Captain’s Log, Rear Admiral Luther Aurelius, DDG
Wyvern1354 hours, 13 July 2054 CE
EV Lacertae Jump Point, Ross 248 system
Roughly two weeks ago, Survey Command lost communications with
Jenner 006, one of our geological survey vessels, which had just begun operations in the newly opened EV Lacertae system. This is the first such occurrence in the past 23 years of extrasolar exploration. Two jumps out from Sol, it was impossible for rescue ships to arrive before the life support systems of the
006’s life pods would have failed. Furthermore, the last few seconds of contact consisted of unknown contacts approaching at high velocity. This warranted the full deployment of Terra’s space-borne military, which, sadly, is not significant.
Our order of battle consists of my flagship, the missile destroyer
Wyvern, the first and only of her class, escorted by a pair of Serenity-class missile frigates and a Corsair-class jump tender. These four ships were constructed shortly after the discovery of the wormhole which permit instantaneous interstellar travel, but further military spending was curtailed by two decades of expansion and exploration without contact with alien life.
It appears that that time may have come to an end. We jump into the unknown in a matter of minutes. I will not fail my duty to humanity. Aurelius out.
1st Strike Group OOB
1x DDG Wyvern, THS
Wyvern2x FFG Serenity, THS
Serenity and
Tranquility1x TJ Corsair, THS
Corsair1st Strike Group executes a squadron transit into EV Lacertae, arriving at the only known jump point in the system, at 147 degrees from the primary on the system plane, 2.84 billion kilometers out. All four ships pick up a mass of approximately 1500 tons in the last known location of the
Jenner 006, as well as her black box beacon at the same location.
The data feed from the black box reveals the last few seconds of the ship’s life. According to records, the survey vessel picked up three unidentified contacts on its short-ranged navigational sensors, and was destroyed a few seconds later by some sort of directed energy weapon. The contacts moved at an estimated 3,621 km/s, faster than the
Wyvern and
Corsair but slower than the two frigates.
None of the vessels have any weapons other than their missiles, and the
Corsair has only CIWS, with no offensive armament whatsoever. Due to the speed differential, Rear Admiral Aurelius elects to deploy the
Serenity and
Tranquility as an independent striking force, retaining the
Wyvern to defend the
Corsair and hold the point against potential hostile forces.
There are no habitable planets in the system, so the frigates set course for a point in empty space, roughly midway between the JP, the wreck of the Jenner, and the system primary, hoping to draw out whatever destroyed the Jenner.
0655 hours, 17 July 2054
The frigates make contact with four vessels before reaching their destination. Surprisingly, none of them match the signatures captured by the
Jenner 006’s sensors. Their thermal output is much lower, and they are traveling at roughly 8000 km/s, twice that of the maximum speed of the Serenity-class frigates. The ships reverse course and lock on to a pair of the 1,000 ton vessels with their fire control suites. They fire, sending a total of 24 Broadsword-3 I anti-ship missiles screaming soundlessly into the void at 20,000 km/s.
The launch tubes begin to cycle, but will not finish reloading for another 90 seconds. However, the ships were designed with just such a scenario in mind. The gunnery crews quickly release the tubes from their control, binding the external ordinance rails to their targeting computers in their stead. Although the X/O rails can only carry a single missile and need a planetary maintenance facility to reload, they allow the 7,500 ton frigates to either double their weight of fire or target twice as many enemies in their first strike.
The four smaller contacts evidently detect the launch, as they break off from their approach. The frigates come about to pursue them, hoping to keep them within sensor range. Moments later, a second volley is launched. Almost simultaneously, short-range sensors detect a total of 36 enemy missiles inbound. The captains of the
Serenity and
Tranquility, knowing that they cannot outrun the enemy missiles, elect to hold course.
12 of the enemy missiles miss, whipping past far too rapidly to come about. 24 do not, rocking the
Serenity with nuclear fire. Her armor is melted away, leaving her a drifting wreck. One of the final warheads triggers a secondary explosion in her drive core, obliterating what was left of the crippled frigate. Of her crew of 154, 32 make it to the life pods.
Tranquility, untouched by the enemy attack, holds course.
A few seconds later, the enemy ships again reorient, heading in-system. Perhaps they only carried a single load of missiles? The
Tranquility continues her pursuit, the Terran missiles roughly 93 seconds from impact.
Serenity’s missiles, left undirected by the glowing dust that was once her gunnery station, continue wildly off-course. In rapid succession two salvoes hammer home, ripping apart a pair of xenos ships.
Tranquility launches again at the survivors, scoring two more kills several minutes later. Evidently these alien ships have almost no armor; any missile that hits is sure to deal devastating damage.
As Serenity-class frigates carry 200 emergency-use cryotubes,
Tranquility sets course for the wreck of the Serenity, and from there to the Ross 248 JP to rejoin the
Wyvern. Given that four lightly armed, unarmored xenos ships just eliminated nearly twice their own tonnage, and that at least three larger vessels are still loose in the system, Rear Admiral Aurelius elects to proceed with caution. Once
Tranquility rejoins the fleet,
Corsair returns to Ross 248 to await the results of any future action.
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