Please tell me this is the work of SM mode...
Nope! 100% pure RNG baby!
The RNG giveth and the RNG taketh away...
1955In April, Dr Strehle demonstrates a fully functioning troop transport bay that can be easily rescaled from as small as 100 tons to as large as 25,000 tons. This made the shuttle design teams produce Ares:
Ares class Assault Shuttle 470 tons 2 Crew 21.1 BP TCS 9 TH 6 EM 0
638 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 HTK 2 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0-0 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.38 Years MSP 2 AFR 18% IFR 0.2% 1YR 0 5YR 7 Max Repair 5 MSP
Troop Capacity 100 tons
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Douglass Engine CON-3 (2) Power 6 Fuel Use 182.57% Signature 3 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 16,100 Litres Range 3.4 billion km (61 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
This design is classed as a Troop Transport for auto-assignment purposes
The US Marine Corps was very happy to see the blueprint as it justified their proposition for the role that the USMC could play as part of the Federal Space Forces Administration, or FSFA for short. The debates between the various branches of the government, the military and NASA had been long and heated and it had seemed there would be no end to them. Until President Eisenhower was sworn in. The man who had previously managed to keep the Allies together and working for the common goal did not take long to issue an executive order - there would not be a new branch of the military, especially not so soon after the birth of the Air Force. Instead, as had been proposed before, each branch would have their role to play and a purpose to fulfil in space. President Eisenhower gave his blessing to this new system, where:
- Army would be responsible for garrisons on American colonies and for large-scale actions against enemy colonies,
- Navy would control large military ships and their combat-qualified auxiliaries in defence of American interests,
- Air Force would control shuttlecraft and other similar small vessels as well as aerospace assets such as aircraft that cross the Kármen line,
- Marines would staff Navy vessels with armed guards to repel boarding as well as ensure offensive boarding and special operations capability in space,
- and the Coast Guard would expand their Terran maritime duties to space, hunting down smugglers and such if they ever become reality and provide search and rescue services.
As had been decided before, the military side would work alongside the civilians at NASA and that agency would remain responsible for all scientific endeavours, which currently consisted of surveying the solar system for TN-minerals.
In May, Artemis 2 started survey operations among the asteroid belt and
in June, Watervliet Arsenal demonstrated their new 100mm RG-4 V10/C2, now capable of firing every ten seconds instead of fifteen. As the Gemini program had been halted in favour of the Artemis program, FSFA decided that it was a good time to upgrade the design, though the existing orbital weapon platforms would not be upgraded. However, despite tonnage savings from the introduction of High Density Duranium Armour, the new gun required two powerplants. Thus, some of the maintenance supplies had to be removed but the reduction from 390 to 335 was not deemed to be too big of a loss.
In June, British scientists created their version of the Trans-Newtonian Theory and the Empire/Commonwealth got into business for real. Artemis 3 began flying
in December. And on New Year's Eve, USMC recruits at Parris Island started training for Luna operations as part of the new USMC Luna Battalion.