23rd March 2035
Disagreements between NATO and Soviet political leaders over the Kostinbrod situation spill into the public domain. Intense media pressure in NATO countries leads to several leaders declaring they withheld the linguistic information because the Soviet Union could not be trusted to fairly represent humanity to the Kostinbrod and the Soviet attack proves they were right to be concerned. This inflames the international situation and threats begin to fly back and forth between NATO capitals and Moscow. President von Kolbe of the Eridani Republic holds a news conference and reveals that a majority of NATO leaders rejected advice from himself and all the senior NATO military commanders to provide such information to the Soviets. While this eases the tension between senior NATO and Soviet military commanders, in particular between Admiral Melnikov and Admiral Thorn, it only exacerbates the strains within the NATO alliance, with some NATO leaders indirectly suggesting that von Kolbe is committing treason by revealing the advice given by NATO commanders. Von Kolbe rejects any such suggestions as transparent attempts to avoid blame for the situation and asks for calm from both NATO and Soviet politicians. He publicly asks the NATO political leaders to arbitrate between the Soviet Union and the Kostinbrod and prevent a new interstellar conflict. Unfortunately, the Soviet leaders no longer trust their NATO counterparts and the Kostinbrod have cut off communications with NATO and refuse to answer any hails.
25th March 2035
Nineteen Soviet fast attack craft arrive in Kostinbrod to support the Soviet cruiser Kronstadt. Despite deteriorating relations between the Soviet Union and NATO, the NATO cruiser New Mexico remains at the Kostinbrod - Gorshkov jump point to continue attempts to re-establish communications with the Kostinbrod Empire. Pressure is building within the NATO alliance to withdraw New Mexico and the remaining forces at the Sol - Gorshkov jump point and abandon the Gorshkov chain to the Soviet Union.
9th April 2035
Seven Kostinbrod FACs are detected twenty-nine million kilometers from the Kostinbrod - Gorshkov jump point, approaching at 4000 km/s. Soviet forces on the jump point now comprise the cruisers Chervona Ukrayina, Kronstadt and Admiral Isachenkov, ten Molniya class FACs, seven Vidyut class FACs and two Molniya-S class scouts. Chervona Ukrayina is a Project 1204 Atlant, designed primarily for anti-ship combat while the other two cruisers are Project 1204 Berkuts, designed as escort cruisers with a secondary anti-ship capability. In addition to their fifteen AMM launchers, the Berkuts have twin 200mm railguns and a small battery of twenty-four box launchers for P-500 Palash anti-ship missiles. Although Admiral Isachenkov is fully loaded, Kronstadt has twelve empty launchers. Chervona Ukrayina is armed with eighty P-501 Garpuns and three 200mm railguns. Each of the Molniya class FACs has a dozen P-500 Palash while the Vidyuts are armed with twin 100mm railguns. The problem for all the Soviet ships is that their missile fire controls are designed with much larger opponents in mind and the Kostinbrod FACs are too small to lock on to at their current range. The senior Soviet commander in Kostinbrod, Kontr-admiral Slavik Borisov, considers holding position on the jump point but he is concerned the Kostinbrod ships may simply launch missiles and retreat without ever entering Soviet missile range. Therefore he sends his railgun-armed FACs out to intercept, hoping to conserve his limited missile supplies. The Vidyuts not only have a 2000 km/s speed advantage over their Kostinbrod counterparts, their active sensors can detect incoming missiles, allowing them a chance to defend themselves against any Kostinbrod attack. As the Vidyuts move within a million kilometers of the Kostinbrod FACs, they detect an active sensor with a range of ten million kilometers and a resolution of 87. The Kostinbrod are still seventeen million kilometers from the jump point so it is extremely unlikely the FACs can fire any missiles at the Soviet cruisers on the jump point before they are intercepted.
Suddenly, with the range at 125,000 kilometers and without any detection of a hostile launch, Vidyut 005 is struck seven times by anti-ship missiles with strength-4 warheads. The fragile Soviet FAC is blown to pieces. Kontr-admiral Slavik Borisov surmises that the two flotillas were so close together that the Kostinbrod missiles were launched and reached their target within the five second pulse cycle of the Soviet active sensors. The Kostinbrod FACs turn to flee with the six surviving Vidyuts in vengeful pursuit. Apparently, the entire Kostinbrod flotilla launched their missiles at Vidyut 005 as there are no further attacks. With no remaining missiles, they are easy targets for the faster Soviet vessels and soon all seven Kostinbrod ships are smashed into drifting wreckage. The first Kostinbrod counterstroke has been defeated by the Soviet Union for the loss of one fast attack craft and without the use of any ordnance.
15th April 2035
The battlecruiser Kirov, the aviation cruiser Minsk and three additional cruisers arrive in Kostinbrod. Admiral Melnikov orders the larger ships to conduct a reconnaissance in force toward the centre of the Kostinbrod system while the eighteen remaining FACs guard the jump point. A salvage vessel and three freighters have also arrived to begin salvaging the Kostinbrod wrecks. With the Soviet task group forty million kilometers from the jump point, a new contact is detected; a single 7350 ton Kostinbrod ship of a previously unseen class moving at 2720 km/s. The new alien ship, designed as Gaius Marius 001, is on an intercept course toward the Soviet task group. Admiral Isachenkov launches her twenty-four Palash anti-ship missiles, which rapidly close in on their target. A single missile is destroyed by point blank point defence fire. The remaining twenty-three obliterate the Kostinbrod ship.
24th April 2035
Since the end of the Sino-Soviet war, the initially slow-moving Soviet colonization of the Alpha Centauri system has proceeded far more rapidly. Alpha Centauri-B III has recently become an ideal habitable world and its population has grown to eighty million. Sufficient maintenance facilities have been transported to the planet for it to assume to role of primary Soviet fleet base, finally providing the Soviet Union with a relatively safe haven for its fleet, even if most of that fleet is currently split up into wide-ranging deployments. Soviet terraforming efforts will now switch to Alpha Centauri-A III, which has a population of eleven million.
28th April 2035
The Soviet task group in Kostinbrod moves within active sensor range of the Kostinbrod home world and detects five stationary ships of 14,750 tons. Two are designated as Cicero class and the other three as Hadrian class. There is also an orbital shipyard complex of 20,000 tons. Kontr-admiral Borisov halts his task group 110 million kilometers from the planet and launches a strike of twenty-four Sukhoi-40s from Minsk, each armed with three Palash anti-ship missiles. As Minsk has one hundred and fifty of the more advanced P-506 Palash-B anti-ship missile in her magazines, the initial strike concentrates on just the two Cicero class ships. There is no sign of any point defence fire and both targets are destroyed. The Soviet fighters return to their carrier to rearm.
As the warhead of the Palash-B is one third larger than the Palash-A used in the first strike, the second strike targets all three Hadrian class ships, directing twenty-four missiles against each one. There is still no sign of any point defence fire and all the missiles hit their stationary targets. Fourteen secondary magazine explosions are detected, all of which are greater than strength-30. All three Hadrians are blasted to smithereens. The lack of evidence for point defence is puzzling, although later analysis of the battle by the GRU results in a theory that the generally lower tech of the Kostinbrod may have resulted in point defence that was ineffective, rather than absent.
With no sign of any further spaceborne defences, the Soviet task group closes to twenty million kilometers and Kontr-admiral Borisov demands the surrender of the Kostinbrod Empire. The response is immediate and resoundingly negative. Borisov updates Admiral Melnikov via the jump gate network and the two Soviet admirals discuss their next move. While Kontr-admiral Borisov is eager to bombard the Kostinbrod into submission, Admiral Melnikov sees an opportunity to increase the industrial base of the Soviet Union, especially as the Soviet task group in Kostinbrod is detecting only a relatively small ground forces signature. The two Chinese-built Hegu class troopships load the 12th and 13th Tank Regiments from Earth and head for the Kostinbrod home world.
7th May 2035
Amid continuing tensions between the two major human power blocs, the Soviet Union formally requests that NATO withdraws New Mexico from the Kostinbrod system, on the basis that the system is a war zone and the Soviet Union cannot guarantee the safety of the NATO cruiser. There is heated debate within NATO leadership but the 'Earth First' faction is still in the majority and the resultant vote approves withdrawal.
10th May 2035
NATO completes development of a new jump drive with a 15,000 ton capacity that has a jump radius of 500,000 kilometers and a maximum squadron size of five. The new system will eventually be used in a jump cruiser design intended to lead assaults on defended jump points.
15th May 2035
NATO launches its first three terraforming ships. They move into Tau Ceti to assist the ground-based terraforming installations on New Plymouth. Roanoke's shipyards also launch the fourth Daring Mod 1 Area Defence Cruiser and three more Cerberus class monitors, taking the total number of that class to eleven.
25th May 2035
NATO has assembled sufficient resources in Heintz 299 to begin the planned exploration of its seven unexplored jump points and to survey the surrounding systems. The primary military force in the system comprises the light carriers Illustrious and Invincible and their thirty-six Cobra fighters, escorted by the Daring Mod 1 Area Defence Cruisers Dauntless II and Diana. The cruiser Belisarius provides jump capability. The two Mackenzie class maintenance ships in orbit of Heintz 299-II are guarded by the older area defence cruiser Dragon and the destroyer escort De Ruyter. Survey capabilities are provided by the geological survey vessels Discovery, Endeavour and Victoria and the gravitational survey ships Newton and Kepler. The third NATO gravitational survey ship, Galileo, is en route from Epsilon Eridani. A pair of jump gate construction ships are on hand in case any particularly useful systems are discovered.
A J-30B Vanguard jump scout from Illustrious transits jump point one to find a red dwarf star identified as Gliese 832. The star, located 16.1 light years from Sol, is orbited by six planets, the most habitable of which has a nitrogen - oxygen atmosphere with a pressure of 0.06 atm and a surface temperature of -58C. The carriers and their escorts jump into the new system and move toward the planets to check for any sign of an alien presence.
29th May 2035
The Soviet Union detects a previously unknown jump point during its resurvey of Ross 154, the only system besides Sol that connects directly to Alpha Centauri. The jump point has a jump gate, which was almost certainly built by the Goavelha Host. At the far side of the Ross 154 - Alpha Centauri jump point are the battlecruiser Frunze, the aviation cruiser Kiev and six Vidyut-B class fast attack craft. Admiral Melnikov orders this force to enter Ross 154 and cover a probe by one of the survey ships.
5th June 2035
NATO launches its first two Oracle class Surveillance Frigates, which are equipped with the SN/SPY-33 Area Surveillance Array, a resolution-120 active sensor with a range of over a billion kilometers. One is dispatched to aid the survey operations around Heintz 299 while the other is held in reserve in Epsilon Eridani.
10th June 2035
The Soviet survey ship Antares transits the recently discovered jump point in Ross 154 and arrives in Wolf 922, a binary of two red dwarf stars twenty-six light years from Earth. There is no sign of any Goavelha ships near the jump point, which is almost three billion kilometers from the primary. The system has eight planets and a small asteroid belt. Frunze and Kiev enter Wolf 922, leaving six fast attack craft to guard the jump point, and head for the inner planets. Antares returns to Ross 154 to aid her sister ships Andromeda and Mars in completing the resurvey.
19th June 2035
NATO explores Ross 780, a red dwarf system connected to Heintz 299. There are no habitable planets and no sign of any alien presence.
1st July 2035
Invincible, Illustrious and their escorts enter TW Piscis Austrini, a system with an orange K5-V primary, ten planets and a large asteroid belt that connects to the third jump point of Heintz 299. The second planet has a breathable atmosphere but a surface temperature of -52C, giving it a colony cost of 2.36.
4th July 2035
Four Golem ships are detected in TW Piscis Austrini five hundred million kilometers from the NATO task group and closing at 6975 km/s. The NATO force reverses course and Rear Admiral Majewski, commanding the six-ship force, orders the launch of all thirty-six Cobra fighters. Half are F-24B Cobras and the rest are F-24C Cobras. All the fighters are armed with four AGM-1C Sabre anti-ship missiles, the most modern variant. Two of the Golem ships are the previously encountered 6450 ton Artemis class, a third is a 12,900 ton Poseidon class, one of which was destroyed in Tau Ceti, and the fourth is a new class of 12,900 tons that is designated as Archimedes class. The precise armament of the known classes has yet to be determined, although they have been encountered in Golem fleets with both offensive and defensive missile capability.
The fighters launch one hundred and forty-four missiles, targeted on the two largest Golem ships. There is no sign of Golem anti-missiles and only four Sabres are destroyed by point blank point defence fire. Twenty-nine AGM-1C strike the Archimedes, inflicting massive internal damage and reducing its speed to 1162 km/s. The Poseidon explodes after suffering thirty-five hits. The fighters break off and head for their carriers, pursued by the two undamaged Artemis class ships. The crippled Archimedes class reverses course and heads for the inner system, repairing its engines en route.
At the point the eighteen F-24C Cobras land on the Illustrious, the slower F-24Bs from the Invincible are still thirty-five million kilometers away and the two Golem ships are at one hundred and eighty-nine million. Rear Admiral Majewski orders his ships to full speed away from the Golems, which increases the time required for the F-24Bs to reach the task group but means the Golems will be further away when the F-24Cs complete re-arming. The F-24Cs launch with the returning F-24Bs twenty-nine million kilometers away and the Golems at one hundred and eighty-five million. Although the eighteen fighters only carry a total of seventy-two missiles, Admiral Majewski hopes that will be enough against the two remaining Golem pursuers due to their smaller size. The F-24Bs land eighty-six minutes after the launch of the faster sisters and begin their own re-arming sequence. Thirty-five minutes into that sequence, the F-24Cs launch against the Golems, which are one hundred and sixty-three million kilometers from the task group.
Twelve hits are scored against the Golem spacecraft designated as Artemis 008 and sixteen against Artemis 009. The latter slows to 6200 km/s. The F-24Cs head back to Illustrious and the Invincible launches her eighteen F-24Bs. Minutes after the two groups of NATO fighters pass each other, nine of the F-24Bs launch their missiles against Artemis 008. The other nine continue onwards, as by this time Artemis 009 is four million kilometers further away, and launch their missiles seven minutes later. Both alien vessels, their armour no doubt severely weakened by the earlier assault, are obliterated. Meanwhile, the Golem Archimedes class cruiser, crippled in the first strike, is still fleeing toward the inner system and has repaired enough engines to increase speed to 3874 km/s. Rear Admiral Majewski orders his task group to pursue, which also brings it on to a reciprocal course with the thirty-six returning fighters.
As well as the Illustrious and Invincible, the task group includes the Daring Mod 1 Area Defence Cruisers Diana and Dauntless II, the jump cruiser Belisarius and the Oracle class surveillance frigate Pythia. With the exception of Alexander, all of the NATO ships are equipped with the Rolls Royce RR80 Magneto-Plasma Drive and are capable of 5000 km/s or greater. Belisarius is equipped with the older Rolls Royce RR60 Ion Drive and has a top speed of 4000 km/s. While the cruiser's jump capability is vital to the task group, she is slowing it down and with the presence of the Pythia her large active sensor is not required, although her passive sensors are far more capable than the small frigate. Due to the need to maintain a high speed against the faster Golem ships, Rear Admiral Majewski decides to send her back to the jump point where she will take the opportunity to send a message to Epsilon Eridani and then await the rest of the task group. The other concern for Rear Admiral Majewski is ordnance supplies. Two hundred and eighty-eight AGM-1C Sabres have been expended, leaving barely enough to reload all his fighters. Only twelve missiles remain in reserve.
7th July 2035
The fleeing Golem cruiser has increased speed to 5425 km/s and is pulling away from the pursuing NATO task group.
8th July 2035
The Archimedes is still on sensors at a range of six hundred and sixty-five million kilometers but has increased speed to 5813 km/s. Two new contacts are detected at just over a billion kilometers in orbit of TW Piscis Austrini II, a planet with a breathable atmosphere. The Archimedes is on course to rendezvous with the other two Golem ships, identified as an Achilles class and a Themistocles class. These two classes are known to be Golem orbital defence bases and were encountered previously in Tau Ceti. They mount formidable anti-missile defences and Rear Admiral Majewski is well aware his limited ordnance supplies are unlikely to prove sufficient. He orders his task group to retreat to the jump point, where he intends to request replacement ordnance and reinforcements.
10th July 2035
NATO Engineers working to restore alien installations from the ruins of the Bahraich Enclave on New Plymouth disturb another vault containing Golem soldiers. A brigade of Spanish marines is covering the work of the engineers and immediately engages the robotic guardians.
15th July 2035
A new 7400 ton Kostinbrod ship is launched from their still intact shipyard complex. Kontr-admiral Borisov curses Admiral Melnikov's decision to leave the Kostinbrod shipyards intact so they may be captured by the Soviet marines en route to the planet. Eight Soviet warships are in orbit of Kostinbrod Prime, covering the work of two Soviet salvage ships and their accompanying freighters as they attempt to recover components from the wrecks of several Kostinbrod orbital defence bases. The alien vessel opens fire immediately with 12cm lasers and blows one of the salvage ships to pieces. The battle-hardened Soviet warships are quick to respond and the alien ship is torn apart by railgun fire before her lasers can fire a second time. Borisov contacts his superior, reports the loss of the salvage ship and repeats his earlier request to destroy the shipyards and bombard the planet. The two Hegu class troop transports, carrying two Soviet tank regiments, are only seventeen days from Kostinbrod Prime so Admiral Melnikov denies the request. However he does order Borisov to pull his ships back from the planet and abandon salvage work until the planet is secured.
A Soviet cruiser picks up the life pods from the Kostinbrod warship. Interrogation of the survivors provides information on the geology of the system. Kostinbrod Prime has relatively small deposits of all minerals, except for Duranium, which has deposits totaling a quarter of a million tons at accessibility 0.9. There is nothing remarkable in the rest of the system, except for a deposit of fifty million tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium on a moon of the seventh planet. A valuable find.
17th July 2035
Illustrious, Invincible and their escorts arrive back at Heintz 299 II, the small outpost created to support the exploration of the surrounding systems. Rear Admiral Majewski is awaiting reinforcements and resupply before returning to TW Piscis Austrini or probing the remaining four unexplored jump points in Heintz 299.
8th August 2035
The 12th and 13th Tank Regiments of the 4th Guards 'Kantemirovskaya' Tank Division disembark on Kostinbrod Prime and immediately begin an attack against the defending ground forces. The two regiments comprise a total of eight Soviet heavy assault battalions, composed of veteran troopers from the Sino-Soviet war and using the advanced ground combat technology developed during that conflict. Although the Kostinbrod ground forces have trans-Newtonian technology, they are no match for the hardened Soviet assault troops. Several of the defending units take significant casualties without even slowing down the Soviet advance. Meanwhile, the two Hegu class transports begin the long, slow journey back to Earth to pick up reinforcements. The old Chinese-built ships have a maximum speed of 1580 km/s.
12th August 2035
The planetary sensors on the Soviet-occupied Goavelha colony on Gorshkov II detect the thermal signatures of five Goavelha Thor class geological survey ships at a range of sixty million kilometers. Based on their current course they appear to have originated from the Gorshkov - Giese 908 jump point. Gliese 908 is a major Goavelha population centre. Although only a single Vidyut-B class FAC and a Molniya-S fast scout are in orbit of the Gorshkov II colony, the Thor class is only 2100 tons and does not have any armament. The railgun-armed FAC is dispatched to attack the Goavelha survey ships and cuts through them like a shark through a shoal of fish.
11th September 2035
The Soviet Union completes construction of Vladivostok, its first major new warship to be launched since the end of the Sino-Soviet war. Vladivostok is also the first of a new class, based on the existing Project 1204 'Atlant' but equipped with magneto-plasma engines to give it a top speed of 5333 km/s. Apart from the engines the new Project 1204B 'Atlant-B' class is identical to its predecessor, partly to make potential upgrading of the five units of the Project 1204 class easier but mainly because the loss of the Soviet shipyards in the early phases of the war meant great emphasis was placed on getting the captured Chinese shipyards upgraded and into production. Using tried and tested systems for new ship designs was preferred to developing new technology and delaying construction.
Project 1204B Atlant-B class Raketnyy Kreyser 13,500 tons 875 Crew 1929.4 BP TCS 270 TH 1440 EM 0
5333 km/s Armour 4-50 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 117
Annual Failure Rate: 243% IFR: 3.4% Maint Capacity 536 MSP Max Repair 160 MSP Est Time: 1.19 Years
Magazine 640
Magneto-plasma Drive (18) Power 80 Fuel Use 70% Signature 80 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 200,000 Litres Range 38.1 billion km (82 days at full power)
200mm Railgun (3x4) Range 160,000km TS: 5333 km/s Power 12-3 RM 4 ROF 20 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 1
MR-504 Podkat Railgun Fire Control (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 4000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Gas-Cooled Reactor (2) Total Power Output 9 Armour 0 Exp 5%
B-408A VLS System (80) Missile Size 8 Hangar Reload 60 minutes MF Reload 10 hours
Garpun-BAL Missile Fire Control (2) Range 84.1m km Resolution 120
P-504 Garpun-B (80) Speed: 24,000 km/s End: 62.5m Range: 90m km WH: 9 Size: 8 TH: 80 / 48 / 24
Voskhod MR-1500 (1) GPS 19200 Range 140.2m km Resolution 120
ECM 20
13th September 2035
Gliese 832 is the first in the ring of systems around Heintz 299 to be surveyed, revealing a single new jump point. The NATO survey vessels move on to Ross 780.
17th September 2035
The Soviet Union completes its survey of Wolf 922, the suspected Goavelha system discovered after the resurvey of Ross 154. One new jump point is discovered. The gravitational survey ships Andromeda, Antares and Mars, the battlecruiser Frunze and the aviation cruiser Kiev all converge on its location.
22nd September 2035
After six weeks of intense combat, the Soviet assault forces on Kostinbrod Prime have eliminated all organized ground-based opposition. However, despite their desperate situation the proud Kostinbrod are refusing to surrender. Kontr-admiral Borisov requests additional ground forces to occupy all major cities and finally crush the remaining resistance.
23rd September 2035
The Soviet survey ship Mars enters the new jump point in Wolf 922 and finds herself eight hundred and sixty million kilometers from the red dwarf primary of Gliese 908, the second planet of which is known to be a major population centre of the Goavelha Host. The other known jump point in Gliese 908 connects to the Gorshkov system. Captain 1st Rank Kyada immediately orders his ship to return to Wolf 922. Fortunately the strong defensive forces encountered on the Gliese 908 - Gorshkov jump point are absent and the survey ship escapes without incident. Given the weight of fire that the Goavelha can bring to bear, Admiral Melnikov orders all three survey ships plus the Frunze and Kiev to retreat into Ross 154. Now the route to Goavelha territory is known, the two warships will be pulled back through Ross 154 into Alpha Centauri and a squadron of railgun-armed FACs will act as a tripwire force at the Ross 154 - Wolf 922 jump point.
9th October 2035
Two Goavelha Tyr class gravitational survey ships enter Ross 154 from Wolf 922. They are engaged and destroyed by the seven Vidyut-B class FACs guarding the jump point.
12th October 2035
A Soviet espionage team steals detailed specifications for NATO's AGM-1C Sabre anti-ship missile. Although the information is sufficient to allow Soviet ordnance factories to construct the missile, it is unlikely they will do so. Soviet missile technology is at least comparable to that of NATO and the primary types of Soviet launchers are designed for larger missile sizes.
13th October 2035
NATO reinforcements arrive at Heintz 299 II, comprising the light carrier Indomitable with eighteen F-24B Cobras, the Virginia class cruisers Texas and Tennessee, the area defence cruiser Demon and the destroyer escorts Spruance and Yamamoto. With the exception of Indomitable, the reinforcements are all older technology ships with a top speed of 4000 km/s. A pair of colliers have also arrived in the system, bringing sufficient AGM-1C Sabre anti-ship missiles to refill the magazines of Illustrious and Invincible. Indomitable and her fighters have full loads of AGM-1Cs. Texas and Tennessee are armed with the much older RGM-2A Scimitar anti-ship missile. Rear Admiral Majewski orders the ships of his reinforced task group to head for the TW Piscis Austrini jump point.
24th October 2035
The NATO task group in TW Piscis Austrini halts four hundred and thirty-five million kilometers from the second planet. The Golem Achilles and Themistocles class bases in orbit of TW Piscis Austrini II have been joined by the Archimedes class that was heavily damaged during the first NATO visit to the system. Fifty-four F-24 Cobra fighters, eighteen of which are the C model and the rest the older B model, are launched on a strike against the Golem bases. Once within fifty million kilometers of their targets they launch a wave of two hundred and sixteen AGM-1C Sabre anti-ship missiles. The first Golem anti-missiles explode two point six million kilometers from the planet and the NATO missile wave is suddenly surrounded by nuclear detonations. The rapidly shrinking salvo trails fire like a comet's tail and vanishes completely over half a million kilometers from its destination. With no way to create a significantly larger salvo, the NATO task group is left with little option but to abandon the system, at least for the moment.
11th November 2035
A J-30B Vanguard from Illustrious probes the fourth jump point in Heintz 299 and discovers Fomalhaut, a white A-class star twenty-five light years from Sol. As seen from Earth it is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus. Orbiting the primary is a small barren planet and its asteroidal moon plus a large asteroid belt. Rear Admiral Majewski's task group carries out a sweep through the inner system before heading back into Heintz 299.
25th November 2035
The Illustrious task group discovers the system of 61 Cygni beyond the fifth jump point of Heintz 299. 61 Cygni is a vast binary system with two orange K-class stars twelve billion kilometers apart. In total, the system has fifteen planets, one hundred and eighty moons and well over seven hundred asteroids. There are no habitable planets, although one of the gas giant moons has some terraforming potential. After recovering the scout, the task group begins the long task of checking the system for any sign of an alien presence.
4th December 2035
NATO completes the gravitational survey of Ross 780. Three new jump points are found. The survey ships Galileo, Kepler and Newton all set course for the Fomalhaut system, via Heintz 299.
7th December 2035
The NATO carriers Akagi and Enterprise complete their refits to the Enterprise Mod 1 class, increasing their maximum speed to 5000 km/s. Of the original five Enterprise class carriers, only Ark Royal has yet to be refitted.
13th December 2035
Due to the slow speed of their Hegu class troop transports, the Soviet Union has dispatched a Project 1210 Moskalenko class Landing Ship from Earth to Kostinbrod Prime carrying the 7th Motor-Rifle Regiment, part of the 24th Samaro-Ulyanovsk Division. While the Project 1210 has a top speed of 4000 km/s compared to 1580 km/s for the Hegu, its cramped combat drop modules were designed for short-range assault operations within the Sol system, not for a six week interstellar voyage. The journey has been a nightmare for the headquarters unit and four infantry battalions on board and their morale has suffered accordingly. Nevertheless, the arrival of a new regiment will greatly aid Soviet attempts to conclude ground operations on Kostinbrod Prime.
17th December 2035
The Enterprise Mod 1 class carrier Clemenceau is launched by the Harland & Wolff Shipyard in Roanoke orbit. This is the sixth large carrier in service with the NATO naval forces.
22nd December 2035
The Kostinbrod home world surrenders to the Soviet Union. With the conquest finally complete, Soviet intelligence officers and scientists descend on Kostinbrod Prime in great numbers, devouring whatever new information they can discover. Despite the limited resistance presented by the Kostinbrod Navy, there are several areas in which the Kostinbrod Empire exceeds the scientific knowledge of the Soviet Union, including lasers, shields, cloaking technology and electronic warfare. A full list of the new technology is provided below.
New Soviet Technology
12cm and 15cm Laser Focal Size
Visible Light Laser
Reduced-size Laser x0.75
Turret Tracking Speed 2000 km/s
Minimum Jump Engine Size 12
Beta and Gamma Shields
Shield Regeneration Rate 1.5
ECM-3
Compact ECM-2
Small Craft ECM-1
ECCM-3
Compact ECCM-2
Small Craft ECCM-1
Cloaking Theory
Cloaking Efficiency 3
Cloak Sensor Reduction 80%
Minimum Cloak Size 20
Soviet astrographers are presented with an substantial amount of information and can add eight new systems to their charts, five of which have known but unexplored jump points. Kostinbrod has six jump points, including the Soviet entry point from the Gorshkov system, all of which have jump gates. The systems connecting directly to Kostinbrod are as follows:
1) EG 381: A white dwarf system with a small, frozen solitary planet and several comets. One unexplored jump point.
2) Giclas 243-50: A red dwarf system with four planets, one of which has acceptable gravity, a thin oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and a surface temperature of 5C. If terraforming was carried out to double the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere, this planet would be an ideal habitable world. Four unexplored jump points.
3) V547 Cassiopeiae: A trinary system of three red dwarfs. Ten planets and a hundred moons but none of particular interest.
4) Wolf 46: An orange K5-V star with two terrestrial size planets. The second planet has a trace oxygen - nitrogen atmosphere with a pressure of just 0.05 atm and a surface temperature of 90C. A very long term terraforming candidate. Four unexplored jump points.
5) HR 511: Another K-class star, this time with seven unremarkable planets. It has three additional jump points, all of which have been explored by the Kostinbrod. These lead to the following three systems:
5a) Iota Persei: A G0-V star, close in mass and luminosity to Sol. Four planets, none of which are suitable for colonization or terraforming. Three unexplored jump points.
5b) Gliese 69: K5-V primary orbited by nine planets, including seven terrestrial worlds, five of which have atmospheres. The closest to being a candidate for terraforming has an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with a pressure of 0.18. The oxygen pressure is only 0.03 atm, the atmosphere has traces of chlorine and the temperature is -55C. Not exactly a garden world.
5c) S.W. Burnham 996: A binary comprising an orange K3-V main sequence star and an M2-V red dwarf. Six unremarkable planets and one unexplored jump point.
Economically, the conquest of the Kostinbrod home world will be of considerable benefit to the Soviet Union. The Kostinbrod population is close to seven hundred and fifty million and eventually, as they grow accustomed to Soviet occupation, will boost the output of the Soviet economy. Kostinbrod industry is not as extensive as was expected by Admiral Melnikov but it soon becomes apparent that the planet has suffered bombardment at some point in the recent past, perhaps as a result of a clash with the Goavelha. The radiation level is reducing industrial output by 4.25% and atmospheric dust has reduced the normal planetary temperature by 3.28 degrees. The remaining industry is as follows:
1x Naval Shipyard (1 slipway of 10,500 ton capacity)
8x Research Facility
143x Construction Factory
38x Ordnance Factory
45x Fuel Refinery
178x Mine
3x Automated Mine
57x Maintenance Facility
1x Mass Driver
1x Ground Force Training Facility
Of far more immediate benefit to the Soviet economy is the infusion of wealth and minerals stockpiled by the Kostinbrod. The Soviet economy has always had a far lower per capita income than NATO and this has held back the growth of its industrial capacity and its armed forces. Over a quarter of Soviet income in recent years has come from Chinese reparation payments and without these the Soviet economy might have completely collapsed. The amount of wealth gained from the fall of Kostinbrod Prime is equal to almost four years income for the Soviet Union and will fund an expansion in industrial capacity, commercial shipping and military might. The Kostinbrod mineral stockpiles are smaller in comparison and less important as the Soviet Union has been unable to afford to utilize its own mineral stockpiles. The Kostinbrod have approximately five hundred anti-ship missiles and over twelve thousand anti-missiles in storage, although these are lower tech than their Soviet equivalents, as well as thirteen million litres of fuel and twenty-eight thousand maintenance supplies.
The Kostinbrod also inform the Soviet Union that they have three old freighters orbiting a comet mining colony in the EG 381 system. The freighters are prepared to surrender but the colony is refusing orders to follow the example of the homeworld. The new Soviet governor of Kostinbrod Prime, Chocieslaw Dutka, orders the freighters to return home so they may assist in moving vital installations from Kostinbrod Prime to either Earth or Alpha Centauri-B III. The conquest of the small mining colony will have to wait until additional ground forces are available. The existing ground forces have their hands full maintaining order.
With no need to maintain a significant naval presence in the Kostinbrod system, Kirov, Minsk and two cruisers are ordered home, leaving three cruisers in orbit of Kostinbrod Prime. Two of the three FAC squadrons at the Gorshkov jump point are ordered to move to Kostinbrod Prime to refuel, resupply and carry out much needed overhauls. The investigation and exploitation of the new systems, or the Kostinbrod Territories as they quickly have become known, will take place once the Soviet Union can re-organize itself following the conquest of the Kostinbrod Empire.
