Author Topic: 2150AD Campaign - Repost  (Read 4987 times)

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Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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2150AD Campaign - Repost
« on: January 26, 2008, 08:34:32 AM »
As with the other recent campaigns, I am reposting this due to the older posts being cut short

The idea for the campaign is based loosely on an eighties role-playing game called 2300AD. In  2300AD, there was a devastating Third World War in the early 21st century and the balance of power in the world shifted considerably. Many countries disappeared or were absorbed and new countries arose. The French Empire dominated the post-war world and the USA lost Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Southern California to Mexico. I guess its possible a Frenchman designed the game ?  As humanity expanded into space, three major arms of exploration and colonization opened up; the French Arm, the Chinese Arm and the American Arm. Each arm also contained the territories of smaller powers, known as fingers.

For my new Aurora campaign I will be setting up a similar situation. The year is 2150 and its been a hundred years since several, devastating large scale wars destroyed much of the planet?s infrastructure. The major areas of conflict included the Far East, where an expansionist China was eventually involved in a war with India, Japan and Russia. With no US intervention due to the problems in the Americas, the three powers finally halted China at extreme cost and all four countries began a sharp decline in their fortunes. Eventually, China broke up and a new power, Manchuria, emerged from the rubble. Recovering more quickly than her neighbours, Manchuria quickly conquered much of the East Asian Landmass and only Japan, taking advantage of her defensive strength as an island, was able to hold her at bay.

In Europe, the UK secceeded from the EU in 2015 following a national referendum and returned to her roots as a trading nation, rebuilding her shipbuilding and manufacturing industries and concentrating on high tech industries and a well-educated workforce. As her shipping once more began to dominate the world?s oceans, the Royal Navy was expanded, often buying surplus warships from the diminishing US Navy. Despite the creation of a Pan-Islamic Republic strenching from the Atlantic to the Himalayas in the late 2030?s, Europe seemed oblivious to the danger and continued to spend greater and greater sums on welfare and social programs as her armies rusted away. When the Pan-Islamic Republic finally launched an all-out assault on a virtually undefended Europe in 2045, the UK stayed out of the fighting, although she supplied the desperate European nations with armaments. Finally, the French used nuclear weapons to halt the Islamic advance and the PIR responded in kind, resulting in massive loss of life on both sides and an end to the fighting. With Europe a shadow of its former self, the UK assumed a dominant role in the region and its traders and corporations bought up much of Europe?s assets in exchange for disaster relief efforts. Several European nations accepted entry into the UK-led Commonwealth of Nations, making William V their head of state.

In the Americas during the 2020s, growing tensions over massive illegal immigration into the southern US began sparking incidents on the Mexican border as vigilantes began shooting immigrants on sight. Many Latin countries greatly resented the situation and were envious of the power and living standards of the US. Gradually an anti-US coalition formed among the Latin states and when a firefight broke out between Mexican army units and a US border patrol, the situation deteriorated rapidly as both sides called in reinforcements. The US launched retaliatory bombing raids against Mexico and the whole Western hemisphere erupted in a general anti-US war. For thirty years, the US was tied down in a long and bloody war, able to knock out the regular armed forces of its opponents relatively easily but unable to hold territory against ceaseless guerilla opposition. Terrorism in the US itself grew to epidemic proportions. Faced with such a conflict, the US was forced to increase the size of its army considerably and the navy was downsized accordingly. Unable to influence the wars in the Far East or the conflict raging in Europe, the US withdrew all its forces to the Americas and adopted an isolationist attitude to the rest of the world. The conflict ended only when a new US President, elected on a tidal wave of resentment against the Latin countries, began using tactical nuclear weapons to deal with insurgents. Rather than try and dig the guerillas out of the jungle, US aircraft simply flattened the entire area regardless of civilian casualties. Faced with devastating losses, the countries of the Latin Alliance finally gave up their struggle and tried to rebuild their shattered economies.

By 2060, the world had calmed down compared with the tumultuous preceding decades. Manchuria, the Commonwealth and the United States were the world?s major powers and several smaller nations or alliances were minor powers. The discovery of Trans-Newtonian elements and jump point theory in 2065 turned humanity?s eyes toward space and a new age of exploration and colonization. Over the next eighty-five years the three major powers expanded into space, each taking responsibility for one of Sol?s three jump points.

Setup Rules
1000m pop each on Earth with player race setup
300,000 RP each
50,000 BP of Ship Construction each
One jump point each.
All systems within three transits of jump point discovered.
All systems have geological survey.
All but outer ring have jump point survey.
One planet in the extra-solar territory can be given homeworld minerals.
Terraforming up to a total of 0.2 atm of gas can be performed on any combination of planets.
Races can setup installations and populations equal to ? of their Earth-based population and installations, plus two levels of maintenance facility and a commercial freight facility, anywhere in their territory.
Any automated mines on Earth can be moved.
10 years worth of commanders are allowed (using the new Replace Officer Corps option in v1.7)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2008, 08:38:45 AM »
Commonwealth

Astrography
The Commonwealth Arm comprises eighteen systems and four ideal worlds but is short on minerals and has only one promising candidate for terraforming. Its primary advantage is that its capital planet Leonidas, in the Sparta trinary system, is closer to Earth than the major planets of the other powers. Sparta is the heart of the Commonwealth?s extra-solar territory and has seven jump points, including the connection to Sol. Leonidas is the third planet of Sparta-A and, apart from a couple of tiny asteroids, is the only body in the system with any minerals at all. Even most of its own mineral deposits are hard to mine, with four of them at 0.1 accessibility. Fortunately, it has six hundred thousand tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium, not to mention a very pleasant climate, which makes it up for its other shortcomings. Eighty percent of the Commonwealth?s out-system population and industry is concentrated on Leonidas, including two hundred million colonists and all five shipyards, and it is the main base of the Commonwealth Navy. The rest of Commonwealth territory is split into five sections, known as chains, each originating with a system connecting to Sparta. The Mycenae and Luxor systems both connect to Sparta and also to Argos, forming a small loop within their chain. Corinth, adjacent to Sparta, contains the second largest Commonwealth colony, with forty million inhabitants, and is the Commonwealth?s primary extra-solar research facility. Troy and Athens, both in the Ithaca chain, have five million inhabitants each but no industry while Pylos in the Thessalonica chain contains the Commonwealth?s largest mining colony. The third planet of Alexandria, also in the Thessalonica chain, is in the final stages of being terraformed and is the site of alien ruins that include several intact structures as well as a number of abandoned installations. More alien ruins and abandoned installations are located in Delphi, adjacent to Corinth.

Technology
Due to its trading and manufacturing background, the Commonwealth has concentrated on industrial technology with missiles being its primary weapons. No fighters have been developed and energy weapon technology is very limited.

Researched Racial Capabilities:
Construction Rate: 12 BP
Mining Production: 20 Tons
Research Rate: 320 RP
Shipbuilding Rate: 900 BP
Terraforming Rate: 0.0012 atm

United States

Astrography
The American Arm comprises twenty-two systems and is blessed with an abundance of minerals, four ideal worlds and several more planets that can be terraformed relatively quickly. The uninhabited New York system is the crossroads of American territory with seven of its nine jump points clustered within two billion klometers of the system primary, one of which connects to Sol. Another connects to the Washington system, which contains Lincoln, the capital planet of the American Arm. Lincoln has a similar population and level of industry as the Commonwealth capital but unlike Leonidas, its mineral resources are readily accessible, with only one mineral below 0.5, albeit with only a quarter the amount of Duranium. Its climate is far less pleasant than Leonidas as Lincoln was not originally habitable by humans and was terraformed to reduce its temperature. Most of the planet is still covered by quadruple canopy jungle and many Lincolnians hunt the ferocious indigineous fauna for sport, while trying to avoid several species of carnivorous flora. On the fifth planet of the Washington systems are scattered alien ruins under investigation by American archaeologists. The second largest colony of the United States, Jefferson in the Denver system, has forty million inhabitants and is the American Arm?s main research centre. Denver is also home to a large asteroid mining operation which, like Jefferson, is in orbit of Denever?s G-class companion star. Two more colonies, each with five million population, are located in the Boston and Dallas systems, the former directly linked to New York and the latter two jumps from New York via Honolulu. Two worlds orbiting the C component of the San Diego quaternary system, which lies beyond New Washington, both have breathable atmospheres, acceptable gravity and considerable mineral resources. San Diego-C I has a temperature of 54C, giving it a colony cost of 0.5, while San Diego-C II has a temperature of -26C for a colony cost of 1.2. However, San Diego-C orbits the primary at thirty billion kilometers, or five times the distance from Earth to Pluto. In the near future, the United States will have to make a major decision as to whether to terraform these desirable but badly located planets.

Technology
The United States has specialised in fighters and to a lesser extent in missiles. Their limited laser technology is for defensive purposes only and no research has been carried out into other energy weapons. Example of their most advanced technologies are shown below:

Code: [Select]
12cm C4 Near Ultraviolet Laser
Damage Output 4     Rate of Fire: 5 seconds     Range Modifier: 3
Max Range 120,000 km     Laser Size: 4    Laser HTK: 2
Power Requirement: 4    Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 4
Cost: 24    Crew: 40

Aegis Fire Control
50% Accuracy at Range: 128,000 km     Tracking Speed: 12800 km/s
Size: 16    HTK: 1    Cost: 144    Crew: 80

F-1 Fighter Bomber
Fighter Size: 6     Launch Rails: 4     Dogfight Attack: 0%
Speed: 8,000 km/s    Endurance: 75 minutes   Range: 36m km
Fire Control Range: 400,000 km    Sensor Strength: 0
Cost Per Fighter: 66

F-2 Interceptor
Fighter Size: 6     Launch Rails: 4     Dogfight Attack: 0%
Speed: 12,000 km/s    Endurance: 16.7 minutes   Range: 12m km
Fire Control Range: 400,000 km    Sensor Strength: 0
Cost Per Fighter: 66

B-1 Bomber
Fighter Size: 12     Launch Rails: 8     Dogfight Attack: 0%
Speed: 8,000 km/s    Endurance: 87.5 minutes   Range: 42m km
Fire Control Range: 400,000 km    Sensor Strength: 0
Cost Per Fighter: 130

RGM-1 Anti-Ship Missile
Missile Size: 4     Warhead: 3    Armour: 0
Speed: 18,000 km/s    Endurance: 33 seconds   Range: 594k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 2.25
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 180%   3k km/s 60%   5k km/s 36%   10k km/s 18%

AGM-1 Fast Attack Missile
Missile Size: 4     Warhead: 3    Armour: 0
Speed: 24,000 km/s    Endurance: 12 seconds   Range: 288k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 2.25
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 240%   3k km/s 80%   5k km/s 48%   10k km/s 24%

AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile
Missile Size: 4     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0
Speed: 24,000 km/s    Endurance: 12 seconds   Range: 288k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 20
Cost Per Missile: 4.25
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 480%   3k km/s 160%   5k km/s 96%   10k km/s 48%

Titan-V ICBM
Missile Size: 12     Warhead: 12    Armour: 0
Speed: 24,000 km/s    Endurance: 1 seconds   Range: 24k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 6.6
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 240%   3k km/s 80%   5k km/s 48%   10k km/s 24%

BGM-1 Anti-Ship Missile
Missile Size: 12     Warhead: 8    Armour: 0
Speed: 18,000 km/s    Endurance: 38 seconds   Range: 684k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 6.8
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 180%   3k km/s 60%   5k km/s 36%   10k km/s 18%

Researched Racial Capabilities:
Construction Rate: 12 BP
Fighter Base Capacity: 70
Fighter Production: 14 BP
Fuel Production: 12,000 Litres
Mining Production: 16 Tons
Research Rate: 280 RP
Shipbuilding Rate: 700 BP
Terraforming Rate 0.0012 atm

Example Ship Designs

Code: [Select]
Essex class Carrier    10000 tons     2362 Crew     1930 BP      Signature 200-720
3600 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 18-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Hangar Bay Capacity 300    Magazine 1200    Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (12)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (9)   Total Fuel Cost  126 Litres per day

AGM-1 Fast Attack Missile (240)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (60)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 1    Size: 4

Strike Group
36x F-1 Fighter-Bomber   Speed: 8000 km/s    Range: 36m km      Launch Rails: 4     Size: 6
14x F-2 Interceptor   Speed: 12000 km/s    Range: 12m km      Launch Rails: 4     Size: 6
Code: [Select]
Lexington class Jump Cruiser    10000 tons     1034 Crew     1597 BP      Signature 200-720
3600 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 16-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

J10000(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (12)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (8)   Total Fuel Cost  112 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
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)  Strength 4   Detect Signature 10: 0.4m km   Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Code: [Select]
Ticonderoga class Escort Cruiser    10000 tons     1081 Crew     1461 BP      Signature 200-720
3600 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 24-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (12)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  168 Litres per day

Quad 12cm Laser Turret (3x4)   Range 120,000km   TS: 12500 km/s   Power 16-16   RM 3   ROF 5   4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Aegis Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (6)     Total Power Output 54    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)  Strength 4   Detect Signature 10: 0.4m km   Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Code: [Select]
Spruance class Destroyer Escort    6650 tons     700 Crew     1047 BP      Signature 133-480
3609 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 20-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 5    

Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 92.8 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  140 Litres per day

Quad 12cm Laser Turret (2x4)   Range 64,000km    TS: 12500 km/s    Power 16-16   RM 3   ROF 5   4 4 4 3 2 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 32-12800 (2)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Code: [Select]
Fletcher class Destroyer    6150 tons     720 Crew     870 BP      Signature 123-480
3902 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 20-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 600    Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 100.3 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  140 Litres per day

S4-60 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-120 (1)    Range: 1200k km
RGM-1 Anti-Ship Missile (102)  Speed: 18,000 km/s   Endurance: 33 secs    Range: 594k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AGM-1 Fast Attack Missile (24)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (24)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 1    Size: 4

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)  Strength 4   Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Code: [Select]
Oliver H Perry class Survey Ship    5000 tons     475 Crew     868 BP      Signature 100-420
4200 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 6/0/3/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

J5000(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 5000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (7)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 185.1 billion km   (510 days at full power)

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT3-6 (1)     Strength 6     Detect Signature 100: 6m km
Grav Pulse Detection Sensor PD1-2 (1)     Strength 2     Detect Strength 10: 20m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (3)   3 Survey Points
Code: [Select]
Belknap class Geosurvey Ship    3750 tons     350 Crew     694 BP      Signature 75-300
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/3     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 5    

J3750(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 3750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 246.9 billion km   (714 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (3)   3 Survey Points
Code: [Select]
Buffalo class Fleet Scout    2850 tons     265 Crew     372 BP      Signature 57-300
5263 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 10/10/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 5    

Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 216.5 billion km   (476 days at full power)

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-10 (1)     Strength 10     Detect Signature 100: 10m km
Gravitational Pulse Sensor GP5-10 (1)     Strength 10     Detect Size 100: 10m km
Grav Pulse Detection Sensor PD5-10 (1)     Strength 10     Detect Strength 10: 100m km
Code: [Select]
Texas class Fuel Harvester    10000 tons     870 Crew     1118 BP      Signature 200-420
2100 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 25    
Fuel Harvester: 12 modules producing 192000 litres per annum

Ion Engine (7)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 123.4 billion km   (680 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
Portland class Tanker    3750 tons     425 Crew     544 BP      Signature 75-300
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

J3750(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 3750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 1234.3 billion km   (3571 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
San Francisco class Construction Ship    10000 tons     990 Crew     1258 BP      Signature 200-660
3300 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 25    
Jump Gate Construction Ship: 180 days

Ion Engine (11)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 123.4 billion km   (432 days at full power)

Manchurian Empire

Astrography
The Manchurian Arm has twenty systems but only has one habitable planet. However, there are several potential terraforming sites and sixteen Manchurian systems remain unsurveyed, giving the Manchurian Arm the most avenues for future expansion. In addition, their capital planet has reasonable quantities of all minerals at good accessibilities and all their extra-solar population and industry, including two hundred automated mines, are located on New Beijing. The Manchurian Arm begins with the planetless Chongqing system, which connects to Sol and also to the systems of New Beijing, Kunming and Harbin, which have four, seven and eight jump points respectively. The other sixteen systems are spread out around the central core, almost like the wings and tail of a bird. During their original explorations of the Manchurian Arm, the Manchurians did not find any habitable planets and New Beijing is the result of an extensive terraforming effort. Even now, the desert planet is not a particularly pleasant place, with an average surface temperature of forty-two degrees Celsius. Although there are several other candidiates for terraforming, little work has been carried out so far because of the concentration on New Beijing. Finding new habitable planets is a priority for the Empire.

Technology
The Manchurians have specialised in lasers and torpedoes with only limited research into missiles and none into fighters. Examples of their most advanced technologies are shown below

Code: [Select]
Fusion Torpedo Launcher
Torpedo Warhead 6     Rate of Fire: 20 seconds     Maximum Range: 200,000 km
Launcher Size: 8    Launcher HTK: 4
Power Requirement: 15    Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 4
Cost: 69    Crew: 80

15cm C3 Ultraviolet Laser
Damage Output 6     Rate of Fire: 10 seconds     Range Modifier: 4
Max Range 240,000 km     Laser Size: 4    Laser HTK: 2
Power Requirement: 6    Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 3
Cost: 29    Crew: 40

12cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser
Damage Output 4     Rate of Fire: 5 seconds     Range Modifier: 4
Max Range 160,000 km     Laser Size: 4    Laser HTK: 2
Power Requirement: 4    Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 4
Cost: 32    Crew: 40

Triple 12cm Laser Turret
Damage Output 4x3      Rate of Fire: 5 seconds     Range Modifier: 4
Max Range 160,000 km    Turret Size: 21    Armour: 1    Turret HTK: 6
Power Requirement: 12    Power Recharge per 5 Secs: 12
Cost: 153    Crew: 120

Fire Control 128K-3200
50% Accuracy at Range: 128,000 km     Tracking Speed: 3200 km/s
Size: 4    HTK: 1    Cost: 72    Crew: 20

Armoured Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor
Power Output: 22     Internal Armour: 1     Explosion Chance: 5
Reactor Size: 7    Reactor HTK: 3
Cost: 82    Crew: 25
Armour Type: Composite Armour

J10000(3-50) Jump Drive
Max Ship Size: 200 (10000 tons)     Max Squadron Size: 3     Max Dist: 50
Jump Engine Size: 40    Efficiency: 5    Jump Engine HTK: 8
Cost: 400    Crew: 200

ICBM
Missile Size: 12     Warhead: 12    Armour: 0
Speed: 16,000 km/s    Endurance: 1 seconds   Range: 16k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 5.4
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 160%   3k km/s 50%   5k km/s 32%   10k km/s 16%

GL-1 Anti-Ship Missile
Missile Size: 12     Warhead: 5    Armour: 0
Speed: 16,000 km/s    Endurance: 29 seconds   Range: 464k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 10
Cost Per Missile: 5.05
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 160%   3k km/s 50%   5k km/s 32%   10k km/s 16%

GL-2 Anti-Ship Missile
Missile Size: 12     Warhead: 5    Armour: 0
Speed: 12,000 km/s    Endurance: 38 seconds   Range: 456k km
Manoeuvre Rating: 25
Cost Per Missile: 8.2
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 300%   3k km/s 100%   5k km/s 60%   10k km/s 30%

Researched Racial Capabilities:
Construction Rate: 14 BP
Fuel Production: 12,000 Litres
Mining Production: 16 Tons
Research Rate: 280 RP
Shipbuilding Rate: 700 BP
Terraforming Rate 0.0015 atm

Starting Fleet
2x Han class Jump Cruiser
6x Harbin class Fuel Harvester
3x Houjian class Science vessel
3x Jiangwei class Survey Ship
4x Luda class Destroyer Escort
6x Luhu class freighter
4x Manchu class Battlecruiser
6x Wuhan class Colony Ship
2x Xian class Area Defence Cruiser
6x Yangtse class Terraformer
1x Zedong class Tanker

Ship Designs

Code: [Select]
Manchu class Battlecruiser    10000 tons     1170 Crew     1680 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 50-300     Sensors 6/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (274 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (25)   Total Fuel Cost  350 Litres per day

Fusion Torpedo Launcher (7)    Range 200,000km     TS: 3900 km/s     Power 15-4    ROF 20        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Fire Control 128K-3200 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 3200 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-6 (1)  Strength 6   Detect Signature 10: 0.6m km   Detect Signature 100: 6m km
Code: [Select]
Xian class Area Defence Cruiser    10000 tons     1003 Crew     1492 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 42-300     Sensors 15/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (274 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (21)   Total Fuel Cost  294 Litres per day

Triple 15cm Laser Turret (3x3)  Range 240,000km    TS: 12800 km/s   Power 18-9   RM 4    ROF 10  6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Area Fire Control System (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-15 (1)  Strength 15   Detect Signature 10: 1.5m km   Detect Signature 100: 15m km
Code: [Select]
Luda class Destroyer Escort    6400 tons     648 Crew     1016 BP      Signature 128-540
4218 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 22-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (9)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 96.4 billion km   (264 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (11)   Total Fuel Cost  154 Litres per day

Triple 12cm Laser Turret (2x3)  Range 64,000km   TS: 13250 km/s   Power 12-12   RM 4    ROF 5     4 4 4 4 3 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control 32K-12800 (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Code: [Select]
Jiangwei class Survey Ship    3750 tons     350 Crew     694 BP      Signature 75-300
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/3/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 5    

J3750(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 3750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 246.9 billion km   (714 days at full power)

Gravitational Survey Sensors (3)   3 Survey Points
Code: [Select]
Houjian class Science Vessel    3750 tons     350 Crew     694 BP      Signature 75-300
4000 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/3     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 5    

J3750(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 3750 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (5)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 246.9 billion km   (714 days at full power)

Geological Survey Sensors (3)   3 Survey Points
Code: [Select]
Han class Jump Freighter    10000 tons     725 Crew     1223 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 15/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    Replacement Parts 5    

J10000(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres    Range 246.9 billion km   (732 days at full power)

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-15 (1)  Strength 15  Detect Signature 10: 1.5m km  Det Signature 100: 15m km
This design is classed as a freighter for maintenance purposes
Code: [Select]
Harbin class Fuel Harvester    10000 tons     870 Crew     1118 BP      Signature 200-420
2100 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 25    
Fuel Harvester: 12 modules producing 192000 litres per annum

Ion Engine (7)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 123.4 billion km   (680 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
Luhu class Freighter    9400 tons     420 Crew     710 BP      Signature 188-660
3510 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Cargo 50000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    Replacement Parts 5    

Ion Engine (11)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 98.5 billion km   (324 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
Wuhan class Colony Ship    9850 tons     510 Crew     1673 BP      Signature 197-720
3654 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Colonists 100000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 15    Replacement Parts 5    

Ion Engine (12)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 94.0 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
Yangtse class Terraformer    8550 tons     745 Crew     1372 BP      Signature 171-360
2105 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 25    
Terraformer: 2 module(s) producing 0.003 atm per annum

Ion Engine (6)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 72.2 billion km   (396 days at full power)
Code: [Select]
Zedong class Tanker    5000 tons     590 Crew     767 BP      Signature 100-360
3600 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

J5000(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 5000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (6)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,300,000 Litres    Range 1604.6 billion km   (5158 days at full power)
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2008, 08:46:13 AM »
2150 Report

United States
During 2150, the United States concentrated on increasing the population of Lincoln and transferring construction factories to the colony. Two jump gates were built either side of the Sol ? New York jump point and two more are under construction at the New York ? Washington jump point. Research into better power reactors and increased wealth generation was carried out. Three systems were surveyed and two new jump points were explored, increasing the size of the American Arm to twenty-four systems.

Commonwealth
During 2150 the Commonwealth moved several million colonists and two entire shipyards to Leonidas, as well as establishing a small colony on the newly terraformed planet in the Alexandria system. Two jump gates were built at the Sol ? Sparta jump point to connect the capital of the Commonwealth Arm to the homeworld and two more are under construction at the Sparta ? Corinth jump point. Exploitation of the ruins in Alexandria and Delphi yielded knowledge of Improved Gravitational Sensors as well as several mines and factories plus a research lab that was transported to the research colony in Corinth. Surveys of Pylos and Alexandria revealed a total of three new jump points, all of which have now been explored, albeit without finding anything of significance. Two new destroyers and six freighters were built and an improvement in the rate of wealth creation was researched.

Manchurian Empire
The Manchurians have a less favourable astrographic position than their two rivals as the Manchurian Arm has only one habitable world and that planet is further from Earth than either Leonidas or Lincoln. Efforts to locate new habitable real estate have resulted in the discovery of four new systems, none of which have suitable planets for colonization. With a lack of research specialists, the Manchurians are also falling behind in development of new technologies and have not yet completed their work on improving the rate of wealth creation. Already voices are being raised within the military command council for a military solution to their inherent disadvantages.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2008, 08:48:58 AM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2008, 08:47:25 AM »
The Mukden Incident

On October 12th 2151, the Commonwealth survey ship HMS Discovery transited a jump point in the Tiryns system, two jumps from Sparta, and appeared five billion kilometers from a G-class sub-giant star orbited by four rocky planets, two of which had oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres. While the oxygen pressure in the atmosphere of the fourth planet was far too high for humans, the second planet was ideal. Gravity was acceptable, albeit lower than Earth, while the surface temperature was on the high side at 42C, but survivable without the need for special infrastructure. Within two days, the gravitational survey ships Vanguard and Beagle joined their sister ship along with the three geological survey ships Prospector, Fortune Hunter and Seeker. While the geosurvey ships headed for the outermost planet and its four moons, the gravsurvey ships began searching for jump points.

By October 29th, HMS Prospector had moved on to the desolate third planet, HMS Fortune Hunter was still surveying the fourth planet and HMS Seeker was mid-way between the two, en route to the second planet. As a geological survey ship, Prospector was equipped with powerful geological survey sensors but only weak passive search sensors and no active search or GPD sensors. Therefore there was considerable consternation on her bridge when three 10,000 ton ships were detected at three million kilometers, closing fast on an intercept course. Commander Adam Nicholson, captain of the Prospector, well aware that none of the six Commonwealth ships in the system had any weapons or defensive systems, ordered his ship to immediately run for the jump point five billion kilometers away, while issuing an alert to the other five ships. Fortunately for Prospector, her top speed of 4000 km/s gave her a slight advantage over the approaching ships, which appeared to have a maximum speed of 3900 km/s.

Upon receiving the alert the senior Commonwealth officer in the system, Captain Poppy Rice of the Discovery, ordered her other ships to head for Tiryns and instructed Commander Nicholson to attempt communication with the unknowns. With little hope that he would be understood, Commander Nicholson broadcast a message explaining that his ship was in the system on a mission of peaceful exploration. His answer was a demand to stand down and surrender in Chinese-accented English. Realising the Commonwealth fleet had inadvertently stumbled on a Manchurian system, Nicholson ordered his comm officer to open a video link. The Manchurian commander accepted the link, introduced himself as Vice Admiral Lu Mei Dan and repeated his surrender demand. Knowing he could not reveal the existence of the other five Commonwealth ships, Nicholson expressed his apologies for entering the system and explained he had not realised it was inhabited and that his ship would withdraw immediately.

Admiral Lu refused to accept a simple withdrawal, claiming that Prospector was on a spying mission and no doubt part of a Commonwealth fleet seeking weaknesses in Manchurian defences. Unfortunately, Commander Nicholson tried to calm the situation by claiming that his ship was alone, unaware that Manchurian sensors had already detected HMS Seeker, which only served to increase the level of distrust and ended any hope of extricating the Commonwealth ships without a major diplomatic incident. When Admiral Lu threatened that unless both Commonwealth vessels surrended immediately, the Manchurian Empire would treat this as an invasion and an act of war, Captain Rice ordered Nicholson to cease communications and ignore any further Manchurian transmissions. As far as she was concerned, the diplomats could sort it out on Earth. Her priority was informing the Commonwealth and getting her crews to safety. As her ships could outrun their Manchurian pursuers, her real concern was any previously undetected Manchurian force cutting off their escape.

Over a period of twelve hours starting on November 6th, the three gravitational survey ships escaped through the jump point to Tirynis without detecting any Manchurians. Captain Rice ordered Beagle to travel through Tiryns and Mycenae into Sparta and alert the Fleet and Vanguard to take up position on the Tiryns ? Mycenae jump point. She took her own ship twelve million kilometers from the jump point to the system temporarily designated as Manchurian-1 so she could monitor any pursuit, as well as watching out for the geosurvey ships following several days in their wake. Seven days later the three Prospector class ships arrived, also without incident, and Captain Rice ordered them to follow Beagle to Sparta.

On November 20th, Beagle arrived in Sparta and raised the alarm. Fleet Admiral McDonald, commander of the Commonwealth Battle Fleet took his ten ships out of Leonidas orbit and headed for the Mycenae jump point. With four Victory class missile cruisers, two Illustrious class jump cruisers and four Agincourt class destroyers escorts, he was confident of his ability to prevent any Manchurian move into Tiryns, assuming they knew the location of the jump point from Manchurian-1. The four ships of the Second Destroyer Squadron remained in Leonidas orbit. An alert was flashed to the First Destroyer Squadron in Earth orbit, comprised of four Tribal class missile destroyers, a Tribal Chief class destroyer leader and an Agincourt class destroyer escort, warning of potential Manchurian retaliation within the Sol system. As far as Commonwealth Intelligence was aware, there were no Manchurian jump gates so any message from Manchurian-1 to Sol would have to be carried by ship, giving the Commonwealth a communications advantage.

A cause for considerable concern within the Commonwealth leadership was the superiority of the Manchurian Navy in the Sol system. The formation identified as the First Battle Squadron was in Earth orbit, which comprised two 10,000 ton Manchu class battlecruisers, a Xian class Area Defence Cruiser and a pair of Luda class destroyer escorts. While the missile batteries on Earth would almost certainly be enough to overwhelm the Manchurian fleet, should the First Battle Squadron choose to move away from Earth and attack Commonwealth shipping, the First Destroyer Squadron would be hard pressed to stop them. The Commonwealth Prime Minister was hopeful the entire situation could be calmed down without further incident but he endorsed Fleet Admiral McDonald?s decision to confront any move into Commonwealth territory by Manchurian forces. In addition, he requested the Commonwealth Navy protect all commercial traffic until the crisis was resolved.

Fortunately, all fifteen Commonwealth freighters were outside Sol anyway, most of them on a mission to pick up the large amount of ore extracted by the Pylos Mining Colony. Two colony fleets, with nine ships between them were in the Sol system, one incoming and one outgoing. As the one heading for Earth was close to its destination, Fleet Admiral McDonald ordered it to pick up new colonists and re-enter Sparta as quickly as possible. Until more was known about Manchurian intentions, he planned to hold all Commonwealth ships, except the destroyers, within the Commonwealth Arm. While he suspected the Manchurian Empire might attempt some type of retaliation within Sol, outside range of Earth, he doubted they would be prepared to send ships through the Sol-Sparta jump gate into an unknown system and against defences of unknown strength. To further discourage them, the ordered the First Destroyer Squadron to take up position on the Sol side of the gate while the Second Destroyer Squadron moved to support them on the Sparta side.

Meanwhile back in Tiryns, Captain Rice and the Discovery remained on guard near the Manchurian-1 jump point. Given the speed of the pursuing Manchurian ships, they should have entered Tiryns not long after the three Prospectors so she began to suspect the Manchurians might not know the location of the jump point, either because they had not yet surveyed the system or the Commonwealth entry point was a rare dormant jump point, which did not become detectable until a ship had travelled through it. Two other possibilities were a conscious decision on the part of the Manchurians to break off pursuit and avoid an incident, which seemed unlikely given their attitude in Manchurian-1, or the lack of a jump ship capable of escorting the large Manchurian ships into the jump point. Captain Rice?s pre-mission briefings on the Manchurian Navy suggested that only their Han class jump cruisers were capable of escorting the Manchus and both known Hans had been identified escorting Manchurian freighters and colony ships into and out of Sol. Perhaps the Manchurians had simply been caught with no immediate way to pursue the Commonwealth ships, which meant they might still be coming through, albeit later than expected.

On December 1st, a Manchurian colony fleet entered the Sol system and headed for Earth to pick up the latest batch of colonists. Within an hour of its transit, the Manchurian First Battle Squadron broke Earth orbit and headed for the jump point to Manchurian territory. Simultaneously, the Manchurian ambassador to the Commonwealth registered a strong protest and demanded that the Commonwealth turn over the two spy ships recently discovered in its territory. The Commonwealth foreign office was ready for the accusation and began strenuous efforts to calm the situation, explaining once again that the Commonwealth survey ships had inadvertently entered Manchurian territory but withdrawn as soon as they realised their mistake. As the diplomatic arguments intensified, the Manchurian warships continued their course out of the inner system, leaving the Commonwealth Admiralty to wonder if this was a simple defensive move to protect the jump point connecting Sol with their extra-solar territories or an attempt to reinforce their fleet before they moved into Tiryns. As a precaution, the four ships of the second destroyer squadron were ordered to leave their position at the Sparta ? Sol jump point and move through Mycenae to Tiryns. As the Manchurian colony fleet moved sunward, its escorting Han class jump cruiser broke away and rendezvoused with the First Battle Squadron, allowing the warships to transit into the Manchurian Arm.

By December 9th, the six cruisers and four destroyers of the Commonwealth Battle Fleet arrived at the jump point leading from Tiryns to Manchurian-1 and took up position one point three million kilometers away. Less than twenty-four hours later, six Manchurian ships entered Tiryns, four of which were 10,000 tons and the other two were 6400 tons each. Commonwealth Intelligence was aware of four Manchurian ship types with a 10,000 displacement; the Manchu class battlecruiser, the Xian class Area Defence Cruiser, the Han class jump cruiser and the Harbin class Fuel Harvester. However, two of these ships had shield strengths of 50 and a third had strength-42 shields, marking them as probably two Manchus and a Xian. The fourth ship appeared to be shieldless, which almost certainly identified it as a Han as none of the other large Manchurian classes were believed to be jump-capable.

Fleet Admiral McDonald hailed the Manchurian fleet and demanded they withdraw from Tiryns as, according to the terms of the Exploration Treaty of 2137, which awarded control of a system to the first power to discover it, Tiryns was a Commonwealth system. McDonald had always privately believed the treaty would last as long as two of the major powers didn?t both discover a system with a habitable planet or extensive resources. In this case however the treaty might well hold as Tiryns comprised a dim K5-V orange star and a solitary Mercury-like world in close orbit. His hopes were immediately dashed when Admiral Lu responded that the Manchurian Empire had long claimed Tirnys and the Commonwealth was guilty of thievery and espionage. If McDonald did not surrender the two spy ships and withdraw his force immediately, the Manchurian Fleet would remove them.

In his many years serving the Commonwealth Navy, Fleet Admiral Peter McDonald had studied both the United States and Manchurian Empire extensively, believing that knowledge of his potential adversaries would serve him well if the peace ever broke down. From what he knew of his immediate opponent, Admiral Lu was a competent and patriotic naval officer and, putting aside the cover of the usual ideological harangue, seemed genuinely angry at the intrusion of the Commonwealth ships. He also noted that Admiral Lu was holding his ships on the jump point and so far had made no attempt to approach the Commonwealth force. Because of McDonald?s desire to appear strong but not immediately threatening, his own ships were holding their engines at full readiness to make them visible to anyone transiting the jump point and were waiting outside weapon range. Therefore he knew Admiral Lu?s sensors would be detecting six 10,000 ton ships and four 5000 ton ships, putting the Manchurians at a serious disadvantage. Unless the Manchurians had some weapon technology that had escaped the attention of Commonwealth Intelligence, it was unlikely Admiral Lu really believed he could carry out his threat.

Admiral McDonald hailed his counterpart once more, apologised for the unintended intrusion into Manchurian-1, repeated his claim that the Commonwealth had known of Tiryns for several years and suggested that it was possible both nations had surveyed the system in the past without encountering each other. To avoid unnecessary bloodshed, he requested that Admiral Lu agree to both fleets holding their position while the diplomats on Earth tried to defuse the situation and determine the status of Tiryns. If no accomodation could be reached, McDonald assured Lu that the Commonwealth would not be coerced into leaving a system which it rightfully owned. Within fifteen minutes, the shieldless Manchurian ship transited into Manchurian-1 and returned an hour later. A curt Admiral Lu informed McDonald that because the Manchurian Empire strongly believed in peaceful coexistence, even when confronted by the aggressive and hostile acts of nations with far less honourable intentions, they would agree to temporarily hold in place while the status of Mukden, known to the Commonwealth as Tiryns, was discussed on Earth.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2008, 08:52:25 AM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2008, 08:47:56 AM »
Update: March 2052

In the three months after the incident in the Tiryns/Mukden system, the Commonwealth and Chinese diplomats agreed that both nations discovered the system approximately seven years previously but could not find a way to verify each other?s claims as to who actually entered the system first. Finally, with the aid of mediation efforts by the United States the two sides agreed that the system should be declared a neutral zone, with neither side allowed to station any warships within it. Instead, each side would position a scout ship at the jump point to their territory in order to provide a warning of approaching ships. The entry of Commonwealth ships into the Manchurian-1 system remained a sore point with the Manchurian Empire but they finally admitted that as the Commonwealth had long regarded Tiryns as one of their systems, it was plausible that they had simply been exploring its jump points. The US intervention in the crisis was probably the primary factor in defusing a potential war. While the United States would probably not have been hugely upset to see its two rivals tear each other apart in a war, all three nations still had the majority of their population and industry on Earth and any war between the Commonwealth and Manchurian Empire could have degenerated into a nuclear exchange on Earth, with devastating consequences for all three powers.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2008, 08:50:35 AM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2008, 08:50:22 AM »
Update: January 2053

United States
The USA has continued steady expansion over the last two years, increasing the size of the American Arm to thirty-seven systems. The discovery of an ideal world in the Orlando system and near-ideal worlds in Minneapolis, Charlotte, New Orleans and Milwaukee has increased the advantage of the American Arm in terms of habitable planets, although the USA has not created any new colonies over the last few years, concentrating instead on building up the industry of Lincoln in the Washington system. Research has boosted the USA?s wealth production but its main focus has been improving propulsion technology, primarily because several of its most talented scientific leaders have expertise in this area. The Magneto-Plasma Drive and improved missile and fighter propulsion systems have given the US an edge over its rivals in terms of speed. Four new fighter bases have been constructed, split between Earth and Lincoln, to allow the USA to deploy more fighter squadrons

Manchurian Empire
With only one ideal world, New Beijing, within the thirty-eight systems of the Manchurian Arm, the overriding priority of the Manchurian Empire is to find new habitable planets. So far Manilla-III, a colony cost 1.9 world five jumps from Earth, is the sum total of their efforts. Partly because of the lack of usuable real estate and partly because of the recent confrontation with the Commonwealth, the Empire is building more large warships than either of its rivals, using the shipyards hidden away in the Beijing system. However, the Commonwealth survey ships appeared in that very system, which resulted in an aggressive Chinese response, fearful that the Commonwealth ships would gain detailed sensor reports of their only major extra-solar colony. To this day, the Manchurians still have no idea how much information was gained by the ?spy ships?, although in reality the survey ships had such limited sensors they didn?t even detect the existence of a colony. Despite their agreement to make Mukden a neutrol zone between the Commonwealth and the Empire, Manchurian admirals are planning the eventual campaign to take and hold Mukden and the systems beyond its two other jump points. Their problem, which is shared by the other powers, is that the majority of their population and industry is still on Earth and any conflict that included mutual devastating ICBM strikes would set them back decades. Until New Beijing can be built up to the point where the loss of Earth would be survivable, any plans for war are on hold. Unfortunately for the Empire, New Beijing is further from Earth than the capital planets of the other two powers and its industry on Earth now exceeds that of its rivals. Recently two ruin sites were discovered, one of which held an intact alien installation. The Empire is hoping that these ruins might reveal new technology to give them an edge over the USA and the Commonwealth.

Commonwealth
With only twenty-eight systems, the Commonwealth Arm remains the smallest of the three national territories by a considerable margin. The Commonwealth has not restricted exploration but the Manchurians have been finding more jump points per system and the USA has more survey ships. Although no new ideal worlds have discovered, the recent exploration of the Samarkand system revealed a world with almost perfect conditions, except for an oxygen content slightly below human tolerance. As only a little effort is needed to change this into an ideal world, the Commonwealth?s terraforming fleet has been redeployed from its assigned task in Thessalonica and is now en route to Samarkand.

The Commonwealth benefits from a capital planet closer to Earth than either the USA or the Empire and has therefore moved more industry and population into its territory than its rivals. Earth?s Commonwealth population has actually fallen slightly in the last two years as Commonwealth colony ships have started to outpace population growth. With more Botany Bay class ships under construction, this situation will only intensify over time. The short distance between Earth and Leonidas has also resulted in rapid redeployment of industry and Leonidas has more construction factories than Earth. Although in recent months the transfer of industry has slowed because even with the ready supply of colonists, the population cannot handle the amount of industry that could be delivered. Instead, Commonwealth freighters have moved industry to other colonies, including five research labs to Corinth, taking the total to fifteen, and two more to Troy. These two colonies are specialising in Electronic Warfare and Energy Weapons respectively, providing maximum use of the available scientific leadership.

A major feature of the Commonwealth Arm, compared to the other national territories, is the alien ruins and abandoned installations found therein. Three sites have so far been discovered, and although the technological possibilities of Delphi-III have been exhausted, cybernetic teams at all three sites continue to reactivate old factories and mines. The archaeological teams investigating the ruins have found several new technologies, by far the most useful of which were increases in the rates of research and shipbuilding. Another area in which the Commonwealth is leading the way is in the construction of jump gates. Nine gates are already in operation with two more under construction. This compares to six jump gates for the USA and none for the Empire, although the Empire has two Jump Gate ships under construction and has already stockpiled jump gate components.

A recently recognised problem for the Commonwealth is a shortage of fuel. Both of its rival powers have gas giant mining operations using fleets of fuel harvesters while the Commonwealth has relied on the sorium extracted from planetary bodies. As Leonidas is almost out of fuel and Earth?s supplies are barely keeping pace, it has become obvious that a greater mining and refining capacity is required. Therefore six fuel harvesters have been laid down and Earth has begun construction of additional refineries.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2008, 08:54:47 AM »
The Yunan Encounter

8th November 2153
Commander Guo Wu Zhu, master of the Manchurian survey ship Houjian II, was gently drifting off to sleep on his quiet bridge while his crew monitored the enormous super-jovian around which they orbited. Larger than Jupiter and four times as massive, Yunan-B VI was one of the largest planets ever encountered by the Empire. However, it was little more than a sideshow compared to the system?s true prize. Two ideal habitable planets! Until now, the forty systems of the Manchurian Arm included precisely one habitable world - New Beijing. Three months previously, a Manchurian gravitational survey ship had found the Yunan system, comprising a planetless A4-IV sub giant primary orbited at twelve billion kilometers by a yellow G8-V companion star with seven planets and over a hundred moons. Under strict orders to report any habitable planets, the survey ship had raced back to New Beijing with the news. Houjian II and her two sister ships, under the overall command of Senior Captain Long Bao Dong, had been immediately dispatched to Yunan to carry out a geological survey. On arrival, Senior Captain Long ordered the three ships to split up and survey the three gas giants that lay between the entry jump point and the habitable worlds of the inner system. As gas giants are not exactly the most exciting planets to survey, Commander Guo was happy to let his first officer oversee the task while he dreamed of the wondrous ancient ruins they would find on the habitable worlds. His daydreams were rudely shattered by the automated proximity alarm built into the sensor station.

The sensor officer jumped up from his relaxed slouch and queried his instruments. ?Unknown contact, closing fast at 800,000 kilometers, bearing 200.?
?800,000 kilometers??? gasped Guo, ?Helmsman get us out of here, max speed. Comm officer, inform Senior Captain Long?
?Course, Sir?
?Away from whatever that is until we have more information?
?Contact still closing. Speed 4900 km/s, range 750,000 km. Size estimated at 5000 tons. Shield strength 20?
Commander Guo was well aware his ship?s top speed was only 4000 km/s and there was no way he could outrun the contact
?Any other information you can determine. Could this be another Commonwealth ship spying on the Empire??
?Possibly, sir, although no Commonwealth or United States warship of that size is capable of that speed, as far as we know.?
?Comm Officer. Hail the intruder in Mandarin and English?
?No reply, Sir. Wait, correction. I am getting a signal but it is on an unusual wavelength and appears to be complete gibberish. Could they be non-human, sir??
?Lets restrict ourselves to what we know Zhang and not worry about speculation.? Guo?s own mind was spectulating madly but he knew he had to keep his crew focused.
?Senior Captain Long is hailing, sir?
?Put him through to my station?
?Another Commonwealth spy, Guo?? Senior Captain Long was solidly behind the militaristic faction of the Empire?s leaders that wanted to launch a war of conquest against the other Earth powers, sooner rather than later. That faction was currently in the minority but another incident with the Commonwealth might give them the political backing to launch their long-planned campaign. Guo?s own family was on Earth and he was with the majority that wanted to avoid a war, at least until Earth was no longer vital to the Empire and his own family was out of harm?s way.
?I don?t believe so, sir. The ship closing on us has shields up and is moving too fast for an Earth vessel. They have also responded to our hails with a completely unknown language. I know it seems unlikely but we have to consider this could be an alien ship. We know through the ruins we have discovered in Xuzhou and Souchay that other sentient life-forms have lived in this part of the galaxy. There is no reason to doubt that we will meet living alien civilizations out here.?
?It is far more likely a Commonwealth attempt at deception than an alien ship. We will not be fooled by a new, faster design and some imaginary language. They have obviously found these habitable worlds and want them for themselves. The gravitational survey ship Jiangwei has recently entered Yunan so I have ordered her to return to New Beijing immediately and warn of this new Commonwealth intrusion.?
?Would it be more prudent to gather more information before dispatching the Jiangwei, sir? She is twelve billion kilometers away and in no immediate danger.?
?Do not question my orders, Guo. The Jiangwei?s sister ships will be here in a few days and can report any further information. Jiangwei has already transited into Konghou?
?650,000 kilometers, sir?, reported Guo?s sensor officer, ?and still closing fast.?
Long was still onscreen and looking slightly irritated by the interruption. ?Try to communicate if you can Guo but do not give away the position of our other ships and do not head directly for the jump point. You understand??
?I understand, sir. Can I assume your own ship and Houjian III will be trying to withdraw before you are spotted??
?Do not take that tone with me, Commander. My duty is to safeguard all ships of the Empire that have not yet been compromised.? Before Guo could respond, Long terminated the connection.

The Manchurian survey ship ran at its best speed through a cluster of moons while the unknown contact pursued it remorselessly. More alien transmissions were received but Houjian IIs officers could make no sense of them at all. Ten minutes after the initital detection, the contact closed to 165,000 kilometers and opened fire with four 15cm lasers. Only one hit Houjian II and the shot was weak enough to be deflected by the ship?s armour but the message was clear in any language. Halt or be destroyed. Reluctantly, Commander Guo requested permission from Senior Captain Long to surrender.
?Surrender? You coward, Guo. Manchurian ships do not surrender!?
?Sir, we cannot fight and we cannot run. We can only surrender or die?
?Alien firing again?, reported the sensor officer, ?One hit, no damage?
?Then you must die.? Said Long coldly. ?The sacrifice of you and your crew will be remembered.?

Commander Guo stared at the suddenly blank screen in amazement as another hit rocked his ship.
?Full stop!? he ordered the helsman.
?Sir??
?You heard me. I will not sacrifice this crew for nothing, regardless of Long?s fanaticism. Full stop, then everyone destroy the computers and all sensitive equipment.?
The survey ship glided to a halt as another alien volley scored its armour.
?Senior Captain Long is hailing us?
?Ignore him. Try hailing the alien again?
Now that Houjian II had ended her flight, the alien ship closed in rapidly and at 35,000 kilometers fired another volley.
?Incoming fire?
Commander Guo?s world went spinning sideways as his restraints snapped and he was flung out of his chair and across the bridge. The forward bridge bulkhead erupted in flame, consuming the helmsman and navigator in a ball of fire and sending a wave of intense heat washed across the surviving officers, inflicting severe burns. Coughing from the smoke, the sensor officer crawled to the damage control station.
?We?ve lost two engines and the jump drive, sir, and I think she is closing in for the kill?
Despair crashed down on Commander Guo as his ship burned around him. His last thought was that Long would report that he died as a traitor, then the alien fired again and the flames turned to darkness.

Over a billion kilometers from the wreckage of the Houjian II, the other two Manchurian ships continued on course for the jump point at maximum speed and 500 million kilometers apart. Seven hours passed before Houjian III detected a ship closing from astern. At 5000 tons and a speed of 4900 km/s, the new contact appeared identical to the ship that destroyed Houjian II but plainly could not be the same vessel because of the great distances involved. Within thirty minutes, she was overrun and smashed into wreckage, leaving Senior Captain Long Bao Dong?s ship, Houjian, as the sole survivor of the small squadron. Any thoughts of escape were dashed when a third alien ship moved within sensor range. Long?s fanaticism crumbled in the face of certain death and he attempted to surrender his ship in the same manner as Guo. Unfortunately for his crew, the attempt was no more successful than his subordinate?s. In the Konghou system, Jiangwei headed for home with the dead Captain?s report of a new Commonwealth incursion.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2008, 08:57:48 AM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2008, 08:56:50 AM »
After Action Report of Captain Lin Meng Lin

Despite initial reports from Jiangwei that Commonwealth ships had been encountered by our survey force in Yunan, the follow up reports from her sister ships Jiangwei II and Jianwei III revealed an entirely different situation. They entered the Yunan system on November 23rd 2153 and immediately detected life pod beacons from the three Manchurian survey ships. A badly wounded Commander Guo informed them that all three ships of his squadron had been hunted down and destroyed by alien vessels, each equipped with four 15cm lasers and strength-20 shields and capable of speeds up to 4900 km/s. He warned the unarmed Jiangwei?s not to attempt a rescue but to inform New Beijing as quickly as possible. Commander Guo also believed the aliens had picked up survivors from one of the other life pods and most likely interrogated them or dissected them to learn more about humans..

Once news of the alien attack reached New Beijing, a battle squadron was assembled comprising four Manchu class battlecruisers, two Xian area defence cruisers, two Luda class destroyers and my own ship, the Han class jump freighter Emperor Gao. This squadron included two thirds of our major warships but the Emperor was determined to avenge the loss of our ships and punish the aliens most severely. Details of the ship classes involved are shown below:

Code: [Select]
Manchu class Battlecruiser    10000 tons     1170 Crew     1680 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 50-300     Sensors 6/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (274 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (25)   Total Fuel Cost  350 Litres per day

Fusion Torpedo Launcher (7)    Range 200,000km     TS: 3900 km/s     Power 15-4    ROF 20        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Fire Control 128K-3200 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 3200 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-6 (1)     Strength 6     Detect Signature 100: 6m km
Code: [Select]
Xian class Area Defence Cruiser    10000 tons     1003 Crew     1492 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 42-300     Sensors 15/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (274 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (21)   Total Fuel Cost  294 Litres per day

Triple 15cm Laser Turret (3x3)   Range 240,000km   TS: 12800 km/s   Power 18-9   RM 4   ROF 10   6 6 6 6 4 4 3 3 2 2
Area Fire Control System (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-15 (1)     Strength 15     Detect Signature 100: 15m km
Code: [Select]
Luda class Destroyer Escort    6400 tons     648 Crew     1016 BP      Signature 128-540
4218 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 22-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (9)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 96.4 billion km   (264 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (11)   Total Fuel Cost  154 Litres per day

Triple 12cm Laser Turret (2x3)   Range 64,000km   TS: 13250 km/s   Power 12-12    RM 4   ROF 5    4 4 4 4 3 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control 32K-12800 (1)    Max Range: 64,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (3)     Total Power Output 27    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Code: [Select]
Han class Jump Freighter    10000 tons     725 Crew     1223 BP      Signature 200-780
3900 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 15/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10    Replacement Parts 5    

J10000(3-50) Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 10000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
Ion Engine (13)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 400,000 Litres    Range 246.9 billion km   (732 days at full power)

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-15 (1)     Strength 15     Detect Signature 100: 15m km

The fleet left New Beijing in December 7th 2153 and arrived in the Yunan system on January 27th 2154 via a jump point five hundred million kilometers from the primary; a planetless A4-IV sub-giant five million kilometers in diameter and seventy times brighter than Sol. All three survey ships were destroyed within the planetary system of the companion star, twelve billion kilometers away, so the majority of the fleet immediately set off across the intervening void at 3900 km/s, leaving my own ship at the jump point. On February 26th, the fleet was still almost two billion kilometers from its destination when three 18,000 ton contacts were detected on an intercept course at a distance of over two hundred million kilometers. These were obviously much larger than the alien ships that attacked the survey ships, although they were only moving at 4056 km/s, much slower than the smaller alien ships but still slightly faster than our own fleet. Vice Admiral Zhao decided to continue onward as his fleet could not outrun the aliens and he was confident his own fleet could still prevail. He still had a tonnage advantage, despite the larger individual size of the aliens, and his Manchu class battlecruisers carried Fusion Torpedoes which would outrange and outgun the 15cm lasers used by the aliens.

As the alien fleet moved within sixty million kilometers, three smaller 5000 ton contacts were detected, estimated by Vice Admiral Zhao?s intelligence staff to be the same type of ship previously encountered. While this shifted the odds a little toward the aliens, our squadron pressed on and began to raise shields. The aliens responded and it quickly become apparent the shields on the larger alien craft, designated as battleships by the Admiral, had a strength of eighty, sixty percent greater than those of the Manchu class battlecruisers. However, as the battleships were eighty percent larger than the Manchus, that didn?t necessarily indicate any advantages in shield technology.

At fifty million kilometers, the alien ships surprisingly hailed our fleet in Mandarin and demanded to speak to its commander. Vice Admiral Zhao agreed to accept the voice-only communication. The alien commander, who introduced himself as Caliph Userhet, demanded that Zhao immediately surrender his ships for violating the sacred space of the Agar Imperium or be destroyed. In response, Zhao demanded to know the fate of the Manchurian survey crews lost in the unprovoked attack by Agar warships on unarmed ships. The exchange apparently deteriorated from that point. Although I do not have a complete transcript due to later events, the Agar Imperium appears to be strongly influenced by religion and their primary historical prophet declared that all infidels must be brought into the faith by force. The Agar admitted to taking some prisoners and learning Mandarin but then killing them after they rejected the offer to join the Agar state religion. With such a divergent worldview to our own, it is unsurprising the conversation ended with mutual death threats.

Obviously wary that the Agar had missile technology similar to that of the Commonwealth and United States, Vice Admiral Zhao initially deployed his destroyers ahead of the main body as a screen but once they closed within 300,000 km with no sign of missile fire, the destroyers were recalled on the assumption this would be an energy weapon battle and it made no sense to give the Agar easy targets. The first exchange of fire came at 236,000 km, as the two fleets charged each other at a combined speed of almost 8000 km/s. Each Agar battleship unleashed a spread of twelve fusion torpedoes, the same primary weapon as our own ships but with at least 18% greater range as our own torpedoes cannot hit targets beyond 200,000 km. The only Manchurian ships able to respond were the two Xians, using their 15cm laser turrets at extreme range. However, it soon become apparent that the aliens had some type of electronic countermeasures system that reduced the Xian?s targeting systems to impotence. Fortunately, the aliens? long range fire was terribly inaccurate and only two torpedos, each with strength-6 warheads, struck Xian II?s shields. Five seconds later, our Manchus responded with their own volleys of fusion torpedoes, hitting the lead battleship twice, and one of the Xians scored a single laser hit. The Agar destroyers joined the battle at 157,000 kilometers, inflicting six minor hit on Xian IIs shields.

Realising that given roughly equal technology, the Agar battleships were going to recharge their torpedoes first and that they would be be at very close range by that point, Vice Admiral Zhao ordered his fleet to reverse course and keep the range open. As they came about, the two Xian?s fired again and reduced the lead battleship?s shields to strength-64. Twenty seconds after their first volley, the alien battleships launched another salvo of torpedoes, this time with much greater accuracy. Xian II was struck seventeen times in rapid succession and exploded in a massive fireball.  As soon as the aliens fired, our fleet changed course again to close the range before their own weapons recharged.

At 108,000 kilometers, Manchurian lasers and torpedoes tore into one of the Agar behemoths, shredding its powerful shields but not penetrating to the armour. The response from the three alien destroyers was feeble, hitting the remaining Xian with only two of their combined twelve lasers. Obviously the Agar considered the fast firing Xians to be more of a danger than the torpedoes of the Manchus. The rapidly falling range also brought the two Luda class destroyers into the fray. At 28,000 kilometers their 12cm lasers combined with the 15cm lasers on the Xian to rip deep into the alien battleship, dropping its speed to 2700 km/s and presumably inflicting considerable internal damage

At this point in the battle, the charge of the Imperium battleships seemed very strange, as their weapons were designed to function effectively at long range. Their purpose become apparent as they revealed their secondary armament of six 20cm Plasma Carronades, which proved brutally effective at point blank range. Supported by the Agar destroyers, each battleship targeted a different Manchu class battlecruiser, firing their torpedoes and carronades simultaneously in one cataclysmic volley. One Manchu was obliterated, a second reduced to a burning hulk and a third suffered serious internal damage, losing three engines and three torpedo launchers. Only the 12cm lasers of the two Ludas managed to respond, causing more damage to the crippled alien battleship. Vice Admiral Zhao made it to a lifepod before the destruction of his flagship but was obviously not able to continue in command, which now devolved on to Vice Admiral Lu.

Admiral Lu ordered the Xian to fire on the crippled battleship while the Ludas and his two effective battlecruisers targeted the Agar destroyers, believing they would fire again before the battleships, although the recharge rate of the carronades was unknown. The crippled Manchu had lost all its weapons and was ordered to retreat at its best speed. One alien destroyer was overwhelmed and exploded and a second suffered significant damage. The battered battleship still survived but was barely moving and began to retreat toward the planetary system. Complete chaos reined as both sides began targeting the surviving enemy units without time to calculate the most effective pattern of fire. The destroyers of both sides exchanged fire, wreaking further havoc on the wounded alien destroyer and removing the shields from the third alien destroyer and one of the Ludas. The crippled Agar destroyer turned to run at a meagre 1600 km/s while the other held its ground alongside the two undamaged battleships. The Ludas switched their fire to the undamaged Agar DD and gutted it with their lasers, leaving it motionless and out of the fight, while Xian targeted a battleship, dropping its shields to forty percent. Simultaneous return fire from the carronades of the battleships destroyed a damaged Manchu and blasted the shields of the only undamaged battlecruiser down to twenty percent.

The combat effective Manchurian force now comprised one undamaged Manchu with twenty percent shields, a Xian with seventy-five percent shields, an undamaged Luda and a shieldless Luda that had lost one engine. The alien fleet comprised two undamaged battleships, one of which was at forty percent shields. A crippled Manchu was retreating toward the jump point while a crippled battleship and two crippled destroyers retreated toward the Imperium?s planetary system. None of the cripples appeared to have any combat capability.

With their five second recharge time, the two Luda class destroyers kept up their ceaseless attack, knocking down the shields of the second battleship and causing minor internal damage. Even as they fired, twenty-four fusion torpedoes streaked out of their tubes on the two battleships, ripping into the intact Manchu and the surviving Xian class cruiser. Both ships suffered heavy damage, with the Manchu losing half its engines and four out of seven fusion torpedo launchers and the Xian being reduced to one triple 15cm turret and taking a critical hit to her Area Fire Control system, rendering her combat ineffective. Admiral Lu ordered the Xian to withdraw as the Ludas fired again, accompanied by three torpedoes from the Manchu. Explosions ripped through the damaged battleship and it began to withdraw, leaving the sole intact Agar ship to stand against our surviving ships.

With only one battleship left in the fight, the Ludas changed target and their fast-firing lasers started to chew through its shields, reducing them from strength-80 to strength-36 within a few seconds. As its shield strength fell, the battleship responded with a volley of carronades that blew the damaged Manchu apart and wrecked the weapons of the shieldless Luda, leaving just one destroyer to face the huge alien warship. The destroyer had time to fired two defiant salvos, taking down the battleship?s shields, before being annihilated by a volley of twelve fusion torpedoes.

Several of our crippled ships were running for the jump point but the remaining battleship had fully intact engines and it quickly ran down every ship and destroyed them without mercy. Vice Admiral Lu was killed during the destruction of ship and although Vice Admiral Zhao and Rear Admiral Zheng made it to the life pods, they will only last fourteen days unless they are rescued. The Agar Imperium lost only one destroyer in the battle, although a second was dead in space and it is possible she had to be scuttled. All three battleships survived, two of which suffered crippling damage. My own ship was obviously too far away to pick up any sensor readings after the last Manchurian ship was destroyed, but it seems reasonable to assume the aliens retreated to their base to repair the damage to their ships. On the orders of Vice Admiral Zhao, I immediately set course to New Beijing to report the battle.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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« Reply #8 on: January 26, 2008, 08:59:00 AM »
Second After Action Report of Captain Lin Meng Lin
Three months after arriving in New Beijing to report the events in Yunan, I was given command of the newly built Manchu class battlecruiser Weichang and assigned to a new fleet under the command of Vice Admiral Yao Mei Chan. The Emperor was reportedly incensed by the destruction of the Second Battle Squadron and ordered Fleet Admiral Long Shan De to immediately send all available ships to Yunan to destroy any remaining Agar ships. Fleet Admiral Long implored the Emperor to await the completion of three new capital ships already under construction, including my own Weichang, before launching a new offensive. The Emperor agreed and the First Battle Squadron under Vice Admiral Yao departed New Beijing on July 4th 2154. The squadron comprised the Manchu class battlecruisers Benxi, Fengning, Qingyuan and Weichang, the Xian class cruisers Pinyin and Shaanxi, the Luda class destroyers Zhuhai and Zunyi and my old ship, a Han class jump freighter. A tenth ship, the Yinchuan, would be joining us within four months and her role would be to bombard any Agar populations, if required, once the Agar navy had been eliminated.

Yinchuan class Bombardment Cruiser    5000 tons     575 Crew     777 BP      Signature 100-420
4200 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 1400    Replacement Parts 5    

Ion Engine (7)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 185.1 billion km   (510 days at full power)

S4 Missile Launcher  (5)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-090 (1)    Range: 900k km
AL-1 Bomb (350)  Speed: 1,000 km/s   Endurance: 1 secs    Range: 1k km   Warhead: 8    Size: 4

On August 4th, the squadron entered Yunan and set a course for the habitable planets orbiting the companion star. Although almost six months had passed since the battle, Vice Admiral Yao was hopeful the Agar had not manage to repair their crippled battleships and destroyers or build any new ships. On September 3rd, the fleet passed by the wrecks of the Second Battle Squadron without any sign of Agar ships and continued closing on the planetary system. Three days later, with the fleet six hundred million kilometers from Yunan-B and located between the orbits of the fifth and sixth planets, passive sensors detected a population on the second planet with a signature of 4700. While still too far away to determine any detail, this provided the first clue to the industrial potential of the Agar Imperium. In comparison New Beijing has a signature of 1940 and the Manchurian population on Earth has a signature of 5700. Still no Agar ships came to meet us.

Finally on September 8th, with the squadron only two hundred million kilometers from the Agar planet, a lone battleship powered up its engines and left orbit on an intercept course. Vice Admiral Yao?s hope that the Agar could not rebuild their fleet in time appeared to be borne out. As the alien ship drew closer, all eight Manchurian warships locked on their fire control systems and set a reciprocal course. At 233,000 km, the battleship opened fire with twelve fusion torpedoes, hitting the destroyer Zunyi twice and reducing her shields to strength-12. Although the two Xian class area defence cruisers were theoretically within range, their fire control systems were incapable of getting a target lock because of the battleship?s ECM system so they held their fire. The Manchus? torpedoes had a maximum range of 200,000 km so they were equally unable to respond. However, instead of charging into close range to use its plasma carronades, the Agar warship used its superior speed to hold the range open, keeping the First Battle Squadron at 210,000 km as it turned back toward the inhabited planet. Realising his force was up against an opponent who had both weapon range and speed on its side and was not going to repeat his previous tactic of charging to close range, Vice Admiral Yao ordered his two Luda class destroyers to charge the battleship. While the Manchus and Xians had a maximum speed of 3900 km/s compared to the battleship?s 4056 km/s, the Manchurian destroyers were capable of 4218 km/s.

Our confidence had been steadily building as we approached the Agar planet and had been boosted even more by the single ship opposing us had. Suddenly, that confidence was shattered as we realised that even a single Agar battleship posed a deadly threat if the Agar used better tactics than in our previous engagement. Our faint hope rested on two destroyers somehow slowing down the leviathan. Zunyi survived two more torpedo salvos but as she moved close, Agar accuracy improved. Five torpedoes from the fourth salvo smashed through the remnants of her shields, wrecked three engines and knocked out both of her triple 12cm turrets. Vice Admiral Yao ordered her to head for home at her best speed of 2800 km/s. Zhuhai continued on alone and survived the fifth volley of torpedos with minor internal damage. The sixth turned the bravely charging destroyer into a ball of incandescent gas.

It was now obvious to all that Agar casualties in the First Battle of Yunan were due to inferior Agar tactics rather than Manchurian fortitude. While the Agar Imperium had not built any more ships in the seven months since the battle, they had plainly learned from the experience and refined their strategy. Their single battleship was probably capable of defeating the entire First Battle Squadron. With no way to bring the enemy into range, Vice Admiral Yao ordered the fleet to retreat in the forlorn hope that his ships could recharge their shields as fast as the enemy could damage them. His flagship Benxi was the first target and even at extreme range the Agar battleship scored enough hits to gradually reduce his shields. Several internal systems were hit by follow-up salvos until eventually an engine was damaged and Benxi fell out of formation. Yao ordered his ship to charge the enemy in a bid to force the battleship away from the rest of the First Battle Squadron. The Agar warship kept the range open, pounded the battlecruiser into irradiated debris and was soon closing on the main body once more. Yao?s sacrifice was futile as the Agar had let the First Battle Squadron move all the way across the system before sending their battleship into action. Safety was a month away and ships were bering destroyed within minutes. Zunyi was next to die as the our five surviving capital ships overtook the wounded destroyer.

Command fell to Senior Captain Xue on board the Qingyuan and he ordered the squadron to scatter in a vain attempt to preserve at least some ships. His own ship took the course nearest to the battleship, drawing its fire away from the rest of the squadron. Qingyuan lasted only five minutes but as the battleship turned to head for the cruiser Pinyin, the other cruiser Shaanxi, which had been heading in the opposite direction, cut behind it and set a direct course for the Agar planet. The Agar must not trust their homeworld defences as the battleship immediately set a pursuit course. With no ability  to fire bombs or missiles, Shaanxi could not harm the planet but the Agar had no way of knowing that. With only a 156 km/s speed advantage, it took the battleship almost two hours to catch and destroy Shaanxi, by which time the three remaining Manchurian ships had opened up a considerable gap. My own ship was the closest at forty-two million kilometers, while the others were at 49m and 55m in diverging directions. Unsurpringly the battleship came after the Weichang but I hoped that before it could catch my ship, the other two would escape sensor range.

My course was toward the other habitable planet, Yunan-B III, while Pinyin headed for Yunan-B V at the far side of the planetary system and Fengning headed for the jump point. Four hours after the battleship began pursuing the Weichang, we reached twenty-five million kilometers from Yunan-B III and detected a new population with a signature of 482. As the battleship was still thirty-five million kilometers astern, I broadcast a message threatening to lay waste to the planet unless the battleship returned to the second planet. Unfortunately my bluff was called as the pursuit continued. However the Weichang did pass close enough to the planet to determine that the population was two hundred and sixty million and there seemed to be little industrial activity except for a number of research facilities. I continued running toward the outer system, drawing the battleships further and further from the Pinyin and Fengning.

For three days the Weichang ran, with the remorseless Agar battleship slowly closing the range. Finally, as we crossed the orbit of the outermost planet, over a billion kilometers from Yunan-B, the first torpedo impacted on our shields. I am proud to report my ship withstood fourteen volleys before our shields went down, more than any other Manchurian warship. As I complete this report, we have now taken seventeen volleys and our damage is considerable. Over two hundred of the crew are dead and I fear the lives of the remaining nine hundred will soon be forfeit. However, I believe our sacrifice will save the crews of the Pinyin and Fengning so our deaths will not be in vain. Long live the Emperor!

Final report of Captain Lin Meng Lin, transmitted to Jump Freighter Han at 14:28 on September 11th 2154

Addendum to report by Captain He Yab Fong of the battlecruiser Fengning
Based on the end of transmissions, destruction of the Weichang took place at 14:33. At that point my own position was 1075 million kilometers from Yunan-B on a direct course for the jump point, still over ten billion kilometers away. The distance to the wreck of the Weichang and the last known position of the alien battleship was 1380 million kilometers. Pinyin, the remaining Xian class cruiser, was only 900 million kilometers from Yunan-B as the original encounter with the battleship was on the far side of the star from her current position. However, as she was following a course directly away from the alien battleship, not far from the orbital path of Yunan-B, she was 1940 million kilometers from the Weichang, and 1200 million kilometers from my own ship. making my own ship the next likely target of the Agar. With no way to detect the battleship now that Weichang had been destroyed, I saw no alternative but to continue on course for the jump point.

Eight days later and 7800m km from the jump point, a small 1450 ton contact was detected closing from astern at 5500 km/s. The contact moved within one million kilometers and matched speeds, shadowing our course. This previously unknown type of Agar ship is presumably an unarmed scout that intends to follow us, either to keep us on sensors so the battleship can intercept or to discover our destination. On September 21st, the Pinyin reached a point four billion kilometers from Yunan-B which is probably out of planetary sensor range, and changed course by ninety degrees to head for the jump point. So far she has reported no sign of the battleship or a similar shadow to our own.

On October 12th, thirty-one days after the destruction of the Weichang, my ship rendezvoused with Han at the Konghou jump point, still with the Agar scout ship tracking us from a million kilometers away. Pinyin was still 4700m kilometers distant. My own ship could go no further without Han and if Han left, Pinyin would be trapped. Therefore we decided to wait for the cruiser but warned her commander that if the Agar battleship arrived we would have no choice but to leave. Although transiting would give away the location of the jump point, there seemed little alternative unless we simply held position and waited to die. On October 13th, a second Agar scout ship appeared in the opposite direction to the first and also halted a million kilometers away. The presence of the other scout near the system primary could indicate the Agar are aware of jump points and were searching for either additional Manchurian ships or the jump point itself.

Pinyin arrived at the jump point on October 26th without interference from the Agar. Our best estimate is that the alien battleship must have returned to the main alien colony after destroying Weichang, perhaps because pursuing us to the centre of the system would have left their planet unprotected. In any event, we immediately transited the jump point and set course for home. I take full responsibility for revealing the jump point to the Agar Imperium but I was unwilling to sacrifice the crews of the three surviving ships for what could only be a temporary respite before the Agar locate it anyway.

Captain He Yab Fong, HIMS Fengning
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #9 on: January 26, 2008, 09:02:20 AM »
Colonies of the Commonwealth on 1st January 2155

Earth
Over the last few years the Commonwealth population on Earth as started to shrink as the demand for new colonists outstrips population growth. From a peak of 1008m in 2151, the population has now fallen to 947m and it is expected to continue falling as the Commonwealth?s centre of gravity moves to Leonidas in the Sparta system. For the moment at least Earth is still the leader in many ways, supporting fifteen of the Commonwealth?s twenty-six shipyards and thirty of its fifty-three research facilities. Even so, Earth?s shipyards lie empty while those on Leonidas are full and the signs of industrial decline are everywhere on the homeworld. Leonidas has fifty percent more construction factories and many of the Earth?s mineral resources have been mined out, leaving Duranium as the only accessible mineral. Small quantities of Boronide, Vendarite and Sorium remain but all at 0.2 accessibility or lower. Deliveries of new mineral supplies from the Pylos II mining colony are being shipped direct to Leonidas and freighters regularly arrive to remove Earth?s remaining mineral stockpiles. No more research facilities will be built on Earth due to a shortage of Mercassium and the facilities that are still in operation are gradually being shipped out to the research colonies on Corinth II and Troy III. Unemployment is becoming more widespread and colonist applications are at record levels.

Although Earth still has eighty percent of the Commonwealth?s planet-based refining capacity, the stockpile of Sorium is down to eleven thousand tons and the remaining 10,000 tons in the Earth?s core will be split between all three Earth-based powers. A new home will soon have to be found for the four hundred and twenty fuel refineries located on Earth. Due to the steadily decreasing importance of the homeworld population, Vice Admiral Cooke has been promoted from planetary governor to command the newly formed Core Sector. He has been replaced by Rear Admiral Charlie Jarvis, an officer with an extensive scientific background who will boost the output of Earth?s research facilities. As production falls and shipbuilding is reduced to a minimum, Earth will become primarily dedicated to research, wealth production and trade.

Population Information
Rear Admiral Charlie Jarvis: Research 30%, Population Growth 15%, Shipbuilding 10%
Population 947m / Wealth 36000 / Trade 42
SY 15 / RL 30 / SP 2 / NA 4 / MF 2 / CFF
CF 334 / OF 180 / FF 251 / FR 420 / MN 751 / AM 6 / GTF 10
MS 100 / FB 5 / DST 4
Fuel 7.9m

Minerals
Duranium 424,723  Acc: 0.9
Boronide 64,969  Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 4,813  Acc: 0.15
Sorium 10,830  Acc: 0.19

Leonidas
Leonidas, capital of the Commonwealth, is a boom town on a planetary scale. Located in the Sparta system and closer to the Earth than Uranus due to the location of the jump points in Sol and Sparta, Leonidas has the largest extra-solar population of any Earth-based power at 377 million. In contrast to Earth, her shipyards are busy and her skies are full of ships. However, even with such a large population and fifteen colony ships on a regular run from Earth, the colony is struggling to support all of its industry. Transport of factories to Leonidas has been slowed down of late because of the population constraints. The planet itself is generally warmer than Earth with a sub-tropical climate over much of the habitable area. Half the planet is covered with water, great quanities of which are in large lakes and small inland seas. Gravity is much lower than Earth which has led to a variety of extreme sports, not to mention some record breaking athletic achievements. The Leonidas Naval Academy is now half the size of the Earth Academy at Dartmouth and produces a third of the Commonwealth officer corps, leading to a friendly rivalry between graduates.

Population Information
Rear Admiral Zoe Berry: Mining 30%, Shipbuilding 25%, Production 10%
Population 377m / Wealth 14361 / Trade 42
SY 9 / SP 2 / NA 2 / MF 2 / CFF
CF 506 / OF 80 / FR 105 / MN 259 / AM 9 / GTF 2
MS 30 / FB 1 / DST 4
Fuel 4.9m

Minerals
Duranium 594,636  Acc: 1
Neutronium 291  Acc: 0.13
Corbomite 7,546  Acc: 0.49
Boronide 51,244  Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 14,960  Acc: 0.72
Vendarite 18,044  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 163,405  Acc: 0.7
Uridium 69,674  Acc: 0.4
Corundium 75,744  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 36,392  Acc: 0.9

Corinth II
Corinth, with a population of seventy-five million, is the second largest colony of the Commonwealth and serves as its primary extra-solar research centre with eighteen research facilities. In recent months, a large number of construction factories have been moved to Corinth, allowing the colony to use its mineral resources to build its own reseach facilities rather than relying on facilities being transported from Earth. Almost two hundred factories are in place on Corinth, permitting the construction of a research facility every year, although the number of mines will have to be increased to keep pace with the demands of the factories. Corinth is an ocean world with vast ice caps and spectacular snow-covered mountain ranges covering many of the islands that make up thirteen percent of its surface area. The planet is generally colder than Earth and for most of the year the temperature is barely above freezing except near the equator. Colonists on Cornith are a hardy breed and often from a scientific background, far less concerned about the wintry weather than the extensive universities and other centres of learning and research.

Population Information
Commodore Matthew Turner: Research 30%, Production 20%, Growth 15%, Wealth 10%
Population: 75.3m / Wealth 3149
RL 18
CF 193 / FR 2 / MN 92 / AM 4
MS 5 / DST 1

Minerals
Duranium 389,701  Acc: 1
Neutronium 30,990  Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 134,950  Acc: 0.5
Tritanium 25,940  Acc: 0.6
Boronide 164,490  Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 224,209  Acc: 0.9
Vendarite 105,360  Acc: 0.4
Sorium 25,760  Acc: 0.4
Uridium 76,710  Acc: 0.9
Corundium 197,890  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 41,790  Acc: 0.1

Athens IV
Athens IV is in many ways the forgotten colony of the Commonweath. Although the third largest extra-solar colony in terms of population, no heavy industry has been transported to the planet and its inhabitants live a mainly agrarian existence. Athens is located two jumps from Sparta via the Ithaca system and is the only major colony not yet connected by jump gates to the homeworld, although construction is currently underway. Several years ago the nearby colony of Troy III, located on the far side of Ithaca, was chosen as the Commonwealth?s secondary research facility after a drawn out bidding process between the two colonies. The government of Athens IV was promised that as recompense for losing out to Troy, the colony would eventually become the Commonwealth?s primary fuel production centre due to its extensive, accessible Sorium deposits. However, the recent construction of fuel harvesting ships has caused many to reconsider the value of that promise.

Athens IV is probably the most similar of all Commonwealth colonies to Earth. Seventy percent of the planet is water, the gravity is only five percent above Earth standard, the air is of a similar density and the day is exactly twenty-four hours long. The temperature is a little higher but that is welcomed by the many farming communities. Green rolling, hills and sparkling river valleys cover much of the planet?s main continent. There are many on Athens IV who value their idyllic existence and hope the promised heavy industry never materialises, which is proving the subject of heated debate between the two main political parties on the planet, one determined to ?bring Athens into the 22nd century? and the other equally determined to ?preserve our planet?s unspoiled natural beauty?.

Population Information
Commodore Chealsea Black: Pop Growth 30%, Wealth 30%, Research 10%
Population: 9.3m / Wealth 459
DST 1

Mineral Deposits
Duranium 332,928  Acc: 0.1
Neutronium 29,593,600  Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 29,593,600  Acc: 0.1
Boronide 4,161,600  Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 39,137,540  Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 15,555,140  Acc: 0.6
Sorium 18,352,660  Acc: 1
Uridium 41,731,600  Acc: 0.1
Corundium 10,653,700  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 2,890,000  Acc: 0.1

Troy III
With both Leonidas and Corinth II struggling to host the industry that Commonwealth freighters were able to transport from Earth, Commonwealth leaders decided to create a secondary extra-solar research centre to take some of the surplus capacity. The obvious candidates were Troy III and Athens IV, colonies with slowly growing populations that could provide a ready workforce for several research facilities. Both colonies prepared bids highlighting the benefits of the their two worlds but Troy won in the end primarily because the colony was suitable for little else. While Athens IV could be a future mining and refining site, Troy III has no significant mineral resources except for Gallicite. Five research facilities are now in place under the command of Captain Mason Cooper, an expert in energy weapons.

The planet itself has similar environmental conditions to Earth in terms of gravity, temperature and atmosphere but there is very little water on Troy. Small inland seas are surrounded by thousands of miles of endless steppe and covered by an azure, cloudless dome. Short thick grass or shrubs provide the vegatation and the few trees are stunted caricatures of their earthly counterparts. There are no mountains to speak of and the only high ground is provided by a few rocky hills. Those colonists applying to travel to Troy want open skies and open land and they get both in abundance.

Population Information
Captain Mason Cooper: Research 30%
Population: 8.8m / Wealth 333
RL 5
DST 1

Mineral Deposits
Corbomite 13,860,730  Acc: 0.1
Boronide 19,829,210  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 40,335,200  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 38,502,020  Acc: 0.6

Thessalonica-II
Thessalonica is unique as the only colony of the Commonwealth that requires domed cities to keep its citizens alive. Two million people survive on the oxygen and heat pumped into the domes by the colony?s extensive infrastucture while in orbit above their heads seven Gaia class terraforming ships gradually transform the atmosphere. Originally, the Commonwealth planned to fully terraform Thessalonica before bringing in colonists. Discovery of large quantities of abandoned infrastracture in the neighbouring system of Alexandria prompted a change of plan and the infrastucture was soon transported into Thessalonica so that colonisation could begin ahead of schedule. With almost thirty million tons of accessibility 0.7 Duranium, Thessalonica is seen as an ideal location for a colony but there is still a great deal of terraforming work to be done. Even when sufficient oxygen has been produced to make the air breathable, the domes will still be needed due to the temperature, currently at minus twenty celsius. Greenhouse gases will be manufactured to gradually raise the temperature until the day when the icebergs drifting in Thessalonica?s extensive oceans start to melt and the domes can finally be dismantled.

Population Information
No Governor Assigned
Population: 1.9m / Wealth 71

Mineral Deposits
Duranium 28,576,800  Acc: 0.7
Corbomite 2,802,276  Acc: 0.1
Boronide 5,645,376  Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 22,581,500  Acc: 0.6
Sorium 46,656  Acc: 0.1
Uridium 1,052,676  Acc: 0.1
Corundium 4,901,796  Acc: 0.1

Alexandria IV
Alexandria IV is an archaelogists dream. Immense frost-covered ruins rise from rocky islands scattered across the largest ocean ever seen by humankind. Of the original Alexandrian inhabitants there is no sign, save for a few images and broken statues portraying a vaguely humandoid, reptilian race. The planet itself is twice the diamater of Earth, with a thick atmosphere and gravity of 1.44G. Ninety-three percent of the surface is covered in water and the surface temperature is barely above freezing. When the planet was first discovered the temperature was even lower and only the Commonwealth?s terraforming efforts have raised it to a level where humans can survive without domed cities. Many scientists theorise that the reptilian inhabitants lacked terraforming technology and abandoned the planet when the temperature dropped. One can only imagine the effort required for an entire civilization to escape a dying world before they all froze to death.

Although the ruins are thousands of years old, some are still remarkably intact. The Commonwealth?s archaelogical teams have found information leading to new technologcal discoveries while the cybernetic teams have worked steadily to restore abandoned facilities to working order. So far, a significant number of factories and mines have been restored as well as two shipyards and a maintenance facility. Twenty old missile silos are now back in operation and the teams have even found a small supply of missiles that appear to be well beyond our current technology. As the population on Alexandria is not yet large enough to support these facilities, several mines and factories have been transported to Sparta while infrastructure has been moved to Thessalonica. One point seven million colonists are now living on Alexandria IV, many of them explorers and amateur archaeologists eager to brave the cold for the chance of lifetime.  Whether Alexandria will ever become a major colony is debatable because its minerals have been mined by the previous civilization to the point where they are all accessibility 0.1. However, the restored maintenance facility could provide a useful forward base for survey units or small warships and a stockpile of four million litres of fuel has been discovered that could resupply those ships.

Population Information
Commander Joseph Pritchard: Growth 30%, Mining 15%
Population: 1.7m / Wealth 65
SY 2 / MF 1
CF 1 / FF 6 / FR 2 / MN 8 / AM 9
MS 20 / FB 1 / DST 5
Fuel 4.0m

Mineral Deposits
Duranium 169,280,000  Acc: 0.1
Neutronium 95,550,620  Acc: 0.1
Corbomite 107,122,500  Acc: 0.1
Tritanium 64,802,500  Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 15,288,100  Acc: 0.1
Vendarite 12,709,230  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 61,152,400  Acc: 0.1
Uridium 330,570  Acc: 0.1
Corundium 104,755,200  Acc: 0.1
Gallicite 127,012,900  Acc: 0.1

Samarkand III
Samarkand is both the furthest Commonwealth colony from Earth and the most recently established. Lying at the end of the jump chain Earth ? Sparta ? Corinth ? Delphi ? Samarkand, the system was discovered in November 2152. The planet is smaller than Earth with a thin atmosphere and required limited terraforming to bring the oxygen content up to a breathable level. However, the axial tilt of only seven degrees and the balmy average temperature of 27C make this a very pleasant planet on whch to live. Vegetation is similar to that of Earth?s Carribean islands and the land mass is composed mainly of archipelagoes around the equator with extensive sun-drenched beaches. In addition to its attractive climate, Samarkand is also home to alien ruins on some of the northermost islands and while they are not as impressive as those on Alexandria, they are still semi-intact in places.

So far only 340,000 colonists have made their home on Samarkand, although the list of colonist applications is longer than for any other Commonwealth colony. Its distance from Earth precludes further colonisation for the moment as all colony ships are currently employed on the routes from Earth to Leonidas and Corinth II. In addition, there are virtually no accessible minerals on Samarkand so its usefulness is limited, unless the cybernetic team on the planet finds something interesting.

Population Information
Captain Rachel Kaur: Growth 30%, Research 15%, Wealth 10%, Trade 10%
Population: 0.34m / Wealth 14
OF 1 / FF 1 / FR 1 / MN 1 / AM 3
MS 4

Mineral Deposits
Neutronium 1,557,501  Acc: 0.1
Sorium 5,531,904  Acc: 0.1
Uridium 4,875,264  Acc: 0.1

Pylos II Mining Colony
Pylos II is a primarily automated mining facility which is actually based on the thirteenth moon of Pylos II, a super-jovian in the Pylos binary system. A small crew runs the two hundred and twenty-four automated mining complexes on the moon and for the first few years of operation, the colony was a very lonely place with ships visiting no more than once a year to collect minerals. Recently, jump gates were constructed at either side of the Thessalonica ? Pylos jump point, allowing unescorted freighters to visit more regularly but far more importantly allowing direct communication with Earth and all the other colonies within the jump gate network. While Pylos II is still the least desired posting in the Commonwealth, at least the command staff can now keep up with every episode of their favourite Tri-V programmes.

Planetary Information
Commodore Henry Brady: Mining 30%, Production 10%
Population 0m
AM 224

Mineral Deposits
Duranium 587,774  Acc: 0.8
Neutronium 198,442  Acc: 0.9
Corbomite 116,492  Acc: 0.7
Boronide 491,354  Acc: 1
Vendarite 4,849  Acc: 0.4
Sorium 93,964  Acc: 0.7
Gallicite 108,377  Acc: 1
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2008, 09:03:57 AM »
Urgent Intelligence Report ? Captain Isiah Santaniello, USS Sterett
On December 11th 2154 my squadron of three Belknap class geological survey ships entered the Spokane system, three jumps out from New York via Honolulu and Austin. Spokane was discovered in May 2154 by a US gravitational survey ship and my own squadron was sent to investigate because of its colonization potential. All three stars in the systems are K-class, with similar size and luminosity. The primary has six planets, one of which could be terraformed, and a small asteroid belt. The two other stars, orbiting each other at only six hundred million kilometers and located six billion kilometers from the primary, have seven planets between them, two of which are immediately habitable and two more have oxygen-nitrogen atmospheres, although currently too thin to breathe. Given enough time though, this system could eventually have five ideal habitable planets.

By mid-January 2155 the survey of the system bodies around the primary was completed and my three ships headed for the planetary systems of the other two stars. On February 9th the Wainwright, under Commander Paulina Puente, entered orbit of  Spokane-B III, one of the ideal worlds. Her limited passive sensors picked up artifical emissions from the surface and it quickly became apparent the planet was inhabited, although the signature was minimal. Commander Puente estimated a population of perhaps seven million plus limited industry. A visual scan from orbit revealed the inhabitants resembled huge, bloated purple ants scurrying around mound-like city structures. Within a few minutes of Wainwright?s arrival the ship received what appeared to be a hail, although it seemed to be nothing but some type of montone carrier wave. My own ship was on course for the habitable planet orbiting Spokane-C when we detected three 8200 ton contacts closing at 1900 km/s from the direction of Spokane-C. As the Belknap class is capable of 4000 km/s, I ordered Wainwright and Belknap to withdraw toward the jump point while I held my own ship, Sterett, at 700 million kilometers from both habitable worlds and awaited the arrival of the alien ships

As they closed, they also broadcast the same strange carrier wave. We sent our own hails but I have no idea if they were acknowledged or not. The aliens slowed as they approached and finally came to a halt at 900,000 kilometers, apparently willing to continue communication efforts. As they appear to have peaceful intentions, I have ordered Wainwright to head for Sol with this information while Belknap will remain at the Spokane-Austin jump point to monitor the situation from a safe distance. Sterett will remain in place and should be relatively safe given our obvious speed advantage.

Unfortunately there is little information on the aliens? capabilities. Their ships appear slow compared to our own and they did not try to hail us until Wainwright was in orbit of the Spokane-B III. The population on that world was tiny and could pose no possible threat to the United States. However, based on the heading of the ships that intercepted Sterett there is probably another alien population on Spokane-C II and its size is unknown. Given the behaviour of those ships, which have not raised shields and halted at 900,000 kilometers, the aliens may regard that as a safe distance, which suggests they may only have short-ranged weapons.

Report Delivered on March 26th 2155 by Commander Paulina Puente, USS Wainwright.
Transmission via jump gate network, originating at New York ? Honolulu jump point.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #11 on: January 26, 2008, 09:05:16 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 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 the 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.

December 31st 2156
Eight months have passed since my Expeditionary Force returned to Lincoln. During that time Captain Santaniello has held the Sterett at the Austin jump point in Spokane, keeping a watch for any sign of the bug-like aliens. Belknap and Wainwright have remained in Austin and Honolulu respectively, maintaining a chain of ships to rapidly transmit any message from Captain Santaniello to the jump gate network in New York. I have just been pulled away from a new year celebration at the Starburst because the Sterett?s lonely vigil has come to an end. Two hours ago, three 8200 ton alien contacts were detected five million kilometers from the Austin jump point, closing at 3073 km/s. As the last reported speed of the alien ships of that size was 1900 km/s, it appears the aliens have either made some rapid improvements in engine technology or they were hiding their capabilities. Neither option seems particularly appealing.

The aliens attempted to contact Sterett, with the usual lack of success, but continued their approach and started to raise shields. Two ships had strength-30 shields and the other strength-20, indicating two different types. These have been designated as Bug Cruiser Type I and Bug Cruiser Type II for intelligence purposes. Once they moved within 500,000 km of the jump point, Captain Santaniello decided to withdraw his ship and picket the far side. Seven minutes later, the three Bug ships followed him into Austin so he immediately set course for the Austin ? Hololulu jump point at 4000 km/s. However, the Bug ships declined to pursue and withdrew into Spokane. Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff has ordered Santaniello to station his ship a million kilometers from the Austin ? Spokane jump point and report any further alien incursions.

At least this worrying development may finally add some weight to my continuing calls for a more aggressive approach to the Spokane aliens. As the senior combat commander of the US Navy, I have become increasingly concerned that the Fleet Admiral and the President are not paying enough attention to the military aspects of our colonization of space. Of the fourteen ships currently under construction, only six are warships and two of those are jump cruisers. Although two Spruance II escorts have been completed since my return to Lincoln, our combat strength has actually fallen because an Essex class carrier and a Spruance I escort are both in for refit and both will be out of comission until August 2157. We will be operating with only three carriers until June 2157 when the first two Essex II carriers are completed, along with Vicksburg, the first Ticonderoga II. In addition, one of our two existing jump cruisers, Yorktown, is undergoing a major overhaul in Earth?s shipyards that will not be completed until March while the other, Lexington, is being used to escort freighters to the frontier mining colony in Des Moines. Fortunately she is on her return trip and will soon be back in the Washington system. Even so, it is inexcusable for Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff to allow our only active jump cruiser to be out of contact at a critical time.

Code: [Select]
Essex II class Carrier    10000 tons     2362 Crew     2050 BP      Signature 200-960
4800 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 18-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Hangar Bay Capacity 300    Magazine 1200    Replacement Parts 10    

Magneto-plasma Drive (12)    Power 80    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (223 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (9)   Total Fuel Cost  126 Litres per day

AGM-1 Fast Attack Missile (240)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (60)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 1    Size: 4

Strike Group
14x F-3 'Shooting Star' Interceptor   Speed: 16000 km/s    Range: 12m km      Launch Rails: 4     Size: 6
36x F-4 'Banshee' Fighter Bomber   Speed: 11000 km/s    Range: 49.5m km      Launch Rails: 4     Size: 6
Code: [Select]
Ticonderoga II class Escort Cruiser    10000 tons     1078 Crew     1620 BP      Signature 200-960
4800 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 32-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Magneto-plasma Drive (12)    Power 80    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres    Range 123.4 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (16)   Total Fuel Cost  224 Litres per day

Quad 12cm Laser Turret (3x4)    Range 120,000km   TS: 12500 km/s   Power 16-16   RM 3   ROF 5   4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Aegis Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 12800 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor  (3)     Total Power Output 48    Armour 0    Exp 5%

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)     Strength 4     Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Code: [Select]
Spruance II class Destroyer Escort    6650 tons     720 Crew     1155 BP      Signature 133-640
4812 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 20-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Replacement Parts 10    

Magneto-plasma Drive (8)    Power 80    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 139.2 billion km   (334 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  140 Litres per day

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

January 1st 2157
I have just returned from a face-to-face meeting with the President and Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff. Vice Admiral Reetz, the governor of Earth, attended via holo conference. As Lexington has entered Washington and will refuel in Lincoln orbit within four days, I urged an immediate forward deployment to Austin with two carriers and supporting escorts. Our fighters would make short work of any further incursions. Once we were up to a strength of six carriers in August, we could move into Spokane and end the threat before it grows any worse. I also recommended an urgent construction program to strengthen the fleet with additional carriers and escorts.

Regrettably, but not surprisingly, they were unable see the danger staring them in the face. Bickerstaff and Reetz are both bureaucrats and the President has never served in the military. They all prefer the short-term easy option and are not prepared to take decisive action for the long term good. Bickerstaff has ordered the bulk of our forces to hold in position while we monitor the advance of the Bugs. Only three Fletcher class destroyers will be forward deployed to Honolulu to guard the Austin jump point. Even though Austin is plainly our territory, the President is prepared to give it up to avoid a confrontation. Fortunately, Honolulu is not so easy to surrender as its loss would cut off a colony of ten million in the Dallas system. At least they are allowing Sterett and Belknap to remain in Austin, albeit with orders to withdraw rather than let the aliens cut them off from the Honolulu jump point. They have also rejected my proposed construction program to double the size of our combat forces. Instead, a single additional Essex II has been laid down, which will not be ready until April 2159, plus three new Fletcher II class destroyers, which will be available in thirteen months. The Fletcher II is faster and longer ranged than its predecessor and has a 33% greater magazine capacity.

Code: [Select]
Fletcher class Destroyer    6200 tons     720 Crew     878 BP      Signature 124-480
3870 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 20-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 600    Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (8)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 99.5 billion km   (297 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  140 Litres per day

S4-60 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-120 (1)    Range: 1200k km
RGM-2 Anti-Ship Missile (126)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 25 secs    Range: 600k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AIM-1 Anti-Fighter Missile (24)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 12 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 1    Size: 4

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT2-4 (1)     Strength 4     Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Code: [Select]
Fletcher II class Destroyer    6400 tons     745 Crew     998 BP      Signature 128-640
5000 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 20-300     Sensors 4/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0
Magazine 800    Replacement Parts 10    

Magneto-plasma Drive (8)    Power 80    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 144.6 billion km   (334 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  140 Litres per day

S4-60 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 60
Missile Fire Control S03-120 (1)    Range: 1200k km
RGM-2 Anti-Ship Missile (176)  Speed: 24,000 km/s   Endurance: 25 secs    Range: 600k km   Warhead: 3    Size: 4
AIM-2 Anti-Fighter Missile (24)  Speed: 32,000 km/s   Endurance: 9 secs    Range: 288k km   Warhead: 1    Size: 4

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

25th January 2157
Captain Santaniello has just reported that seven 8200 ton contacts have entered Austin and are holding position on the Spokane jump point. Six of the ships have strength-30 shields, two of which were involved in the last incursion, while the seventh has strength-20 shields but is not the same ship that transited earlier. All ships, even of the same class, have minor differences in their signatures that allow them to be identified again. This can greatly assist in intelligence work and in building up a picture of an enemy?s fleet composition and deployments. In this case, the strength-30 ships were ferried through the jump point in pairs by the strength-20 ship so the strength-20 ship type has been reclassified as the ?Bug Jump Cruiser?. There are now two known units of this class and six of the ?Bug Cruiser? class. Once again the Bug ships are attempting to communcate with the Sterett but have made no attempt to approach. Fleet Admiral Bickerstaff sees this as evidence of their peaceful intentions while I see it as evidence of a military build-up. When will she come to her senses?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

Offline Steve Walmsley (OP)

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« Reply #12 on: January 26, 2008, 09:11:33 AM »
Personal Log: Senior Captain He Yab Fong

14th February 2157
Although it has been over two years since our last battle with the Agar Imperium, the war is still at the forefront of every imperial officer?s thoughts. Our losses to date include seven Manchu class battlecruisers, three Xian area defence cruisers, four destroyers, three survey cruisers and fifteen thousand dead officers and crew. The rebuilding of the fleet is still undeway and it has been a long and hard road. Seven Manchu III class battlecruisers are now in active service with the Imperial Fleet and nine more are under construction, along with six Luda class destroyers. We have underestimated the Agar in the past but when we return to Yunan to avenge our dead comrades, we will do so in overwhelming force. My own ship Fengning, the only surviving battlecruiser in the Second Battle of Yunan, is currently undergoing a refit to the new Manchu III standard and will be ready in three months. The only drawback of our building programme is that it initially concentrated on capital ships so there are no light warships to patrol the approaches to either the Agar home system or the Beijing system. As the Agar are four transits away and apparently had no jump drive capability two years ago, that should not be a significant problem.

Code: [Select]
Manchu III class Battlecruiser    10000 tons     1192 Crew     1711 BP      TCS 200  TH 840  EM 1440
4200 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 48-300     Sensors 1/0/0/0/0     Damage Control 0-0     PPV 56
Replacement Parts 10    

Ion Engine (14)    Power 60    Engine Efficiency 0.70    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 92.6 billion km   (255 days at full power)
Gamma R300/14 Shields (24)   Total Fuel Cost  336 Litres per day

Fusion Torpedo Launcher (6)    Range 200,000km     TS: 4200 km/s    Power 15-4    ROF 20        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
12cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (2)    Range 160,000km     TS: 4200 km/s    Power 4-4    RM 4   ROF 5     4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 1
Fire Control 128K-3200 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 3200 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor (4)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Sensor H1250-6M (1)     GPS 600     Range 6.0m km    Resolution 25
18th February 2157
In August last year, the Han class jump cruiser Qin was exploring the jump points of the Qingdao system, three transits from both Sol and Beijing, when she found an extremely rare ideal world in a system her commander named Shanxi. Given the vital nature of this information, he immediately brought his ship back to the JGN system of Kunming and informed naval operations on September 26th 2156. Fleet Admiral Long Shan De ordered the ship back to Shanxi to investigate the habitable world. Normally this would be handled by geological survey ships but the three Houjians lost in Yunan several years ago have yet to be replaced. Two Houjians are now under construction but the first will not be ready until August 2157. In the following three months there was no further contact from Qin so in mid-December the Admiral sent a second Han, the Shang, to investigate. Her commander was given strict instructions to transit into Shanxi and withdraw immediately if there was no sign of Qin. Three hours ago, Shang entered Kunming with news that her sister ship had seemingly vanished without a trace.

There are several possible explanations, the most worrying of which is that the ideal world is home to another hostile race. However, if the Agar have surveyed their home system system and developed jump technology, it is possible she may have run into one of their warships. It could even be a Commonwealth or US sneak attack, destroying one or our ships while it is out of contact. Its even possible, abelit unlikely, that Qin suffered a catastrophic maintenance failure. Whatever the reason, another imperial ship has been lost, along with over seven hundred crew. Fleet Admiral Long Shan De has decreed that an armed force will be sent to investigate. Three Manchu III battlecruisers, along with the Xian class area defence cruiser Pinyin, with be sent from Beijing to rendezvous with Shang in Kunming. They will return to Shanxi, search for Qin and make a close inspection of the habitable world.

09:45  22nd February 2157  
Deep Space Tracking on New Beijing has just detected a small thermal sensor contact at 150m kilometers, on a course from the Quanzhou jump point. The thermal signature and speed are similar to that of the small scout ships encountered in the Agar home system. As Quanzhou is the first system on the route to the Agar homeworld, it is almost certainly an Agar scout, which leads to several worrying conclusions. The Agar Imperium has obviously developed jump drive technology and as the scout is too small for its own jump drive, there must be an Agar jump ship somewhere in the Beijing system. In addition, the Agar must have surveyed their own system, the Konghou system, which only has two jump points, the Haikou system and at least some of the nine systems connected to Haikou, including Quanzhou. They are moving very fast. As the Americans say, the $64,000 question is how many warships the Agar have available and if they are able to commit them against Beijing. Its possible their jump ship is only capable of escorting survey ships and it seems very unlikely they have a jump ship capable of escorting their 18,000 ton battleships. In any event, the mystery of Qin?s disappearance will have to wait. The four warships en route to the Chongqing jump point have been recalled and the fleet is getting ready to leave orbit. To my intense frustration I will left behind on Beijing because Fengning is still in the shipyard. At least I been have invited to fleet operations to observe and advise as required.

The scout is moving at 5500 km/s so it will be impossible for any of our ships to catch. However, we must prevent it getting any closer to New Beijing so the four Manchu IIIs in orbit will spread out and attempt to intercept. Meanwhile, the three Manchu IIIs and the Xian which left orbit four days ago, will head directly for the Quanzhou jump point. Unfortunately they are eight billion kilometers away and it will take twenty-four days for them to arrive but we need to secure the jump point as soon as possible.

18:00
With the battlecruisers still 60m kilometers from intercept, the alien contact has reversed course, either because it has detected their approach or it has picked up emissions from New Beijing.

04:30  23rd February 2157  
Contact with the scout has been lost, although as it was on a direct course for the Quanzhou jump point its intention seems clear. Fleet Admiral Long has ordered both of our task forces to converge on the jump point and secure it against any further incursions. In case things do not go according to plan, two tankers and two jump gate construction ships in orbit of New Beijing have been ordered to head for the Sol system where they should be reasonably safe.

04:50
After receiving his orders, Captain Pan Song De of the battlecruiser Qingyuan II contacted operations and suggested that our forces should gather in New Beijing orbit rather than move out to the jump point. The two Hegu class PDCs would provide missile cover in any engagement and if the Agar decline to attack, we would have two additional battlecruisers and six Luda class destroyers by early June. He pointed out that by engaging in deep space, we could give the Agar a tactical advantage if they have maintained their speed advantage. His suggestion seemed reasonable but Fleet Admiral Long has overruled him on the basis that the new Manchus are faster than the Agar?s battleships and although the Agar?s destroyers are capable of 4900 km/s, they are outranged by the Manchu IIIs. Captain Pan perservered, noting that the Empire has introduced more capable classes in the last two years and the Agar may have done the same. From what little I know of Admiral Long, he used to be far more cautious but he has come under great pressure from the Emperor in the last few years to be aggressive in his prosecution of the war. He may see this incursion as a way to score a quick victory for the Empire. Whatever his reasons, he ordered Captain Pan to proceed immediately to the jump point or be relieved of his command.

Code: [Select]
Hegu class Planetary Defence Centre    44500 tons     3220 Crew     6175 BP      TCS 178  TH 0  EM 0
Armour 10     Sensors 40/48     Damage Control 0-0     PPV 240
Troop Capacity 4 Divisions    Magazine 6600    

PDC Missile Launcher S12 (20)    Missile Size 12    Rate of Fire 90
Missile Fire Control S03-090 (2)    Range: 900k km
ICBM (200)  Speed: 16,000 km/s   Endurance: 1 secs    Range: 16k km   Warhead: 12    Size: 12
GL-1 Anti-Ship Missile (200)  Speed: 16,000 km/s   Endurance: 29 secs    Range: 464k km   Warhead: 5    Size: 12
GL-2 Anti-Ship Missile (150)  Speed: 12,000 km/s   Endurance: 38 secs    Range: 456k km   Warhead: 5    Size: 12

High Resolution Thermal Sensor HRT5-40 (1)     Sensitivity 40     Detect Signature 100: 4m km
Active Sensor H1250-12M (1)     GPS 1200     Range 12.0m km    Resolution 25
Active Sensor H4000-38M (1)     GPS 3840     Range 38.4m km    Resolution 80

20:15
Although I initially regretted being left behind when the fleet left orbit, spending time in operations is allowing me to gain far more insight into the running of our naval forces. The latest development is that the governor of New Beijing, Vice Admiral Tsien, has suggested that we should consider alerting the Commonwealth and the United States to the danger presented to the human race as a whole by the Agar Imperium. As the Commonwealth already knows the location of New Beijing, it would be possible to request assistance without sacrificing too much in terms of security. Fleet Admiral Long has dismissed the suggestion and reprimanded Tsien for defeatism.

8th March 2157
It is now fifteen days since contact with the Agar scout was lost and the closest ships are still one point six billion kilometers from the jump point to Quanzhou, which is seven billion kilometers from the Beijing primary. The other group of four Manchurian ships is 900m kilometers astern so Fleet Admiral Long has reluctantly ordered them to concentrate before moving on the jump point. The combined force is designated as the Second Battle Squadron under Captain Pan Song De.

15th March 2157 22:12
Another tense week has passed as the nine ships of the Second Battle Squadron closed on the Quanzhou jump point. Finally, at a range of nineteen million kilometers, the H4000-19M Active Sensor on the Xian class cruiser Pinyin picks up five contacts directly on the jump point. Assuming the Agar do not have access to some type of stealth technology, the cross-section on the contacts suggests a 5000 ton ship and four 4650 ton ships. Although the 5000 ton ship could be the previously encountered Agar destroyer class, that seems unlikely given that it is larger than the other ships and that there is no evidence the Agar has jump drives two years ago. It is far more likely that the 5000 ton contact is a new jump-capable class. The smaller contacts do not match the cross-section of any known Agar ship type.

23:02
A sixth contact, with a cross-section of 1450 tons, has been detected at six million kilometers by the Pinyin?s secondary H1250-6M Active Sensor. Although the H1250-6M has only a third the range of the H4000-19M, it is capable of locating targets as small as 1250 tons, compared to 4000 tons for the H4000-19M. This new contact appears to be the scout that approached New Beijing before fleeing to the jump point. Suddenly, the 5000 ton contact and two of the smaller contacts vanish. Twenty seconds later, the 5000 ton contact returns, appearing 40,000 kilometers from the jump point and moving to join the three remaining Agar ships.

23:03
Once again the 5000 ton contact vanishes, along with the other two 4650 ton contacts. The Agar are obviously pulling out of the Beijing system. Within a minute, the ship returns for a second time and escorts the scout into Quanzhou. Fleet Admiral Long orders Captain Pan to pursue immediately. Captain Pan requests that Admiral Long reconsider as he has only one jump ship, Han, which is capable of escorting only two other ships in a jump. Han plus two others would  transit, arriving up to 50,000 kilometers from the jump point then Han would have to move to the jump point, jump back to Beijing, again arriving up to 50,000 kilometers away, rejoin the fleet on the jump point and then repeat the process until all ship were in Quanzhou. As Captain Pan points out as politely as possible, there is no way to know what awaits on the Quanzhou side and the Manchurian ships would be jumping in piecemeal, with each pair of battlecruisers arriving in different locations and up to thirty seconds apart. This could quite easily be an Agar trap. Fleet Admiral Long warns Pan that he will tolerate no more insubordination and insists that he begin transiting his battlecruisers as soon as he arrives at the jump point.

23:25
The jump freighter Han, Captain Pan?s battlecruiser, Quinyang II and the area defence cruiser Pinyin all transit the Quanzhou jump point. Ten seconds later they are all back in Beijing with very worrying news. An Agar fleet of five 5000 ton ships and fifteen 4650 ton ships was waiting directly on the Quanzhou ? Beijing jump point. Fortunately, the small squadron arrived only 5000 kilometers away so they were able to escape before the Agar ships could open fire. Arriving more than 20,000 kilometers from the jump point would have been disasterous and in that case it is unlikely that any of the ships could have escaped. Details of the Agar fleet are relayed directly to the Fleet Admiral by an icily polite Captain Pan.

It would appear our hope of an overwhelming superiority in ships against the Agar was a forlorn one. In two years they have apparently developed jump ships, explored a number of systems, built a powerful fleet and brought it almost to the capital of the Empire. The only remaining question is why they waited in Quanzhou rather than advancing on New Beijing. It is possible they do not want a deep space fight for some reason or perhaps they were baiting a trap to reduce our forces before moving into Bejing. Fleet Admiral Long has ordered the fleet to remain within weapon range of the jump point in an attempt to destroy any transiting Agar ships but he appears to have abandoned any thoughts of an assault on Quanzhou.

The Agar action and our inability to force the Beijing ? Quanzhou jump point has effectively cut off twenty systems, reducing Manchurian space to just twenty-eight systems. Fortunately we have no colonies in the affected area but it does contain several valuable mineral deposits and a number of potential terraforming sites, as well as placing a hostile fleet on our doorstep. The Empire will have to concentrate all its efforts on defending the capital and preparing to push the Agar back to their home system. Unfortunately this will leave no resources to determine the fate of the Qin, at least for the moment.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »
 

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« Reply #13 on: January 26, 2008, 09:13:44 AM »
Personal Log: Prime Guardian Louann Karmazyn

Day 120, Thirteenth Year of the Tenth Emperor
Today is the third anniversary of the Koalan Defence Force and I am proud to recall my own part in the impassioned debates in the Quorum that finally led to its creation on that historic day. Despite the few violent episodes in our own history, it is my firm belief that one day we may meet alien races out among the stars and they may be far less benevolent than the Koalan people. I wish the majority of our people shared my desire for exploration but too many still cling to the ancient traditions and believe our planet is the centre of the universe. They point to the other two planets in the Koalan system, with their poisonous, high pressure atmospheres and half-molten surfaces, and insist that Koala is a world chosen by God. Why visit other star systems, they ask, when even if other worlds exist they will be as hostile as Adramelech and Naberius. Although many Koalans believe that my own Sequoya and her two sister ships are a waste of time and money, we will guard our homeworld until the day when my dreams of interstellar travel become a reality. I pray that until then, we remain in our isolated innocence. I would rather that my concerns be without foundation and that I be thought a paranoid fool, rather than face the catastrophe that would surely accompany their validation.

Code: [Select]
Sequoya  class Cruiser    5750 tons     580 Crew     449 BP      TCS 115  TH 175  EM 300
1521 km/s     Armour 1     Shields 10-300     Sensors 5/5/5/0/0     Damage Control 0-0     PPV 20
Replacement Parts 10    

Nuclear Thermal Engine (7)    Power 25    Efficiency 1.00    Signature 25    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 75.1 billion km   (571 days at full power)
Alpha R300/10 Shields (10)   Total Fuel Cost  100 Litres per day

Thermal Torpedo (4)    Range 60,000km     TS: 1521 km/s     Power 5-1    ROF 25        2 2 2 2 2 2 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 40-1000 (2)    Max Range: 80,000 km   TS: 1000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
Pressurised Water Reactor  (1)     Total Power Output 4    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Thermal Sensor TH1-5 (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Signature 100: 0.5m km
Active Sensor MR2500-R25 (1)     GPS 250     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 25
Active Sensor MR8000-R80 (1)     GPS 800     Range 8.0m km    Resolution 80
Grav Pulse Detection Sensor GPD1-5 (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Strength 100: 0.5m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-5 (1)     Sensitivity 5     Detect Strength 100: 0.5m km


Day 126, Thirteenth Year of the Tenth Emperor, 13:56
Less than a week since I recorded my hopes that we would not see visitors from the stars for many years, those hopes appear to have been dashed. Four hours ago our deep space sensors detected a strong thermal signature seventy million kilometers from the homeworld and my squadron was ordered to intercept immmediately. We are now eight million kilometers away and our active sensors have confirmed a 5000 ton contact moving at the incredible speed of 4000 km/s. Either their engine technology must be vastly superior to our own or their ship is nothing but engines. The alien ship has responded to our hails but their transmissions make no sense at all. Our scientists estimate it could be several days or even weeks before we can decipher the alien language.

14:12
The alien ship continues to close in, despite our efforts to warn it away, and it has now brought its own active sensors online, enabling it to accurately pinpoint our location, and begun to raise shields. Although the alien is outnumbered three to one and is smaller than our Sequoya class ships, I cannot help but be fearful of how this may end. If the alien weapons are as advanced as their engines, our superior numbers may count for nothing. I will advise the Quorum to send our geological survey ship and our three freighters away from planetary orbit and into the safety of deep space.

14:16
With the alien ship less a million kilometers away and showing no sign of slowing, I have decided it must be considered hostile. The Quorum is urging me to make peaceful contact but I do not believe that is within my power. With its great speed advantage we have little chance of engaging the alien at a range of our choosing so I will attempt to surround it and at least get one ship within range.

14:17
Guardian Gollahite and myself are taking our ships to either side of the alien?s course while the third Sequoya will fall back toward Koala for a minute before resuming its course toward the incoming ship. The alien shields appear to have stablised at strength-14, only forty percent stronger than our own.

14:18
The alien is proceeding on course toward Koala and soon moves between our flanking ships. As all three Sequoyas are within 125,000 kilometers, I order all ships to close on the alien and open fire if they get within 60,000 kilometers. We charge into the battle and the future of our people rides with us.

14:19
The alien charges directly for Cupressaceae, the ship lying between it and our homeworld and opens fire at 67,000 kilometers with a pair of 15cm Near Ultraviolet Lasers, a weapon far in advance of our own technology. Both lasers hit and reduce Cupressaceae?s shields to strength-6. Cupressaceae responds within five seconds, launching four Thermal Torpedoes at 40,000 kilometers. Unfortunately, our tracking systems cannot cope with the high speed of the alien and all four torpedoes miss. As it will take twenty-five seconds for Cupressaceae to recharge her launchers, I order her to run for home and try to stay away from the alien.

It is a forlorn hope. Five seconds later the alien fires again at less than 30,000 kilometers. Two strength-6 hits blast through the remnants of Cupressaceae?s shields, wreck two of her engines and disable a shield generator. Eighteen Koalans are killed. My own Sequoya and her squadron mate Taxodiaceae try to close in but the alien has passed us. My tactics were designed to give one of our ships a close range shot, and they were successful in at least that regard, but now we cannot provide mutual support and Cupressaceae is likely doomed.

Another ten endless seconds pass before a third alien salvo smashes into Cupressaceae, destroying three more of her engines, her long-range sensors, one of her fire control systems and half of Engineering. However, the Sequoya class is built to be tough and her secondary fire control system survives, as do her reactor and all four of her thermal torpedo launchers. By the time the alien is ready to fire again, Cupressaceae has recharged her own weapons. She launches a defiant spread of torpedoes at point blank range, straight into the teeth of the alien ship. Finally a torpedo impacts on the enemy?s shields, causing a crimson flare that is cheered by the crews of all three ships, but it is only one. Our fire control simply cannot deal with such a fast-moving adversary. The price for that hit is high. Two more laser strikes shake Cupressaceae to her keel, ripping through her remaining operable systems and reducing her to a crawl. The alien remains close to Cupressaceae?s burning hull and fires another point blank salvo. Somehow she still survives but her end is near. Her death may not be in vain because Sequoya and Taxodiaceae are closing in and if the alien holds its position we may yet reach weapon?s range.

As Taxodiaceae moves within 80,000 kilometers, the alien suddenly realizes the danger and accelerates away toward Koala at 2000 km/s, half its normal speed but still high enough to remain outside our weapon?s range. Almost as an afterthought, twin beams spear the helpless Cupressaceae and she finally explodes. Two hundred of her five hundred and eighty crew make it to the life pods.

14:20
I have failed in my mission. Cupressaceae is lost and there is no way to prevent the alien intruder from reaching our homeworld. Although the atmosphere should protect Koala from laser attack, if the enemy ship is armed with missiles or bombs and is prepared to use them, the casualties and industrial losses will be horrific. I only wish the Quorum had agreed to my plans to build planetary defence centres as well as the Sequoya class cruisers.

14:21
The alien has accelerated to its previous speed of 4000 km/s and is now hailing Koala, although our scientists are still unable to understand its signals. We are carrying out rescue operations before deciding on our next move.

14:29
It is plainly impossible to stop the alien and with only two ships I am unable to surround it. Therefore I have decided that it is important that the Koalan Defence Force survive as a symbol to our people. Sequoya and Taxodiaceae will therefore split up and head away from the course of the alien in opposite directions. At least one of us should make it outside alien sensor range. We can remain in contact with the homeworld and return if the alien withdraws or strike at any targets of opportunity.

14:30
The alien has reversed course and is closing on Taxodiaceae. Its commander obviously realizes our intention

14:40
Taxodiaceae is under fire and her shields are failing but she is maintaining her course in an attempt to draw the alien away from Sequoya.

14:41
Taxodiaceae trails atmosphere like blood as the alien weapons tear into her. Only the determination of the alien to remain outside her 60,000 km weapon range has saved her from destruction thus far but I fear the end is close. My own ship is less than two million kilometers away and our bid for safety is unlikely to succeed.

14:46
Although Guardian Gollahite somehow held his ship together while being pounded for seven long, agonising minutes, Taxodiaceae has finally perished. Only ninety-five made it to their life pods. Even my plan for a dishonourable escape has failed as the alien is now 2.3 million kilometers astern and closing fast.

16:03
I have awoken to find myself in a life pod with the surviving bridge crew. My last memories are of a futile charge at the alien ship, a series of devastating explosions wracking my ship and finally an exploding bulkhead sending me into welcome blackness. Although the pod has no sensors, we can pick up communications from Koala. The alien ship has apparently resumed its course for our homeworld and is continuing its meaningless hails. I fear the worst.

17:00
Some better news at last! The latest update from Koala is that the alien has halted two million kilometers from the planet, possibly fearing ground-based defences, and does not appear to have spotted the retreating freighters or the geological survey ship. For now, it appears the alien is willing to continue communication attempts, probably so he can demand our unconditional surrender.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by Steve Walmsley »