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[Zebulon]

Thanks for that big rundown a few posts back, especially the armor bit - I was under the impression that once all the armor was gone from a section, the hull was breached, but it looks like that spot has to take damage, too. It had also never occurred to me how much data you can get just from a thermal contact - although my original point, having no idea what the big boats are (beyond 'maybe not missile armed'), seems to still be relevant.

I'm also used to TN starts where it takes a while to scoot up to the next drive level instead of that rather quick transition between Ion and Mag-Plas, heh. I figured matching the enemy FAC's speed would be more than a six month proposition.

For the record, I prefer the smaller updates, as long as something interesting / input-worthy has happened. I like making suggestions/rambling, even if I am probably still blundering around a bit. Makes for a good learning experience. 

I'm all for the current suggested plan - now that the FACs have eyes, send them forth (well, when we've got enough built/refitted), along with something to play tanker if it's necessary. The carriers look good, too, though I agree with Sheb's sentiment.

[Paul]

It's 20 meson shots for each fire control. Guess I could make it 16 for each fire control, would only need to add 1 fire control and an extra turret to make it even.

I figure 3/4 of the shots are going to miss though since tracking speed is only 16000, giving it the capability to destroy about 5 missiles per FC. Less if the missiles are really fast. Considering the speed of the enemy ships in Alpha Centauri, their missiles are probably fast.

I've gotten the fleet ready with 51 ships, that's probably enough to take on the enemy in Alpha Centauri. We're out of fuel now anyway (except for what I loaded in the ships, heh - Earth is empty and the two freighters were left with 9%). Training the FACs really sucked up fuel. We really need carriers to train them so it doesn't use up so much (carriers train anything landed in them without the need to launch them, so it would only use the fuel aboard the carrier - which is way less than 20 fast attack craft).
___________________________________________________

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 12th October, 2124

The commercial shipyard was just completed, and I've set it to expand. It will be a while before it's ready to build a gate construction ship.

I've ordered the construction of another commercial shipyard for future use. We'll be needing salvage vessels soon.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 4th November, 2124

I've been informed that fuel reserves are dropping due to the training of the fuel guzzling Legionaries. We're down to 2,457,667 liters.  I've ordered the immediate construction of 30 more fuel refineries. It will delay the construction of the new commercial shipyard, but we don't want to run out of fuel. I've also decided to begin purchasing minerals from Asteroid 22, since we're beginning to use more Sorium for fuel production.

Tribune Sheb has ordered 9 of the Legionary II vessels and a Locus to leave task force training picket the jump point to Alpha Centauri. They'll have less task force training, but if anything should come through the jump they'll be in place to tear it apart before its sensors have recovered from the jump. We'll be rotating the Legionaries on a quarterly basis to give everyone a chance at task force training.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 21st June, 2125

We've refitted all Legionary craft with the new engine and sensors, as well as constructed 3 more. Now we have 45 Legionary fast attack craft and 4 Locus fast scout craft.

Fuel reserves are almost depleted from all the training we've been doing, but most of our forces are very well trained and should be able to work well together. We're still building more Legionaries, and the new ones will be less trained - but still effective I'm sure.

There has been debate on whether or not we should hit them now, but with our Hypatia ships out surveying - the only ships capable of escorting them through the jump - we can't do anything until they return anyway other than picket the jump and wait.

I've ordered construction of more terraforming facilities for Mars. Once Mars is terraformed, we can move them to the worlds in Alpha Centauri.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 29th September, 2125

Exploration team 1 has just returned to Sol, and Akigagak submitted a report on the system.

Spoiler: Survey of Ross 128 (click to show/hide)

Minerals:
Rocky Planets: 2   Surveyed: 2
Gas Giants: 4   Surveyed: 4
Moons: 32   Surveyed: 32
Asteroids: 305   Surveyed: 305

Ross 128-A II
Boronide 5,382,400  Acc: 0.1
Mercassium 61,308,900  Acc: 0.1
Uridium 1,345,600  Acc: 0.1
Corundium 2,544,025  Acc: 0.1

Ross 128-A Asteroid #188
Duranium 2,204  Acc: 1
Vendarite 13  Acc: 1

Ross 128-A Asteroid #236
Corbomite 1,640  Acc: 1
Corundium 121  Acc: 1

Ross 128-A Asteroid #255
Vendarite 26,244  Acc: 0.9
Corundium 2,190  Acc: 0.9

Ross 128-A VI - Moon 6
Neutronium 342,225  Acc: 0.5

Ross 128-A Comet #1
Neutronium 48  Acc: 1
Tritanium 9,661  Acc: 0.8
Boronide 616  Acc: 0.7
Vendarite 3,287  Acc: 0.8
Sorium 7,732  Acc: 0.7
Gallicite 14,183  Acc: 0.8

Jump Points:
JP1: Distance 1.45b, Bearing 78, Destination Sol
JP2: Distance 1.9b, Bearing 83. (only 474m from JP1)
JP3: Distance 2.35b, Bearing 171. Nearly 3b km from 1 and 2.

A few scattered minerals, but nothing spectacular. The 2nd planet could be terraformed reasonably quickly and has some large mineral deposits, but the accessibility is terrible.

I believe the time to strike is now. We have 51 Legionary FACs and four Locus FSCs. I've ordered the fleet to refuel and all assemble at Earth to plan out the strike. Our cargo vessels will follow them and refuel them before they make the jump through. Exploration team 1 will remain at the jump and can jump back and forth to relay information as needed.

I'm assigning the Legionaries into three strike teams of 17 ships, with 3 senior officers in charge of each team. I've chosen officers specifically for their quick thinking and reflexes (280+ fleet movement initiative, all top officers 300+). Primus AussieGuy will command the first team, and will be the senior officer in charge of the strike force.

Spoiler: Strike Force (click to show/hide)

Strike team 1:
Legionaries 1 through 17
Primus AussieGuy will be aboard Legionary 1
Decturion Tiberius Sidonius Septimianus will be aboard Legionary 9
Centurion Tiberius Quirinius Martialis will be aboard Legionary 17

Strike team 2:
Legionaries 18 through 34
Centurion Oppius Favonius Tarquinius will be aboard Legionary 18
Decturion Flavius Ulpianus Supicius will be aboard Legionary 20
Centurion Servius Rutilius Scaevola is aboard Legionary 21

Strike team 3:
Legionaries 35 through 51
Centurion Aulus Flavonius Agaptus will be aboard Legionary 35
Decturion Numerius Fenius Tiburtius will be aboard Legionary 36
Decturion Numerius Carius Zeno will be aboard Legionary 37

Scout Team
Locus 1 through 4
Decturion Vibius Placidius Caelus will be aboard Locus 1.

Plans are to move within 50m km of the planet, then activate sensors and see whats there. If all there is are the ships we've seen before, the strike teams will move together to intercept the FACs, which are expected to fall quickly under the barrage of meson weapons. They will then split off into three teams and move after each of the larger vessels, hopefully disabling and destroying all three. We expect to suffer casualties, but with the speed of our ships and our skilled commanders I believe we can crush the enemy.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 7th October, 2125

The strike force is in position and ready to move on Alpha Centauri as soon as I give the order. I've asked the Senate to approve the attack, since it's leaving Earth undefended with all our forces moving against the enemy in Alpha Centauri - but with the Hypatia 1 ready to relay information back and forth they can be recalled quickly should the need arise, and their speed is fast enough to outrun the enemy should they prove too powerful. No other enemy forces have yet been detected anyway.

_____________________________________________

So, should the attack begin?

I'm also used to TN starts where it takes a while to scoot up to the next drive level instead of that rather quick transition between Ion and Mag-Plas, heh. I figured matching the enemy FAC's speed would be more than a six month proposition.

It's mostly because we have a crazy good researcher. The PP guy has a 60% bonus now and a max of 60 labs. Don't think I've ever had a propulsion guy so good. With all 50 of our labs he can research 47600 a year. With a 15% bonus that would only be 22400 a year, so the extra bonus makes a huge difference.

I'm curious what the NPR will have built up to after so many years. I hope they haven't just stagnated and done nothing, that would be anticlimactic.

[Sheb]

As Tribune of the legions, I order an immediate attack. I shall take command of one of the Locus and lead the first group to Jump.

[Iituem]

Let's crush the Centaurs/Armenians beneath our sandalled ion drives!

[Paul]

As Tribune of the legions, I order an immediate attack. I shall take command of one of the Locus and lead the first group to Jump.

Would it really be a good idea for the fleet commander to take command of a lowly scout craft that is very likely to get blown up if the enemy has missiles? This isn't Star Trek, and we have no red shirts to follow the commander and die first - in fact the scout craft will probably die first. Commanding one would be kinda suicidal, plus you'd be leaving fleet command without a commander while you're off commanding the scout.

The fleet commander is needed to oversee things on Earth. If we had a flagship sending in the fleet command to oversee things would make sense, but with no flagship it's probably best for our commanders to stay on Earth. If we lost the battle losing our fleet commander AND our entire attack force would devastating. Replacing such a skilled commander may take years, especially since the next best commander is already in charge of the strike force and might get killed too. This isn't a major invasion anyway, it's a small strike force of fast attack craft. A Primus is plenty enough to have along as the commander of such a force.

[Sheb]

It is the first battle we have to fight since we became a Space power. As such, it is the most important space battle ever fought by our troops. And you want me to stay behind? What will me ennemy in the Senate say? No, I shall lead this fight.

[Iituem]

We will say that you are a coward and a blackguard!

Of course, we will primarily say this because we are trying to get you killed and thus out of the way of Senate politics, but still...

[Sheb]

Plus, how can I ever hope to say "Alea Jacta Est" before crossing a JP to sol with my armies if I don't lead armies?

[Paul]

Meant to have this up a bit sooner, halfway through posting I had to leave and go some things.

Anyway, in regards to the game, I had a feeling something like this would happen
_________________________________________________
Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 7th October, 2125

Tribune Sheb, our fleet commander, overrode my decision to put AussieGuy in charge. He's taking command of the situation from the Locus 1, replacing Decturion Vibius.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 10th October, 2125

6:35 AM
The Hypatia has just relayed to us that the strike force has approached to 50m km and activated their sensors. They've detected the following ships:
Moulit 002,   12,500 tons, 8000 km/s speed.
Moulit 003,   12,500 tons, 8000 km/s speed.
Dabur 002,    12,500 tons, 8000 km/s speed.
Tarshish 002, 11,900 tons, immobile and orbiting the world
Tekumah 002,  12,450 tons, immobile and orbiting the world

The last two are expected to be defense bases. From previous experience we also know there are four fast attack craft, likely 1000 tons. They won't be detected until they are much closer.

Sensors don't yet detect any signs of a colony on the planet.

The enemy is on approach, and Tribune Sheb has decided to hold position and let the enemy come to them to avoid having to fight the defense bases at the same time as the rest of the ships.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

7:41 AM
I've just received another update relayed from the Hypatia. Sad news, our fleet commander is dead.

Our strike force was intercepted by the enemy FACs, which proved to be 1000 tons. At 1m km we were hit by enemy missiles, they fired two volleys per ship. Two ships were destroyed, the Locus 1 and the Locus 3. Sadly Tribune Sheb did not survive the destruction of the Locus 1 - there were only 8 survivors to make it to escape pods.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Primus AussieGuy has taken over command of the strike force. Under his command they chased down the FACs, disabling three and destroying one. The team then split into the three pre-planned strike groups and began closing on the larger ships. The three disabled FACs were left to be boarded and captured later.

7:56 AM

I've just received another report from Alpha Centauri.

At 235,700 km the Legionary 2 was hit by a 9 damage from a weapon fired from Moulit 3 - all other enemy shots missed at that range. The armor absorbed 8 of it, and the remaining 1 hit and failed to destroy the engine. Intelligence shows the Moulit ships to have 9 particle beams, and the Dabur to have 6.

25 seconds later the enemy ships had taken some damage, but the fire from the Moulit ships destroyed two legionaries - 11 and 12. The beam weapons hit their engines and caused them to explode. The Dabur did not fire, presumably the fire control system has already been destroyed by Meson hits.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

10 seconds later the Dabur was destroyed and the 1st group switched to the Moulit 003.
15 seconds later both of the Moulit class ships were also destroyed.

The strike groups have now combined and the remaining Locus ships rescued the 77 survivors from the life pods. Total casualties from the lost ships were 71 crewmen and Tribune Sheb.

Primus AussieGuy asks if he should make a run on the stationary targets, which I expect are some kind of defense bases. If they are defense bases they will likely be heavily armed, possibly with missiles or anti-missiles (which would prove equally as deadly against small craft). They could be a very dangerous target for our FACs.

It may be best to wait until we've developed missiles, at which point we could simply sit back at range and fire at the immobile targets from a safe distance. Alternatively I could order a single FAC to get closer and test their capabilities, but I'd hate to lose another ship and more men just to see if the enemy has missiles. I've asked the Senate for their advice.

__________________________________

So, rush on the potentially suicidal mission of base killing, or play it safe and wait for ships more suited for dealing with defense bases?

[Sheb]

Damn, I knew this was going to happen. Can you name a young, aspiring officer Shet? He's Sheb's son.

I also ask, to honour our Tribune, that a single Legionnary be sent toward the bases. He may escape their sensors.

[Iituem]

Depends how long missiles would take.  If it would probably take longer than the Centauri building a new ship, might be worth the glory rush.

On the other hand, since the Fleet Commander is dead from glory rushing, prudence might be desirable.  Also, can I request a low to mid-level officer?  Ideally one with unfair political bonuses, but normal is good too.  Going to set it as a personal goal to take Sheb's old position.  =B

Edit:  And let's throw in a tribute whilst I'm here.  Name him deSeat von Trubaldsome. 

[Stworca]

Damn, I knew this was going to happen. Can you name a young, aspiring officer Shet? He's Sheb's son.

You mean Shed, don't you?

[Sheb]

Is it a pun? Anyway, make it Shec instead. Next one will be Shed, then Shee, make for easy naming.

[Paul]

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 10th October, 2125

8:00 am
Upon advisement from the Senate, I've ordered a single FAC - the Legionary 51 - to approach the stationary targets cautiously to check their capabilities.

8:40 AM

Legionary closed to 24m km and waited for 20 minutes. Nothing happened, so they're closing to 20m km

8:48 AM

Bad news! The Legionary 51 was destroyed by a volley of 58 strength 1 warhead missiles. Most likely anti-missiles. They went to 20m km and waited 3 minutes before suddenly being impacted and destroyed, killing 49. Another Legionary is heading to rescue the 25 survivors and quickly fly back before enemy missiles hit them too.

9:37 AM
The Hypatia 1 just reported again from Alpha Centauri.

The survivors of Legionary 51 were successfully rescued. Seeing as the targets have a large anti-missile capacity with a range of 20-24m km, I've ordered our strike force to stay away from the defense bases. If it can fire that many anti-missiles at that range, all of our ships would likely be destroyed before even making it to the planet. And without anti-missile sensors, they would never even see them coming.

I've ordered them to fly around the area checking for other potential bases on the other worlds. They'll also check near the wreck of the Ptolemy, just in case an enemy vessel may be trying to salvage it.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 11th October, 2125

7:07 AM
Another report from AussieGuy with the task force delivered via Akigagak on the Hypatia 1.

They didn't find anything on the other planets in the area, but they did find another 12500 ton ship capable of 8000 km/s near the wreck of the Ptolemy. This one has been classed the Ashdod, and is fleeing from our strike force. They're currently in pursuit.

Spoiler: Pursuit (click to show/hide)

10:09 AM
News from Alpha Centauri.

They destroyed the Ashdod class ship. It never fired any weapons against them, so presumably was a noncombat ship. They're continuing to the Primary star to check the planet and asteroids there for alien presence.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 14th October, 2125

Flying around the asteroid field surrounding the primary star, they found two alien bases by detecting their strength 20 ground force contacts (aka 4 battalions). They also have thermal 5 contacts, suggesting a few structures. Possibly listening posts or automines. They are on asteroids 1 and 41.

Legionary 20 was disabled by mines surrounding Asteroid 1. 57 of her crew were killed. The engine was destroyed, as well as most of the ship. The only things that weren't destroyed were the meson cannon, 1 crew quarters, the sensor, and 2 fuel storages.

Decturion Flavius Ulpianus Sulpicius was transfered to Legionary 19, and Legionary 20 will have to be left until we can get a carrier or tug to pull her home for repairs. Life support is still operational, and the rest of the ships pooled their resources and left the 17 crewmen with enough supplies to last them years - so they should be alright until then if they don't die of boredom.

Administrator Lucius Amatius Proculus' Personal Log, 15th October, 2125

The Legionary strike force ran out of fuel a mere 30m km from the jump, so the Hypatia 1 had to go and share fuel with them.

They're back at Earth now, but Earth doesn't have fuel for them. They have enough to defend Earth should we come under attack, but we need to produce more before we launch another strike against anyone.

Now we need a new fleet commander. Primus AussieGuy is the most qualified, with 225 crew training experience as well as a few other skills useful for the position (diplo 20, fighter op 10). Primus Spurius Manilius Frugi is another potential candidate with 175 crew training experience and a few other useful skills as well (Survey 15, Logistics 15). None of the other high ranking officers are really qualified for the position.

__________________________________________________


If we really focused on it we could probably get decent missiles soon. Would depend on what kind of missile ship we wanted. Could build a shipyard and rush out a fast attack missile craft with crummy missiles really soon. If we wanted good missiles with enough firepower to really do something we'd need a good bit more research into missile tech, as well as launcher and magazine tech. Whether or not we can actually shoot something with as many anti-missiles as that thing seems to have is a different story, though.

Also, if the enemy had shipyards on the world we would have detected them on active sensors - the few ships we destroyed and the stationary targets are all we've detected in the system.

Building some of the carriers I designed in that other post might work just to absorb any missile fire they might have with the PD and armor. We're starting to get basic shield techs, we could pick that up and make the carriers shielded. With a few of them shooting down missiles as they come and some regenerating shields to help the armor from being destroyed it might be able to fly all the way up, then the FACs could be launched and both the mothership and FACs could shred the targets. We'd need a jump gate to actually get the carriers out though, which would take a while since we don't have a yard big enough to build jump gate construction ships yet. I guess I should have built another commercial yard and had it updating a while ago, will probably be a few years before the one we have is up to 80k.

Don't see any good young officers right now. I'll keep an eye out for exceptional recruits and name one Shec. Right now most of our newer officers suck really bad. None of the ones recruited in the last 3 years stand out, none of them even have any crew training rating. Maybe thats a sign to tell me to build more academies.

And I've named the Centurion that's currently commanding the Oculis PDC for you Iituem. He's one of the most promising centurions, and will probably make it to Primus soon (I just let the game do auto promotions).

And now we need a new fleet commander. It'll probably be Primus AussieGuy unless he doesn't want to be the fleet commander, in which case it'd be the Spurious guy.

[AussieGuy]

<Message Incoming>
<From: AussieGuy, Captain of Legionary 1, Leader of Strike Force 1>
<Subject: Attack on Alpha Centauri>

The Attack was a rousing success, we managed to destroy all or most ships in the system.  Some ships were lost, with some of their crew members but they died valiantly, fighting for our great nation. The crews of Strike force 1 is to be all congratulated on their effort.

Also on the issue of the Fleet Commander. It would be a honor if I was to become the new Fleet Commander and I hope I can do well in my new position.

Reccomdations for future actions:
Short term: Develop missiles for a new FAC class, to expand our military and destroy the alien world.
Medium/Long term: Develop some sort of heavier vessel, possibly a Destroyer

<Message End>