The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

2066 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2/Conclusion)

Matters continued on much as they had before, except that nearly half of Earth's factories were now devoted to building bases for planetary defense.  Still even at that, the first Alaska was not due to be ready for about three years.  Meanwhile, with limited research set to complete in the second half of the year, many of the reports to the Director's office were not particularly consequential.  

In early May, 36-year-old Nick Cuffie became the eighth active navy Captain, the most the branch has ever had at one time.  On August 17, the maintenance facility expansion to 15kt was finally completed, as was the first run of 10 Ticonderoga-class facilities, ready to be deployed but lacking the means to do so as of yet(Construction Brigades and Burke transports to take the brigades to their destinations).  

Days later, probably the most significant news of the latter half of the year came, as neutronium crossed the 5kt threshold again, this time in the positive direction.  Capacity expansion at the Tod & Macgregor resumed immediately, and at two of the naval yards a couple months later.  

Colonial Developments

Mid-May -- Corundium deposits on Neujmin have been exhausted.  This will not be an issue anytime soon -- Earth's stockpile will grow considerably with most resources diverted to building army bases, not economic investment.  

Late November -- Sedna expands to 23 complexes.  Duranium outlook has never been so secure, reaching nearly five figures(10kt) on Earth by now.  

Research & Development

** May 30 -- Harlan Welle's latest project(KKC CIWS II) finished.  

** July 10 -- The latest laboratory complex is completed, and work begins on the Phoenix military engine(newcomer David Gruis).  

** November 15 -- Rosemary Urenda's team completes work into increased reactor power(10%) with equivalent explosion risk.  She'll take over on the Phoenix 40 military engine test phase.  Billie Allington takes a couple of labs for work on the GEI MSS 180, second-generation missile search sensor which can detect enemy missiles an estimated 40-80 seconds out.  Naval command believes that number needs to be stretched to at least five minutes, but that would make the required electronics prohibitively large so the march of technology will first need to have its effect.

** Early Dec -- Joe Tycho reaches some rarified air, upping his expertise to 65%.  If only the sensors and fire control branch could develop a couple minds at this level ...

Commissioned Officers

Early October -- Daniel Watters graduates the naval academies!
Fleet Movement Initiative:  162
Bonuses:  Fighter Ops(30%)
Personality:  Determined, good motivator.
Outlook:  Skill in Fighter Ops effectively is obsolete now, but his talent in the field is promising for other development.  Command considers him a Top-10 LtC immediately, and he is expected to at least make Commander based on his natural skill.  Beyond that, it's anybody's guess.  

Meanwhile, Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav's political reliability rises to 10%, allowing him to creep closer to promotion.    

Earth

Late September -- Four shuttles are brought up to the Lexington III(d) standard.

Sept/Oct. -- For several weeks, the jump to Teegarden's Star goes unguarded as both ships require maintenance at the same time.  It is presumed uninhabited, but still a matter for increased concern.  

October -- The Baltimore-Marine and Yokahama naval yards resume capacity expansion, as rising neutronium stockpiles are considered sufficient.  

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

2067 ANNUAL REPORT

To begin her mid-term, Director Rakes re-institutes the 2% Initiative, citing the large and growing duranium stockpile as evidence SPACE can easily afford it.  The four habitable moons of Jupiter(Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are all that remains to settle.  All have a 5.75 difficulty, making them slightly less hostile than Titan.  Callisto will be first as it has some limited mineral utility(58kt Titanium at 0.5, 2.5mt Uridium at 0.1).  The plan at present is to ship a few mines there to boost the economy, eventually.   

A mass driver is sent to each of the four moons, and an initial shipment of 125kt of infrastructure sent to Callisto, along with another 70 kt for Io.  Ricardo Bloise and [/b]Rufus Ke[/b] are sent as administrators for the respective prospective colonies ...

On January 26, the Salvage Module research team(Cedrick Wormack) finishes its work.   The Salvage Module is one of the primary objectives needed to properly pursue exploring interstellar space again, allowing for gathering intel from wrecks should we come upon any. 

A ship capable of deploying the salvage module effectively would have to be larger than any current SPACE vessel operating:  it would need to be 50kt or more, even if not equipped with its own jump drive.  A freighter-size hold would be required to carry anything that might be found, and the salvage module itself is 10kt, costing 200k credits and requiring 80 crew members to operate. 

In the opinion of Director Rakes, it is pointless to worry about designing and/or building such a ship right now, until it gets closer to the time when the other required priority tech, improved geological sensors, can be researched. 

At the end of April, the Phoenix engine is finally ready and after much debate the two initial combat ship classes are finalized.  Future versions are expected to be much smaller and more specialized, but for now this is what the navy has come up with. 

Brooklyn-class Gunboat
Armament:  4 SpearPoint DL8 dual-laser turrets, 2 Excalibur 102 Single-meson cannon turrets, with a firing control assigned to each pair of turrets.
Power:  12 PBR 1650 Reactors
Size:  15.15 kt
Speed:  2376 km/s
Fuel:  2m, 20.2 b km range(98 days)
Crew:  415
Cost:  1.88m, 2.33y

Nimitz-class Missile Boat
Size:  13.95 kt
Crew:  373
Speed:  2,437 km/s -- both just over a third of known enemy ship speeds
Armament:  5 Defender missile launchers, 6 volleys each 
Cost:  1.89m, 2.49y

Only Wartsila is close to being large enough to accomodate these ships, but it is still a bit small at 12.5 kt. 

Less than a week later, on the second of May, there was more big news as the first Construction Brigade was readied on Earth.  Soon a three-ship convoy headed for Stephan-Oterma:  the FT Hercules(carrying required minerals and the equipment to assemble a Ticonderoga base), a Portland(with the garrison battalion) and a Burke(carrying the construction brigade to assemble the base). 

By the middle of June, a second brigade is ready and en route to Machholz, which was just outside Mars orbit and a much smaller trip.  By the end of the month, everything was in place there with the construction brigade headed for Stephan-Oterma still almost two weeks out.  Brigadier General Karl Mattey on Machholz reported in that assembling the base would take over six months, into the early weeks of 2068.  Clearly the process of getting proper bases set up on all of SPACE's outposts in Sol space is an undertaking that will be measured in years, if not decades. 

By the middle of October, Wartsila is ready to retool for the Nimitz-class missile boat.  That will take almost two  years, the first ship another two and a half, putting the first vessel in service sometime in late 2071.  Much may well have changed by then, but the process of getting a proper navy put together is off to its first halting start.  With the other shipyards far too small as of yet, it is unclear if any of this generation of Brooklyn gunboats will even be constructed before a more efficient design becomes available. 

It was a most eventful year.  Most of the shuttle refits have been completed, construction of minor military bases on Stephan-Oterma and Machholz has commenced, the initial test boats of both missile and energy weapons have been designed, and two moons of Jupiter were colonized.  The militarization of Sol has begun. 


COMMISSIONED OFFICERS


Early January -- 44-year-old Christopher Sonders becomes the eighth active Brigadier General, as the army officer corps is growing as well. 

January 14 -- Ricardo Bloise officially moves into his makeshift command post, as it were, on Callisto, which presently has enough infrastructure to support 30,000 people and a
mass driver, but no industrial equipment or colonists. 

March -- Alberto Eighmy, not heard from in quite some time, has managed to gain some more influential friends(political reliability 35%).  In terms of playing the political game, only Duling exceeds him. ... too bad his health has not permitted him to be as active. 

Late March -- The first officer dismissals in three years see four army and two navy officers released. 

Early May -- Starved for leadership with the only two free officials set to take posts on Europa and Ganymede in coming years, SPACE is excited to see the graduation of Roxann Harshberger from the academies.  She has notable skills in population growth, terraforming, and logistics, but no known political connections.  Harshberger is considered a candidate for a relatively important posting immediately, ranking in the top half of administrative candidates. 

Early August -- Karabishi Juishao sees a modest increase to 30% skill. 

Mid August -- Must be something in the water, because Juishao has another, more useful epiphany.  She's moved up to 40% now, nearly doubling her knowledge about half a month! 

Early October -- A stellar new naval recruit, Parker Lanzi, with very good training marks and some skill in logistics and survey, bolsters the naval officer ranks. 

Late November -- The Navy now has nine Captains with the promotion of 36-year-old Rocco Lett.  Soon it is eight again as Anton Ericson(46) is promoted to Rear Admiral, giving the navy three active admirals.  The Navy then creates what is really an honorary position given her impending retirement, as Ellie Camble is dubbed the first Senior Rear Admiral in SPACE history. 


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT


** January 16 -- Dr. Eva Vadnais finishes work on a 12-cm focal size laser project.  Upgrading the laser weapons to the next generation is best saved until Tycho's work on wavelength is finished in a couple of months, so she instead takes over work on increasing focal size of the meson cannon, which was started by Wayne Sabagh.

David Gruis gets another crack with the GE PBR 1650, prototype phase for a slightly more efficient reactor using the increased power option. 

** January 26 -- The Salvage Module is completed by Cedrick Wormack's team.  His next project(Tiny Engineering Section) is not nearly so momentous, simply an effort to allow more fine-tuning in ship design.

Lacking an appropriately specialized scientist to take the project, Everett Snuggs is assigned to begin work on the next improvement in EM Sensor Sensitivity. 

** March 15 -- Joe Tycho's team completes research on visible light laser wavelengths, allowing for the next generation in laser weaponry to commence prototype phase.  The UBOS 12-2 VIS has a third greater damage than the previous IR lasers, and extends range to 80k km.  Tycho will take a month to test it out.

** April 1 -- David Gruis finishes work on the newest power plant(GE PBR 1650), having learned nothing in the process. 

** April 20 -- The new laser is complete, and turret testing begins.  That will take a bit longer, a few months. 

** April 28 --The Phoenix 40 military engine(Rosemary Urenda) is finished.  A third and final lab is now added to EM Sensor research(Everett Snuggs).

** May 21 -- Better thermal sensors(sensitivity have been discovered by Dr. Julio Kuchler.  He sets to work developing the SITG ThermoScan 104, which is a hair stronger and 200 tons(nearly a quarter) smaller than the current military-grade standard ThermoScan 102.  Rosemary Urenda takes the remaining lab to investigate continuing improvements in her series of projects on increasing plant reactor power(and explosion risk). 

** June 3 -- A newly-finished research complex is added to the recently-formed team investigating increases in reactor power(Urenda).

** August 10 -- The new laser turret(SpearPoint DL8(b)) is ready, courtesy of Joe Tycho.   Improved focusing for meson cannons is his next objective. 


EARTH


February 2 -- The first two Arleigh Burke-class brigade-capacity troop transports are under way!  They'll be going nowhere though, until there are Construction Brigades for them to transport, which is expected to happen this summer.  SPACE can only guess at how long it will take a brigade to set up the bases once on-site ... there are almost certainly logistical problems that will arise which can only be guessed at from the current vantage point. 

Meanwhile, many of the shipyards are silent ... for now. 

Mid-February -- The final two freighters complete their refitting, and all of them are now more or less at the modern standard.  Only the Vickers-Armstrong yard continues on with refitting the shuttles. 

July 3 -- Earth finishes a mass driver to replace as backup the one sent to Callisto.  The space is devoted to an expansion of the maintenance facilities at humanity's homeworld, which are just a hair too small to accomodate a Brooklyn at the moment. 

July -- The last of the oldest Lexingtons have completed the refit process.  The rest will go much more quickly.  Completion of the process is expected next year, well ahead of the 2069 electoral cycle. 

September 28 -- Maintenance facility expansion on Earth completed, now at 15.2kt.


COLONIAL AFFAIRS


Early February -- First-in colonists land at Callisto, with Io soon following suit.

July 11 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga begins the assembly process.

Early October -- Suter Shipping Services joins the civilian shipping fray. 

[Jacen]

My first thought was "Wow, that's a gunboat?".

Guess I'm just used to gunboats being FAC sized. I assume they are designed to operate jointly, the Brooklyn providing PD with the Nimitz providing offensive missiles?

[Sematary]

Lt. Commander Watters puts in a formal request to command either a Nimitz class Missile Boat or a Brooklyn class Gunboat.

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

The terms 'gunboat' and 'missile boat' simply denote 'ship with guns' and 'ship with missiles' at this point.  SPACE intends to firm up terminology/roles/standardized size ranges once our technology improves enough to be substantially relevant and more stable.  Neither of them is designed for PD, because there's no way to design PD right now.  Enemy missiles are 15-30 km/s, and our best fire controls are now at 8k -- an anti-missile missile attempt would have, at best, a 10-12% intercept chance.  This is why there isn't a central sensor ship designed -- there would be no way to protect it.  

The Brooklyn is just a 'proof of concept' ship(jump point defense is it's only possible combat-effective role), while the Nimitz at least has a chance(probably an infinitesimal one) to do some damage to the enemy in sufficient numbers(which we won't have).  More than anything else, they are a 'get something out there' PR exercise, and the Director also knows that an incomprehensibly small chance is still a chance .  

Fleet Command has heard and gotten a good laugh out of LtC Watters' request .  The Lieutenant Commander is hereby reminded that all military-grade ships require Commander or higher rank, and that Lieutenant Commanders must learn their way up by first serving on commercial vessels.  Speaking of which, LtC Watters will be receiving his first command shortly.  

[Alfapiomega]

What about poor Conor? No command yet?

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

Conor has had commands for over a decade(since '56 continuously).  However, I was dead-certain that I'd posted a char update here a couple of nights ago ... which obvioiusly isn't here.  So blah ...

RETIREMENTS

It is as clear a changing of the guard as their could be.  The Chief of the Navy and Chief of the Army are both retiring to start 2068, and both are the most recognizable and accomplished heads of their respective branches that SPACE has ever had. 

** Senior Rear Admiral Ellie Camble is the standard by which all future naval officers will be judged(6824 promotion score).  Ironically, she retires just as the navy is about to begin deserving the name.  SPACE was just over three years old when she graduated the academy in 2028.  She was a senior officer before there were any notable ship commands and therefore never received one, taking just over four years to reach Captain rank in the summer of '32.  After 18 of her 22 years as Communications Officer as Fleet HQ, she was promoted to Rear Admiral.  Since 2055, she has served impeccably as the navy's top officer.  She will be succeeded briefly by Rear Admiral Leota Schnepel(57).

** Major General Sterling Silvers took less than 16 months to rise to the top of the Army in June 2028.  A little over a year later, he became the first, and only until now, Major General in SPACE.  He has overseen the modernization to TN-tech in the ground forces, commanding low-tech armour divisions for over two decades, and the first brigade for the past almost three years since the reorganization took place.  A few can say they were more skilled, including his successor Brigadier General Abel Rosinski(58), but none approach his visibility and/or reputation.  The Army was not called upon to do much of anything during his tenure, but there must always be vigilant men ready to do violence on behalf of humanity if need be.  For four decades, Silvers was charged to make sure there were, and he fulfilled his duty well.

There are others stepping aside at this time as well.  Health and age are becoming an issue for a number of the more experienced scientists and administrators, but for the time being they all soldier on. 

** Brig. Gen. Angela Bankson, a 36-year veteran of the general rank and longtime commander of the garrison on Titan. 
** Cols. Roberto Nicastro and Edward Clontz
** Commander Kathy Wheatly, famously of the Wheatly geology team, which she headed for five years until 2045.  By that time she was already a senior officer, but despite experience on many different vessels, she never quite made it to Captain.


Cmdr. Christopher Blair -- 6th out of 26.  He still needs another break to get a promotion, and remains at his post doing sensor duty at the jump to Epsilon Eridani.  There are few more important jobs in the Navy. 
Cmdr. Conor Zavier -- For the second tour in a row, he is the top-ranking navy officer to not be good enough for a military command.  He remains the senior officer in charge of the harvesting operations at Saturn. 
Lt. Cmdr. Jay Cin IV -- 59th out of 79.  A good run of recruits combined with very few new opportunities, and time has passed Cin by.  He is removed from his shuttle command, and the ink on his dismissal order may already by dry.
Lt. Cmdr. Oled Mrtav -- 16th.  Mrtav gets a slight 'demotion' this time around to the FT Venus. 
Lt. Cmdr. Daniel Watters -- 5th ... headed out to Saturn to earn his spurs as it were on board a Perry harvester. 

[Rolepgeek]

Oh sweet. Maybe I'll live long enough to be useful now, even.

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

Just a heads up that this will continue -- I've suspended all other gaming activities -- but I don't know when that will be.  Last week I worked an unintended personal-record 79 hours and expect to be quite busy for the duration of the winter.  I also got sick over New Year's(no, not chemically induced .  Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for dilly-dallying, but the story of SPACE will continue. 

[Sematary]

I am glad to hear it. This story is great.

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

2068 ANNUAL REPORT

Ganymede saw the lion's share of the 2% Initiative this year, expected to finish up in 2069 assuming the next administration doesn't nix it.  In the meantime, there were more economic changes made in the final year of the term.  The catalyst was the simple and glorious fact that there is very little pressure on mineral stockpiles.  All are rising except for neutronium which is pretty much holding steady -- and that with some commercial yards still expanding that really don't need to be any bigger right now, expansions that could be shut off with little consequence at any time.  In face of these facts, Director India Rakes ordered that the one-sixth of the industrial sector devoted to economic improvements switch its focus to two matters:  getting ten standard mines set for shipment to Callisto, and increasing the number of factories available on Earth.  It is expected that within five years the conversion from conventional facilities, now at 90.7%, will be completed.  Also in view is building maintenance facilities for both Callisto and Titan for servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels, and a shipment of fuel to Callisto so it can refuel them.  With out-system refueling bases on both moons, there will be less reason for ships to have to return all the way to Earth just to fill up. 

Rosinski was promoted to Major General as expected, replaced by Wyatt Pittman(35).  This still left the army two generals short of where it was before. 

Less than three weeks into the year, Clint Wyche completed Genome Sequence Research.  The spectre and possibility of genetically engineering races more suited to various climates and conditions raises a number of ethical issues, issues which SPACE has elected to punt on for now.  Breaking the general policy of specialization and the 5-year project limit, with nothing to pursue for now in his field, Wyche is assigned to working on Improved Geological Sensors, the final piece required for resumed exploration of neighbouring systems.  With three labs eventually assigned, it is expected to take nearly a decade unless a sensors researcher is available to shorten that time. 

On February 10, the eventful start to the year continues as the first off-world military base is established on Machholz.  Meanwhile, the first mine is sent off to Callisto. 

February 27 was a rough day for the R&D Directorate.  Scientist Rosa Suda, the top missile specialist and just barely 30 years old, has died prematurely of natural causes.  Harlan Welle takes over her work on reload rates, which was expected to complete in the summer, but this tragedy will have far longer-reaching consequences.  Suda was expected to head up a major element of SPACE's weapons research efforts for decades:  no scientific mind in the agency's annals reached such dizzying heights so quickly.  Karabishi Juishao is now the clear replacement, but does not have Suda's talents and is 55 years old.  Welle is 53 and the only other established scientist in the field.  Early speculation holds that this may force SPACE to rely more on energy-based weapons in the future ...

March brings the shipment of the first Tennessee(Lt) along with required men and materials to Mars.  Construction begins in April, and is expected to take as much as five years to complete.  Meanwhile, before the end of the third month, Hank Rohrer(23) is been promoted to  captain, less than three years after graduating the academy.  Shortly afterwards, the navy has three admirals again with Jung Besler(52) the most recent to make rear admiral.  Questionable health makes it an open issue how long she will be able to serve there.  Leota Schnepel takes the vacated post at Senior Rear Admiral, where she is expected to stay as head of the Navy for the next couple of tours. 

June 8 was one of those days that would be remembered for a while simply because multiple important events happened for whatever reason to converge at once.  The final of the three Construction Brigades initially ordered finished its training -- with the timeframe building the off-world bases is requiring, at least two more have been ordered.   It was also decided to divert some production from the bases to expanding ground unit construction facilities to enable an eventual third training unit at once.  With ongoing construction currently happening on Reinmuth and Mars, the comet Faye would be their first assignment. Karabishi Juishao's report was presented, detailing a 60% increase in missile agility, and she takes over the final stages of the missile launcher reload rate project, started by Suda and continued by Welle when she died earlier this year.  A third, and for the moment final, lab is added to the crucial Improved Geological Sensors project.  Finally, Asa Hotz was promoted to Captain, and two days later Chong Vaugh(47) was named the fourth active rear admiral, a new high mark.  This leaves Mitchell Feeser, just 33, as the top-ranking captain in the navy.

Later in the month, more naval recruits led to more promotions, and in this case the result is extending the career of Tell Perj Jr. who is promoted to Captain!  The 49-year-old Perj was a year and a half away from mandatory retirement, but will now soldier on for another decade, having spent nearly three at his previous rank of commander. 

Matters were fairly quiet until mid-September, when on the 15th  Missile Launcher Reload Rate is completed(Dr. Juishao again in the news here).  With this, the prototyping phase for the next generation of missiles can begin.  She gets to work on the Defender II, which is expected to increase the hit rate by 6% and the payload by 50%, an estimated 78% increase in combat effectiveness and the ability to fire faster but still an overmatched weapons system.

Engineering also took another look at possibilities for anti-missile ballistics based on the improved agility specs.  They didn't expect much -- internal estimates are that the next generation of engines will need to be available before such a thing becomes viable.  They were right -- basically the effective chance to hit can now reach 4-8% instead of 3-7%, nowhere near being useful yet. 

In October, the Army gets back a new general as Col. Beverly Kisinger, 31, is promoted.  Later in the month, the research directorate suffered another loss  with Delmar Ytuarte found to be the apparent victim of one of those senseless, seemingly random street crimes.  He was prototyping one of the next-generation sensor suites, which will now be taken by the best available scientist, logistics specialist Curtis Gloster.  Sensors & Fire Control now has only four active researchers, no better than half of what is really needed right now

It was quite the eventful year:  the first Ticonderoga bases were established, untimely deaths of two key researchers, a number of new senior officers in both branches of the military, developments in missile and sensor technology, and continued development of minor outsystem colonies and outposts.  The future continues to be promising but uncertain, and clouded with danger. 



Research & Development

** January 19 -- Clint Wyche completes Genome Sequence Research.   
** Feb. 26 -- Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Theory is published(Santo Makar).  Ion Drives are now possible, but the research is prohibitively expensive for the time being.  Makar begins work on improving jump drive efficiency instead.  Another lab goes to Dr. Adolfo Walth, whose first project lead involves researching a high-density advancement in duranium armor. 
** Late April -- Research lab completed and added to the duranium armor project. 
** June 8 -- Improved Missile Agility completed(Karabishi Juishao). 
** November 21 -- Deacon Palmer presents his report on Shipyard Operations, detailing minor decreases in the time and cost required for expansions, retooling, and the like.  He'll next work on increasing the rate at which ships can be built.
** December 8 -- SITG ThermoScan 104, new military-grade thermal sensors, are unveiled by Dr. Julio Kuchler's team.  He takes over Curtis Gloster's work on new actives, and Harlan Welle gets back in the game working on new missile launchers. 



Commissioned Officers

March -- In a surprising development, given that there were a couple of more qualified officers, Daniel Watters is promoted to Commander. 
Early August -- The energy weapons field gets even stronger with Eva Vadnais upping to 55%.
Early September -- Not resting on his laurels even at this late stage, Deacon Palmer has increased his expertise to 60%. 
Mid-September -- A tiny increase in Daniel Watters' Fleet Movement Initiative has been noticed.
Early October -- Alberto Eighmy improves to 50% Factory Production.   
Mid-October -- Eighmy makes a less-useful breakthrough in Terraforming(10%). 
Late October -- Mitchell Feeser improves Operations to 15%

November 12 -- Richard Blade graduates the naval academy. 
Fleet Movement Initiative:  146
Bonuses:  Fighter Combat(15%), Fighter Operations(10%)
Personality:  Narcissistic
Outlook:  Not particularly talented, and those skills he does possess are obsolete.  No initial command is expected, and he will need friends in high office in order to progress. 

Mid-December -- Parker Lanzi, the latest naval prodigy, is promoted to Commander.  Meanwhile, Alberto Eighmy continues a strong year, upping mining skill to 20% ahead of the election. 



Colonial Developments

February 10 -- Machholz PDC Ticonderoga becomes the first off-world base.
February  24 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga is completed. 
Late February  -- Sedna expands to 24 complexes.
Mid-March -- Construction of the first off-world military base begins with the shipment of men and materials to Mars(Tennessee-class missile base). 

Early June -- The final delivery of the ten mines for Callisto is made, though right now only one can operate at full capacity with the number of workers presently available there.  The small amount of mining investment switches back to building automated mines for access of neutronium deposits in various outposts. 

Mid-August -- Investment in Neujmin resumes with the first automated mine of the most recent wave being sent there.

November 1 -- Gallicite exhausted on Comas Sola. 

Mid-November -- Sedna expands to 25 complexes. 



Earth

Late March -- A new naval shipyard, dubbed the KSEC(even naval command isn't pretending to know what these initials stand for, a spokesman simply stated that this four-letter arrangement 'tested well in focus groups') is completed.  With five commercial and four naval yards, SPACE is fairly satisfied with current shipyard status.  With the other yards expanding for more substantial jobs, KSEC will take over the role of servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels. 

November -- -- The shuttles fan out over the Sol system in anticipation of the coming election.

[GenJeFT]

How is my guy doing? Is he still alive?

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

Governor Thone is still alive but has not been heard from much lately.  He's had an eventful, though relatively speaking unimpressive, career at various minor outposts.  He'll likely get a new assignment like most admins do after an election, but here's his timeline:

2027:  Born two years after the formation of SPACE.
October 2048:  Graduates GLTC
July 2053:  First assignment, named interim governor at Prokne, the first and still only asteroid SPACE has ever invested in.  This was during the Corundium Crisis when that mineral was at a premium.
2057:  Transferred to the minor comet Reinmuth.
2061:  Transferred to another minor comet, Faye.
2065:  The circle is completed as he returned to the asteroid Prokne for a second tour.

His most notable exploit to date is definitely his participation in the mission to Epsilon Eridani.  It is also worth noting that both Faye and Reinmuth have since become far more significant concerns.  Jedidiah Thone has not developed much(admin rating of 2 is tied for last and he's a little better at mining/ground unit construction than when he graduated), but he just hasn't improved the skills needed to make a major success of himself.  He's definitely still alive, at 41 years old he is eligible for a family member if such is desired but only just approaching the midpoint of his expected career.  Health, the bane of many a beauracrat and civil servant, is still excellent and there's no reason not to expect another two decades of service. 

[Bryan Swartz (OP)]

** Note:  A 'SPACE AT 50' retrospective summary is planned for 2075, but right now six years takes a long time **

STATE OF SPACE, 2069

I.  IMPERIAL HOLDINGS

IA.  Populated Colonies

Earth(1.250b, 435 CF, 45 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 29 RL, 3 AC, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, SC)
Mars(38.74m)
Luna(37.06m)
Titan(16.78m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(7.12m)
Mercury(3.46m)
Io(200k)
Callisto(120k)
Ganymede(110k)

All colonies grew during the most recent cycle, though Titan and Luna were relatively stagnant as Mars became the most populous colony.  The final of the Galilean moons, Europa, will be added to the list in the next year but that is expected to be it for quite some time as there are no other habitable places to go in Sol.  The last fragments(4.5%) of pre-TN economic infrastructure are expected to be converted in the next few years.

Total population is at 1.354 billion(+9.2%).  

IB.  Outposts

Sedna(25 CMC, 16 eff, 8.19 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 30 eff, 3.27 kt)
Earth(50 SM, 45 CI, 8.6 eff, 1.03 kt) -- mercassium(0.9y), duranium(3.3)  
Reinmuth(29.8 AM, 37 eff, 1.91 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(8.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.95 kt) -- corundium(3., mercassium(6.1)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 354t)
Faye(25 AM, 48 eff, 1.89 kt) -- tritanium(6.5)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 43 eff, 2.03 kt) -- corundium(2., sorium(8.6)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.48 kt)
Neujmin(20.8 AM, 42 eff, 1.45 kt) -- vendarite(3.1)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 52 eff, 1.67 kt) -- boronide(2.5), gallicite(3.9)
Wolf-Harrington(16.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.59 kt) -- corundium(7.
Borrelly(15.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.28 kt)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 952t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 181t)
Wild(5 AM, 34 eff, 268t)
Wolf(5 AM, 26 eff, 205t)

Total Production:  31.64 kt, a massive increase of just under 10kt per year, or 45.7%!!  Much of this is due to increased efficiencies due to the installation of Sector Command, but continued expansion on Sedna and neutronium-focused investments on Reinmuth, Neujmin, and elsewhere also were significant contributors.  Corundium deposits are set to dry up soon in several locations which will need to be watched closely, but Earth's deposits increased by about half in the last four years so it is not a short-term concern.  The extreme long-period comet Ikeya-Zang(81.7 kt, 1.0 accessible) is the only really long-term solution, but at 13b km distant it is still decades away from being a convenient investment option.  Other than trace amounts from Venus's massive reserves, it is the only untapped significant deposit in Sol.  

IC.  Mineral Stockpiles & Production

Tier A:  Uridium(73 kt), Vendarite(45 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Corbomite(36 kt), Boronide(33 kt)

Boronide is promoted to Tier A with very little ship-building going on recently.  This is expected to be a temporary situation.  

Gallicite should have an asterisk here.  Quite a bit was used in the defender missiles, but the stockpile still grew and that's the only major usage with none planned in the next year or so.  

Tier B:  Tritanium(38 kt), Mercassium(29 kt).

A modest increase in mercassium eliminated any concern on that front, and tritanium is demoted to B as it is being used on considerable amounts for base construction.  The stockpile is still growing, so there's no supply issue at this point.  

Tier C:  Sorium(24.9 kt),  Duranium(14.8 kt, Corundium(11.0 kt).  All three rose sharply, with the near-tripling of duranium stockpiles leading to a demotion to this tier.  This speaks to the increasing economic stability and strength that SPACE has demonstrated.    

Tier D:   Neutronium(6.15 kt) has recovered strongly and is slowly increasing, though it is still by far the most critical mineral concern, both short and long-term. Current supplies are enough to support all but the most aggressive shipbuilding activity.  

ID.  Income

Taxes(population):  33.6 m
Taxes(civ. shipping):  6.19 m
Taxes(civ. fuel):  125 k

Total:  39.90m(+17.7%).   The civilian share of the economy grew from about 13-16% this cycle, and it was a very strong growth period for the treasury.

Balance:  564m(+65m)  

IE.  Expenses

Research:  6.89m
Mineral Purchases:  6.01m
Installation Construction:  3.92m
Shipyard Operations:  2.60m
PDC Construction:  2.00m
GU Maintenance:  274k
GU Training:  199k
Maintenance Facilities:  76k
Shipbuilding:  61.5k

Total:  22.04m(-1.3%)

Contrary to the expectations four years ago, shipbuilding nearly ground to a halt, leading the way to the first overall decline in expenses that SPACE has ever seen.  This is expected to reverse itself eventually with the Brooklyn and Nimitz classes entering production along with next-gen exploratory vessels, military and support ships down the road -- but for now it is the economy and the march of technology taking the lion's share of expenses.  

II. SHIPYARDS

IIA.  Commercial Yards

Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 84.1 kt capacity)
** Expanding for the next generation of higher-capacity freighters(approx. 150 kt)
P&A Group(4, 54 kt)
** Expanding in preparation for larger harvesters, target of 70-80kt.  Still a number of years out, and waiting for next-gen engines as well.
Estalerios Navais(2, 23.2 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 10 kt)
** Idle

IIB.  Naval Yards

Wartsila(1, 14 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz Class, Summer 2069
Baltimore Marine(2, 5.62 kt)
** Expanding Capacity
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 4.05 kt)
** Expanding Capacity, eventually for the Brooklyn class in some years time
KSEC(1, 1 kt)
** Adding a second slipway(February), for use as the new maintenance yard for Forrestals and other small vessels.  

III.  ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES

IIIA.  Earth

** Two active training facilities
** Construction Brigade(Fall 2069)
** Garrison Battalion(April 2069)

IV.  INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

IVA.  Earth

Research Lab(33%) -- March 2069
Alaska PDC(15%) -- Four ordered, Early 2080s
Ground Force Training Facility(10%) -- Early 2071
CF Conversions(9%) -- 5 remaining on the current run, due in February
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 8%) -- 4-5 per year
Maintenance Facilities(6%) -- 5 remaining, Mid-2070
Prefab Alaska PDC(5%) -- For Titan, Early 2080s
Prefab Tennessee PDC(5%) -- Two more needed, Summer 2072
Prefab Tennessee(Lt) PDC(5%) -- 1 left, Spring 2071
Infrastructure(2%) -- 14 left on final run, February 2069
Prefab Ticonderoga PDC(1%) -- Early 2080s, 11 left for various minor outposts
Mine Conversions(conventional industry to standard, 1%) -- 4-5 per year

V.  ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

** Improved Meson Cannons -- larger focal size(Eva Vadnais) -- February 2069
** Defender II Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- February 2069
** Thermal Reduction(Edward Groat) -- Late Spring/Early Summer 2069
** GEI MSS 180 -- active missile search sensors(Billie Allington) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Defender MLS(Harlan Welle) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Improved Meson Cannons -- better focusing(Joe Tycho) -- November/December 2069
** GEI SSS 168 -- military-grade active search sensors(Julio Kuchler) -- December 2069/January 2070
** Improved Fire Control Speeds(Elwood Tousant) -- Spring/Summer 2070
** Increased Reactor Power(Rosemary Urenda) -- Summer 2070
** Hangar Deck(Brandon Grimmett) -- Late 2070/Early 2071
** EM Sensor Sensitivity(Everett Snuggs) -- Early 2071
** Planetary Sensors(Bessie Wallander) -- Mid-2071
** High-Density Duranium Armor(Adolfo Walth) -- Mid-2071
** Increaseed Shipbuilding Rate(Deacon Palmer) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Tiny Engineering Module(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Improved Jump Drive Efficiency(Santo Makar) -- Late 2072/Early 2073
** Improved Geological Sensors(Clint Wyche) -- 2076/2077

VI.  ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS

VI A.  Ships

TT Arleigh Burke(2, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
SB Forrestal IIb(14, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexingon IIIc(5, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
ST Lexington IIId(19, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(21, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)

Total:  80 vessels(+9.5%), 1.10 mt(+43%), 5.82k crew(+26%), 33.5m liters fuel(+24%)

As has been noted elsewhere the growth of the navy slowed dramatically during this cycle.  The commercial needs of SPACE are well-satisfied by the present assets, but as combat-role ships ramp up production, the force is expected to multiply.  

VI B.  Planetary Defense Centers

PDC Ticonderoga(2, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)

 Total:  2 Bases, 32 crew

Even though they are not ships in any sense, as their primary purpose is defending against space-based threats, planetside bases are still considered part of the navy and commanded by naval officers.  

Available Crew:  96.5k(+12.6%)

VI C.  Fuel Status

Earth -- 23.9m liters
Titan -- 9.69m liters
Callisto -- 5.33m liters

Total -- 38.9m liters(+2.9%).  The tanks continue to grow, but very slowly.  There is enough to run every ship in the navy non-stop for less than two and a half years.  The plan at the moment is to upgrade to a much larger, higher-capacity harvester when the next generation of engines arrives, which is expected to take a decade or two.  

VII.  ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS

** Brigade HQs(3)
** Construction Brigades(3)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(6)
** Garrison Battalion(21)

Total Active-Duty Soldiers:  197k(+71%)

With new Construction Brigades needed to get naval bases up and running as soon as possible, garrisons to staff them, and Earth short of the desired amount of mobile infantry, there is need for new men everwhere.  The Army is expected to continue to grow for at least the next decade.  

VIII.  CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS

Voliva Carrier Company(48 vessels, 4.61m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(15, 1.04m)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 460k)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, 150k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 120k)
Presnar Freight(2, 110k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, 20k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)

Total Vessels:  80(+11%)
Total Civilian Income:  6.57m(+42%)

Voliva continues to dominate with a 70% market share, but that's down from 75% last cycle.  Overall the civilian sector showed incredible expansion with most competitors expanding either operations or profits, both in the case of top rival Jensrud TT.  Ouellet managed to triple their business with only two operational vessels, partly through modernization, and moved into the #3 spot decisively.  

IX.  SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS

** Naval Officers:  92 of 124 assigned(74.2%), -14%
** Ground Forces Officers:  38 of 48(79.2%), +8.5%
** Civilian Administrators:  26 of 29(89.7%), +8%
** Scientists:   17 of 30(56.7%), -- +8%

Overall:  173 of 231(74.9%), -2%

Merely graduating the academy no longer is a guarantee of a navy command as the output of the GLTC has increased, but opportunities have improved in all other branches and 11 new positions were added in the navy as well.  Administrators continue to be in increasingly short supply, but it is hoped that the quality and available candidates will improve now as Sol has nearly reached full colonization.  

[Sematary]

With his new promotion Commander Watters reapplies for a command position on the next available warship.