April 18, 2013: While meditating, Commodore (and senior surviving officer) Hannah Avram is visited by the ghost of Admiral Sheb Bravski. The ghost urges her to stick with the gunboat concept while adapting it to deal with missile armed threats.
In a speech to the UHF, Commodore Avram urges the fleet to take inspiration from the sole bright spot of the battle of Alpha Centauri; the carriers were able to retreat safely. She outlines a new fleet doctrine that will involve carriers ferrying massive fleets of gunboats through jump points, then allowing the gunboats to operate independently. Terming this new strategy as the Bravski Doctrine, she urges the UHF to increase funding in carrier and gunboat production.
A key part of this doctrine is a new gunboat design, using fast firing railguns in an anti-missile capacity.
Horo class Gunboat 800 tons 82 Crew 174 BP TCS 16 TH 138 EM 0
8625 km/s Armour 4-7 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 8.13 Years MSP 68 AFR 10% IFR 0.1% 1YR 2 5YR 27 Max Repair 38 MSP
High Performance Ion Drive (1) Power 138 Fuel Use 780% Signature 138 Armour 0 Exp 36%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres Range 5.8 billion km (7 days at full power)
10cm Railgun V4/C3 (1x4) Range 40,000km TS: 8625 km/s Power 3-3 RM 4 ROF 5 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fire Control S02 32-8000 (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 8000 km/s 84 69 53 37 22 6 0 0 0 0
Miniaturized Fission Cell (3) Total Power Output 3.1 Armour 0 Exp 12%
Short Range Targeting Sensor (1) GPS 21 Range 2.3m km Resolution 1Sphinx Orbital yards begins preparation to build the Horo class.
Based on the predominant belief that the Alpha Centauri ships are some form of automated vessel, the race is officially referred to as the "AC Automatons". Newsreels begin featuring footage of what appears to be clumsy robots made of boxes and aluminum foil, followed by a message urging young men and women to enlist.
June 29, 2013: Exploration of the two jump points in Lacaille 9352 reveals the systems of Epsilon Eridani and Luyten 726-8. Epsilon Eridani contains an atmospheric rock that could one day be terraformed into a habitable world, and Luyten contains a frozen, hostile world that represents a more difficult terraforming prospect.
July 4, 2013: The latest round of Brazwells are completed, and Sphinx Docks begins work on the first 6 Horo class gunboats.
August 12, 2013: While surveying the Lacaille 9352 system, the Discovery II detects the drive plumes of 6 ships closing at 10,000 km/s. Transmissions from the unidentified ships are identical to those from the alien ships detected in Alpha Centauri. Unfortunately the drives are much smaller, and they are detected at nearly point blank range. The Discovery attempts to flee, but is chased down and destroyed by 11 Strength 5 nuclear detonations.
The ships appear to belong to the AC Automatons race, despite the two systems not sharing a direct connection. This leads to the uncomfortable conclusion that the AC Automatons are a large and widespread race.
Lacaille 9352 has received a full gravitational survey; the fact that those ships were not bothered argues that they alien vessels either have poor sensors or only attack other vessels that move sufficiently close.
January 7, 2014: The first colonists land on Hope, Humanity's first extrasolar colony.
April 22, 2014: Hannah Avram is promoted to Rear Admiral.
July 26, 2014: Two more Cornwallis class carriers are completed, allowing the UHF navy to transport up to 20 gunboats at a time.
November 12, 2014: Scientists on Earth develop a stronger particle beam. Though too large to mount on a gunboat, it may be useful if production of capital ships is resumed at a later date. Work begins on an improved power plant that could make the gunboat designs more efficient.
January 27, 2015: Scientists develop plans for a marine battalion as well as faster shipyard construction rates. Work begins on improving the civilian economy as well as developing longer range fire controls for beam weapons.
September 12, 2015: Two more carriers finish construction, bringing the total up to 6. Some naval officers begin to whisper that it is time to take the fight back to the Alpha Centauri system, or even Lacaille. Others think those systems should be used for now and the carriers used for escorting survey fleets in other systems.
January 1, 2016: The navy has recovered from the fiasco in Alpha Centauri, and may soon have the opportunity to exact revenge. Additionally, the planet Hope's population has risen to 4 million and is ripe for industrial expansion.
On the other hand, exploration has fallen behind; Earth is pinned on two sides by the AC Automatons, and sending out unescorted exploration groups has proven tragic in the past. Many think it is time for the navy to act.
UHF Status
Known habitable planets by colonization cost:
Alpha Centauri-A I (2.00)
Epsilon Eridani-A II (2.00)
Ross 128-A II (2.00
Luyten 726-8-A II (2.56)
Lacaille 9352-A III (3.55)
Earth:
Navy:
6 CVL Cornwallis
34 GB Brazwell
30 GB Horo
10 CC Rodney
Author
Topic: Let's Play Aurora - Ad Astra per Aspera (Read 38114 times)