Turn 12 - Summer 2177/3027
WCDC Defense Council:
(0 actions)
[] Future Space Combat Craft: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 70+5 = 75 - Success
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 36+5 = 41 - Marginal Success
In an almost repeat of the VR game debacle, one of the members of the new Project team working on the Future Space Combat Craft Project had to be put on leave for a few days, after she brought a game with her to work, so that the actual work on the Project could continue apace.
With some basic data on simulations for the spacecrafts' skeleton, some data could be made to integrate the new fusion thrusters and heat sinks, though it was expected the spacecraft would initially have conventional radiators as well. The power of the new thrusters would make landing the craft on a planetary surface viable, so that some initial roles for the craft were drawn up, like 'Planetary Defense Craft' for newly settled worlds without adequate space infrastructure. The craft could easily land on a planet and remain there, until needed, with easy servicing enabled by the planetary gravity.
Active for 2 more turns
[] System Defense MKI: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 75%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 83 - Success
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 68 - Success
The first proposals for the construction of the Raytan defense stations arrived relatively quickly from many dock yards, enabling the Defense Council to come to a quick decision. Rather than give the contract for each pair of defense stations in each of the Three Systems to a single company, the Council, after a suggestion from the WCDCTO, decided to give one contract for each of the stations, allowing six companies to build the stations, increasing redundancy as well a competition. The Defense Council did however insist in direct oversight, stating that it was o ensure the quality of the work.
Active for 2 more turns
WCDC Survey Office:
(1 action)
[] Deep Signal Intelligence Network II: - 3 votes
Time: 1 turn, Chance of success: 70%
Roll 1d100: 19 - Failure
Once again a survey squadron is sent out to gather up the intelligence data from the various intelligence satellites. However, there is a glitch within the software used to collect the data from the survey satellites, corrupting the data downloaded. On top of that, the satellites are designed in such a way that they delete the data they uploaded to the survey squadron within a month.
To make matters worse, only when the data is transmitted to Berlin the glitch and the massive corruption of the data gathered over the past month are discovered, leaving the Survey Office with no usable data and the need to fix the glitch and program a patch for the survey satellites.
Reward: No intelligence data
[] Permanent Survey Squadrons: active
Time: 2 turns, Chance of Success: 60%
Roll 1 of 2, Roll 1d100: 16 - Failure
Roll 2 of 2, Roll 1d100: 68 - Success
Combined: 42 - Success
It takes much work from the Survey Office in their attempt to get the national militaries to permanently attach to the Survey Office. They have to pull just about every trick they can, but in the end they manage to talk their way into being given the space craft and crews to form 20 survey squadrons, made up sorely of spacecraft of the Escort and Guard types, even if there is a certain dislike within the national militaries for the situation.
On a different note, the Survey Office makes a note to buy a few of the new advanced spacecraft with the new thrusters, as soon as they become available.
Reward: 20 squadrons removed from military and attached to the Survey Office, +10 to survey and intelligence actions
WCDC Diplomatic Corps:
(1 action)
[] We need new members: - 3 votes
Time: 2 turns, Chance of success: 25%
Roll 1 of 2, Roll 1d100: 54 - Failure
Again, it is time to try and get the other nations of the Three Systems that are not already members of the WCDC to join up. And while there are talks, they lead to nothing, aside from reassurances that they would think about it.
[] Charm Offensive: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 83+15 = 98 - Success (Hannover)
83+10 = 93 - Success (Llyn Ogwen, Ammann)
83+5 = 88 - Success (Craigh, Farnham's Planet, Pandemonium, Bernstein, Santa Alvarez, Solidarność)
83 - Success (Washington)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 81+15 = 96 - Success (Hannover, Pandemonium)
81+10 = 91 . Success (Llyn Ogwen, Ammann)
81+5 = 86 - Success (Craigh, Farnham's Planet, Bernstein, Santa Alvarez, Solidarność)
81 - Success (Washington)
Across the ten worlds in contact with the Three Systems, the ambassadors go to work to further improve relations with the planetary governments.
On Washington for example, Ambassador Kennedy presents the President with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, while the Kaiser on Hannover is presented with an actual piece of the Berlin Wall. Similar presents are given to the leaders of the other planets.
On Farnham's Planet the Ambassador uses the chance to try and bring the two planetary nations closer together and succeeds somewhat, managing to talk the leaders into a face to face meeting.
Active for 2 more turns
WCDC Trade Organization:
(0 actions)
[] Standartized Ground Weapon Systems active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 60%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 21+10+10 = 41 - Minor Success (Stonger Economy, Economic Ties)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 16+10+10 = 36 - Failure
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 95+10+10 = 115 - Crit Success (Roll 1d100: 66)
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 20+10+10 = 40 - Failure/Almost Success
Combined: 58 - Success
Coming up to the end of the Standartized Ground Weapon Systems Project, the WCDCTO must deal with another few setbacks, as there are much fewer companies that actually set out to offer their weapon systems to be tested by the Defense Council.
In the end, it does not much matter, as the major companies are all present during the testing phase and by the end of Summer, the Defense Council makes its decision for a number of standardized weapon systems for infantry, armor and artillery, as well as the aerospace forces. This in turn becomes a big boost for certain parts of the economy due to the large influx of money from various national militaries, as well as the burgeoning interstellar merchant marine, as in some cases the weapon systems need to be transported from system to system.
Reward: Standardized Weapon systems for ground combat, +5 to ground combat
[] New Fusion Drives: active
Time: 4 turns, Chance of success: 70%
Roll 1 of 4, Roll 1d100: 98+10+10+10 = 128 - Crit Success (Roll 1d100: 31) (Stonger Economy, Economic Ties, Scientific-Industrial Complex)
Roll 2 of 4, Roll 1d100: 87+10+10+10 = 117 - Artificial Crit Success
Roll 3 of 4, Roll 1d100: 29+10+10+10 = 59 - Success
Roll 4 of 4, Roll 1d100: 77+10+10+10 = 107 - Artificial Crit Success
Combined: 102 - Crit Success
Success remains with the KF Fusion Drive Project and the number of companies that offer the new KF Fusion Drive jump through the roof, with varied numbers of sizes and power levels offered on the free market, be they civilian or military models.
One company, BAE Drive Systems Limited, even provisionally offers a small thruster that could, currently theoretically, accelerate a 15 tonne vehicle with up to 50 gravities, which they have obviously intended to offer for Class II to Class IV missiles and any space combat drone.
Reward: Various companies within the Three Systems now produce Kearney-Fuchida Fusion Thrusters of various sizes and power levels
WCDC Office for Science and Development:
(0 actions)
[] Hypercom: active
Time: 6 turns, Chance of success: 40%
Roll 1 of 6, Roll 1d100: 52 - Failure
Roll 2 of 6, Roll 1d100: 44 - Failure
The more problems the various teams of the Hypercom Project solve, the more problems appear. Yes, the physics appears straight forwards at the first glance, but as always, the devil is in the detail. And it is the details that continue to stump the scientists. Calculations don't bring the results expected, and small scale experiments are attempted, but none produce any results that are useful. Two of these experiments even produce gravitational events that are detected by the gravitational-wave observatories in Sol, but even if those are potentially able to be used as communication medium, they are not faster than light.
However, there remains a little bit of a light at the end of the tunnel for the scientists. Work on the problem of FTL communication certainly allows them to improve their knowledge about Kerney-Fuchida Hyper Theory, which in turn is its own reward.
Active for 4 more turns
[] Inner Sphere Heatsinks: active
Time: 3 turns, Chance of success: 70%
Roll 1 of 3, Roll 1d100: 70 - Success
Roll 2 of 3, Roll 1d100: 39 - Success
Roll 3 of 3, Roll 1d100: 99 - Crit Succees
Combined: 69 - Success
Continued work on the IS Heat Sink technology, does eventually lead to massive improvement over the original design, especially once exploratory material simulations are run with numerous advanced meta materials only possible with fabricator technology.
The result is the Advanced Heatsink, which retains the basic design of the heat sink with and used a new hydrocarbon working fluid, and replaces the materials with carbon-titanium-copper based meta materials, improving the waste heat capacity of a heat sink of the same mass and same volume by 91%. These new meta materials in combination with the new working fluid, allowed to run the heat sinks at a higher temperature, allowing for the removal of more heat.
Reward: Inner Sphere equivalent Heatsinks,
75% (Last Crit) chance of higher efficiency heat sinks Roll 1d100: 27 - Success
1d100% more efficient, Roll 1d100: 91 -> Advanced Heatsink (191% efficiency)
Random Event: Pirate Raid at 61 Virginis
On July 21, 2177/3027, four jump ships arrived in the Nadir Jump Point of 61 Virginis and immediately fifteen dropships detached from them, as they unfurled their jump sails. There were a few attempts to contacting the unknown jump and drop ships by various nations of the Aldmoru, but they all failed, safe for a single message to surrender to the Black Warriors.
Nine of the drop ships burned towards the planet Dran and its 32 moons, home to the Aldmoru, while the other six burned towards Cterin.
The dropships moving towards Cterin were the first to arrive.
Combat: Black Warriors (1d100: 18) - Petan (1d100: 71-20(slow spacecraft)+5(simple anti-Dropdhip tactics) = 56) - Win: Petan
Arriving in orbit around Cterin, the six dropships were greeted by the combined force build up by the ASI controlled heavy combat spacecraft Petan and its force of 49 further combat space craft, 24 of which were crewed by Aldmoru.
Petan welcomed the intruders with its normal message that the planet Cterin was under quarantine due to The Plague having killed all life on the surface safe for itself. The intruder would be welcome to land, but would be destroyed, should they attempt to leave again. The head of the dropship group, Commander Paul Mallard, returned that they would destroy Petan and his force of primitive spacecraft instead and then ravish the orbital installations instead.
It proved to be unwise of the Black Warriors to engage a more than three thousand year old ASI, controlling 25 Disciple ALI combat space craft, while supported by 24 Faithful crewed by Aldmoru almost fanatically worshiping the old AI as a god, The Guardian of the Dead.
While the dropships had the temporary advantage of speed and to a degree armor and weapon systems in their dropships, as well as ten aerospace fighters, they were of little use compared to an opponent with the reflexes of a computer.
The Battle of Cterin lasted for nearly one hour in orbit around the planet and saw the destruction of 5 Disciples and 8 Faithful, while Petan itself suffered minor damage. Of the Black Warriors, all six dropships were reduced to floating wrecks, with only a few surviving crew members, which were subsequently rescued by rescue crews from the orbital stations and put into custody.
Several hours later, the other nine dropships arrived at Dren.
Combat: Black Warriors (1d100: 50) - Dren Defenders (1d100: 71-20(slow spacecraft)+5(simple anti-Dropdhip tactics)+30(numeric superiority)=86) - Win: Dren Defenders
In the gravity system of Dren, the situation was completely different to Cterin. Here, the dropships of the Black Warriors were faced by about 1000 combat capable spacecraft of various types, from Escorts of Bombardment type craft, of various nations that had honed their skills in interplanetary warfare over the course of three millennia.
Faced wich such a large numeric superiority, the dropships fled from the Dren gravity system before it could come to an actual engagement against the spacecraft deep within the gravity well of Dren, especially in the light of the defeat of their comrades at Cterin. Nevertheless, they were intercepted by more than 400 spacecraft that had waited outside the gravity well of Dren for a command and simply used their Heim-Feynman Event Generators to FTL jump directly into the course of the fleeing dropships, firing their missiles and other weapons directly into the Black Warriors course.
Five of the dropships were outright destroyed by the weight of fire, three more heavily damaged and the two lightly damaged dropships surrendered unconditionally and were boarded. Any survivors of the other dropships were put into custody. None of the defending spacecraft was even damaged.
With these two fights concluded, only the four jumpships remained. While they had not moved in the past four days since they arrived, they remained a target for the defenders.
Half of the combat space craft that had intercepted the fleeing dropships jumped out towards the Nadir Point to intercept the jump ships. The crews of the three jumpships attempted to resist after being told to surrender, but the destruction of one of the small forces Invader class jump ships reduced their resistance to zero, allowing the Aldmoru to board the jumpships and to remove the crew before they could do anything to damage these valuable spacecraft.
Commander Paul Mallard had survived the attack on Cterin and was one of the first to be interrogated, with the alien nature of the Aldmoru proving to be an asset that unnerved and appeared to even induce fear in the human. When questioned, Mallard was surprisingly cooperative, informing his interrogators about the limited information on the WCDC the Cincirnus Federation had been able to gather from the tablet computer (called a noteputer by Mallard) the Federal Intelligence Command had been able to get a hold on. He didn't know how or when they had gotten the tablet or from whom.
Mallard also at first tried to indicate that the Black Warriors and Circinan forces were a large threat, but then was induced to tell the truth, noting the force destroyed, damaged and taken over by the Aldmoru were about half of the jump and dropships available to the Circinus Federation and that they were in a state of heightened alarm thanks to a war that had started in the middle of the last year. Sending any other force out any time soon, would leave Circinus without much of a defense.
Obviously the Circinus Federation knew about the WCDC and in some time, they would wonder what had happened to their jump ships. Something had to be done...
Results: WCDC gains three Jumpships (2x Invader, 1x Star Lord), 2 intact dropships (1x Union, 1x Leopard) + Mechs, 6 heavily damaged bit repairable dropships (2x Union, 3x Leopard, 1x Mule), wreckage of 7 dropships
1d4 nations may want to join up with the WCDC next turn, regardless of the results of 'We need new members'
+50 on 'We need new members' action next turn
-------------------------------
Hmm... It was awfully convenient that the DSIN II action failed and I got the pirate raid event. I had originally planned for the Black Warrior Raid to happen in Turn 13 or 14... Oh well...
The success was nice to have... And yes, the superior numbers are a massive equalizer there that needs to be put into a bonus. As is the fact that Dren is a gas giant outside the Feynman Limit of 61 Virginis, heck the planet is outside the jump limit.....