Ny Enhet, Ganymede - 27th January 2100The Republic does not offer either acknowledgement or rebuttal of the Federation's claim to Astraea. Behind the scenes, government officials hastily draw up plans to match them with a colony on the mineral-rich asteroid 52 Europa. Freighters are dispatched to transfer automated mines from Io to 52 Europa.
Abroad RVS Andes, Saturn - 29th January 2100, 22:10 UTCThe
Andes arrives at the Saturn system and begins surveying the gas giant itself. Elsewhere on Callisto, the same convoy of five Federation freighters is detected heading for Luna again.
Ny Enhet, Ganymede - 30th January 2100The Outer Systems Republic announces its claim to the asteroid 52 Europa and surrounding space out to a distance of 10 million km. A relatively unknown civilian administrator, Josh Hart, is chosen to be Governor of the asteroid, despite having little experience in the area of mining. Across the Jovian moons, Republic citizens celebrate what they see as the government's first concrete step to exploiting the resources of the asteroid belt and demonstrating the Republic's promise of a better future ahead.
At the Federation embassy, Ambassador Patel issues a statement that the Federation will respect the territorial boundaries set for as long as the Republic does likewise. Meanwhile, the Republic embassy in Aubernia reports that several within the Federation government, and a considerable portion of its citizenry, see the Republic as just imitating the Federation's endeavors.
On the 'actual Europa' (as residents now put it), scientist Pothuval completes his contract to design the Price Systems 100mm railgun used on the R-1 fighter, and is reassigned to a government-backed research to make larger 250mm railguns a reality. Even with three-quarters of the Republic's research capability backing him, he estimates just over a year for the project to be completed.
Callisto Deep Space Monitor Array, Callisto - 3rd February 2100, 23:00The Federation convoy once again disappears out of range of the sensors on Callisto, on a course toward the now-known Federation colony of Astraea. Even with the presumed freighters outputting large thermal drive signatures, the Jovian system is too far to monitor Federation shipping in that area of the main belt, and due to system geometry, will remain so for several years until Jupiter completes approximately half of its orbit around Sol.
An enterprising group of naval officers suggest the stationing of a deep space tracking station on 52 Europa to monitor Federation movements in the inner system, but none are currently available without compromising the stations on Callisto and Titan
Blue arc is Callisto sensor range for signature strength 1600, Astraea is at bottom right (middle of the belt). Jupiter is currently orbiting anti-clockwise, or you can imagine it as the belt orbiting clockwise instead. Callisto sensor range covers about half the belt at this strength, so Astraea has just passed out of that half. Titan sensor range (not shown) covers only a tiny part of the belt, from asteroid Hermione to Elfriede at upper right.Abroad RVS Andes, Saturn - 9th February 2100, 08:00 UTCThe
Andes discovers the presence of Sorium within Saturn's atmosphere as well, albeit at half the accessibility as the clouds on Jupiter. However, the Republic does not possess the technology to harvest gaseous Sorium yet.
Sorium 301 350 (0.4)
52 Europa - 13th February 2100The freighters unload a mass driver to 52 Europa, and the asteroid colony immediately starts to send back mineral packets to Ganymede, contributing to the Republic's economy.
Additionally, the
Andes discovers a significant deposit of Vendarite on Saturn's moon Dione, exceeding one hundred thousand tons and at maximum accessibility. The rest of Saturn's moons are barren, with the exception of Titan.
Vendarite 124 913 (1) Corundium 13 879 (1)
Epigeus City, Ganymede - 20th February 2100On Europa, scientist Bétancourt completes his research on both the reactor and engine needed for the Falcon. Production of the fighters begins immediately at Ganymede Aerospace's factories, and CEO
Hanzoku announces that the first fighter will be ready to fly in a month. Bétancourt turns his intellect to a top-secret project to explore possible ramifications of trans-newtonian theory that may prove the existance of 'jump points' between star systems, which could theoretically allow interstellar travel.
R-1 'Falcon' class Fighter 490 tons 4 Crew 73.5 BP TCS 9.79 TH 48 EM 0
4902 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 6.87 Years MSP 23 AFR 7% IFR 0.1% 1YR 1 5YR 13 Max Repair 24 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 0
Chapman Thrust 200 Ton NPE-48 High Performance Fighter Engine (1) Power 48 Fuel Use 185.18% Signature 48 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 5 000 Litres Range 1.0 billion km (56 hours at full power)
Price Systems 100mm 'Kineti-kill' Railgun (1x4) Range 30 000km TS: 4902 km/s Power 3-3 RM 3 ROF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fuller-Hunter OSR/APG-04 Mark LX-48K Targeting System (1) Max Range: 96 000 km TS: 6000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Chapman Thrust 45 Ton PBR-3.1 Power System (1) Total Power Output 3.1 Armour 0 Exp 12%
Fuller-Hunter OSR/APS-01 Active Search Lidar (1) GPS 15 Range 520k km Resolution 9
Fuller-Hunter OSR/AQR-03 Thermal Bloom Sensor (1) Sensitivity 1 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 1m km
Fuller-Hunter OSR/ADR-02 Electromagnetic Sensor (1) Sensitivity 1.1 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 1.1m km
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
Near the orbit of Saturn, the
Andes discovers TNE deposits on the comet Tempel-Tuttle, outbound from the sun.
Duranium 28 612 (0.9) Mercassium 6 711 (0.8) Sorium 1 834 (0.5)
Finally, on Auburnia, the Republic embassy reports that a Federation civilian conglomerate, Coates Container Group, has just launched a colony ship, which is the first civilian-owned interplanetary voidship in the Federation. The ship has activated its transponders, rendering it visible to sensors through the system.
Decided to end it here as there were a bunch of events. Any new orders for the Andes? Currently it's surveying random bodies around Jupiter-Saturn orbit, but I could send it back to continue surveying the asteroid belt.