The End of the World
17th May 2049
The fleet has now reached 50mkm, maximum missile range, from the Commonwealth’s home world of Dishian. Active sensors are detecting 58 contacts in orbit, ranging from 6450 tons to 12900tons. 27 of the contacts are 12900tons, the same tonnage as the Commonwealth cruisers already encountered. The fleet, having come so far, is thrown into despair. Even if the enemy is completely lacking in any point defence or anti-missile capability there are not enough missiles left in the fleet to even contemplate trying to destroy all of the ships in orbit. Worse, as none of the vessels have been encountered before there is no way of knowing their capabilities and closing to energy weapon range could be suicidal. Commodore Begum secludes herself in her quarters for several hours while the fleet maintains a vigil over the enemy armada. Thankfully none of them have show any sign of movement.
Finally the Commodore emerges from her quarters. She addresses the entire fleet at once and thanks them for the trust they have placed in her so far. She reminds them of the proud ships and brave crews they have lost, the sacrifices they have made through training and deployment, of the people and families back home waiting for them to end the war. She asks them to trust just a little longer, and announces that the fleet will commence nuclear bombardment of the enemy home world. Under Federation law the bombardment of civilian population centres is explicitly forbidden
She explains herself to her stunned crews and tells them why she is prepared to order them to commit murder and destruction on an unimaginable scale. She reminds them that it was not they who started the war. She tells them that the Commonwealths massive military capacity could threaten everything they know. She tells them that they are all that stands between the Commonwealth and the Federation. She tells them that despite everything they have done and everything they have lost it could all be for naught if they do nothing now.
The fleet is silent, her captains and commanders stunned. The Commodore gives a single order to the fleet and has them slave all fire controls to her command console, and quietly it is carried out. Commodore Begum broadcasts a message in both races languages on all frequencies informing the Commonwealth leaders and their citizens of her intent and demanding their surrender. For an hour she continually broadcasts the same message, the same threat, and for an hour there is no reply. Finally, she orders her command crew to vacate the bridge and alone she begins launching missiles at the planet’s surface. For over 2 hours the fleet watches as their nuclear missiles, directed by the flagship and on full automation, plunge past the armada of Commonwealth ships in orbit and impact the surface. They watch as nuclear explosions blossom, as cities crumble, as entire regions are burnt to ash. And the Commonwealth leaders do nothing. The Commodore broadcasts a constant and unremitting demand for their surrender, offering every incentive she can think of. They never even respond.
Finally the unthinkable begins to happen - the magazines of the fleets warships begin to run dry. The Commodore has launched over 500 strength-5 nuclear missiles at a populated world, slaughtered millions, for nothing. She watches as the final volley, a mere 5 missiles, strikes the planet and turns a picturesque chain of islands into smoking horror and realises it has all been a waste. For all the damage she has inflicted the Commonwealth has survived, they have other colonies and they will rebuild. And worse, they will never forget what she has done. With the immense production capabilities they have shown they will churn out a fleet the likes of which has never been seen and with it erase humanity from the stars.
Suddenly a single, short transmission is heard from the battered planet. Broadcast on all frequencies and in English the Commonwealth transmission was short and to the point, and all the more heartbreaking for it. “Please. We beg you. Stop.”
[OOC: This was actually pretty nailbiting. I hadn’t intended to bombard the planet back to the Stone Age (I actually wanted them fairly intact so I could use them to boost my economy), but I wasn’t expecting a whole fleet to be in orbit either. I wasn’t quite sure how the surrender mechanic worked so I spent my evening working my way up from 1 missile at a time to a whole fleet volley and, as above, used every ASM I had. It was only after the very last missiles I had hit them that they finally surrendered!]
The actual Act of Surrender took some time to arrange but eventually the fleet officers arranged for every ship and base orbiting the planet to eject their magazines and energy capacitors into space before sending over small, heavily armed boarding parties to seize the engineering deck of each and every one and ready their engines for detonation. At the first sign of resistance they would destroy every single thing orbiting Dishian. In all 3 orbital beam defence bases, 6 orbital missiles defence bases, 17 Guardian-Class Destroyer Escorts, 5 Sentinel-Class Escort Cruisers and 27 Sentinel-Class Jump Escorts surrendered along with the entire planetary surface, or what remained of it.
Captured Commonwealth forces
Beam class Beam Defence Base 12,850 tons 1586 Crew 786.5 BP TCS 257 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 2-48 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 190.44
Maint Life 4.8 Years MSP 306 AFR 165% IFR 2.3% 1YR 22 5YR 328 Max Repair 72 MSP
Twin 10cm C1 Infrared Laser Turret (23x2) Range 20,000km TS: 5000 km/s Power 6-2 RM 1 ROF 15 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S04 10-5000 (3) Max Range: 20,000 km TS: 5000 km/s 50 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Pebble Bed Reactor Technology PB-1 (16) Total Power Output 48 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1) GPS 72 Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Missile class Missile Defence Base 12,850 tons 820 Crew 1556 BP TCS 257 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 2-48 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 38
Maint Life 3.16 Years MSP 605 AFR 165% IFR 2.3% 1YR 91 5YR 1369 Max Repair 72 MSP
Magazine 2503
Size 1 Missile Launcher (38) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC3-R1 (5) Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1) GPS 72 Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Sentinel class Jump Escort Cruiser 12,900 tons 1148 Crew 2147.5 BP TCS 258 TH 720 EM 0
2790 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-48 Shields 0-0 Sensors 10/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 11
Maint Life 1.33 Years MSP 832 AFR 166% IFR 2.3% 1YR 501 5YR 7513 Max Repair 1056 MSP
Magazine 736
J13000(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 13000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 (18) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 46.5 billion km (192 days at full power)
Size 1 Missile Launcher (11) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC3-R1 (2) Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1) GPS 72 Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH2-10 (1) Sensitivity 10 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 10m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Sentinel class Escort Cruiser 12,900 tons 993 Crew 1462.5 BP TCS 258 TH 720 EM 0
2790 km/s Armour 2-48 Shields 0-0 Sensors 10/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 20
Maint Life 3.76 Years MSP 567 AFR 166% IFR 2.3% 1YR 63 5YR 941 Max Repair 72 MSP
Magazine 1325
Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 (18) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 550,000 Litres Range 85.3 billion km (353 days at full power)
Size 1 Missile Launcher (20) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC3-R1 (3) Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1) GPS 72 Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH2-10 (1) Sensitivity 10 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 10m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Guardian class Destroyer Escort 6,450 tons 499 Crew 744.5 BP TCS 129 TH 360 EM 0
2790 km/s Armour 2-30 Shields 0-0 Sensors 10/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 9
Maint Life 3.8 Years MSP 289 AFR 83% IFR 1.2% 1YR 31 5YR 471 Max Repair 72 MSP
Magazine 589
Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 (9) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 46.5 billion km (192 days at full power)
Size 1 Missile Launcher (9) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC3-R1 (2) Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Active Search Sensor MR3-R1 (1) GPS 72 Range 3.6m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH2-10 (1) Sensitivity 10 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 10m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
The bombardment had inflicted heavy damage, reducing the pre-attack EM and Thermal signature of 95662/33248 to 66882/21380. Although over 1.1 billion Bigdish survived across the globe hundreds of millions lay dead amid the ruins of their civilisation and it is these final statistics which is enough to break Commodore Begum’s resolve. Catatonic she is officially relieved of command and confined to her quarters. While her actions are officially supported by her officers amongst the fleet they currently have no way of knowing how they will be received back home where her bombardment of the Commonwealths home world goes against every rule of civilised warfare.
Dishian (Gliese 109 B-V)
34 Maintenance Facilities
380 Construction Factories
99 Ordinance Factories
202 Fuel Refineries
484 Mines
77 Automated Mines
3 Research Labs
3 Ground Force Training Facilities
4 Military Academies
2 Deep Space Tracking Stations
99,000,000 litres of fuel
In addition over 110000 credits of wealth were seized from the planetary banking system. At the least this will solve the Federation’s financial worries for some time. Investigation of planetary stockpiles also revealed a stash of over 120,000 missiles, mostly AMM designs but including several thousand ASM’s. Although these are much more primitive designs than the modern Federation designs they prove a godsend to the beleaguered fleet, allowing every ship to replenish their magazines. However the prolonged bombardment had not yet finished with the Commonwealth – dust and radiation were now so prevalent on the surface that Dishian was no longer a fully habitable world, with the temperature having already fallen to -13OC. Experts amongst the fleet estimated that at least 26 units of environmental infrastructure would be required per million of population just to keep the populace alive, while industrial production was down 24.5%.
As Federal forces begun to take over the Commonwealths ground installations they bring the deep space tracking stations on-line and detect four distinct thermal and em signatures in space nearby Dishian. One indicates a Commonwealth colony on B-VII while the other 3 are groups of 50-100 ships each. Of particular note are the 101 Commonwealth FAC’s which destroyed the TFN Hood and crippled the TFN Bismarck. Given their position between the 2 Commonwealth worlds it is unclear if they have reloaded or not but, now that the fleet has fresh missiles, the decision is made to hunt them down immediately. The entire fleet is pulled out of orbit of Dishian and over the next 24 hours proceeds to hunt down and destroy all 101 FAC’s at energy range even though they split into 2 groups. With the enemy FAC’s destroyed this removes the last known hostile enemy elements. The other 2 groups detected on thermal sensors have been determined to be Commonwealth civilian vessels, likely freighters or colony ships.
This only leaves the remaining Commonwealth colony on B-VII which from its EM and Thermal outputs is much smaller. Despite this Federal troop transports are still some weeks away and it is unknown if the Commonwealth has spread much beyond this system. Even so the enemy colony is clearly holding out for some reason, having refused to give in when their home world was bombed into surrender. The Fleets second most senior officer, Commodore Nathan Blake, makes the decision to begin bombardment of the second colony and the Fleet sends a dozen missiles at the planet before they receive their surrender. The colony is captured and reveals a population of nearly 55 million supported solely by infrastructure. With the capture of the 2nd colony the final remnants of the Commonwealth leadership are captured, essentially ending the war. The 2 groups of civilian vessels in Gliese 109 also tender their surrender at the same time, revealing themselves to be 48 Hunter-Class Freighters and 52 Tracker-Class Colony Ships. Although the captured vessels are several generations behind the latest Terran designs their sheer numbers could prove useful for the future.
Hunter class Freighter 33,900 tons 221 Crew 368.5 BP TCS 678 TH 600 EM 0
884 km/s Armour 1-93 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 7 Max Repair 25 MSP
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.9 (6) Power 100 Fuel Use 9% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 58.9 billion km (771 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
Tracker class Colony Ship 21,150 tons 246 Crew 793 BP TCS 423 TH 600 EM 0
1418 km/s Armour 1-68 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 23 Max Repair 25 MSP
Colonists 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10
Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.9 (6) Power 100 Fuel Use 9% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 94.5 billion km (771 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
With the current environmental situation on Dishian the decision is made to begin relocating the settlers of B-VII back to Dishian. Though the added population will only worsen the current situation there is almost 3000 units of environmental infrastructure there which will be able to support far more population on Dishian than on B-VII. The industry on Dishian is currently dedicated to building more infrastructure but even so the environment will begin to stabilise long before more than a fraction of required amount can be built, though it will save more lives in the long run.
A wealth of astrological data is also captured on B-VII, revealing 55 systems discovered and explored by the Commonwealth beyond Gliese 109. This is effectively twice as many systems as have been discovered by the Federation, putting the Terran Fleets exploration wing to shame. Of particular interest are 2 previously unknown jump points in Terran space, the 1st linking Ross 154 to EP Eridani and the 2nd connecting FL Virginis to Wolf 489. Despite both of these systems having been previously surveyed these jump points must have been dormant until recently. This could go a long way to explaining the presence of Commonwealth survey vessels throughout Terran space in the years preceding the war. A quick survey of the new systems shows several promising colony planets and several wrecks discovered by the Commonwealth but not yet exploited. Unfortunately geological information is sparse and the Commonwealths ground work will have to be followed up by Federal science vessels before any firm plans for the future can be made.
