Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

The Federation of Mars

9 (37.5%)

The Outer Systems Republic

15 (62.5%)

Total Members Voted: 23

[Sheb]

Do they have enough range? If Jupiter and Ceres aren't on the same side of Sol they won't.

[Hanzoku]

What we could do is send the 1st Carrier Group as escort for the summit, but stop it 300m km from Ceres. Three Spartan-class gunboats can then escort the ambassador to Ceres, operating their engines at the proposed 2,500 km/s to hide their true speed. Unless the summit is likely to take more then a month, the Spartans will be able to linger on station and return to the Horatio Nelson for the return trip, giving their crews a chance to stretch their legs.

Admiral Sheb is correct - none of our gunboats can manage the round trip on their own, from the information provided in the screen capture. If my proposal is unsatisfactory, I then support the use of one of the Marius-class as the escort.

[Azzuro]

Hanzoku, I'm going to assume you meant the Achilles-class gunboat, since there's no Spartan-class. Anyway, Ceres is 1.15 billion km away at the moment, so none of the gunboats can reach it and return, but that's exactly what the carriers were made for. Proposals so far are:

-send a Marius-class DE (Sheb)

-send a trio of Liu Bei-class gunboats (partway on a carrier) (Karlito)

-send a trio of Achilles-class gunboats (also partway on carrier) (Hanzoku)

If this three-way tie continues until tomorrow, then I'll just take Sheb's proposal, since this is a Fleet operation.

[Hanzoku]

Hah, you're quite correct. For some reason, my brain keyed on the word 'spartan' in the description of the class and decided that was the class name.

Also, glad to see you're back Sheb. If you have requests for fleet resources or design requirements, feel free to throw them at me, since my 'role' as such is to serve as the design/construction side of the fleet.

[Lorknis]

I'll trust Sheb's judgement when it comes to the fleet.

[TalonisWolf]

I'll trust Sheb's judgement when it comes to the fleet.

[Sheb]

Hah, you're quite correct. For some reason, my brain keyed on the word 'spartan' in the description of the class and decided that was the class name.

Also, glad to see you're back Sheb. If you have requests for fleet resources or design requirements, feel free to throw them at me, since my 'role' as such is to serve as the design/construction side of the fleet.

Good, I'm still catching up and getting a feel for our possible adversaries, so I'm deferring to your judgement in such matters for now.

[Hanzoku]

As you say, it's all theoretical right now. Until we manage to steal acquire more information on the federation ship classes and things like speed, tonnage, armor levels and armament, we can only guess at what will work best.

I'm sort of looking forward to when we encounter NPRs and their dirty, evil, missile using ways and suddenly have to scramble to provide point defense.

[Azzuro]

Callisto Fleet Base, Callisto - 11th May 2100

Commodore Sheb selects the destroyer escort RVS William Herschel to be the Republic's guard at the Ceres Summit. Commander Bailey Finch takes her into Ganymede orbit as preparation are made for her transit to Ceres.

Abroad RVS Andes, Asteroid Belt - 13th May 2100, 18:05 UTC

TNE deposits are found in the asteroids Hygiea and Kalypso, located in the western portion of the main asteroid belt. The Andes has surveyed seven-eighths of the main belt so far, and is estimated to complete its survey within a month.

Code: (Hygiea) [Select]

Duranium 11 889 (0.9) Gallicite 23 111 (1)

Code: (Kalypso) [Select]

Boronide 4 311 (1) Vendarite 5 627 (1) Uridium 17 191 (0.8)
Ny Enhet, Ganymede - 14th May 2100

The RVS William Herschel breaks from Ganymede orbit in a solemn ceremony, after the last shuttle of diplomatic functionaries boards. She carries several Republic Congressional Representatives abroad, along with the influential Governors' Council. At 2500 kps, the voyage to Ceres will take five days and ten hours.

Aubernia, Mars - 16th May 2100



In what is widely viewed as an answer to the recent launch of the Republic's first civilian-owned freighters, Coates Container Group announces the launch of its own large freighter, signalling an expansion in the Federation's civilian sector. The ship is designated Alligator 001 by monitoring staff on Callisto.

Abroad RVS Andes, Asteroid Belt - 18th May 2100, 09:05 UTC

Major TNE deposits are found on the comet Van Biesbroeck, currently inbound toward the sun.

Code: (Van Biesbroeck) [Select]

Corbomite 26 399 (1) Tritanium 17 189 (0.9) Uridium 39 439 (0.7)
The freighter Amirani 001 also reaches Ceres and begins offloading a small compound onto the surface to host the summit.

Ceres - 19th May 2100, 23:15 UTC



RVS William Herschel arrives just as Amirani 001 departs Ceres. There are no Federation ships in evidence yet.

Nearly three hours later, the signals officer looks up in surprise. "Sir, we're receiving a Federation hail. Origin is unknown, but it appears to be generally along bearing 347, in the direction of Mars."

Commander Finch raises an eyebrow. "The message?"

"Greetings Republic vessel, this is Captain Kamala Sensharma of the destroyer FNS Hatsuyuki, accompanied by the frigate FNS Domovoy 002. We will be switching on our active sensors for a thirty-second sensor sweep to confirm the area is clear, two minutes after you reply to this hail."

The sensor officer coughs. "Sir, I'm afraid we can't detect those two ships on passives. William Herschel is not equipped with any passive sensor suites besides our navigational aids."

"I ... see. Never mind, just focus on getting what you can from our active scan. Sig, open ansible channel, broadcast along the same bearing."

"Captain Sensharma, this is Commander Finch of the destroyer RVS William Herschel. We are the only Republic Navy ship in the area, apart from one of our freighters departing to Jupiter at 26 million klicks' distance. We will be scanning likewise in two minutes from now." Privately, he considers the implications of not having passive sensors, chiefly that he cannot verify the Federation ships' location without giving away his own. Of course, given that all ships will be in orbit over Ceres for the duration, this is something of a moot point unless the Federation chooses to betray their trust.

Ceres - 20th May 2100, 03:20 UTC



"Contact! Two Fed ships at bearing 347 distance 3 megaklicks, 3250 and 1600 tons. Maximum speed is ... 3000 kps. Sir, Fleet Intelligence on the anse, they're provisionally designating these the Kingfisher and Rattlesnake-class for the destroyer and frigate respectively."

The rest of the bridge staff can't help looking over to the sensor officer's console as he furiously works, adjusting the ship's gravity-pulse radar in miniscule increments to gather as many different reflections as possible. Thirty seconds flash by, and Commander Finch reluctantly orders the active sensor switched off. The sight of the two Federation contacts fading from active red into an outdated grey at their last known location on the tactical display disquiets him.



Within twelve minutes, both FNS Hatsuyuki  and FNS Domovoy 002 settle into a low orbit over Ceres and into the range of William Herschel's navigational sensors. Their thermal signatures are promptly forwarded to Callisto as Federation State Security teams shuttle down to the diplomatic compound.

After FSS agents are satisfied that the compound is clean of bugs or traps, Federation leaders begin to disembark as well. Within the relatively-luxurious main hall, maintained in 0.3g gravity at great expense, the upper echelons of Republic government line the long table on their half of the room, watching their Federation counterparts take their places at the opposing table. The Ceres Summit is officially underway.

((If anyone will like to start the ball rolling on the topics to be discussed - asteroid claims, mineral and transit rights - now's the time. Otherwise the Federation will present their own proposed agreements for discussion and negotiation.))

[Hanzoku]

((*begins planning a block 2 of the DE with passive sensors*))

[TalonisWolf]

Well, what resource claims are we most interested in? What are our priorities?

From what I've heard, we're more interested in all resources on our side of the asteroid belt. How much are we willing to give the Federation to make this happen?

 Do we give up the right to make any future claim on the asteroid belt, try to make the asteroid belt a neutral zone, or give up ALL claim on the the asteroid belt including our current ones?

[Hanzoku]

((Going to put out of character thoughts in brackets))

Let's first get together what our proposals are and what we can agree on. I'll try to seperate them by topic a bit. ((I hope that this is all taken as having been hashed out on the flight over, or aren't we going to look unprepared...))

Civilians

1. An agreement to allow civilian mining complexes on any non-colonized system body. ((The AI is going to stick them up wherever, I'd rather it didn't cause a war doing so.))
2. An agreement to allow free trade between Federation and Republic colonies - this will generate income for both parties, as well as help maintain relations.

Survey

3. Allow free geological surveys of all system bodies except those with populations present ((I think this will also allow us to confirm that the Federation is using automines on Earth to extract its TN minerals - basically, they don't need to dispute the asteroid claims.))

Military Forces

4. Establish the Asteroid Belt as a neutral zone - no military ships should operate within or beyond the asteroid belt without the agreement of both governments. ((Let's prevent a repeat of the last crisis.))

Diplomacy

5. Each government will establish a diplomatic team to supplement the embassy staff. ((Basically, make use of characters with Diplomacy traits))

Mining Rights

6. I'm for free development of mineral resources in the inner and outer belts. The inner belt is more accessible and has shorter delivery times then outer belt claims. We also have no idea if the outer belt is even resource rich, so giving the Federation full rights to the inner belt is gambling that we receive any sort of return in the outer belt. Furthermore, as soon as the Federation has fully developed the inner belt, they'll break the treaty and start developing the outer belt, particularly if it is more resource rich.

7. I am fully against giving up current claims in the inner asteroid belt, with the exception of Klotho. We may be prepared to sell them the Klotho claim for the value of 10,000 tons of Duranium and 24 tons of Uridium.

Internal Proposals (not for the Federation)

8. Establish DSTS on each claim in the asteroid belt to provide early warning and some idea of Federation movement.
9. Establish geosurvey team(s) to investigate the mineral deposits, first in the colonies and then in the asteroid claims. They may find deposits that the orbital sensors missed.

[Sheb]

I generally approve of your proposal. The DSTS requirement might be onerous though, why not select 4-6 posts around the belt and build them as listening post with several DSTS each instead?

Also, regarding the DE's sensors, while it is a bit annoying that we did not have passive sensors here, current doctrine is that they should only serve as escort to carriers that do have full sensor suite, not operate on their own. The Navy as such doesn't feel the need for passives on its DEs.

[Hanzoku]

Oh, as an additional point under the Mining Rights heading, assuming we don't sell the claim to the Federation, I think we should demand formal recognition of our ownership of Klotho.

[Azzuro]

For reference:
List of asteroidal TNE deposits known, in approximately clockwise order,

Main Belt

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: (Chloris) [Select]

Neutronium 5 776 (1) Boronide 8 836 (1) Sorium 3 136 (1)

Code: (Philomela) [Select]

Duranium 16 543 (0.9)  Vendarite 26 000 (1)  Uridium 13 911 (0.9)

Code: (Concordia) [Select]

Boronide 23 154 (1)  Sorium 11 400 (1)

Code: (52 Europa (REPUBLIC)) [Select]

Duranium 11 811 (1)  Tritanium 12 129 (0.9)  Vendarite 7 574 (0.9)  Corundium 9 846 (1)

Code: (Prokne) [Select]

Mercassium 6 724 (1)  Sorium 6 084 (1)

Code: (Johanna) [Select]

Duranium 17 200 (1)  Neutronium 12 458 (0.8)  Tritanium 19 732 (1)

Code: (Psyche (REPUBLIC)) [Select]

Neutronium 9 000 (0.9)  Tritanium 15 845 (1)  Corundium 4 887 (0.9)  Gallicite 13 493 (1)

Code: (Hekate) [Select]

Corbomite 11 210 (1)  Uridium 16 978 (1)

Code: (Ariadne (FEDERATION)) [Select]

Neutronium 8 821 (0.9)  Tritanium 15 611 (1)  Corundium 12 457 (1)

Code: (Artemis) [Select]

Neutronium 2 809 (1)  Vendarite 900 (1)

Code: (Melpomene) [Select]

Boronide 36 (1)  Vendarite 1 296 (1)

Code: (Astraea (FEDERATION)) [Select]

Duranium 9 514 (1) Corbomite 13 839 (1) Boronide 10 274 (1) Corundium 12 080 (1)

Code: (Aurelia (FEDERATION)) [Select]

Duranium 15 300 (0.9) Sorium 9 730 (1) Gallicite 11 525 (0.9)

Code: (Klotho (FEDERATION)) [Select]

Duranium 20 000 (1) Uridium 49 (1)

Code: (Euphrosyne) [Select]

Duranium 4 471 (1)  Tritanium 1 474 (1)  Mercassium 8 493 (1)  Vendarite 15 415 (0.9)

Code: (Chicago) [Select]

Duranium 19 700 (1)  Corbomite 5 171 (1)  Vendarite 3 482 (0.9)  Uridium 4 914 (1)

Code: (Diana) [Select]

Tritanium 6 084 (1)

Code: (Sappho) [Select]

Corundium 23 800 (1)

Code: (Hebe) [Select]

Duranium 3 042 (1) Neutronium 81 (1) Corbomite 5 184 (1) Boronide 2 500 (1) Mercassium 1 681 (1) Uridium 4 (1)

Code: (Pallas) [Select]

Neutronium 12 300 (0.9) Tritanium 4 233 (1) Sorium 16 100 (1) Corundium 9 891 (1) Gallicite 12 844 (0.9)

Code: (Alkmene) [Select]

Corbomite 10 392 (0.9) Mercassium 13 766 (0.9) Sorium 5 438 (0.9) Corundium 19 151 (1)

Code: (Hygiea) [Select]

Duranium 11 889 (0.9) Gallicite 23 111 (1)

Code: (Kalypso) [Select]

Boronide 4 311 (1) Vendarite 5 627 (1) Uridium 17 191 (0.8)

Inner System

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: (Eros) [Select]

Duranium 13 100 (1) Mercassium 12 700 (0.9) Corundium 8 900 (1)

Comets

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: (Comet Wolf) [Select]

Mercassium 13 985 (0.5)  Uridium 20 454 (0.7)

Code: (Tempel-Tuttle (REPUBLIC CMC)) [Select]

Duranium 28 612 (0.9)  Mercassium 6 711 (0.8)  Sorium 1 834 (0.5)

Code: (Schaumasse) [Select]

Mercassium 20 868 (0.8)

Code: (Wolf-Harrington (REPUBLIC)) [Select]

Duranium 19 226 (1)  Neutronium 62 830 (0.5)  Mercassium 9 134 (0.5)

Code: (Machholz (REPUBLIC)) [Select]

Tritanium 124 654 (0.8)  Boronide 49 212 (0.5)  Vendarite 34 200 (0.8)

Code: (Borrelly) [Select]

Sorium 21 245 (0.6) Uridium 55 590 (0.8)

Code: (Comas Sola) [Select]

Boronide 23 049 (0.9) Gallicite 19 242 (0.5)

Code: (Van Biesbroeck) [Select]

Corbomite 26 399 (1) Tritanium 17 189 (0.9) Uridium 39 439 (0.7)

Code: (Tempel 1) [Select]

Duranium 80 902 (1) Mercassium 19 477 (0.8) Sorium 28 084 (0.8)

Code: (Reinmuth) [Select]

Neutronium 8 924 (0.5) Tritanium 16 658 (0.9) Uridium 14 156 (1)

Code: (Wild) [Select]

Boronide 4 904 (0.9)

Code: (Chernykh) [Select]

Duranium 38 590 (0.7)

Code: (Neujmin) [Select]

Neutronium 36 474 (0.8) Corbomite 22 767 (0.5) Corundium 157 288 (0.8)

Jupiter Trojans

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: (Troilus) [Select]

Corundium 2 511 (1)

Code: (Eurybates) [Select]

Duranium 5 832 (1)

Jupiter and Saturnian systems

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Code: (Jupiter) [Select]

Sorium 286 000 (0.8)

Code: (Saturn) [Select]

Sorium 301 350 (0.4)

Code: (Dione) [Select]

Vendarite 124 913 (1)  Corundium 13 879 (1)

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Northern Main Belt. Jupiter's orbital period is 11.9 years, so in about 6 years it'll be on the other side of the belt. Mars' orbital period is 1.88 years, so it's moving around relatively fast.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Southern Main Belt

Don't worry, the internal discussion is understood to be taking place before the summit itself. I'm forbidding the use of geosurvey teams, because doing that for two empires is too micromanagey for me. I'm also not using the ingame diplomacy ratings, because I think it's too inflexible for the LP.

With regard to Earth, the Federation has already stated that there is no mineral wealth there.