10th January 2033CFS Quasar, the fifth Nebula class geological survey ship, is launched from the Schumacker – Navarra Shipyard.
12th January 2033Active sensor emissions from a single FAC are detected at the Athens jump point. The three Russian Oscars, assumed to be fast scouts, move to intercept. When the range closes to less than twenty million kilometres, the emissions from three more active sensors are detected. Five minutes later one of the Oscars is torn apart by seven missile hits and a pair of large secondary explosions. The Apollo class FACs reverse course and head for the Athens jump point.
30th January 2033CFS Challenger transits a newly discovered jump point in Ephesos and enters Rhodes, a trinary system of three orange K-class stars. In total, the system has fifteen planets, fifty-four moons and one hundred and forty asteroids. Several planets are of interest, all of which have acceptable gravity. Rhodes-A II has a 0.12 atm atmosphere of CO2 and nitrogen and a temperature of -3C while Rhodes-A III is a super-terrestoid world with gravity of 1.2G, a nitrogen-oxygen-CO2 atmosphere of 1.46 atm containing almost double the safe maximum pressure of oxygen, and a temperature of -72C. Rhodes-B II has a nitrogen-CO2-sulphur dioxide atmosphere of 0.8 atm and temperature of -17C. If the sulphur dioxide is removed and oxygen added, this would only require slight warming to be an ideal habitable world. Rhodes-C II has an atmosphere of ammonia-nitrogen-methane but a temperature of -23C. It would require a considerable effort from terraformers that the Colonial Alliance has not even built yet, but this system could eventually host four habitable worlds. The main problem is that the B and C components are orbiting within 750 million kilometres of each other but more than twelve billion kilometres from the primary. Even so, a positive geological survey could make this an attractive destination system for the Alliance. Challenger heads in-system to check for signs of life.
7th February 2033The Apollo class FACs return, appearing on thermal sensors seven hundred million kilometres from Earth. Earth is at the seven o’clock position relative to Sol while the FACs are approaching from the 12 o’clock position. The Russian battleship task group, comprising the battleships plus six smaller ships is one hundred and fifty million kilometres from Earth in the general direction of the FACs. On this occasion the Russian force should stand a good chance of intercepting the Belasco ships, although their course is taking them away from the approaching FACs, demonstrating that Russian planetary sensors are less capable than those of the Colonial Alliance.
Rather than heading directly to Earth, the nineteen FACs move to Mars, engaging their active sensors on approach. The sensor emissions broadcast their position and the Russian task group finally changes course to intercept. The Belasco spend several minutes in orbit of Mars, an extremely tense period for the twenty-nine million totally undefended Colonial civilians on the surface, then break orbit on a direct course for Earth. Unfortunately, the Belasco diversion to Mars and the Russians moving away for some time before detection has significantly decreased the chance of an interception.
The FACs easily by-pass the main Russian force but the two Russian Oscar class scouts get in close about forty-five million kilometres from Earth. Why the scouts are deliberately moving into weapon range is unknown, although possibly the Russians don’t have the FACs on active sensors and are trying to obtain information by closing to a range at which their larger-resolution sensors will be effective. One of the Oscars explodes amid eight strength-11 detonations. The Apollos come about and head for the Athens jump point. In that regard, the sacrifice of the Oscar was not in vain as its loss prevented an attack on Earth. As the FACs are now heading back on a different course, they will pass within perhaps ten million kilometres of the Russian task group. Whether that will be close enough for the Russians to get a target lock is unknown.
Fifty minutes after the destruction of the Oscar, the Russian task group reaches just seven point five million kilometres from the FACs but the Apollos pass by at high speed and the range begins to open once more. Two of the FACs are suddenly blown to pieces by a dozen strength-9 explosions. Sixty-five seconds later, a third FAC is destroyed and a fourth left dead in space. After a further eighty-five seconds another wreck appears but that is the last one. The other fourteen FACs pass beyond the engagement envelope of the pursuing Russians and make good their escape. The damaged FAC is eliminated by a follow-up salvo, apparently of anti-missiles given the strength-1 detonations.
16th February 2033Six Apollo FACs are detected on thermal sensors at seven hundred million kilometres. According to Colonial Intelligence these six are new construction and have not been previously detected. For some reason, the Russian battleship task group is way out beyond Jupiter’s orbit, further away than the newly detected FACs, and is in no position to intercept. The FACs head straight with Earth with no diversions, easily out-running any Solarian forces that attempt an intercept, and launch eighteen missiles from sixteen million kilometres out.
At two million kilometres the Spruances began launching. During the previous attack, the software guiding the battle had made allowances for the missiles launched by the Russian and European orbital bases when determining how many Colonial missiles to launch. In this engagement, the fire control systems were programmed to counter each incoming missiles with five RIM-3A Stilettos, partly due to the difficulty in intercepting the fast moving Belasco ASMs and partly to offset the reduction in outgoing fire when multiple powers were engaging the same targets. This time the defence is far more successful. Seventeen missiles are killed by RIM-3As, the last one just 150,000 km from Earth, and one more by a volley of what were probably Russian AMMs. During this attack there was no sign of the slower 15,800 km/s AMMs.
The brief engagement is a significant morale boost for the Colonial Navy. Its defensive capabilities are plainly more advanced than its Russian or the European counterparts and an alien attack on Earth, albeit a small one, has been prevented without loss of life. Slightly more worrying is that the Colonial Navy has to bear the brunt of the defence. Despite their size and number, the orbital bases of the other powers are of very limited effectiveness, which does not bode well for the future security of the Earth. There is still the question of whether to take offensive action against the Belasco but for the moment the Colonial Alliance Command decides to stay with a purely defensive posture. The six Apollo class FACs escape without incident.
24th February 2033CFS Atlantis explores a jump point in the Pergamon system and finds Delta Pavonis. The only planet in the system is a Venusian world.
2nd March 2033Another FAC raid, this time by the fourteen Apollos that survived the close encounter with the Russian battleships. As with the very first raid, the FACs launch their missiles but the missiles never make it into engagement range. Possibly the Apollos mistimed their launch or retreated out of fire control range.
10th March 2033The first Alaska class Jump Freighter is launched from the Roskam Company Shipyard. The Colonial Alliance finally has the capability to escort colony ships and freighters through a non-gated jump point. Several potential colony site candidates have been considered but the decision is made to establish the first extra-solar colony on Mycenae II. The colony cost 2.0 planet has significant mineral deposits, including 900,000 tons of Duranium, and has a thin 0.08 atm nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere, giving any future terraforming effort a starting point. Furthermore it is three jumps from Earth so should be far enough away to avoid the worst of any fighting spilling out of the Sol system. Finally, the other powers have built jump gates at the Sol – Barnard’s Star jump point and the Barnard’s Star – Knossos jump point, which means the Alaska can be stationed at the Knossos – Mycenae jump point and will not have to escort ships through several systems.
Alaska class Jump Freighter 72,000 tons 363 Crew 1549.4 BP TCS 1440 TH 3000 EM 0
2083 km/s JR 2-25(C) Armour 1-154 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 15
Woodward-Ferguson WF-72C Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 72000 tons Distance 25k km Squadron Size 2
Graciano-Vandewater GV300 Commercial Ion Drive (10) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 4,000,000 Litres Range 161.5 billion km (897 days at full power)
Austin-Kennedy Aerospace CN/SPN-5 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 2520 Range 25.3m km Resolution 120
Killeen-Gravelle CN/SLR-11 EM Detection Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km 11th March 2033The smaller group of Belasco FACs returns and eighteen missiles are launched at Earth. There is no sign of Russian or European AMMs but sixteen inbounds are destroyed by RIM-3A Stilettos from the four Spruances. The other two missiles reach Earth orbit but do not explode, probably due to point-blank defensive fire. Two hundred and twenty-six RIM-3As were fired, which is about a month’s production from Colonial ordnance factories. If the FACs are raiding regularly, the Colonial Alliance may reach a point where it runs out of missiles. The discussion regarding more offensive measures restarts.
The Russian battleship task group is outside the orbit of Jupiter during the attack but possibly in a position to intercept on the return journey, if contact with the tiny FACs can be maintained as the leave the inner system. The lone remaining Oscar intercepts first and tries to maintain contact for as long as it can. The warships close in but the FACs are almost four times faster and the closest they reach is fifteen million kilometres, outside their previously demonstrated maximum range vs. FACs.
27th March 2033The larger FAC group launches its latest raid. This time they don’t mistime their attack and Earth faces an inbound salvo of forty-two missiles, more than double the size of the previous attack. Some of the orbital bases join the defence, launching seventy-two missiles in the first wave, a quarter of which are the faster 19,400 km/s version, and several smaller follow-up waves. RIM-3A Stilettos kill twenty-five Belasco missiles and the other AMMs destroy seven more. Ten reach Earth orbit but only one detonates.
The Russian battleship task group is out in the asteroid belt. Rather than heading straight toward the FACs, which are now retreating towards the Athens jump point, the battleships plot an intercept course in an attempt to get ahead of them. Despite their much lower speed, they manage to get within weapon range just as the Belasco FACs reach the inner edge of the belt. Unlike the previous brief battle, the Russian ships are ahead of the enemy ships and therefore have a much longer engagement window. Over a period of nine minutes Colonial sensors detect seventy-eight strength-9 explosions, twenty strength-4 explosions and one hundred and thirty-eight strength-1 explosions. The FACs are wiped out, leaving a trail of wreckage three million kilometres long. One of the Russian destroyers breaks off, apparently heading for the Lalande jump point, while the rest of the battleship task group sets course for Earth.
5th April 2033The smaller FAC group returns. The Russian battleship task group has remained in Earth orbit since the destruction of the larger FAC formation and now goes out to meet the latest incursion. With the Russians still sixteen million kilometres from the FACs, fifteen strength-11 detonations are detected in the same location as the Russian task group. The thermal signature of the Slava class battleships drops from 1584 to 1518. The FACs reverse course and run.
15th April 2033CFS Atlantis and CFS Enterprise explore two new jump points in the Pergamon system. The first leads to Tegea, a red dwarf system with a single Venusian world, while the second connects to R Coronae Australis, a colossal giant star twenty million kilometres in diameter, almost a thousand times brighter than Sol and with eleven times the mass. A single planet orbits at nine billion kilometres and the jump point is at twenty billion kilometres. The planet has acceptable gravity, an atmosphere of CO2 and nitrogen with a pressure similar to that of Earth and a surface temperature of 107C. It could be terraformed but is currently seventeen billion kilometres from the jump point and its one hundred and forty-two year orbital period will take it up to twenty-nine billion kilometres away. Hardly ideal.
19th April 2033CFS Phoenix, the Colonial Fleet’s first salvage vessel, is launched from the Thornton Dockyard shipyard. Unfortunately, all seven Liberty class freighters are currently on a long voyage to Mycenae II to unload the infrastructure required to establish the Colonial Alliance’s first extra-solar colony. They will not return for over two months. Once the freighters are back in the Sol system, salvage of the alien wrecks will begin.
Phoenix class Salvager 36,600 tons 324 Crew 1134.4 BP TCS 732 TH 1800 EM 0
2459 km/s Armour 1-98 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 19 Max Repair 200 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Salvager: 2 module(s) capable of salvaging 1000 tons per day
Graciano-Vandewater GV300 Commercial Ion Drive (6) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres Range 23.8 billion km (112 days at full power)
Austin-Kennedy Aerospace CN/SPN-5 Navigation Sensor (1) GPS 2520 Range 25.3m km Resolution 120
Killeen-Gravelle CN/SLR-11 EM Detection Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km29th April 2033The six surviving Belasco FACs return for another raid. One Russian battleship plus escorts attempts to intercept but as during the previous incursion, the FACs launch on the approaching task group before it can get within range and then quickly pull back. Seventeen strength-11 detonations are detected, along with two secondary power explosions. The thermal signature of the Slava class battleship drops by twenty-five percent, indicating significant internal damage. While the Russians got lucky against the larger FAC group by being in the right place at the right time, they are now being out-manoeuvred once again by the Belasco Commune.
12th May 2033Two 10,000 ton Russian ships, a Grisha and a Sovremenny, plus a newly built European warship of the Duquesne class head for the Sol – Athens jump point. Presumably the Indo-Russian Alliance and the European Union have grown tired of chasing the fast-moving FACs around the Sol system and have decided to engage them as soon as they arrive.
19th May 2033The six Belasco FACs transit into Sol. The Grisha is on the jump point but the Sovremenny is still over fifty million kilometres away. The Duquesne is no longer on Colonial sensors but may be near the jump point as its thermal signature is not strong enough to be detected at the Athens jump point, which is three point seven billion kilometres form Earth. The Russian ships are only being detected by their sensor emissions.
Four strength-4 detonations are detected within five seconds of the transit. Five seconds later, active sensor emissions are detected from the European Duquesne class within twenty-five thousand kilometres of the jump point. A single FAC holds position near the jump point, presumably due to crippling damage, while the other five move away. Forty-five seconds later thirteen strength-4 explosions blast the crippled FAC into irradiated debris. Ninety seconds pass before a further single strength-4 detonation.
One of the FACs reverses course toward the jump point while the other four continue sunwards. Forty-five seconds later the Duquesne is struck by three strength-11 explosions then a few seconds later by six more. Her sensor emissions cease and she drops off Colonial sensors. Ten seconds after the European ship is damaged, a FAC takes four strength-4 hits and also disappears from sensors. More strength-11 detonations occur near the jump point, followed by a huge strength-33 secondary magazine explosion. A wreck beacon for the Duquesne is detected. Moments later, a pair of strength-6 explosions are recorded in the same location as a FAC. None of the previously detected Russian anti-ship attacks used strength-6 warheads so these detonations may be European missiles using on-board guidance after the loss of the launching ship. Within five seconds, a FAC wreck appears nearby as it is struck by four Russian missiles.
Only three Apollo class FACs remain on Colonial sensors. Two are one point three million kilometres from the Athens jump point and heading back toward it. A third is stationary two million kilometres from the jump point. A fourth is also in the general area although it cannot be detected since its active sensor ceased emissions. The Grisha is 600,000 kilometres from the jump point on the opposite side to the Belasco FACs. After a pause in activity for over a minute, the missing FAC is located when thirteen Russian missiles destroy it. A few seconds later one of the moving FACs is struck four times and suffers a huge secondary power explosion that blows it to pieces. The last mobile FAC is destroyed just 375,000 kilometres from safety and two minutes later the stationary FACs follows it into oblivion. The Grisha moves back to its original position on the jump point and is soon joined by the Sovremenny. The destruction of the last six FACs and the securing of the jump point by the Indo-Russian Alliance finally ends the scourge of the FAC raids.
26th May 2033A colony of 200,000 is established on Mycenae II, the first extra-solar colony of the Colonial Alliance.
6th June 2033CFS Meteor, the sixth and last Nebula class geological survey ship is launched from the Schumacker – Navarra shipyard. The lead ship Nebula is currently undergoing an overhaul. Eclipse and Nova are in Argos (two jumps from Sol via Alpha Centauri) heading for 70 Ophiuchi and Pergamon respectively. Quasar is in Rhodes, four jumps from Sol via Barnard’s Star, Knossos and Ephesos, and Pulsar is en route to join her. As the Athens system is yet to be surveyed, either gravitationally or geologically, and the Colonial Alliance still officially has peaceful relations with the Belasco Commune, Meteor is dispatched to that system. She has a secondary mission of finding out the reason why Russian commercial traffic is transiting the Sol – Athens jump point
8th June 2033CFS Columbia transits a newly discovered jump point in Sirius and emerges one hundred and eighty million kilometres from a red dwarf star orbited by three planets, one of which is a terraforming candidate. Due to the length of journey across the Sirius system to reach the jump point, this planet is more than twenty billion kilometres from Earth, giving it a very low priority as a potential colony site. The new system is named Miletos.
11th June 2033The first Rappahannock class tanker is launched from the Zordan Marine shipyard. With Colonial survey activity moving further away from the Sol system, even greater amounts of fuel and time are being expended travelling to and from Earth. The Rappahannock will allow survey ships to remain on station longer, albeit within the jump gate network being created by the other Solarian powers or where access is providing by the Alaska class jump freighter.
Rappahannock class Tanker 10,000 tons 62 Crew 580.6 BP TCS 200 TH 600 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 1-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/11/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 36 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
Graciano-Vandewater GV300 Commercial Ion Drive (2) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 4,500,000 Litres Range 1308.6 billion km (5048 days at full power)
Killeen-Gravelle CN/SLR-11 EM Detection Sensor (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m km21st June 2033Arizona, the second Alaska class jump freighter, is launched into Earth orbit
22nd June 2033CFS Atlantis transits from Tegea into Megara, making her the first Colonial ship to enter a system five jumps from Sol. Megara is a trinary system with two K-class orange stars and a red dwarf. The system has thirteen planets with a couple of low priority terraforming candidates.
23rd June 2033The salvage ship Phoenix begins the salvage of the wreckage of the fourteen Belasco FACs near the edge of the asteroid belt. Little useful salvage is recovered, apart from minerals, two active sensors and a single fire control system. Phoenix sets course for the wrecks of the two Hector class battlecruisers.
11th July 2033The William Baldwin xenology team on Alpha Centauri-A I completes their research into the ruins on that world. The race that once occupied the planet is identified as the Yeack Alliance. Twenty-one of the installations are potentially recoverable, although that will require significant effort. For the moment the Colonial Alliance has no way to transport the required men and equipment to the planet.
29th July 2033Phoenix completes the salvage of the first Hector class battlecruiser. The most notable items recovered are five internal fusion drives, representing engine technology two generations ahead of that currently used by the Colonial Alliance. Other recovered items include three fire controls, an EM sensor and a pair of missile launchers.
5th August 2033CFS Meteor detects a Russian colony on Athens-III. Based on the thermal and EM signatures, it probably has a population of approximately one million.
11th August 2033The first Ambrosia class Fuel Harvester is launched from the Kolber Navy Yard. Fuel is becoming a serious concern for the Colonial Alliance with only eleven million litres in reserve. All fleet training exercises have been put on hold for the moment. The Ambrosia is sent through the Sol – Lalande jump point to begin harvesting from the atmosphere of Lalande V, which has two million tons of accessibility 1.0 Sorium. Neptune in the Sol system also has accessibility 1.0 Sorium but is seventy percent further away. The Lexington class destroyer Kagero is sent as escort. In the long-term the Colonial Alliance is relying on the Ambrosia and her planned sister ships to be its primary source of fuel.
Ambrosia class Fuel Harvester 69,750 tons 310 Crew 1251.2 BP TCS 1395 TH 600 EM 0
430 km/s Armour 1-150 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0
MSP 11 Max Repair 75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
Fuel Harvester: 25 modules producing 700000 litres per annum
Graciano-Vandewater GV300 Commercial Ion Drive (2) Power 300 Fuel Use 6.19% Signature 300 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres Range 31.3 billion km (841 days at full power)15th August 2033After completing her geological survey of Athens, CFS Meteor is heading back to the Athens Sol jump point when her active sensor detects a jump gate. The Colonial Alliance has not carried out a gravitational survey in Athens so Meteor investigates the newly revealed jump point. She emerges in a system with a yellow G7-V primary, with about 90% of Sol’s mass, orbited by nine planets. The third planet has acceptable gravity, a breathable atmosphere and a surface temperature of -31C, giving it a colony cost of 0.89. Unfortunately, it also has a strong EM signature that indicates the presence of a large population of the Belasco Commune. Given the signature is more than double that of the Colonial Alliance population on Earth, it seems almost certain that this is the Belasco home world. The second planet also has potential, with gravity similar to Earth, temperature of -24C and a 0.1 atm nitrogen – CO2 – oxygen atmosphere. The commander of the geological survey ship immediately transmits his sensor readings to Earth via the jump gates on the intervening jump points.
The Belasco home world is less than ten billion kilometres from Earth, which explains the short interval between the FAC raids. While this is a significant potential threat to the Colonial Alliance, the members of the Colonial Alliance Command recognise it also presents an opportunity. A nearly habitable planet with existing infrastructure so close to Earth would provide an excellent colony site, if it were not for the presence of the Belasco. A study begins into the resources that would be needed to modify the ownership of the planet. Meteor is ordered to leave the system immediately to avoid any damage to relations with the Belasco Commune. The newly discovered system is named Belasco.
20th August 2033The destroyer Kagero, checking out the Lalande system before the arrival of the first Colonial fuel harvester, detects a Chinese population on Lalande II. It is larger than the Russian colony in Athens and has an EM signature of 334, perhaps indicating a population in the range of two to three million.
14th September 2033The geological survey ship Nebula is heading across the Pergamon system en route to the Delta Pavonis jump point when she encounters a Belasco Commune Aphrodite class survey ship, or at least what Colonial Intelligence believes is a survey ship. Pergamon is five jumps from the Belasco system, via Athens, Sol, Alpha Centauri and Argos, so the Belasco are operating a long way from home. The encounter was sheer chance as the Belasco vessel passed within Nebula’s seventy-five million kilometre active sensor range.
25th September 2033The gravitational survey ship Endeavour transits a jump point in Delphi, four jumps from Sol via Barnard’s Star, Knossos and Ephesos, and enters Kuiper 75, a trinary of three red dwarves. None of the eight planets are of great interest but there are two wrecks in the inner system of the primary. Endeavour moves sunwards to check for signs of life.
27th September 2033The geological survey ship Nebula has entered Delta Pavonis and is a billion kilometres from the jump point when four FACs of a previously unknown race are detected at two million kilometres. Her sensor is configured to look for much larger ships so the FACs were able to approach undetected. She turns to head back toward the Pergamon jump point but doesn’t get far before she is blown to pieces by a volley of missiles with strength-22 warheads. Because Nebula is operating solo, her loss goes unreported to Colonial Alliance Command, at least for the moment.
1st October 2033The salvage ship Phoenix and her accompanying freighters return to Earth after salvaging both Hector class battlecruisers, five smaller Belasco warships and fourteen Apollo class FACs. Disassembly of the recovered components provides a boost for research into propulsion and improved active sensors. As none of the other powers have deployed salvage ships, Colonial Alliance Command gives permission for the salvaging of Solarian wrecks.
13th October 2033Phoenix salvages the wreck of a Russian Oscar class fast scout. The engines are ion technology, the same as the Colonial Alliance. Given the lower speed of Russian warships, that suggests that the Indo-Russian Alliance is devoting less of their ship’s internal space to engines.
25th October 2033Sensor emissions are detected from four Belasco Apollo class FACs transiting into Sol through the Athens jump point. Two Russian destroyers, a Grisha and a Sovremenny, are waiting for them. Two strength-4 detonations occur within a few seconds and after a further fifteen seconds the wreck of an Apollo appears on the jump point. There are no detonations prior to the appearance of the wreck and the Grisha is known to be missile-armed, which suggests the Sovremenny is beam-armed. The four sources of sensor emissions remain however so there are more than four FACs in action.
Over the next few minutes two further FACs are destroyed and at least one transits back into Athens. Unfortunately only those FACs with active sensors can be detected by planetary sensors at such a long range. The Sovremenny suffers five hits from strength-11 warheads plus a secondary explosion. Its speed is reduced by over sixty percent but it remains in the fight. The Grisha sets course for Earth, presumably to reload its magazines, while the Sovremenny closes in on a crippled FAC, the only Apollo remaining in Sol, and destroys it with beam weapons. Despite its serious internal damage, the Sovremenny returns to the jump point to cover it in the absence of the Grisha.
30th October 2033A strength-41 secondary power explosion is detected on the Athens jump point. Seconds later a wreck beacon for a Belasco Apollo class FAC is detected. The Sovremenny is still picketing the jump point and presumably was responsible for the destruction of the FAC. Moments later, active sensor emissions are detected from a second FAC racing away from the jump point. The Russian destroyer gives chase but has no chance. Three minutes later, it takes two strength-11 hits but doggedly plows onward. The FAC reverses course and heads back to the jump point. Its course takes it too close to the Sovremenny though and it is destroyed by energy-weapon fire.
11th October 2033Another FAC wreck is detected on the Athens jump point. It seems the Belasco Commune is stepping up its FAC raids once again, though on a smaller scale than before. There is no further sign of action though so this was a probably a lone FAC picked off by the Sovremenny as soon as it transited.
19th December 2033The gravitational survey ship Challenger transits a jump point in Delphi and emerges in the system of Troy. The red dwarf primary is orbited by eight planets with over a hundred moons, plus four hundred and fifty asteroids. The innermost planet is the most habitable world found so far outside the Sol system, with a colony cost of just 0.09. The atmosphere is breathable, the gravity is 0.87G and the surface temperature is 40C, just above the upper edge of human tolerance. The main problem is that Troy is five jumps from Sol, via Barnard’s Star, Knossos, Ephesos and Delphi, and only the first two jumps have gates. Challenger moves to the planet to check for any existing inhabitants but finds no sign of life.
8th January 2034Saratoga and Amagiri, the eighth and ninth Lexington class destroyers, are launched from the Norfolk Navy Yard. These are the last planned units of the Lexington class as the shipyard is being retooled to build the first pair of Kennedy class carriers. The Kennedys will be 20,000 ton ships with a hangar deck capacity of 6000 tons. However, at the moment the Colonial Alliance lacks the technology to construct effective fighters and it will be almost a year before the first fighter design can be finalised.
4th February 2034CFS Challenger transits a recently discovered jump point in the Troy system, home to a near-habitable world, and emerges in Actium, a binary system of two red dwarf stars. The second of the three planets orbiting the primary has acceptable gravity and a surface temperature just inside the lower edge of human tolerance, The nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere 0f 0.39 atm is closer to breathable with 70% of the oxygen content required. The companion star has three planets and the system has over three hundred asteroids. The adjacent systems of Troy and Actium now represent the best colonization sites so far discovered by the Colonial Alliance.
to be continued...
