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[Bremen]

Unfortunately I will be out of town this weekend and unable to update, but I'll try to get an update out pretty soon after I get back.

[Bremen]

Not dead yet, I've just been busy lately!
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April 13, 2027: The fleet arrives back at Earth. The first priority is unloading the marine units for some badly needed rest and recovery time, then organizing resupply for the exhausted fleet.

There are many opinions on what to do with the captured ships; some would prefer to dissassemble them to try to understand their technology; Homer Bickford in particular is eager for more examples of the internal confinement fusion drive he is currently working on. Others want to turn them into warships for the fleet. With their missile armament and high speed, they might be usefully employed as skirmishers rather than fleet escorts.

For now, they'll be put to work ferrying missiles from the stockpiles found in Alpha Centauri back to Earth.

On Earth, work begins on an expansion to the sector command building to facilitate managing the new, more distant systems.

August 27, 2027: The Archaeology team finishes analysis of the ruins on GJ 1002. Though badly deteriorated, 9 installations may be recoverable.

As the New York class troop transports are jump capable, one is dispatched with the 5th Assault Squadron to ferry troops and an engineering brigade to the site.

December 17, 2027: Word filters back through the jump gate network that a gate connection to Luyten 726-8 has been completed, opening a new system up for exploitation. As the Outreach's fuel supplies are low, it sets course for Earth.

President Raymond Smuckles  holds an official address and announces that all systems on the network will now be referred to purely by their system names, stating that "Numbers are out to get me." Accordingly, Lacaille 9352 is renamed Lacaille and Luyten 726-8 is named Luyten. Everyone was calling them this before, but now it's official.

Shortly after this conference, the GSV Newton, currently surveying in the Ross 780 system, detects three AC Automaton ships at close range. The ships appear to be of the same class as those captured at the battle of Lalande, and while the Newton will try to run it seems unlikely it will be able to escape the missile armed craft. Indeed, seconds later, the Newton is vaporized by 9 nuclear detonations.

While this represents another opportunity to capture enemy craft, most of the marine units used in the Battle of Lalande are not yet back to full strength. As the Newton was no where near the jump point back towards Earth, the decision is made to wait for the Marine units to be ready before dispatching a force to secure the system.

January 12, 2028: Homer Bickford unveils a human produced version of the alien fusion drive. It promises to greatly increase the speed of both military and civilian craft. For his next project he begins work on improving jump drive technology so that larger craft can be made jump capable.

Engineers immediately begin coming up with new ship designs to take advantage of the technology.

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Liberty III class Freighter    38,450 tons     326 Crew     867 BP      TCS 769  TH 2500  EM 0
3250 km/s     Armour 1-101     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 14    Max Repair 62 MSP
Cargo 25000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Civilian Fusion Drive (10)    Power 250    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 250    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres    Range 140.4 billion km   (500 days at full power)
With the expansion of the jump drive network, shipping is becoming almost unbearably slow. More than 50% faster than the Liberty II, and able to load and unload cargo twice as fast, the newly proposed Liberty III should enable the UHF to establish offworld colonies much faster than ever before.

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Terra Nova II class Colony Ship    38,450 tons     401 Crew     1812 BP      TCS 769  TH 2500  EM 0
3250 km/s     Armour 1-101     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 1     PPV 0
MSP 29    Max Repair 62 MSP
Colonists 100000    Cargo Handling Multiplier 10   

Civilian Fusion Drive (10)    Power 250    Fuel Use 5%    Signature 250    Armour 0    Exp 1%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 93.6 billion km   (333 days at full power)
Currently, most tranportation of colonists is handled by private lines rather than government ships, but they too will be able to make use of a new, faster colony ship design even if the government does not build any.

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Cobra class Heavy Fighter    330 tons     13 Crew     53.3 BP      TCS 6.6  TH 72  EM 0
10909 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 4
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 66%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 6    5YR 95    Max Repair 14 MSP

Fighter Fusion Drive (1)    Power 72    Fuel Use 7000%    Signature 72    Armour 0    Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres    Range 0.4 billion km   (9 hours at full power)

Light Plasma Cannon (1)    Range 40,000km     TS: 10909 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 1    ROF 10        6 3 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Fighter Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 40,000 km   TS: 12000 km/s     75 50 25 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Small Fusion Reactor (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

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Wolfhound class Scout Fighter    320 tons     7 Crew     81.1 BP      TCS 6.4  TH 72  EM 0
11250 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/11/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 7    5YR 106    Max Repair 21 MSP

Fighter Fusion Drive (1)    Power 72    Fuel Use 7000%    Signature 72    Armour 0    Exp 80%
Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres    Range 8.0 billion km   (8 days at full power)

Short Range Targeting Sensor (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.3m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
Rather than modify the fleet's gunboats, engineers have utilized the more powerful engines to miniaturize the ships even further. Though perhaps individually weaker than a Brazwell, the new Cobra class is less than half the size but carries the same firepower.

Their range is low, but this can be boosted through in-flight refueling by the Wolfhound class scouts. In total, a Lexington should be able to carry 24 fighters instead of a mere 10 gunboats.

[Bremen]

Additionally, with the reduced range of the fighters it's my plan to switch to a more balanced fleet, with carriers, command ships, and armed escorts, and no longer just sit at the jump point conducting long range strikes.

Nothing is finalized yet, so feel free to make suggestions.

[Flying Dice]

I'll be damned, you managed to cram a carronade onto a fighter.

[Delta Foxtrot]

Balance sounds good. More ships means more explosions. Are the fighters just going to flat out replace Brazwells in the fleet? When do you reckon you'll have your fleet updated as far as the fighters are concerned?

[Bremen]

Balance sounds good. More ships means more explosions. Are the fighters just going to flat out replace Brazwells in the fleet? When do you reckon you'll have your fleet updated as far as the fighters are concerned?

It'll probably be several years before the UHF begins using fighters in quantity, and there's no real need to stop using the gunboats we already have even once the new ships are ready.

[Bremen]

January 12, 2028: While a new carrier design will be necessary to make the best use of the fighters, the decision is made to hold off on new designs until Homer Bickford finishes his new jump drive, which should allow for larger, more capable carriers and support ships. For now the proven Lexington design will do.

As the new fighter designs are small enough to be produced on the ground rather than in orbital shipyards, Earth begins work on new industrial complexes designed to build the small ships.

February 21, 2028: The colony on Hope runs short of Sorium for fuel refining; a quick check shows that in the past it was purchasing from a civilian mine in the system, but the orders were stopped to save money. Purchases quietly resume.

February 30, 2028: The jump chain is expanded into Ross 128, which is immediately renamed to Ross. Though the system is almost completely barren of minerals the class K planet represents a valuable colonization site.

June 1st, 2028: Engineers excavating the ruins in GJ 1002 restore an environmental dome with room for half a million colonists. Unfortunately the system is not on the jump gate network and is an unpleasantly freezing world even if it was, but at least it gives them space for R&R.

A Comet class Jump scout belonging to the CVL Hannibal transits through an unexplored jump point and finds the system of TW Piscis Austrini. Early spectroscopic analysis of one of the planets reveals a breathable atmosphere; though a bit cold for human tastes, it's easily the best colonization candidate since the Hope colony.

June 7, 2028: While attempting to survey the jump points in the TW Piscis Austrini system, An Einstein class survey gunboat detects an approaching vessel. The spectrum of its drive plume is inconsistent with either the AC Automatons or the strange spacegoing creatures previous spotted in WX Ursae Majoris.

As the Einstein is unarmed, it chooses to withdraw back to its parent craft and flee the system. The contact makes an attempt to pursue, but at a mere 3,829 km/s. The Einstein easily outpaces the unknown craft and returns to the Hannibal, waiting at the jump point.

Great debates arise over how to deal with the new aliens; of the three races known to humanity, all seem to be implacably hostile. However, eventually orders go out for the Hannibal to attempt a first contact; if necessary, it can always flee through the jump point, and the remote system means deploying the fleet would take some time.

Several days after begins its transmissions, a large number of ships are detected approaching the Hannibal with active sensors, broadcasting in an unknown language. Captain Evan Redding decides that there's no point risking his unarmored ship just to determine whether the aliens are hostile. A jump capable Comet is launched with a crew of volunteers, then the Hannibal jumps out and begins heading in the direction of Sol at maximum speed.



As the contacts approach, the thermal sensors on the Comet resolve more and more drive trails. By the time they enter active sensor range, 38 separate ships have been identified, and active sensors reveal that some of them are larger than any ship in the UHF Navy.



The ships close to visual range with the Comet, and a tense standoff begins. After several minutes without exchanging fire, several of the largest vessels break off and begin returning to their planet. While not exactly friendly, the aliens do not seem overtly hostile.

The presence of so many ships, and a planet with a breathable atmosphere, argues that this may be either a colony or even the home system of the aliens. Orders go out and the Comet retreats to rejoin the Hannibal. Fifteen of the alien ships follow the Comet through the jump point and begin pursuit. After following for several million kilometers, the alien ships come to a stop and watch as the Hannibal continues to withdraw. After losing contact with the alien craft, Captain Redding orders tight emissions control in order to hopefully hide the location of the jump point back towards Sol. No further sign is seen of the ships, and the Hannibal safely transits into Luyten.

Xenolinguists are busy examining transmissions from the aliens, but so far progress has been slow.

[kisame12794]

Hmmm. 38 ships. Well at least they didn't shoot at us.

[Bremen]

What, no calls to purge the Xenos? I'm surprised. Going with a fairly neutral response for now.

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August 7, 2028: Xenolinguists manage to do what has never been done before, translating an entirely alien language using recordings the aliens transmitted at TW Piscis Austrini.

The recordings identify the aliens as the Poznan Khanate, and mostly consist of demands to leave the system at once. Still, with a basic understanding of the language it should now be possible to communicate in earnest.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That's really the name the game gave them; I didn't change anything.

No one is quite certain of what to make of the aliens. On one hand, the large fleet spotted in the Piscis system means they could be valuable allies against the Myriad and AC Automatons, and would be a difficult target for conquest. On the other hand, they are horrifically ugly.

For now a team of diplomats will set about establishing relations; there is no point in rushing into things.

Explored Space

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ideal place to set up a border with the Poznan would be the Luyten system; on the (hopefully universal) principal that possession is nine tenths of the law, an immediate effort is made to transport infrastructure and a small "colonist" group with military support to Luyten II. As soon as a colony is established the necessary materials for a forward naval base will be brought in.

Hopefully by the time the Poznan discover the existence of the system it will be firmly in UHF hands. And hopefully they will remain as reluctant to shoot first as they have so far.

September 26, 2028: Engineers in GJ 1002 recover a construction factory, and then only days later restore a domed colony capable of housing several thousand colonists. This is taken as further evidence that the Luyten jump chain must remain in UHF hands.

October 6, 2028: Homer Bickford develops a jump drive capable of moving 18,000 ton military vessels. He begins work on modifications to allow for a single drive to jump six ships at once.

In the meantime, new designs are developed to make use of the new drive

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Galapagos class Carrier    18,000 tons     1000 Crew     2798.2 BP      TCS 360  TH 2000  EM 0
5555 km/s     Armour 6-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 0
Maint Life 5.95 Years     MSP 1457    AFR 172%    IFR 2.4%    1YR 70    5YR 1057    Max Repair 50 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons     

Military Fusion Drive (20)    Power 100    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 100    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 2,000,000 Litres    Range 400.0 billion km   (833 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

Strike Group
20x Cobra Heavy Fighter   Speed: 10909 km/s    Size: 6.6
4x Wolfhound Scout Fighter   Speed: 11250 km/s    Size: 6.4
A modification of the Lexington design, the Galapagos class is faster, better armored, and carries large amounts of fuel to supply its onboard fighter force. It was also designed with longer voyages in mind; the territory explored by UHF ships is rapidly expanding, and older designs like the Cornwallis class already strain their endurance to reach the frontiers. The Galapagos class can be safely deployed on multiple year patrols, which will likely be necessary as more far flung colonies are founded.

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Scimtar class Escort Cruiser    18,000 tons     1793 Crew     3955.2 BP      TCS 360  TH 2000  EM 0
5555 km/s     Armour 6-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 16     PPV 161.92
Maint Life 4.64 Years     MSP 2197    AFR 162%    IFR 2.2%    1YR 166    5YR 2496    Max Repair 187 MSP

Military Fusion Drive (20)    Power 100    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 100    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 100.0 billion km   (208 days at full power)

Particle Projection Cannon (8)    Range 240,000km     TS: 5555 km/s     Power 15-5    ROF 15        6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Quad Advanced Coil Gun Turret II (3x12)    Range 30,000km     TS: 20000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Long Range Fire Control II (1)    Max Range: 320,000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Point Defense Fire Control II (3)    Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
Fast Fusion Reactor (5)     Total Power Output 40    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Missile Warning System (1)     GPS 105     Range 11.6m km    Resolution 1
As the carrier group will no longer be able to count on retreating through a jump point to avoid enemies, it will required its own armed escorts. The Scimitar uses a combination of rapid fire coil weapons and heavy particle cannons to fulfill this role.

A third ship with a jump drive and advanced sensor systems will be designed once improved jump drive research is completed.

October 11, 2028: Engineers on GJ 1002 attempt to restore power to an abandoned facility, only to find that it contains hordes of hostile robots who immediately escape and attempt to attack the military forces on the planet. Luckily there are several battallions of marines on the planet and they are able to fight off the sudden attack with minimal casualties. Operations begin to hunt down and destroy the robot menace.

December 19, 2028: Construction is completed on a jump gate to EV Lacertae, giving access to the enormous mineral deposits on the second planet and another Class K planet.

February 17, 2029: The 5th Mobile Infantry Brigade arrives on Luyten II and begins digging in. So far the colony contains 100,000 colonists, and freighters are on the way with the infrastructure to support a larger population.

April 12, 2029: Engineers complete work on excavating the ruins in GJ 1002. Recoveries include 2 construction factories, 1 fighter factory, 300 infrastructure, 2 mines, and an army of killer robots bent on exterminating all life. The New York will transport the troops to Luyten, where the engineers will be put to work constructing planetary defenses.

June 27, 2029: A design for a 6 ship jump drive is completed, and Earth's shipyards immediately begin work on a ship making use of one.

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Kongo class Jump Cruiser    18,000 tons     1531 Crew     4837.6 BP      TCS 360  TH 2000  EM 0
5555 km/s    JR 6-500     Armour 8-61     Shields 0-0     Sensors 55/55/0/0     Damage Control Rating 25     PPV 32.64
Maint Life 3.12 Years     MSP 4199    AFR 103%    IFR 1.4%    1YR 647    5YR 9700    Max Repair 2025 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons     

J18000(6-500) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 18000 tons    Distance 500k km     Squadron Size 6
Military Fusion Drive (20)    Power 100    Fuel Use 50%    Signature 100    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 150.0 billion km   (312 days at full power)

Quad Advanced Coil Gun Turret II (1x12)    Range 30,000km     TS: 20000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Point Defense Fire Control II (1)    Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17

Missile Warning System (1)     GPS 105     Range 11.6m km    Resolution 1
Long Range Search Radar (1)     GPS 17640     Range 164.0m km    Resolution 140
Thermal Sensor TH5-55 (1)     Sensitivity 55     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  55m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-55 (1)     Sensitivity 55     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  55m km
The Kongo has the advanced sensors and heavy armor that will suit it well as a command ship, and additionally has sufficient hangar space for a Comet class jump scout. Plans are for carrier squadrons to consist of 3 Galapagos carriers, 2 Scimtar class Escort Cruisers, and 1 Kongo class Jump Cruiser.

September 29, 2029: Sensor stations on Luyten detect a Poznan ship arriving through the Gliese 1 jump point. The contact has a drive plume of strength 2400; larger than that of a new Galapagos class carrier, and very close to that of a new Liberty III class freighter. The contact remains stationary, so the 2nd Strike Squadron is dispatched to investigate.

November 3, 2029: The 2nd Squadron arrives in Luyten and launches a Comet class cout to investigate the contact. They find an enormous Poznan ship, estimated at over 71,000 tons. It appears to be in the process of constructing a jump gate.

November 11, 2029: Five Liberty III class freighters arrive at Luyten and deliver their cargo; 4 maintenance workshops and a supply of minerals sufficient to maintain Brazwell and Rodney class gunboats. The 2nd strike squadron is already in the area; the 3rd and 4th Squadrons are dispatched as well. The groups will deliver their gunboats and then return to Earth for rearming with the new fighters.

December 15, 2029: The Poznan contact completes its jump gate and begins moving towards the jump point to GJ 1002.

January 1, 2030: The UHF Celebrates its 30th anniversary. Humanity has come so very far in three decades, and now is time to reflect on the past and plan for the future.

[Delta Foxtrot]

What are our chances of surviving a protracted war with the Khanate? I'm not warmongering but it appears to me that they're trampling on our (soon-to-be) lawn.

[EuchreJack]

We need to now ship colonists to GJ 1002, to secure our claim upon it!

Let them finish their jump gates.  If they want a war, the JGs will only help our war effort.

I'd rather not fire the first shot against relatively friendly aliens.  I'd also rather not lose to them should they start something.

[Bremen]

What are our chances of surviving a protracted war with the Khanate? I'm not warmongering but it appears to me that they're trampling on our (soon-to-be) lawn.

It's hard to say, really. The UHF navy is larger than the force spotted in Piscis, though not by a whole lot, and NPRs usually use a mix of beams and missiles. If we could weather the missiles and then have gunboats and/or fighters close to point blank, it's likely that the UHF would win (though with losses from the Poznan beam weapons). If they have sufficient missile strength to overwhelm the UHF PD then the navy would likely be shattered.

Of course, the Aurora AI is notoriously poor, so it's hard to say how it would all go down.

[kisame12794]

I say we try to make them our allies. We need allies. They have been in space longer than us, and probably have more data. Plus having a friendly system to retreat to if nessecary could come in handy.

[Flying Dice]

What potential allies? Bide our time for now, but if they send ships toward Sol, blast them, then camp the jump point. If they're stupid enough to use the gate for military transit, it shouldn't be difficult. If/when we've built up our own forces, smash their fleet and take their homeworld. To that end, I suggest developing boosted radiation output warheads, a missile for them, and a fighter to fire them.

[Hanzoku]

What potential allies? Bide our time for now, but if they send ships toward Sol, blast them, then camp the jump point. If they're stupid enough to use the gate for military transit, it shouldn't be difficult. If/when we've built up our own forces, smash their fleet and take their homeworld. To that end, I suggest developing boosted radiation output warheads, a missile for them, and a fighter to fire them.

I disagree. If you want to take and keep their homeworld, it helps if they're not all dying of radiation poisoning. Yes it makes it easier to hold it, but they you have to deal with a very protracted campaign of freighter-hauling everything to a world that isn't blanketed in nuclear winter for the next century.