The mad lad does them by hand on Paint (or was it Gimp?)

29 November, 54 TN

Seven new Charlie ships appear in Sol. Their battlegroup composition is exactly the same as the previous one: 4 BC 3 CL, of the same two classes. Unique signatures indicate that these are all new ships. It’s still not clear where they are coming from.



6 December, 54 TN

By this point, all the wreckage from the destroyed CruDesGroup 4 ships was salvaged by Charlie. It is believed that the previously seen auxiliary ships of the Mule class are the ones that are doing the salvaging. It would be great if one can be captured for examination. Mules usually travel with one Daemon-class CL as an escort.

Humanity has four Hornblower-class boarding-capable troop shuttles, but their range is limited. So.. Somebody had a crazy, but promising idea…

Two 40K ton auxiliary cargo ships of the Ocean Blue class were sent out past the orbit of Mars, escorted by a few rescue shuttles. Once positioned at an optimal distance, both transports were safely evacuated and blown up. The rescue beacons were deployed near the wrecks automatically.

22 December, 54 TN

Deep Space Tracking Stations detect a Mule class ship moving from the Ross 128 jump point to one of the wrecks. Several E-1 Trackers deployed to investigate. As expected, one Mule-class ship is escorted by a single Daemon-class light cruiser.



24 December, 54 TN

LAC Squadron 1 approaches the Charlie ships. 38 Specters launch 152 ASM-50 missiles at the Daemon, obliterating it with 53 strength-9 nuclear detonations. DST Network picks up Charlie battlegroup (4 BC 3 CL), rushing towards Humanity’s Trackers and LACs.



Four Hornblower-class shuttles (TG Horatio) successfully land Marines on the hull of the moving Mule. It takes them a while to blast through the thick armor that’s five layers deep.



At 17:09, Marines report that they have the alien ship secured and under control. There is no sign of the crew. The ship appears to be guided by a  “brain” controller section that Marines managed to disable. They cannot use the engines now, however. It’s stuck.

Marines are ordered back to the shuttles. ARS-01 Fortitude is called from Earth’s orbit to tow the captured alien ship. It is slow, however, and the Charlie battlegroup is approaching fast.



Humanity ships disable all active radars to limit the emissions, and one Tracker is used to lure the Charlie battlegroup away from the captured Mule and Fortitude towing it.

22 February, 55 TN

We’ve managed to capture another Mule. Charlie don’t seem to be very intelligent at perceiving threats and are mostly driven by basic instincts. That does not diminish the threat to Humanity that they represent, however. The wrecks of the cargo ships have attracted too much attention from Charlie by now and were hastily removed, to make sure enemy battlegroups won't come knocking before enough missiles are built to deal with them.

Both captured Mules are towed to Earth to be disassembled and studied.



22 April, 55 TN

Mules, now renamed to Vultures, are thoroughly examined. There’s a theory that they consume the matter from the shipwrecks and transform it into bio energy that can be used by their engines. So they are basically feeding upon the dead ships. Hence the Vulture nickname.



R&D Sector on Earth is happy to get their hands on alien equipment, promising future gains in engine, fire control, electronic warfare and sensor technology fields.



25 August, 55 TN

Light Carrier Wasp is launched, based on the Confidence class missile cruiser hull. It’s the simplest design that can help us put carriers on the battlefield as soon as possible. Larger carriers would require a considerable amount of time and R&D, even before shipyards are ready to start building them.

Wasp class Light Carrier      16,000 tons       269 Crew       1,870.9 BP       TCS 320    TH 1,000    EM 0
3125 km/s    JR 5-100      Armour 1-56       Shields 0-0       HTK 74      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 16-10      PPV 0
Maint Life 2.20 Years     MSP 1,438    AFR 341%    IFR 4.7%    1YR 400    5YR 6,003    Max Repair 264 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 4,000 tons     Troop Capacity 250 tons     Magazine 643 / 0   
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   ENG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 80    Morale Check Required   

J16000(5-100) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 16000 tons    Distance 100k km     Squadron Size 5

Ion Drive  EP500.00 (2)    Power 1000    Fuel Use 25.00%    Signature 500    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 2,101,600 Litres    Range 94.6 billion km (350 days at full power)

CIWS-120B (1x8)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12,000 km/s     ROF 5       
ASM-200A Roguestar Anti-Ship Missile (32)    Speed: 30,090 km/s    End: 11.6m     Range: 20.9m km    WH: 36    Size: 20    TH: 125/75/37

Electronic Warfare Jammers:   Sensor 1    Missile 1   

Strike Group / Ground Forces
8x A-2A Savage Light Attack Craft   Speed: 11935 km/s    Size: 8.48
1x Hornblower Troop Shuttle   Speed: 10144 km/s    Size: 9.98
1x Marine Detachment
29 August, 55 TN

Wasp, accompanied by Cruiser Destroyer Group 2 and some additional DDGs, moves closer to Saturn to launch a strike at the Charlie battlegroup sitting there. Are they using in-situ refueling technology to get fuel from the gas giant directly?

8 Savages launch their payload against two Daemons of the battlegroup, 4 missiles per ship. Surprisingly, 7 out of 8 missiles hit their targets. It’s not enough to destroy them, but good enough to force them to break formation and leave the battlecruisers unescorted.

Unfortunately, Charlie battlegroup decided to run away this time. After Charlie ships split up, Trackers were unable to reliably track all of them. By the time their new position was established, they’ve moved too far away from the Wasp, outside the range of Savages.

Wasp turned back home to Earth. We’ll try again next time.

Thank you for your kind words, Garfunkel.

As it is my first writing of such kind and I'm no native speaker I hope it is still quite readable. I will try to put up some screenshots in further posts to aid the imagination of the reader. But I'm still figuring out how to post them besides attachments.

I might also do a post showing the different designs next. However, here is the writeup of the largest battle fought yet by the Continuity Void Navy. I attached some images below, but they kind of spoil the result of the battle.




Briefly into the second decade after the awakening, the patrol vessel "Ontomyia" finds a new way into the Stein system, which is located directly after Lambda Trianguli Australis and the system the rival alien race has first been detected. Surveyors explore the system, finding two stabilised jump points in the inner system, as well as an alien mining outpost on a moon of the Gas Giant Stein A-I, the only planet of the A component. As the aliens might guard the Lambda Trianguli Australis - Stein jump point, it is decided to conquer Stein by an attack via the newly found connection. However, first the carrier group is to undergo intensive training sessions and reinforcements.
Around the turn over from 12 AA to 13 AA, two new destroyers complement the task force. "Fair Weather" is the fourth "Unto the Breach"-class AAM-Destroyer while the new "Day of Jubilation" class leader is a destroyer armed with 52 Breacher II ASMs and guidance systems capable of targeting enemy small crafts up to 40m km away. The task force is then submitted to three intensive training runs over the course of two years, depleting the empires fuel stockpiles by 60%.
Meanwhile the first "Three-legged Crow"-class light cruiser is under construction. While the new class is designed for independent small operations against enemy unarmed or lightly armed vessels, it also is capable of providing a carrier group with jump capability. Until now only fleet support vessels did that, but they slow down the group considerably. Still, no operation is performed without on of these vessels nearby, as they can provide much needed missiles, supplies and fuel to the warships.


Finally, in 15 AA the operation "Stein Liberation" is ready to commence.
Its goal are:
a) to clear the Stein system of enemy forces
b) to probe the jump points in the inner system, leading further into alien space
c) to conquer the mining colony on Stein A-I Moon 8, which has substantial deposits of some million tons of minerals at a total accessibility of 6.1.

To accomplish this goal, the Void Navy has commited most of its forces:
The Carrier Group Alpha, compromised of:
CVS-01 "Give the Devil His Due", with its 20 fighters and 40 bombers as the offensive component.
4 DD "Unto the Breach","Fifth Winter","Say My Name" and "Fair Weather" provide AAM coverage.
DDG-01 "Day of Jubilation" provides the group with short-range offensive capabilites and coverage against small craft.
CL-01 "Three legged Crow" provides jump capability.
FSV-01 "Foregone Conclusion" is supposed to stax in the neighbouring Chi Pavonis system and provides supplies when needed.

The PV-01 "Ontomyia" provides sensor coverage, will probe the jump points and lay down bouys there.

Also two mighty assault transports, "Pillbox" and "Rampart", carry two glider wings and an associated HQ. They are designed to withstand STO-lance weapons with their extreme aroured belt and can carry up to 50kt of combat units.

Stein-A I orbits the white dwarf once every 27 years a little bit over 1 billion km away. During time of the operation, the trailing trojans and the LP of Stein-A I are almost exactly half way between the former star and the entry jump point of the task force. As such, Stein-A 1 is a billion km from both the LP and the central star, but over 1.5b km from the entry point. The JPs to explore are within some million km of the white dwarf. It is decided to station the main force at the LP of Stein-A I, so it is in a central position and has several escape routes.


First, "Ontomyia" transits into the system. Its massive thermal sensors detect several commercial ships, transiting between the unexplored JP2 and the mining colony. A sweep of the B-component, best reached through the langrange points, shows no enemys. Therefore, it is decided to probe JP1 while the carrier moves into position on the LP. The patrol vessel exits in the rather unremarkable system of Delta Pavonis and no alien contacts are found there.

Before the JP2 is probed, the enemy mining colony is to be conquered, to draw out enemy combat forces from their territory and as it is feared they would fortify the far side of the jump point if they discovered contacts there. As such, the patrol vessel is sent towards the colony. Meanwhile the assault transports transit into the system and heads for Stein-A I.


To the surprise of the intelligence officers, when "Ontomyia" is about 100m km from Stein-A I, it detects four military vessels in orbit of the mining outpost. Two 24kt Gareth Banner and two 17kt Glen Collins class vessels. Both have not yet been sighted. Earl Ubeinn Foxson, commander of the carrier group and the "Give the Devil His Due", orders the bombers to launch and the ships to raise their shields. Meanwhile, relying on its small signature, "Ontomyia" approaches further. This proves fatal for the distinguished exploration and patrol vessel, as the 9kkms fast enemy ships break orbit and head towards it. The patrol vessel is obliterated by missiles, making it the first casuality of the Continuity.

Several hour later the Elopteryx class scout, providing sensor data for the bombers, detects the enemy halfway between the wreck and the mining station. It shadows the enemy, while the bombers organize at the wreckage and prepare for a run towards the enemy. 40 Bambiraptor class bomber armed with 80 Breacher II missiles depart the wrecked vessel on course towards the enemy at around 4am on November, 29th.


However, at 4:21:45, disaster strikes: 1 bomber is obliterated while several others are left dead in space by a sudden missile strikes on bomber wing A. The investigation showed that the Commander, Air Group of "Give the Devil His Due" was not aware the enemy ships changed course and were flying towards the scout and bombers, which, not having been given the exact location data of the enemy, flyed past it and within range of the enemy AAMs.
The wing commanders react immediately and order all bombers to launch their missiles at Gareth Banner 001. While the Breacher II ASMs are being launched and swarm towards the enemy, further explosions destroy several bombers. Only 60 ASMs manage to reach the enemy and detonate on the enemy cruiser. The over 73 exploding warheads, manage do disrupt the shields and breach the armour in several places and the enemy vessel speed is cut in half. The bombers, meanwhile have no option but to run. Fate is however not with them and over the course of the next minutes all 40 Bambiraptors are slowly reduced to dust and the survivors picked up by the enemy ships. The commanding officers can do nothing but watch in silence.


Earl Ubeinn Foxson, however, does prove his merit and immediatly calls for a meeting regarding the situation and further action. After a luxurious meal provided by the chef of "Give the Devil His Due", the situation is assessed:
The carrier group has lost all 20kt of its bombers and has no long-range strike capability left. It still consists of 220kt of warships. It has 2000 AAMs left, but these are totally ineffective against enemy shipping. The carrier and DDs are armed with one lance weapon each, the Cl with two, for a total of seven lance weapons, capable of doing 7x24=168dmg in each volley, but having atrocious long recharging times. Without the help of the 42 Microraptor fighters, the enemy shields can't be pierced. A further 52 Breacher II pods on "Day of Jubilation" would probably be insufficent to take down an enemy vessel. The fighters alone might be able to take down the damaged enemy vessel, but their range is not enough to reach it so the whole fleet would need to move in.
While it would be an option to assault the enemy with the fighters and destroyers, Earl Foxson decides to abort the operation.  The mighty fleet is countered by four alien vessels of just a third the tonnage.

Fortunately, the enemy seems to be unaware of the carrier groups location and the approaching assault transports and all vessels are ordered to assemble at the jumppoint and return back to bastion.

In total 26kt were lost, with replacing the bombers being the main problem. It is estimated to take two years of continuous production to replace the strike group.


Home at Bastion, a comitee led by Prince Vaerfittr Lokkrson (married to Aenaldia Foxson) is tasked with investigating the disasterous operation and finding who is at fault for the errors made.
Its report is finished a year after the battle and it finds the CAG, Count Rhydderch Courseume, as the main perpetrator. Not only did he send the bombers on the way towards the planet instead of the enemy, but he also did present an preposterous declaration, blaming his incompetence on some unreasonable concepts of discrete turns of time and the automatic progression thereof. He was promptly released from service in the navy and was transfered to the complaint desk of housing unit 12 of the research division.
The Tactial Officier, Baron Owain Herbard was found to not have relaid the information concerning the enemy position and own bombers to the CO and CAG. He was demoted to Knight. The Executive Officer, Count Llamrei Couci, was demoted to Baron, as he failed in his duty to instruct and observe the other officers.
Earl Ubeinn Foxson, Commanding Officer of the operation was relieved of all accusations, as he is believed to have been misled by the CAG about the situation. He was applauded for his quick decision to abandon the operation, thereby migitating the risks of losing further valuable assets needed to reach the newly spacefaring civilisation.

Another blow for Continuity morale was the detection of an unknown alien vessel by a sensor bouy just two days after the retreat was ordered. The vessel transited into the Sigma Eridani system, located on the frontier of explored space next to a black hole system, valued for its promising amount of JPs. The signature of the alien vessel indicates another competitor, which has been tentatively declared "Beta Rivals".


Two months after the battle in Stein, the damaged Gareth Banner 001, now 7kkms fast, was spotted in the neighbouring Lambda Trianguli Australis system, where the first contact battle five years earlier was fought. The cruiser "Three-legged Crow" was dispatched, hoping to disable the enemy ship thereby lessening the loss of the bombers.
The cruiser quickly spotted the enemy vessel and approached it. "Three-legged Crow" spooted 15 incoming enemy ASMs and launched its two Microraptor fighters to supplement its defenses. The missiles detonated, reducing the cruisers shield to 15%. As the enemy was not expected to launch another volley soon, the "Three-legged Crow" is virtually immune to these missile attacks.
The Continuity cruiser chased down the enemy and no second volley was spotted until the ships made contact. "Three-legged Crow" took position 250kkm from the enemy and began discharging its two lance weapons. However, the enemy shields did regenerate faster than the slow firing lances could deplete it, so the fighters were ordered to attack the enemy. The Gareth Banner class does not seem to possess any beam weapons and tried desperate ramming manouvers to damage the nimble fighters.
The two Microraptors slowly began to whittle down the enemy shields, helped by the lance weapons every few minutes. After six and a half minutes a lance strike finally took down the shields and a minute later the fighters blew the enemy ship to pieces.

"Three-legged Crow" stayed in system to protect the freighter tasked with salavaging the wreck. As the enemy "Gareth Banner" class was found to only posses ASM launchers it was classified as an Missile Cruiser for future engagements.
As both vessels (barely) couldn't hurt each other much, the Continuity decides, that the navy needs more offensive firepower. A second carrier is thus under consideration to supplement operations with more fire power.


The next years, the continuity will have to recover its losses. Further cruisers are planned for small operation on the fringes of space as well as the construction of another carrier and strike group. New "Ontomyia"-class vessels are also planned and mines for them to lay down at strategic points are in development. The economic situation is expected to improve over the next years, as new installations to coordinate industrial efforts and maintain various expenditures are planned. However, minerals, especially Corbomite and Boronide are expected to be in short supply in the near future. The next operation into the Stein system is thus planned to take place in the mid 20s.

Great writing! I really hope the Kzzak’ri Grand Assembly has a bright future in the stars!

I'm trying to find out how to best post images on here for my AAR, too. Over ten years and I do not seem to have done it yet...

The following excerpts are taken from the notes of Zap’pap’pa Xi’lbip, scribe to the Western Forester’s Alliance delegation to the grand assembly. They have been compiled and translated by the imperial college of Xenology, and are not to be published externally.

Jan 0001 - Construction project queued to round out facility numbers. The Western Mining Co-Operative, Central Tak’kapi Rockdigger’s Guild, and United Dredging Co. each laying down three Zak'yi Ka'ahil class survey vessels as part of their agreement to fund the IMC. Party Boss Khassarapom Suphamongkhon of the EHMC, was picked to lead the startup.

Zak'yi Ka'ahil class Survey Vessel      5,000 tons       113 Crew       675.9 BP       TCS 100    TH 600    EM 0
6000 km/s      Armour 1-26       Shields 0-0       HTK 26      Sensors 12/12/1/1      DCR 4-8      PPV 0
Maint Life 2.12 Years     MSP 337    AFR 50%    IFR 0.7%    1YR 100    5YR 1,499    Max Repair 300 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

Srisa-arn Aero Engines Model 86 (1)    Power 600    Fuel Use 36.74%    Signature 600    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 464,000 Litres    Range 45.5 billion km (87 days at full power)

Sonakul-Sirikhanth 'Heat-Vent Sniffer' V7 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  27.4m km
Sonakul-Sirikhanth 'Lookie Lookie' V3 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  27.4m km
Geological Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1)   1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes


September 0001 - In preparation for the assured motherload of TN resources to be found beyond the stars, the IMC funds the purchase of three Po’kol class freighters:

Po'kol class Cargo Ship      100,000 tons       308 Crew       1,161.3 BP       TCS 2,000    TH 2,400    EM 0
1200 km/s      Armour 1-191       Shields 0-0       HTK 81      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1-0      PPV 0
MSP 7    Max Repair 75 MSP
Cargo 70,000    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 4   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

Pokai-udom-Sai-kua Super-60 Nuclear Gas-Core Thrust Plant (8)    Power 2400    Fuel Use 6.50%    Signature 300    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 1,056,000 Litres    Range 29.3 billion km (282 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Freighter for auto-assignment purposes


November 0001 - In a bit of a colonization fever, a grassroots organization going by the “United Front for New Nest Places” helpfully acronymed to UFNNP, funds the creation of a new colony ship through micro donations on a popular digital forum for explicit media with the ultimate goal of [UNPRINTABLE] [UNPRINTABLE] [UNPRINTABLE] on foreign planets for the good of the Kzzak’ri Grand Assembly! More conservative members of of the assembly are skeptical that such basal motivations could result in a functional society, but considering they were willing to foot the bill for two full colony ships no further objections were raised.

Tak'ko'gopp class Colonist Transport      100,000 tons       470 Crew       3,361.5 BP       TCS 2,000    TH 2,400    EM 0
1200 km/s      Armour 1-191       Shields 0-0       HTK 90      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 1-0      PPV 0
MSP 21    Max Repair 400 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 280,000    Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 4   
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

Pokai-udom-Sai-kua Super-60 Nuclear Gas-Core Thrust Plant (8)    Power 2400    Fuel Use 6.50%    Signature 300    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 821,000 Litres    Range 22.8 billion km (219 days at full power)

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Colony Ship for auto-assignment purposes

December 0001 - To the surprise of their detractors, the IMC’s initial geosurvey of the innermost systems reveal a bounty of minerals just waiting to be harvested! All three interior planets possessed at least one deposit of high-accessibility minerals in the Megatons, along with almost all other TN resources in varying degrees of accessibility. Additionally, two of the three moons of Birthplace 4, a gas giant, have revealed promising deposits of resources as well.

As if that was not enough to generate excitement amongst the hives, Birthplace 2 is also a suitable terraforming candidate, with acceptable (if somewhat low) gravity and an extensive hydrosphere. With this news, the grand assembly was thrown into a frenzy, many hives excitedly and hurriedly preparing to venture into the vast opportunities of space in hopes of fortune and adventure!


Final birthplace geosurvey:

Compilers Note: The lack of alarm over the paucity of Gallicite seems to demonstrate the naiveite of these Xenos, though some of the records cataloged by Rotham in A brief history of Kazzak’ri shipbuilding seem to demonstrate a understanding of the bottleneck it might create, along with an assumption that a source would be found during the second wave of expansion.

July 0003
New gateways to the stars have been discovered! Though the initial excitement is infectious, the reality is that Vipavvakind had no real way of stabilizing them, and no existing ships to open the subspace rifts between the systems via jump drive. While the bureau of ships got on about that, the Grand Assembly would simply have to focus on the settlement and exploitation of the Birthplace system.

October 005
While it took entirely too long for the colony ships to be finished, a brief dalliance with a new form of pinball machine having taken over and paralyzed the southwestern dockyard with ‘dinger fever’, colonists are now flowing in a heavy stream to Birthplace A-2, now renamed ‘Sisternest’ by the ever unimaginative UFNNP, and terraforming is now underway. The bureau of ships now are simply struggling with getting the R&D sorted for the Pak'ki Loppo'kol class Jump Tender, Kowit Wattana Aircraft Engine Co. still preoccupied with their new magnetic mirror fusion reactor to divert scientists to research their engine proposal.

0008
Turns out that normal life-support systems don’t work very well in low gravity, such as on It’ik K’ami’s largest moon. After a few false starts, the new research colony finally begins to take hold. Terraforming of Sisternest is coming along well, the introduction of oxygen to the atmosphere having caused a bit of a runaway greenhouse effect that hopefully should settle out as anti-greenhouse gasses are added after the oxygen content is stabilized. Progress on interstellar travel has been glacial, but when your research teams get ahead of themselves and prove out a prototype for a 40kt vessel before the drives for your survey vessels, these things do happen. Another yard has taken the development of jump drives to task, one to be integrated directly into the future 7kt survey vessels rather than set aside as a jump tender.