Author Topic: Campaign Updates  (Read 47880 times)

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Offline Kurt (OP)

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Cold War: D'Bringi Alliance Months 166-175
« Reply #165 on: April 27, 2021, 08:09:12 AM »
Month 166
The D’Bringi forward fighter replenishment group has activated enough fighters to replace most of the D’Bringi carriers’ losses by the first of the month.  Work continues, but the fleet’s fighter complement is at near full strength. 

Month 169
The Rehorish and the D’Bringi announce that they are merging their empires together, noting that this step is the first of many in uniting the races of the Alliance.  The merger will be complete in Month 175. 

Month 172
The Zir Contemplative Union had been a member of the D’Bringi Alliance for some time now, and had not been particularly happy with the experience.  The D’Bringi had sold them on the benefits of joining the Alliance, largely because of their depiction of the universe as a dangerous place, making alliances with larger, more powerful, partners a necessity.  Since then, though, it appeared to the Zir that the D’Bringi were the aggressive, hostile ones that the Zir should be concerned about.  They were actively at war with another race, the Mintek, and in a cold war with another race, the humans.  Those facts had been disclosed during the negotiations to join the Alliance, but it was what the Zir had discovered since that was most disturbing.  Prior to contacting the Zir, the D’Bringi had conquered every race they had encountered, with the exceptions of the races they were at war with, and the Rehorish, who appeared to be just as bloodthirsty as they were. 

This revelation had been very disturbing to the Zir.  They had envisioned the Alliance as a peaceful trade union, and the reality of the D’Bringi-led Alliance was something entirely different.  When that discovery was made a significant portion of the Zir wanted to leave the Alliance, preferring solitude to the wars that their involvement in the Alliance would surely draw them into.  The only thing that kept them in the Alliance was the near certainty that should they try to withdraw from the Alliance the D’Bringi and their allies would almost certainly conquer them to keep them in their ‘peaceful’ Alliance.   

All of this made the Zir cautious in dealing with the D’Bringi, and generally suspicious of everything they said.  The D’Bringi said that the Mintek were dangerous fanatics bent on conquering the entire galaxy, and they said that the humans were dangerously aggressive expansionists, but the Zir had only their word for that.  And even if that was the truth as the D’Bringi saw it, was is actually “The Truth”?  Zir philosophers had long debated the nature of “The Truth”, and the Zir as a race were very aware of the subjective nature of truths perceived by different peoples and civilizations. 

While the Zir debated nature of “The Truth”, and the extent of their continued cooperation within the Alliance, they focused their economy on exploring and colonizing other systems, in the hopes of gaining enough economic strength to give them a say in the Alliance, or even to leave it without being subject to sanctions from the D’Bringi.  In the seventeen months since they had begun exploring interstellar space, they had discovered and colonized eight habitable planets in four systems.  Their survey group had focused on systems with habitable planets, meaning that some systems adjacent to their home system had been left un-surveyed as the survey group followed a chain of systems with habitable planets.  Four months ago Zir survey ships had discovered the Villiers system, an incredible find with no less than five habitable planets.  By month 172 the Zir had managed to colonize two of the five planets, and had completed the warp point survey of the system, finding an incredible twelve additional warp points.  Excited at the discoveries they would make, the Zir survey group probed the new warp points, making several momentous discoveries.  Five of the twelve new systems had habitable planets, and incredibly, four of the systems had inhabitants.  Following SOP, the probe ships withdrew immediately upon discovering the systems had high-tech inhabitants.  Later analysis would show that two of the systems had Human inhabitants, while the third was inhabited by the Mintek, and the fourth by an unknown race.  Both of the human systems appeared to be colony systems, as they had a small and a medium population, respectively, but the other two systems were more exciting.  The Mintek system had no less than three habitable planets, two of which had very large populations, while the third planet had a small population.  Incredibly, this system matched the information given by the D’Bringi for the Mintek home system.  The fourth system, belonging to the unknown alien race, had one habitable planet with a very large population, perhaps indicating that it too was the home system of the race.  The two human systems, and the Mintek system, were linked to Zir space by closed warp points, meaning that they would not be able to find their way back to Zir space without being shown the route.  The fourth system, with the unknown race, was linked to Zir space with an open warp point.  In three of the four systems the Zir were fairly confident that they had remained undetected.  Their probe ships had emerged far away from the colonies in the systems, and the probe ships had detected the inhabitants before they came within sensor range of detectors on the colonies themselves.  In the Mintek home system, though, their closed warp point’s terminus was just thirty-six light seconds from the system primary, and just forty-eight light seconds from the small population in the primary star’s planetary system.  The inhabitants were unlikely to have missed the probe ship, unless they were incredibly lax. 

These discoveries electrified the Zir Union.  They had discovered links to the D’Bringi Alliance’s two main enemies.  If they revealed these links to the D’Bringi, it would mean war in the Zir’s own territories.  Even worse, the previously unknown alien race’s discovery could mean that the D’Bringi would launch a war of conquest against an unsuspecting race within Zir territory.  As exciting as the discoveries were, the Zir could not allow the D’Bringi to bring war to their territories.  And so, it was easy for the Zir to decide that they would hide the new discoveries from their allies.  With that decision made, the Zir leaders began debating the next step.  Should they attempt to contact the aliens, or ignore them?  There were many who wanted to ignore them, but a substantial number of Zir wanted to establish contact with the aliens and perhaps find a way to peace with them.  This idea appealed to the Zir leaders.  Being the ones to bring peace to the Alliance would give the much honor and respect, and thus influence. 

Unknown to the Zir, the humans in Kowloon system had detected their probe ship.  The Kowloon system had received enough sensor buoys as part of the Aegis Program to establish an inner system network, which meant that anything coming within 180 light minutes of the star would be detected.  The sensor network picked up the Zir probe ship as it moved towards the inner system, then watched as it turned away after detecting the colony.  The network couldn’t localize the ship’s entry point, but the bearing it had traveled on was clear.  The contact report was sent to the capital via the ICN, and the UCDF’s response was immediate.  A task force would be dispatched, and additional sensor buoys would be deployed to establish coverage over the entire system. 

The Mintek also detected the Zir ship entering and leaving their system.  The fact that an alien race had discovered a way into their home system, the most heavily defended system in their polity, bypassing all of their defenses, was incredibly troubling.  As was the new, undetected, warp point’s location in the inner system of the primary star.  Worse, a significant percentage of the fleet was in the yards for refits, meaning that their ability to respond to an invasion, if that’s what this was, would be limited.  The entire defense establishment was mobilized, with reserves called up and every ship not in the yards pressed into service.  The Carrier Strike Wing, now twenty-eight carriers strong, was immediately dispatched to the general vicinity of the incursion, along with a heavy escort group of destroyers.  Five additional carriers were waiting to receive their latest-gen fighters, and would join early next month, along with eight battle cruisers and three additional destroyers.  Additionally, sensor buoys were deployed to the location of the closed warp point.  If another ship came through, the Mintek Universal Union would be able to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point immediately.   

Month 174
The Zir Contemplative Union’s ‘government’ had been referred to by the D’Bringi that first established contact with them as a “mostly useless debating society mostly ignored by the rest of their so-called society”.  The D’Bringi contact team member had said it to his fellow D’Bringi team members in private, but to be honest, if any of the Zir contact team had heard him, they’d likely have agreed.  For example, the Zir government was still debating the propriety of forming an alliance with the D’Bringi, and the debate was expected to continue for the next several years.  As always, those parties interested in the issue gave their government some time to debate, then made the decision themselves, presenting the government with what they really wanted, a decision made without having to get their hands dirty. 

Now, the government was debating the new discoveries in the Villiers system.  The debate was heated, and as usual, wasn’t expected to be resolved any time soon.  In the meantime, the Foreign Relations Department of the University of Capital City was studying the situation, and its academics were getting close to making a decision about which race to contact first.  The Mintek were a tempting target.  After all, if the Zir could broker peace between the D’Bringi Alliance and the Mintek, that alone would give them enough prestige to vault them to the upper reaches of the Alliance hierarchy.  That course of action also held the most risk.  The unknown race was, of course, unknown, and thus was less certainly dangerous, but also held a lower reward for contacting and establishing peaceful relations.   The humans seemed a middle ground.  The D’Bringi Alliance had a no-contact relationship with the humans, something the Zir didn’t really feel included them.  If they could befriend the humans, and open up a more peaceful relationship between the humans and the Alliance, that too would be a boon to the Zir and their status within the Alliance.  The debate continued. 

Month 175
The Rehorish and the D’Bringi complete their amalgamation this month.  Both races had to make compromises to make this work, and both had to re-evaluate their positions within the Alliance, and within the greater galaxy, before they could agree to this step.  For the D’Bringi, they had recently come to the realization that their dependence on ST planets for expansion, which were much less common than type T planets, limited their growth potential and doomed them to outnumbered by even their allies, as well as their enemies.  Recent studies had demonstrated to the clan heads that the disparity that was already apparent was going to continue to grow, and would only get worse as time went on.  Therefore, the population and colonization growth disparity were the driving reasons for the D’Bringi to agree to amalgamate with the Rehorish, who were much more of a peer than a subject, or a dependent, like the other races in the Alliance.  The Rehorish, unlike those other races, would be able to demand conditions and compromises of the D’Bringi that the others would not, but the D’Bringi clan chiefs felt that they had no real choice, and that the longer they waited the worse things would become for them. 

For the Rehorish, the equation was different but the results were the same.  The Rehorish were colonizing far and wide, and were expanding much faster than the D’Bringi, but it had become clear to them that the D’Bringi were attempting to uplift and amalgamate their subject races, all of whom owed primary loyalty to the D’Bringi rather than the Rehorish. The Rehorish could easily foresee a day when the D’Bringi, once amalgamated with their subject races, would so outclass the Rehorish Stellar Dominions that the Rehorish would go from being equals within the Alliance to a dependent of the other amalgamated races.  This idea was anathema to the Rehorish, and that left them only two choices.  They could either leave the Alliance, or unify with the D’Bringi now, before the other races, and maintain their position as an elder race within the Alliance.  By amalgamating with the D’Bringi now, before anyone else, the Rehorish could demand concessions and have a say in the later amalgamations of the other races. 

In the end both races had to make serious compromises, but they both viewed this exercise as a template for the later incorporation of the other races into the Alliance.  The Rehorish and D’Bringi governments retained significant sovereignty within their respective territories, but both gave up much of their authority on external affairs to the new Alliance Representative Council.  Creation of a unified Alliance Navy was deferred for now, as both races felt their way through their political union.  The D’Bringi Clans, in particular, were jealous of their power and loath to give up their forces to a national navy.  Agreements had been made, though, and things would change over time, but for now those changes would happen at a measured pace. 
 
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Offline Kurt (OP)

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Cold War: Colonial Union Months 166-175
« Reply #166 on: April 28, 2021, 02:22:48 PM »
Month 166
The Union government has made a grand announcement about the Aegis Network, which is intended to cover every system claimed by the Colonial Union.  The planned sensor network is heavily promoted to the public, and the announcements make the program appear as if the entire government is in agreement on this point.  However, the very public announcement is covering for dissention within both the government and the Senate as various factions fight over the allocation of the limited resources available to the Union government.  In particular, the Senate has balked at the price and the program has become stalled as Senators argue over the costs while planetary governments argue over who will get their networks first.  So far, the Colonial Union has established sensor networks in its major systems – Epsilon Eridani, Sigma Draconis, Sligo, Redwing (home of the Tlatelolco), and the Solar System. 

Secretly, as the public is focused on the Aegis Network, the government begins preparing for Operation Valkyrie, the plan to reclaim the Tomsk Union with military force.  The first step of this operation is to reactivate the old Soviet assault fleet of heavily armored light cruisers.  Work begins in secret in the Solar Shipyards on reactivating thirteen Borodino and Borodino(A) class light cruisers. 

Month 167
Construction on the Aegis Network continues, and there is wide-spread debate among the population about the emplacement of the detection buoys.  Behind the scenes, there is intense political maneuvering by system governments to get the Union to move their system up in the queue, however, the Senate has been adamantly holding to the plan originally agreed to, even as resources are coming up short for the program. 

The first group of reactivated light assault cruisers is launched in the Solar System and immediately moves into the outer system for shakedown cruises, as another fourteen light cruisers moved into the shipyard bays from the mothball reserves. 

Month 168
The Union Senate creates the Union Assault Corps, an organization separate and subordinate to the United Colonial Defense Fleet, at least in theory.  The cadre for the Assault Corps will be drawn from personnel selected from the United Colonial Defense Corps, while the vast bulk of the crews will be recruited from willing members of the public. 

There was spirited opposition within the Senate to the formation of a ‘separate navy’ within the UCDF, led by Senator Semenov of the newly formed Independent Party.  The Unity Party, in disarray since its loss of its majority, has been split by dissention for the last few months as various factions struggle for control, pretty much handing the New Dawn Party uncontested leadership of the Senate, at least for now.  Senator Semenov managed to rally many within the Unity Party to vote with the Independent Party by providing leadership that the Unity Party sorely lacks.  In spite of this, the bill creating the Union Assault Corps passes handily.  The Union Assault Corps is intended to be much like the old US Marine Corps, a part of the UCDF but administratively separate.

Month 169
The Unity Party breaks apart this month when it selects a Senator formerly viewed as a fringe candidate as its new leader.  This causes almost forty percent of the Senators in the party to leave in disgust, with most flocking to the Independent Party, which has selected Senator Semenov as its leader. 

The new Union Assault Corps (UAC) takes control of the twenty-six newly reactivated light assault cruisers and begins exercises in the outskirts of the Solar System.  The ships mostly only have skeleton crews as of yet, and cannot be considered fully operational, but that will rapidly change.  The creation of the UAC is done in secret, but to cover the activation and staffing of so many ships, the Colonial Union begins a recruiting drive aimed at the most patriotic and enthusiastic segments of the population.  Millions of applications are received by the government, mostly from young patriotic citizens who fervently believe that humanity must be protected from the alien influences that led to the near destruction of Earth.  Many of the applications come from families that fled Earth using the Colonial Union’s refugee relocation program, and are solidly pro-New Dawn.  The new UAC’s motto is “Never Again”, and its banner places those words over a stylized globe of Earth.   

Month 170
The Colonial Union has been unable to find a resolution for the ongoing population problem on Earth.  So far, the Senate has debated many possible approaches, including several draconian population control measures, but none have found consensus approval.  This means that the refugee situation continues.  Fortunately, the Colonial Union is richer and more capable of dealing with the refugee flow than it was in the past.  The refugees are sent to a benign planet in the Sligo sector, on the frontier, bolstering that planet’s population.  The resources being diverted to support the flow of refugees is staggering, though, and is causing problems for the funding of both the Union Assault Corps, and the Aegis Program. 

Month 171
The Colonial Union launches the Union’s first superdreadnought.  The United Kingdom, SDR-001, is held out as an example of the Colonial Union’s technological superiority, and of its military might and ability to deal with any possible opposition.  Unlike the Union Assault Corps, which is still shrouded in secrecy, the new superdreadnought is immediately sent on a promotional flag-waiving tour of the major systems of the Union, where it is met by parades and celebrations by citizens thankful for this tangible evidence of the growing might of the Union. 

The Union has finally completed R&D on datalinked point defense, and is ready to begin a fleet-wide refit program to update the entire fleet to modern standards.  By the end of the month the Union’s yards will be packed with ships and bases being refitted to include the latest technology.   

A popular holo development studio releases a virtual drama that it claims is based on a real-life story.  It is set in the Tomsk Union and follows the life of a Tomsk news reporter who discovers a dark governmental plot to betray the humans of the Tomsk Union to the evil Bjering, who are portrayed as cruel and capricious overlords bent on the conquest of all of the humanity.  The drama culminates with the daring reporter’s escape to the Colonial Union, where he tells his story before being assassinated by shadowy figures.  The drama, One Week in Tomsk, is an immediate hit throughout the Union.  The director will eventually admit that the drama’s claim of being a “real-life” story isn’t exactly true, but by then hundreds of millions have seen the drama and no one pays much attention. 

Turn 175
The flow of refugees from Earth continues, as the Unified Earth governments attempt to balance population growth against the heavily damaged ecology.  The expense is tremendous, and the Colonial Union Senate no longer allows the other human nations to receive refugees, so the entire expense is born by the Colonial Union itself.  A recent Senate investigation into the ongoing ecological crisis on Earth has revealed the fact that scientists cannot give a timeline for the recovery of the ecology, and, in fact, a majority of the experts working to remediate the disaster on Earth believe that the ecology there may never recover, at least not in the lifetimes of anyone living now.  The implications of this are staggering to the Senate Committee on Earth Affairs, which has been charged with dealing with the ecological disaster on Earth and the resulting refugee crisis.  While the Colonial Union has definitely benefitted from the population of its various colonies being increased by well-supported refugees from Earth, the program has been very expensive.  The cost was at first defrayed among the various human nations, but once the New Dawn Party was in power, the flow of refugees was used as a political chip to try to influence those other states to join the Colonial Union.  When that ploy failed the Colonial Union had no choice but to cut off the flow of refugees to those states, which meant that then the Colonial Union had to foot the entire bill for the shipping and placing of those refugees.  To reduce the overall cost, the refugees have been diverted to the New Moscow colony in Sigma Draconis.  New Moscow is a benign class world, one jump from Earth, and as such it was the cheapest place the colonists could be sent.  Even so the cost over five months was approximately 25% of the net income of the Colonial Union over that period of time.  This was a massive cost, for very little gain, as the refugees were joining an already established human colony with over one hundred million inhabitants.  The refugee’s economic impact would be significantly better if they were placed on vacant worlds on the periphery, or on struggling, low-population colonies on the outer-fringes, but the transport and establishment costs would have been literally astronomical.  Therefore, the Colonial Union has been paying an enormous cost for marginal economic benefits. 

The ongoing radiation and ecological remediation efforts on Earth had previously established that the planet could support, at most, a population no larger than four hundred million people.  Efforts to expand that carrying capacity have failed, and some of those efforts have threated to collapse the already precarious ecology of the planet.  Therefore, the Senate Committee on Earth Affairs, on Day 3 of Month 175, recommended to the full Senate that draconian birth control laws be enacted that limited the population growth of the home planet to replacement levels, accompanied by strict punishments for anyone who violated those laws.  Subsidized colonization opportunities would be made available for those who really wanted large families. The full Senate passed the measure with a comfortable margin, over the objection of the Earth Senators, who had proposed a less draconian alternative.  The time of unrestricted population growth on Earth I s over, for now and for the foreseeable future. 

Offline Kurt (OP)

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Cold War: Mintek Months 166-175
« Reply #167 on: May 01, 2021, 12:46:03 PM »
Month 166
The Union launches nineteen CVE’s and two CV’s this month, too late to participate in the fighting in Kure.  Only the CV’s have fighters, as the fighters planned for the CVE’s were cancelled when R&D on the next-generation F1 began.  Work is begun on reactivating more survey cruisers, to replace the ones lost when the Delphi colony was cut off, and on additional DSB-Xr for the sensor network. 

Sensor buoys are shipped to the Union’s largest colony, in one of the system’s adjacent to the home system, to establish a system-wide sensor network.  In addition, enough sensors to cover the inner systems of the two uninhabited systems in between the home system and the Kure system are shipped out.  This is the beginning of the extensive sensor network that the Union government has decided is necessary for the defense of the Union. 

Month 169
The Mintek complete R&D on their latest systems, and a massive round of refits begins to bring the fleet up to the latest standard.  A message arrives late in the month from the Survey Group, which is surveying a system five jumps from the home system.  The message brings welcome news.  A new race has been discovered, and the Survey Group commander has initiated contact.  The initial results are promising.  The newly discovered race call themselves the Bedu Republic, and are generally Mintek-like in appearance, in that they are bipedal humanoids, although a human would have said that they had a generally frog-like appearance.

Month 170
Strategos Brammer entered the Chancellor’s office and gave a stiff bow to the Chancellor and Minister Turval.  They nodded back, and the Chancellor gestured to the chairs to one side of the large office, in front of the floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the capital city.  Strategos Brammer walked over to the nearest chair and sat, stiffly, on the edge, looking uncomfortable and uneasy in the relatively plush surroundings.  Minister Turval glanced at the Chancellor as they made their way to their chairs and arched an eyebrow, a small smile playing at his mouth.  Chancellor Durkhon shook his head quickly as they sat.  Strategos Brammer was an old warhorse, brought out of retirement at this crucial time to lead their forces, and he was a welcome addition to the Chancellor’s inner circle, but he was difficult to get along with, and prickly.  He was most assuredly a man of faith, though, and for that the Chancellor and Minister could forgive much. 

After they had all taken their seats, Chancellor Durkhon nodded to the Strategos.  “I believe you have a progress report for us?”

“I do.”  The gruff old admiral waived his hand over the table in front of them, and a holo of a warship appeared over the table.  Brammer keyed in a command and a somewhat smaller warship appeared next to the original ship.  The two ships were very similar in terms of shape.  Each had a central body that began with a blunt prow and expanded towards the back in a graceful curve.  The main body itself was ribbed with arched vertical supports.  Missile ports were visible in between the main ribs.  Three large wings or fins protruded from the main body, one on top and two below.  The wings were heavily studded with heavy beam weapons and sensor ports.  (to those trying to visualize the ship from my admittedly poor description, it’s basically a Minbari war cruiser).

Brammer pointed at the larger ship.  “As you know, research and development on a slew of new weaponry and defenses has been completed, allowing us to upgrade nearly every fleet vessel, dramatically improving capabilities across the board.  To begin with, this is the new Artemis class.  It is twenty seven percent larger than the Olifant class superdreadnought, and thus carries more armor, shields, and weaponry than the Olifant.  Unfortunately, it is also slower.  It will be several months before we can afford to begin construction, and once we do start construction, it will take nearly two years to complete the proto-type.” 

Durkhon and Turval looked at each other, then nodded for the Strategos to continue.  Strategos Brammer waived at the holo and a line of vessels appeared, each with a databox below, giving statistics for each ship.  “I won’t bore you with the details, they’re all here if you need them, but in essence, the new upgrades will dramatically improve the combat capability of our fleet.  The new composite armor will allow us to improve armor protection by fifty percent, and the latest generation of ECM and ECCM will improve our ship’s survivability and decrease the effectiveness of the enemy’s ECM.  In addition, all assault ships will be equipped with the new jammer systems, which will allow them to jam the datalink systems of any enemy ship that approaches to within one point two five light seconds of the ship mounting the system.  In addition, some of our escort ships will mount this system as well, meaning that any enemy ships or fighters that get too close to our ships will lose their links and be forced to fight and defend themselves individually.”  Brammer waived his hand again, and the holo shifted to show a series of carriers, similar in silhouette to the capital ships but longer and thinner.  “Our carriers have all been equipped with the latest generation of fighters, which is faster and can carry more weapons than the older prototype fighters.  In addition, over the next several months we will be transferring the new anti-matter weapons into the carrier’s magazines.  This will be expensive.”  Brammer stopped and looked at his two superiors intently.  “Very expensive.  The new anti-matter tipped close attack missiles are twice as powerful as their predecessors, and the new missiles for our fighters give them a standoff capability that will stymie the enemy’s defense efforts.”

Durkhon leaned forward.  “The new weapons may be twice as effective as the old, but they are four times as expensive.  In fact, if I’m not mistaken, in most cases the magazine loadout will cost more than the carrier itself.  Is this true?”

Brammer looked the Chancellor in the eye and nodded.  “It is true.  However, the new weapons will ensure Mintek supremacy on the battlefield!  Attrition among the fighters is expected to be high.  In many cases the fighters, even the new fighters, will only get one chance to attack before they are destroyed.  Therefore, we must ensure that the attack that they do make is as powerful as possible.  And if, as I suspect, our weapons are a surprise to the D’Bringi and their dupes, then we will be able to devastate them in the first few battles, before they are able to adapt.”

Durkhon looked at the carriers hovering over the table and, after a few seconds, nodded.  “Continue.”

“There are drawbacks to the new anti-matter weapons.”  Brammer waived, and a large holo of a G-5 class battlecruiser appeared over the table.  With another gesture, a portion of the hull peeled back and they saw the interior structure of the ship.  “Anti-matter is inherently unstable and very dangerous.  If a ship’s magazine is damaged in any way, the anti-matter stored within will detonate, destroying the ship immediately.  Therefore, during this round of refits, all magazines will be moved deep within the mounting ships, into the best protected places.  This will cause minor problems with other aspects of the design, but the advantages of the anti-matter warheads far outweigh the disadvantages, in my opinion.  Of course, no matter how effective they are we cannot risk mounting them on a ship’s XO racks.  Doing so would be suicidal.  Any damage, even the lightest hit by the smallest weapon, would set off one of the warheads and cause a chain reaction that would almost certainly destroy the entire ship.” 

“That…is unfortunate.”  Minister Turval looked troubled. 

“Minister, it is a reality of the weapons we must now use in defense of the faith.  The risk is limited, in our latest ships, however, many of our older ships have magazines placed in such a way that they will be vulnerable to damage.  There is little we can do about that, until we can refit every ship.”  Strategos Brammer carefully did not mention that they had no plans to refit the older carriers.  Any new carriers they built would be of the latest, safer, designs, but he and his staff felt there was little reason to refit the older ships.  After all, if an enemy got close enough to engage the carriers, all was lost anyway.  “In any case, Minister, I would feel more at ease if your Ministry could assign additional chaplains for all of our ships, but for the carriers in particular.  Our pilots are the strongest in the faith among us, and they volunteered to fly their fighters, but they would have to be robots to not question the universe given the demands we will make of them.”

The worry faded from Turval’s face, and he smiled.  “It shall be as you ask, Strategos.  I will send as many chaplains as you can accommodate.  We must all serve as we can.”

Strategos Brammer bowed his head.  “You have my thanks, Minister.  I must admit, I have been troubled about the high potential for losses amongst our new fighter pilots.  Every person lost in war is a person lost to the faith, no matter which side he or she fights on.  Knowing that the chaplains will be there to provide succor in times of need will be a relief for many.”

“I agree.”  Brammer looked down at his notes for a second, then back at the two leaders.  “I had intended to brief you on our preparations for Operation Thunderbolt, the planned offensive against the D’Bringi, however, recent events have necessitated a delay in that operation.”

“Yes, the incursion here, in our home system, is very troubling.  To think that a potential enemy has access to the heart of our faith is, frankly, deeply disturbing.”

Brammer nodded in agreement.  “I have had many sleepless nights since then.  Having a ship appear behind all of our defenses is our worst nightmare.  We are fortunate that we saw it, at least we know the closed warp point exists.”  Brammer gestured again at the holo set on the table, and the ships floating over the table disappeared, to be replaced a top-down display of the Heaven system.  The binary system’s stars, a white star and a yellow star, orbited each other one hundred and forty-six light minutes apart.  The white star had one type T planet, while the yellow secondary star had two.  The yellow star also boasted an asteroid belt, a gas giant, and a rocky inner planet, while the white star primary had a gas giant and two inner toxic planets.  After a few seconds, three white icons began blinking on the display, marking the locations of the type T planets.  They all three knew the basic layout of the system, with Mintek Prime and Mintek Secundus orbiting the secondary yellow star, and Mintek Tertius orbiting the white primary star.  “Sixty-two billion of the faithful live in the secondary system, on Prime and Secundus, while another fifty million live on Tertius and the other colonies in the primary system.  This is by far the largest single concentration of the faithful in the universe.”  Brammer waived his hand again, and another icon began blinking.  “These are our shipyards, over Prime.  We now have the use of the shipyards Strategos Neroon captured in the Alowan system, however, those shipyards have less than a third of the capacity of our shipyards here.”  He waived again, and yet another set of icons began blinking.  “These are our fixed defenses.”  Five blue icons blinked on the map, four in the outer system and one over Mintek Prime, in the inner system of the secondary yellow star.  Brammer pointed at one of the blue icons winking in the outer system.  “This is our heaviest defenses, at the warp point to the D’Bringi Phyriseq system.  Most of our automated weapons and bases are concentrated here.   The defenses here,” He pointed at the icon blinking over Prime, “represent only light defenses recently built.  One asteroid fortress, to be exact, with moderate armament and a fighter wing approximately equivalent in size to that carried by one of our carriers.  Prior to the appearance of the ship close to Mintek Tertius, we did not feel we needed heavy defenses within the system, and so we focused most of our resources on building and maintaining a fleet, which can be used for either offensive or defensive purposes.  That means, of course, that now that a threat has appeared in our own system, we must keep our fleet close to defend the home planets.  That means that the preparations for Operation Thunderbolt must be delayed, and that we cannot dispatch the fleet to deal with the Bedu, should they prove unwilling to see the light.”

Chancellor Durkhon leaned forward, looking at Brammer intently.  “Something must be done, Strategos.  The Curia demands action!  The threat to our home planets is intolerable, and our fleet must be able to respond to threats outside of this system.”

“I agree, but we are in a difficult situation.  The general location of the closed warp point is known.”  Brammer waived at the holo, and a blood-green icon began flashing just outside of the planetary system of the primary star.  “The general location is not enough, though.  We cannot station fixed defenses there, as no reasonable number of bases or fortresses could cover the entire area where the warp point is potentially located.  Our fighters don’t have enough range to cover the entire area either, as their endurance just isn’t enough to chase down a force that appeared on the far side of the area where the warp point might be located.”

“Are you saying that you can do nothing?”  Durkhon’s expression made it clear that Brammer should not be saying any such thing.  Brammer shook his head.  “Of course not, Chancellor.  For now, yes, the fleet must remain in the home system, picketing the area where the closed warp point is located.  And some ships will have to be stationed there for some time.”  Durkhon looked like he might speak, but Brammer held up his hand, and when Durkhon sat back, he continued.  “However, there are steps we can take to alleviate the problems.  The first step has already been taken.  Sensor buoys have been relocated to the general area suspected to contain the closed warp point.  If another ship comes through, not only will we know immediately, but we should be able to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point as well.”

Minister Turval shook his head.  “That is all well and good, Strategos, but we cannot go to the Curia with just that.  They will want to know what is being done to defend the faithful from the regressive forces that would suppress them.”

“Of course, Minister.  That is why we are proposing that we build a large number of these.”  Brammer gestured at the holo console, and the system map disappeared, replaced by a schematic of a large space station.  By the scale given on the display, the station was somewhat larger than a G-5 class battlecruiser, but nowhere near as sleek and beautiful as the warship.  The station had a smallish central cylinder that was surrounded by four larger cylinders, each of which was attached to the central cylinder by a large pylon.  “This is our latest design for a defense station.  Its sole purpose is to carry and launch fighters.  It is incredibly fragile, and is unable to defend itself, but it can launch a force of seventy-eight fighters.  Four of these can carry enough fighters to match the entire fighter force launched against us by the D’Bringi in the Kure system, and the cost to maintain four of these stations is less than half of the maintenance cost of one of our latest assault superdreadnoughts.  They will be expensive to build, and we will have to place them around Mintek Prime, Secundus, and Tertius, but once in place our system will be able to defend itself against attack, at least until the fleet can return from out-system.  In addition, I have directed my design staff to prepare designs for armed PDC’s that can be built on the surface of Mintek Prime, Secundus, and Tertius.  We will turn our home planets into veritable fortresses that will break any enemy fleet sent against them.”  Brammer sat back and watched the two leaders expectantly.

The two leaders of the Mintek nation looked at each other for a few seconds, then Turval spoke.  “How expensive will all this be?” 

Brammer winced.  “With its fighters and munitions, each of the stations is as expensive as two of the new light monitors, or three of the older Olifant class superdreadnoughts.  The PDC’s will almost certainly be expensive as well.”  The two leaders looked appalled, but Brammer quickly continued.  “However, as I said, these stations are extremely inexpensive to maintain.  Even a large force of these stations will only add a moderate amount to our maintenance budget, which surely must be a concern moving forward.”

The two leaders again looked at each other.  This time it was the Chancellor that spoke.  “The cost will be a difficult sell to the Curia.  However, you are correct that our maintenance costs have become a significant concern in our budgetary calculations.  And the Curia will like having large numbers of fighters overhead.  Thank you, Strategos, we have much to discuss with the Curia.”

Brammer stood and turned to go after that clear dismissal.  As he turned to go, the Chancellor spoke again.  “Strategos, how long do you estimate it will be until we can deploy our fleet outside the home system again?”

Brammer turned back.  “At least eight months, depending on the level of defenses the Curia requires in the home system, and factoring in the cost required to put anti-matter weapons in the magazines of our ships.  At that point we will be able to begin preparations for the planned attack on the D’Bringi defenses in the Phyriseq system, or deploy the fleet to deal with the Bedu, if necessary.”

Month 171
The Mintek establish full communications with the Bedu and immediately offer them a trade and military treaty, eager to begin a cultural exchange that will allow them to spread the Faith among a new race.  The Bedu, rather standoffishly, decline to accept the proposal.  The Mintek negotiators hunker down for the long-haul, intent on bringing a new race to the light. 

Month 174
The Bedu Republic rebuffs the Mintek Union’s second offer for a peaceful exchange of resources and ideas, leading the Mintek leadership to believe that the Bedu may be afraid of the truth.  As the Mintek fleet is in the midst of a massive reorganization and refit, and there has been an incursion in the home system, the Bedu leadership will be allowed to deprive their people of the truth, for now. 

Month 175
The program to fill the Mintek Fleet’s magazines with the latest anti-matter weapons is threatening to bankrupt the state, and imposing intolerable delays on the deployment of fortifications in the home system.  Therefore, the Curia votes this month to strip Alowan Prime of resources.  By the end of the month the industrialization level of the Alowan home system has decreased by 50%, causing hardship on the Alowan planet, and increasing resentment, in spite of the large numbers of Alowan already converted to the true faith.  The Alowan perceive that the Mintek are stripping their planet of resources, and while it is true, the Alowan do not see that the Mintek have already stripped their own industrial investment to the bone to pay for the new technology and weapons.  Indeed, it was the expenditure of their last financial reserves that forced the Curia to make this decision. 
 

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Cold War: Colonial Union Update, Month 175
« Reply #168 on: May 05, 2021, 09:28:40 AM »
Colonial Union Update, Month 175

Income (All Sources): 57,520 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 44%

Fleet: 1xSD, 3xBB, 27xBC, 15xCA, 32xCL, 24xDD, 17xFGS, 12xCT, 20xES, 42xEXS
Survey: 82xEXX
Fortifications: 2xAF(600 HS), 6xPDC(73 HS), 21xBS3, 11xBS2, 3xBS1, 73xBS0
Construction Units: 35xSY, 13xMobile Shipyards,
Mothballs: 1xPDC(1957 HS), 4xPDC(414 HS), 17xCA, 12xCL, 2xDD, 11xCT, 43xES, 1xBS0
Under Construction: 2xSD, 1xBC, 2xFGS, 3xBS3

The Colonial Union has been investing immense amounts of resources towards projects to tie its territories together with suitable infrastructure, refit the fleet to the latest technology, provide sensor buoys to inhabited systems, and build up the fleet to be a credible defense force for the Union.  All of this is requiring lots of money, meaning the refugee relocation program was interfering with these projects in a major way.  While the debate in the Senate over a resolution for the ongoing ecological and population problems on Earth was cast in a humanitarian light, there can be little doubt that the Colonial Union’s real concerns were in fact economic and military. 

The Aegis System Sensor Program has so far furnished sensor networks to nineteen systems.  Eight systems have full networks that can detect drive fields out to three hundred and sixty light minutes from the system primary, while eleven systems have networks capable of detecting drive fields out one hundred and eighty light minutes.  The Union’s government has been making much of this achievement and ignoring the fact that they are far behind the goals set during the establishment of the program. 

The Union Assault Corps has taken receipt of thirty-two old Soviet assault light cruisers and is exercising them in the outer reaches of the Solar System, far from anyone who might be interested in their activities.  Seven of these assault cruisers are in the yards for refits to the latest technology, and the rest are scheduled for refit once yard resources are freed up from other commitments. 

The Colonial Union has good relations with the Confederated Free States, and is working hard to maintain that relationship, mostly as a tool to keep an eye on events within the D’Bringi Alliance.  All contact with the D’Bringi Alliance is through the Confederated Free States, as per the treaty that ended the war, and although there have been several contacts made in the years since due to new jump point connections being made, both sides have agreed to limit all contact to their embassies on Titov in the Confederated Free States. 

The Colonial Union has a trade relationship with the Bjering Consolidate, although the relationship has been strained and there are those within the government and the Senate that want to shut it down for various reasons.  The trade takes place through the Kowloon system, located two jumps from the Sligo system, and was agreed to while the New Dawn Party was still on its way up, before they had come to dominate the politics of the Union.  Since then, the trade income has been too useful to too many people to end, although attempts have been made.  The Colonial Union has used the contact with the Bjering to reassure the aliens that the Union has no interest in forceful expansion, and prefers to have peaceful contact with all races.  This message has not been particularly well received, perhaps because of the tensions over the Tomsk Union, but the Bjering have taken no action to end the trade relationship so far.

The modernization of the fleet is underway and proceeding slowly, limited largely by the available yard capacity. 
 

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Cold War: D'Bringi Alliance Update Month 175
« Reply #169 on: May 06, 2021, 08:48:01 AM »
D’Bringi Alliance Update, Month 175

D’Bringi-Rehorish Co-Governance Territories
Total Income (All Sources): 79,643 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 58.5%

Fleet: 55xBC, 26xCA, 24xCL, 60xDD, 2xFG, 19xCT, 10xCTS, 7xCAV, 13xCVS, 2xDDV, 18xCVE, 29xCTV, 5xCT(Pin)
Survey: 6xCTV, 125xCTX, 3xCT(Pin),
Fortifications: 1xAst Fort(478 HS), 1xAst Fort(199 HS), 1xAst Fort(165 HS), 1xAst Fort(153 HS), 18xBS4, 17xBS2, 25xBS1, 22xBS0
Construction Assets: 34xSY, 5xSYM, 12xMS
Mothballs: 3xCA, 12xCL, 9xDD, 3xBS4,
Under Construction: 1xBB, 1xCVL, 144xF0, 14xPreFab BS0, 175xSensor Buoys, 120xMF, 30xDSB-L
Prefab Units: 3xBS2, 11xBS0

The D’Bringi and the Rehorish have just begun a difficult process of bringing their two races closer together in a union that will strengthen both races immeasurably.  For now, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi have agreed on a framework for their new government, although the process was fraught with difficulties.  Originally, they planned on merely expanding the framework of the Alliance Council to become a basis for their new organization, however, the other races in the Alliance, particularly the T’Pau, complained about this plan as they, rightly, believed it would reduce their influence and power in the existing Council.  Therefore, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi were forced to create a new supra-national organization for their two combined races. 

Superficially, the Rehorish and the D’Bringi were very similar, both having governments and societies built around clans, rather than nations, corporations, or communes like some of the other races within the Alliance.  However, the similarities were only superficial.  The Rehorish clans have become more social and cultural organizations, with little real political or military power, and the Rehorish government is a centralized federal bureaucracy, with the various clan-matriarchs holding positions in society somewhat analogous to constitutional monarchs.   The D’Bringi, on the other hand, have a somewhat chaotic laissez-faire society, with several strong clans filling the role of nations and corporations.  The D’Bringi government is decentralized, with local clan-chiefs enjoying broad powers unless overruled by a higher-ranking clan member.  The Rehorish had no interest in decentralizing their society or government, and the D’Bringi had no interest in centralizing theirs.  Therefore, a solution had to be found that would satisfy both races and allow them to work together without too much friction.  So far, this seems to be taking the form of a supra-national council that is responsible for high level national issues, and inter-race relations. 

As part of their merger agreement, the two races have agreed to open their territories for the other to colonize, although this favors the D’Bringi more than the Rehorish.  The Rehorish have at least six worlds perfect for D’Bringi colonization within their territory, unexploited and waiting for colonists.  The D’Bringi, on the other hand, had already opened their territory to colonization by the T’Pau, so there are few type T planets waiting to be colonized.  Both races have agreed to open their territories to free travel for the other race, with no restrictions except those imposed by the military for defense purposes. 

The Rehorish and the D’Bringi have decided, for now, to call their merged races the Grand Alliance of the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, or just the Grand Alliance.  The Grand Alliance will be governed by a Grand Councilor, named for a two-year period, and rotating between the member races.  The Deputy Grand Councilor post will always be filled by the race that is not currently filling the Grand Councilor position.  The Grand and Deputy Councilors will be served by a Council of Ministers, appointed by the Grand Councilor and approved by the member races.  The Grand Alliance will oversee military matters, and inter-race relations, foreign policy, and grand strategy.  The Grand Alliance is designed to have strictly limited power in internal matters, and the member races are free to rule their planets as they see fit, within certain broad guidelines that are being reviewed. 

In theory, the Rehorish and D’Bringi have agreed to merge their militaries, however, this is a contentious issue and talks continue on how best to accomplish this task.  There is hope of progress in this area, though.  The D’Bringi clans are loath to give up their control of their race’s military power, but are in awe of the Rehorish Navy’s elan and fighting ability. 

T’Pau Syndicate
Total Income (All Sources): 32,333 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 35%

Fleet: 9xBC, 24xCA, 5xCL, 9xCTS,
Survey: 6xCTX, 44xEXX
Fortifications: 7xBS4
Construction Assets: 11xSY
Under Construction: 1xBB
 
The T’Pau have been dealt a setback in their plan to reach amalgamation with the D’Bringi first.  The announcement of the Rehorish-D’Bringi amalgamation was a surprise to all of the members of the Alliance, the T’Pau perhaps most of all.  Although this event has thrown the T’Pau’s plans into disarray, they have little other option than to continue forward, working towards amalgamating with the Rehorish-D’Bringi Alliance.  While some of the other Alliance races might harbor secret dreams of independence, the T’Pau, the first race conquered by the D’Bringi in the early days of that race’s expansion to the stars, know better.  Their home world lies just one jump from the D’Bringi home world, and is squarely on the D’Bringi’s route to their empire.  The D’Bringi would never tolerate a foreign power in position to cut them off from their empire and their allies, and so the T’Pau can harbor no illusions about their options. 

The T’Pau are currently HT-7, and are well on their way to integrating technology from that level into their fleet and fortifications.  In addition, they have begun R&D on HT-8, with the assistance of the Alliance. 

Communes of Torqual
Total Income: 18,363 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 42%

Fleet: 30xCA, 12xCL, 3xDD
Survey: 3xCTX, 22xEXX
Fortifications: 9xBS2
Construction Assets: 11xSY
Under Construction: 50xDSB-L

The Communes of Torqual are HT-5, and are working on developing systems available at that level.  The Torqual are unconcerned with the merger between the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, viewing it as an issue of no import to their plans or daily life.  The Torqual are complying with the requirements of the Alliance, and over half of their fleet is deployed out of their home system, either with the Alliance 1st Fleet in the Kure system, or with the Mintek Blockade Force in the Phyriseq system. 

Doraz Contingency
Total Income (All Sources): 10,210 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 42%

Fleet: 18xCA, 9xDD,6xCT
Survey: 10xFGX
Fortifications: 3xBS2,
Construction Assets: 6xSY
Mothballs: 2xDD, 17xCT

The Doraz were very interested in the events surrounding the merger of the Rehorish and the D’Bringi, and sent observers to the various meetings and councils that hammered out f the shape of their Grand Alliance.  The Doraz have been vigorous and enthusiastic supporters of the Alliance since they were given the option of joining by the D’Bringi, and currently view their period of conquest and subjugation by the D’Bringi as a necessary period of dues payment prior to being allowed to join in the Alliance. 

The Doraz are HT-5 and are in the midst of developing the systems available at that level. 

Zir Contemplative Union
Total Income (All Sources): 16,947 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 26%

Fleet: 6xDD, 9xFG, 12xCT
Survey: 24xFGX, 6xCTXS
Fortifications: 3xBS4, 1xArmed SS(200 Military Spaces)
Construction Assets: 10xSY
Mothballs: 1xArmed SS (200 Military Spaces, 10xSY), 64xDD, 8xFGX, 92xFG, 122xCT
Under Construction:

The Zir have observed the peaceful merger of the D’Bringi and the Rehorish with great interest.  At some levels this event has caused them to question their belief that the Alliance is based on force, fear, and violence, although, to be sure, this is not a universal belief among the Zir.  Of course, there is literally nothing that can be considered a universal belief among the Zir.  The Zir are HT-6 and finishing up development of systems at that level.

Bir Meritocracy
Total Income (All Sources): 755 MCr’s

The Bir are at Ind-2 tech level and working to develop systems available at that level.  They have no off-planet colonies or ships/bases, and have a non-voting observer at the Alliance Council. 

Chirq Cooperative
Total Income (All Sources): 1,921 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 8%

Survey: 9xEXX
Construction Assets: 2xSY

The Chirq have reached HT-2, and are developing systems available at that level.  They have managed to build a small survey fleet, and have established colonies on two habitable planets in a system adjacent to their home system.   

Total Combined D’Bringi Alliance Mobile Fleet:
Fleet: 64xBC, 98xCA, 41xCL, 78xDD, 11xFG, 37xCT, 19xCTS, 7xCAV, 13xCVS, 2xDDV, 18xCVE, 29xCTV, 5xCT(Pin)
 
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Cold War: Independent Update, Month 175
« Reply #170 on: May 07, 2021, 08:17:29 AM »
Independents Update, Month 175

Mintek Universal Union
Income (All sources): 38,900
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 70%

Fleet: 8xSD, 15xBC, 1xCA, 32xDD, 7xCT, 3xCV, 9xCVL, 1xCVS, 20xCVE
Survey: 12xCLX
Fortifications: 12xBS5, 3xAF(267 HS), 1xAF(223 HS), 2xAF(67 HS), 1xSS(CV)
Construction Units: 53xSY, 15xSYM
Mothballs: 14xBC,37xDD
Under Construction: 1xSD, 1xCA, 3xCV(A)

The Mintek economy is straining under the burden of refitting older ships to the latest technology, replacing older weapons with the latest anti-matter weapons, and building the ships necessary for the planned offensive into the D’Bringi Alliance.  The bulk of the Fleet’s magazines have been filled with anti-matter weapons at this point, so Fleet Command is looking forward to focusing on the ongoing refit and construction program, once the defenses in the home system have been augmented. 

The recalcitrance of the Bedu to open their borders to trade is proving to be a problem, and the Mintek government has become convinced that the Bedu will have to be dealt with in the same manner as the Alowan were.  There is a growing group within the Curia and Fleet Command who believe that the only way that the Fleet can be expanded to the size necessary for the attack on the D’Bringi is to quickly subjugate the Bedu, bringing their resources under the control of the Faithful.  Unfortunately, it will be at least six months before the home system can be fortified to the point that the fleet can be sent out-system to bring the Bedu under control. 



Bjering Alliance

Bjering Consolidate
Total Income (All sources): 32,175 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 56%

Fleet: 15xBC, 11xDD, 38xCT, 1xCVL, 15xCVS, 5xCVE
Fortifications: 12xBS4, 18xBS2
Survey: 8xCAX, 6xDDX, 2xCTX
Construction Assets: 31xSY, 10xMS
Mothballs: 3xBC, 28xDD, 46xCT
Under Construction: 1xML

The Bjering are in the midst of funding the development of HT-9 systems, including the incredibly expensive, but useful, anti-matter warheads.  These systems will not be available for some time, as the Consolidate cannot fund the development of more than one system a month.  This means that development will likely not be fully funded for another three to four months, and subsequent R&D on those systems will take even longer.  In the meantime, expenditures in other areas will have to be curtailed, including colonial expansion. 

Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 26,357 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 23%

Fleet: 6xBC, 3xCL, 9xDD, 2xCT
Fortifications: 6xSS(96 military HS), 6xBS2
Survey: 15xFGX, 46xEXX
Construction Assets: 10xSY, 7xSYM
Mothballs: 16xES
Under Construction: 3xBC, 6xCL

The Tomsk Union is currently developing HT 7 systems and expects to begin refitting its fleet to the latest standard within the next several months.  Because of the continuing increase in tensions with the Colonial Union, the Union’s focus has been squarely on the defense of the Tomsk system, as it is the heart of the Union, and also the contact point with the Colonial Union. 

The Union’s leaders fear that, given their limited shipbuilding capacity, they will never be able to match the might of the United Colonial Defense Fleet.  Instead, plans are moving forward to fortify the planetary surface of Tereshkova, the habitable planet in the Tomsk system and the capital of the Union.  If they cannot keep the Colonial Union out of the Tomsk System, then they will make it too expensive to conquer Tomsk, at least in the time the Union will have before major reinforcements can arrive from the Bjering Consolidate.  Anti-missile PDC’s PDC’s are being constructed across the surface of Tereshkova, each capable of intercepting missiles fired at the planetary surface and housing a significant number of planetary defense force troops.  While the PDC’s will not house offensive weapons, they will be capable of diluting or stopping an attack by the Colonial Union on surface targets.  The Tomsk government does not believe that the CU will resort to planetary bombardment, particularly against human populations, given their history, but they are taking no chances.  The combination of anti-missile PDC’s and numerous ground troops will put the Colonial Union in a bind.  Unable to bombard surface targets to the reduce the defending troops, they will be forced into a conventional attack with their own troops.  While the much larger Colonial Union will be able to swamp the defenders, eventually, the Tomsk government believes that by the time the CU can muster enough troop strength to overwhelm the defenders, the main Bjering fleets will be able to repel the invaders in space, cutting off any Colonial Union army units on the ground and forcing them to surrender. 

Currently, the Bjering Consolidate has stationed the fifteen ships of their Epsilon Fleet in the Tomsk system to bolster their defenses and communicate to the Colonial Union the depth of the Consolidate’s commitment to the Tomsk Union’s defense. 

Confederated Free States

Total Income (All Sources): 8,460 MCr’s
Fleet Maintenance Percentage: 48%

Fleet: 3xCA, 6xDD
Fortifications: 9xBS2
Survey: 48xEXX
Construction Assets: 6xSY
Mothballs:
Under Construction:

The majority of the Free States funds have been devoted to increasing the defenses of the Novosibirsk System, and establishing out-system colonies.  The Free States are working towards HT-7, but have not yet reached that level yet. 

The Confederated Free States maintains good relations with both the Colonial Union and the D’Bringi Alliance at this time.  In response to recent pressure from the Colonial Union to deepen ties between the two nations, the CFS invited the D’Bringi Alliance Kure squadron into the Novosibirsk system for joint exercises in a clear message that the CFS is balanced between the two powers. 

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Cold War: Month 182, Colonial Union Attacks, part 1
« Reply #171 on: June 03, 2021, 04:20:02 PM »
Month 182, Day 1, Kirov system – border with Tomsk
1st Battle Fleet (Rear Admiral Helena Carstairs)
3xSD, 3xBB, 12xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD, 3xCT

Union Assault Corps (Strike Leader Yuri Popov)
32xCL

Admiral Helena Carstairs was a very unhappy woman.  She had the most powerful force in the Colonial Union under her command, and was second in command of the mission to ‘liberate’ humans that her government were characterizing as helpless victims of alien subversion, but in spite of all of that, she was deeply conflicted.  She didn’t believe the people of the Tomsk Union were victims of alien subversion, any more than her bosses both in the Navy and the government believed it, but the vast majority of the voters had bought into the story that the Tomsk Union had been subverted by the Bjering and that humans in the Tomsk Union were little more than slaves.  The Senate was dazzled by the power of the new superdreadnoughts, and the refits the fleet had recently gone through, and was eager to try their new toys against someone slightly less threatening than the D’Bringi Alliance.  The Prime Minister was a New Dawnist, and her Council of Ministers was dominated by that party, and they wanted the Tomsk Union integrated into the Colonial Union as the next step in reuniting Humanity.  And they didn’t particularly care how that happened, as long as it happened. 

Admiral Carstairs stepped over to the large holo tank in the center of the command deck, looking over her fleet’s disposition, carefully hiding her unease with the situation.  In spite of the fact that the Tomsk Union had cancelled their trade treaty with the Colonial Union several years ago, coincidentally cutting off most contact between the two states, there was still some limited contact between the two nations.  Diplomatic efforts continued, and in spite of significant resistance on both sides, the Colonial Union had maintained a trade relationship with the Bjering, mostly as a way to keep an eye on that alien nation.  That was a two-edged sword, though, as it allowed the Bjering to keep an eye on them as well.  The buildup within the Colonial Union towards this invasion had not been subtle, or quick, and it was pretty clear to Admiral Carstairs that the Tomsk Union, and their Bjering allies, couldn’t have missed the change in the public’s attitude towards the Bjering and their human allies.  The Senate, and the Navy high command, were dismissive of the possibility that the Tomsk Union could do to stop them, but it was easy to be sure in the safety of your office in the capital of the strongest human nation that had ever existed.  Out here, on the fringe, facing the uncertainty of an assault into what was essentially a defended home world, things weren’t as clear. 

Admiral Carstairs took a deep breath, looking at the holo tank but seeing the office in the Admiralty where she had been given her orders.  She had known they were coming; Senator Semenov had warned her of the likelihood.  Her first thought was to resign in protest.  The Tomsk, with Bjering assistance, had to have been preparing for just this, and a frontal assault into their home system was just asking for disaster.  Plus, she didn’t believe in the political justifications that were being used by the government, and leading her fleet into disaster based on lies was not something she wanted to do.  But Senator Semenov had been accompanied by an old friend, Admiral Ruston, who had retired from the fleet way back when the New Dawn party had come to power.  Admiral Ruston had convinced her that if she resigned, not only wouldn’t it stop the invasion of Tomsk, but it would mean her fleet, and her people, would be led by someone who didn’t know them.  Perhaps even one of the new breed of officers who were rising in the United Colonial Defense Fleet.  Mostly Russian, and all from refugee families displaced from Earth during what was now called the Exodus, they were hard men and women, forged in refugee camps on Earth and across the Union, and they were fervent New Dawnists for the most part.  She had shuddered at the thought of one of those in command of her fleet.  An officer like that wouldn’t hesitate to order her entire fleet into a cauldron of destruction if they thought it served humanity, and sometimes it seemed like the sacrifice of those around them, or even personal loss, meant little to these new officers.  She suspected that officers like that preferred great sacrifices, and bloody battles, over bloodless victories, as it reinforced their world view.  In any case, they had convinced her to stay on and lead her fleet, even though she felt sure that this offensive would be a disaster. 

Her eyes strayed to the icon for the warp point to the Tomsk system, just a light minute from her fleet.  It was possible that the Tomsk Union would be able to stop her fleet from entering their system, in spite of the thirty-two assault light cruisers that had joined them at the assembly point.  The Union Assault Corps was exactly what she feared when she had considered resigning.  It was led by Admiral Yuri Popov, a Russian who had lost most of his family in The Fall, and some of the rest in the chaos that had followed.   She had had several meetings with Popov since the arrival of the assault ships, and he had struck her as a fanatic dedicated to ensuring the safety of humanity at any cost.  She actually feared the possibility of successfully breaking into the system more than a defeat at the warp point, though.  The general population believed that the Tomsk people, once they were given the chance to throw off the yoke of their Bjering oppressors, would jump at the chance.  The Senate had convinced itself that the Tomsk government would surrender once the UCDF was overhead.  The Prime Minister had said all of the right things, but Carstairs worried about secret orders covering this situation that might have been given to the Mission Commander. 

Admiral Carstairs’ face twisted as that worthy came to mind.  She had thought that she was free of Lieutenant General Rogov after the conquest of the Tarek.  He had been promoted to Colonel-General and was given the post of Military Governor of Tarek Prime.  He had wisely chosen to rule his demesne from the neighboring planet of Wunderland, as unwise Colonial Union officials, and even some troopers, had a tendency to go missing on Tarek Prime.  These days the Tarek were disarmed, in terms of anti-starship weaponry, and they ‘donated’ their income to the Colonial Union’s budget, as expected, but they definitely were not subdued.   Last, she had heard, Rogov was happily gorging himself on the wealth that was flowing from Tarek Prime, and she had figured he would never leave that plum position.  But she had been wrong.  She had been told that she was the second in command of Operation Valkyrie, responsible for space operations and the safety of the troops assigned to the operation during transit.  The overall mission commander would be someone else.  That someone else had turned out to be Colonel-General Rogov himself.   Arrogant as always, General Rogov had made it clear from the moment that he arrived that she would take no action without first clearing it with him.  He had also made it abundantly clear that the only way this operation would fail would be if the fleet let him down. 

General Rogov had immediately dismissed her request for additional assets.  Amazingly, no survey units had been assigned to the assault.  The administration thought that moving survey units from their current assignments would tip off the Bjering and their human subjects that an assault was coming.  She could see the logic, but honestly, if the Bjering or the Tomsk were in a position to gather that kind of intel, they would already know that the attack was coming.  They hadn’t really been subtle, after all.  For heaven’s sake, this year’s most popular tri-Vid entertainment was a series about the liberation of the humans of the Tomsk Union from Bjering domination.  After getting chewed out for her ‘defeatism’, Popov had explained the Senate, and the Prime Minister’s, thinking.  Once the UCDF fleet punched through their warp point defenses and made orbit over Tereshkova with an invasion force, the Tomsk Union would be forced to surrender without further fighting.  There was a certain logic to this line of thought.  The Tomsk system was a warp point nexus with an astounding twelve warp points.  The Tomsk Union’s prosperity was built on this happy astronomical reality.  The large number of warp points gave the Tomsk Union’s most populated planets access to a large number of routes for expansion, but that came at a price.  The Tomsk Union was built around the Tomsk Warp Point Nexus, and if the Colonial Union controlled that nexus, then it controlled the Tomsk Union as well.  With the capital of the Union under the guns of the UCDF, and their shipyards under UCDF control, all of the other colonies within the Union would eventually have to surrender to the CU or be cut off from all support. 

However, Admiral Carstairs couldn’t help but think that both the Senate and the administration were engaging in what could only be called ‘hopeful thinking’.  Their plan relied on the Tomsk government seeing sense and surrendering when the UCDF and the invasion force reached orbit over their planet.  In her experience, relying on humans to see sense or act logically when faced with aggression was a fool’s errand.  It might work, but that was a big assumption.  And it left the Bjering completely out of the equation, and that was another very dangerous assumption.  The Senate assumed that the Bjering, who had always seemed relatively reasonable, for aliens, would want to avoid a war with the Colonial Union.  Assuming that the Bjering didn’t want war with the Colonial Union, it was reasonable to assume that they would decide that this was an internal human matter and stay out of it.  Admiral Carstairs didn’t agree, but no one had cared and Popov had used her concerns about the Bjering response to again accuse her of defeatism.  He was clearly positioning himself to take all of the credit if the campaign was successful, and to shift all of the blame to her if it failed.  To be honest, at this point she didn’t really care about credit or blame, she just wanted to keep as many of her people alive as possible and prevent the commission of an atrocity during the campaign if possible.  She didn’t trust Rogov further than she could throw him, and she suspected he had secret orders giving him extraordinary powers, she he decide he needed them. 

The command deck crew worked around her, keeping themselves as silent as possible, as they watched their Admiral brood over the tank.  They knew that she was trying to keep her disquiet from them, but they knew her well, and they could see her concerns written on her face and her posture. 

Suddenly, the command computer signaled an incoming message.  “Alert from the flag, ma’am.  The fleet will advance on the warp point and prepare to assault.”

Admiral Carstairs nodded.  “Very well.  Orders to the fleet: Advance on the warp point and assume assault positions.”  She turned back to the plot.  That idiot Rogov had already given his inspirational speech to the fleet, or at least what he thought of as an inspirational speech.  The speech’s repetitive calls to patriotism and “the honor of the Union”, and numerous mentions of the evils of “alien influence”, seemed disjointed and a mis-mash of pro New Dawn tracts and various popular conspiracy theories. It certainly hadn’t done anything for her, and she was pretty sure most of her people had been rolling their eyes at the blatant attempt to stir up the emotions of the crewers. 

As the fleet began to move towards the warp point, Carstairs’ eyes returned to the warp point, wondering what waited on the other side. 

Tomsk System, WP to the Colonial Union…
The defenders had watched the warp point for some time, waiting for something to happen.  They simultaneously didn’t want anything to happen, and desperately wanted something to break the deadly boredom that stalked their daily routine.  Six cruiser-sized bases squatted on the warp point; their energy beams dialed in on the area where the Colonial Union ships would have to appear if they wanted to force their way into the system.  A belt of mines surrounded the warp point, and would hopefully keep the intruders on the warp point for the bases to engage at close range.  The mines were active all of the time, and the Colonial Union had been warned of their presence.  The Colonial Union had not been notified of the 150 laser buoys that were interspersed with the mines.   The buoys were currently inactive, as the Tomsk Union’s government had no desire to provoke a war if a Colonial Union diplomatic ship happened to come through the warp point at an unexpected time.  The Tomsk Union’s Starfleet had argued against this, pointing out that the Colonial Union knew there were defenses present at the warp point, and the no-contact treaty specified that prior approval must be gained by either side before transiting into the other’s territory, but the government had been adamant.  Destroying an intruder that meant no harm could provoke a war with the largest human government, and the Tomsk Union wanted to avoid a war with the Colonial Union, if at all possible.  Therefore, the laser buoys were deactivated, but two control ships were present, and would activate them if intruders entered the system.

For the last month, the Tomsk Union’s Starfleet had stood off of the warp point, just outside of capital missile range, acting as reinforcements for the bases on the warp point.  The nine battlecruisers, nine light cruisers, nine destroyers represented nearly the entire mobile fleet strength of the nation.  The only other mobile force was also assigned to the warp point.  The Warp Point Defense Group was composed of sixteen tiny escort class units, each armed with a single force beam, and they were stationed behind the bases, within sprint distance of the warp point.    They would close on the warp point once they got their crews to their stations, and bolster the base’s firepower.  They were due to be rotated into mothballs once the next group of bases come online, but that was several months in the future. 

The entire force was divided into five watch groups, with one watch group at action stations at all times, while the rest performed maintenance and gave their crews down-time.    The bases, of course, stayed in their positions whether they were active or not, while the fleet units rotated in and out of range of the warp point based on their activation status and the type of weapons they mounted. 

Colonial Union, Warp Point to the Tomsk System
Second Lieutenant Kirilenko sat on the bridge of the lead assault cruiser through the warp point.  He was assistant weapons officer on the CLL-001, the lead ship in the class, and the lead ship in this assault.  He was young for his rank, and if he had been in the United Colonial Defense Fleet he likely still would have been in the academy, or he might have been an ensign serving aboard his first ship.  But the UAC was new, and many of the officers were young and filling roles that were as new to them as they were to the ships that had been hauled out of mothballs and hurriedly modernized.  Oleg was also terrified, not just of the enemy, but also of his own ship. 

Oleg Kirilenko was a teenager when the Soviet Union self-destructed in an orgy of death and chaos.  His father was killed serving in the Soviet Fleet, and his mother and older brother died in the final war.  He somehow survived with his two older sisters, and, as a good brother, got his sisters to a refugee camp set up by the off-world colonies to help the survivors of the war.  Life in the camps was hard, but Oleg thrived in the difficult environment, taking care of his sisters and helping anyone nearby that needed assistance.  He was a favorite of the camp, and soon everyone there was chipping in to help the Kirilenko’s.  It wasn’t Oleg’s fault that his oldest sister was caught by raiders outside the camp and taken, never to be seen again, but he blamed himself anyway.  Shortly after, the remaining two Kirilenko’s were relocated to the old-Russian colony of Krasnodar.  Krasnodar was settled by the USSR, and was a key Soviet colony throughout the interstellar era, providing resources to support the fleet from its first inception.  As a benign planet within four transits of Earth, it also became a prime relocation site for the refugee effort, and it was here that the Kirilenko siblings made their home after arriving. 

Elena Kirilenko did her best to take care of her younger brother, while also rebuilding her life, and for the most part succeeded, keeping Oleg out of the clutches of the gangs that infested the fringe areas of the vast relocation camps by signing Oleg up for labor teams clearing land for the new settlements being erected for the refugees.  Oleg found purpose in those teams, bonding with his fellow laborers, and, when they went to a meeting being put on by a New Dawn organizer, he went too.  It was there that Oleg found a direction for the anger he felt surrounding the loss of his family.  The out-system colonies had worked hard to squash nationalistic feelings in the refugees, preferring that the internecine conflict that destroyed Earth die with the old nations, and their relentless focus on a brighter future had given many of the refugees nowhere to focus their anger and loss.  The New Dawn Party harnessed that anger, and gave it a focus.  The New Dawn organizers made it clear to anyone who would listen where the blame for the disaster on Earth lay.  The responsibility for the fall of the old nations and the destruction of much of human race lay squarely on the aliens, particularly the D’Bringi.  Oleg, among many others, experienced a near-religious revelation at that meeting that night, and his course was set.  He wanted to apply to the United Colonial Defense Fleet that night, but the fleet was downsizing, and his sister needed him.  Oleg was a responsible young man, and so he stayed to help what was left of his family. 

Several years later, the situation had changed.  Elena was now married with a child of her own and another on the way, and so when the Union Assault Corps came to Krasnodar to fill its ranks, Oleg was one of many young former-refugees who volunteered immediately.  Oleg excelled in the training academy, and as the UAC needed officers as desperately as crewers, Oleg was identified as officer material and transferred to the officer academy and given accelerated training.  And so it was that twenty-two year old Oleg Kirilenko was a second lieutenant and assistant weapons officer on board the Gordi.  It was Oleg’s first battle, and he was terrified, like almost everyone else on board the ship.  As a weapons officer, though, Oleg knew enough to be terrified not only of the enemy but also of the weapons on board his own ship.  As an assault ship, the Gordi was built around a massive laser system that could put out incredibly powerful X-Ray laser beams, causing heavy damage to anything they hit, but at a cost.  At the heart of the ship was a heavily armored chamber where a powerful magnetic bottle contained (hopefully) an actual nuclear blast, then channeled the resulting energy to laser emitters on the hull of the ship.  The training cadre at the academy claimed the system was safe, and that the safeties surrounding the detonation chamber would engage if anything went wrong, saving the ship from the nuclear explosion taking place inside of all of its defenses, but the trainees suspected that the cadre were shading the situation to make them feel better.  Indeed, as they learned more about the weapons system, they realized that the dangers were higher than they had originally suspected.  There existed a significant chance that the safeties would engage any time the detonation chamber was used, rendering the ship combat ineffective several minutes until the system could be reset.  Worse, there existed a chance, small but real, that the chamber could explode, destroying the weapons system, or even the whole ship.  The whole system was incredibly risky to use on an expensive ship, but the UAC felt that the risk was justified on an assault ship, where the need to hit the enemy as hard as possible, as soon as possible, was critical.  The fact that an actual nuclear explosion was happening just several tens of meters from where he was sitting terrified Oleg, but the New Dawn Party had instilled in him a fervent desire to protect humanity, and if that meant using the x-ray laser system, then that is what he would do. 

When the mission had been announced, many among the UAC’s crews had been uncertain.  They had signed up to fight the D’Bringi, and to protect humanity from the aliens that wanted to destroy everything that humanity stood for.  Fighting against the humans in the Tomsk system seemed to go against everything they had learned and believed, but Oleg was among the true believers.  The New Dawn Party taught that the Tomsk Union had been subverted by the aliens they had so unwisely cozied up to after the fall of Earth, and it was their duty to free their fellow humans from the alien contamination that was creeping throughout their society.  Oleg and his friends had spread the word, and before they reached the border the UAC was united behind their mission once again.  Humanity would be free!

Tomsk System, Assault Force
One minute the warp point was clear, and the next Colonial Union light cruisers began appearing.  CLL-001, the Gordi, was the first ship through the warp point.  Lt. Kirilenko shook his head to clear it, struggling to focus on his instruments.  The targeting display began to update.  “Sir, six cruiser-sized bases at close range.  Also, six escort class ships in close proximity to the bases.”

Lt. Commander Forbes was looking around the bridge blearily.  “Fire!”

As the pre-assault planning dictated, Lt. Kirilenko targeted the nearest and largest target, one of the bases.  The senior weapons officer, Lt. Konstantin, as the most senior and best trained weapons officer on the ship, was in charge of managing the detonation chamber, while Kirilenko handled targeting and refining firing parameters, under the captain’s direction.  Lt. Konstantin announced – “Firing!”

The lights on the Gordi’s bridge dimmed as the ship’s power was diverted to the critical magnetic bottle that was all that stood between the crew and total destruction.  Kirilenko didn’t really know what to expect, none of them did, as none of them had actually fired the laser system for real.  There was a loud SNAP, and the ship actually shuddered.  Lt. Kirilenko was sure they were all dead, but then the lights came up and Lt. Konstantin shouted – “Mag bottle steady!”

Lt. Kirilenko’s eyes went to his display and he turned to the captain.  “Sir!  Two hits.  The base’s armor is breached and it is streaming atmosphere!”

Lt. Commander Forbes nodded.  “Very well.  Helm, come to a halt as planned.”

The light cruiser came a halt relative to the warp point to avoid the mines that were almost certainly placed nearby.  Behind the lead ship more light cruisers spilled from the warp point, firing as soon as they materialized.  By that time the Gordi’s plot tank had updated, showing contacts out to seven-point-five light seconds.  The tank now showed additional contacts, with ten additional escort class ships at two-point-two-five light seconds and three battlecruisers and three light cruisers at four-point-five light seconds. 

“Incoming missile strike!  Target…”  Oleg held his breath as the dispassionate voice of the bridge AI paused.  The Gordi had minimal missile defenses, and depended on its datalinked partners to provide additional missile defenses, but their datalink was down after the transit and they were on their own.  The three icons for the enemy battlecruisers in the plot tank had begun pulsing, indicating that they were the origin of the missile salvo, and the number of missiles a battlecruiser squadron could throw would put a serious dent in any light cruiser’s defenses.  “…is the Minneapolis.”  Oleg released his breath as their sister ship just behind them in the assault wave was wreathed in explosions before it could fire its laser system.   

Lt. Commander Forbes turned to the comm station.  “Update and launch the courier drone!” 

LT. Commander Forbes’ calm tone brought Oleg back to the present.  The plan called for all surviving ships to launch their CD’s as soon as they had information on the defenses, to update the assault commanders on the far side of the warp point.   He began focusing on his console again, as a second attacking light cruiser came under fire from the light cruisers escorting the Tomsk battlecruisers.  To Oleg the entire situation was chaotic.    The Minneapolis, and the Jean Bart behind her, were heavily damaged and their light codes on the main plot tank were flickering.  Even as Oleg watched, the last attacking cruiser in the line, the Trudeau, came under fire from the enemy escorts at close range.  The enemy was suffering, though, and Oleg took heart from that.  The light codes for five of the six Tomsk bases were flickering, indicating that their armor had been pierced and that they had suffered internal damage. 

Continued in part 2
 
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Cold War: Month 182, Colonial Union Attacks, part 2
« Reply #172 on: June 03, 2021, 04:20:52 PM »
“Weapons, shift targeting to the designated enemy ships.”

Oleg began punching the commands into his console as he answered Lt. Commander Forbes.  Their targeting systems had recovered from the transit and he could now target multiple enemy units.  Even as he began shifting the targeting to the trio of enemy escorts, he heard a cheer across the bridge.  Completing the targeting solution, he looked up to see that the other two intact assault cruisers of the first wave had fired in concert, taking out a damaged base, heavily damaging another damaged base, and damaging the last intact base.  He felt a rush of elation, but when he looked at Lt. Commander Forbes, he saw that the captain was calm and cool as chaos seethed around the ship.  He tried to be as calm as the captain, but he knew that his fear showed in his voice as the assault cruiser shook as the detonation chamber was engaged again.  “Targeting completed, firing!”

The powerful lasers on board the Gordi lashed out at three tiny escorts harassing the attacking ships.  Even as the Gordi fired, one of the small escorts fired its force beam at the light cruiser, but in their hurry the defenders missed.  The escort wouldn’t get another chance as two powerful lasers cored their ship, penetrating from one end of the ship to the other, leaving it a drifting hulk.  Oleg had targeted two other escorts with one laser each, and both hit, heavily damaging both escorts.  Oleg heaved a sigh of relief as Lt. Konstantin announced – “Mag bottle stable, firing completed!”

New assault cruisers were pouring into the system through the warp point even as the cruisers already on the warp point fought for their lives.  The heavily damaged Minneapolis destroyed two of the escorts that the Gordi had damaged, while one of the damaged bases hit one of the first wave’s light cruisers with two energy beams, cutting through their light shields and doing significant internal damage.  Oleg continued to update his targeting console, but the events swirling around his cruiser were difficult to ignore.  The active Tomsk cruisers targeted the only other intact light cruiser in the lead assault wave, and between the battlecruisers and their light cruiser escorts they ravaged the Stalingrad, leaving the Gordi as the only intact light cruiser of the first wave.  The arriving light cruisers of the second wave targeted the enemy bases for their lasers, and transit addled as they were they managed to destroy all six, raising a cheer on the battered ships of the first wave.  Oleg lost himself in the cheer as well, trying to dissipate the fear that had been building inside of his chest as the battle swirled around his ship.  Somehow, miraculously, the Gordi was left intact while all of the other ships of the first wave had been riddled with holes from enemy missiles and force and energy beams. 

Oleg watched as the five heavily damaged light cruisers from the first wave approached the warp point, retreating from the battle.  A part of him fervently wished that his ship was retreating from this awful carnage as well, but a furtive glance around the bridge convinced him that he was the only one that felt that way, and stiffened his resolve.  Three assault cruisers jumped out, returning to safety, but one, the Minneapolis, was too damaged to make it through the warp point with the others, and one remained as it still had some weapons.  Even as they jumped out, the third wave began entering. 

Lt. Commander Forbes turned to Oleg.  “Weapons, target the remaining escorts.  I want them out of my sky!”

“Yes sir!”  Oleg had anticipated the captain’s orders, which was easy to do even in the current situation as the three remaining Tomsk escorts were the only targets within range.  “Firing solution set!”

Lt. Konstantin’s voice rang across the bridge.  “Firing!”  The shook shuddered as a nuclear explosion went off in the mag bottle and Oleg held his breath, as he had every time the lasers were used.  He let his breath out when the chief weapons officer announced – “Mag bottle stable, firing sequence completed.”

“Firing complete, one target destroyed, one damaged.”  Oleg was disappointed.  Instead of targeting all three escorts with his four lasers, he had targeted two with two lasers each, hoping to destroy both targets.  One of the lasers had missed, though, and the enemy escort had escaped with heavy damage.  To Oleg’s horror, the damaged Tomsk escort fired its force beam, which was deeply buried in the small ship, ensuring that it was as protected as anything could be on so small a ship.  The enemy ship targeted the limping Minneapolis, as it lined up on the warp point, trying to escape the battle.  The enemy force beam ripped into the rear of the damaged ship, causing an explosion that engulfed the Gordi’s sister ship.  “Sir, the Minneapolis!” 

The horror was plain on the young lieutenant’s face, and Lt. Commander Forbes shook his head.  “Bad luck, Oleg, nothing for it.  If you had managed to get them before they could fire, the other escort would have done for the Minneapolis.” 

Even as the captain spoke, Oleg watched as one of the second wave assault cruisers swatted the two remaining escorts from space.  Oleg wasn’t convinced, but even as he watched the tank, the second wave cruiser that had taken out the last two escorts came under fire from the enemy cruisers and was savaged, leaving it drifting with life pods spilling from her ravaged flanks.  Oleg realized something at that point, that battle was essentially chaotic and random, and that even if you did everything right, things sometimes went wrong.  It was a stunning revelation that he forced down as he turned to his board. 

The last damaged assault cruiser from the first wave slipped through the warp point to safety, leaving the Gordi as the last ship from the first wave present in the system.  More light cruisers entered the system, bringing the force on the warp point up to nineteen light cruisers, if you counted the poor ship from the second wave that had gotten the worst end of a missile barrage from the Tomsk cruisers.  Even as Oleg’s thoughts strayed to that hapless ship, the bridge plot tank chimed, indicating a status change.  A second division of enemy battle cruisers had appeared from beyond sensor range and was closing to join the original battle cruiser division.  Missiles sleeted in on the light cruiser force, even as the fourth wave entered.  Seeking to maximize their destructive capability, the Tomsk cruisers focused their fire on the newly entered light cruisers, as they were still recovering from transit and their datalink was down. 

The third and fourth wave assault ships were different than the Gordi and her sisters.  These ships were intended to act primarily as mine sweepers, and so the lacked the heavy laser weaponry of the Gordi’s.  Instead, they had heavier armor plating, better point defenses, and two force beams to either fight other ships with or to target mines.  Oleg watched as the targeted Borodino class CL(M) stood up to an incredible number of missile hits, until finally it began streaming atmosphere and fell out of line.  The missile ships were just inside of extreme range for the laser assault ships, but they had been forbidden to fire on the enemy, at least for now.  Oleg understood the reasoning.  The chances of getting a hit were low, the damage would be slight if they did get a hit, and every shot they took risked a catastrophic mag bottle failure.  But watching the missiles rush in on them without being able to answer was galling!  He turned to the captain.  “Sir, when are they going to send in the heavy ships, so that we can stop those bastards from firing at us?”

Lt. Command Forbes turned to his Assistant Weapons officer, aware that everyone’s eyes were on him.  “Calmly, Mr. Kirilenko.”  When he saw Oleg take a deep breath, he continued.  “We are waiting until the enemy deploy their…”  The captain was cut off as what felt like the hammer of God hit the ship. 

The entire ship lurched, and the bridge crew were shaken as alarms began ringing throughout the ship.  Oleg looked around in confusion as he put his hand to his head, feeling blood leaking from his scalp.  Damage reports were pouring into the bridge from all over the cruiser. 

“Datalink system is down.”

“Boat bay destroyed.”

“Mag bottle stable.”

Oleg realized he should be giving a report and looked down at his console.  It didn’t make sense, but… “All emitter ports show red, and tracking is down.”

“Engines at 100%, drive field stable.”

“Helm, bring us about, we are leaving.”

“Aye, aye, sir.  Coming about.”

“Message from the assault commander, sir.  We are given leave to depart.”

“Very well.  That’s it!  The enemy have shot their bolt.  Our part here is done.” 

With nothing to do now that his weapons were gone, Oleg looked around the bridge.  The plot told the story.  All four assault waves had been hit by something.  The two already damaged light cruisers were just gone, and all of the Gordi class units had had their armor peeled away and were heavily damaged.  The Borodino class sweepers were tougher, and had weathered what Oleg had finally figured out was an attack by the laser buoys the Tomsk defenders were known to have deployed. 

“Mr. Konstantin!”

Oleg looked up from the tank.  “Sir?”

“Seeing as your weapons panel shows red, please go below and take charge of the damage control efforts.”

“Very well.”  Oleg got to his feet as the ship slipped through the warp point and back to safety. 

New light cruisers entered the system as the damaged cruisers jumped back.  The defenders continued to concentrate their fire on the newly arriving ships, damaging a mine sweeper. 

Finally, the stream of light cruisers came to an end, and battlecruisers began entering the system.  The minesweepers, sixteen strong, moved into the minefield as one.  To the crews on the light cruisers still on the warp point, waiting to transit out, it seemed as if a ripple of fire raced to meet the minesweepers as they moved into the field that surrounded the warp point.  The sweepers were well designed, though, and most of the mines were detonated early by their point defenses.  A few got through, but no one of the sweepers were hit by enough mines to breach their shields.  Even as the mines attacked the ships, they began firing their force beams on wide angle setting, “sweeping” them through the field and clearing it of mines before they could attack.  Most of the mines were destroyed by the questing beams, with the few remaining mines expended as the sweepers moved out of the field.  The defenders were distracted from the sweepers by the battlecruisers entering the system, and the three active groups of defending battlecruisers focused their fire on the new entrants.  The targeted Colonial Union battlecruiser suffered heavy damage under the concentrated fire of the defenders, in spite of the EDM’s that had been launched by the beleaguered ship as the missiles raced towards it.  The return fire from the transit-confused ships was scattered, and the missiles that got through the Tomsk BC’s point defenses exploded against her shields. 

With a route open through the mines, the five intact Colonial Union battlecruisers moved away from the warp point and towards their harassers, while behind them the pride of the Colonial Union’s fleet, the superdreadnoughts, began entering the system.  Even before the SD’s began entering, the Tomsk battlecruisers turned away from the warp point and began retreating.  The Tomsk battlecruisers turned their fire on the lead superdreadnought, the United Kingdom, and missiles began raining down on the massive ship.  The nine Tomsk battlecruisers managed to get six capital missiles through the massive ship’s active defenses, knocking down its shields and scoring its armor. 

The Tomsk ships continued to move away as the newly arrived SD’s moved away from the immediate area of the warp point and came to a halt.  Admiral Carstairs, aboard the United Kingdom, ordered her lead group of battlecruisers to remain with the SD’s, denying their squadron commander permission to pursue the withdrawing Tomsk fleet.  Her battleships were entering the system now, and the rest of her battlecruisers and lighter ships would be behind them.  The Tomsk only had nine battlecruisers in their fleet, and she was confident that once her fleet was assembled, they would be able to deal with the Tomsk handily.  After all, where could they run?

The toll from the battle was painful for both sides.  As the Tomsk fleet retreated, it sent a message to the Colonial Union’s fleet, demanding that they leave the system and declaring a state of war between their two nations. 

Colonial Union:
Damaged: 22xCL, 1xBC, 1xSD*
Destroyed: 3xCL
*Minor armor damage only

Tomsk Union
Damaged: 1xBC
Destroyed: 6xBS2, 6xES, 20xMF destroyed/expended, 150xDSB-L expended
100 patterns of mines are left around the warp point but useless

Nearly every assault light cruiser was damaged, some heavily.  In the aftermath of the battle, Lt. Kirilenko was awarded the Assault Medal, with a star for bravery, for his actions in the aftermath of the battle that directly led to the recovery of twelve of his fellow crew members threatened by a fire that had broken out in the engine spaces.  He was one of many of the UAC’s crewers who received medals that day, however, he was one of the relative few that managed to live to receive their medal. 

Tomsk system, Day 12
The Colonial Union’s 1st Battle Squadron was finally approaching the capital of the Tomsk Union, the colony of Tereshkova.  For the last twelve days, as the three superdreadnoughts, three battleships, and nine battlecruisers of the Colonial Union’s premier fleet moved in-system, they had been paced by the Tomsk Union’s fleet.  With just nine battlecruisers the Tomsk fleet had obviously decided to avoid direct attacks, apparently cowed by the presence of the heavy capital ships in the Colonial Union’s fleet, and instead had settled for shadowing them as they moved in-system.  Their apparently calm acceptance of the Colonial Union Fleet’s presence in their system was grating on Admiral Carstairs, who was acutely aware of the eleven other warp points arrayed around the system, any one of which could belch forth a fleet to challenge hers.  She would have liked to picket the warp points, but she didn’t have the scouts to do so, and her orders were to head in-system and demand a surrender from the Tomsk government. 

“Comms request from the Athena, Ma’am.”

Admiral Carstairs felt herself tighten up at the announcement, and her eyes shifted to the plot tank.  The 1st Battle Squadron was just over a light minute from the Tomsk Capital, and she had called a halt to reorganize her forces and prepare for the assault on their planetary defenses.  So far, there were no enemy contacts, aside from the Tomsk fleet, which had raced ahead and was now standing just a light second off of planetary orbit, in between the planet and her fleet.  The fact that there were no other contacts was disturbing, as she knew for a fact that there were at least several orbital shipyards over the planet.  Her eyes moved from her fleet to the large group of ships following closely behind.  The eighty-six cruiser-sized freighters and personnel transports that comprised the invasion group were a weight around her neck, tying her fleet down to their defense as the unarmed transports would be easy meat for any enemy ship that they met.  Her original intention was to secure the system before allowing the transports to enter, but General Rogov had countermanded that right off the bat.  His invasion force would be in at the kill, and he was sure that her intention to leave him behind was a politically motivated move to cut him out of the glory.  The thought that they might lose this battle, and that he might be at risk himself, never seemed to cross his mind.  When she had brought up that possibility, he had predictably accused her of defeatism, which seemed to be his go-to criticism for anyone that contradicted him. 

The Athena was Colonel-General Rogov’s invasion command ship/transport.  It also happened to be one of the newest and nicest colony transports in the Colonial Union, a fact that Carstairs was certain had figured prominently in Rogov’s thinking when picking his command ship.  After hesitating for a second or two, she nodded.  “I’ll take it in my office.”  She turned and left the superdreadnought’s flag bridge. 

A few seconds later she keyed the comms station in her office and Colonel-General Rogov’s choleric face appeared on her wall mounted monitor.  “Admiral!  I presume you are ready for the final attack?” 

“The fleet is ready, general.  However, I must again restate my concerns.  The Tomsk have defenses, we know that.  The fact that they aren’t showing them to us means that they want to lure us in.  We must be cautious!”

General Rogov’s face twisted into a sneer.  “You are sitting on the largest warship ever built by humans, and yet you constantly talk of caution!  I see no defenses!  Now move forward and engage the enemy.  Once their fleet has been reduced and my transports are overhead, they will surrender.”  The general’s face softened, and his voice became almost pleading.  “Admiral, there will be plenty of glory to go around, you will see.  Do not lose faith now!”

Admiral Carstairs stared at the general for a few seconds, considering her position.  Her orders really didn’t give her much leeway, and while the general was an ass, he was also in overall command of the mission.  If she had the scouting assets she had requested, she could have delayed to run scouts out to all of the warp points, and to surround the planet, looking for traps, but she didn’t have the scouts, probably for the same reason she didn’t have the exploration assets she had wanted.  “Very well.”  She keyed her comm system, setting up an all-ships channel.  “The fleet will advance in five minutes.”

Five minutes later, on the dot, the fleet moved out.  Minus the ships left to watch the warp point and the transports, the fleet now consisted of: 3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, and 6xDD.  In addition, seven undamaged assault light cruisers were escorting the transports, at General Rogov’s request.  Admiral Carstairs watched the plot tank as they crossed the one light minute line to the planet.   There was no change, still just the known units of the Tomsk fleet, patiently waiting for them.  They had maintained communications silence since their original message at the warp point, in spite of repeated attempts to contact them.  General Rogov thought that it was a sign of their fear and weakness, while she was sure it meant that there was more to their defenses than she was seeing.

Fifteen minutes later the fleet crossed the fifteen light second barrier, and suddenly the plot changed.  Admiral Carstairs’ head whipped around to the tank when the bridge AI signaled a status change.

The sensor officer’s voice began announcing the change as the plot updated.  “Multiple new contacts.  Drive fields and shields detected coming up!”

“The fleet will come to a halt!  What’s out there?”

The sensor officer leaned over her station.  “Two contacts, identified as PDC’s or grounded ships, located on Tereshkova’s moon.  Seven contacts, identified as PDC’s or grounded ships, located on Tereshkova.  Ten contacts, identified as space stations, located in close orbit over Tereshkova.  All ten stations have active shields.”

She frowned at the display as it updated to show the new contacts, thinking furiously.  “Status on the Tomsk fleet?”

“Still motionless in the same position.”

She stared at the plot for over a minute.  They were too far away to determine the size of the stations and the PDC’s, and so she couldn’t determine their actual threat level.  Unfortunately, she’d have to come within range of the PDC’s to determine their size and potential threat, but she could determine the size of the stations from beyond their own range.  The fact that the stations mounted shields argued that they weren’t simple shipyards, though.  “All units will close to ten light seconds range of the planet.  The transports will remain here, with their escort.”  At that range her sensors would be able to determine more information about the enemy’s units, but it would also put her much closer to combat range as well. 

The fleet moved forward again, coming to a halt exactly ten light seconds from the planet.  Once the fleet came to a halt, it took a few seconds for the sensors to update.  Once again, the sensor officer announced the changes.  “New information.   Six orbital stations show as very large, 137% of the size of this ship.  Four stations are classed as large, 89% of the size of this ship.  All still show active shields.”

Admiral Carstairs stared at the plot thoughtfully as her chief of staff approached behind her.  “Those large ones will have a battleship’s power, assuming they also have a shipyard at their heart.  The smaller ones will be closer to a destroyer, again assuming that they also mount a shipyard.”

Carstairs turned to her chief of staff.  “Assuming, yes.  That’s a big assumption, though.  We’ll have no way of knowing until we move into their range, though.  And those PDC’s are a wildcard.  They certainly won’t mount a shipyard; they’ll be just weapons and defenses.”

Commander Trask looked at the plot.  “The Tomsk Union pushed for the Collins Plan, back in the early days of the United Colonial Defense Force, before the Colonial Union, didn’t they?  If I remember, they pushed hard.”

Admiral Carstairs thought for a second.  Yes, he was right, but what…?  “Wait.  If I remember correctly, the Collins Plan rejected the construction of armed PDC’s on inhabited worlds, because of what happened during the Final War.  Under that plan, had it been adopted, the only PDC’s allowed on inhabited planets would have been anti-missile defenses.”  Relations between the Colonial Union and the Tomsk government had deteriorated before the plan could become law, but with the destruction of much of Earth’s surface as an example, no one in the CU had felt that building armed PDC’s on an inhabited surface was a good idea.

Continued in part 3
 
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Cold War: Month 182, Colonial Union Attacks, part 3
« Reply #173 on: June 03, 2021, 04:21:25 PM »
Trask snapped his fingers.  “Yes!  Exactly.  And if they still feel the same, which they almost certainly do given everything we know about them, then the PDC’s on the planet itself are almost certainly defensive in nature, and no threat to us.”

“If we are right.”  Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the plot.  “Those PDC’s on their moon, though.  If we are right those will be the offensive bases, while the PDC’s on the planet will be defensive.”

“Yes, of course.  Those big orbital stations will be a threat, though.”

Admiral Carstairs waived the thought of the bases away.  “Orbital stations are fragile.  As soon as we punch a few missiles through their shields they’ll fall apart.  If they are all combat power then they are a threat, but if they all have shipyards at their core, as I suspect, then we can handle them and their fleet.  The PDC’s on the moon are the problem, though.  Without knowing their size and combat capacity, it’s hard to know what kind of defenses we actually face.”

“Incoming message.  Message originates on the Tomsk Fleet.  Current time delay is ten seconds each way.”

“Put it up on the monitor.”  They all turned to the wall mounted monitor on the far side of the command deck. 

The monitor lit up displaying a middle-aged man, thin and spare, with a balding head and stern features.  He was dressed in the standard combat-blacks of the old Soviet Space Service, with the insignia of a Mayor-General.   “I am General Alexi Leonov, commander of the Tomsk Starfleet.  You have invaded our system and started an unprovoked war.  I now order you to leave our system, or be destroyed.”

Admiral Carstairs waited for a second to make sure that the general was done with his message, and then nodded at her comms officer to begin recording.  “I am Admiral Carstairs, in command of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Colonial Union.  By order of the Senate of the Colonial Union, I call upon you to lay down your arms and end your rebellion against the sole legitimate government of humanity.  If you do not do so, I am authorized to use whatever force is necessary to end your state of rebellion and reintegrate your state into the Colonial Union.  Please do not force me to use violence to end your misguided loyalty to your temporary government and your alien overlords.”  The Prime Minister had been very clear that as far as the Senate was concerned, all humans belonged in the Colonial Union, and were to be considered citizens, only temporarily in rebellion against the central government and the bulk of humanity.  It was a legal fiction, and was about as threadbare an excuse as there could be, as far as Carstairs was concerned, but the Prime Minister and the Senate could call this whatever they wanted.  It still came down to the point of a gun, whatever you called it. 

“Sending now.”

Carstairs waited impatiently through the twenty seconds it would take for the message to get there and a response to come back, and then for another twenty seconds.  Then, suddenly, everything began happening at once. 

“Message incoming.”  The comms officer’s announcement was interrupted by the bridge AI.

“Status change!  New drive fields detected!”

The sensor officer began announcing the change.  “Thirty-nine drive fields detected emerging from behind Tereshkova’s moon.  Now identifying as six battlecruisers, one heavy cruiser, eleven light cruisers, five destroyers, and sixteen corvettes.” 

Commander Trask opened his mouth, but before he could speak the sensor officer continued.  “The new contacts are launching small craft.  Numerous small craft detected.  Unknown type.”  The sensor officer paused, then continued.  “Number of small craft now stabilized at one hundred and eighty.  All contacts are moving to the location of the Tomsk Fleet.”

Carstairs had almost forgotten the fact that they had received a message just before the new contacts showed up, but the comms officer reminded her.  “Ma’am, the message is identified as originating with the command of Alpha Fleet, Bjering Consolidate.”

Admiral Carstairs paled.  This was bad.  Her orders were to avoid conflict with the Bjering.  If the Bjering had been at the warp point, then in the heat of battle they would have had to accept that things happen in war.  If some Bjering ships had been destroyed at the warp point then the CU’s government believed that they could negotiate that away as the vagaries of a concerted warp point assault rather than a meaningful declaration of war.  However, encountering them here and now was bad.  The fleet’s plan was predicated on forcing the Tomsk government to surrender before the Bjering could come to their rescue, but here the Bjering were, waiting for them.  But now, here, with open space separating them, attacking the Bjering would be a deliberate act of war, which was exactly what the Colonial Union’s government wanted to avoid.  “Play the message.”

The screen changed from the Tomsk general to show the leader of the Bjering state, known to humans as Alpha Admiral.  The Bjering were bipedal, with green skin and fairly human faces, and affected severe military garb which was recognizable as such to humans.  “The Bjering Consolidate stands with our allies in this matter.  The humans of the Tomsk Union have been good allies to the Consolidate, even while the humans of Earth were not.  Any attack on them is an attack on the Consolidate, and will be treated as such.  We have the strength here to destroy your force as it stands.  Your big ships are impressive, but they are slow.  We could send our small craft to attack your transports while our fleet engages yours, and there is nothing you could do to stop us.  We do not wish to do so, though.  Such a massive loss of life will result in eternal enmity between our races, and that is the last thing that I or the Tomsk government wishes for.  I ask you now to reconsider your position.  You cannot prevail in your attack, and we can prevent you from leaving, if we wish to do so.”

Admiral Carstairs was taken aback.  She turned to her chief of staff.  “Trask, what is the current estimate of the technology available to the Bjering?”  There had been several briefings before the mission, but she wanted to confirm what she already knew. 

Commander Trask frowned.  “The Bjering were known to have equivalent, or perhaps slightly higher tech than the old Soviet Union at the time of their alliance.”

Admiral Carstairs nodded.  “And unlike us, they have undoubtedly been steadily advancing their technology, which means they are almost certainly ahead of us.”  She turned to the plot tank and pointed at the icons representing the small craft running ahead of the Bjering fleet as it moved to rendezvous with the Tomsk fleet.  “What is your estimate of the capabilities of those small craft?”

Commander Trask moved towards the plot.  “Unknown at this time.  However, the least dangerous possibility is that they intend to ram their targets, and therefore their holds are packed with missile warheads.  That would make them a significant danger, and almost any sort of small craft would be a danger to our transports.  However, the Bjering are not known as suicidal, and in fact are known to be conservative when it comes to crew losses.  The value such things as honor and elan, and tend to view suicide attacks as dangerously wasteful.  Given their technology lead, it is likely that this is something new, and therefore much more dangerous, especially given the hull space their fleet must have devoted to carrying that many small craft.”

Meanwhile, on board the Sovremenny, flagship of the Tomsk Starfleet
Major General Alexi Leonov turned to the small monitor inset into his command station.  Alpha Admiral looked out at him via their direct comm link.  “Do you think they’ll back down?  They are of your race.”

General Leonov looked uncertain.  “I think so.  Even if they don’t know what your fighters are, they have to be concerned about that many small craft swarming their ships, distracting them during battle.  With your fleet added to mine, they cannot be sure of victory, and if you add in our defenses, then the situation becomes even worse for them.”

Alpha Admiral shook his head.  “But your defenses are not what they seem.”  After a few seconds the alien gave what passed for a smile.  “But they do not know that, do they?  Or at least, we can hope that they do not know that.”

General Leonov frowned at the mention of his greatest worry.  The Tomsk government had undertaken a massive fortification program as fears of war with the Colonial Union ramped up.  That program was still in its early stages, and the defenses were not as formidable as he would have liked, or as they appeared from a distance.  The PDC’s on Tereshkova were all anti-missile bases, and would have no effect on the battle unless the Colonial Union attempted to bombard the planet, which was almost unthinkable.  The PDC’s on their moon were unfinished.  The plan had called for the PDC’s to be built in phases, and one of the two bases had no armor at all, meaning its launchers were open to space.  And four of the orbiting stations were unarmed, equipped only with point defenses and shields to protect against missile strikes during a battle.  The one thing that was ready was the Union Army, which had been created for just this possibility.  The government had built up a very large defensive force on the ground, which, protected by the anti-missile PDC’s, should make it effectively impossible for the Colonial Union to conquer the capital without either a massive investment in assault troops, or an orbital bombardment.  “We have done our best to keep our preparations a secret from those who would tell the CU, but we cannot know if we succeeded until this is resolved.”

Alpha Admiral nodded.  “We shall see.”

Colonial Union Flagship, United Kingdom…
Admiral Carstairs’ thoughts raced.  She had been made privy to several of the top-secret research and development programs being worked on currently, and one that was showing much promise was advanced small craft that were fast and capable of carrying a large enough weapons load to threaten starships.  If that was what these Bjering small craft were, as seemed likely, then her fleet was in serious trouble, even without the combined Bjering and Tomsk fleets backing up this new weapon.  The R&D team had been asked about countermeasures to their new weapon during the briefing, and they had stated that it was likely that standard point defense would be the best defense a ship had against these small craft.  Still, the addition of the Bjering ships to the Tomsk navy made her situation difficult even without the small craft.  She came to a decision.   “The fleet will come about.  We will rejoin the transports.  Comms, raise General Rogov on board the Athena.” 

Before Admiral Carstairs could turn back to the plot, the comms officer turned from her station.  “Ma’am, message from General Rogov.”

She sighed.  Rogov just would not wait.  “Put it on the screen.”   The monitor changed to show General Rogov.  “Carstairs!  You will return here at once and protect the transports!”

Admiral Carstairs sighed again.  The man wasn’t wrong, but he was irritating and venal.  She turned back to the plot tank.  The combined Tomsk and Bjering fleets were following her, but keeping their distance.  While the Colonial Union fleet returned to cover its transports, Admiral Carstairs studied the plot tank and the enemy force. 

Fleet Comparison:
Colonial Union:
3xSD, 3xBB, 9xBC, 6xCA, 6xDD
No Small Craft
1950 Hull Spaces

Combined Bjering and Tomsk Fleets:
15xBC, 1xCA, 20xCL, 14xDD, 16xCT, 10xES
180 known fighters
2956 Hull Spaces

Assuming that a significant number of the cruiser class units were small craft carriers, the enemy had rough parity with her fleet, but only if she left the small craft out of the equation.  Even if the enemy small craft were merely rammers with their cargo space packed with warheads, they would give the enemy a significant advantage if they fought, and if they were indeed the advanced small craft she had been briefed on, then the situation was dire.  An attack from the fifteen battlecruisers in the enemy fleet, combined with an attack run from the enemy small craft force, would almost certainly result in the loss of her fleet, leaving the transports open to attack, giving them no alternative but to surrender or be destroyed.  Her battleships and superdreadnoughts were tough, and they handily outclassed the enemy battlecruisers, enough so that she would have been comfortable engaging the enemy fleet, if it wasn’t for the damned small craft circling the enemy formation.  As it was, the battleships and superdreadnoughts were slowing her force down.  Interestingly, the enemy wasn’t taking advantage of that, and she realized that the fact that the enemy hadn’t made the obvious move to circle around her fleet and attempt an attack on the transports before they could rejoin her force meant that they almost certainly were telling the truth.  They didn’t want to attack and destroy her fleet, for whatever reason.  Perhaps they were even telling the truth about their reasons. 

Shortly thereafter the fleet rejoined the transport force.  Once they were close and the time lag for comms was reduced to comfortable levels, General Rogov demanded to speak with her.  This time she took the call in her office.  Rogov appeared on her screen almost immediately.  His face was white, and he was obviously furious.  “Well, Carstairs?  What are you going to do about this situation?  You’ve managed to bring the Bjering into this, in spite of direct orders to avoid this very situation!”

“So far, General Rogov, there has been no declaration of war from the Bjering.”  Rogov opened his mouth, but before he could speak, she continued.  “In spite of their statement of support for the Tomsk government, they have not opened fire on us, and so far, at least, we have not engaged one of their ships or killed any of their people.  What I am trying to say is that the situation is not beyond repair.  They appear to be willing to talk, and as long as they are willing to talk, there is hope.”

Rogov’s face twisted into a scowl.  “Talk?  Are you saying you cannot fight them?”

Carstairs’ head tilted as she studied the mission commander.  Her voice remained calm, though.  “You were just berating me for starting a war with the Bjering, and now you criticize me for avoiding firing upon them?”

“Bah, its all a bluff.  They wouldn’t dare fire on your force!  They cannot want war with the entire Colonial Union!”

Suddenly Carstairs realized what the general was trying to do.  He didn’t want her to attack the Bjering, or do anything to provoke the Bjering into declaring war against the Colonial Union, but he was trying to corner her into admissions that he could then use to portray her as defeatist.  That would make blaming her for this failure much easier.  “You are the mission commander, of course.  My orders, and yours, I suppose, specifically prohibit firing upon Bjering forces, if it can be avoided, or “taking such actions that will inevitably provoke the Bjering into declaring war.”  If you order it, in writing, over my determination that such an order would inevitably result in war with the Bjering, then I will, of course, follow your orders.”  She would do no such thing, of course, but Rogov had no way of knowing that.  And she was pretty sure that Rogov had no intention of risking his own skin in this endeavor. 

Seeing General Rogov struggling with the situation, she decided to give him an out.  “My report will make it clear that, given the balance of forces, and the new technology demonstrated by the Bjering, engaging in a battle here and now would have been disastrous, even if we won, which is by no means certain.  And, given the state of fortifications on and around Tereshkova, I believe it is likely that the Tomsk have invested heavily in ground troops to secure their capital planet, and if so, it is likely that your force will be insufficient to subdue the planet in any reasonable time frame.  I have reports from my intelligence section indicating that they are monitoring heavy communications, which, while they are encrypted, indicate a large-scale military response, planetwide.”

“My intelligence shows the same.  I take it you are proposing withdrawing?”

“Yes, but we are not the only ones who get a say in this decision.  The Bjering and the Tomsk get a say.  Their ships and small craft are faster than my battleships and superdreadnoughts.  If they want to, they can catch us long before we can reach the warp point.  Or they could reach the warp point before us, and prevent us from transiting out until we agree to whatever terms they wish to impose.”

She watched as General Rogov struggled with this for a bit.  Finally, he shrugged.  “This is a naval matter.  Negotiate if you must, but get us home.”  The screen went black. 

Admiral Carstairs sat back, surprised by Rogov yet again.  As mission commander it was his responsibility to negotiate with the enemy.  By abdicating it to her he was taking himself out of the loop, although he would have to approve any final agreement before it was sent to the politicians back home.  After a few seconds she nodded to herself.  Rogov was a political animal.  This situation had the stink of defeat all over it, and he was obviously going to try to distance himself from it as much as he could.  That left the Bjering and the Tomsk to her to deal with. 

Carstairs returned to the flag deck and ordered the fleet to set course for the warp point, just to see how the enemy would react.  Sure enough, just after the fleet began moving towards the warp point at standard cruising speed, the enemy fleet accelerated to full military speed and moved to slip around the Colonial Union fleet to get ahead of it.  Shortly after, a message came in from the Tomsk flagship.     

Once again Major General Leonov appeared on the flag deck’s monitors.  “Admiral Carstairs, I am afraid we cannot let you leave the system until certain issues are resolved.  You are ordered to halt in place until these issues can be discussed and an agreement reached.”

Admiral Carstairs considered the situation.  This was the moment of truth.  If the enemy was bluffing, and she continued, then they would escape with their forces intact but having failed to achieve their goals.  If they weren’t bluffing, well, then…the results would be bad for everyone.  She turned to her chief of staff.  “Bring the fleet to a halt, Commander Trask.  We will negotiate.”  She would not risk the loss of her entire fleet, and the invasion force, as well as a significant percentage of the Colonial Union’s shipping, on a mere chance that the enemy was bluffing.  Especially when she was pretty sure they weren’t bluffing. 

With that the invasion of the Tomsk system was essentially over.  The Tomsk government demanded reparations for their lost bases, expended munitions, and lost personnel.  Admiral Carstairs could make no such agreement, and neither could General Rogov, but agreed to transmit their demands to their government.  The Tomsk government set a time limit of one month on the negotiations, after which the fleet present in their system would be seized or destroyed.  This was to prevent the Colonial Union from assembling another fleet to retrieve their first fleet.  The Tomsk government demanded almost 30,0000 MCr’s to compensate them for their losses, in addition to reparations for the crewers and officers killed on the bases and ships lost at the warp point.  Admiral Carstairs sent her report along with the results of the negotiations and the Tomsk demand, outlining the situation her fleet found itself in. 

This all put the Colonial Union’s Prime Minister in an incredibly difficult situation.  Fortunately for her, the mission to conquer the Tomsk Union was very secret, even if the fact that the CU was obviously building towards an attack wasn’t.  The attack’s failure would leak out at some point, but by then they would have had plenty of time to spin the situation and gain the leverage they needed to deal with any fallout.  In the end, the Colonial Union agreed to pay the Tomsk Union 25,000 MCr’s to get their fleet back, and by then the Senate had come up with the diversion they needed.  The murder of CU officials on the Tarek home world had been steady at a low, but irritating, rate for some time, but had spiked upwards lately.  A movement in the Senate to declare the Tarek to be in rebellion had been gaining steam.  Now, in need of a distraction, the Prime Minister and her Senatorial supporters got behind this motion and pushed it through.  By the end of the month the Tarek were declared to be in rebellion against the Colonial Union, and the Senate required the government to dispatch forces to the Sligo system immediately.  The Prime Minister, acting on the authority granted her by the proclamation of rebellion, ordered the hero of the conquest of the Tarek, General Rogov, and the 1st Battle Squadron, to proceed immediately to the Sligo system to put down the rebellion. 
 
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Cold War: Month 178, Mintek Universal Union
« Reply #174 on: June 14, 2021, 05:49:57 PM »
Mintek Universal Union
Month 178
“The modernization plan is nearly complete, but the fleet expansion considered necessary for the implementation of the assault on the D’Bringi Alliance, and the construction of defenses for the home system are both far behind, and will lag even further as we move forward.” 

Chancellor Durkhon considered the Strategos, who had refused to sit when invited.    Strategos Brammer stood before the Chancellor, bluff and emotionless, as if he was presenting mere information rather than a potential disaster.  After a few seconds, Chancellor Durkhon nodded.  This was expected.  Unwelcome, but expected.  “Why?”

The question was uninflected, but Brammer’s eyes flickered from the spot on the wall that he had been focused on to the Chancellor and back.  “Resources devoted to the construction program have fallen, and fallen again.  Without resources we cannot build new ships or fortify the home system.”

Chancellor Durkhon nodded.  “Please, Brammer, sit.”  Brammer hesitated, and his eyes shifted to the Chancellor’s face.  Durkhon nodded again, and Brammer finally sat on one of the chairs in front of Durkhon’s rather simple desk.  “There, much better.  Now, as to the budget, I understand.  After all, the Curia and I have asked you to build a home out of bricks, but then deprived you of the clay you need to form the bricks.  I know the reason for your problems, and it is far beyond your remit to remedy them at this time.  Unfortunately, it is beyond mine as well, and perhaps beyond anyone’s.”  Durkhon sat back unhappily.

Brammer looked confused.  “Sir…what is the problem?”

“The economy is the problem.  We strained our economy to the hilt building up the fleet after the defeat in the Kure system, then we drained most of our liquid resources funding R&D on the new systems, and paying for the upgrade of your fleet and the defenses.  When your proposals relating to the upgrading of our munition’s stocks arrived, our finances were already in a poor state.  The Curia, however, was enamored by the new capabilities the anti-matter weapons would give the fleet, and was eager to ensure that the protectors of the faith would have the best equipment available.  Therefore, they dictated that your magazines be filled with the new munitions as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost.  Warnings of the expense were sounded, but the new capabilities were just too enticing.  The Curia ordered an immediate change over, the cost be damned.”

Brammer leaned forward.  “I was gratified by the speed that our magazines were filled with the new weapons, but to be honest, I had expected a much more gradual change-over.”

Durkhon nodded ruefully.  “We were, perhaps, all too enamored with the weapons for our own good.  In any event, the cost of the change-over was ruinous, as expected.  Even the sell-off of what little remained of our excess industrial capacity didn’t come close to covering the expense.  The Curia was forced to look elsewhere for the funds.”

Brammer looked confused.  “But where could they find the resources to pay for such a large expenditure?”

Durkhon shook his head.  “There was only one place.  The Alowan.  The Curia stripped the Alowan of most of their heavy industrial capacity, which was sufficient to pay for the magazine upgrades.”

Brammer looked shocked.  “But…that’s against the proscription for the treatment of the unenlightened!”

Durkhon’s looked grave.  “Too true.  Unfortunately, there was no other way to pay for the expansion in our capabilities.  The Curia authorized a one-time exception, and mandated repayment at the end of the current emergency.”

Brammer narrowed his eyes.  “Has this caused problems with the enlightenment efforts?”

Durkhon waived his concerns away.  “Nothing that you need to be concerned with.  Unrest has increased, along with scattered and uncoordinated minor acts of violence, but such is to be expected in the early phases of the enlightenment process.  As you may remember, the unenlightened fear change, and in particular fear change to their beliefs, as retrogressive as they are.  That fear may sometimes provoke them to violence, especially if the enlightenment process is accompanied by large-scale changes to their environment, such as a sell-off of their assets, or a radical change in their government.  It was for that reason that the Curia issued the Proscriptions on Enlightenment in the first place.  Still, the Ministry for Equity and Inclusion is present on Alowan Prime in force, and their Pilgrims and Preceptors are all-seeing, or nearly so.  The enlightenment continues.  However, that brings us to the real issue.”

Strategos Brammer leaned forward.  “Yes, Chancellor?”

“Our economy is in a shambles.  The demands of building up the fleet and incorporating the new weaponry have nearly bankrupted the state.  Excluding the resources we receive from the Alowan, our overall income has actually fallen approximately 15-20% over the last twenty months.  Indeed, without the resources from the Alowan, we would be forced to mothball a significant portion of the currently existing fleet.”

Brammer looked aghast.  “But that’s…that’s…”  He stumbled to a stop, at a loss for words. 

Durkhon looked grim.  “Yes, exactly.  I’m afraid that under the current restricted economic situation, we cannot afford to continue supporting the fleet as it is, build new defenses, and continue R&D on new technology.  The economy simply won’t support that, much less all of that and a continued economic recovery and expansion.”

Brammer was thinking furiously.  “IF we cannot expand the fleet, then our assault into D’Bringi space becomes incredibly risky.  Perhaps impossible.  And if we cannot build more defenses in the home system, then we cannot risk releasing the fleet to deal with the Bedu.”  Brammer looked hopeful.  “Has the situation with the Bedu changed?”

Durkhon shook his head.  “It has not.  Indeed, the Bedu just rejected our latest offer of a trade relationship again.  To be honest, the Curia has lost confidence in the negotiation process with the Bedu.”

“But what can be done?  If things are as you say, then we cannot afford to build up either our defenses or the fleet, and without improved defenses we cannot release the fleet from defensive duties in the home system.”

“The Curia has recognized the difficulty of the current situation, and has authorized me, and you, to take action.  The planned assault on the D’Bringi is to be delayed, perhaps indefinitely.  The Bedu will be given one more chance to peacefully open their borders, and if they refuse, you will be authorized to take a portion of the fleet and force them to open their borders to our Pilgrims.  How much of the fleet you will be allowed to take will be determined at that time.  We are expecting to make our final offer in three months.  That is the time you will have to prepare.”

“It will be done, Eminence.”  Brammer rose to leave. 

Durkhon raised a hand.  “One more thing.  You may hear, over the next several months, that the Curia is considering negotiating with the D’Bringi to establish a peace treaty.”  Once again, Brammer looked shocked.  Durkhon smiled, reassuringly.  “Fear not.  We will not consign their souls to the pits for all of eternity.  We must, however, take a pause and allow our economy to recover, before the push towards enlightenment can begin again.  If it should happen, it will be temporary in nature only.  You may reassure your commanders about that, should rumors appear.”

Brammer bowed.  “Thank you, Eminence.” 

Durkhon watched as the Strategos left, and then hit a key on his desk.  A minute later a door on the far side of his office opened and Minister Turval, head of the Ministry for Equity and Inclusion, entered the office.  “Well, how did Strategos Brammer take the news?”  He moved over to a chair and sat, a curious expression on his face. 

Durkhon sighed.  “As we knew he would.  He is a good son of the Faith.  He will do as we command, and as his faith dictates.”

Minister Turval could see that his old friend was troubled.  “What part of our current troubles takes such a toll on your conscience?”

Chancellor Durkhon looked up.  “I fear that we are embarking on this course with the Alowan, and now the Bedu, not to bring them to the faith, but to exploit them and their resources for our own goals.  Are we any better than the D’Bringi barbarians?”

Minister Turval considered the situation briefly before answering.  There were some in the Curia who constantly questioned everyone’s motives, the Chancellor’s most of all.  It clearly took a toll on him.   “You know we are.  We embarked on this course because of our concern for their souls.  No Mintek is benefitting materially from this.  It is the pressure from the D’Bringi that has forced us into the current situation.  Therefore, we will make peace with the D’Bringi, if necessary, which will give us time to make things right with the Alowan and properly introduce the Bedu to the Faith.  Once our flanks are secure, then we can focus on the Bedu.”

Durkhon sat a little straighter.  “I will not countenance creating little better than slave races in the name of the Faith!”

Minister Turval held up his hands placatingly.  “I know!  That allegation in the Curia came from those who fear our actions will stain our souls, and they are right to be concerned.  But we will not allow that to happen.  We will defend the Faith, and we will do it in a way that leaves our souls unstained.”

The two talked for some time, before the press of the daily schedule forced them back into the daily grind. 
 
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Cold War: Month 181, Mintek continued
« Reply #175 on: June 15, 2021, 09:11:22 AM »
Month 181, Day 5, Gortyn System, Mintek Assault Fleet
Strategos Brammer stood before the flag deck’s plot tank, looking over his fleet’s disposition with satisfaction.  The fleet was as ready as he could make it.  The 1st Carrier Strike Group was composed of two carriers, seven light carriers, a strike carrier, and ten escort carriers, with three hundred and three hundred and ninety advanced F1 fighters and nine armed pinnaces.  Three escort destroyers and a scout corvette rounded out the Group.  The Fast Attack Group was now made up of fifteen advanced battlecruisers, ten attack destroyers, three escort destroyers, and three scout corvettes.  In addition, the six survey cruisers of the 2nd Survey Group had arrived late last month, and the 3rd Survey Group was due to arrive at the end of this month.  Finally, he had a fighter support group made up of a mobile shipyard and a fighter replenishment ship loaded with boxed fighters, escorted by three scout corvettes.   

From his command console, Brammer could call up details on any ship in the fleet, but his attention was drawn to the warp point just beyond the fleet’s current location.  The assembled fleet was sitting just eight light seconds from the warp point to the Bedu territories, and on the far side of the warp point Curia negotiators were trying to convince the Bedu to sign a treaty with the Universal Union which would serve the dual purpose of boosting their economy and allowing them to send missionaries into Bedu space to begin the conversion of yet another race to the Truth.  The Bedu had refused three prior offers of a treaty, and the Curia and the Chancellor had decided that this was their last chance.  When the Bedu refused this offer, as they almost certainly would, he was to advance with his fleet into Bedu territory, locate and destroy their fleet, and conquer their worlds so they could be brought to enlightenment.  He did not look forward to this task, but it was the task set upon him by the Curia, Chancellor, and his belief in the Way.  Every life lost during the upcoming campaign was a life lost to the Truth, whether it was one of his own or a Bedu soldier or crewer.  Every life lost was painful, and ultimately a failure. 

His ruminations were broken by a call from the command deck.  “Strategos, we have a ship emergence from the Bedu warp point.  It’s the contact ship, and the contact team lead is requesting to speak with you.”

“Very well, put them through.”  A few seconds later the contact team lead appeared on the viewer in front of him.

“Strategos, good news!  We have come to an agreement with the Bedu.  Trade can begin immediately!”

Strategos Brammer sat down in relief.  “That is good news.  I will dispatch a CD back to the communications network with your results.  Please send your report, so that it can be included.”

“It is on the way, Strategos, and thank you for your support.”

The reports would take eight days to make their way back to the home world, because the communications network had not yet been extended to this system.  But for now, the invasion was off.  Brammer was very relieved.

Month 181, Day 13, Mintek Prime
Chancellor Durkhon frowned at the message in front of him.  “They succeeded?  How is this possible?”

Minister Turval, bereft of his usual good nature, shrugged.  “The Bedu are unpredictable, apparently.  This is an unwelcome complication.”

Chancellor Durkhon stood and walked over to the transparent wall of his office.  Looking out over the capital city usually calmed him, but not this morning.  “The Curia has included the expected windfall from the conquest of the Bedu in their budget planning for the fortification of the home system, and for the planned offensive into the D’Bringi territories.  Without the windfall, and the expected economic contribution from the Bedu, both programs will grind to a halt.  Soon.”

Minister Turval sat silently, considering the situation.  In many ways this disaster was at his feet.  He had reassured the Curia that the fleet under Brammer would prevail against the Bedu, and it was he who had confidently told them that the Bedu’s rulers would refuse to see reason, just as so many had in the past.  After a minute of silence, he stirred.  “Perhaps…maybe we should launch the attack anyway?”

“What?”  Chancellor Durkhon was shocked.  The faith did not do such things!  But…   “The Curia will be in disarray when this news reaches them.  Those who question our current course of action will gain adherents.  But how will they react when they hear that we are proposing a pre-emptive attack?”

Turval shook his head.  “That is just what I am proposing.  You know how the Bedu’s rulers will react when our pilgrims begin spreading throughout their territory.  They will react just as the D’Bringi did, and the Beoratal before them.  They will imprison the truth-tellers, or kill them, and we will go to war against them anyway.  Perhaps we should be the first to act, for once!”

Chancellor Durkhon was silent for some time, digesting this.  It was tempting, but…it was too tempting.  He turned back to the Minister.  “Old friend, I hear what you are saying.  But think.  Are you proposing this because you wish to save the pilgrims that may be lost spreading the truth to a new race, or are you proposing this because you covet their wealth?”

Minister Turval opened his mouth to reply, but then hesitated, and in that second Chancellor Durkhon could see the depths of torment his friend was suffering.  “I…I don’t know.”

Chancellor Durkhon sat next to his friend.  “Then perhaps we should reconsider the situation.”

The two sat in silence for some time, contemplating the situation.  Finally, Minister Turval shook his head.  “I cannot separate my motivations.  My desire for their resources is matched by my desire for their enlightenment.  And this disturbs me most greatly.”

Chancellor Durkhon stood.  “We fell into the trap of looking for the easy way out of our current economic problems.  We thought that the Bedu would be recalcitrant, and thus we would have to conquer them, and thereby, coincidentally, bring their economic resources under our control.  This would remedy our current economic troubles, just as the conquest of the Alowan remedied the problems we had then.  And now that we have been given the peaceful path forward, we grieve the for the loss of the resources that we had grown to consider ours by right!”

Minister Turval looked at his old friend for a second, angered by the accusation.  After a second, he looked sheepish, realizing that Turval had included himself in his accusation as well.  “Truly, we fell into error, didn’t we?  We were ready to start a war over what we told ourselves were the best of reasons, but really, we weren’t any better than the D’Bringi, conquering everyone in sight and looting their economies.  I can only wonder what Strategos Brammer would have thought at being ordered to conquer a race that had not been given the chance to accept the Truth peacefully.”   He stood and bowed to the Chancellor.  “In any case, I must go and organize the effort to place trade-missionaries in the Bedu Republic.  Thank you, old friend.”

“I will order Brammer to stand by at the border, and prepare to protect and succor the missionaries when they begin to enter Bedu space.”

Author’s Note:  The Bedu are odd ones.  They were originally discovered by the Bjering, who worked to establish full comms with them and then offered them a trade and military treaty, which the Bedu promptly refused.  The Bjering then waited a couple of months to allow resistance to lessen, then offered a straight trade treaty, which was also refused.  This happened two more times, at which time I decided that the Bedu really did not like the Bjering, and so they told the Bjering to go away and stop bothering them.  The Bjering, who aren’t particularly expansionist at the cost of others, agreed and signed a no-contact treaty.  The Bedu began expanding as quickly as they could, until the Mintek found them. 

Just like the Bjering, the Mintek worked hard to establish full comms, and then offered a trade and military treaty, which the Bedu promptly turned down.  Just like the Bjering, the Mintek waited for resistance to go down and then offered a trade treaty, which the Bedu turned down as well.  At this point, I began wondering what was up with the Bedu.  I had gone over their stats when I created them, and nothing had jumped out at me.  They are a fairly standard one-success Military Dictatorship with, as you would expect, a high racial militancy and moderate numbers for both racial chauvinism and racial determination.  Certainly, there is nothing there to explain why they were so standoffish.  So, I decided that the Bedu were just stubborn and distrustful.   The Mintek were absorbed with their programs to refit and expand their fleet, and so could not dispatch their fleet to ‘convince’ the Bedu to join their Union as they had the Alowan, so they kept offering trade treaties, and the Bedu kept turning them down.  Finally, on the fourth try for a trade treaty, the Bedu inexplicably agreed.  This threw me off, as I realized that I had based my plans for future Mintek actions on the expected conquest of the Bedu when they inevitably refused the last treaty offer.  When they agreed, I realized all of my plans had been thrown in disarray by that one decision, and thought about attacking anyway.  I decided that the Mintek could go either way, and rolled against their militancy to decide if they would attack the Bedu immediately.  If the Mintek militancy was just a little higher, the war would have started here and now, but it wasn’t as so they decided to give peace a try, and just incidentally to stay true to their faith and their values.  Had they attacked after the Bedu agreed to a treaty, that would have been a very cynical act which would have almost certainly had huge consequences down the road. 
 
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Cold War: D'Bringi Alliance, Months 176-185
« Reply #176 on: June 16, 2021, 08:08:06 AM »
Month 177
The T’Pau Syndicate, taking advantage of data provided by the D’Bringi, begins development of fighters and their associated systems.  The expense is immense, but the T’Pau are motivated to prove that they are the equal of the two senior races in the Alliance, and are willing to bear the expense.  Work is begun on a proto-type escort carrier hull in the shipyards, with holds in the place of fighter bays.  The CVE’s design is controversial, both within and without the T’Pau navy.  The design is intended to deliver fighters to the battlefield, and mounts no weapons, defenses, or support systems aside from those directly related to the fighters themselves.  The ship has only a thin armor covering and no missile defenses, and so will have to be escorted, as not only doesn’t it have any defenses, it has no sensors to detect targets for its fighters.  It does carry more fighters than equivalent D’Bringi and Rehorish designs, almost a full squadron more, meaning it can deliver more fighters to the target, or even hold some back for fleet defense without weakening its strike wing.  It will still be some time before the T’Pau can begin fielding their fighters, but they have taken the first step. 

The D’Bringi and the Rehorish have been focusing on integrating their militaries.  The D’Bringi, in particular, had problems with many of the proposed changes, such as the inclusion of qualified non-Clan personnel into their military forces, the integration of independent Clan forces into a unified force, and the regularization of clan rank structures.  The Clan Chiefs reluctantly agreed to make some of the changes at the time of the union, and the results have been encouraging.  The Keeper and Clan forces in the home system have been unified into a single fleet, drilling together and with a unified command chain.  Although there have been several bloody fights off-ship, resulting from frayed nerves and old clan resentments, the results have been almost overwhelmingly positive.  At least so far.  The older Clan Chiefs admit the necessity of the merger, but fear and resent the changes it has brought, while the younger Clan Chiefs see opportunity opening up in front of them as the D’Bringi society begins moving beyond the strictures of the old clan organizations that held so many D’Bringi in menial positions just because they didn’t have the right relatives.   

Month 182
The T’Pau achieve HT-8, and the Alliance government announces that the T’Pau have agreed to join the Alliance as its third full member.  The T’Pau government makes its own announcement, stating that its integration into the governmental framework of the Alliance will be complete in Month 188, and that it is paying the costs, in full, to save the Alliance budget, which is currently being stretched refitting the Alliance fleet and expanding the Alliance’s industrial base. 
 
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Cold War: Months 176-185, Tomsk Union
« Reply #177 on: June 17, 2021, 08:06:43 AM »
Tomsk Union
Month 176 (Pre-Colonial Union Attack)
The Tomsk Union is beginning to face population problems related to its ambitious exploration and colonization program.  A large influx of refugees from Earth boosted the Union’s population in several critical systems, giving it several systems that could support the colonization program out of their medium-sized populations, but the Union’s four survey fleets have been finding new planets to colonize faster than population growth on those medium-sized populations can replace the colonists being sent out.  Ever since the Colonial Union cut off the flow of refugees, the populations of the Tomsk Union’s core worlds have steadily dropped.  Now, with the colonization of the two habitable planets in the Kuala Lumpur system underway, the population of the Petropavlovsk system has dropped to the point where it will not be able to support further colonization for some time.  This leaves just two systems with medium sized populations capable of supporting further colonization.  There is little the Tomsk Union can do about this problem, given the unlikelihood of the Colonial Union allowing the resettlement of refugees to their territory at any point in the future. 

Month 183
The Tomsk Union reaches HT-8 with Bjering assistance, and immediately sinks all of the money received from the Colonial Union as reparations for the recent attack into R&D of the new systems now available, including fighter technology.  The Tomsk government begins construction on energy beam buoys, to replace the expended DSB-L’s, but has few damaged ships to repair.  Instead, preparations are made to refit the fleet to the new technology under development.  Work continues on expanding the fortifications on the fortress moon, as well as on Tomsk itself. 

The near-debacle last month has convinced the Tomsk government to change its stance on the defenses at the warp point to the Colonial Union.  Previously, the warp point to the Colonial Union’s Kirov system was used for occasional diplomatic traffic, thus, the Tomsk government had decided against heavily fortifying the warp point.  Now that the Colonial Union has launched a surprise attack, the government has informed the Colonial Union that the warp point will be closed to all traffic, and that the defenses located there will fire without warning upon any ship that transits.  This will allow the Tomsk Starfleet to change its deployment of forces on the warp point.  The single largest change will be the deployment of mines.  Previously, the mines were deployed around the warp point at a quarter light second, which would allow a ship transiting into the system a safe pocket where it would not be attacked, at least by the mines.  This was done to avoid an accident should a diplomatic ship transit into the system.  Now that the warp point is closed to all traffic, the Starfleet will be able to deploy the mines directly on top of the warp point, as it is a closed warp point with no gravitational eddies that would otherwise push the mines away or pull them into the warp point.  This will make the mines much more effective.  In addition, a portion of the buoys deployed to the warp point will be active at all times, meaning they will fire on any ship entering the system. 
 
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Cold War: Colonial Union, Month 183
« Reply #178 on: June 18, 2021, 08:21:34 AM »
Month 183, Colonial Union
In the aftermath of the abortive attack into the Tomsk Union, the Colonial Union’s government is in full coverup mode.  The attack had not been announced in advance, of course, but the government had let it be known that big announcements were forth coming.  After the failure of the attack, the government shifted the focus to the ‘rebellion’ of the Tarek in the Sligo system, and announced that the naval forces that had been dispatched to assault the Tomsk Union were in fact being sent to the Sligo system.  In reality, the Union Assault Corps and the 1st Battle Force are still in the Kirov system, which was their jumping off point for the attack into the Tomsk Union.  The system is an uninhabited warp nexus, with traffic tightly controlled because of the strategic importance of the system as a contact point with both the Tomsk Union and the Confederated Free Systems, and beyond them the D’Bringi Alliance.  The ships have remained here both to guard against the possibility of a counter attack by the Tomsk Union, and to let the thirteen mobile shipyards brought up to support the attack repair the ships that were damaged in the attack, including the superdreadnought United Kingdom, the fleet flagship. 

Even as the government spins the Tarek rebellion, the administration is preparing for the inevitable leak of the failed attack.  Too many people within the government and the Senate know of the planned attack to keep it secret for any length of time, so a cover story incorporating portions of the truth is being prepared.  In the meantime, the government has used the ongoing construction of three additional nation class superdreadnoughts in the Epsilon Eridani system as a rallying point for the nation, promoting the construction of the superdreadnoughts as proof of humanity’s supremacy.  Secretly, the government has funded the construction of nine additional superdreadnoughts in two of the more remote shipyards in the Colonial Union.  One of the yards is in the Redwing system, and used to belong to the Tlatelolco race before their incorporation into the Colonial Union.  The Colonial Union’s government has been funding the transfer of large numbers of people from Earth to the Tlatelolco home planet, bolstering what was a small scientific outpost dedicated to raising the Tlatelolco’s tech level to colony status.  The people being sent to this colony tend to be fervent New Dawn supporters, and many of the new immigrants work in the orbital yards, which have been greatly expanded.  This construction complex is a secret naval installation that is not widely known, and it is being used to build ships that the fleet does not want widely publicized.  The other yard building the secret force of superdreadnoughts is the old soviet yards in the Solar System.  While the Earth still has the Colonial Union’s largest population, it is politically and socially marginalized.  The Earth, while mostly revered as the home of the human race, is seen as a failed political experiment and a reminder of the massive failures of humanity in the past.  The population of Earth is still traumatized by the events of the two nuclear wars, and although it has not resisted its incorporation into the Colonial Union, it has remained mostly isolationist and stands apart from the evolving culture of the Colonial Union.  Seen as a backwater by the rest of the Union, it is the perfect place for the Colonial Union to build ships it wants kept secret, as everyone knows nothing interesting is happening in the Solar System, and if anything does happen, its probably bad and they don’t really want to know.   

Work was also begun on two new designs in the Solar yards.  These were smaller ships, less sensational than the stupendous superdreadnoughts that the government was going to such lengths to hide.  These were the Rommel class CLE and the Spruance class DDE, designed to counter the Bjering small craft observed in the Tomsk system.  There was some discussion about starting R&D on a small craft capable of engaging the Bjering ‘fighters’, as they were being called, but the Union’s R&D establishment was pretty clear that they were close to a breakthrough on their own fighter development project, so the concept was tabled, for now. 
 

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Cold War: Month 185 Update, Bjering Alliance
« Reply #179 on: June 22, 2021, 03:06:36 PM »
Bjering Alliance Update, Month 185

Bjering
Total Income (All Sources): 37,419 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 19,320 Mcr’s (52%)

Primary Fleet Deployments
Alpha Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVL, 2xCVS, 3xDD, 5xCT, 60xF1
Beta Fleet (Surtr): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 1xCVE, 6xCT, 30xF0
Delta Fleet (Home System): 3xBC, 1xCVS, 3xDD, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 30xF1
Epsilon Fleet (Tomsk): 3xBC, 2xCVS, 2xCVE, 8xCT, 60xF0
Gamma Fleet (Gunnar System): 3xBC, 1xCVE, 8xCT, 12xF0
Strategic Reserve (Home System): 1xML, 9xCVS, 162xF0

Under Construction: 2xML, 1xCV
Refits: 6xBS4, 3xBC
Reactivation from Mothballs: 3xBC

The Bjering are currently developing systems available at HT-9, and have begun deploying improved F-1 fighters to the fleet.  There are no plans to enlarge the fleet at this time, aside from ships already under construction, and instead resources are being focused on colonization and industrial expansion. 

In month 185, Bjering survey ships working on the fringes of their territory established contact with a planet-bound alien race inhabiting a newly discovered type ST planet.  This race is at approximately the same technology level that Earth was during the Renaissance era, and fortunately is open and apparently unafraid of their visitors.  Initial contact attempts are going well. 

The Bjering and the humans of the Tomsk Union have grown much closer over the last ten months, and the assistance provided by the Bjering to repel the attack by the Colonial Union has hastened the trends that were already taking place.  Most barriers to travel between the two nations have been either reduced or eliminated, and the militaries of both nations spend much time exercising together.  All signs point to this trend continuing, and the two governments have begun making plans for the eventual merger of the two nations.  For all of this, the Bjering have a far different outlook than the Tomsk-humans.  While the Tomsk Union is laser focused on the threat from the Colonial Union, and is thus focused inwards, the Bjering are focused outwards.  The bulk of their fleet is deployed out of their home system, and much of their construction efforts are focused on building defenses in forward positions to defend their extended territory. 

In spite of this difference in outlook, there is great respect and even friendship between the two nations, and their alliance will certainly continue into the future.

Tomsk Union
Total Income (All Sources): 36,275 MCr’s
Total Upkeep: 9255 MCr’s (25%)

Fleet Dispositions
Home Fleet (Tomsk): 9xBC, 9xCL, 9xDD, 10xES
Fortress Moon (over the Capital): 3xOffensive PDC
Planetary Defenses (Capital): 7xPDC, 5,000 PCF (some based in the PDC’s and thus hidden)
Orbital Defenses (Capital): 6xArmed Station, 4xDefensive Station

Under Construction: 6xBS2
Refit: 6xOrbital armed stations

As noted above, the Tomsk Union is focused on events in the Colonial Union, and on the threat the Union poses to their capital.  Because of this threat, the Tomsk Union’s focus on fortifying their home system will likely continue into the future.  With the new technology now under development, including fighter technology, the Tomsk Union will likely be finding ways to deploy fighters throughout all of their defenses, as it does not appear that the Colonial Union has achieved that level of technology yet. 

Their close brush with disaster during the recent attempted invasion by the Colonial Union has convinced the Tomsk Union to get serious about fortifying the Tomsk system, which is rightfully viewed as the heart of the Union.  Mines have been placed directly on the closed warp point that leads to the Colonial Union, and additional buoys and mines are being built.  The six warp point defense bases destroyed during the attack have been replaced already, by bases intended to bolster the defenses, and new bases will be built in the near future to increase the defenses.  Work will also continue on fortifying the fortress moon of Krepost.  To eliminate the possibility of collateral damage, the population of the moon was relocated to several other lunar mining outposts throughout the system prior to the invasion, and the entire moon has been posted as being off limits for civilians.  A massive project is underway to fortify the orbital shipyard stations, turning those stations into hybrid shipyards-defensive stations, meaning that the yards will be able to defend themselves and the planet below.  This project was only partially finished when the Colonial Union invaded, and the failed attempt to invade the system has given the government much motivation to continue the project. 

Once fighters and their associated systems have been developed, the Union intends to make a massive investment in ships and bases to carry these new weapons in the hopes that they will make the system too expensive to take by any aggressor. 
 
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