29 November, 54 TNSeven new Charlie ships appear in Sol. Their battlegroup composition is exactly the same as the previous one: 4 BC 3 CL, of the same two classes. Unique signatures indicate that these are all new ships. It’s still not clear where they are coming from.
6 December, 54 TNBy this point, all the wreckage from the destroyed CruDesGroup 4 ships was salvaged by Charlie. It is believed that the previously seen auxiliary ships of the Mule class are the ones that are doing the salvaging. It would be great if one can be captured for examination. Mules usually travel with one Daemon-class CL as an escort.
Humanity has four Hornblower-class boarding-capable troop shuttles, but their range is limited. So.. Somebody had a crazy, but promising idea…
Two 40K ton auxiliary cargo ships of the Ocean Blue class were sent out past the orbit of Mars, escorted by a few rescue shuttles. Once positioned at an optimal distance, both transports were safely evacuated and blown up. The rescue beacons were deployed near the wrecks automatically.
22 December, 54 TNDeep Space Tracking Stations detect a Mule class ship moving from the Ross 128 jump point to one of the wrecks. Several E-1 Trackers deployed to investigate. As expected, one Mule-class ship is escorted by a single Daemon-class light cruiser.
24 December, 54 TNLAC Squadron 1 approaches the Charlie ships. 38 Specters launch 152 ASM-50 missiles at the Daemon, obliterating it with 53 strength-9 nuclear detonations. DST Network picks up Charlie battlegroup (4 BC 3 CL), rushing towards Humanity’s Trackers and LACs.
Four Hornblower-class shuttles (TG Horatio) successfully land Marines on the hull of the moving Mule. It takes them a while to blast through the thick armor that’s five layers deep.
At 17:09, Marines report that they have the alien ship secured and under control. There is no sign of the crew. The ship appears to be guided by a “brain” controller section that Marines managed to disable. They cannot use the engines now, however. It’s stuck.
Marines are ordered back to the shuttles. ARS-01 Fortitude is called from Earth’s orbit to tow the captured alien ship. It is slow, however, and the Charlie battlegroup is approaching fast.
Humanity ships disable all active radars to limit the emissions, and one Tracker is used to lure the Charlie battlegroup away from the captured Mule and Fortitude towing it.
22 February, 55 TNWe’ve managed to capture another Mule. Charlie don’t seem to be very intelligent at perceiving threats and are mostly driven by basic instincts. That does not diminish the threat to Humanity that they represent, however. The wrecks of the cargo ships have attracted too much attention from Charlie by now and were hastily removed, to make sure enemy battlegroups won't come knocking before enough missiles are built to deal with them.
Both captured Mules are towed to Earth to be disassembled and studied.
22 April, 55 TNMules, now renamed to Vultures, are thoroughly examined. There’s a theory that they consume the matter from the shipwrecks and transform it into bio energy that can be used by their engines. So they are basically feeding upon the dead ships. Hence the Vulture nickname.
R&D Sector on Earth is happy to get their hands on alien equipment, promising future gains in engine, fire control, electronic warfare and sensor technology fields.
25 August, 55 TNLight Carrier Wasp is launched, based on the Confidence class missile cruiser hull. It’s the simplest design that can help us put carriers on the battlefield as soon as possible. Larger carriers would require a considerable amount of time and R&D, even before shipyards are ready to start building them.
Wasp class Light Carrier 16,000 tons 269 Crew 1,870.9 BP TCS 320 TH 1,000 EM 0
3125 km/s JR 5-100 Armour 1-56 Shields 0-0 HTK 74 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 16-10 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.20 Years MSP 1,438 AFR 341% IFR 4.7% 1YR 400 5YR 6,003 Max Repair 264 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 4,000 tons Troop Capacity 250 tons Magazine 643 / 0
Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX ENG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 80 Morale Check Required
J16000(5-100) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 16000 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 5
Ion Drive EP500.00 (2) Power 1000 Fuel Use 25.00% Signature 500 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 2,101,600 Litres Range 94.6 billion km (350 days at full power)
CIWS-120B (1x8) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
ASM-200A Roguestar Anti-Ship Missile (32) Speed: 30,090 km/s End: 11.6m Range: 20.9m km WH: 36 Size: 20 TH: 125/75/37
Electronic Warfare Jammers: Sensor 1 Missile 1
Strike Group / Ground Forces
8x A-2A Savage Light Attack Craft Speed: 11935 km/s Size: 8.48
1x Hornblower Troop Shuttle Speed: 10144 km/s Size: 9.98
1x Marine Detachment29 August, 55 TNWasp, accompanied by Cruiser Destroyer Group 2 and some additional DDGs, moves closer to Saturn to launch a strike at the Charlie battlegroup sitting there. Are they using in-situ refueling technology to get fuel from the gas giant directly?
8 Savages launch their payload against two Daemons of the battlegroup, 4 missiles per ship. Surprisingly, 7 out of 8 missiles hit their targets. It’s not enough to destroy them, but good enough to force them to break formation and leave the battlecruisers unescorted.
Unfortunately, Charlie battlegroup decided to run away this time. After Charlie ships split up, Trackers were unable to reliably track all of them. By the time their new position was established, they’ve moved too far away from the Wasp, outside the range of Savages.
Wasp turned back home to Earth. We’ll try again next time.
