January 18, 2361
The 1st Expeditionary Fleet jumps through the last unexplored warp point in the Wolf 359. They find themselves in a single-star system with an M4-V star, two terrestrial planets, four gas giants, and a couple of chunks. Several of the planets and moons are capable of harboring life. Admiral Craig orders the fleet into the system to probe for life.
February 17, 2361
The Naval Design Bureau, Advanced Weapons Division, sets up Project 66 on Mars. Project 66 is intended to proto-type a new weapons deployment concept developed by the AWD based on a suggestion from a young officer on his first deployment with the 3rd Battle Group. The officer’s suggestion, made during a training exercise, was forwarded to Admiral Craig, who was impressed enough with it to forward it on the AWD team along with an evaluation from his staff.
March 28, 2361
The 1st Expeditionary Fleet returns to the solar system after spending nearly fourteen months expanding the frontier.
April 2, 2361
The Senate votes to move Verge to full Imperial population status, with internal self rule and voting rights within the Senate. This is with heavy oversight and assistance from the Imperial government, of course.
Work is begun immediately on expanding the old naval shipyard orbiting Verge to handle Imperial frigate designs.
April 27, 2361
The 3rd Battle Group under Admiral Sir Sam Craig is dispatched to the Procyon system with an Imperial envoy.
May 15, 2361
At 1200 hours the 3rd Battle Group jumps into the Procyon system. The area around the warp point is clear, so Admiral Craig dispatches the light cruiser Bunker Hill along with the frigates Johnstown and Wilmington into the system with the Imperial Envoy.
The three ships travel inward for two days before they are challenged by the Plateau defense forces. After coming to a halt and transmitting welcoming messages and requests to continue into the system, the three ships receive a demand to leave the system from Plateau. The demand is politely worked, but a demand nonetheless. The Imperial Envoy sends several messages requesting meetings with the Plateau government, either in this system or in the adjacent Wolf 359 system; however, Plateau is adamant that the Imperial forces are to leave their system. In the end the Envoy orders the ships to return to the warp point.
May 19, 2361
The 3rd BG is assembled on the warp point to Wolf 359 in the Procyon system once again. Admiral Craig is unhappy with the situation, but his orders are clear. If Plateau refuses contact they are to leave, immediately. In Admiral Craig’s opinion, they are just leaving a problem to fester in the darkness, a problem that will come back to haunt them. Once clear of the system, Admiral Craig sends the Envoy back in a courier with a detailed report and a request for further orders, and repositions the picket group from the 1st BG on the Procyon side of the warp point.
May 26, 2361
Terra
Duke Kai Savage, His Majesty’s Planetary Governor for Terra, looked around the room. They were gathered in the drawing room of his London mansion. The mansion was located far enough from the palace to avoid notice, but was still located close enough to the various transportation hubs to make travel here easily done. The room was richly appointed, the walls lined with ancient books and paneled with real wood. In the far corner a fire crackled merrily, warming the room and driving away the chill. With Victor’s arrival everyone was present. He nodded to Sir Michael Jenkins.
His Majesty’s Minister for Foreign Affairs stood and nodded to those present. “By now you’ve all had time to review the report from Admiral Craig and Envoy Howells. It appears that we are left with essentially no information about the true situation in the Procyon system. They have given us a clear and unequivocal statement: Stay away. That, however, leaves us unable to determine the status of the citizens of Plateau, who are at the very least still nominally Imperial citizens. We must decide upon the Empire’s course of action towards Plateau.” He paused and looked around, inviting comment from those present.
After a few seconds an older man huddled close to the fire spoke. “What is the Emperor’s wish in this matter?”
Victor, Duke Savage, and the Minister all looked at each other. Victor was the Emperor’s brother, Duke Savage was a family friend and confidant, and the Minister was the one officially responsible for the implementation of the Emperor’s foreign policies. All had spoken with the Emperor recently, although not all had spoken with him on this issue. Finally Minister Zacharias nodded. “Officially, the Emperor is not taking a position on this situation. His full attentions are focused on the integration of Verge and New Victoria into the Empire, and the attendant political…issues. He has left this issue to us.”
The older man by the fire grunted, as if discontented.
“You have a comment, Senator Maldonado?”
Senator Maldonado remained silent for a moment as he took in the room. “The government’s course is clear. We have a responsibility to the citizens of Plateau to ensure their safety and basic rights. If we must send an armed force there to do that then that is what we must do!”
Admiral Victor Tannebaum turned from facing the fire to face the Senator. “If we send a naval force to Procyon we stand a decent chance of provoking a war, regardless of the true situation there. They’ve made their feelings clear. If we send forces there, in spite of their clear statement, even if they are treating their people well we could end up provoking a battle that we might actually lose.”
“Lose! Nonsense! There is no way that one planet could stand against the entire Empire! In any case, if we send a large enough force, they won’t dare attack. And we’ll get the information we need to justify annexation, or at the very least to open regular relations if they are benign.”
Duke Savage stepped in before Admiral Tannenbaum could respond. “Victor, he may have a point. If we send a large force, say a battle squadron reinforced with a Carrier Strike Group, then they won’t dare start a fight. That would be one way of getting the information we need and fulfilling our responsibility to the people on Plateau.”
Admiral Tannenbaum shook his head. “The problem is that we have no intelligence on the Plateau defense fleet. They might have one ship, or a hundred. And with all due respect to Senator Maldonado, it wasn’t that long ago that the Empire was limited to one system as well. If we send the fleet to Procyon we are taking a risk, and we are provoking a polity that may be perfectly benign.”
The fourth, and final, person in the room stirred. Senator Angela Harris was rather young to be the chairperson of one of the most important committees in the Senate, but her position was a reflection of her popularity with the people and her unparalleled political skills. While she was tall and had the blond hair and blue eyes that were typical for the region of the American Midwest where she was born, her most striking feature was her penetrating gaze, which she used like a scalpel during debates in the Senate and in speeches to the public. Now she turned her gaze on Senator Maldonado. “Senator, now is not the time to provoke a war. We are still integrating the people of Verge and New Victoria into the Empire. There is already too much upheaval, too much change. We need time to absorb what we’ve taken before attempting to take more.” She turned to the others in the room. “I would advise caution in regards to Procyon and Plateau.”
Minister Villegas nodded in agreement with Senator Harris, while Senator Maldonado, who was completely unaffected by the rhetoric and gaze of his fellow Senator, shook his head in disagreement. Admiral Tannenbaum saw his opportunity. “I agree with Senator Harris. Now is not the time to act. We can take out time with Plateau. We have nothing in the adjacent system except a picket force, and the Lalande system has no populations, just automated mines. That gives us strategic depth if Plateau turns out to be hostile and comes out of Procyon looking for us. They’ll have to survey Wolf 359 before doing anything else, which will give us time to get a force out there to meet them, in deep space, away from their fixed defenses on Plateau. If they turn out to be hostile.”
Senator Maldonado shook his head again. “We are hiding from this problem, and it is a problem. Something is festering on Plateau, and sooner or later it will come looking for us. We can deal with it now or then.”
Now it was Senator Harris’ turn to shake her head. “And if you are wrong, Senator?”
“If I’m wrong then I’m wrong! But at least we’ll know what we face, rather than having to guess! As it is if we have to send the fleet away from the home system we won’t know if we’ll suddenly face an enemy coming out of Procyon at the very worst time.”
Duke Savage decided it was time to intervene. “If you are wrong, Senator Maldonado, then we may be provoking a war with the very people we claim to be protecting. Not only would that be wrong, but it would also undermine our claim of responsibility for all humans. No, in the absence of clear evidence I don’t see how we can send a fleet to Procyon.”
Admiral Tannenbaum and Senator Harris nodded in agreement; Senator Maldonado was the only dissenter. There would be more discussion, but the die was cast. The Empire would not intervene in Procyon, at least not this year.
June 3, 2361
A courier returns to the Wolf 359 system with orders for the 3rd BG. They are to return to the Solar System. Plateau will be left alone, for now.
October 10, 2361
The yards orbiting Terra launch the Empire’s first orbital base designed to carry fighters. The Orbital Defense Base (F) class is designed to carry thirty fighters and everything needed to make them a force to contend with. The 1st Carrier Strike Group is recalled from its training mission in the inner system to transfer its older fighters to the base, and to receive a shipment of the latest fighters from the factories on Mars. This ensures that the frontline forces have the latest fighters, while in turn the static defense bases receive seasoned, trained squadrons.
October 24, 2361
The 2nd Carrier Strike Group is transferred to New Victoria on this date. The entire group, which is composed of one carrier, four light carriers, three light cruisers, and four frigates, departs the solar system en route for Kruger 60, which will be its home port from now on.
This move is in response to a growing movement within the Senate responding to the increasing feeling on the frontier that the Empire’s population centers are open to attack.
October 30, 2361
Three tugs set out for Kruger 60, towing three orbital bases which will become the backbone of defenses for the Imperial population there.
November 14, 2361
On this date the 1st Carrier Strike Group sets out for the Luyten 726-8 system, to move into its new home port over Nova Terra.
November 26, 2361
The 3rd Carrier Strike Group is formed around the newly launched Hero class carrier Hercules. Command of the 3rd is given to Rear Admiral Dominic Dyer. Admiral Dyer was not Fleet Admiral Tannenbaum’s first choice; however, he is senior and is very proficient at organizing and training units under his command.
The 3rd CSG is currently composed of the Hercules, the light carriers Camden and Norfolk, the light cruisers Trenton and Bennington, and three frigates, the Chelsea Creek, Barren Hill, and Freetown. Currently, the 3rd is orbiting Mars, awaiting delivery of its full complement of fighters.
On the same day the Imperial government announces that the 1st Expeditionary Fleet will be departing to the frontier beyond New Victoria and Verge. The 1st EF will be composed of the 2nd Battle Group and the 1st Detachment of the Imperial Guard, and will have troops from the Imperial Marines, Army and Guard in support.
There is celebration on Terra, however, rumors abound. Traditionally, the 3rd Battle Group has always led the way when expanding the Empire’s frontiers. The fact that both Admiral Craig, the commander of the 3rd BG, and Admiral Kane Franklin, the commander of the 2nd, are both known to be close confidants of Admiral Tannenbaum, does nothing to dispel the rumors and in fact fans the flames of rumor of a falling out. Finally, Admiral Craig is recalled from training maneuvers in the inner system to give a series of public appearances in support of the shuffling of assignments.
Status Report, December 2361
The Empire is facing some significant difficulties, which some have characterized as growing pains. The huge industrial complex on Mars is voracious, but has not expanded much in the last decade. The current problem stems from the vast orbital shipyards over Terra, and the large Army training facilities on Terra and Mars. These installations consume ever growing amounts of raw materials, and there is near constant demands to expand the facilities to meet the ever growing need for military units to garrison the Empire’s widespread dependencies. The temptation to expand the ship construction capacity in Terran orbit has been largely resisted; however, this has resulted in critical shortages of ships to fill needed roles.
The industries and shipyards in the solar system are fed by the mines of Titan, and mining networks in the Lalande 21185 and Luyten 726-8 systems. Plans existed to expand the mining networks in both of those systems, but because of political pressure the bulk of the Empire’s shipping capacity has been shifted to expand the mining networks in the Altair and Ross 154 systems. These mining networks are now considered critical, because they feed the industries of New Victoria and Verge, respectively. Neither of those Imperial populations has access to significant deposits of resources in their own systems, and thus must be fed from out-system resources. Rather than transship resources from the Solar System, the Imperial government decided to establish mining networks in systems close to the two new Imperial possessions. This decision was made largely to reduce the Empire-wide drain of Solar resources, and to placate the new Imperial subjects in those systems. Unfortunately, by shifting transport capacity away from the Solar system and its surrounding support systems, the Empire has made it difficult to respond to the increasing local drain on Solar resources.
The Imperial Navy, which has been under significant pressure from the Senate to provide forward based defense for Verge, New Victoria, and Nova Terra, has responded by assigning the 1st and 2nd Carrier Strike Groups to New Victoria and Nova Terra, respectively. The decision to relocate the Carrier Strike Groups rather than battle groups was made because both Terra Nova and New Victoria have maintenance facilities sufficient to support units up to heavy cruiser (or carrier) size, but no larger. Thus, the battleships of the battle groups would be too large to be maintained in these forward locations, making the Carrier Strike Groups the only possible choice. In addition, the picket force from the 1st Battle Group assigned to Verge has been increased, and the Planetary Defense Group for Verge has been increased to twelve gunboats. There has been much discussion and debate both in the Senate and the Navy about the wisdom of moving these forces to forward locations. While Nova Terra is located close to the Solar System, travel time for the CSG’s or BG’s to New Victoria is approximately forty five days, which means that forces stationed there will be that far away if needed elsewhere. Of course, that argument goes both ways. The representatives from New Victoria argued that, should Imperial forces be needed in Kruger 60, they were 45 days away if stationed in the Solar System. This argument found favor in a Senate that is very interested in at least appearing open to extra-solar concerns. Therefore the Navy found itself forced to relocate significant forces away from the Solar System.
Current Imperial Military Deployments:
Solar System:
1st Battle Group (Fleet Admiral Tannenbaum): 2xSD, 3xBB, 7xCL, 8xFF
3rd Battle Group (Rear Admiral Sam Craig): 4xBB, 4xCL, 6xFF
3rd Carrier Strike Group (Rear Admiral Dominic Dyer): 1xCV, 2xCVL, 2xCL, 3xFF, 20xAF-1 Flt II Phoenix, 40xAF-1 Flt III Phoenix
Imperial Guard Home Detachment (Rear Admiral Francesca Sharpe): 1xAS, 1xMS, 1xCVL, 8xType G Flt III Gunboat, 1xStreak Class Gunboat, 1xSV, 2xTT
Planetary Defense Group, Mars (Commander Jessica Wells): 20xGunboat, 4xPDC
Planetary Defense Group, Terra (Commander Reece Pope): 8xGunboat, 4xPDC
Planetary Defense Group, Titan (Commander Ethan Connor): 12xGunboat, 1xPDC
Planetary Defense Group, Venus (Commander Olivia Rose): 6xGunboat
Imperial Army, Terra: 2xAssault Brigade, 1xArmor Brigade, 2xAssault Battalion, 5xInfantry Battalion, 3xGarrison, 11xReplacement Battalion
Imperial Army, Mars:1xArmor Brigade, 2xInfantry Brigade, 6xInfantry Battalion, 4xGarrison Battalion, 17xEngineer Regiment, 4xReplacement Battalion
Imperial Army, Venus: 1xInfantry Brigade
Imperial Army, Titan: 1xInfantry Brigade
Imperial Marines, Terra: 1xMarine Brigade, 3xMarine Company
Imperial Marines, Mars: 1xMarine Brigade, 1xMarine Battalion
Imperial Marines, Venus: 1xMarine Brigade
Imperial Guard Ground Force, Terra: 1xArmor Brigade
Luyten 726-8 (Nova Terra)
1st Carrier Strike Group (Vice Admiral Isaac Gibbons): 5xCVL, 5xCL, 5xFF, 80xAF-1 Flt III Phoenix, 20xAF-1 Flt II Phoenix
Orbital Defense Group, Nova Terra (Commander Toby Nash): 2xMissile Base, 1xFighter Base, 30xAF-1 Phoenix
Planetary Defense Group (Commander Isobel Carr): 8xGunboat
Imperial Army, Nova Terra: 2xInfantry Brigade
Wolf 1061 (Verge)
1st BG Detachment (Captain Kai Winter): 2xCL, 1xFF
Orbital Defense Group, Verge (Commander Aidan Austin): 2xMissile Base
Planetary Defense Group, Verge (Lt. Commander Michael Conway): 12xGunboat
Imperial Army, Verge: 1xInfantry Brigade
Imperial Guard Ground Force, Verge: 1xGarrison Brigade
Kruger 60 (New Victoria)
2nd Carrier Strike Group (Rear Admiral William Clark): 1xCV, 4xCVL, 3xCL, 4xFF, 110xAF-1 Flt II Phoenix
Orbital Defense Group, New Victoria (Captain Daniel Hussain): 2xMissile Base, 1xFighter Base, 10xAF-1 Phoenix, 20xAF-1 Flt II Phoenix
Planetary Defense Group, New Victoria (Commander Ben Lamb): 12xGunboat
Imperial Army, New Victoria: 2xInfantry Brigade, 1xGarrison Brigade
Wolf 359 (Procyon Watch Detachment)
1st BG Detachment (Commander Sarah Ali): 1xCL, 2xFF
Ross 154 (New Home)
Imperial Army, New Home: 1xInfantry Brigade
1st Expeditionary Fleet (C/O BG #2)*
2nd Battle Group (Rear Admiral Kane Franklin): 4xBB, 4xCL, 4xFF, 1xTT
2nd Detachment, Imperial Guard (Captain Jacob Power): 1xTT, 5xDS
1st Marine Brigade
2nd Imperial Guard Shock Brigade
7th Imperial Army Assault Brigade
*The 1st EF is currently in the Altair system, en route to Kruger 60 to begin probing warp points in that system.
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