Surprise continuation after 2.5 years! Again!
Comments Thread
Reintroduction of our contestantsSince it's been a while, let's begin with a brief review of the human polities vying for power in this struggle for the stars:
We have the
Martian Consortium - a corporatocracy born out of the ashes of the USA, now in control of what once were the nation-state colonies of the red planet. The second most powerful, they are a contender to the People's Republic of Luna (PRL) for dominance over Sol.
Allied to them is
the Interstellar League (INL), a minor federalist power consisting of many small, outlying colonies and their main world of Taíno in the Santa Maria system.
Opposing them in this great game is the
People's Republic of Luna (PRL), a direct successor to the Chinese nation-state of Earth. Large and powerful, they seek to deny the Martian and Terran challenges to their hegemony over mankind and to present a united front against the alien neighbors of humanity.
The dark horse of the race, the
Terran Primacy has recently consolidated power over almost all of Earth through an iron fist and has an insatiable hunger for natural resources, revanchism and power.
Japan is a minor power with a mission: Retake Venus and it's important Gallicite mines from the Callistoan government. Will they be able to achieve that without falling fully under the influence of the Terran or Lunar governments?
The final contender is the Russian-dominated
Callistoan Regime. Luck and opportunism has blessed the small and backwards power with natural resources, yet they still have many challenges to overcome: Japanese war threats, shaky military doctrine, overextension, a small economic base, disinterest from other Sol powers and scary alien neighbors.
2153-2154Terran shipbuilding is beginning to take off. The new flagship, the cruiser Hestia, is under construction to lead the remaining two refitted Hades-class cruises into battle with its many Japanese-made particle banks. The three ion-engined Adana-class escorts that will not be scrapped are receiving minor updates to their control systems and new interceptor-armed escorts, the Daimonion class, are entering production. The ancient Eurofighter squadrons, almost a hundred years old, are finally being decommissioned - a contentious decision, as the fighters provided a significant deterrence factor despite their limitations and age. The Terrans have opted to go with a "slow" doctrine, which affords them the option to take along commercial support ships that can keep up with the main combat elements. The new
Tross-class combined support ship, named after a medieval form of army supply train, can extend the range of a Hestia-class cruiser by 5x or extend 10 Daimonion-class escorts to twice their range. Also on the horizon is a massive armored commercial dropship modeled after the Lunar type, but Neutronium extraction from the orbital habitats in the Bremen system has yet to meet the demand for those grandiose plans.
Japan, in their efforts to counter the Callistoan missile ships, are very interested in the superior electronics of the Terran escorts. Their sensors and guidance systems are able to make full use of the Qian interceptors 2m km range. It is a declared Terran goal to bind Japan closer to them and would be a good recompense for further purchases of Japanese particle weapons for the cruisers, but giving them such capable anti-missile equipment gives the Terrans pause. Firstly, it is acknowledged that the Japanese kiting doctrine is somewhat effective in countering their own slow navy. That is compensated for by Terran missile weaponry. Giving them the tools to counter that missile weaponry questions the otherwise assumed superiority of the Terran navy over the Japanese one, and naval dominance is important to be able to influence the Japanese. Second, Terra does not necessarily want the Japanese to win a face-off against Callisto. They want them to be able to barely scrape by and call for Terran help, putting them deep into their debt. And calling in that debt to claim their own part of Venus when Japan retakes it and its Gallicite mines.
There are alternative suppliers for such missile electronics. However the PRL only has systems incompatible for use with interceptors and the only Martian system that fits the bill is outdated. A Martian company could be hired at likely high cost to engineer an updated version, but that will take additional development time. So the Terrans know they have the best offer. In the end they decide to outfit the Japanese escorts with their electronics as requested. An analysis showed that they will not fare well enough against Callisto to "scrape by" without them, and the Japanese simply don't have the shipbuilding capacity to challenge the Terran navy in the long term. And so the Japanese gain electronics for their escorts and the Terrans particle guns for more cruisers.
Martian Gallicite mining on Burzaco, it's distant joint-development colony with the INL, is beginning to take off. Legions of old-timers who still remember the hayday of manned mining ops on Mars are settling on the new world in hopes of passing on their skills and retiring as rich men. Economic forecasts have left the stagnancy of the previous years behind and are looking up again. With that increase in valuable long-distance trade there is also a corresponding increase in piracy. The new routes are long and scarcely protected, but with the recent INL victories against Terran privateers and INL listening posts active in both routes towards the Burzaco colonial area the situation remains under control.
The Procyon RebellionThe tightening control of the expanding Terran government has reached the civilian research colony of Procyon's Rest. An international colony founded by scientists and having known no borders between nations since it's inception, it's considered a bastion of liberalism and international understanding and therefore fundamentally at odds with the new Terran ideology. Now it is under threat, with the Terrans threatening force to stop a recent referendum on the political status of old EU citizens from being implemented.
Off-Topic: A brief history of the Procyon system • show
A brief history of the Procyon system
The Procyon system and it's primary planet gained it's name from the USS Procyon, a NASA exploration ship lost to Qian precursors in the system during the initial phase of Human exploration. With the planet named in memory of those who died aboard the vessel, the system long served as a warning against the dangers of the Qian lurking in deep space. That changed in 2125, when the People's Republic of Luna (PRL) put together a multinational force to tackle the Qian threat in the system and demonstrate Human unity. Despite the political jockeying of the day, the operation was a success and the system was liberated, allowing access to the curious ancient construct found on the surface. All Human polities except Russia, who did not participate in the operation, rushed to found research outposts on the world. Colonization was meant to be as harmonious as the naval operation and the world was put under shared ownership, with militarization forbidden.
Today 228m people live on Procyon's Rest, making it a major human colony. Influence on the planet is shared between the Martian corporations and the various Earth-based settlements Terra is now trying to reclaim. These settlements have enjoyed de-facto independence since the dissolution of the European Union. Smaller presences by the Lunar, Japanese and INL governments also exist, but are largely limited to state-run research laboratories and refueling outposts, not an extensive civilian populace and economy.
The non-militarization commitment has deteriorated over time, being increasingly skirted or ignored. The INL was allowed to station an army corps on the hemisphere opposite the capital city and the ancient construct. The Terran Primacy blatantly ignored the old treaties, having landed a modern armor corps (25kt) ostensibly to protect their laboratories last year mid-2152. It was this violation which triggered the current sequence of events, as it announced their intent to do more than just protect themselves.
In light of Terran troops being stationed on the body the INL and Mars decide that they'll aim for an amendment of the Procyon treaty. They desire to recognize only the INL as a successor state to the old EU and Argentine claims to the planet, instead of the INL and Terra both as it stands currently. Aside from preventing a Terran takeover on the surface, the main challenge will be to convince the powerful PRL not to veto the amendment. The PRL has little reason to grant any advantage to their Martian rivals, but their own interest in Procyon is only middling as it's only a layover stop on the way to their Fùguó colony. The aim is to appeal to their policy of enforcing Human stability and preventing destructive inter-Human wars. Fanning the escalation spiral far enough to make the PRL sign the agreement already on the table, but not so far as to outright take side with the Terrans militarily, will require some delicacy. The Japanese vote will also have to be gained to obtain a majority, but given their enduring economic trouble that seems an easy buy.
Strategically it is important for the Procyon question to be solved within a year or two, before the new Terran shipbuilding projects finish and call into question the naval superiority of the Mars/INL alliance.
To prevent the Terrans from just implementing their rule by force in the meantime a ground war on Procyon's Rest appears unavoidable. The INL and limited Martian forces on Procyon are not the latest models, while the large armored force the Terrans deployed most definitely is. Procyon must not fall before reinforcements from Taíno and Mars arrive, which means stirring up anti-Terran sentiment into a popular revolt to bind Terran troops in its suppression.
The groundwork was laid by Martian media corporations doing what they do best: Shaping public opinion. The Terrans are coming for your freedom and tax money, and who knows if they'll stop at the independent settlements that are in question today. Unrest is brewing on Procyon's Rest. The Taíno/Mars alliance has redeployed troops to the closest colonies of Concordia and La Tablada and freed up the schedule of their troop transports so as to be able to react quickly once the violence reaches the tipping point.
Procyon is far out. The distances involved mean 4-5 month journeys for the slow troop transports. Will they arrive in time?October 1st 2153, beginning of Earth Q3, is the day the results of the local referendum are set to be implemented, and the day on which tensions boil over. After a standoff with the local Mars/INL-backed Procyon administration, the Terran troops seize the administrations offices. INL and Martian troops on the planet react to this violation of the Procyon treaty and come to their defense - ground fighting breaks out. In the open spaces between domed cities the modern Terran tanks completely dominate the battlefield, proving all but impervious to the fire of the Mars/INL infantry units rushing in.
Meanwhile violence breaks out in the domes as supporters of the Terran regime clash with civilians determined to obtain their new ID cards and the INL citizenship that comes with them. The Martian propaganda has riled up the populace sufficiently that there is soon an uprising underway as the populace watches the Terran troops occupy their administration. The Terran commander orders most of the tanks back into the cities, leaving the task of keeping the Mars/INL troops at bay to the supporting infantry and one armored brigade. The heavy tanks can't fight effectively inside the domes, but against civilians they don't need to - they are there to impress and intimidate.
Thus far it's going according to the Martian playbook. The prepared troop transports are being dispatched from Concordia colony. The INL transport that
just so happened to be transporting a reinforcment unit towards Tablada City diverts course. A carrier with escort departs from Mars to catch up with the troop transports. This way the Terran destroyer squadron at the Bremen colony won't be able to intercept them en-route. What remains to be seen now is the Terran response.
Terran assessment of the ground situation is optimistic. While the supporting infantry proves ill-prepared to fight an open conflict, the armored brigades will be able to win any military conflict on the body. The suppression of the populace to accept Terran overlordship is more important, and a good use for the impressive, modern Terran tanks at this time. In the 0.6g of Procyon the heavy vehicles hover two meters above the ground, ignoring most obstacles. The fact that makes it so effective however is the construction with bleeding edge 12/12 base tech. Most powers have rather limited ground construction capabilities and relegate the garrison of outlying colonies to last-generation units. The INL infantry corps opposing them is using 10/8 base tech (which is otherwise considered a solid force), and the Martian division uses an obsolete 6/5.
Terranischer Kampfpanzer 48
Transport Size (tons) 104 Cost 12.48 Armour 72 Hit Points 72
Annual Maintenance Cost 1.6 Resupply Cost 45
Heavy Anti-Vehicle: Shots 1 Penetration 72 Damage 72
Heavy Crew-Served Anti-Personnel: Shots 6 Penetration 18 Damage 12
Terran Forces on Procyon. Each armored brigade consists of 37 tanks, putting the total on Procyon to 148 at the start of fighting. The total tonnage is 50k Terran vs. 35k Mars/INL.
Corps = 25k tons, Division = 10k tons, Brigade = 5k tonsThe Terrans also detect the departure of the Martian carrier
Elysium Planitia, four escorting warships and a refueling ship, as well as the movements of troop transports departing from Concordia in the Salto system. A confrontation with the Martian ships in Sol is out of the question, as a similar engagement during the Martian Rebellion (their independence war) proved disastrous for the Earth fleet. While Mars has gained new ships and more modern ordnance in the years since, the Terran navy consists essentially of refitted survivors from the engagements back then. Only once the new Terran flagship and the escorts finish, that will change. But a face-off in space is not necessary. As long as enemy reinforcements can be prevented from arriving the armored brigades will prevail. Even if their ships arrive, the Terrans still have an ace in the hole. However...
Terran view of the strategic area in question. Major INL and Martian outposts marked by flags. The Bremen system has a very close JP to Wuhan, putting the Terran squadron on station there almost directly in the way between Sol and Procyon.The Bremen squadron, consisting of four old INPE-era Adana C escort destroyers, has been marked for decommissioning once replacements become available. Some more modern Adana types have been refitted, but these are too old - expendable. They are stationed there to protect the vital Terran mining interests in Bremen and beyond, but the local STOs can also do that. Being dedicated PD ships, they have a good chance against the Martian detachment. More importantly, they outspeed the Mega-class guided missile destroyers escorting the carrier. Should they be able to absorb all strikes and close to beam range they might well be able to destroy them. With the opportunity there and the conflict on Procyon providing pretext, the always aggressive Terran command gives the go. Best case, Martian ship numbers get thinned. Worst case, these ships get scrapped ahead of schedule. Some Hellhound raiders are also being sent into the area to provide recon and support.
Oct 04: The diverted INL troop transport transits into Wuhan from Salto and approaches a standby location at a nearby LP
Oct 06: Martian supply caches on Procyon's Rest are made available to the more effective INL troops
Oct 10: The Terran squadron arrives near the Salto JP in Wuhan, scanning the busy civilian traffic - unaware of the slow INL troop transport that just slipped by a few days prior
Oct 16: The two Terran raiders arrive in the area
Oct 18: INL patrol destroyer San Rafael arrives in Wuhan from La Tablada and takes up formation with the troop transport waiting for the Martian convoy to arrive from Salto
Oct 21: Mars/INL troops have lost half their strength. The Terran supporting forces have lost three-quarters of their fighting force, but only three out of 148 heavy tanks have been destroyed so far. Three out of four armored brigades are still patrolling the domes, suppressing unrest.
The San Rafael arriving from Tablada. They and the Terran squadron and raiders waiting near the JP do not detect each other.On November 6th the Martian convoy finally arrives at the Wuhan JP. The Terran squadron lying in wait behind it has since been seen and reported on by the civilian traffic passing through. The Terrans know the strength of the Martian detachment as well. They are either banking on the Martians being so risk-averse as to not jump into the old squadron or actually intend to take this fight. The situation on Procyon is not good. The ground offensive is losing steam fast and the civilian resistance against the Terrans is, five weeks in, losing cohesion. Yet there are still 80 days of travel for the reinforcment troops to arrive. It may well be that the reinforcment troops are going to find nothing to reinforce left. Can they do the job alone?
Considering the Terran squadron low threat and under pressure to relieve Procyon, Martian Cpt. Romeo Guilmette orders the best ordnance available to him loaded. Due to limited supply the very best missiles have been held in reserve by command and his force was outfitted with two strikes each of the more readily available LRT3 and LRT4 cruise missiles. Once ready, he orders jump.
The Terran squadron follows orders and charges in once their targets present themselves. A fight it is, then. The well-trained Martian sailors launch fighters, lock targets, and fire their synchronized salvo within seconds of clearing the jump point. At this distance, the enemy barely has enough time to lock their salvo.
Jump shock is a lie told to you by Big Jump to sell more expensive jump drives.The targets are impacted by 3, 3, 4 and 8 hits. The ES
Kahramanmaras does not survive the 8 hits. The other three destroyers are kept operational thanks to their thick composite armor. Notably not a single missile missed its target, estimated hit chances range around 100% for the Martian targeting systems. Now follows the long rearming period of the Mega-class missile destroyers which lack automated refiring mechanisms. The fighters are executing combat landings on the
Elysium Planitia, their rearming process so long as for them not to matter in this fight anymore.
The Martians are about to find out just how token their token beam armament really is.The Terran squadron slowly closes the distance. The Martians are armed with a few short-ranged plasma cannons and laser turrets, but don't have the volume of fire of the Terran escort destroyers. As the ships enter their respective fire distances there are still over six minutes on the clock for the Mega's missile reloads. As broadsides are beginning to be exchanged, Cpt. Guilmette orders the Solstice-class escorts on continuous fire. 80 interceptors every 10 seconds should more than saturate the enemy guns, keeping them off of the Mega DDGs.
The interceptor hail proves devastating. The Terran guns have no chance against the fast and numerous projectiles.Within two volleys, the ES
Düzce is no more. In exchange, the Terrans have ground down the
Elysium Mons' armor belt and appear intent on taking the ship down with them, not even trying to destroy the incoming interceptor missiles. They doggedly stay on the
Elysium Mons while the rest of the Martian force gains distance, pouring more mass driver rounds into the exposed sections. But no lucky hit destroys the ship. The emergency eject systems work as intended on all magazines. No power systems hit causes a cascading failure. The remaining two Terran ships are destroyed in short order, with no Martian ship lost.
Elysium Mons internal damage. Not much left holding the ship together, the ship scoreboard lists 122 internal damage. 107 out of 310 crew are MIA.Survivors are picked up by the Martian transports. The Elysium Mons has lost all engine power. Options are to scuttle it on-site or to stabilize it until it can be retrieved by tractor beam and scrapped in a yard at home. The latter option means the ship will have to be defended until a tug arrives. With the Terran force fully destroyed, the nearby INL patrol destroyer San Rafael is asked to take that duty instead of joining the relief convoy. The only likely threats around are Terran raiding corvettes.
Both sides are claiming victory. Terran propaganda is downplaying the loss of the old squadron and putting the near-destruction of the
Elysium Mons in the foreground. Although it would have been better if the ship had actually been destroyed during the fighting and not in the scrapping yard months later, the narrative has merit. Attack ships like the
Elysium Mons are more prestigious than escort ships, and the Mega class in particular is a symbol of Martian national pride, together with the
Utopia Planitia-class carriers. It also helps that the
Elysium Mons in particular scored heavily in the Independence War and was directly responsible for the destruction of a European heavy cruiser. Revanchism still plays a role on Terra.
Both the carrier Elysium Planitia and the Mega-class guided missile destroyer Elysium Mons were part of this battle.By the end of November the Mars/INL forces on the surface were forced to lay down their arms. In the end, they were only able to take down five of the advanced Terran tanks. The apparent superiority of the Terran tanks calls into question if the troops underway can even overcome them, now that the local forces have been defeated. On the convoy are another - more modern - INL infantry brigade and 30k tons of semi-modern Martian tank destroyers, for a total of 65k tons.
Four months later the troop convoy finally arrives in Procyon. Shortly after pulling into orbit and launching their first landing craft, the troop transports come under fire from the surface - the Terrans have managed to sneak STO weapons onto the planet alongside the armor! They have managed to avoid detection and achieve total surprise on the unprepared transport ships, which hurriedly engage their engines to break orbit.
Even a battery of outdated PD guns is devastating at point blank, especially against an unarmored transport.The escort force scrambles after the transports and confusedly returns fire without achieving much. Conventional doctrine holds that STO assets should not be engaged haphazardly, suggesting flight as the correct choice for Cpt. Guilmette here. Once a comfortable distance has been gained, the situation is analyzed: One troop transport did not even make it out of orbit and was destroyed, thankfully not before the crew managed to get to the escape pods. With that, two thirds of the Martian armored units are gone and with that the chances to liberate the colony on the ground are looking grim. Intelligence back at HQ was able to confirm the Terran STOs as outdated autocannons with an extremely limited range of 20k km - even below that of the low-capacity beam armament of the Martians. As options are deliberated by the Martians in high orbit, Terran camera teams are already showcasing the collateral damage caused by the haphazard return fire given off by the escorts: It appears that several civilians lie dead. Never mind that it was the Terrans who concealed action-ready STOs in populated areas.
The options are to order missile strikes against the STO units and possibly the tanks, undoubtedly causing great collateral damage in the process. Or to attempt the same with beam weaponry, which will reduce civilian casualties but need greater finesse and may not be successful as supplies for this are limited since the escort force was not prepared for prolonged orbital bombardment. Just giving up and leaving the would-be INL citizens (and their research installation) to the Terrans is also an option. Waiting for reinforcements is politically not an option as it would take too long (most of a year) for the troop transports to make a round trip and again risks naval engagement and further escalation.
Since there is little to lose that way (but some collateral damage), the choice is made to attempt the destruction of the Terran STOs using beam weaponry. A significant number of the Terran tanks will also have to be destroyed from orbit beforehand in order for a ground campaign to have a measure of success, even with air support from the
Elysium Planitia, now that a good chunk of the relief force has been destroyed.
There are a lot of Terran-registered civilian ships in orbit. The Japanese don't even have any token defense forces on the ground. The smaller Terran population and ground signature belong to the occupied INL section.The task force creeps back to 21k from the planet and begins bombardment. One STO emplacement has already been destroyed during the initial retreat, and it turns out the remaining units are easy to pick off. After just a couple minutes of fire, the STO contact blinks out and the armored units are targeted. As the Terrans were hoping to use them in open terrain where they can make full use of their strengths, they do not have any cover to shelter them from orbital strikes.
The first strike hits a command vehicle, but it absorbs the laser blast unharmed.After a while it becomes clear: The heavy vehicles are resistant to the level of fire the Martian ships can dish out. Some of the supporting units handle direct hits less well. A field command center gets identified and destroyed, likely killing the commanding officer in charge of the armored divisions. After three minutes the laser turret of the
Elysium Planitia overheats, leaving further bombardment to the plasma cannons mounted on the missile ships. With the STO units confirmed destroyed or disabled, the task force moves into direct orbit so as to maximize the destructive power of the plasma weapons. Bombardment continues for several hours and by the end of the day another 31 out of the remaining 145 Terran tanks are burnt out. Collateral damage by the plasma blasts tallies to 75 financial centers, the Terran exploration ship refurbishment installation, 1 research facility and enough dust to keep the populace from seeing the stars for years to come. Although replacement plasma filters are still available to sustain bombardment for another 30 hours, the mounting collateral and civilian casualties have the commanders call off further strikes. The decision is made to land the remaining troops and see what success a ground attack has with the task force providing orbital and air support. This time, thanks to the transports in orbit, retreat is an option.
Both the INL AT guns and the Martian tank destroyers prove effective against the Terran tanks.Once the landings finish, the fighting is fast-paced. The Terran tanks are still just as destructive as before, but this time they are taking losses as well. The bomber squadrons from the
Elysium Planitia aren't able to damage them either, but prove to have a demoralizing effect on the Terran troops. Five days into the battle the Terran commanding officer regroups his forces, noting that three quarters of his fighting force have been ground up while only a quarter to a third of the attackers have fallen. He requests permission from command to offer a negotiated surrender to prevent the death of his last brigade. The request is granted and the offer accepted by the Martians. Before surrendering themselves to the other side the Terran soldiers destroy their remaining 35 tanks using explosives. Their hurried scuttling operation is not perfect, and Mars & INL intelligence later manage to retrieve enough components to advance their own armor projects.
RepercussionsDiplomatically, the other factions are put before accomplished facts in light of the military campaign. PRL interest proved lukewarm as their interests weren't affected, and they seem to accept the INL assuming custodianship over a hundred million citizens on the world and the associated facilities and industries that were previously under tenuous control of the Terrans. Publicly the whole affair has caused a big dent in the supposed moral superiority of the INL and Mars given the significant collateral damage, but especially the slaughtered civilians they could not protect during the initial uprising that they had publicly backed. The bombardment has wiped out a lot of civilian industry and will nosedive the economy of Procyon's Rest for decades to come, the ripple effects of which are predicted to hit Japan more intensely than the other factions. Japan is loud in the diplomatic arena, denouncing the reckless actions of Mars and the INL while being careful not to damage relations too much by also denouncing the Terran attempt to seize power, again trying not to step on their toes too much either. After a few days of this mix of signals it becomes clear that they are hoping to receive some concessions for their perceived or real economic loss, and will then recognize the INL claims. Publicly, they are compensated with a thousand units of Mercassium. Keen observers noted that a number of clandestine meetings between Japanese decision makers and Martian media representatives happened in the next weeks.
Terran analysis of the affair is mixed. The superior ground force they had committed had almost won the day, combined with the successful STO ambush. Ship numbers to allow a comfortable challenge to Mars in space is still ~5 years out, so a ground military focus in the meantime seems viable. The old STO units here, which were the only ones that could have been smuggled on the planet undetected as they were out of the focus of foreign military intelligence, also proved utterly impotent once outranged. Heavier STO batteries and accelerated timetables for the dropship program are the takeaways.
Remilitarization of Procyon's Rest will not be possible, at least not without another confrontation. But the shared and civilian nature of the planet still allows them to benefit from the research done there through one remaining contracted laboratory, which makes losing this confrontation not as bad as it could have been. The loss is largely of political nature, and continually being able to paint itself as a victim helps the Terran Primacy shore up support internally.
On the Martian side, Cpt. Romeo Guilmette is promoted to Rear Admiral for his effective handling of enemy ambushes during the operation. The heavy collateral damage caused by even relatively limited bombardment shows a need to win fights on the ground, and that is best achieved by expanding troop transport capacities. The Mars/INL troop transports, limited in speed and number, proved a constraint on tactical and strategic options. With one transport down, replacements need to be furnished either way. They shall be faster and armored.
The token beam armament carried by most Martian warships became relevant in the operation. Normally the one or two inefficient guns are decried as wastes of space on the Martian carriers and missile warships, but without them the Terran STO could not have been engaged and the operation here would have taken a different path. They also came into play fighting off the destroyer squadron, where they only had an auxiliary role. Consensus emerges to keep the beam armament, but upgrade it with heavier lasers once available.
Late 2154Callisto continues to profit from exploiting the Smolensk system they liberated from Qian outposts. 7 000 Neutronium have been recovered, allowing them to expand their shipyards like they were never able to before. This could enable them to enter into the production of destroyers or cruisers in coming years, leaving the current modular shipbuilding programme behind.
The quirky research transfer mechanics of 1.11 bear another gift.A surprise breakthrough in a laboratory on Taíno has yielded a novel form of fuel compression during an otherwise unassuming engineering project: A 10t slush tank that utilizes a volume equilibrium of sorium fuel under specific conditions. The tank stores 50% more fuel in exchange for costing twice the duranium, replacing the boronide cost with neutronium and increasing the wealth cost almost by a factor of 6. Scaling the effect up or further down does not seem possible at this point, but the fuel cells can be put into arrays if one is willing to afford the cost. Unfortunately the Martian allies of Taíno also had access to this low-security project as part of their general exchange programme and a patent has been awarded to a quick-fingered Consortium company. The INL science administration is unwilling to cause a stir over this given that they benefit greatly from cooperation with the Consortium and because of the INL's general dependence on their larger ally.
The Martian Consortium evaluates the new technology for military applications. Fully replacing all fuel cells of a warship increases the average cost and build time by ~20%, for around 400 BP per ship. Mars maintains 20 major warships, meaning a total cost increase of 8k BP. That means 8k MSP more spent on maintenance per year, and each MSP consists of 0.1 Gallicite, resulting in 400 extra units of Gallicite per year. Costly, but given the growth of the new Burzaco mining colony, affordable. The extra ~400t freed up don't significantly improve combat parameters of the already tuned ships, so the components will make their way into the main fleet once more comprehensive refits are scheduled. Some fighter and survey craft experiments will be the first to use the new "Baiano Cell®".
