Dominion & Empire : turn 72
Turn 72
Imperium Income 133,476 Mcr
6 Napoleon Mod 1 heavy cruisers roll out of the Heaven shipyards this month,
immediately put to work guarding the Heaven-Donwaltz warp point. Also
picketing the warp point are 6 DSB class CTs, and 300 laser buoys. Gods Home
is in even better shape, as 20 pre-amalgamation light cruisers, 500 laser
buoys and 5 CT DSBs are completed this month.
Construction 01 and 02 continue refitting captured Draconis vessels in Hell,
concentrating at first on the MS equipped ships, to speed the overall rate.
Construction 03 has completed refit/repairs to over 80 of the captured
Draconis destroyers in Barsoom, and should finish the task within two
months.
Thanks to the invasion of Donwaltz, we cannot leave the so recently refitted
ships in Barsoom, and the fleet is ordered to proceed to Medial at best
speed, to picket the warp point leading to Donwaltz. While woefully
understrength in heavy cruisers, the former Barsoom picket fleet is renamed
the 3rd Striking Fleet, and former Chosen Rear Admiral Sarahim is placed in
command.
Imperium Scientists finish development of the Capital Missile. With the
completion next month of a small numbers of Forest class Capital Missile
armed heavy cruisers, the development is very welcome. It would be
embarrassing, to say the least, if a new class of ship was launched with no
missiles to fire.
Our scientists have also brought forward two new ideas for Survey Craft. A
new technology, combining the Survey Instruments, with the longer ranged,
and more detailed Long range sensors, the new package is dubbed "Improved
Survey Instruments". Having the same survey capabilities as combined X and
Xr, without the long range targeting aspects superfluous to surveying, the
new technology is smaller, and cheaper.
Further, the package is scalable, to a certain extent. A more massive
installation, dubbed "Capital Survey Instruments" utilises far more
sensitive gravitic sensors, and much larger arrays. These larger arrays are
both a boon and a curse. The surface area required for the arrays is such
that the smallest ship capable of mounting the device is a frigate, and even
a Heavy Cruisers cannot physically mount more than 3 of them. However, the
larger arrays provide approximately 250% more sensitivity than either the Xi
or X+Xr combinations. Development of both systems begins.
It is a busy month for our scientists, as they also propose a new ordering
system for our exploration. Systems which contain no stars or planets,
so-called "Starless Nexus" are not named per se, but rather assigned an
astro-cartographic number. They propse that this practise be extended to any
system containing no planets. As such, the following systems are
redesignated.
OLD - NEW
Kohl - BG 877
Parsifal - BG 476
Siebold - BG 424
Somali - BG 873
Tannerman - BG 19
Colonization is to Marlboro, with over 15 million colonists departing this
month alone..
The Zanzibarians achieve abreakthrough in industrial and technological
understanding. New ideas are now possible, and, as they are our partners, we
willing share technical schematics with them of the appropriate technology.
They begin work immediately on the Force Beam, Enhanced Drive Missile, and
basic ECM.
Survey 01 finishes work in the Omega system, finding no additional warp
points, and one terrestrial world.
Survey 02 finishes in the Samson system, finding 2 additional; warp points,
and no terrestrial worlds.
Late in the month, the enemy fleet attacks the Heaven warp point. Defending
the warp point are a scratch force of six newly constructed Napoleon CAs,
and 6 CT DSBs, plus the attentandant 600 laser buoys.
The first warning of the attack is the sudden arrival of 29 enemy frigates,
and 24 battlecruisers in a simaltaneous transit. 10 of the frigates, and ½
the battlecruisers inter-penetrate in massive fireballs. Only 2 Napoleon
cruisers managed to activate their weapons, destroying two enemy frigates,
before the combined fire of the frigates plasma weapons destroy all six
cruisers. Better news from the corvettes, 3 of whom manage to activate their
laser buoys. All six corvettes turn to flee, hoping the damage from the
buoys will delay the enemy. Tell-tale small explosions of the laser buoys
blossom around the warp point, 50 buoys per pattern, each pattern 1 LS from
the warp point. Bomb-pumped lasers smash into the enemy ships, and
atmosphere crashes forth, as armour buckles. Few enemy ships are destroyed,
but over half are heavily damaged.
When the enemy ships weapons recharge, the three corvettes activate the
remaining buoys, and all the corvettes start to run at full speed. It is a
short run, however, as capital missile pound each small ships to
destruction. Life pods shoot away from the destroyed corvettes, and what few
survivors are treated to destruction writ large, as the remaining 150 buoys
detonate, annihilating 12 frigates and 6 battlecruisers, with more damage to
the other ships.
The enemy fleet forms, and more ships transit. The big boys have arrived,
with battleship after battleships transiting. The enemy fleet sets course
for the inhabited planets, and their vulnerable, defenceless shipyards and
people. Left behind, flashing beacons light the darkness of deep space,
filled with the survivors of a doomed fleet. One by one, the beacons go out,
exhausted and lifeless, as more once-proud Imperium Navy personnel are
extinguished.
Once again the Imperium is in alife-or-death struggle. Once again our
citizens are coming under the yoke of oppressors. Once again, we shall be
victorious.
(
geocities.com/mwadwell)