered to attack the garrison of 91 Pegasi IV in its stead.


On November 3rd, Petr Veliki unexpectedly detected a small missile group consisting of a Kochi, a Kanazawa and an Asahikawa attempting to return to 91 Pegasi from Mu Pyxidis. Some captured Matsuyamas were still close to the jump point on the other side, so performing an ambush was unsafe and instead, a risky head-on boarding action was authorized. Unwilling to risk its few breaching pods under missile fire, Petr’s commander ordered the assault carrier to close distance before attempting boarding action, confident its shields would handle the enemy’s assault. This turned out to be almost true, and the carrier sustained minor armor damage before the xeno vessels fell and prize crews were placed to continue the ships towards the jump point to bolster its defence.

The following few days were uneventful, with the exception of a few xeno civilian freighters escaping into Lambda Delphini before the Bogatyr blockading force could arrive. They passed right by the immobilized turncoat Kagoshima, whose crew happily carried out orders to destroy every ship that approached it.

On November 7th, the combined invasion force completed resupply operations, loading every last missile and spare part from the Fleet Support Vessels’ vast reserve. Damaged destroyers were repaired, both Donets and Tsessarevitch finally rejoined their fleets, and Petr Veliki was also recalled from Mu Pyxidis, with the 4th Fleet (sans the Kagoshima (IC) escorts temporarily pressed into the 2nd) taking its place, its unprotected vessels deemed to be of little use in the upcoming homeworld assault. Every fleet proceeded towards 91 Pegasi III, where commercial carriers and Kochi-class missile destroyers of the Trophy Fleet already awaited.

A day later, a few million kilometers from the alien homeworld, the assault carriers’ powerful sensors detected something all other fleets missed: a convoy of five massive Sagara-class fuel harvesters slowly escaping the planet. Those were the save vessels that contributed so much to the Empire’s current knowledge of Inertial Confinement Fusion technology. Memory of failed boarding attempts ground down by their vast crews still being fresh, the High Command waited for the Carrier Fleet to catch up before executing a coordinated boarding operation utilizing every marine in the system, with 33 companies fighting to secure the valuable prize. The harvesters turned out to be full of fuel, so the Carrier Fleet moved to rendezvous and refuel while launching their strike groups to escort the breakthrough force of the Assault and the 2nd Fleets, positioned near the Kochis 100 mkm from the Calana home.


The plan was to escort the Kochis towards the planet to the edge of their 20 mkm range, defeating incoming missile fire along the way, then utilize their two and a half thousand missiles to break through the enemy anti-missile defence, which was certain to be formidable. However, as the combined force closed in, no attack came. Almost disappointed, the High Command ordered the Kochis to open fire at the orbital defense bases lacking railguns, believing both types to possess counter-missile capability. Sure enough, hundreds of small nuclear detonations soon lit up the sensors, as volley after volley tore through the xeno point defense. The Javelins were slow and ineffectual though, and when the Trophy Fleet finally exhausted its magazines an hour later, two of the five anti-missile bases remained standing. The Kochis were ordered to fall back and the Russian Fleet pressed onward, with the heavily shielded Knyaz Pozharsky-classes leading the way.

After acquiring the planet on its smallest-resolution sensors, nearly 300,000 tons of military forces were detected on the ground, with many times that number undoubtedly concealed by its Desert Mountain terrain. Around 2.5 million kilometers, hundreds of inbound thermal signatures were detected moving at just upward of 100,000km/s, the most advanced AMMs ever observed in Calana service. The 2nd Fleet halted, and the assault carriers let the bases fire a second volley before retreating under the cover of the fleet’s point defense, surviving all impacts with their shields holding. This maneuver was repeated a dozen times before the xeno bases ran dry and the Empire resumed its advance, preparing to engage their enemy at close range. Upon approaching closer than 160,000 km, the assault carriers came under fire from 10 kilotons of surface-to-orbit railguns, with most shots missing their mark. Both fleets moved just beyond that range and quickly obliterated the anti-missile bases then moved away further to the edge of their own 250 kkm railgun range, following the standard procedure for eliminating enemy ground defenses. The ground bombardment has begun.

Several minutes into the siege, the Assault Carrier Fleet was ordered to undertake an incursion closer to the planet, coming under fire from the previously unrevealed xeno railguns of lower caliber at the 80kkm mark. The carriers dared to move as close as 40kkm before turning back to join the 2nd Fleet, their shields in danger of being overwhelmed. The High Command was now confident that the full extent of Imperium’s anti-orbital defense had been revealed, its true strength exceeding 30 thousand tons.
 

Surface bombardment of the alien homeworld.

This posed a serious threat to the bombardment’s success, as the sheer bulk of the enemy surface batteries combined with their favorable terrain made running out of supplies required to maintain railgun fire before the enemy could be defeated a real possibility for the Russian fleet. Rules of engagement for the Vepr gunships were updated to seek resupply from the assault carriers after expending their maintenance supplies if their weapon failed just once, conserving supplies in the long run. Of further concern was a lower than usual kill rate against the STOs, as not every battery struck had its armor penetrated, let alone destroyed. An unorthodox decision was made to move all shielded ships to a 124 kkm range, where they would be exposed to the Calana’s longest range railguns, but would also deal significantly more damage with each shot. As expected, all reports of collateral damage and civilian casualties skyrocketed, but the kill rate rose considerably and the fleets’ shields were easily able to cope with the incoming damage.

A few minutes later it was discovered that no ship in the 2nd Fleet received any shots during the exchange, and the enemy was dead bent on targeting the massive assault carriers exclusively. All Vepr gunships were also ordered to close distance (though most of them were already resupplying, their guns moments away from malfunctioning) and soon, the High Command was confident enough in the xenos’ firing pattern to order the destruction of still-remaining point railgun defense orbital bases so the Empire’s fighters could finally join the fray.

Expectedly, collateral damage rose through the roof, with dozens of installations reported destroyed after each firing cycle, but soon, the defenders’ signature dropped below ten thousand. Firing restrictions for Veprs were lifted, with every gunship ordered to shoot until it could shoot no more. Several agonizing minutes later, the bombardment was over. Nearly every Vepr was no longer combat-capable and all Orlans also possessed a broken railgun or two, with most other ships at or below 15% of their maintenance reserve. The alien homeworld’s signatures declined several percent, probably indicating tens of millions dead. Most importantly, the previously hot and desertic planet was now enveloped in a thick layer of dust and ash, with surface temperatures approaching -20 below freezing, its terrain now being dominated by Subarctic Mountains. Despite this kind of terrain technically being more defensible, this was excellent news for the Empire, as the Calana were undoubtedly more suited to combat in their native deserts and had little experience in winter warfare. Meanwhile, the Empire possessed a large standing army trained to fight in extreme temperatures, and after raising an additional infantry force specialized for both the cold and the mountainous terrain, a suitable force would assuredly be available for the ground invasion. A side effect of this event was that untold millions of xenos were bound to succumb to the conditions of their now-inhospitable homeworld.

In either case, the invasion has achieved its initial objective - no known xeno ship was left afloat in 91 Pegasi. All strike groups were recalled to their hosts, and Orlan frigates temporarily docked with the commercial carriers to utilize their maintenance stockpiles to repair their railguns and retain combat effectiveness. In a risky move, only Donets was left to guard the disarmed planet, with its strike group circling its valuable, but still dangerous shipyards. The rest of the invasion force was still needed to complete their final task: to purge Mu Pyxidis of all alien ships within and eliminate all threats to the future Russian subjugation of this entire sector.

Chapter 12: The Dawn of a Federation

January 1, 2079
President Laurent Bisson, newly inaugurated, wasted no time addressing the outdated propulsion technology of the aging Shianzpla IV survey vessels. His administration directed scientists to design a more advanced engine, capable of increasing their speed by 1,000 km/s without compromising range. The new engines were projected to complete testing by March, aligning with scheduled overhauls as the ships returned from deep space.
Shianzpla A V class Geosurvey Ship      5,000 tons       94 Crew       750.3 BP       TCS 100    TH 560    EM 0
5600 km/s    JR 3-50      Armour 1-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 28      Sensors 16/16/0/2      DCR 2-4      PPV 0
Maint Life 4.21 Years     MSP 687    AFR 100%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 62    5YR 932    Max Repair 140 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Morale Check Required   

MK II Survey Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 5000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

MK III Survey Engine (2)    Power 560    Fuel Use 33.81%    Signature 280    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,737,000 Litres    Range 185 billion km (382 days at full power)

MK II Thermal Sensor 100T (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  31.6m km
MK II EM Sensor 100T (1)     Sensitivity 16     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  31.6m km
Geological Survey Sensors (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

February 26, 2079
The Duval System revealed a significant discovery: a massive terrestrial planet with a nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere. While unsuitable for human respiration and excessively cold, the planet’s potential to house 22 billion people made it an enticing colonization target.

March 12, 2079
Exploration uncovered the Swaziland System, where a terrestrial planet with a breathable atmosphere awaited. Unfortunately, its extreme heat (90°C) and small size limited its capacity to only 20 million inhabitants.

May 9, 2079
Retirement ceremonies marked a bittersweet transition in the UEF fleet. The UEF Abdiel, the first Alexandria-class cruiser constructed post-Tragedy at Aerelon, bade farewell to its captain and executive officer, who had served since her commissioning in 2066. The UEF Temeraire followed suit, its leadership also stepping down. However, stalwart captains of ships like the Attentive, Spartiate, and Warspite remained, continuing their storied careers alongside figures like Ricky Cockram and his Red II-class, the UEF Advance.

June 21, 2079
Duval IV emerged as a mineral treasure trove, boasting 14 million tons of Corundium. However, its location—36 billion kilometers from Sol—presented logistical challenges. The journey required stabilizing jump points or developing faster freighters with jump drives. The Apollo-class Jump Freighter, a 60,000-ton vessel, was approved for production, with four units expected within two years. In the meantime, automated mines would be stockpiled for eventual deployment.

June 29, 2079
The battle fleet, freshly rearmed, prepared for a return to Sagittaron. A decade had passed since their last engagement, and confidence was high despite the absence of carrier support. The fleet remained capable and boasted robust point defense, leaving little concern about potential enemy missile advancements.

July 15, 2079
Duval V revealed another significant mineral deposit—13 million tons of Gallicite with high accessibility. While Venus remained a primary mining hub, this discovery solidified Duval’s importance. Terraforming efforts continued on Shayou, though its immense size meant progress would span decades.

August 13, 2079
Tragedy struck as President Laurent Bisson was killed in a catastrophic accident, forcing elections only eight months after his tenure began. Maria Tarasov won by a landslide, advocating for a Federation to govern humanity’s growing interstellar presence. Temporary civil rights restrictions were enacted in the wake of the assassination, though she promised their eventual restoration—a pledge viewed with skepticism by many.

September 26, 2079
The first xenoarchaeology team embarked for Sansibar to investigate the alien construct discovered there. Initial observations described it as a vast, heavily eroded, and partially buried structure, its intricate lattice of metallic and composite materials hinting at an advanced, ancient origin. The construct emanated faint electromagnetic pulses, fueling speculation that it might have served as a planetary AI core or a sophisticated control hub in the distant past.

October 2, 2079
With sufficient stockpiles, the UEF began construction of two Gemini II-class carriers and their accompanying FACs. Completion was projected for 2082, at which point the fleet would have 20 FACs ready for deployment.
Gemini II class Carrier      36,000 tons       640 Crew       6,007.2 BP       TCS 720    TH 5,400    EM 0
7500 km/s    JR 3-50      Armour 7-97       Shields 0-0       HTK 136      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 17-4      PPV 0
Maint Life 2.17 Years     MSP 7,175    AFR 592%    IFR 8.2%    1YR 2,042    5YR 30,635    Max Repair 900 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 10,000 tons     Magazine 768 / 0   
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 200    Morale Check Required   

MK I Carrier Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 36000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

MK I Battlecruiser Engine (3)    Power 5400    Fuel Use 45.00%    Signature 1800    Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 4,711,000 Litres    Range 52.3 billion km (80 days at full power)

MK II Capital Ship Sensor (1)     GPS 19200     Range 99.6m km    Resolution 120

Strike Group
10x Warhorse Fast Attack Craft   Speed: 15314 km/s    Size: 19.98

October 15, 2079
The Beta III-class diplomatic ship, UEF Blossom, launched on its mission to establish trade with the Marilith Empire. Loaded with supplies and long-term provisions, it set out for Leonis, intent on improving relations.

November 1, 2079
The xenoarchaeology team reached Sansibar I and began their excavation. The immense structure, glistening under scrutiny, continued to spark intrigue. Initial scans hinted at latent functionality, deepening the mystery surrounding its origin.

December 31, 2079
In the Danzig System, UEF Blossom encountered Marilith ships but failed to establish contact. The vessels retreated through a jump point into Donwaltz.

January 25, 2080
Further encounters in Donwaltz revealed a mixed fleet of Marilith commercial and military vessels. While their request for the UEF Blossom to leave was polite, the diplomatic mission pressed onward, tracking their movements.


February 22, 2080
The UEF battle fleet returned to Sagittaron for a long-overdue confrontation with the Mirage Coalition. Their advanced Jaffa-class battlecruisers and Reds promised a decisive advantage, even against the unknown progress the enemy may have achieved in the intervening years.


March 25, 2080 – The Massacre at Sagittaron
Initial Contact:
100 million kilometers from the comet, sensors picked up a large cluster of enemy ships: 13 freighters, each 84,000 tons, escorted by 2 smaller warships, 9,000 tons each. As we closed, more vessels began to appear. By the time we reached striking distance, the enemy force had swelled to 42 escorts, 13 freighters, and 5 unknown ships around 20,000 tons—likely additional warships.
It’s clear they weren’t expecting us, but the sheer number of ships suggests a larger purpose—possibly an evacuation effort. Those freighters alone could carry vast amounts of infrastructure, and if this fleet managed to escape, it would prolong their ability to resist.
Our orders were clear: strike hard, cripple their fleet, and disrupt whatever operation this was.


First Volley:
We opened with four waves of Sparrow MK IV missiles, targeting the freighters. These new missiles, equipped with retargeting capability, proved their worth:
5 freighters destroyed outright,
1 escort obliterated,
1 additional freighter left adrift, waiting to be finished off.
This was a devastating opening blow, but it drew the attention of their escorts, which began converging on our position.

Engagement in Earnest:
Their escorts, numbering over 40, charged at us. As expected, their ships relied heavily on lasers. At range, we held the advantage, using our long-range missiles and superior targeting systems to pick them off. Seven enemy warships fell before we moved in closer with the Jaffas and Reds, who engaged with lasers and railguns.
However, their numbers were starting to tell. We could only hold range for so long.

Losses and Sacrifices:
The UEF Caesar, our flagship, bore the brunt of their attacks. Her armor was shredded, forcing her to break off from the formation. Meanwhile, disaster struck: the UEF Abdiel, one of our oldest and most storied Alexandria-class cruisers, simply vanished. No wreckage. No lifepods. One moment she was in the fight; the next, she was gone.
The loss of Abdiel is a wound we’ll carry for a long time. She was here during the January Raids, the Battle for Sansibar, and countless battles in between. Her disappearance remains a mystery.

Heroism in the Void:
Despite heavy damage, Commander Bryan Graffeo of the UEF Caesar refused to retreat completely. Spotting an enemy ship slipping past the formation, he turned Caesar around and gave chase. Against all odds, his pursuit paid off, neutralizing the target before it could escape. For his courage under fire, Graffeo has been awarded the first “Order of the Void” medal.


Enemy Routed:
With their forces split, we managed to bring down the rest of the escorts and their freighters. The final blow came when a commercial vessel, assumed to be a freighter, surrendered. Upon inspection, it was found to be a slow orbital miner with no jump drive. It was scuttled.
Even as we regrouped, smaller enemy forces continued to harass us. We encountered 6 more orbital miners and 3 escorts, which were quickly dispatched. These skirmishes, while minor, add up. Every ship we destroy weakens their ability to fight and rebuild.

Aftermath:
We’ve dealt a heavy blow, but it came at a cost.
UEF Caesar[/i and UEF King George are barely holding together, their armor riddled with holes.
The fleet is out of anti-ship and anti-missile ordnance—a dangerous position if we encounter more resistance.
The disappearance of the Abdiel leaves a hole in our formation and our hearts.
For now, we head home to resupply and repair. The enemy has been hurt, but 25 ships remain unengaged in this system, a sobering reminder that this war is far from over.


March 31, 2080
The fleet has departed the Sagittaron System victorious. Including commercial orbital miners, a total of 2.43 million tons of Mirage Coalition ships have been destroyed, with no losses on our side. The upgraded Jaffas and Reds demonstrated their power, dispatching numerous enemy ships after the Alexandrias ran out of missiles.

April 1, 2080
Halfway home in the Iabro system, our Battle Fleet was ambushed by Mirage forces. The UEF Caesar suffered a devastating alpha strike from four laser boats. The strike overwhelmed its shields, penetrated the armor, killed 31 crew members, and damaged several components.


April 17, 2080
The fleet returned home without further encounters. The UEF Caesar and UEF King George require significant repairs, as does the Red II B-class UEF Adroit, which sustained minor damage early in the battle but continued fighting effectively. Repairs on the UEF Caesar will take until August due to the extensive damage. Bryan Graffeo and his crew were welcomed as heroes, and as soon as new missiles are available, the fleet will deploy again. With the destruction of so many Mirage vessels, including their mining fleet, it seems likely their mineral resources are running low. During the voyage, faster reloading mechanisms for missile launchers were developed, prompting upgrades for the Alexandria and Anaconda classes. The disappearance of the UEF Abdiel remains a mystery, with no wreckage or communications to explain its loss.

May 25, 2080
The autopsy of the Precursor machine confirmed its ability to withstand extreme pressure, gravity, and temperatures. Its origins and purpose remain unknown, though it is presumed to be ancient. Meanwhile, the captured Mirage vessel Fisher County returned to Earth for dismantling.

July 8, 2080
Efforts to help Mars achieve self-sufficiency are underway. Construction factories and minerals have been delivered to enable local production. Mars has its own naval university, producing a steady flow of graduates. Two captains from Mars University served in both the Battle of Sansibar and the Massacre at Sagittaron, and a graduate from Little Rose served as XO on the Jaffa-class UEF Temeraire. Terraforming projects on Mars, Little Rose, and Lucille are progressing well.

August 16, 2080
Sansibar II has been surveyed, revealing an incredible wealth of minerals at decent accessibility. This system could support a self-sufficient colony and explains why the Precursors guarded it. Sansibar I also holds substantial mineral deposits, albeit at lower accessibility. Xenoarchaeologists are investigating ruins of an ancient colony on Sansibar I.
Sansibar I
     Duranium 29,953,799   Acc 0.2
     Corbomite 15,311,569   Acc 0.1
     Tritanium 184,897   Acc 0.8
     Boronide 7,338,681   Acc 0.1
     Mercassium 149,768   Acc 0.3
     Vendarite 223,729   Acc 0.1
     Uridium 6,436,369   Acc 0.1
     Corundium 599,073   Acc 0.7
     Gallicite 4,084,441   Acc 0.1

 Sansibar II
     Duranium 1,805,000   Acc 0.4
     Neutronium 16,810,000   Acc 0.6
     Corbomite 6,760,000   Acc 0.5
     Tritanium 16,810,000   Acc 0.6
     Boronide 9,302,500   Acc 0.4
     Mercassium 250,000   Acc 0.6
     Vendarite 21,622,500   Acc 0.8
     Sorium 8,410,000   Acc 0.4
     Uridium 14,062,500   Acc 0.8
     Corundium 7,840,000   Acc 1
     Gallicite 21,160,000   Acc 0.7

October 24, 2080
The UEF Battle Fleet encountered 12 Mirage ships en route to Scorpia. Upon entering Canceron, the fleet suffered minor shield damage from an enemy force that immediately jumped back to avoid engagement. Unable to pursue due to the need for weapons recalibration and shield recharging, the fleet waited an hour at the jump point but proceeded when the enemy failed to return.

November 1, 2080
In the Tauron System, the fleet located and destroyed a Mirage geo-survey ship with a single volley from the Reds and Jaffas.

November 7, 2080
A lone Starr County-class laser boat was discovered and swiftly destroyed in retaliation for previous Mirage ambushes.

November 10, 2080
Another Mirage geo-survey ship was located and destroyed. Their lack of communication is evident, as these vessels seem unaware of UEF activity in the area.

November 12, 2080
The fleet engaged six Mirage laser ships, including two Cochran County-class vessels. The Reds claimed four of the kills, while Annette Walther aboard the UEF Temeraire secured two.

November 13, 2080
Arriving in the Scorpia System, the fleet began surveying planets for Mirage presence. On approach to Scorpia III, 28 large, slow-moving ships were detected. These 80,000-ton vessels, moving at just 250 km/s, appear to be terraformers and are targeted for destruction.

November 16, 2080
The fleet identified 13 escorts among the 32 large terraformers in the Scorpia system. The Alexandrias depleted their missile magazines, successfully taking down three Cochrans and damaging two more. After a prolonged battle, all 13 escorts were destroyed, clearing the way to engage the terraformers.
Of the 32 terraformers, two surrendered without resistance. Their lack of jump capability revealed they had been constructed locally, further confirming the instability of Mirage supply lines. The destruction of this fleet represents a severe blow to Mirage's ability to maintain or expand their presence in the system.


November 26, 2080
While en route home, the fleet encountered the Mirage forces from the Canceron jump point in open space. The UEF Battle Fleet decisively defeated them, eliminating all enemy ships. Mirage’s military resources appear critically depleted.


December 1, 2080
Another Mirage fleet with identical ship classes and numbers appeared before the fleet could exit the system. They were destroyed, though the UEF Caesar sustained further armor damage after closing in too quickly. A potential jump point ambush on the return trip raises concerns for the Caesar’s safety.

December 8, 2080
The Mirage forces lay in ambush at the Iabro-Canceron jump point. Their opening alpha strike was devastating, with the UEF Caesar bearing the brunt of the assault. Her engines and most of her critical components were heavily damaged, leaving her vulnerable. However, Mirage’s fear of further losses in this campaign led them to retreat rather than press their advantage.
The Battle Fleet remained with the crippled Caesar, buying time for emergency repairs. If Mirage forces return, the Caesar’s shields will have recharged, and the fleet will exploit the Mirage weapons’ recalibration delay to strike back decisively.
The cost of this attack was steep—194 of our people lost—but Mirage's fleeting vengeance is hollow compared to the devastation we’ve wrought on their forces over the past months. The UEF Caesar may be battered, but she is far from broken.


December 25, 2080
The fleet continues its slow journey home, focusing on repairing the Caesar’s engines. On Sansibar I, xenoarchaeologists have deciphered the language of the ancient Jerico civilization. Their findings include 36 installations suitable for transport and a stockpile of 4.6 million liters of fuel. Work continues on a damaged construct believed to contain vast knowledge, though accessing its full potential remains uncertain.

Never seen such a mass surrender before, I'm wondering if Steve has read this.

April 5, 2154
The Xi Bootis Expeditionary Force has refueled, resupplied, and taken on all of the missiles carried by the waiting UNREP group.  Unfortunately, the UNREP groups missiles only filled the CVA’s magazines to just over 50%.  Still, it was better than nothing.  With their resupply complete, the expeditionary force sets out for the Xi Bootis system to escort the troop transports headed to the planet with the suspected Reaper infestation. 

May 7, 2154
The Hive Fleet Leviathan Expeditionary Force returns to Omicron Tucanae Base after probing the nearby systems, looking for any trace of Leviathan ships that had been sighted in the area.  Much to Rear Admiral Casella’s frustration, they could find no trace of any hive ships in any of the systems where they had previously been sighted. 

Admiral Casella detaches the carrier France, along with two destroyers and two destroyer escorts, to act as the system defense force.  A jump-capable battleship will be dispatched from the Solar System to provide the force with jump capability, giving the forward base in the Omicron Tucanae system the ability to project force to any of the nearby systems where a hive ship might appear. 

May 10, 2154
The ground assault force has arrived over Xi Bootis B-III, escorted by the Xi Bootis Expeditionary Fleet.  The transports immediately begin dropping the 3rd, 5th, and 29th Marine Divisions(reinforced).  Initial intel reports place the enemy Reaper force at 448 centurion infantry robots, 3 decurion AA mechs, and assorted support and leader units.  They are no match for the augmented and heavily armed and armored marines and their heavy armor and artillery support. 

The Reapers were concentrated in a defensive perimeter around what appeared to be a destroyed outpost, and the marine assault elements immediately attacked, pressing in from all sides.  The small Reaper force was overwhelmed and wiped out in a matter of hours, at the cost of seven marines KIA. 

After mopping up, the marines were loaded onto the transports.  Their next target was in the Kappa Ceti system, and would be a much tougher nut to crack. 

June 18, 2154
The scout left behind in the Kappa Ceti system to watch the Reaper base detects a Hotel class Reaper ship in the outer system.  The Hotel class is 17,772 tons and has commercial engines. 

August 29, 2154
The assault transports have finally rendezvoused with the Xi Bootis Expeditionary Force five million kilometers from Kappa Ceti III.  For several weeks as they waited for the assault transports to arrive, the Terran warships had been watching the planet, the Reaper outpost, and the orbiting Hotel class ship.  Commodore Gabehart and his staff had spent their time working out a plan to attack the Reaper outpost, and had decided to eliminate the ship before beginning landing operations.  In spite of it being a civilian ship and unlikely to interfere, it was a complication.  Shortly after the transports arrive the Angel of Retribution launched her fighters, and they moved forward towards the planet. 

One hour later the fighters were in position and launched against the ship in orbit over the planet.  Twenty-four missiles streaked away from the fighters, and slammed into the orbiting ship.  It only took eight to destroy it, and there was no opposition from the STO’s on the ground. 

The fighters turned back to the Angel, and once they were aboard the next phase started.  The Assault Carriers and battlecruisers detached from the rest of the force and moved forward, to just out of the known range of the STO’s on the planet.  They were followed by the troop transports, which were moving up about 50,000 kilometers from the planet. 

The Eternal Crusader took several hits from heavy particle STO’s at 228,000 kilometers, but her shields absorbed the damage and the force continued to advance, shielding the transports following behind.  The ground batteries pounded the two CVA’s with near continuous fire for the several minutes it took for the transports to close, but then the troop transports arrived and began dropping the three marine divisions.  It didn’t take long for the marines to drop, and then the transports turned and began racing away from the planet.  The warships would remain over the planet as long as it took for the transports to retreat, but the two big CVA’s shields hadn’t dropped below 90% during the engagement, so they were confident in their ability to shield the transports for as long as necessary.  Once the transports were out of range, the Terran warships followed them.  Now it was up to the marines. 

Much like their previous engagement with the Reapers, they were in protective emplacements, but would almost certainly come out to attach the marines when they landed.  Marine intel, gathered by the orbiting ships, estimated the Reaper force as follows:

Centurian Infantry Units: 1,715
Praetorian Combat Mechs: 286
Decurion AA Mech: 49
Support and Leadership: 916
Artillery: 67
Unk: 35

The estimate came with a warning that it should be considered unreliable as it was based on limited orbital observation.  The line marines found the warning hilarious, as they never considered any intel report reliable, ever.  As expected, the Reapers came out to meet the marines as they advanced and the fighting was heavy from the first.  By eight hours into the landing, the marines had destroyed 246 centurions, 10 praetorians, 9 decurions, 42 support units, and 9 STO’s.  In exchange, the 114th Assault Battalion, which was at the forefront of the fighting, lost 22 marines. 

The marines completely overmatched the Reapers, and achieved multiple breakthroughs as they advanced, striking at exposed rear area elements, including the critical STO’s.  Another eight hours of fighting saw 286 centurion, 14 praetorians, and 7 decurions destroyed, along with 42 support units and 13 STO’s.  All this in exchange for 15 marine losses.   

The battle lasted for seventy-two hours.  After the first sixteen, it was mostly mopping up by the marines.  By the end of the battle, the marines lost 197 KIA, most of which were equipped with the older Mk IV or Mk V armor and augments.  The Reaper force totaled 2446 centurion infantry, 151 praetorian combat mechs, 84 Decurion AA mechs, 2268 support units of various types, 37 artillery, and 18 STO’s. 

With the planetary defenses defeated, it was time for the fleet to return to the Solar System for overhaul.  The marines loaded up onto their transports, and the force departed for the 111 Virginis system, where it would rendezvous with the support units. 

September 18,2 154
The Xi Bootis Expeditionary Force has refueled and resupplied from the support ships in the 111 Virginis system.  They have been out on the frontier for almost a year, and Commodore Gabehart decides it’s time to return home.  The hive menace on this frontier has been destroyed, and the two Reaper infestations have been cleared, opening the way for research teams to begin studying the ruins they protected. 

October 17,2 154
Troop transports arrive over Xi Bootis B-III and begin dropping the 1st Xeno Sturdy Battalion, two territorial guard brigades, and a construction group to begin work on the ruins and the ancient construct on the planet.   

October 24, 2154
The Xi Bootis Expeditionary Force returned to Terra on this date.  The fleet’s arrival was celebrated by world-wide parades and the government announced the rest of the week would be a holiday for all except essential workers. 

Commodore Gabehart is promoted to rear admiral, and awards are handed out to many of the officers and crewers.  The expeditionary force’s ships are immediately sent to a much-needed overhaul. 

November 22, 2154
The 3rd LR Survey Group has finished its overhaul on Terra and will now be dispatched to the Bobruisk territories to continue the Empire’s effort to determine the location of their home world, or at least a major colony. 

On this same day, the 1st Xeno Study Regiment on Xi Bootis B-III completes its study of the ruined outpost on that planet.  The outpost belongs to an unknown race, given the code-name Hellcat, and the outpost contains ten potentially usable installations.  The Xeno regiment will begin studying the ancient construct, while the construction units begin retrofitting the preserved installations. 

November 28,2 154
The 1st Xeno Study regiment completes its study of the ancient construct on Xi Bootis B-II and determines that it will assist researchers working on defensive technologies. 

December 10, 2154
Surprising no one, a long-range survey ship from the 2nd LR Survey Group confirms the presence of a ruined city on Kappa Ceti III, the site of the Reaper infestation.  In addition, the survey ship finds large deposits of eleven TN resources at moderate availability levels.  The planet has a noxious atmosphere and is too cold for humans, but is fairly easily terraform-able. 

December 22, 2154
The construction units complete their work recovering the stored installations on Xi Bootis B-III.  In all, they recovered a mine, three auto mines, a terraformer, and a deep space tracking station, along with assorted alien artifacts, 10,400 tons of duranium, 5,800,000 tons of fuel, and five fire control jamming units.  The orbiting transports begin loading the ground units to move them to Kappa Ceti. 

January 21, 2154
A raider is detected by the sensor buoy orbiting Zeta Doradus II in the Leviathan Frontier.  The contact report is relayed to the courier at the jump point, which immediately jumps back to Omicron Tucanae to report.  When the report is received several hours later on Omicron Base, the orbiting squadron is dispatched to intercept the raider. 

Just hours later a second raider is detected in the 70 Ophiuchi system, 333 million kilometers from the small colony on the second planet.  The closest warships are at Shield Base in the Monoceri system, nine days away.  A battlegroup is dispatched, but in the meantime the outpost will have to rely on its STO’s. 

The Raider in 70 Ophiuchi heads directly for the innermost planet, which has a mining outpost on it.  Unfortunately, the mining outpost has not yet received its contingent of STO’s, and so is unprotected.  The Raider briefly orbits the mining outpost then departs for A-II and its much larger, and protected, colony.  As it approaches the colony, the raider is brought under fire by the defensive STO’s and quickly destroyed, but not before it gets off one salvo with its lasers, killing four thousand colonists.   

March 4, 2155
A ship from the 3rd LR survey group detects five Bobruisk commercial ships in the NN 4176 system during its survey.  This is a hopeful sign.  The NN 4176 system was selected by the survey command as the most likely of the remaining known systems to lead to Bobruisk territory, as it has an unbroken chain of jump gates leading to it from the first contact point.  The fact that a newly discovered jump point in the system also has been stabilized, and the presence of commercial ships, means that it is increasingly likely that the survey group is on the right track.   

March 20, 2155
A contact report has reached 111 Virginis from the Theta Corvi system, two jumps away.  The report states that an unarmed hive ship, Charon class, has been spotted multiple times in the system, most recently close to the jump point to 103 Ceti (in between Theta Corvi and 111 Virginis).  Captain Luis Bray, CO of the Virginis Garrison Force, would like to take his battlecruiser and supporting ships out to eliminate the threat, but he has no jump ships and the stabilized network has not been extended to Theta Corvi yet. 

May 24, 2155
A sensor probe launched from a survey ship probing the systems in the Bobruisk sphere in the HIP 96183 system detects an outpost from an entirely new race on the innermost planet of the system.  The survey commander had been close to calling their survey efforts off as they were beyond the Bobruisk stabilization network, so out of their territory, but this new discovery has changed his mind. 

July 2, 2155
The ruined city found on Kappa Ceti III has been fully explored and contains 169 buildings that can be recovered. 

Ashes to Ambition: The Road Through 2077-78

January 9, 2077

Advancements in particle beam technology have extended their range to an impressive 200,000 kilometers, rivaling the railguns mounted on our Jaffa-class battlecruisers. This enhancement fundamentally shifts fleet tactics, enabling our vessels to engage targets from greater distances with precision, reducing their exposure to hostile fire. During simulations, this range advantage has already proven decisive, allowing Jaffa-class ships to operate effectively as fire-support platforms while retaining flexibility in fleet formations. Discussions are ongoing regarding integrating these particle beams into future ship designs, potentially redefining engagement strategies across the board. With this breakthrough, plans are underway to potentially arm our Red-class destroyers with these upgraded weapons. Meanwhile, microwave technology remains constrained by range limitations, delaying its deployment. Research will soon pivot to enhancing missile retargeting systems, aiming to eliminate the inefficiencies of self-detonation upon target destruction. If successful, we could see reliable systems operational by 2083.

January 11, 2077

A stabilized jump point has been revealed in the Danzig system, bringing us closer to locating the Marilith Empire’s home system. The effort marks another step forward in our exploration and expansion initiatives.

January 15, 2077

The Tau Ceti aliens have been detected in the Niven Black Hole System. Unlike previous encounters, their vessels have remained in the area. The UEF Harmony, a Beta II-class diplomatic ship, is 104 days away and will attempt to establish contact.

January 16, 2077

Our survey vessel pursued one of their ships into Codalus, encountering nine of their vessels. There were no hostilities, so our ship sat with them awaiting the Harmony’s arrival. Meanwhile, exploration beyond the stabilized jump point in Danzig revealed two terrestrial planets with oxygen atmospheres, though their extreme temperatures render them inhospitable to humans.



January 21, 2077

Before the Harmony arrived, our gravitational survey ship successfully established communications with the Tau Ceti aliens, who identify themselves as the Commonwealth of Sokcho. Their swift translation of our language is in stark contrast to the challenges faced with the Marilith Empire. The Harmony will proceed as planned to solidify diplomatic relations.

January 31, 2077

The Commonwealth has peacefully requested our withdrawal from Codalus, asserting it as their territory. We have agreed to their request, fostering a positive diplomatic precedent.

March 13, 2077

Battle Fleet training exercises have progressed steadily. The first ship to achieve full combat readiness is the UEF Advance, under the command of Ricky Cockram.

April 4, 2077

Both diplomatic vessels are now stationed to negotiate trade agreements with the Commonwealth of Sokcho and the Marilith Empire. These efforts aim to open new economic opportunities while bolstering interstellar diplomacy.

May 15, 2077

Our first ground company has completed training but our Alexandria-class Cruisers lack sufficient ammunition to tackle clearing the Sansibar System. Additional factories are being constructed to address this logistical shortfall. Terraforming efforts on Shayou II continue, preparing the planet for eventual colonization.

May 25, 2077

The first Idlev V-class freighters have rolled off the production line. These vessels surpass their predecessors in both speed and cargo capacity, with two Idlev Vs capable of carrying more than five Idlev IIIs combined. Their efficiency marks a significant milestone in logistical operations.

Idlev V class Freighter      200,000 tons       530 Crew       3,030.1 BP       TCS 4,000    TH 8,000    EM 0
2000 km/s      Armour 1-304       Shields 0-0       HTK 126      Sensors 1/1/0/0      DCR 1-0      PPV 0
MSP 9    Max Repair 250 MSP
Cargo 150,000    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 18   
Lieutentant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

MK IV Freighter Engine (8)    Power 8000    Fuel Use 2.24%    Signature 1000    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 3,091,000 Litres    Range 124.4 billion km (719 days at full power)

MK II Commercial Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 1.6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m km
MK II Commercial EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 1.6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m kmJune 2, 2077

The Gemini-class carriers have been redesigned into the Gemini II-class. They carry FACs rather than fighters and now include missile reloads for FACs, addressing logistical challenges in prolonged engagements. Concurrently, the Beta III-class diplomatic vessel has been conceptualized, boasting enhanced range and speed to support future operations across vast distances.

Gemini II class Carrier      36,000 tons       640 Crew       6,007.2 BP       TCS 720    TH 5,400    EM 0
7500 km/s    JR 3-50      Armour 7-97       Shields 0-0       HTK 136      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 17-4      PPV 0
Maint Life 2.17 Years     MSP 7,175    AFR 592%    IFR 8.2%    1YR 2,042    5YR 30,635    Max Repair 900 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 10,000 tons     Magazine 768 / 0   
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 200    Morale Check Required   

MK I Carrier Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 36000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

MK I Battlecruiser Engine (3)    Power 5400    Fuel Use 45.00%    Signature 1800    Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 4,711,000 Litres    Range 52.3 billion km (80 days at full power)

MK II Capital Ship Sensor (1)     GPS 19200     Range 99.6m km    Resolution 120

Strike Group
10x Warhorse Fast Attack Craft   Speed: 15314 km/s    Size: 19.98

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Carrier for auto-assignment purposes

Beta III class Diplomatic Ship      15,000 tons       182 Crew       1,038.7 BP       TCS 300    TH 2,100    EM 0
7000 km/s    JR 3-50(C)      Armour 1-54       Shields 0-0       HTK 46      Sensors 8/1/0/0      DCR 1-0      PPV 0
MSP 43    Max Repair 300 MSP
Captain    Control Rating 1   BRG   DIP   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

MK III Diplomatic Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 15000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

MK III Diplomatic Engine (3)    Power 2100    Fuel Use 2.67%    Signature 700    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 404,000 Litres    Range 181.4 billion km (299 days at full power)

Diplomat Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 8     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  22.4m km
MK II Commercial EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 1.6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  10m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Diplomatic Ship for auto-assignment purposes

July 16, 2077

A new alien vessel has been detected in the Thengo System, prompting a diplomatic response. The ship is slow, but its military engine signature has raised concerns. A Beta II-class vessel is 68 days away and will attempt contact.



August 26, 2077

Research into ECCM (electronic counter-countermeasures) has concluded, bolstering the fleet’s defenses against electronic warfare. This development reduces the necessity of closing range in engagements.

September 19, 2077

The Beta III-class shipyard expansion has been completed, with the first vessel entering construction. These ships will play a vital role in maintaining diplomatic ties across distant systems.

October 11, 2077

Diplomatic progress with the unknown aliens in the Thengo System remains slow, creating political pressure for President Joe Miga ahead of the upcoming election. His administration’s achievements in diplomacy with the Commonwealth and the Marilith Empire may bolster his chances, but unresolved tensions in Thengo linger.

November 17, 2077

Breakthroughs in linguistic translation have allowed communication with the Zambonga Imperium. They assert their claim over the Thengo System, escalating tensions.

December 2, 2077

A critical fuel shortage has emerged, prompting the deployment of more fuel harvesters to Jupiter and Saturn. Efforts to build additional refineries are underway to stabilize supply lines.

January 19, 2078

The Zambonga Imperium has formally rejected our territorial claims in Thengo and declared their intent to take the system. With conflict imminent, a Task Force of Jaffas and Reds is en route, though Oasis-class frigates stationed at Little Rose stand ready to defend the colony.

February 5, 2078

Our first encounter with the Zambonga’s Nagelring III-class ships proved costly. An attempted boarding operation led to the loss of 55 out of 75 Iron Striders, and only eight survived the capture of their ship. Future boarding actions will only proceed after enemy ships’ weapons have been partially disabled. The captured vessel will be studied and scuttled.

March 8, 2078

Exploration of Wolf 424 has led to the discovery of the Cannae System, though no evidence of the Zambonga homeworld has been found. The Task Force remains vigilant.

May 4, 2078

Resource shortages persist, with tritanium and fuel supplies critically low, placing a significant strain on both military operations and colony development. The fleet’s activity has been limited to essential deployments, while plans for further expansion and terraforming have slowed as resources are diverted to stabilize the supply chain. These shortages have also heightened the urgency for trade negotiations with other civilizations, as securing external resources could alleviate these growing pressures. Automated mines have been relocated to asteroid deposits, while refineries and harvesters work to stabilize the situation.

June 30, 2078

The final Zambonga ship has departed the Thengo System. A pursuit was briefly considered but ultimately dismissed to conserve critical resources essential for ongoing fleet operations. This decision reflects the United Earth Federation’s commitment to prioritizing strategic objectives over costly and uncertain engagements. The fleet remains focused on addressing known challenges, such as unraveling the long-standing mysteries of the Sansibar system. Allocating resources to a futile chase would jeopardize these efforts, ensuring the Federation stays aligned with its calculated, long-term goals. Pursuing it would drain vital resources,and our current efforts lie with investigating Sansibar’s long-neglected mysteries.

July 10, 2078

The first Warhorse-class FAC has entered service, equipped with surplus missiles. Its high speed and formidable missile payload promise to deliver swift and decisive strikes in future engagements.

July 18, 2078
In the Thengo System, while the Battle Fleet maintains position near the Cadmus jump point to defend Little Rose and Lucille, a new alien race has been detected in Orphicon. These unknown hostiles immediately destroyed the UEF Harmony, prompting urgent action. With limited fuel reserves, the fleet has been ordered to hold position, ensuring the colonies’ safety from potential incursions. Meanwhile, plans are underway to deploy the fleet more effectively against these new threats.



August 5, 2078
Research on missile retargeting has been completed, enabling the design of the improved Wasp Mk IV. The new missile sacrifices range for speed and accuracy, achieving 36,000 km/s and a maximum range of 30m km. Given the limitations of current fire control systems, designers deemed this trade-off essential to improve combat effectiveness. Production of the Mk IV has been fast-tracked with President Joe Miga’s approval.
While on station near the Cadmus jump point, the last Zambonga ship entered the Thengo System. The UEF Caesar intercepted and destroyed the vessel with a single railgun shot, marking the fleet’s continued vigilance in protecting UEF territories.

Missile Size: 8.00 MSP  (20.000 Tons)     Warhead: 12.92    Radiation Damage: 12.92
Speed: 36,000 km/s     Fuel: 1,700     Flight Time: 15 minutes     Range: 32.07m km
Active Sensor Strength: 0.28   EM Sensitivity Modifier: 8
Resolution: 100    Maximum Range vs 5000 ton object (or larger): 3,919,361 km
Cost Per Missile: 10.878     Development Cost: 521
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 360%   3k km/s 120%   5k km/s 72%   10k km/s 36%
Note: I thought that missile retargeting meant they would find new targets, I could have had these missiles the whole time. The language could use improvement in that aspect

Sep 4, 2078
 There has been no sign on our sensor buoys of the new species of aliens jumping through to our systems, so our Battle Fleet has been ordered home to refuel. Once refueled, they will proceed to Sansibar to expend the last of our Wasp MK IIIs and finish clearing the system, marking it safe for civilian travel.

Sep 24, 2078
 The Battle Fleet has arrived in the Sansibar System and will make haste to secure each planet. We know there is at least one hostile ship in this system, as it escaped during our last encounter.

Sep 26, 2078
The Deathslayer that evaded us previously is in orbit of Sansibar II, where we last fought. It appears to be alone. We will move closer to confirm and launch a single salvo.
The Deathslayer is too small for the Alexandria-class cruiser’s sensors to lock onto accurately, so we’ll need to close the distance to fire. It has begun firing missiles at us, targeting Abdiel specifically. It seems to be retreating toward Sansibar I—or leading us into a potential ambush there.
Our angle of pursuit allowed us to close to 2.4 million kilometers, but that wasn’t close enough for our anti-missile missiles to engage. Knowing from prior encounters that those missiles are ineffective against Deathslayers, we will follow it to Sansibar I to investigate further.



Sep 27, 2078
As we approach Sansibar I, our sensors detect no large ships in orbit. However, Sansibar I does have surface-to-orbit defenses, evident from the debris of our Shianzpla III still floating in orbit after two decades.
The Deathslayer has entered orbit of Sansibar I and awaits us. The Jaffa-class battlecruisers have been given the green light to engage, as they have yet to record any kills. UEF King George successfully destroyed the last of the Deathslayer-class FACs. Efforts will now shift to neutralizing the ground-based STOs on both planets.
First Company will deploy from Mars to Sansibar I, while the fleet focuses on eliminating ground forces on Sansibar II. The planet is clear of STOs, and troop transports will arrive within 10 days to test our green troops.

Oct 8, 2078
A Zambonga ship has appeared in the Thengo System, but our main fleet is too far away to intercept it in time. The Oasis-class frigates stationed at Little Rose, intended primarily for citizen morale, will attempt to intercept the intruder. These frigates are extremely outdated, armed with 10 year old particle beams and 20 year old gauss turrets. However, the Oasis II-class refit is already planned, featuring updated weaponry with increased range and efficiency.
The Hyderabad-class ship, identified at 12,000 tons, is 2,000 km/s slower than our frigates and began fleeing as soon as we mobilized. Although it has a military engine signature, it has not returned fire.
After a prolonged chase and exchanges at close range, the UEF Andromeda claimed the kill, obliterating the larger Hyderabad-class vessel with its outdated cannons and particle beams. The frigates will return to Earth for well-deserved refits.



Oct 10, 2078
Our troops have secured Sansibar I and are advancing toward Sansibar II. During the occupation, a colossal dormant construct was discovered on Sansibar I—a massive, ring-like technological structure of unknown origin, intricately detailed with patterns that suggest a blend of functionality and artistry. Its size and complexity imply a purpose far beyond our current understanding.
“This world isn’t dead—it’s asleep. That thing down there, it’s not just a relic. It’s a question, waiting for an answer we might not be ready to give. Twenty years, we bled and built to get here, and now we stand on the edge of something older than our species. Mark your scans, keep your distance, and let history speak for itself. Our part in this story is just beginning.”
– Colonel Micaela Stolz
The defending forces encountered on Sansibar I appear to be robotic in nature, raising questions about their creators. Are they remnants of an extinct civilization, autonomous guardians, or something else entirely? Salvage and xenoarchaeology teams will prioritize uncovering the truth behind both the construct and these enigmatic defenders.



Oct 15, 2078
 After a grueling four-day battle on Sansibar II, we’ve confirmed that we are fighting autonomous machines, not an alien species. What fate befell their creators that led them to build these relentless war machines? The largest alien ship is undergoing salvage, expected to be complete within a month, and may provide answers. Unlike Sansibar I, Sansibar II does not contain a dormant construct.

Oct 21, 2078
While the Oasis-class frigates undergo refits, the UEF Advance and UEF Albany have been dispatched to safeguard the colonies at Little Rose and Lucille. These settlements remain secure under the legendary Red-class destroyers.

Oct 31, 2078
The black hole system of Plianzhnzhi, directly connected to Sol, has finally been opened for exploration after years of being deemed too vast and hazardous to survey. Its proximity to humanity’s home system makes it a key strategic region, demanding a comprehensive survey despite the inherent challenges.
Two jumps beyond Plianzhnzhi lies the newly discovered Cinnabar System, a treasure trove of resources. Rich in mineral deposits, including substantial reserves of gallicite essential for shipbuilding, and home to three gas giants for refueling, Cinnabar offers immense potential. Plans to establish colonies in this system are being accelerated, as it could serve as a self-sufficient industrial and logistical hub for future expansion into deeper space.

Cinnibar I
     Duranium 1,733,522   Acc 0.5
     Neutronium 1,500,625   Acc 0.1
     Tritanium 14,984,641   Acc 0.1
     Vendarite 8,934,121   Acc 0.1
     Sorium 1,882,384   Acc 0.9
     Gallicite 1,270,129   Acc 0.2

 Cinnibar II
     Sorium 7,497,000   Acc 0.8

 Cinnibar IV
     Duranium 17,672   Acc 0.2
     Neutronium 9,333,025   Acc 0.2
     Corundium 19,518,724   Acc 0.1
     Gallicite 17,892,900   Acc 0.1

 Cinnibar VI
     Gallicite 1,703,025   Acc 0.3

 Cinnibar VII
     Sorium 426,000   Acc 0.3

 Cinnibar VIII
     Duranium 2,384,928   Acc 0.1
     Vendarite 32,626,944   Acc 0.1
     Gallicite 10,732,176   Acc 0.3

 Cinnibar IX
     Sorium 15,682,500   Acc 0.5

 Cinnibar IX - Moon 9
     Duranium 122,018   Acc 0.8
     Mercassium 144,400   Acc 0.4
     Uridium 521,284   Acc 0.5
     Gallicite 2,547,216   Acc 0.6

Nov 9, 2078
The UEF Advance and UEF Albany intercepted a second Hyderabad-class ship in Thengo. Ricky Cockram aboard the UEF Advance claimed the kill with a devastating volley of railgun fire. The destroyers will return to their posts, ensuring the safety of Little Rose’s citizens.



Nov 11, 2078
Salvage efforts on the alien vessels from Sansibar have revealed that their technology is no more advanced than ours. The aliens, now designated as “Precursors,” remain an enigma.

Dec 25, 2078
In a tightly contested election, Joe Miga, despite strong leadership during turbulent times, was defeated. Laurent Bisson of the Federalist Party emerged victorious. Citizens can anticipate a shift toward individual rights under his administration.
Bisson, a seasoned leader, previously governed Earth, the largest population center by far. His tenure promises new policies that balance humanity’s expanding empire with the autonomy of its citizens.

Current map of our nearby systems, the Mirage Coalition are south of us