#3 National Updates

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Japanese Empire - 1st December 2111

Colonies
Earth: 565m
Edo II: 157m
Kyoto-A I: 29m
Vanaheim: 17m
Delta Pavonis-A I: 5.93m
Daikoku I: 1.4m
Nara-A II: 1.15m
Ginriku II: 0.45m
Gamma Pavonis-A I: 0.37m
Gamma Pavonis-A III: 0.11m
Zeta(1) Reticuli-A IV: 0.19m
Kasugai-A II: 0.12m.

Mining Colonies
Kyoto Asteroid #167: 73x AM
Faye (Sol): 49x AM
Ginriku-A IV – Moon 1: 6x AM
Io (Sol): 7x CMC
Kyoto-A V – Moon 16: 2x CMC

Japan has continued to transport installations from Earth to both Edo and Vanaheim in an effort to improve its resource extraction capabilities and reduce its dependence on Earth. One hundred and seventy-five manned mining complexes are in place on Vanaheim. All Japan’s shipyards and eight research facilities are at Edo, along with ninety mines and more than one hundred and twenty construction factories. However, Japanese colonisation efforts have not kept pace with the transfer of installations and Edo, despite a population of one hundred and fifty-seven million, cannot provide enough workers for the manufacturing sector. Therefore, the small colony on Delta Pavonis-A, two transits from Edo, has been expanded with the intention of transforming it into a major research hub. Within the last year, the population has grown from less than one million to almost six million and four research facilities, previously based on Edo, are in place at the colony. Japanese terraformers have made the atmosphere breathable and are reducing the CO2 levels to bring down the temperature to a tolerable level. The colony cost is currently 0.80. The improvement in environmental conditions has also benefitted the Republic of Pavonia, which shares the planet with Japan. The Pavonian population is two point three million.

In technological terms, the biggest breakthrough of the last two years has been the magneto-plasma drive. Japan developed several new engines based on the technology and created upgrade plans for the Akagi class missile cruiser, Kongo class and Kagero classes, based on replacement of the engines with no other changes. This process has been glacially slow due to a crippling lack of Gallicite. Despite the breakthrough occurring in November 2109, only a single Kagero class destroyer has been refitted so far. A single Akagi and two more Kageros are in the shipyards for the refit. Work has not even begun on the six Kongos. The Gallicite shortage is particularly frustrating for Japan as Edo has almost four million tons of accessibility 0.7 Gallicite, along with two point four million tons of accessibility 0.7 Duranium. The problem is not one of available mineral deposits, but of freighter lift, worker allocation and distribution of resources.

Ninety mines are in place on Edo and the planetary governor, Takimoto Tokkikane, is acknowledged as an expert in mining production who is boosting annual yields by twenty percent. Unfortunately, no more mines can be added because there is a shortage of workers on the planet. This should be eased as more research facilities are moved to Delta Pavonis. The one hundred and seventy-five mines on Vanaheim are producing a considerable amount of minerals in general, although the accessibility of Gallicite is at 0.5 and total reserves are 126,000 tons, which will be shared with the Centauri Federation. On Earth, a further one hundred and seventy-four mines are extracting Gallicite with 0.2 accessibility and very little remains. Fifty mines on Kyoto-A I are mining large, accessible deposits of Duranium, Tritanium and Corundium but Gallicite deposits are 0.1 accessibility. Finally, a total of one hundred and twenty-two automated mines, split between an asteroid in Kyoto and the comet Faye in the Sol system are mining Gallicite at 0.9 accessibility but the two bodies have less than twenty thousand tons remaining. The comet Stephan-Oterma was mined out of Gallicite in 2110 and the automated mines transferred to Faye.

In summary, although there are many mining locations, few are ideal for Gallicite and those with higher accessibilities are close to exhausting the deposits or lack workers. Japanese freighters are travelling between the different systems to funnel minerals to the shipyards at Edo to avoid a shortage and the Edo stockpile is commonly running below 500 tons. To make matters worse, Edo is short of maintenance supplies due to a combination of recently becoming the major Japanese fleet base and a large number of simultaneous overhauls, particularly those Akagi class missile cruisers that were deployed to Edo before the capacity of the colony’s maintenance facilities reached 15,000 tons. Gallicite is being consumed to replace the maintenance supplies. Even the mines on Earth have been left in place longer than planned because of the need to use the available freighter lift to move research facilities to Delta Pavonis to make room for the Earth-based mines. In all, something of a logistical perfect storm. Kaigun Taisho Tagawa had planned to wait until the refits were completed before launching any operations in Alpha Centauri. Now he is beginning to consider if he should go ahead with the forces available, although the amount of installations still in Sol would be a serious problems if conflict spread within the Sol system.

Given the logistical problems faced by Japan, its recent shipbuilding priorities have been commercial rather than military. Since October 2109, Japan has constructed a Kagero class destroyer, nine freighters, five colony ships, three terraformers and two asteroid miners. The two asteroid miners are the first ships of that type constructed by Japan and are deployed in the Kyoto system. Four civilian ships have been built in the same period. In December 2111, Japan’s civilian sector comprised thirty-seven ships with a combined tonnage of one point six million tons.

The question of Alpha Centauri remains the greatest challenge for the Imperial Japanese Navy. Kaigun Taisho Tagawa firmly believes the system will eventually fall under Japanese control and he is planning for the right moment to strike. Several factors are influencing his decision. The vulnerability of Japan to a counter-attack by one or more of the other major powers, the rate of recovery of the Centauri Federation Navy, the technological advantages enjoyed by Japan, especially if they can refit with magneto-plasma drives before any engagement, and the strength of Japanese ground forces.

The vulnerability question is the most concerning. All the Japanese shipyards are at Edo while half the Japanese research facilities and the majority of manned mining complexes are outside the Sol system. That still leaves the vast majority of installations on Earth, including three quarters of Japanese construction factories, almost all ordnance factories and fuel refineries, all six ground force training facilities and half the maintenance facilities. Given the other powers would see any Japanese attempt to seize Alpha Centauri as a grave threat to the balance of power, Tagawa would very much prefer to move the majority of those installations off-world before the start of any major conflict. Tagawa is also aware the Federation Navy will be recovering its strength, although Japanese Naval Intelligence is not aware just how quickly. Even so, given the ease with which Brazil defeated the full-strength Federation Navy, that is less of a factor in his plans as he regards any Centauri resistance as a temporary distraction. Because of that assumption and the installations on Earth, he is more inclined to wait for the refits of his major warships, despite the delays. Finally, the Imperial Japanese Army is building up a force of assault infantry battalions, which are twice as effective on the attack as the existing mobile infantry. Only ten have been trained so far and Tagawa would prefer a larger force to resolve the ground war as quickly as possible. For the immediate future, the attack on Alpha Centauri is on hold.

On August 12th 2110, a Japanese survey ship discovered the system of Kasugai (renamed from Gliese 288), a binary of a yellow G0-V primary and M7-V red dwarf companion with a total of nine planets. Kasugai-A II was an ideal habitable world. As the system was eight transits from Edo and eleven from Sol it was not an immediate priority given the logistical constraints of the Empire. Even so, a small colony was established in July 2111.

Apart from the constant Gallicite shortage, the overall Japanese economy is in reasonable shape. Fuel is relatively plentiful, although stockpiles are gradually shrinking due to the increased numbers of commercial vessels. Wealth reserves are above ten thousand, which ensures there will be no problems in the near future. Boronide is a concern due to the need for additional fuel harvesters but there are no immediate issues with two thousand tons in the stockpile and a steady supply from Vanaheim. The priorities for Japan are to resolve its logistical problems and move as many installations out of Sol as possible in preparation for an eventual assault on Alpha Centauri.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Manchuria – 17th December 2111

Colonies
Earth: 513m
Earth (Di Zhongxin): 0.81m
Manchu-A I: 82m
Khitan-A III: 0.77m
Tau Ceti: 0.35m

Mining Colonies
Faye (Sol): 67x AM
Manchu-B Asteroid #10: 34x AM
Stephen-Oterma (Sol): 2x AM
Wild (Sol): 5x CMC
Manchu-A Asteroid #108: 2x CMC

Manchuria has continued its explorations beyond the Rùkou system, in the area around the ideal habitable world of Khitan-A III. Nine new systems have been discovered in the last two years, taking the total number of known systems to one hundred and twelve. A small colony was established in Khitan in 2109 and has now grown to 770,000 settlers. Unfortunately, further colonization has been curtailed due to an ongoing fuel crisis. A lack of Sorium is preventing refinery production so the fifteen Manchurian fuel harvesters, three of which have been constructed within the past year, are providing all the fuel for Manchuria. A further three Kaifeng class harvesters are under construction and Manchurian scientists are concentrating their efforts on improving fuel production technology. Even so, serious fuel shortages are a constant problem. More fuel efficient commercial engines have been developed so the Manchurian colony ships and freighters are being refitted to designs that should use up to seventy percent less fuel.

Sufficient fuel has been available to increase the population of Manchu-A I, the primary Manchurian colony, by twelve million to eighty-two million in the period since November 2109. Unlike several other powers there are no immediate problems with the available manufacturing sector and the colony currently has a surplus of workers. Although all Manchurian shipyards have been towed to Manchu-A I, the number of other installations at the colony is relatively small. Insufficient maintenance facilities are available to cater to the major Manchurian fleet units so the main Manchurian naval base remains at Earth. Earth is still by far the most important planet for Manchuria with every Manchurian research facility, manned mining complex and ordnance factory plus the bulk of all other surface-based installations.

Manchurian automated mining efforts are concentrated on the comet Faye in Sol, with the bulk of the mines relocated from Stephan-Oterma, and on an asteroid in the Manchu system. In terms of minerals, the main problem for Manchuria remains Gallicite. The two locations with automated mines both have accessible Gallicite but less than seventeen thousand tons in deposits between them. There are a few sources of Gallicite available in Manchurian space, but at lower concentrations and without other minerals in relatively short supply, such as Duranium or Sorium. A comet has been identified in the Gliese 95 system, eight transits and twenty-six billion kilometers from Earth, which has one hundred and forty thousand tons of accessibility 0.9 Gallicite and one hundred and twenty thousand tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium. It is a long-period comet however and heading outward. Given the fuel crisis, it is unlikely to prove useful in the short term. The Gallicite and fuel shortages are both serious issues that are severely hindering Manchurian expansion.

In the last two years, Manchuria has constructed a Jiangwei class destroyer, four freighters and three fuel harvesters. The civilian sector is still very small, although larger than that of Brazil. Economically, Manchuria is in difficulty. Wealth reserves are low and falling, fuel stockpiles have been exhausted on both Manchu-A I and Earth and even the harvesters have less than half a million litres in their tanks. Mineral stockpiles are very low for Gallicite and fairly low for Boronide and Sorium. Unless Manchuria can find a much improved mining site or alien ruins, it will begin to fall behind the other powers. Manchuria’s future may lie in the hands of its survey fleet. If all else fails, Manchuria still has the fifth largest navy in known space and may be forced to act against other powers if the situation becomes desperate.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Martian Union – 6th January 2112

Colonies
Mars: 365m
Vanaheim: 37m
Colonia Antium (Alpha Centauri-A II - Moon 17): 11m

Mining Colonies
Io (Sol): 50x AM

The priority of the Martian Union, as it has always been, is to ensure the safety of Mars from an inevitable future attack from the Earth-based powers. In this regard, Mars has benefitted from its close relationship of the Centauri Federation. In fact, the Martian Union believes the survival of the Centauri Federation is inextricably tied to the future of Mars. Should Alpha Centauri fall, that would place Mars in a very serious position. Therefore, it was of great concern to the Martian leadership that, despite its best efforts, the Union could not provide more assistance to the Federation during the First Colonial War. This was deemed to be the result of two factors; firstly that Earth was out of range of Mars-based missile bases during the period of the war and secondly that the small Martian patrol ships were incapable of projecting power. Two initiatives are underway to resolve these shortcomings, both of which are underpinned by the recent development of ion engine technology.

The first is the Zeus Interplanetary Missile, commonly referred to as the ZIM. This is the first two-stage missile developed by any of the Solarian powers and has a total range of over six hundred million kilometers, easily enough to travel from Mars to Earth regardless of the position of the two planets. For most of that distance, the ZIM moves at a sedate 6600 km/s. Once within ten million kilometres of its target, the ZIM releases an Ares anti-ship missile, capable of 27,600 km/s and carrying a strength-4 warhead. Because the final warhead is relatively small, the ZIM itself is only size-4 and can be launched from the existing Spiculum class missiles bases in orbit of Mars. Five hundred ZIMs have so far been produced. That will remain the total for some time as production is changing to the new Apollo II anti-ship missile. The main restriction on the use of the Zeus missiles is the range of Martian active sensors and fire control systems. The former will be solved in the short term by using a patrol ship, or other vessel, to paint the target with active sensors. The latter will require a new fire control system to be mounted on the Spiculums. The Lupercus-Ancus LA-9 Ultra Long Range Missile Fire Control will have a range of six hundred and thirty million kilometres with a resolution of 120. It is currently awaiting development.

The second new Martian initiative is the creation of a new series of powerful missile cruisers, named the Caesar class. These ships will be 15,000 tons, capable of 4000 km/s, armed with fourteen launchers and carrying one hundred and seventy Apollo II missiles. They are intended to serve as mobile versions of the Spiculum class missile bases. Their design is almost complete and just awaiting the completion of research into a new fire control system. The active sensors and fire controls of the Caesar will have a range of one hundred and sixty-eight million kilometers, which is forty million kilometres less than the current Spiculum design but still a longer range than the major ships of the Earth-based powers. Because the Caesar is intended as a long-range strike design, the armour will be thinner than that of its likely opponents. A shipyard is being expanded to sufficient capacity to build the new ship and should be ready at the same time the design is finalised.

In addition to the above, the fifteen Patrol ships in service, the last of which was constructed in February 2111, are undergoing overhauls to equip them with ion engines. Thus far, six have been refitted to the Trident-R design. In the last two years the Martian Union has also constructed two Lancea class AMM bases, three colony ships, a tanker and five fuel harvesters.

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Trident-R class Patrol Ship    4,650 tons     132 Crew     683.4 BP      TCS 93  TH 480  EM 0
5161 km/s     Armour 3-24     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/12/0/0     Damage Control Rating 3     PPV 16
Maint Life 3.4 Years     MSP 276    AFR 57%    IFR 0.8%    1YR 36    5YR 544    Max Repair 120 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months    Spare Berths 1   

Ramirus-Salonius RS-240 Ion Drive (2)    Power 240    Fuel Use 56%    Signature 240    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 300,000 Litres    Range 20.7 billion km   (46 days at full power)

Tiberius-Velus 12cm Near Ultraviolet Laser (4)    Range 120,000km     TS: 5161 km/s     Power 4-2     RM 3    ROF 10        4 4 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
Ventor Syndicate VS-128 Laser Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Pebble Bed Reactor  (3)     Total Power Output 9    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Lupercus-Ancus LA-6 Active Sensor (1)     GPS 5760     Range 31.5m km    Resolution 120
Lupercus-Ancus LA-7 Passive EM Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  12m km

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Beyond the Sol system, the Martian colonies on Vanaheim and Colonia Antium continue to grow. The population of Vanaheim has increased by fifty percent in the last two years and is now at thirty-seven million, more than twice as large as the Japanese colony on the same planet. The Centauri population on Vanaheim is almost one hundred and fifty million. Colonia Antium has increased at an even faster rate and the population recently surpassed ten million. So far, the Martian Union has not conducted any mining operations in Alpha Centauri as Mars still has accessible deposits of all mineral types. Four garrison battalions have been sent to protect Vanaheim, which is more of a gesture of solidarity with the Centauri rather than through any belief those troops could hold back the Japanese for any length of time.

Because of the close relationship with the Centauri, initial discussion have taken place regard a possible amalgamation at some point in the future. From the Martian perspective, given how fiercely the Union defends its independence, this is a daunting prospect. However, there is no doubt that such a union would benefit the citizens of both powers so Mars is continuing the discussions cautiously but optimistically. Of more immediate import is the Centauri plan to drive Japan from Alpha Centauri. As the leadership of the Martian Union also believes Japan will inevitably strike at the Federation and attempt to conquer the Alpha Centauri system, the concept of striking first is very appealing. Mars promises its full backing to the plan and, although none of the planned Caesar class missile cruisers will be available for some time, the Martian leadership offers the use of the Zeus Interplanetary Missiles as a way of surprising Japanese forces in Earth orbit.

The Martian Union offers a further suggestion to enhance the plan; invite Manchuria to strike at Kyoto. Manchuria is a long-time rival of Japan and is still seeking revenge for the attack on China in the 21st century. While neither the Martian Union or the Centauri Federation is keen on a Manchurian presence in Alpha Centauri, beyond the existing trade agreement, Manchuria would benefit from taking Kyoto, which has a near-habitable world with five million tons of accessibility 0.8 Duranium and a number of mineral-rich asteroids. Kyoto is three jumps from both Sol and Manchu via the planetless systems of Proxima and Gliese 682, so it would relatively easy for an undetected fleet to get into position to strike. If Manchuria attacks Kyoto at the same time as Mars attacks Japanese forces in Sol and the Centauri attack Japanese assets in Alpha Centauri, Japan may be overwhelmed trying to respond to so many different threats. The Centauri Federation embraces the proposal, leading to a meeting on Asgard in January 2112 between high level representatives of all three powers, smuggled to the Centauri capital on civilian freighters. The broad outline of a plan is agreed, although all three nations still have a lot of preparation work before that plan can be transformed into action.

In line with several other powers, Mars has moved fifty automated mines from the comet Stephen-Oterma. Unlike the other powers, which have moved their mines to the comet Faye due to its Gallicite deposits or out-system, Mars has emplaced its mines on Io, a moon of Jupiter, which has substantial deposits of accessible Duranium and Tritanium

Io Mineral Survey
Duranium 2,541,595  Acc: 0.8
Tritanium 1,857,486  Acc: 0.8
Sorium 2,447,675  Acc: 0.5

Despite healthy fuel reserves and large mineral stockpiles, with the exception of Duranium which has fallen to 2000 tons, the Martian Union is still plagued by a lack of wealth. There are simply too many projects underway for the available tax revenues to cover. Therefore, Mars has negotiated two trade deals with the United States since 2109, each one involving the transfer of 2500 tons of Gallicite for 5000 wealth. The United States has plentiful wealth reserves due to the conquest of the Eben yet is very short of Gallicite. Conversely, the Martian Union has a large Gallicite stockpile due to accessibility 0.9 Gallicite deposits on Mars and a lack of wealth due to production exceeding revenue. The Martian civilian sector is growing due to the existing trade agreement with the Centauri Federation and a newly agreed trade agreement with Manchuria. Currently, the two Martian shipping lines operate thirty ships with a combined tonnage of almost one point three million.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

Russian Federation – 1st February 2112

Colonies
Earth 501m
Novaya Rodina: 86m
Novaya Zemlya (EZ Aquarii): 25.3m
St Ekaterina I: 2.18m
Kazan-A II: 1.14m
Tau Ceti-A II: 0.45m
Nevsky (St Petersburg): 0.26m
Alexander (St Petersburg): 0.24m
Kapteyn’s Star II: 0.23m

Mining Colonies
Faye (Sol): 61x AM
Stephan-Oterma (Sol): 59x AM
TW Piscis Austrini-A Asteroid #7: 43x AM
EZ Aquarii-B III - Moon 29: 13x AM
TZ Arietis-A I: 5x AM
Hermitage (St Petersburg): 3x AM
St Petersburg-C VI: 2x AM
Venus (Sol): 4x CMC

Over the last two years Russia has made great strides in recovering installations from the three large alien ruin sites within its territory. The ruins in St Ekaterina and Kapteyn’s Star have been fully exploited and recovery operations are in progress at the ruin on the planet Hermitage in the St Petersburg system. A total of twelve research facilities have been found at the already exhausted sites, including five in the last two years. Technical information on the salvage module was recovered in October 2110 and on improved jump drive efficiency in September 2111. In addition to a large number of factories, mines and other installations, the Russian construction brigades have retrieved large quantities of fuel and wealth plus, in early January 2112, 45,000 tons of Duranium were discovered on Hermitage. As a result, the Russian economy is now in excellent condition and the Russian Federation is working hard to expand further.

With fuel, minerals and wealth no longer an immediate concern, the top Russian priority is now to correct the serious lack of freighter lift capacity. Only seven Project 1207 Antonov class freighters are in service, which is completely inadequate when compared to the vast number of installations that require transportation. A shipyard has been retooled to build an updated freighter, the Project 1220 Antonov-B class, and the first two units are under construction. All the recovered research facilities and most of the other recovered installations are still on St Ekaterina-A I and Kapteyn’s Star-A II, where the relatively tiny populations are insufficient to man even a small proportion of them. Russia will not be able to benefit from the installations unless they can be moved to a larger population or more colonists can be brought to the planets. St Ekaterina is the best option in that regard as the ice caps have recently melted due to Russian terraforming, bringing the temperature within the habitable range. Oxygen levels are rising and within a few months St Ekaterina-A I will become an ideal habitable world.

Russian colony ships are more numerous than freighters, with fourteen in service, but Novaya Rodina is severely short of workers and running at barely eighty percent of maximum efficiency. Although colony ships are striving to bring in more settlers, all of Russia’s shipyards and its original research facilities are located at a colony with a population of eighty-six million. Unfortunately, the demand from Novaya Rodina means only a small number of the total colony ships are moving settlers deeper into Russian space where all the recovered installations are located. Even moving installations from the ruin sites to the major colonies is not possible due to the lack of workers. Earth is the only real option and the Russian leadership wants to move its assets further away from Sol, not towards it. So far, Russia has benefitted greatly from the ruin sites but their maximum potential will not be realised unless Russia can resolve its logistical issues.

To ease the worker shortage, a pair of freighters are gradually moving research facilities from Novaya Rodina to the adjacent Novaya Zemlya system, which has sufficient workers to operate up to ten research faclities. The other five freighters are moving infrastructure and recovered maintenance facilities from St Ekaterina to the adjacent Kazan system, as Russia wants to establish a forward naval base in the centrally located system. Kazan is the gateway to the claimed Russian territory, guarding the only jump point leading back to Epsilon Eridani and connecting to St Ekaterina, St Petersburg and the Gliese 84 system. The Russian fuel harvester fleet is in orbit of Kazan VI. Given the strategic value of the system and the relatively short journey required to move the required infrastructure and other installation, it is an ideal location for a base, especially as Kazan-A II is a colony cost 2.00 world, albeit without an atmosphere. The setting up of the Kazan base is at least a small first step in making full use of the recovered alien installations.

Russia continues to push out the borders of known space, discovering ten new systems within the last two years. On January 16th 2112, a near-habitable world with a colony cost of only 0.33 was discovered in Gliese 201, a system with an orange K7-V primary and seven planets. Gliese 201-A III was the most habitable planet found up to that point within the territory beyond Epsilon Eridani. It will be difficult for Russia to colonise the new world as it is thirteen transits and almost twenty-nine billion kilometres from Sol. Unless large and accessible mineral deposits are discovered, there will be more pressing demands on the limited number of available colony ships and freighters.

Since December 2109 Russia has constructed a Project 1214 Berkut-J class cruiser, two Project 1202 Sarych class destroyers (taking the total units in the class to sixteen), a single Project 1206 Chirikov class colony ship, four Project 1208 Olekma class fuel harvesters, a Project 1216 Fyodorov-B class terraformer and a Project 1217 Zhdanov class tug. Four colony ships have been converted to the Project 1219 Chirikov-B class, which has significantly more fuel-efficient engines. The Russian civilian sector has been expanding rapidly, with a fifth Russian shipping recently formed. In the last two years, sixteen new civilian ships have been constructed, taking total Russian civilian tonnage to almost one point six million. Russia now has the fifth largest civilian fleet and is very close to Japan in fourth place.

Russia is fulfilling its goal of becoming a powerful nation while avoiding conflict in the medium term. The Russian economy is very healthy and only a shortage of civilian shipping is holding it back. Russian shipyards are working to correct that problem. Russian scientists have concentrated their recent efforts on economic enhancements, boosting the Russian research and shipbuilding rates, and on evolutionary advances in ship-based technology. New classes of cruiser and destroyer have recently been designed that feature improved defences and electronic systems and retooling is underway. Over the last few years, Russia has not  invested in propulsion research and is using ion-based engines. Stellarator reactors and magneto-plasma drives are therefore high on the research priority list. The Russian leadership plans to maintain its non-confrontational policy until the ruins on Hermitage have been exploited and most of the recovered installations have been moved to locations where they can be utilised effectively. After that point, Russia will begin to look at other alternatives for advancement.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

United States – 21st February 2112

Colonies
Earth: 717m
Eben Homeworld (Eta Cassiopeiae): 350m (Eben)
Eben Homeworld (Eta Cassiopeiae): 3.65m (Human - US)
Eben Homeworld (Eta Cassiopeiae): 1.66m (Human - Caliphate)
Columbia (Lalande 21185): 278m
Astoria (WX Ursae Majoris): 34m
Gateway II: 3.15m
Oregon-B II: 2.56m
Midway II: 1.55m
Eta Cassiopeiae-B II: 0.27m
HIP 21932 II: 0.24m
Delta Eridani IV: 0.05m

Mining Colonies
Faye (Sol): 202x AM
Midway Asteroid #93: 15x AM
Gamma Leporis-B III: 9x AM
Gliese 686 III: 2x AM
QY Aurigae III: 1x AM
WX Ursae Majoris-A Asteroid #40: 9x CMC
Luna (Sol): 6x CMC
Wolf (Sol): 6x CMC
Reinmuth (Sol): 6x CMC

The United States is pushing out the boundaries of known space searching for mining sites and alien ruins, especially in the areas around Midway and Gamma Leporis. The two systems, three transits apart, are becoming focal points as they each have five jump points and stand as twin gateways to a large area of US space.  Midway II has recently been terraformed into an ideal habitable world, assisted by the melting of its ice caps, and has a colony of one point five million. Gamma Leporis is mineral-rich and Gamma Leporis-B III is a newly established automated mining colony with large and accessible deposits of eight minerals, including over six hundred thousand tons of accessibility 1.0 Duranium and one hundred and fifty thousand tons of accessibility 0.9 Duranium. The two systems are thirteen and fifteen billion kilometers from Sol respectively.

Twelve new systems have been explored in the last two years, taking the total known systems for the United States to one hundred and twenty-two. A notable discovery was Castor, a quadruple star system twelve transits from Earth and five beyond Midway. The primary and B component, both fiercely bright A-class stars, are less than five million kilometers apart and are jointly orbited by three planets and a small asteroid belt. A further two A-class orbit at the same distance, two and a quarter billion kilometers from the primary (between the orbits of Saturn and Uranus in Sol), but are sixty degrees apart. Castor-C has a single planet and an asteroid belt while Castor-D has four planets including an ideal habitable world and a moon with a colony cost of 2.78. The ideal world, Castor-D IV, is a hot, dry planet with small landlocked seas, gravity of 1.05G, a temperature of 28C and an atmosphere of 1.1 atm with 0.2 atm of oxygen. An orbital geological survey revealed a destroyed alien outpost on Castor-D IV, plus twenty-seven million tons of accessibility 0.7 Duranium. Nine other minerals were present at low accessibilities. Five alien wrecks were also discovered in Castor, split into two groups. Whether these are the ancient wrecks sometimes encountered by human explorers or the result of more recent combat is unknown.

In January 2111, the gravitational survey ship Dolphin explored a jump point in QY Aurigae, two transits beyond Midway, and discovered SFT 1321, a binary system with a K7-V primary and an M0-V companion star. The fourth planet of the primary was an ideal habitable world. SFT 1321 was ten transits and twenty-one billion kilometres from Sol. The survey forces of the United States were finding several excellent colony sites but with the frontier moving further and further from home, it would become harder to gain maximum benefit from the discoveries. Dolphin moved back into QY Aurigae to continue her survey.

Three months later, the geological survey ship Sturgeon arrived in SFT 1321. As she was surveying the moons of the sixth planet, she detected an unknown active sensor at a distance of eight point five million kilometres. Sturgeon hailed the unknown ship and received an unintelligible reply. While SFT 1321 was on the frontier, the adjacent system of QY Aurigae was part of the jump gate network so Sturgeon abandoned her survey and headed for the jump at maximum speed to warn the rest of the US Navy. Four million kilometers out from the sixth planet she was struck by four missiles with strength-4 warheads. Her jump drive and survey sensors were both disabled. A second salvo arrived less than a minute later, damaging several more systems and disabling both engines. Frantic damage control got underway and Sturgeon broadcast her surrender. Her message was either ignored or more likely not understood. Fifteen minutes later a third salvo blew the survey ship to pieces. Fifty-six survivors escaped to the life pods and were picked up by an alien ship. As Sturgeon was out of contact, it would be some time before her loss was noticed.

On August 17th, Dolphin returned to SFT 1321 to begin a gravitational survey, after completing her work in QY Aurigae, and detected the wreck of Sturgeon. She immediately jumped back into QY Aurigae and sent a warning to Fleet Headquarters on Columbia via the jump gate network. Within hours a task group task group was dispatched from Columbia comprising the missile cruisers Antietam and Appomattox, the escort cruisers Bunker Hill and Lexington and the destroyers Comte de Grasse, Cushing, Fletcher and Merrill. Faced with a technologically advanced alien race for the first time, the United States Navy found it had a serious weakness. No ship larger than a destroyer would be able to enter SFT 1321 due to a complete lack of jump-capable warships. Even the Spruance class destroyers would only be able to transit because they were small enough to be escorted through by a Nautilus class gravitational survey ship such as Dolphin. US shipwrights created a design for the Indianapolis class jump cruiser in record time, essentially by taking the blueprints of the Shiloh class missile cruiser and removing two thirds of its armament to allow space for a jump drive. For the moment, the task group would have to be employed defensively until either the first Indianapolis was available or a construction ship could build a jump gate on the QY Aurigae – SFT 1321 jump point. In the meantime, Dolphin picketed that same jump point to provide early warning of any alien incursion into US space.

Two days after Dolphin’s brief visit to SFT 1321, a six thousand ton alien ship, designated at Kumari class, transited into QY Aurigae. Dolphin immediately ran for the jump point to WISE 0607+2429, a planetless brown dwarf system that connected QY Aurigae to Midway. As Dolphin fled the alien ship transited back into SFT 1321. Dolphin arrived in WISE 0607+2429 in August 27th and picketed the jump point to QY Aurigae. The US Navy task group arrived in Midway on September 21st and moved to the colony on Midway-A II for shore leave. The fuel stores for the fleet were at forty-five percent so they could not proceed before a tanker arrived. No alien force could move deeper into US territory without passing through Midway so the task group could still provide defensive cover. Three weeks later the task group broke orbit with full fuel tanks, transited through WISE 0607+2429 into QY Aurigae and took up station on the SFT 1321 jump point on November 26th. There was no sign of enemy ships.

Despite the events close to Midway, exploration continued further afield. A destroyed outpost was discovered on the third planet of Gliese 686, a system three transits out through another of Midway’s jump points. A small number of installations were recovered, including two automated mines, a genetic modification centre and a construction factory. In addition, a vault containing three thousand tons of Gallicite was unearthed, which was especially useful given the ongoing Gallicite shortage within the United States. A further five thousand tons of Gallicite was purchased from the Martian Union for ten thousand wealth. The most useful discovery in the ruins was a cache of Epsilon–level shield generators. Once transported back to Earth and disassembled, the information contained within gave the United States the technical detail required to build its own Epsilon Shields, plus increasing US shield regeneration and fuel efficiency technology by two generations.

Apart from the alien race in SFT 1321, the primary concern for the United States in 2112 is a severe Duranium shortage caused by high levels of production. While the Gallicite crisis has not ended, it has been eased by the trade with Mars and the discovery in Gliese 686. Duranium supplies have become the main issue. Earth’s deposits are running out and the accessibility is diminishing. Two hundred automated mines on the comet Faye produce some Duranium but not enough for the voracious demands of the shipyards and industry on Columbia and Earth. Columbia itself has almost eighty million tons of Duranium deposits but only at accessibility 0.3. Sixty automated mines and one hundred and thirteen manned mines have been moved to the Eben homeworld in the Eta Cassiopeiae system, with both humans and Eben providing the manpower. The planet has accessible deposits of all eleven minerals, although Gallicite and Vendarite are only at 0.4 accessibility. More mines will be moved from Earth as freighters become available. In the longer term, the Gamma Leporis system should provide extensive mineral supplies, although automated mines will be required, and a small mining colony has already been established. Both locations are a long way from Columbia though.

Eta Cassiopeiae-A III Mineral Survey
Duranium 372,331  Acc: 1
Neutronium 76,838  Acc: 0.6
Corbomite 150,957  Acc: 0.9
Tritanium 57,684  Acc: 0.8
Boronide 90,857  Acc: 0.9
Mercassium 47,458  Acc: 0.9
Vendarite 186,192  Acc: 0.4
Sorium 247,312  Acc: 0.7
Uridium 80,112  Acc: 0.7
Corundium 102,958  Acc: 0.9
Gallicite 74,192  Acc: 0.4

Gamma Leporis-B III Mineral Survey
Duranium 636,138  Acc: 1
Neutronium 66,510  Acc: 1
Corbomite 138,330  Acc: 1
Tritanium 278,735  Acc: 0.9
Boronide 11,610  Acc: 1
Vendarite 7,018  Acc: 0.7
Sorium 318,053  Acc: 0.8
Uridium 72,851  Acc: 0.9
Corundium 101  Acc: 0.8
Gallicite 152,051  Acc: 0.9

Another problem for Columbia is a lack of workers in the manufacturing sector. Even with a population of almost two hundred and eighty million there are insufficient workers to man all US shipyards, seventeen research facilities, one hundred and fifty construction factories, seventy fighter factories and one hundred and thirty maintenance facilities. One solution to the problem is to relocate the research facilities. Two were temporarily moved to Astoria, which was not ideal as it was an exposed colony through which three other nations moved ships on a regular basis. Eventually, a decision was reached to move the research facilities to Oregon-B II and Midway II. Both planets were ideal habitable worlds and both possessed alien installations that would boost research. The main problem was the size of the facilities compared to the freighter lift capacity. By the end of February 2112 a single research facility will in place on Oregon but the logistics involved have tied up much of the US freighter fleet for a considerable time. It is a good, long-term strategy to move the research facilities deeper into US territory where they would benefit from alien installations and be far more secure from attack. However, it is not a strategy that would resolve the lack of workers on Columbia in the short-term.

Despite the war in which the United States conquered the Eben, relations between the two races have been surprisingly good.  The Eben have benefitted greatly from new technology introduced by the occupiers, with medical advances in particular saving many Eben lives. The period of resentment following the occupation was short and the Eben are now preparing an application to be formally recognised as a number of new states within the Union. Eben productivity is already at eighty percent of the humans on the planet and is expected to match that of the human colony within the next couple of years. Taking into consideration the lack of suitable mining sites close to Columbia, the worker shortage and the excellent relations with the Eben, the Joint Chiefs decided the easiest solution to several problems facing the United States would be to relocate the US shipyards to the Eben homeworld. This would place the shipyards in the same location as available mineral deposits, solve the lack of manufacturing-focused population by using Eben workers, return Columbia to full manufacturing efficiency for its other industries and significantly improve the security of the shipyards by locating them far from any potential attacker, except the Commonwealth. Two shipyards have already left Columbia and are being towed to Eta Cassiopeiae.

In fact, the centre of gravity for the United States is moving away from Columbia and deeper into US territory. The key planets, such as the Eben home world, Oregon and Midway plus recently discovered habitable or near-habitable worlds in Castor, Tau-6 Eridani and Gliese 250 are all far from Earth and Lalande. Ultimately, it makes sense to relocate the US industry and population to these new worlds, closer to mineral supplies and ideal worlds and further from potential threats. Assuming of course that the newly discovered alien race in SFT 1321 does not begin an invasion of those worlds.

Since the beginning of 2110, the United States has constructed a second Kennedy class carrier, Ronald Reagan, forty-two F-40 Starfuries, which completes the strike groups for both John F Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, a Ticonderoga class escort cruiser, three Spruance class destroyers, eleven Liberty-E class freighters, a Roanoke class colony ship, four Roanoke-E class colony ships, four fuel harvesters and the first Walsh class asteroid mining ship. The large number of new ships is one of the main reason for the shortages of Duranium and Gallicite. The civilian sector has forty-eight ships with a total tonnage of almost two million. The volume of construction has placed the United States in second place behind the Commonwealth for commercial and civilian tonnage and in fourth place in terms of naval tonnage. The naval forces of Japan and Russia are seven and six percent respectively larger than the United States, making them virtually equal, and the Joint Chiefs do not believe those two powers would have an effective counter to the US carrier strike groups.

The main US priority is to determine the threat posed by the alien race in SFT 1321 and deal with that threat as quickly as possible. Beyond that, resolving the Duranium shortage is the most important, followed by the movement of shipyards and mines to the Eben homeworld. As freighter lift becomes available, research facilities will be moved to Oregon and Midway and colonies established in Castor and Tau-6 Eridani. If the alien threat can be eliminated, or at least contained, the United States is in a position to build a large and powerful interstellar nation.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

United Nations = 22nd February 2112

Since the last report on solar warming in June 2108, the average surface temperature of the Earth has risen by five point two degrees to 20.8C. Earth temperatures are now almost seven degrees above normal. While still well within the range of human tolerance and even welcomed by some in higher latitudes due to the much more temperate weather, the situation is serious. Deserts are increasing in size and water shortages are becoming more common. At the rate of increase, the temperature will become intolerable within approximately twelve to thirteen years.

The non-TN nations remain very grateful to those powers that are transporting their citizens to new colonies and are urging the construction of additional colony ships.

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

General Note

At this point, the game is getting so large that reporting each nation in turn is becoming more difficult, mainly because i have to keep notes of everything and then create summaries. Therefore I am going to change to the more traditional method of reporting chronologically, rather than by nation. I'll still provide national commentary where appropriate.

This is probably a good place to change as by now, to use Churchill's phrase, we have reached the "End of the Beginning". Most nations have developed their own territory, established multiple colonies and had their national policies driven to some degree by outside events. More alien encounters are likely in the next few years and the warming of Earth will become a much more imminent threat.