Empires

[President_Elect_Shang]

2402.1 -- This month the engineers and researches of Alcon Defense Corp present the designs for a defensive system which they call Shields. This Shield is designed to provide protection against missiles and will be rechargeable between combat rounds. The Alcon team warns that this shield will not stop laser beams. The Department of Defense with President Shang's blessings issues a challenge for the development of a general purpose warship design. A team from AeroSpace Developers Inc. wins the contract with their Agamemnon Class DD design. This ship as proposed will utilize 7 Military Engines to generate a sustained 7km/s thrust. Crew support will be provided by 2 independent Small Crew Quarters meaning the loss of one will not completely cripple the ship by leaving the crew dependent on their Combat Suit systems. Offensive capability will be provided by 1 Laser for close in combat and 3 Missile Launchers fed by a Small Magazine which means the ship could be bleed dry of ammo in under 2 minutes of sustained combat. All of this is wrapped inside 40kT of armor and 3 of the new Shield generators. Sky Marshall Kana presents the Senate with the design and asks for the commission of 10 of these ships. While all of this is going on the Sky Marshall has a secret request issued to AeroSpace for a warp point assault design.

[President_Elect_Shang]

2402.3 -- The Berg-SIS Company presents to the DoD [Department of Defense] a prototype system which they are calling Survey Instruments. This suite of computers and sensors will double the current survey capability of any Republic ship which mounts them. Sky Marshall Kana instructs Grumman AeroSpace, the original developers of the Daphne, to produce an updated version for production. The resulting design doubles the passive defenses, increases mission longevity by some 140%, and incorporates the new survey instruments package. Although ammo storage is reduced the Senate and President overwhelmingly approve of the new design; the Daphne II, and Sky Marshall Kana issues an immediate recall to all survey assists for immediate upgrade. In other news the colony on Beta Cassiopeia III (Beta Cassiopeia is the home system for the Republic) completes construction of a ship yard facility becoming the second site in the Republic which is capable of producing ships. Since this colony is on the other habitable planet in the Republic’s home system there are still plenty of other facilities to be produced. Steady production from this yard will have to wait until then. The only reason this yard was rushed to completion was for the single purpose of producing a colony ship. A colony ship which will be sent to setup a new colony on another habitable world in the Roris System.

[President_Elect_Shang]

2402.6 -- Wyoming 001 Yard is completed in orbit of Tal-Re Prime. The Senate declines Sky Marshall Kana's request for the Agamemnon DD and instead orders the production of 6 Daphne II's. The old Daphne class FG's were scrapped when engineers announced that the old hull construction could not be made compatible with the new design. The Daphne II's will be produced at a rate of 1 every 2 months. This is much faster than ground based construction which would have only been able to produce 1 every 4 months. The Senate assures the Sky Marshall that after the production run has been completed the Agamemnon will be given top priority. This does nothing to assuage the Sky Marshall who points out, rather noisily, that the Republic is ripe for invasion. Senator Young of Tal-Re Prime: "And tell us Sky Marshall, where are these invading hordes of yours? In your little war mongering mind I think. Be happy with the bone we have thrown you, now go gnaw on it and get off the porch." Kana slowly turns and without a word walks away. Aid: "Sky Marshall I thought you were going to kill him back there." Kana: "A confrontation with a Senator, even one as arrogant and small minded as Young would kill my future. I may want to wrap my hands around his scrawny little bird neck right now but that wouldn't help the Republic at all. My successor may be just like him."

[President_Elect_Shang]

2402.7 – In the Delta Trianguli System a survey ship from the Arachnid Oligarchy crosses paths with a survey ship from the Imperial Council of Terra. Attempts at communication go awry and the Arachnid captain resorts to weapons. In the Republic developers at SAAB Aeronautics develop two small craft and boat bays for launching these craft. The first small craft; the Cutter, is a limited utility vehicle with a few ammo storage racks for remote re-arming operations. The Shuttle is a slightly larger small craft but is capable of transporting a larger quantity of ammo. Neither of these small craft are wp capable or able to outrun a starship in or out of combat. Although SAAB promises weapons will be available for them there are none at present. The boat bays for housing, care, and launch of these small craft come in a verity of sizes from tiny to large. Although Sky Marshall Kana finds these small craft to be pretty useless the Chairman for the Department of Exploration sees the potential for speeding up system surveys. He requests and receives funding for testing and design proposals of this new system. The resulting design; the Quasar (not attached), is a modified Daphne II platform with 10kT of Armor removed to make room for a Small Boat Bay. A Senate committee agrees to fund the modification of one of the Daphne II’s as soon as SAAB can gear up a plant to produce 2 of the accompanying Cutter designs.

2402.9 – The Republic emplaces its first extra-solar colony in the Roris System. Although the planet is habitable the conditions are less than perfect. Despite the challenges the colonists waste little time setting up a temporary seat of government. They appoint their first planetary governor and Senator so they may have representation in the Senate of the Republic. In a grand ceremony (grand for a newly formed colony anyway) the colonies governor presents the Planetary Charter and in honor of the home world names the planet New Tal-Re.

2403.2 – In the Narcisston System (0, 9) exploration ships of the Imperial Council of Terra and the Archanid Oligarchy make contact. Again the Archanid captain resorts to weapons and once again the Terran captain retreats. Now there are two points of contact for these empires which are clearly on a crash course for war.

[Phoenix-D]

"resorts to weapons"

..do they ever resort to anything else?

[President_Elect_Shang]

2403.3 – Boeing IDS announces they have developed a system to assist in the flow and processing of combat information. This new Combat Information Center [CIC] will aid ship captains to extract only the information they specify from a combat situation. More importantly though it will assist a ships tactical computers in calculating targeting solutions and aid the engineering computers in drive field distortion calculations making the mounting ship a more difficult target to resolve. Unfortunately the space needed for this system is on par with a weapons system. Sky Marshal Kana dismisses the CIC in an interview with Military Times: “It is a beneficial system, there is no arguing that. However; at this time, I just can’t consent to giving that much space up to a non-weapons system.” The Chairman for DoD does not agree and orders a military team to research the systems practical applications. And after an exhaustive study Kana’s predications prove accurate.

2403.6 – The Wyoming 002 ship yard base is completed in orbit around Tal-Re Prime. This time Sky Marshal Kana’s request is granted and 6 Agamemnon Class DD are funded. Furthermore Kana is promised funding for 6 more following the launch of the Quasar Class prototype; SAAB having held up its end of the agreement. In a surprise move Kana gives his staff the rest of the day off. At the same time Kana’s buoyant mood is lifting the spirits of his personnel another section of the quadrant is witness to sullen depression. The leader of the Empire of Thebes watches helplessly as Orion invaders make planet fall on one of the home systems colonies. Having had its ships smashed by the Orion onslaught the Thebeans hatch a radical plan. They take a group of their finest and load them on a colony ship in cold sleep. Their last warship is assigned escort duty and “Salvation Fleet” is launched. Its mission is to run far, as far as its supplies can take it, in hopes that a new empire can be founded and revenge extracted.

[President_Elect_Shang]

2403.7 – The Thebean home world falls before the Orion Imperium and the First Intersystem War ends after a brief 2 years and 8 months.

2403.8 – Recent breakthroughs lead to advances in industrial production and hull engineering. A new vessel class dubbed the Light Cruiser, a 450kT monster, is one such new hull. In all actuality though, the larger vehicles are not so much a reflection of the recent advances as they are a capitalization of existing technology. Thanks to SAAB’s development of small craft ships no longer need to be designed and reinforced for landing on planets. Instead they can use small craft for shuttling personnel and other necessaries. By having at least one dedicated boat bay designers can free themselves of the need to land the hulls. Although several companies offer to create and present designs DoD turns down all offers. On the advice of Sky Marshal Kana development of a new ship class will wait to see what new goodies are developed. Besides with the Agamemnon class DD in full production swing there is no need to rush another design.

[President_Elect_Shang]

2404.2 – The Raytheon Corp introduces to Sky Marshal Kana and Chairman Shoebach (the Chairman of DoD) a new weapons defense system which fires non-nuclear interceptor missiles at incoming standard mode missiles. This Basic Point Defense system is not very effective and has an extremely short engagement range. Field tests show it is not effective enough to give a single ship a firm upper hand over another. Despite its shortcomings Sky Marshal Kana believes that it is a worthwhile system and gives the go ahead for further testing. He assures the Raytheon CEO that any time and money spent by his company will be worthwhile as this system will be included on any future designs; but not any refits. The Department of Exploration [DoEx] Chairman; Chairman Whitmore, is so pleased with the field trials of the Quasar Class FG he requests funding for an additional 4; however, instead of asking SAAB for Cutters he requests Shuttles for their greater endurance.

2404.5 – LRM Manufacturers arranges a demonstration of a weapon system they have developed for Sky Marshal Kana, Chairman Schoeback, President Shang, and a few other notable dignitaries. Despite Kana’s protesting that it is unwise to make himself such a vulnerable target Shang agrees to go. The group is shuttled up to a freighter barge and treated to a fine meal. After which they are lead to the starboard side of the ship which has been completely covered by a screen giving the illusion of there being no hull. The CEO of LRM clears his throat for attention. CEO: “You have all been speculating as to why I have asked you here. Obviously this is something of great import to go to such lengths and expense. I could tell you why, but I feel seeing will convey the message far better than I could.” A sudden shudder nearly throws a guest or two to the deck. On the screen five things leap from the outer hull of the ship and speed off into the depths of space. The screen constantly refocuses to keep these things just far enough away to prohibit a clear view. Soon enough another ship starts to take form. The things home in on the ship and with a blinding flash end there journey in nuclear fire. The screen quickly polarizes but not before causing the guests to cringe. CEO: “This is what we are calling an External Ordinance mounted Standard Missile. There is no internal launcher to tie up valuable space. It can only be used once per engagement since you must lower the drive field and have a two man team physically carry another missile to reload the rack. And you can only fit a certain quantity depending on the size of the ship. This may not sound like such a great trade off except consider this final tid-bit. A single Agamemnon with XO mounts has the first round fire power of three Agamemnon combined.” His point made the CEO walks back to the dinning hull leaving more than one mouth agape.