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New Cold War / Cold War: Months 226-229, Colonial Union

« Last post by Kurt on April 07, 2023, 11:17:24 AM »

Month 226, Epsilon Eridani
The Union Senate approves a measure authorizing a massive colonizing effort for the El Dorado system to bring the population of one of its planets up to a level that could sustain in-system colonization without seriously depleting its population. Such is the excitement that has gripped the Senate that this measure wins approval in spite of very vocal and vigorous opposition from senators from the Sligo District. The tipping point in favor of the measure was reached when the representative from Earth, from which the colonists will be drawn, signals she will vote for the measure.

The administration immediately authorizes a go-ahead for the colonization effort, and the first colony transports leave Earth within days. Eventually, a full third of the Union’s transport fleet will be devoted to the effort, which will involve a three-month journey to El Dorado from Earth. The costs are commensurately staggering, but the administration views this as a much-needed effort to boost colonization at a time when the Colonial colonization effort has fallen behind the other major races.

Perhaps because of the enthusiastic approval of the Senate, including Earth’s Senator, the administration is caught off-guard when large-scale protests against the effort break out across Earth as the citizens there react to the colonization program’s renewed drawdown of Earth’s population. When the Union’s government offers to send aid to the Earth Gov, it is declined with a curt message indicating that the Earth can handle its own problems.

Month 227, Colonial Union, Earth
Many of the protests across Earth have devolved to violent riots as the colonization effort of El Dorado continues. By mid-month there have been several violent attacks on colonist embarkation points, and hundreds have been killed or wounded in the resulting fighting. It soon becomes clear that the unrest is over more than just this new colonization effort. It appears that unrest has been simmering on Earth for some time, centered on the perception that the Earth is viewed by the Union as nothing more than a convenient source of colonists and recruits for Union star fleets.

The administration has been caught off balance by the growing violence, as Sara Kurniawan, Earth’s Senator, continues to insist that Earth is solidly in favor of the colonization effort, despite all evidence to the contrary. Early in the month, District Governor Holbrooke arrives on Earth to confer with the local authorities about their ongoing unrest. As governor of the Sligo District, which had been solidly against the colonization effort, Holbrooke is seen by the Earthers as a neutral party and he is welcomed by the planetary governor and her administration. CEO Semenov orders an investigation of Senator Kurniawan, as he suspects something isn’t right in the situation on Earth.

Within days Governor Holbrooke announces an agreement with Earth Gov for Sligo District support for Earth’s overwhelmed security forces. The administration gratefully accepts this deal and authorizes the transfer of significant Sligo District civil defense units to Earth. Ground units will begin arriving early next month.

Month 228, Colonial Union
The unrest on Earth continues, however, open fighting and rioting has largely ended with the arrival of security troops from the Sligo District. It helps that the newly arrived security troops and their officers are largely sympathetic to the protestors and their supporters within the Earth Gov administration, and this allows them to quickly create communications conduits with the protesting groups and defuse the worst of the rioting and violence.

While the Union’s attention is turned to Earth, the administration has largely missed the larger issue. The economic boom surrounding the massive colonization effort in the El Dorado system has largely been confined to the populous and industrialized inner systems of the Union, commonly referred to as the “Old World Colonies”. This reality has further polarized the Union, with the Sligo District largely missing out on the boom. This has magnified the Sligo District population’s feeling that the Union is not being run with their best interests at heart.

Having missed the discontent in the Sligo District, the Union Senate, in a burst of enthusiasm during the colonization rush, takes up debate on a new bill that would authorize the administration to begin negotiations with the Confederated Sentient Races to form a mutual defense pact. The immediate reaction from the Sligo District is disbelief and distrust. Almost immediately planetary leaders across the district accuse the Union’s government of only wanting this “defensive” pact as a first step towards joining the CSR. The Sligo District remains strongly isolationist and pro-human, and this is a rallying cry that many throughout the District are sympathetic to. While this attitude resonates throughout the Sligo District, the coverage of the protests and political pandering surrounding this unrest has an exactly opposite effect in the Sol Sector. In the more cosmopolitan core area of the Union, anti-alien attitudes considered at best provincial, and at worst bigotry that is an example of the worst of humanity.

In the midst of this furor, the investigation ordered by CEO Semenov reveals extensive corruption on the part of Senator Kurniawan, including payoffs from Quartermaster Corp, a major government supplier, to support the colonization vote in the senate. In addition, there are some indications that Kurniawan transferred funds from her accounts to several officials in BuReLoc, apparently to ensure that contracts related to the El Dorado colonization project went to Quartermaster Corp. Quartermaster Corp is one of the larger corporations in Union space, and is centered in the Old World Colonies. While not complete, the investigation does show that the corruption was limited to Senator Kurniawan and not a larger scheme.

This revelation leaves CEO Semenov in an unenviable position. The growing unease in the Sligo District is based on a perception that they are not being treated fairly by the Union government, and a public revelation of Kurniawan’s corruption would only confirm their beliefs. It would also throw the colonization program into chaos at the exact time it was needed the most. And finally, it would doom the Independent Party’s effort to improve the Union’s relations with its neighbor, the CSR. While Kurniawan was not an Independent Party member, she had been voting with the Independents, and her corruption, although not common within the Independents, had favored the Independent’s stated goals.

In the end, CEO Semenov had no real choice. He, and the Independent Party leadership, believed that the population trap the human race had gotten themselves into would doom the Union to becoming a second-class power in the near future, and in the long run would leave humanity marginalized. Their only real hope was to join one of the multiracial alliances, either the CSR or the Alliance itself. And of the two, the CSR seemed the better bet for the Union. The Tomsk Union was already a member of the CSR and by all accounts had prospered within the alliance. If the Union joined the CSR as well, humans would be assured of having a voice within the CSR. Therefore, the choice was simple.

By the end of the month Senator Kurniawan would retire, ‘to spend more time with her family’. And in the next several months, a criminal investigation would arrest several prominent Quartermaster Corp officials along with several BuReLoc bureaucrats, in a corruption scandal that would be big news for a few days before being overshadowed by the next big thing, at which time it would be forgotten.

Month 229, Colonial Union
Once again dismissing the depth of resistance in the Sligo District, the Union Senate authorizes the administration to begin negotiating with the CSR to expand their existing trade relationship with a defensive military treaty. The delegation from the Union arrives in Tomsk on day 10, and negotiations begin immediately. By the end of the month the Confederated Sentient Races agree to a mutual defense treaty. This was done over the objections of the human contingent within the CSR, as the humans of the Tomsk system and their colonies won’t soon forget the Union’s attempt to invade their system, however, a minority of human representatives to the Great Moot on Bjering Prime voted for the treaty, and with the Bjering votes that was enough to pass the measure and approve the treaty. In truth, most humans in the CSR are coming to recognize that the politics in the Union have changed greatly over the past several years, and their resistance to this treaty was more inertia than active disagreement.

While the Union Senate still seems unaware of the resistance to these changes in the Sligo District, the Union’s administration has belatedly become aware that the recent events in the Union has driven a wedge between the two Districts. When the news of the new treaty is made public the administration braces itself for riots and unrest likely to spread across half the Union. Aside from numerous, mostly civil, protests on Sligo District planets, though, the feared riots don’t materialize. What the administration hasn’t realized is that the Sligo District’s civic and political leaders have begun discussing secession seriously for the first time.

In the newly settled El Dorado system, in-system colonization of the best mining sites begins as the colonists get themselves organized. With all eight major colonies in place, and a medium colony on the richest planet, the El Dorado system is already the Union’s seventh most productive system.

New Cold War / Cold War: CFS Update Month 230

« Last post by Kurt on April 04, 2023, 11:44:05 AM »

Confederated Free Systems
The CFS was created at the end of the D’Bringi-Human war. It was intended from the first to be a buffer state between the two powers, to act as a semi-independent divider to hopefully prevent war and reduce tensions. In spite of the two powers discovering additional contact points over the subsequent years, the CFS remained their only official contact point, and both superpowers maintained embassies in the CFS central system.

By necessity, the CFS was a loose association of systems. It did not spring up organically, but rather was imposed from the outside by the two super-powers. The CFS’s constituent systems had no unifying principles or culture, aside from all being former Soviet colonies, and indeed some of the systems would rather have been independent, or a part of the newly forming Colonial Alliance, but none were given a voice in the treaty that eventually created the CFS. They, in effect, were sacrificed for the greater cause of peace between the two powers.

The D’Bringi and the human admirals who created the CFS mandated that its capital system would be the system of Novosibirsk. The Novosibirsk system was chosen, not for any innate qualities, but rather for its location. The system lay in between the human territories and the Rehorish dominions, and was a convenient meeting site for the two superpowers. The remaining colonies that became part of the CFS were chosen mostly because they lay beyond Novosibirsk, and the nascent Colonial Union couldn’t figure out a way to claim them without angering the D’Bringi by demanding transit rights through Novosibirsk.

Thus, Novosibirsk became a somewhat reluctant capital of an interstellar nation. The CFS would have remained impoverished except for the influx of colonists from the evacuation of Earth in the years after the Last War devastated the planet. Those colonists boosted the populations of several critical systems and allowed the CIS to colonize over a dozen planets found by its survey ships. However, the flow of colonists largely stopped when the New Dawn party took power in the Colonial Union, and eventually the CFS was forced to curtail its colonization efforts as the populations of its central systems were reduced to the bare minimums that could sustain additional colonization. As of Month 230, the CFS possesses four medium populations capable of out-system colonization, but between them they can currently only support the establishment of nine settlement sized colonies on newly discovered planets, or the boosting of one colony to medium status.

During its early years, the CFS Patrol Force, as its navy is known, was located in the Novosibirsk system, and was designed and intended to protect that system. Indeed, a large percentage of the funds the CFS devoted to defense were spent on fortifications for that one system. In large part, this made sense. The CFS’s home system was directly between two super-powers, both of which had substantial fleets located in systems adjacent to the capital. However, most of the system governments within the CFS saw this more as a fraud than anything else. They owed no particular allegiance to Novosibirsk, and the CFS government in Novosibirsk was prohibited by treaty from emplacing more than token defenses around any of its warp points in the home system, as neither the Alliance or the Colonial Union wanted their buffer state getting ideas above its station. In truth, everyone in the CFS knew that there was no way any force that the CFS built would be able to stop a fleet from either of the major powers, and, indeed, it was unlikely that the super-powers would allow the CFS to field such a force if indeed it was possible to build such a thing. This situation caused more than a little bit of unhappiness within the other system governments in the CFS, because, to their mind, there were many more threats beyond the borders of the CFS than the two superpowers, and their systems were completely unprotected. Because both of the super-powers supported the CFS government, there was little the other system governments within the CFS could do about it, though. All of that began to change when the New Dawnists in the Colonial Union lost power. This happened at the same time as the Alliance lost interest in the CFS because of the D’Bringi civil war and other rumored conflicts on far frontiers. As the two superpowers lost interest in the CFS, the CFS central government, weak and self-centered at the best of times, found itself on the losing end of several significant votes in the CFS Duma. While the Novosibirsk system was the richest system in the CFS, the other major systems in the Confederation could, if they acted in concert, out vote them. Finally free of the corrupting influence of the superpowers, they did just that. The first vote confirmed the right of system governments to control the military forces they funded and crewed, except at times of emergency. This had been true since the founding of the CFS, but in practice the Patrol Force had retained control of all naval ships, and the Patrol Force was mandated by the CFS government to defend the Novosibirsk system as its primary, and only, responsibility. Subsequent votes in the Duma confirmed many of the freedoms granted to the sovereign systems in the Confederation charter, further loosening the ties the CFS government had over its territories.

The CFS government was not blind to these changes. Seeing its support from the two superpowers drop off, the CFS government embarked upon a major military buildup, including a new class of superdreadnoughts, specifically intending to field a force that could be “rented out” to either of the superpowers in a time of need. It was felt that by fielding a force of powerful capital ships, the CFS could increase its influence with the major powers at the same time as it increased the power and influence of the Novosibirsk system within the CFS. The Duma allowed the “Speaker’s Folly”, as they called the superdreadnought class, to move to approval, in exchange for an increase in the construction of smaller ships that could be deployed the various member systems as protection forces.

CFS Update, Month 230
Income: 29,268 MCr’s
Upkeep: 10,584 MCr’s (35%)

CFS Naval Forces
In response to the decentralization movement in the Duma, the Patrol Fleet, formerly based in the Novosibirsk system, has fragmented. There are currently seven different and separate naval commands within the CFS, none of which are subordinate to any of the others.

Patrol Fleet
The Patrol Fleet is, in theory, the national fleet of the CFS. In reality, it is the system fleet of the capital system, although it continues to be called the CFS Patrol Fleet and is in theory the defense fleet for the entire CFS. The Patrol Fleet is currently mandated to remain in the Novosibirsk system except at times of national emergency. Such an emergency must be declared by a majority of the Duma, and even in such a case the Patrol Fleet is prohibited from entering any CFS system without prior permission of that system’s government.

Patrol Fleet Deployment
Novosibirsk (Home) System: 3xBC, 2xCA, 2xDD, 3xCVE, 36xF0

The five most productive systems in the CFA, after the capital system, have set up their own system naval commands and withdrawn the ships they funded and crewed from the Patrol Fleet. These system fleets are answerable only to their system governments, which are in turn, in theory, answerable to the CFS government. In reality, under the CFS charter the system governments are very nearly independent. For instance, there is no circumstance under which the CFS government could nationalize the system fleets, or demand their subordination to the national fleet. The system governments are expected to ‘contribute to the national defense’, but just what that means is left up to the Duma, not the CFS government.

System Defense Forces (Controlled by System Governments)
Celabinsk System: 2xCVE, 3xDD, 24xF0
Dzerzinsk System: 2xCVE, 3xDD, 24xF0
Ivanovo System: 1xCA, 2xDD, 2xCVE, 24xF0
Jarosvlavl System: 1xBC, 1xCA, 1xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Magnitogorsk System: 1xBC, 2xCA, 1xDD, 2xCVE, 24xF0

The remaining eleven colony systems, after realizing they couldn’t evenly divide their portion of the fleet, decided to band together to establish the Frontier Fleet. The Frontier Fleet was authorized by the Duma to patrol the non-garrisoned systems of the CFS. The command structure, officers, and crews of the Frontier Fleet were established and funded by the eleven systems directly affected. This agreement was brokered by the Dzerzinsk system government, which as the smallest of the so-called Big Five systems, had an outsized influence over the smaller governments as they felt a kinship to the Dzerzinsk government. Because of this, the Dzerzinsk system, which is centrally located within that area of the frontier, was chosen as a base site for that nodal force.

Frontier Nodal Force #1, Dzerzinsk system: 1xBC, 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Frontier Nodal Force #2, Petrozavodsk System: 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0
Frontier Nodal Force #3, Vladivostok System: 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xCVE, 12xF0

Under Construction:
1xSD, 3xCT(AW), 6xCVE

Note: The SD under construction is part of the CFS government’s proposed mercenary force. To gain approval from the Duma, the CFS government promised to increase construction of smaller ships, which could be deployed to protect the frontier and system defense fleets, and to staff the new SD’s with officers and crews selected from all of the constituent naval services. The CT(AW)’s are a new class of ship intended to support minefields at the warp points of various systems interested in such defenses.

New Cold War / Cold War: Confederated Free Systems Designs

« Last post by Kurt on April 04, 2023, 11:43:13 AM »

Confederated Free Systems

The CFS Navy was originally based on designs inherited from the USSR’s navy, however, over the years it has diverged quite a bit from that standard. The CFS navy was designed to patrol and secure the Novosibirsk system, but as its mission has changed its designs have changed as well. Now that the system governments of the CFS have direct control of their forces, it is expected that the designs will diverge even more, although the Patrol Fleet is currently involved in a political battle to maintain control of the design of its ships. This is a fight that it is losing, and in the near future it is anticipated that the system governments will begin demanding alterations to their ships to meet their local needs.

The Kiev class is a new departure for the CFS. For most of the existence of the CFS the two superpowers have discouraged the CFS from building larger hulls, and in any case cost considerations meant that such large ships would be prohibitively expensive, however, all of that changed recently. When the superpowers became absorbed in their internal affairs, restrictions on the CFS government loosened while at the same time the CFS government began to lose influence within the CFS. Thus, the Kiev class is intended to give the CFS a way to interest the superpowers in the CFS again, by offering squadrons of these capital ships as mercenaries for either of the major power’s use. So far the two superpowers have been noncommittal on this project, and rumors abound that they only allowed this project to go forward to distract from carriers, which both powers consider the future of naval warfare. In any case, the first Kiev will be complete next month, at which time the CFS government plans to begin laying down new units every month.

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SDR KIEV class SD  	AM2 	26 XO Racks	 130 Hull	 TL 8
[3] S0x21Aix21H(BbS)(IIII)Q(IIII)Q(IIII)(IIII)Rcx4DzRcx4MgRcx3M4DzRcRcMgDzDzLhZiQ(IIII)Fc [5]
130 RCP  20 MCP    	Trg:5  	   Cost =  2849/ 427.4
HTK 90	S0x21  Aix21  Dzx4  Fcx1  Rcx13  Mgx2  
180x CM, 6x EDM (Mg)

The Moskva class battlecruiser was the backbone of the CFS Patrol Fleet. It is intended to engage enemy capital ships at long range, and must be escorted by smaller ships to prevent faster enemy ships from getting in close and picking it apart with beam weapons. The Moskva class has become a status symbol for system government fleets, garnering prestige for governments able to afford to support a capital ship.

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BCR MOSKVA class BC  	AM2 	16 XO Racks	 80 Hull	 TL 8
[2] S0x13Aix17H(BbS)Rcx3DzM1QRcRcXrDzMg(III)(II)(III)(II)RcMg(III)DzZiLhDzQ(II)Mg [6]
80 RCP  20 MCP    	Trg:2  	   Cost =  1695/ 254.3
HTK 66	S0x13  Aix17  Dzx4  Rcx6  Mgx3  
180x CM, 5x EDM (Mg)

The Kirov class has become the workhorse of the system and frontier fleets. This ship is designed to engage targets at long range, acting independently or in support of the Moskva class battlecruisers.

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KIROV MK II class CA  	AM 	12 XO Racks	 60 Hull	 TL 7
[2] S0x9Aix8ZHs(BbS)Rcx3DzM1QRcRcXrDz(II)(II)(II)(II)(II)LhDzQ(II)Mg [6]
60 RCP  40 MCP    	Trg:2  	   Cost =  1133/ 170
HTK 46	S0x9  Aix8  Dzx3  Rcx5  Mgx1  
60x CM

The Patrol Ship class DD is intended to act as escorts for the cruisers and battlecruisers of the Patrol Fleet, or in direct support of the warp point fortifications as close-range attack ships. The Mark V refit replaces the earlier version’s missile launchers with the newly developed capital force beam, increasing the close-range damage potential of the class.

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DD PATROL SHIP MK V class DD  	(AC) AM2 	6 XO Racks	 30 Hull	 TL 8
[1] S0x10Aix7Hs(BbS)QsXr(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)ZiDzQs(I)Fc [7]
30 RCP  20 MCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  669/ 100.4
HTK 32	S0x10  Aix7  Dzx1  Fcx1

The Mark IV version of the Patrol Ship class mounts advanced missile launchers, which were replaced by later updates. Several system governments requested these older ships, as they viewed the missile design as being more flexible and better suited for the missions they would be undertaking in the system defense role.

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PATROL SHIP MK IV class DD  	(AC) AM 	6 XO Racks	 30 Hull	 TL 7
[2] S0S0Aix3ZHs(BbS)QsWax4Xr(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)DzQs(I)Mg [7]
30 RCP  20 MCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  690/ 103.5
HTK 24	S0x2  Aix3  Dzx1  Wax4  Mgx1  
160x SM

The automated warfare class CT is designed to control minefields and warp points, and to support those minefields with its fighter complement. Several system governments have commissioned the construction of these ships, and several others are considering the concept.

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CT(AW) class CT  		3 XO Racks	 16 Hull	 TL 8
[2] AiHs(I)Vx4(I)(I)Xr(MCS)Qs(I)Mg [8]
16 RCP  4 FCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  389/ 58.4
HTK 14	Aix1  Vx4  Mgx1  
8x fG, 80x fR

The Kresta class was intended by the Patrol Fleet to be a transitional class to provide the fleet with carrier capability until larger classes could be constructed. While the decision on which larger design would be the final carrier class had not been made, the entire question was made moot by the breakup of the Patrol Fleet. The system governments had no interest in larger carriers, and indeed viewed the escort carrier design as being perfect for system defense. Currently there are no plans to field a larger carrier.

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CVE KRESTA class CVE  	AM 	6 XO Racks	 30 Hull	 TL 8
[1] S0S0Aix3ZHsVx6(I)Vx6(I)Q(I)(I)(I)(I)XrDzLhQ(I)Mg [7]
30 RCP  20 MCP  12 FCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  676/ 101.4
HTK 32	S0x2  Aix3  Dzx1  Vx12  Mgx1  
24x fG, 96x fR

CFS Fortress Command
The CFS Fortress Command is concentrated in the Novosibirsk system. By agreement with the two superpowers, the Fortress Command is limited to a single base at each warp point in the Novosibirsk system, except at times of emergency, as agreed to by the three governments. Therefore, the bulk of the Fortress Command’s assets are deployed in the orbit of the capital to protect the system’s population and shipyards.

The carrier-base was designed to give the system’s fixed fortifications fighters of their own.

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BS2CV class BS2  		10 XO Racks	 50 Hull	 TL 8
[1] S0x4Aix4H(BbM)Vx6QTiVx12DzQVx6QVx6MgZiDzLhQ [0]
50 RCP  25 MCP  30 FCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  1396/ 69.8
HTK 50	S0x4  Aix4  Dzx2  Vx30  Tix1  Mgx1  
5x EDM (Mg), 60x fG, 300x fR

This missile base is the primary defender of the Novosibirsk system capital.

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BS2(R) MK III class BS2  		10 XO Racks	 50 Hull	 TL 7
[1] S0x8Aix7ZHs(BbS)RcRcDzQsRcRcDzRcRcXrDzQsMg [0]
50 RCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  812/ 40.6
HTK 31	S0x8  Aix7  Dzx3  Rcx6  Mgx1  
60x CM

This base is designed to engage targets at long range and control minefields. One unit of this class is deployed to each of the Novosibirsk system’s warp points.

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BS2(RA) MK III class BS2  		10 XO Racks	 50 Hull	 TL 7
[1] S0x8Aix7ZHs(BbS)QsRcRcDzRcRcDzRcMg(MCS)DzXrDzQs [0]
50 RCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  922/ 46.1
HTK 32	S0x8  Aix7  Dzx4  Rcx5  Mgx1  
60x CM

This class was intended to provide cheap and quick fighter bays for the Fortification Command. Two units of this type have been built in orbit over Novosibirsk.

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SSCV class SS  		17 XO Racks	 97.5 Hull	 TL 8
[1] S0x30Aix5H(BbS)Vx12QDzVx12QVx12QVx12DzQVx12LhQZiQDzLhQMgMg [0]
97.5 RCP  2.5 MCP  60 FCP    	Trg:1  	   Cost =  2620.7/ 52.4
HTK 112	S0x30  Aix5  Dzx3  Vx60  Mgx2  
4x EDM (Mg), 120x fG, 600x fR

The Fortification Command refitted the system’s orbital shipyard stations to this design several years ago to better protect the system’s shipyards and provide more firepower to defend the capital.

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SSSY(A) class SS  		35 XO Racks	 435 Hull	 TL 6
[1]S0x150Z(BbL)H(BbL)H(BbL)QsRcx3Dx4MgQRcx3Dx3Rcx4MgDQsM4DFFDF(DCS)(MCS)QXrQLh(SY)x3QsF[0]
435 RCP  30 MCP    	Trg:5  	   Cost =  4609.5/ 68.2
HTK 223	S0x150  Dx10  Fx4  Rcx10  Mgx2  
120x CM

New Cold War / Cold War: Alliance Months 224 to 226

« Last post by Kurt on March 20, 2023, 04:07:37 PM »

Month 224, Lothari territory
The two Alliance survey groups working in the Lothari colony system completed their survey of the system on the 7th, revealing two new warp points. Both led to systems with Lothari populations. One of the systems had two inhabited planets, one of which was medium sized. The survey groups split up, with one survey group taking each of the newly discovered systems.

Elsewhere in the Alliance, the Aurarii Republic agrees to take the first step in joining the Alliance as a full member. The union will not take place for at least eighteen months, but the new Aurarii government is very interested in demonstrating its loyalty to the Alliance.

The Alliance has reached full communications with the Norn Regime, the other race that occupies the same system as the Aurarii. Since their liberation the Norn have been very cautious, verging on paranoid, although they seem to be getting along fine with the Doraz.

The fighting continues to rage on Lothar Prime. The Lothari ground forces have the upper hand, and are forcing the Alliance forces back on every front. Casualties are heavy on both sides.

Month 225, Day 7, Lothari Prime
The long-promised ground reinforcements reached orbit late in the day. They were almost too late. One beachhead had been forced to surrender, while the other three remaining beachheads had been forced back to their initial perimeters and were under constant attack by superior Lothari forces. Rather than reinforce the existing beachheads, which would have been difficult given the intensity of combat in and around the landing zones, Skull-Splitter ordered the reinforcements to establish new beachheads at strategically advantageous positions across the planet.

The Lothari, poised on the brink of victory, were caught completely by surprise as the newly arrived ground troops began dropping on their planet. With their ground forces completely committed to crushing the beachheads, the Lothari found themselves caught flat-footed, and were out of position to counter the new landings. Worse, the new Alliance ground force was present in immense numbers. Rather than dropping additional nuclear weapons, the Alliance had mobilized a huge ground force from their populous inner worlds. This new ground force outnumbered the defenders by more than two to one, and when the remnants of the original assault force were added to their number the odds became even worse for the Lothari.

The Lothari army never recovered from their surprise. They had been caught fully committed to the attack on the existing beachheads, and the new landings completely outflanked them and threw their defensive plans into chaos. The new beachheads expanded rapidly, capturing critical transportation, manufacturing, and communications nexuses almost without fighting. The Lothari army struggled to redeploy, but once they withdrew from the original landing areas they were immediately resupplied and reinforced, and began harassing the main Lothari army elements which had so recently been attacking them.

By the end of the month the Alliance army was in control of the most critical areas of the planet and the Lothari army was finished as an organized fighting force. Resistance continued, but the Alliance now controlled the planet and the system.

Month 226, Alliance controlled Lothari space
The Alliance’s 1st Survey Group completes its warp point survey of a system two jumps from the Lothari home world and discovers a single new warp point. When probed, the warp point is revealed to be the closed connection to the Thoen system. The arrival of the probe ship in the Thoen system is a relief for the 6th Fleet, which has been standing on the defensive in the system, awaiting any further raids from the Lothari. With this route now known and controlled, the 6th Fleet can return to its base in the Stahat system.

In this month the Alliance Council begins negotiations with the Chirq Cooperative over the future of the Khozun. The Alliance’s original intention in regards to the Khozun was that Alliance forces would be in primary control of the Khozun system, with assistance from the Chirq. The Chirq would be the primary beneficiaries of the resources taken from the Khozun during the occupation as a repayment for the destruction caused by the invasion. However, as the Alliance descended into the chaos of the D’Bringi civil war, followed by the invasions from the Aurarii and the Lothari, the Alliance’s attention shifted and the occupation duty fell to the Chirq, with some limited Alliance oversight and orbital support from the small Alliance squadron assigned to the Chirq territory. With the Alliance’s difficulties largely resolved the Council’s attention has returned to the Khozuni problem. The Chirq have been fairly administering the Khozun home world, but are reluctant to allow them any freedom. The Council fears that the Chirq have become too used to the steady stream of income provided by the occupation. Thus, the Council is negotiating with the Chirq to transfer control of the Khozun to Alliance authorities, in exchange for guaranteed payments for a period of time. The Chirq, for their part, seem at least interested in talking.

Rigellian Diary / Re: Complete Rigellian Diary

« Last post by Strega on March 12, 2023, 12:16:30 AM »

https://imgur.com/a/wkBmG0i

I'll try it. A little bit of the info here I got from Steve years back, such as what colored rings around systems mean.

Rigellian Diary / Re: Complete Rigellian Diary

« Last post by nuclearslurpee on March 11, 2023, 07:41:54 PM »

You could always try to upload it on Imgur and share it via the [img] tag.

Rigellian Diary / Re: Complete Rigellian Diary

« Last post by Strega on March 11, 2023, 06:48:58 PM »

I've been trying to upload the Updated Master Map for the Diary. This is something I patched together from sector maps long ago and uploaded in another thread. Since those links are all dead I've tried to put it here. Maybe it this board doesn't like the file size (3MB) but it doesn't seem to want to post. If anyone gets in touch with me via a reply maybe we can work out how to post it somewhere.

New Cold War / Cold War: Months 221-226, Zir Union

« Last post by Kurt on March 11, 2023, 06:52:43 AM »

Month 221
The Zir Union has long been an associate state of the Alliance, however, the Zir have been increasingly uncomfortable about their ties to what they view as a more warlike state than they had originally believed. First the D’Bringi civil war, and then the conflicts with the Aurarii and the Lothari have led the Zir to believe that they may have made a mistake in binding themselves to the Alliance.

In this month, a Zir survey group encounters a previously unknown race while surveying a frontier system. Discontent and disagreement with the Alliance and their restrictive approach to contacting new races has been growing within the Union, so the survey group leader decides to contact the newly discovered race, ignoring Alliance protocols. The newly discovered race eagerly greets the Zir and they begin the process of leaning each other’s language.

Month 222
The Alliance bombards the Lothari home world, causing outrage amongst the Zir population. The Zir representative to the Alliance delivers a strong protest to the Alliance council, and warns the other members that if the Alliance could do that to the Lothari race, most of whom had no part in the actions of their leaders and military, they could do it to any of them. By the end of the month the Zir representative begins trying to convince the other representatives to support his/her motion to ban all strategic bombardment of inhabited planets. They encounter disinterest amongst the other representatives, and are disheartened by the experience.

Month 223
Zir representative with the Alliance’s fleet establishes full comms with the Lothari and begins independent peace negotiations. This takes place without the knowledge of the Alliance or the fleet’s commanders. The Zir representative hopes to broker a ceasefire and peace negotiations between the two sides.

Month 224
The Zir representative reaches a tentative non-aggression agreement with the Lothari. This agreement is not binding on the Alliance, however, the Zir representative agrees to mediate between the Lothari and the Alliance.

The Zir achieve full communications with the new race discovered in their territory. They call themselves the Ut, and have some sort of communal government that the Zir find hard to understand. In spite of this, the Ut appear friendly and readily agree to a trade relationship.

By the end of the month, Skull-Splitter discovers the extent of the communications between the Zir and the Lothari, and the fact that the Zir have established a separate peace. While this is essentially meaningless and symbolic, as the Zir have not contributed any forces to the battles over and on the Lothari home world, he is enraged as it may be giving the Lothari hope that they can divide the Alliance and broker a peace deal that does not involve a complete and unconditional surrender. He orders the Zir representative detained and returned to the Alliance capital. All negotiations started by the Zir representative are shut down.

Month 225, Rehorish Prime, Alliance Capital
On Day 1, the Zir representative to the Alliance delivered official notification to the Council that the Zir Union was withdrawing from the Alliance, effective immediately. The Council immediately went into closed session, to which the Zir representative was invited. The room was empty without the associate members, as only the representatives of the three full members were present, along with the Zir representative. Upon being asked for their reasoning, the Zir representative explained that the Alliance’s recent actions on the Lothari front were repugnant to the Zir, a violation of everything they believed. In addition, the Zir had become seriously disillusioned about the Alliance in the aftermath of the D’Bringi civil war. After several hours of discussion, it became clear that the Zir would not be dissuaded. The Zir representative was dismissed, and the Council briefly discussed the situation before calling in the representatives of the associate members for a full Council session.

It soon became clear that the full Council was in favor of granting the Zir motion, and the treaties creating associate membership explicitly allowed leaving the Alliance should the member desire, however, the strategic situation complicated the Zir request. The Alliance and the Zir Union shared sovereignty over the Villiers system, which was one of the Zir Union’s most populous and prosperous systems, and which also boasted no less than thirteen warp points, several of which led to territories of other species. One of which was the Mintek. The Alliance had established a significant colony in the system, with a medium population consisting of Rehorish and T’Pau citizens, along with a scattering of D'Bringi, and had a large military presence in the system, including significant fixed fortifications. The Alliance could not simply decouple from the Zir Union and wish them well.

Fortunately, the Zir were more than willing to talk, and were very interested in maintaining good relations with the Alliance, they merely desired independence from entangling treaties that could force them into a conflict they did not want and could not countenance. Negotiations would be ongoing for some time.

Month 225, Ut Home System
Ut Survey ships complete their survey of their home system and discover nine warp points. The Ut fleet will probe the new warp points next month.

Month 226, Zir Prime
The Zir announce that they have formally left the Alliance, downgrading their treaty to a trade treaty, discontinuing the military alliance that they found so disagreeable. The Zir have promised to allow the Alliance to continue to have access to the Villiers system, including unlimited access for commercial ships, and free access for military ships, although the Zir government must approve their entry into Zir space, and all such movements must be approved in advance. The Zir adamantly refuse to allow the Alliance to initiate hostilities with the Mintek, who are located through one of the Zir system’s numerous warp points. In return, the Zir have agreed not to establish contact with the Mintek either.

New Cold War / Cold War: Month 224-225 Colonial Union

« Last post by Kurt on March 02, 2023, 10:25:44 AM »

Month 224, Day 1
Colonial Survey Group #4 completed its survey of the Norilsk system last month. On the 1st, it sends probe ships through the newly discovered warp point in the Norilsk system outer reaches. The probe ship returns on schedule, and the Survey Group commander receives a message from the excited probe ship commander. The new system has no less than eight habitable planets, four orbiting each of the binary system’s stars.

The Survey Group CO is flabbergasted. Previously, the record was four type T planets, but this system had twice that number! She named the new system El Dorado, and immediately sent off a report to Survey Command and ordered the probe ship to move into the system to probe for inhabitants.

The probe ships reported back with the news that the system was uninhabited, and the Survey Group commander ordered her ships to begin their survey.

The results were astounding. The preliminary surveys of the eight habitable planets revealed the following information:

Planet A-II   Harsh/Very Rich
Twin of A-II   Benign/V. Poor
Planet A-III   Benign/Normal
Planet A-IV   Benign/Normal
Planet B-II   Benign/V. Rich
Planet B-III   Harsh/V. Rich
Planet B-IV   Harsh/Normal
Twin of B-IV   Harsh/Rich

The survey results were so incredible that the survey commander, and her crews, began to wonder about the origin of this unlikely system. The presence of eight habitable planets was completely unprecedented, and the fact that two of the habitable planets were tide-locked massive moons was even more unlikely. The possibility of such planets had always existed, and the Survey Command had discovered numerous tide-locked worlds, but these were the first twin tide-locked planets ever discovered. The fact that there were two pairs in the same system, with four other habitable planets, was simply unfathomable.

The survey results were sent off to Survey Command immediately, with a recommendation for immediate colonization. This news was sure to electrify the Union, and cause excitement throughout the government’s colonization program, and the corporations that provided colonization services.

Month 225. Day 1, Colonial Union
The Colonial Union Senate, reacting to a petition from the Prime Minister’s office, approves the immediate colonization of the habitable planets in the El Dorado system. The bulk of the colonists will come from the nearby Lipeck system, however, that system’s population will be seriously depleted and can support the colonization of only seven of the eight planets in El Dorado without dropping LIpeck Prime’s population below medium level. Therefore, Krasnodar Prime is tapped to provide colonists for the last remaining planet in the El Dorado system, in spite of the fact that it is twice as far from the system and will take two months for the colonists to arrive.

The colonization of the system is approved during a spurt of excitement surrounding the discovery of the incredibly rich system, and the measure is approved over the vocal and adamant opposition of a sizeable minority of senators, all of which are from systems in the Sligo system. The opposition is headed up by the senators from the Sligo system itself, and seems to be primarily motivated by economic issues that have come to the fore since the creation of the Districts. Sligo’s senators have long claimed that the inner planets of the Union have unfairly influenced to Union’s economy to their advantage, preventing the development of the mid-range and outer colonies. The inner planets have vigorously denied these claims, and the debate has been ongoing. The discovery of the incredibly rich El Dorado system in the Sol District, though, and the riches that the exploitation of the system will bring to the inner planets, have brought a new urgency to the debate, both within the Senate and in the media.

In spite of the sometimes-rancorous ongoing debate over the economics of the situation, the administration proposes a measure authorizing a colonization effort to bring the population of El Dorado B-II to medium level, which would allow it to support in-system colonization. The Union has previously been unable to support such efforts, unlike the Alliance and the Confederated Sentient Races, because of its lack of large and very large populations. However, over the last several years the population of New Moscow in the Sigma Draconis system has grown to the point that it can support one such colonization effort without dropping back down to medium level. The administration’s proposal would require the approval of the Senate, leading to lines being drawn both for and against almost immediately. The Union’s entire colonization capacity is currently focused on establishing the settlements on the eight worlds in the El Dorado system, so it will be at least a month before there is enough capacity to support such a major colonization effort, but the divisions within the Senate promise to delay the effort for much longer.

Haji's Fiction / Re: The Forever War - Part 05 q4x/aurora vb

« Last post by Warer on February 16, 2023, 04:34:21 PM »

Weirdly enough for me my favorite thing about this story is the changing ship type nomenclature, I really like how realistic it is and how it reflects changing mindsets.

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