Author Topic: Personal Log: Vice Admiral Benjamin Fuentes (14)  (Read 3378 times)

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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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Personal Log: Vice Admiral Benjamin Fuentes (14)
« on: August 13, 2007, 10:42:30 AM »
Personal Log: Vice Admiral Benjamin Fuentes, USS Ticonderoga

May 29th 2155
The Expeditionary Force has finally arrived in Spokane. For the moment, we shall remain near the Austin jump point while Sterett continues her communication attempts with the aliens. In the three months since Captain Santaniello wrote his original intelligence report, there has been no progress in understanding the aliens and several members of his contact team are expressing an opinion that communication will ultimately prove impossible because they suspect the aliens are telepathic. My personal opinion is that these incomprehensible bugs are a clear and present danger to the United States and we should be using our obviously superior technology to wipe them out before they become a problem. However, my orders are quite specific that no action should be taken unless the aliens make the first hostile move, although the orders are vague on what constitutes a ?hostile move?.

As of May 29th, my force comprises:
2x Essex class CV: Eagle, Endeavour
1x Ticonderoga class CLE: Ticonderoga
1x Lexington class CJ: Yorktown
2x Sprunce class DE: Spruance, Kinkaid
3x Fletcher class DD: Hudson, Radford, Robinson
1x Buffalo class FSC: Buffalo Bill
Second Fighter-bomber Wing ?Sun Devils? (18x F-1 ?Phantom? Fighter-bomber)
Fifth Fighter-bomber Wing ?Gunfighters? (18x F-1 ?Phantom? Fighter-bomber)
Seventh Fighter-bomber Wing ?Mr. Jiggs? (18x F-1 ?Phantom? Fighter-bomber)
Eighth Fighter-bomber Wing ?Starfighters? (18x F-1 ?Phantom? Fighter-bomber)
Tenth Interceptor Wing ?Jersey Devils? (14x F-2 ?Lightning? Interceptor)
Twelfth Interceptor Wing ?Bandits ? (14x F-3 ?Shooting Star? Interceptor)

Although I am unlikely to receive any reinforcements in the near future, at least until the first of the new ships with the Magneto-plasma Drive leaves the shipyards, two carriers with one hundred fighters should be more than enough to deal with any problems that might arise. I am tempted to take my ships into alien sensor range to see how they react but a board of enquiry would probably decide that constituted one of the ?provactive actions?, which my orders clearly state I am to avoid. I continue to live in hope that the aliens will do something stupid, which might make life difficult for Captain Santaniello and her crew but removing these aliens would no doubt be in the long term interests of the United States.

28th February 2156
We have now been in Spokane for nine months, during which time the contact team has grown increasingly frustrated at their inability to communicate with the aliens. They are now convinced we are dealing with a purely telepathic race who do not even use a written language or mathematical notation. Despite the obvious desire of the aliens to continue trying, the leader of the contact team has formally notified me that communication cannot be established. While I would prefer to remain and continue the futile communication attempts while I send one of the survey ships for new orders, a second problem has arisen. The jump cruiser Yorktown has used ninety percent of her spares and she is the only ship capable of escorting the major units of the fleet out of Spokane. According to the latest news from Wainwright, which has been performing a message service between Spokane and the JGN system of New York, the Yorktown?s sister ship Lexington has been dispatched to relieve her but even she is down to one fifth of her spares and they are the only two large jump-capable ships in the US Navy. We simply cannot take the chance of being cut-off here so I intend to withdraw the fleet until we have reliable long-term jump support. I will also be submitting a report asking for an inquiry into how the Navy can let itself get into a situation where its only two jump-capable cruisers will require an overhaul at the same time, potentially leaving its capital units unable to operate outside the jump gate network.

Despite their apparently peaceful intentions, I still have strong reservations about the aliens in Spokane. For all we know, their communications attempts were never serious and have served as a cover for a military build up. It may also be that a change of government could drastically change their foreign policy. A startling indication of their industrial strength and capability has been the speed at which they are terraforming Spokane-B II. While we are too far away to see any ships or other activity, the oxygen content of the atmosphere has risen by almost 0.065 atm in just nine months. Assuming a similar level of terraforming technology to our own, that would require seventy terraforming modules, or thirty-five of our Genesis class terraformers. In comparison, we operate three Genesis class ships. While Spokane-B II will still require a lot of work  because its surface temperature is 95C, this race will obviously not see that as an insurmountable problem. In addition to the two existing habitable worlds, Spokane-B III and Spokane-C II and the terraforming work on Spokane-B II, there are two other bodies in the system with thin oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres. It is entirely possible that in the not-too-distant future this system will have five ideal habitable worlds, with all the industrial potential that implies. Therefore I will be submitting my strong recommendation that the potential of this alien race should be considered a significant threat, whatever their current intentions, and that steps should be taken to neutralise that threat before it becomes too great for us to handle. If this results in us striking at an innocent race, then we will have possession of a system with the potential for five habitable worlds to ease our collective consciences.

April 5th 2156
The fleet has just jumped into New York so we are back in full communication status, thanks to the jump gate network. Fleet Headquarters on Lincoln has informed me that seven days ago we signed a non-aggression treaty with the Commonwealth and are looking into the possibility of technical exchanges. I regard this as excellent news as we have never had any serious tension with the Commonwealth and given recent events it seems to be an ideal time to formalise that relationship. Obviously we have not informed the Commonwealth of the discovery of the alien race in Spokane so they presumably believe they scored a major diplomatic victory considering the tension with the Manchurians in recent years.

18th April 2156
The first technical exchange has been agreed between the United States and the Commonwealth. We will supply details of the Magneto-Plasma Drive in exchange for advanced shipbuilding technology that will increase our ship construction rate by almost thirty percent. While I am not sure giving away our speed advantage is a good idea, it will take the Commonwealth some time to catch up and the ability to build ships more quickly may prove vitally important in the years ahead.

Our own scientists have recently improved the efficiency of our jump engine technology and developed a new jump engine that has the same capabilities as the J10000 model used in the Lexington class but is 15% smaller and 28% cheaper. The J102 Jump Drive is part of a new Lexington II class equipped with MPD engines that will increase our jump-capable force and avoid the problems that caused me to pull the fleet out of Spokane. Two Lexington IIs have been laid down down in Earth?s shipyards and will be ready in March 2158. The Lexington has also entered the yard for a minor overhaul, temporarily leaving the Yorktown as our only large jump-capable ship. As soon as Lexington is back in service, it will be Yorktown?s turn for an overhaul so let us hope we have no serious crises in the next few months.

Code: [Select]
Lexington II class Jump Cruiser    10200 tons     1071 Crew     1716 BP      Signature 204-1040
5098 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 24-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 15    

J102 Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10200 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Magneto-plasma Drive (13)    Power 80    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 250,000 Litres    Range 151.3 billion km   (343 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  168 Litres per day

Quad 12cm Laser Turret (2x4)   Range 64,000km    TS: 12500 km/s    Power 16-16    RM 3   ROF 5   4 4 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 32-12800 (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Tokamak Fusion Reactor  (2)     Total Power Output 32    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)     Strength 4     Detect Signature 100: 4m km

May 2nd 2156
The fleet is finally back in Lincoln orbit. Although it is only just over thirteen months since we left, the nine months  we spent in Spokane seemed interminable. It will be good to get some leave, see my family and sleep in my own home.

Steve
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Strega

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« Reply #1 on: August 15, 2007, 08:08:01 PM »
I see Curtis LeMay has been reincarnated.  The U.S. needs to vet its admirals a bit more carefully, I think.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Strega »
 

Offline Þórgrímr

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« Reply #2 on: August 17, 2007, 03:58:22 PM »
Quote from: "Strega"
I see Curtis LeMay has been reincarnated.  The U.S. needs to vet its admirals a bit more carefully, I think.


So you think the US should get rid of their officers who have the fighting spirit to properly defend the United States for lap dogs who only wag their tails and slink away in the face of the enemy?

I DON'T THINK SO!  :twisted:



Cheers,
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Þórgrímr »
Sic vis pacem, para bellum
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