December 31st 2156Eight months have passed since my Expeditionary Force arrived in Lincoln orbit, in the Washington system. During that time Captain Santaniello has held the Sterett at the Austin jump point in Spokane, keeping a watch for any sign of the bug-like aliens. Belknap and Wainwright have remained in Austin and Honolulu respectively, maintaining a chain of ships to rapidly transmit any message from Captain Santaniello to the jump gate network in New York. I have just been pulled away from a new year celebration at the Starburst because the Sterett?s lonely vigil has come to an end. Two hours ago, three 8200 ton alien contacts were detected five million kilometers from the Austin jump point, closing at 3073 km/s. As the last reported speed of the alien ships of that size was 1900 km/s, it appears the aliens have either made some rapid improvements in engine technology or they were hiding their capabilities. Neither option seems particularly appealing.
The aliens attempted to contact Sterett, with the usual lack of success, but continued their approach and started to raise shields. Two ships had strength-30 shields and the other strength-20, indicating two different types. These have been designated as Bug Cruiser Type I and Bug Cruiser Type II for intelligence purposes. Once they moved within 500,000 km of the jump point, Captain Santaniello decided to withdraw his ship and picket the far side. Seven minutes later, the three Bug ships followed him into Austin so he immediately set course for the Austin ? Hololulu jump point at 4000 km/s. However, the Bug ships declined to pursue and withdrew into Spokane. Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff has ordered Santaniello to station his ship a million kilometers from the Austin ? Spokane jump point and report any further alien incursions.
At least this worrying development may finally add some weight to my continuing calls for a more aggressive approach to the Spokane aliens. As the senior combat commander of the US Navy, I have become increasingly concerned that the Fleet Admiral and the President are not paying enough attention to the military aspects of our colonization of space. Of the fourteen ships currently under construction, only six are warships and two of those are jump cruisers. Although two Spruance II escorts have been completed since my return to Lincoln, our combat strength has actually fallen because an Essex class carrier and a Spruance I escort are both in for refit and both will be out of comission until August 2157. We will be operating with only three carriers until June 2157 when the first two Essex II carriers are completed, along with Vicksburg, the first Ticonderoga II. In addition, one of our two existing jump cruisers, Yorktown, is undergoing a major overhaul in Earth?s shipyards that will not be completed until March while the other, Lexington, is being used to escort freighters to the frontier mining colony in Des Moines. Fortunately she is on her return trip and will soon be back in the Washington system. Even so, it is inexcusable for Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff to allow our only active jump cruiser to be out of contact at a critical time.
Essex II class Carrier 10000 tons 2362 Crew 2050 BP Signature 200-960
4800 km/s Armour 1 Shields 18-300 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0
Hangar Bay Capacity 300 Magazine 1200 Replacement Parts 10
Magneto-plasma Drive (12) Power 80 Engine Efficiency 0.70 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 92.6 billion km (223 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (9) Total Fuel Cost 126 Litres per day
AGM-1 Fast Attack Missile (240) Speed: 24,000 km/s Endurance: 12 secs Range: 288k km Warhead: 3 Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (60) Speed: 24,000 km/s Endurance: 12 secs Range: 288k km Warhead: 1 Size: 4
Strike Group
14x F-3 'Shooting Star' Interceptor Speed: 16000 km/s Range: 12m km Launch Rails: 4 Size: 6
36x F-4 'Banshee' Fighter Bomber Speed: 11000 km/s Range: 49.5m km Launch Rails: 4 Size: 6Ticonderoga II class Escort Cruiser 10000 tons 1078 Crew 1620 BP Signature 200-960
4800 km/s Armour 1 Shields 32-300 Sensors 4/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10
Magneto-plasma Drive (12) Power 80 Engine Efficiency 0.70 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 123.4 billion km (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (16) Total Fuel Cost 224 Litres per day
Quad 12cm Laser Turret (3x4) Range 120,000km TS: 12500 km/s Power 16-16 RM 3 ROF 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Aegis Fire Control (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 12800 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor (3) Total Power Output 48 Armour 0 Exp 5%
High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1) Strength 4 Detect Signature 100: 4m kmSpruance II class Destroyer Escort 6650 tons 720 Crew 1155 BP Signature 133-640
4812 km/s Armour 1 Shields 20-300 Sensors 1/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10
Magneto-plasma Drive (8) Power 80 Engine Efficiency 0.70 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 139.2 billion km (334 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 140 Litres per day
Quad 12cm Laser Turret (2x4) Range 64,000km TS: 12500 km/s Power 16-16 RM 3 ROF 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 32-12800 (2) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 12800 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Tokamak Fusion Reactor (2) Total Power Output 32 Armour 0 Exp 5%January 1st 2157I have just returned from a face-to-face meeting with the President and Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff. Vice Admiral Reetz, the governor of Earth, attended via holo conference. As Lexington has entered Washington and will refuel in Lincoln orbit within four days, I urged an immediate forward deployment to Austin with two carriers and supporting escorts. Our fighters would make short work of any further incursions. Once we were up to a strength of six carriers in August, we could move into Spokane and end the threat before it grows any worse. I also recommended an urgent construction program to strengthen the fleet with additional carriers and escorts.
Regrettably, but not surprisingly, they were unable see the danger staring them in the face. Bickerstaff and Reetz are both bureaucrats and the President has never served in the military. They all prefer the short-term easy option and are not prepared to take decisive action for the long term good. Bickerstaff has ordered the bulk of our forces to hold in position while we monitor the advance of the Bugs. Only three Fletcher class destroyers will be forward deployed to Honolulu to guard the Austin jump point. Even though Austin is plainly our territory, the President is prepared to give it up to avoid a confrontation. Fortunately, Honolulu is not so easy to surrender as its loss would cut off a colony of ten million in the Dallas system. At least they are allowing Sterett and Belknap to remain in Austin, albeit with orders to withdraw rather than let the aliens cut them off from the Honolulu jump point. They have also rejected my proposed construction program to double the size of our combat forces. Instead, a single additional Essex II has been laid down, which will not be ready until April 2159, plus three new Fletcher II class destroyers, which will be available in thirteen months. The Fletcher II is faster and longer ranged than its predecessor and has a 33% greater magazine capacity.
Fletcher class Destroyer 6200 tons 720 Crew 878 BP Signature 124-480
3870 km/s Armour 1 Shields 20-300 Sensors 4/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 600 Replacement Parts 10
Ion Engine (8) Power 60 Engine Efficiency 0.70 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 99.5 billion km (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 140 Litres per day
S4-60 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-120 (1) Range: 1200k km
RGM-2 Anti-Ship Missile (126) Speed: 24,000 km/s Endurance: 25 secs Range: 600k km Warhead: 3 Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (24) Speed: 24,000 km/s Endurance: 12 secs Range: 288k km Warhead: 1 Size: 4
High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1) Strength 4 Detect Signature 100: 4m kmFletcher II class Destroyer 6400 tons 745 Crew 998 BP Signature 128-640
5000 km/s Armour 1 Shields 20-300 Sensors 4/0/0/0 Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 800 Replacement Parts 10
Magneto-plasma Drive (8) Power 80 Engine Efficiency 0.70 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 144.6 billion km (334 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 140 Litres per day
S4-60 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-120 (1) Range: 1200k km
RGM-2 Anti-Ship Missile (176) Speed: 24,000 km/s Endurance: 25 secs Range: 600k km Warhead: 3 Size: 4
AIM-2 Anti-Fighter Missile (24) Speed: 32,000 km/s Endurance: 9 secs Range: 288k km Warhead: 1 Size: 4
High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1) Strength 4 Detect Signature 100: 4m km25th January 2157Captain Santaniello has just reported that seven 8200 ton contacts have entered Austin and are holding position on the Spokane jump point. Six of the ships have strength-30 shields, two of which were involved in the last incursion, while the seventh has strength-20 shields but is not the same ship that transited earlier. All ships, even of the same class, have minor differences in their signatures that allow them to be identified again. This can greatly assist in intelligence work and in building up a picture of an enemy?s fleet composition and deployments. In this case, the strength-30 ships were ferried through the jump point in pairs by the strength-20 ship so the strength-20 ship type has been reclassified as the ?Bug Jump Cruiser?. There are now two known units of this class and six of the ?Bug Cruiser? class. Once again the Bug ships are attempting to communcate with the Sterett but have made no attempt to approach. Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff sees this as evidence of their peaceful intentions while I see it as evidence of a military build-up. When will she come to her senses?
Personal Log, Ben Fuentes.
