The Galaxy Awaits ... Choose Your Path!(Aurora)

[Brian Swartz]

Due to a small miscalculation on my part ... forgetting about Harvester Group 6(how you 'forget' eighty kilotons of ships is something I'll leave to reader's imagination), the information on Rob Nielsen III is incorrect. His next assignment, in fact, will be on one of the freighters, not a tanker. This is good news as it is considered a slightly better assignment in the hierarchy.

[Brian Swartz]

2066 ANNUAL REPORT(truncated)

A rather large bit of administrative news from the Navy to start off the year served the purpose of satisfying the public that SPACE continues to be serious about combat directives and preparing the way administratively for that orientation. The Navy was split from a unified command into two distinct task forces for the first time. Ellie Camble, the more senior of the two Rear Admirals, heads up the new Sol Defense Fleet(SDF), while Leota Schnepel takes command of the Sol Support Flotilla(SSF). As of now, the SDF consists only of the Forrestal II-class sensor vessels, but it will be growing soon.

During the disbursement of naval officers, there were a growing number of valid complaints. It seems the officers didn't appreciate crowding in some cases a dozen or more into the cramped room of a single crewman. And so, in the neverending list of overlooked necessities, the Lexington has been redesigned again to the 3d which contains six spare rooms. If more than six VIPs need to be transported, additional shuttles will be sent. Hopefully they'll be ready by next tour ...

In late January, ballistic technology specialist Rosa Suda increased to a 65% skill bonus, the largest yet seen. Dr. Suda has not yet reached her 30th birthday, and yet is now considered the most brilliant scientist in post-war annals of SPACE. This fact pretty much ensures that missile technology will be a notable priority for the forseeable future.

A month later, the Ute and Venus completed their refits, leaving only two more freighters to complete the process. And March saw the sudden and surprising investment of cclonization efforts on Mercury. For nearly a decade less than 5,000 have eked out an existence there, a number that was multiplied several times over in weeks. Later in the month, specifications for Construction Brigades capable of setting up needed facilities on worlds with a factory were completed. Such things were certainly noteworthy, but really only minor preludes to what happened a couple of monhts later.

On May 3, the final system needed for space-based combat clicked into place with Dr. Bessie Wallander's trials of military-grade passive thermal sensors. The culmination of nearly eight years of effort since Herbert Duling's historic global speech on the heels of the Epsilon Eridani crisis, this announcement meant that SPACE was finally ready to build its first generation of combat facilities and ships, taking war-making capability into space and putting some teeth into human naval operations.

Research & Development

** February 20 -- Dr. Suda wraps up work on the Implosion Fission Warhead, prompting calls in the navy for a new missile to take advantadge of the additional explosive yield. It is eventually decided to hold off until Karabishi Juishao's work on missile agility, though it is nearly three years off yet, is completed before crafting a new generation.

Suda decides to pursue improving launcher reload rates.

** March 26 -- Construction Brigade plans have been finalized(Dr. Brandon Grimmett). With the Burke transports already in production, the first Brigade enters training immediately. The Army always overestimates the required time, but has the first one finishing sometime in fall of 2067. Grimmett next applies himself to Hangar Decks, an improved version of Boat Bays for servicing small vessels on a ship.

** May 3 -- Thermal sensors are completed(Bessie Wallander). Planetary sensor strength is her next objective, which will require a third lab once one becomes available.

Commissioned Officers

Late April -- Some most welcome news as top electronics researcher Julio Kuchler marginally improves to 45% expertise.

[Brian Swartz]

SPACE SOL DEFENSE INITIATIVES

SDI(Sol Defense Initiatives) is SPACE's #1 strategic objective. As such, the primary focus of the industrial sector will be shifted to construction of new missile bases for planetary defense. A 'ground-up' prioritization will be followed, with defensive capabilities on Earth and the colonies considered more important than projecting power into space, which is a secondary goal.

PLANETARY-DEFENSE CENTERS

Ticonderoga-class Outpost

As previously discussed, the Ticonderoga is the most basic level of defense. These are to be deployed in two instances: any colony with less than 10 million population and no strategic value(i.e. Mercury), or a mining outpost that does not have considerable quantities of a vital mineral resource and is for that reason not considered a long-term necessity.

Mercury along with most of the mining outposts in Sol will receive Ticonderoga Outposts.

** Barracks for a single Garrison battalion
** Commercial-quality sensor suite.
** Minimal official presence.
** 2.95 kt, 16 crew, 87.5k cost

Tennessee-class Missile Base

Deployment of a Tennessee-class facility represents a larger investment in colonies of significant population with no strategic value other than their populations(Luna, Mars) and/or major mining outposts(Sedna, for example). There are two versions of the Tennessee, with the Tennessee Light used in situations such as Luna where passive sensors are not necessary due to coverage by deep space tracking stations on Earth. They should be strong enough to deter a 'recon in force' but not a major attack.

** Barracks for two Garrision Battalions
** Military-grade passive sensors(except for the Lt variant)
** Military-grade active sensors
** Five Missile Lauchers(Defender), six volleys each
** 7 feet of duranium armor(upgrade from the basic 5 for the Ticonderoga)
** Two CIWS batteries for a(very) basic element of defense
** The Tennessee Lt. is 12.1 kt with 214 crew and a cost of 951k; The standard Tennessee is 13.3 kt, 254 crew, and 1.1m credits cost.

Alaska-class Missile Base

The Alaska is intended for major planetary defense. Initially, only Earth and Titan, SPACE's most strategically important activity centers, will receive this level of investment.

** Barracks for a full combat brigade
** Military-grade passive sensors(two of each for redundancy)
** Military-grade active sensors(again, two of each)
** 25 Defender Missile Launchers(18 volleys each)
** 14 feet of duranium armor
** 18 CIWS batteries for defense
** 60.7 kt, 1030 crew, 5.2 million. An Alaska installation is a major investment, more than 5 times the price of the Pioneer, previously our most expensive endeavor, and 70% larger than a Fletcher IV freighter.

Because of the previously-discussed issues that make energy-based weaponry totally ineffective(at least for now) against known enemy capabilities, missile-based ships will be the backbone of the initial combat navy. The major combat doctrine issue to be resolved is whether to make each ship self-sufficient and able to operate independently if needed, or to have a number of ships rely on dedicated sensor ships painting targets for them. The latter would be far preferable given the current required size of active sensor suites, but our inability to defend against enemy missile attacks in any meaningful way pushed it out of mind. Two ship designs were thrown together with this in mind: the Nimitz-class missile boat and the Brooklyn-class beam ship. The Nimitz will carry Defender missile launchers, similar to the Tennessee missile base, and the Brooklyn meson and laser turrets.

Their primary purposes are two-fold: first, a public demonstration that SPACE is making progress towards a real combat navy, and secondly, the ability to test, as much as is possible, various logistical and combat necessities. There will be a considerable amount of 'wasted' resources in the sense that current sensor electronics components are already obsolete(equally effective and 30% smaller versions are already possiblke), but it remains a top SPACE priority to get assets into service, however inefficient they may be. Final specs on the Brooklyn and Nimitz await only the testing phase of the new 200-ton Phoenix engine, the primary military-grade propulsion system that is awaiting lab space to be developed. Fuel efficiency has been tossed to the wind(125% power modifier) in an effort to get the most speed that can reasonably be achieved.

It is expected to be quite some time(probably decades) before an equilibrium is reached wherein the initial waves of research advancements slows down to the point where our ability to build things can catch up with it and a modicum of stability can be established.

[PilotMan]

Dude, this had fallen off my radar a while ago, sorry about that. It's ironic that JEJ V is the governor of a mining colony. Maybe he should have been BDW V instead.

[Brian Swartz]

lol, I go through times of absence too. No biggie .

2066 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2/Conclusion)

Matters continued on much as they had before, except that nearly half of Earth's factories were now devoted to building bases for planetary defense. Still even at that, the first Alaska was not due to be ready for about three years. Meanwhile, with limited research set to complete in the second half of the year, many of the reports to the Director's office were not particularly consequential.

In early May, 36-year-old Nick Cuffie became the eighth active navy Captain, the most the branch has ever had at one time. On August 17, the maintenance facility expansion to 15kt was finally completed, as was the first run of 10 Ticonderoga-class facilities, ready to be deployed but lacking the means to do so as of yet(Construction Brigades and Burke transports to take the brigades to their destinations).

Days later, probably the most significant news of the latter half of the year came, as neutronium crossed the 5kt threshold again, this time in the positive direction. Capacity expansion at the Tod & Macgregor resumed immediately, and at two of the naval yards a couple months later.

Colonial Developments

Mid-May -- Corundium deposits on Neujmin have been exhausted. This will not be an issue anytime soon -- Earth's stockpile will grow considerably with most resources diverted to building army bases, not economic investment.

Late November -- Sedna expands to 23 complexes. Duranium outlook has never been so secure, reaching nearly five figures(10kt) on Earth by now.

Research & Development

** May 30 -- Harlan Welle's latest project(KKC CIWS II) finished.

** July 10 -- The latest laboratory complex is completed, and work begins on the Phoenix military engine(newcomer David Gruis).

** November 15 -- Rosemary Urenda's team completes work into increased reactor power(10%) with equivalent explosion risk. She'll take over on the Phoenix 40 military engine test phase. Billie Allington takes a couple of labs for work on the GEI MSS 180, second-generation missile search sensor which can detect enemy missiles an estimated 40-80 seconds out. Naval command believes that number needs to be stretched to at least five minutes, but that would make the required electronics prohibitively large so the march of technology will first need to have its effect.

** Early Dec -- Joe Tycho reaches some rarified air, upping his expertise to 65%. If only the sensors and fire control branch could develop a couple minds at this level ...

Commissioned Officers

Early August -- More medical problems for Dr. Joe Tycho. It appears now to be quite likely that the 46-year-old researcher will be forced into early retirement at some point ...

Mid-August -- Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III improves Fleet Movement Initiative up to 227.

Mid-October -- James Earl Jones V improves Factory Production bonus to 15%.

Earth

Late September -- Four shuttles are brought up to the Lexington III(d) standard.

Sept/Oct. -- For several weeks, the jump to Teegarden's Star goes unguarded as both ships require maintenance at the same time. It is presumed uninhabited, but still a matter for increased concern.

October -- The Baltimore-Marine and Yokahama naval yards resume capacity expansion, as rising neutronium stockpiles are considered sufficient.

[sterlingice]

This is Sterling Silvers's last year, correct?

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Correct. Automatic retirement hits at the end of 2067. And as for your next char, there's hasn't been a once-in-a-generation army recruit in ... well, in over a generation now actually. Navy's been getting all the good ones, especially since the academy got expanded. All of the top army officers are now in their 30s and 40s or older except for one decent mid-20s Brig. Gen. So ... still looking.

I should also point out there that I've had to work extra 9 of the last 10 days with no end in sight as the busy season continues, and I've been getting sick the last couple days. That probably adds up to slow Aurora progress, but the story shall continue!

[sterlingice]

No worries- I'm enjoying reading the story as is, character or not.

Also, take it at your own pace- it's a bummer to not get updates but at the same time, it's no good if you get burned out and feel like writing is a chore

SI

[Brian Swartz]

2067 ANNUAL REPORT


To begin her mid-term, Director Rakes re-institutes the 2% Initiative, citing the large and growing duranium stockpile as evidence SPACE can easily afford it. The four habitable moons of Jupiter(Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto) are all that remains to settle. All have a 5.75 difficulty, making them slightly less hostile than Titan. Callisto will be first as it has some limited mineral utility(58kt Titanium at 0.5, 2.5mt Uridium at 0.1). The plan at present is to ship a few mines there to boost the economy, eventually.

A mass driver is sent to each of the four moons, and an initial shipment of 125kt of infrastructure sent to Callisto, along with another 70 kt for Io. Ricardo Bloise and [/b]Rufus Ke[/b] are sent as administrators for the respective prospective colonies ...

On January 26, the Salvage Module research team(Cedrick Wormack) finishes its work. The Salvage Module is one of the primary objectives needed to properly pursue exploring interstellar space again, allowing for gathering intel from wrecks should we come upon any.

A ship capable of deploying the salvage module effectively would have to be larger than any current SPACE vessel operating: it would need to be 50kt or more, even if not equipped with its own jump drive. A freighter-size hold would be required to carry anything that might be found, and the salvage module itself is 10kt, costing 200k credits and requiring 80 crew members to operate.

In the opinion of Director Rakes, it is pointless to worry about designing and/or building such a ship right now, until it gets closer to the time when the other required priority tech, improved geological sensors, can be researched.

At the end of April, the Phoenix engine is finally ready and after much debate the two initial combat ship classes are finalized. Future versions are expected to be much smaller and more specialized, but for now this is what the navy has come up with.

Brooklyn-class Gunboat
Armament: 4 SpearPoint DL8 dual-laser turrets, 2 Excalibur 102 Single-meson cannon turrets, each with their own firing controls.
Power: 12 PBR 1650 Reactors
Size: 15.15 kt
Speed: 2376 km/s
Fuel: 2m, 20.2 b km range(98 days)
Crew: 415
Cost: 1.88m, 2.33y

Nimitz-class Missile Boat
Size: 13.95 kt
Crew: 373
Speed: 2,437 km/s -- both just over a third of known enemy ship speeds
Armament: 5 Defender missile launchers, 6 volleys each
Cost: 1.89m, 2.49y

Only Wartsila is close to being large enough to accomodate these ships, but it is still a bit small at 12.5 kt.

Less than a week later, on the second of May, there was more big news as the first Construction Brigade was readied on Earth. Soon a three-ship convoy headed for Stephan-Oterma: the FT Hercules(carrying required minerals and the equipment to assemble a Ticonderoga base), a Portland(with the garrison battalion) and a Burke(carrying the construction brigade to assemble the base).

By the middle of June, a second brigade is ready and en route to Machholz, which was just outside Mars orbit and a much smaller trip. By the end of the month, everything was in place there with the construction brigade headed for Stephan-Oterma still almost two weeks out. Brigadier General Karl Mattey on Machholz reported in that assembling the base would take over six months, into the early weeks of 2068. Clearly the process of getting proper bases set up on all of SPACE's outposts in Sol space is an undertaking that will be measured in years, if not decades.

By the middle of October, Wartsila is ready to retool for the Nimitz-class missile boat. That will take almost two years, the first ship another two and a half, putting the first vessel in service sometime in late 2071. Much may well have changed by then, but the process of getting a proper navy put together is off to its first halting start. With the other shipyards far too small as of yet, it is unclear if any of this generation of Brooklyn gunboats will even be constructed before a more efficient design becomes available.

It was a most eventful year. Most of the shuttle refits have been completed, construction of minor military bases on Stephan-Oterma and Machholz has commenced, the initial test boats of both missile and energy weapons have been designed, and two moons of Jupiter were colonized. The militarization of Sol has begun.


COMMISSIONED OFFICERS


Early January -- 44-year-old Christopher Sonders becomes the eighth active Brigadier General, as the army officer corps is growing as well.

January 14 -- Ricardo Bloise officially moves into his makeshift command post, as it were, on Callisto, which presently has enough infrastructure to support 30,000 people and a mass driver, but no industrial equipment or colonists.

Early February -- James Earl Jones V's GU Construction Speed is up to 20%; Rob Nielsen III's Fleet Movement Initiative improves to 258.

March -- Alberto Eighmy, not heard from in quite some time, has managed to gain some more influential friends(political reliability 35%). In terms of playing the political game, only Duling exceeds him. ... too bad his health has not permitted him to be as active.

Late March -- The first officer dismissals in three years see four army and two navy officers released.

Early May -- Starved for leadership with the only two free officials set to take posts on Europa and Ganymede in coming years, SPACE is excited to see the graduation of Roxann Harshberger from the academies. She has notable skills in population growth, terraforming, and logistics, but no known political connections. Harshberger is considered a candidate for a relatively important posting immediately, ranking in the top half of administrative candidates.

Mid-May -- James Earl Jones V Shipbuilding to 50%(he still has not, once, been in charge of anything that required this skill. Nor is he likely to, at this point. Counter cross-stich would be equally useful for him to pursue). Rob Nielsen III increases training to 75, which actually matters.

Early October -- A stellar new naval recruit, Parker Lanzi, with very good training marks and some skill in logistics and survey, bolsters the naval officer ranks.

Mid-October -- Deacon Palmer increases admin rating to 12, tops among active scientists(Bavaro was at the same level before his sudden retirement).

Late November -- The Navy now has nine Captains with the promotion of 36-year-old Rocco Lett. Soon it is eight again as Anton Ericson(46) is promoted to Rear Admiral, giving the navy three active admirals. The Navy then creates what is really an honorary position given her impending retirement, as Ellie Camble is dubbed the first Senior Rear Admiral in SPACE history.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT


** January 16 -- Dr. Eva Vadnais finishes work on a 12-cm focal size laser project. Upgrading the laser weapons to the next generation is best saved until Tycho's work on wavelength is finished in a couple of months, so she instead takes over work on increasing focal size of the meson cannon, which was started by Wayne Sabagh.

David Gruis gets another crack with the GE PBR 1650, prototype phase for a slightly more efficient reactor using the increased power option.

** January 26 -- The Salvage Module is completed by Cedrick Wormack's team. His next project(Tiny Engineering Section) is not nearly so momentous, simply an effort to allow more fine-tuning in ship design.

Lacking an appropriately specialized scientist to take the project, Everett Snuggs is assigned to begin work on the next improvement in EM Sensor Sensitivity.

** March 15 -- Joe Tycho's team completes research on visible light laser wavelengths, allowing for the next generation in laser weaponry to commence prototype phase. The UBOS 12-2 VIS has a third greater damage than the previous IR lasers, and extends range to 80k km. Tycho will take a month to test it out.

** April 1 -- David Gruis finishes work on the newest power plant(GE PBR 1650), having learned nothing in the process.

** April 20 -- The new laser is complete, and turret testing begins. That will take a bit longer, a few months.

** April 28 --The Phoenix 40 military engine(Rosemary Urenda) is finished. A third and final lab is now added to EM Sensor research(Everett Snuggs).

** May 21 -- Better thermal sensors(sensitivity 8) have been discovered by Dr. Julio Kuchler. He sets to work developing the SITG ThermoScan 104, which is a hair stronger and 200 tons(nearly a quarter) smaller than the current military-grade standard ThermoScan 102. Rosemary Urenda takes the remaining lab to investigate continuing improvements in her series of projects on increasing plant reactor power(and explosion risk).

** June 3 -- A newly-finished research complex is added to the recently-formed team investigating increases in reactor power(Urenda).

** August 10 -- The new laser turret(SpearPoint DL8(b)) is ready, courtesy of Joe Tycho. Improved focusing for meson cannons is his next objective.


EARTH


February 2 -- The first two Arleigh Burke-class brigade-capacity troop transports are under way! They'll be going nowhere though, until there are Construction Brigades for them to transport, which is expected to happen this summer. SPACE can only guess at how long it will take a brigade to set up the bases once on-site ... there are almost certainly logistical problems that will arise which can only be guessed at from the current vantage point.

Meanwhile, many of the shipyards are silent ... for now.

Mid-February -- The final two freighters complete their refitting, and all of them are now more or less at the modern standard. Only the Vickers-Armstrong yard continues on with refitting the shuttles.

July 3 -- Earth finishes a mass driver to replace as backup the one sent to Callisto. The space is devoted to an expansion of the maintenance facilities at humanity's homeworld, which are just a hair too small to accomodate a Brooklyn at the moment.

July -- The last of the oldest Lexingtons have completed the refit process. The rest will go much more quickly. Completion of the process is expected next year, well ahead of the 2069 electoral cycle.

September 28 -- Maintenance facility expansion on Earth completed, now at 15.2kt.


COLONIAL AFFAIRS


Early February -- First-in colonists land at Callisto, with Io soon following suit.

July 11 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga begins the assembly process.

Early October -- Suter Shipping Services joins the civilian shipping fray.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

It is as clear a changing of the guard as their could be. The Chief of the Navy and Chief of the Army are both retiring to start 2068, and both are the most recognizable and accomplished heads of their respective branches that SPACE has ever had.

** Senior Rear Admiral Ellie Camble is the standard by which all future naval officers will be judged(6824 promotion score). Ironically, she retires just as the navy is about to begin deserving the name. SPACE was just over three years old when she graduated the academy in 2028. She was a senior officer before there were any notable ship commands and therefore never received one, taking just over four years to reach Captain rank in the summer of '32. After 18 of her 22 years as Communications Officer as Fleet HQ, she was promoted to Rear Admiral. Since 2055, she has served impeccably as the navy's top officer. She will be succeeded briefly by Rear Admiral Leota Schnepel(57).

** Major General Sterling Silvers took less than 16 months to rise to the top of the Army in June 2028. A little over a year later, he became the first, and only until now, Major General in SPACE. He has overseen the modernization to TN-tech in the ground forces, commanding low-tech armour divisions for over two decades, and the first brigade for the past almost three years since the reorganization took place. A few can say they were more skilled, including his successor Brigadier General Abel Rosinski(58), but none approach his visibility and/or reputation. The Army was not called upon to do much of anything during his tenure, but there must always be vigilant men ready to do violence on behalf of humanity if need be. For four decades, Silvers was charged to make sure there were, and he fulfilled his duty well.

There are others stepping aside at this time as well. Health and age are becoming an issue for a number of the more experienced scientists and administrators, but for the time being they all soldier on.

** Brig. Gen. Angela Bankson, a 36-year veteran of the general rank and longtime commander of the garrison on Titan.
** Cols. Roberto Nicastro and Edward Clontz
** Commander Kathy Wheatly, famously of the Wheatly geology team, which she headed for five years until 2045. By that time she was already a senior officer, but despite experience on many different vessels, she never quite made it to Captain.


Cmdr. Tell Perj Jr. -- 4th out of 26. For two brief periods totalling around six months, Perj Jr. was the top promotion candidate for Captain, but he never made it. Barring something highly extreme, this will be the final tour for the 49-year-old veteran officer. He'll spend it back onboard one of the Forrestal sensor ships.
Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III -- 18th out of 79. Another tour on board the FT Hercules ... it could be worse.

James Earl Jones V(6) -- Still at Stephan-Oterma, but has improved himself enough that a colony posting is likely in a year's time.

Pioneer Deacon Palmer(CP 50) -- Shipyard operations is due to be finished late in the next year. He has one, maybe two projects left in him in my estimation(64 years old).
Joe Tycho(EW 65) -- You can count the number of researchers as important as the ailing Tycho on one hand. A victim of health issues both physical and psychological, he also seems likely to snap at any time. It's a fate all too common with geniuses, it seems. About two years remain on his task improving meson cannon focusing abilities to increase their range.

[Brian Swartz]

Just a heads up that this will continue -- I've suspended all other gaming activities -- but I don't know when that will be. Last week I worked an unintended personal-record 79 hours and expect to be quite busy for the duration of the winter. I also got sick over New Year's(no, not chemically induced . Doesn't leave a whole lot of time for dilly-dallying, but the story of SPACE will continue.

[sterlingice]

Good to hear

SI

[Brian Swartz]

2068 ANNUAL REPORT

Ganymede saw the lion's share of the 2% Initiative this year, expected to finish up in 2069 assuming the next administration doesn't nix it. In the meantime, there were more economic changes made in the final year of the term. The catalyst was the simple and glorious fact that there is very little pressure on mineral stockpiles. All are rising except for neutronium which is pretty much holding steady -- and that with some commercial yards still expanding that really don't need to be any bigger right now, expansions that could be shut off with little consequence at any time. In face of these facts, Director India Rakes ordered that the one-sixth of the industrial sector devoted to economic improvements switch its focus to two matters: getting ten standard mines set for shipment to Callisto, and increasing the number of factories available on Earth. It is expected that within five years the conversion from conventional facilities, now at 90.7%, will be completed. Also in view is building maintenance facilities for both Callisto and Titan for servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels, and a shipment of fuel to Callisto so it can refuel them. With out-system refueling bases on both moons, there will be less reason for ships to have to return all the way to Earth just to fill up.

Rosinski was promoted to Major General as expected, replaced by Wyatt Pittman(35). This still left the army two generals short of where it was before.

Less than three weeks into the year, Clint Wyche completed Genome Sequence Research. The spectre and possibility of genetically engineering races more suited to various climates and conditions raises a number of ethical issues, issues which SPACE has elected to punt on for now. Breaking the general policy of specialization and the 5-year project limit, with nothing to pursue for now in his field, Wyche is assigned to working on Improved Geological Sensors, the final piece required for resumed exploration of neighbouring systems. With three labs eventually assigned, it is expected to take nearly a decade unless a sensors researcher is available to shorten that time.

On February 10, the eventful start to the year continues as the first off-world military base is established on Machholz. Meanwhile, the first mine is sent off to Callisto.

February 27 was a rough day for the R&D Directorate. Scientist Rosa Suda, the top missile specialist and just barely 30 years old, has died prematurely of natural causes. Harlan Welle takes over her work on reload rates, which was expected to complete in the summer, but this tragedy will have far longer-reaching consequences. Suda was expected to head up a major element of SPACE's weapons research efforts for decades: no scientific mind in the agency's annals reached such dizzying heights so quickly. Karabishi Juishao is now the clear replacement, but does not have Suda's talents and is 55 years old. Welle is 53 and the only other established scientist in the field. Early speculation holds that this may force SPACE to rely more on energy-based weapons in the future ...

March brings the shipment of the first Tennessee(Lt) along with required men and materials to Mars. Construction begins in April, and is expected to take as much as five years to complete. Meanwhile, before the end of the third month, Hank Rohrer(23) is been promoted to captain, less than three years after graduating the academy. Shortly afterwards, the navy has three admirals again with Jung Besler(52) the most recent to make rear admiral. Questionable health makes it an open issue how long she will be able to serve there. Leota Schnepel takes the vacated post at Senior Rear Admiral, where she is expected to stay as head of the Navy for the next couple of tours.

June 8 was one of those days that would be remembered for a while simply because multiple important events happened for whatever reason to converge at once. The final of the three Construction Brigades initially ordered finished its training -- with the timeframe building the off-world bases is requiring, at least two more have been ordered. It was also decided to divert some production from the bases to expanding ground unit construction facilities to enable an eventual third training unit at once. With ongoing construction currently happening on Reinmuth and Mars, the comet Faye would be their first assignment. Karabishi Juishao's report was presented, detailing a 60% increase in missile agility, and she takes over the final stages of the missile launcher reload rate project, started by Suda and continued by Welle when she died earlier this year. A third, and for the moment final, lab is added to the crucial Improved Geological Sensors project. Finally, Asa Hotz was promoted to Captain, and two days later Chong Vaugh(47) was named the fourth active rear admiral, a new high mark. This leaves Mitchell Feeser, just 33, as the top-ranking captain in the navy.

Later in the month, more naval recruits led to more promotions, and in this case the result is extending the career of Tell Perj Jr. who is promoted to Captain! The 49-year-old Perj was a year and a half away from mandatory retirement, but will now soldier on for another decade, having spent nearly three at his previous rank of commander.

Matters were fairly quiet until mid-September, when on the 15th Missile Launcher Reload Rate is completed(Dr. Juishao again in the news here). With this, the prototyping phase for the next generation of missiles can begin. She gets to work on the Defender II, which is expected to increase the hit rate by 6% and the payload by 50%, an estimated 78% increase in combat effectiveness and the ability to fire faster but still an overmatched weapons system.

Engineering also took another look at possibilities for anti-missile ballistics based on the improved agility specs. They didn't expect much -- internal estimates are that the next generation of engines will need to be available before such a thing becomes viable. They were right -- basically the effective chance to hit can now reach 4-8% instead of 3-7%, nowhere near being useful yet.

In October, the Army gets back a new general as Col. Beverly Kisinger, 31, is promoted. Later in the month, the research directorate suffered another loss with Delmar Ytuarte found to be the apparent victim of one of those senseless, seemingly random street crimes. He was prototyping one of the next-generation sensor suites, which will now be taken by the best available scientist, logistics specialist Curtis Gloster. Sensors & Fire Control now has only four active researchers, no better than half of what is really needed right now

It was quite the eventful year: the first Ticonderoga bases were established, untimely deaths of two key researchers, a number of new senior officers in both branches of the military, developments in missile and sensor technology, and continued development of minor outsystem colonies and outposts. The future continues to be promising but uncertain, and clouded with danger.



Research & Development

** January 19 -- Clint Wyche completes Genome Sequence Research.
** Feb. 26 -- Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Theory is published(Santo Makar). Ion Drives are now possible, but the research is prohibitively expensive for the time being. Makar begins work on improving jump drive efficiency instead. Another lab goes to Dr. Adolfo Walth, whose first project lead involves researching a high-density advancement in duranium armor.
** Late April -- Research lab completed and added to the duranium armor project.
** June 8 -- Improved Missile Agility completed(Karabishi Juishao).
** November 21 -- Deacon Palmer presents his report on Shipyard Operations, detailing minor decreases in the time and cost required for expansions, retooling, and the like. He'll next work on increasing the rate at which ships can be built.
** December 8 -- SITG ThermoScan 104, new military-grade thermal sensors, are unveiled by Dr. Julio Kuchler's team. He takes over Curtis Gloster's work on new actives, and Harlan Welle gets back in the game working on new missile launchers.



Commissioned Officers

Mid-February -- Tell Perj Jr. increases Fleet Movement Initiative to 403.
Early August -- The energy weapons field gets even stronger with Eva Vadnais upping to 55%.
Early September -- Not resting on his laurels even at this late stage, Deacon Palmer has increased his expertise to 60%.
Early October -- Alberto Eighmy improves to 50% Factory Production.
Mid-October -- Eighmy makes a less-useful breakthrough in Terraforming(10%).
Late October -- Mitchell Feeser improves Operations to 15%
Mid-December -- Parker Lanzi, the latest naval prodigy, is promoted to Commander. Meanwhile, Alberto Eighmy continues a strong year, upping mining skill to 20% ahead of the election.



Colonial Developments

February 10 -- Machholz PDC Ticonderoga becomes the first off-world base.
February 24 -- The Stephan-Oterma Ticonderoga is completed.
Late February -- Sedna expands to 24 complexes.
Mid-March -- Construction of the first off-world military base begins with the shipment of men and materials to Mars(Tennessee-class missile base).

Early June -- The final delivery of the ten mines for Callisto is made, though right now only one can operate at full capacity with the number of workers presently available there. The small amount of mining investment switches back to building automated mines for access of neutronium deposits in various outposts.

Mid-August -- Investment in Neujmin resumes with the first automated mine of the most recent wave being sent there.

November 1 -- Gallicite exhausted on Comas Sola.


Earth

Late March -- A new naval shipyard, dubbed the KSEC(even naval command isn't pretending to know what these initials stand for, a spokesman simply stated that this four-letter arrangement 'tested well in focus groups') is completed. With five commercial and four naval yards, SPACE is fairly satisfied with current shipyard status. With the other yards expanding for more substantial jobs, KSEC will take over the role of servicing the Forrestal sensor vessels.

November -- -- The shuttles fan out over the Sol system in anticipation of the coming election.

[Brian Swartz]

** Note: A 'SPACE AT 50' retrospective summary is planned for 2075, but right now six years takes a long time **

STATE OF SPACE, 2069

I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS

IA. Populated Colonies

Earth(1.250b, 435 CF, 45 CI, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 29 RL, 3 AC, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, SC)
Mars(38.74m)
Luna(37.06m)
Titan(16.78m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(7.12m)
Mercury(3.46m)
Io(200k)
Callisto(120k)
Ganymede(110k)

All colonies grew during the most recent cycle, though Titan and Luna were relatively stagnant as Mars became the most populous colony. The final of the Galilean moons, Europa, will be added to the list in the next year but that is expected to be it for quite some time as there are no other habitable places to go in Sol. The last fragments(4.5%) of pre-TN economic infrastructure are expected to be converted in the next few years.

Total population is at 1.354 billion(+9.2%).

IB. Outposts

Sedna(25 CMC, 16 eff, 8.19 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 30 eff, 3.27 kt)
Earth(50 SM, 45 CI, 8.6 eff, 1.03 kt) -- mercassium(0.9y), duranium(3.3)
Reinmuth(29.8 AM, 37 eff, 1.91 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(8.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.95 kt) -- corundium(3.8), mercassium(6.1)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 354t)
Faye(25 AM, 48 eff, 1.89 kt) -- tritanium(6.5)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 43 eff, 2.03 kt) -- corundium(2.8), sorium(8.6)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.48 kt)
Neujmin(20.8 AM, 42 eff, 1.45 kt) -- vendarite(3.1)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 52 eff, 1.67 kt) -- boronide(2.5), gallicite(3.9)
Wolf-Harrington(16.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.59 kt) -- corundium(7.8)
Borrelly(15.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.28 kt)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 952t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 181t)
Wild(5 AM, 34 eff, 268t)
Wolf(5 AM, 26 eff, 205t)

Total Production: 31.64 kt, a massive increase of just under 10kt per year, or 45.7%!! Much of this is due to increased efficiencies due to the installation of Sector Command, but continued expansion on Sedna and neutronium-focused investments on Reinmuth, Neujmin, and elsewhere also were significant contributors. Corundium deposits are set to dry up soon in several locations which will need to be watched closely, but Earth's deposits increased by about half in the last four years so it is not a short-term concern. The extreme long-period comet Ikeya-Zang(81.7 kt, 1.0 accessible) is the only really long-term solution, but at 13b km distant it is still decades away from being a convenient investment option. Other than trace amounts from Venus's massive reserves, it is the only untapped significant deposit in Sol.

IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production

Tier A: Uridium(73 kt), Vendarite(45 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Corbomite(36 kt), Boronide(33 kt)

Boronide is promoted to Tier A with very little ship-building going on recently. This is expected to be a temporary situation.

Gallicite should have an asterisk here. Quite a bit was used in the defender missiles, but the stockpile still grew and that's the only major usage with none planned in the next year or so.

Tier B: Tritanium(38 kt), Mercassium(29 kt).

A modest increase in mercassium eliminated any concern on that front, and tritanium is demoted to B as it is being used on considerable amounts for base construction. The stockpile is still growing, so there's no supply issue at this point.

Tier C: Sorium(24.9 kt), Duranium(14.8 kt, Corundium(11.0 kt). All three rose sharply, with the near-tripling of duranium stockpiles leading to a demotion to this tier. This speaks to the increasing economic stability and strength that SPACE has demonstrated.

Tier D: Neutronium(6.15 kt) has recovered strongly and is slowly increasing, though it is still by far the most critical mineral concern, both short and long-term. Current supplies are enough to support all but the most aggressive shipbuilding activity.

ID. Income

Taxes(population): 33.6 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 6.19 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 125 k

Total: 39.90m(+17.7%). The civilian share of the economy grew from about 13-16% this cycle, and it was a very strong growth period for the treasury.

Balance: 564m(+65m)

IE. Expenses

Research: 6.89m
Mineral Purchases: 6.01m
Installation Construction: 3.92m
Shipyard Operations: 2.60m
PDC Construction: 2.00m
GU Maintenance: 274k
GU Training: 199k
Maintenance Facilities: 76k
Shipbuilding: 61.5k

Total: 22.04m(-1.3%)

Contrary to the expectations four years ago, shipbuilding nearly ground to a halt, leading the way to the first overall decline in expenses that SPACE has ever seen. This is expected to reverse itself eventually with the Brooklyn and Nimitz classes entering production along with next-gen exploratory vessels, military and support ships down the road -- but for now it is the economy and the march of technology taking the lion's share of expenses.

II. SHIPYARDS

IIA. Commercial Yards

Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 84.1 kt capacity)
** Expanding for the next generation of higher-capacity freighters(approx. 150 kt)
P&A Group(4, 54 kt)
** Expanding in preparation for larger harvesters, target of 70-80kt. Still a number of years out, and waiting for next-gen engines as well.
Estalerios Navais(2, 23.2 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 10 kt)
** Idle

IIB. Naval Yards

Wartsila(1, 14 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz Class, Summer 2069
Baltimore Marine(2, 5.62 kt)
** Expanding Capacity
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 4.05 kt)
** Expanding Capacity, eventually for the Brooklyn class in some years time
KSEC(1, 1 kt)
** Adding a second slipway(February), for use as the new maintenance yard for Forrestals and other small vessels.

III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES

IIIA. Earth

** Two active training facilities
** Construction Brigade(Fall 2069)
** Garrison Battalion(April 2069)

IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

IVA. Earth

Research Lab(33%) -- March 2069
Alaska PDC(15%) -- Four ordered, Early 2080s
Ground Force Training Facility(10%) -- Early 2071
CF Conversions(9%) -- 5 remaining on the current run, due in February
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 8%) -- 4-5 per year
Maintenance Facilities(6%) -- 5 remaining, Mid-2070
Prefab Alaska PDC(5%) -- For Titan, Early 2080s
Prefab Tennessee PDC(5%) -- Two more needed, Summer 2072
Prefab Tennessee(Lt) PDC(5%) -- 1 left, Spring 2071
Infrastructure(2%) -- 14 left on final run, February 2069
Prefab Ticonderoga PDC(1%) -- Early 2080s, 11 left for various minor outposts
Mine Conversions(conventional industry to standard, 1%) -- 4-5 per year

V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

** Improved Meson Cannons -- larger focal size(Eva Vadnais) -- February 2069
** Defender II Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- February 2069
** Thermal Reduction(Edward Groat) -- Late Spring/Early Summer 2069
** GEI MSS 180 -- active missile search sensors(Billie Allington) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Defender MLS(Harlan Welle) -- Late Fall/Early Winter 2069
** Improved Meson Cannons -- better focusing(Joe Tycho) -- November/December 2069
** GEI SSS 168 -- military-grade active search sensors(Julio Kuchler) -- December 2069/January 2070
** Improved Fire Control Speeds(Elwood Tousant) -- Spring/Summer 2070
** Increased Reactor Power(Rosemary Urenda) -- Summer 2070
** Hangar Deck(Brandon Grimmett) -- Late 2070/Early 2071
** EM Sensor Sensitivity(Everett Snuggs) -- Early 2071
** Planetary Sensors(Bessie Wallander) -- Mid-2071
** High-Density Duranium Armor(Adolfo Walth) -- Mid-2071
** Increaseed Shipbuilding Rate(Deacon Palmer) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Tiny Engineering Module(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late 2071/Early 2072
** Improved Jump Drive Efficiency(Santo Makar) -- Late 2072/Early 2073
** Improved Geological Sensors(Clint Wyche) -- 2076/2077

VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS

[u]VI A. Ships[/b]

TT Arleigh Burke(2, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
SB Forrestal IIb(14, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexingon IIIc(5, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
ST Lexington IIId(19, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(21, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)

Total: 80 vessels(+9.5%), 1.10 mt(+43%), 5.82k crew(+26%), 33.5m liters fuel(+24%)

As has been noted elsewhere the growth of the navy slowed dramatically during this cycle. The commercial needs of SPACE are well-satisfied by the present assets, but as combat-role ships ramp up production, the force is expected to multiply.

VI B. Planetary Defense Centers

PDC Ticonderoga(2, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)

Total: 2 Bases, 32 crew

Even though they are not ships in any sense, as their primary purpose is defending against space-based threats, planetside bases are still considered part of the navy and commanded by naval officers.

Available Crew: 96.5k(+12.6%)

VI C. Fuel Status

Earth -- 23.9m liters
Titan -- 9.69m liters
Callisto -- 5.33m liters

Total -- 38.9m liters(+2.9%). The tanks continue to grow, but very slowly. There is enough to run every ship in the navy non-stop for less than two and a half years. The plan at the moment is to upgrade to a much larger, higher-capacity harvester when the next generation of engines arrives, which is expected to take a decade or two.

VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS

** Brigade HQs(3)
** Construction Brigades(3)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(6)
** Garrison Battalion(21)

Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 197k(+71%)

With new Construction Brigades needed to get naval bases up and running as soon as possible, garrisons to staff them, and Earth short of the desired amount of mobile infantry, there is need for new men everwhere. The Army is expected to continue to grow for at least the next decade.

VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS

Voliva Carrier Company(48 vessels, 4.61m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(15, 1.04m)
Ouellet Shipping(2, 460k)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(3, 150k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 120k)
Presnar Freight(2, 110k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, 20k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)

Total Vessels: 80(+11%)
Total Civilian Income: 6.57m(+42%)

Voliva continues to dominate with a 70% market share, but that's down from 75% last cycle. Overall the civilian sector showed incredible expansion with most competitors expanding either operations or profits, both in the case of top rival Jensrud TT. Ouellet managed to triple their business with only two operational vessels, partly through modernization, and moved into the #3 spot decisively.

IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS

** Naval Officers: 92 of 124 assigned(74.2%), -14%
** Ground Forces Officers: 38 of 48(79.2%), +8.5%
** Civilian Administrators: 26 of 29(89.7%), +8%
** Scientists: 17 of 30(56.7%), -- +8%

Overall: 173 of 231(74.9%), -2%

Merely graduating the academy no longer is a guarantee of a navy command as the output of the GLTC has increased, but opportunities have improved in all other branches and 11 new positions were added in the navy as well. Administrators continue to be in increasingly short supply, but it is hoped that the quality and available candidates will improve now as Sol has nearly reached full colonization.

[Brian Swartz]

2069 Election

India Rakes is required to step aside for a term, leaving Herbert Duling as the expected, prohibitive favorite. Rakes will take over as Governor of Earth for the next tour in a supporting role. Duling's health has not significantly improved, and at 55 the possibility that he could be forced into retirement at any time is a very real issue.

Additionally, the remaining members of the original contingent at SPACE HQ, Terrence Forson and Jayson Riese, both are retiring at age 65 and struggling health. This leaves the agency with just a single spare candidate. Forson was a long-time contributor to important positions such as Mars and Sedna before through the mid-50s, while Riese spent most of his career watching from the sidelines, his highlight an 8-month tour as interim director in '36.

While the other 27 administrators remain in service, health is an major issue for many including almost all of those on the final ballot. Alberto Eighmy continues to be a prime example, as the Governor of Mars has skills second only to Duling but is in very poor health that has not improved over time. Delois Woznicki is still very talented and still has not learned how to manage on a large scale.

This leaves only Mercury's governor, Jarrett Hugh, and Eighmy as realistic challengers to Duling. The final ballot features a total of seven names this year. Duling's brand appears to have shattered. While once he couldn't put a foot wrong politically, he had a very poor campaign this year and the ailing Eighmy made a serious run at the Directorship. Last election's surprise third-place finisher Larry Steckel had a brilliant, near-perfect campaign, but still doesn't have the base of power to seriously threaten the top challengers.

Faced with only very flawed choices, 248 million electors chose as first-time Director the ailing 44-year-old Alberto Eighmy, with a thin margin over Duling of 17.6% to 16.9%. It is the smallest plurality that a winning candidate has ever received, and Eighmy's directorship is anticipated to be a shaky thing on multiple fronts. Duling is headed to Mars, where he will attempt to find some way to recover from consecutive close defeats in the last two elections. The rest of the results:

Larry Steckel(15.7%) -- Luna
Jarrett Hugh(15.0%) -- Titan
James Earl Jones V(13.9%) -- Venus
Burt Stonerock(10.7%) -- Mercury
Riley Awad(10.2%) -- Io

Hugh and Awad are both in good health, and their showings were extremely disappointing. The larger question to come out of this election is the vital need for more qualified administrators, as health and aging issues become more pressing with each passing year and the electorate clearly could not rally behind any one candidate.

Policy Review

Although most of the branches would do fine without it, an academy expansion is ordered from three to four in order to up the search for new qualified administrators. Beyond that though, there are no changes made. Under the circumstances, Eighmy needs only to survive(physically) his term for it to be labeled a success.

[Brian Swartz]

Civilian Character Update

James Earl Jones V(6) -- Having endured minor assignments for the past decade and a half, he heads to Venus in a major promotion after a credible showing in the elections. At 52, Jones has only a few tours left.

Pioneer Deacon Palmer(CP 60 -- After spending the next couple of years improving shipbuilding techniques, Palmer has probably one more major project left before his time is done.
Joe Tycho(EW 65) -- The question with Joe is simply health. He's the top man in one of the top fields, currently researching meson focusing. His body threatens to force him out of the limelight at any time, however.

[Brian Swartz]

2069 Annual Report

The most significant practical change with Eighmy moving into the Director's Office is that he is more adept at factory production, less adept at mining, which means more will be produced with less resources. With the dizzying number of industrial needs on Earth, this may not be a bad thing.

Other than that he is standing pat, even to the point of not acting on a couple of minor policy changes that are currently pending and recommended. As his hold on power is tenuous at best, Eighmy intends to fight only those battles which need fighting, politically speaking. Before the first month of the year was out, pessimistic physical evaluations of two key personnel further weakened the state of things as SPACE's top leaders continue to face medical struggles. Governor Herbert Duling(Mars) and Dr. Julio Kuchler(top sensors scientist) were the affected men. Both will continue in their current assignments, but both have poor prognosis in the long-term, particularly troubling in the case of Kuchler who is only 36.

Meanwhile, the first colonists arrive on Europa as a long-standing project is completed: the 2% Initiative has nowhere else to go. Every habitable rock in Sol has been colonized, and what's more all of the colonies have maxed out their existing infrastructure, some exceeding it. At this point, colonial growth(just over 100m total pop. at the moment) is up to the private sector. SPACE sees no compelling reason to make any further investment.

By March, with a few relatively minor reports detailed in the department summaries, Ticonderoga-class bases were operational on Reinmuth and Faye, and all three construction brigades focused on Mars. Even so, it was still expected to take an additional year and a half for completion of the first missile base there.

May brought the completion of the first of the behemoth Alaska-classes bases on Earth. They require a captain in command, and Asa Hotz is appointed. Just weeks later in early June, Wartsila completes retooling and the first Nimitz enters production.

In August, a second Tennessee(Lt) is begun on Luna with the graduation of a fourth brigade from training.

October brought news of a significant oversight. The previous presumption with little thought directed to the matter that missiles would be transported in the Fletcher freighters proved ... hazardous. Only by quick thinking were a number of accidents avoided. It became obvious that a dedicated ship type would be needed to transport ordnance, which probably should have been obvious but it was overlooked. Once again Engineering worked quickly, and the collier was born.

Tarawa-class Collier
Size: 6.4kt
Crew: 85
Speed: 781 km/s(just a bit slower than the current Fletcher freighters)
Cost: 573k(15 months)
Maint. Life: 4.12 years
Missile Storage: 180 Defender IIs
Defenses: 1 CIWS II Battery, standard commercial-issue sensors.

It could have been made bigger or smaller, but at present has enough space to resupply 6 Tennessee or Nimitz, and nearly half of an Alaska base. The size was determined by the fact that the largest available military shipyard, Baltimore Marine, can accomodate no larger a vessel right now.

Retooling is expected to take about six months, so the first Tarawa should enter service by the end of 2071. Only the Mars base is expected to be operational before then anyway, so consequences shouldn't be too drastic.

Less than 48 hours before the new year, there was one final bit of significant news. SPACE's longest-running major project, the industrial conversion from convention to TN facilities, has finally been completed as the last factory has its equipment repurposed for mining use. In one fashion or another, the economic conversion has been underway for 40 years, nearly as long as SPACE has been in existence as an entity.

This also means a slow-down in deployment of new mines and factories, as they will now have to be built from scratch which takes considerably more time and resources.

2069 saw the economic conversion completed, acceleration of missile base construction, completion of the 2% Initiative and with it full colonization of Sol, final refits of the shuttles, new military-grade sensors completed, many relatively minor research advancements, new missile systems readied for service, and of course the birth of the Tarawa Collier ship class. A lot of things were wrapped up, and the focus for the future is all the clearer for it.


Colonial Developments

January 10 -- Reinmuth completes Ticonderoga-class base.

February 4 -- Faye completes Ticonderoga.


Research & Development

** February 11 -- 12cm Meson Focal Size completed(Dr. Eva Vadnais). Reassigned to improving Turret Tracking Speed, for which she will need another laboratory complex.
** February 16 -- Defender II(Karabishi Juishao) prototype is completed, and ushered into production immediately as the old Defender missiles, none of which were so much as loaded into a magazine, are scrapped. Juishao will now work on a new missile launcher for ship-based Defender IIs.
** February 25 -- The vital sensors field gets a boost as the once-maligned Elwood Tousant improves to 35% expertise, making him the clear #2 behind Kuchler.
** February 28 -- Research lab completed and added to Turret Tracking Speed.
** Early May -- Edward Groat, tops in Defensive Systems, improved to 35% expertise as he wraps up his present assignment. On the 23rd, Engine Thermal Reduction to 35% is announced. A Damage Control System, for use on repairs 'in the field', is next up and leaves one complex unaccounted for. On-again, off-again Wayne Sabagh gets set to investigate lasers in the near-UV range. There are now 18 active projects, a number that continues to creep slowly upwards
** August 9 -- Defender II MLS(s) prototype is completed(Karabishi Juishao). She'll next work on Levitated-Pit Implosion Warheads -- I don't have the faintest clue what all that means, but it promises to improve explosive yield of our missiles significantly.
** September 13 -- GEI MSS 180, the latest in military-grade missile search sensors, is finished(Billie Allington). The labs are redirected for the moment to the Levitated-Pit Warhead and Near-UV Laser projects.
** September 20 -- Defender II MLS(p) is completed(Harlan Welle). Allington's gets back to it with work on improving active sensors(the next generation of thermals is ready and EM is being researched at the moment), but there will need to be a bigger investment of lab space eventually.
** November 26 -- A new research lab is completed and added to Active Grav Sensor Strength, but a third will be needed.
** Early December -- Meson Focusing Technology is improved by Joe Tycho's research team. This allows for a third lab to go to the active sensors team, while Tycho takes over the Near-UV Laser development, which has been led by Sabagh up to this point and is less than 10% completed.
** Mid-December -- Dr. Julio Kuchler's team completes the GEI SSS 168, second-generation active search sensor. Kuchler relieves Billie Allington(active grav sensors), and Wayne Sabagh begins work on a new meson cannon(WT Excalibur 124) taking advantadge of recent improvements.

One lab is diverted from the active sensors for Allington to work on a new prototype for a more space-efficient missile fire control system(RSJ MFC 72-60). This is the final step toward a new generation of missile bases and ships, though there is still much to be done on the energy weapons side of things.


Earth

February 24 -- KSEC Shipyard expands to two slipways, officially taking over as the maintainer of the Forrestals.

February 26th -- Refitting of the Lexington shuttles to the most modern and spacious(6 VIP capacity) IIId variant is completed.

May -- With the duranium stockpile still increasing, it is decided to keep increasing construction factories on Earth from the current 450 to a total of 500.

Mid-December -- Mercassium becomes the latest mineral to be exhausted on Earth, with duranium set to join it in about three years' time.

Late December -- A maintenance failure forces one of the sensor boats at Epsilon Eridani to come home for resupply several months ahead of schedule.


Commissioned Officers

Mid-March -- Tell Perj Jr. has put in work on crew training(up to 150), propelling him up past a few of his fellow captains.

Late March -- The navy dismisses a single officer, the first such action in a number of years.

Mid-May -- Joe Tycho is up to 9 Administration.

Late June -- Tell Perj's training bonus is up to 175.

Early August -- Rob Nielsen III increases Fleet Movement Initiative to a solid 297.

Early August -- A new administrator graduates the academy, which is notable only because there is at least a backup now with all the current beauracrats assigned to posts already.

Mid-October -- Dr. Justin Stdenis, unimpressive enough that he'd never had a project lead, is the latest scientist to die before his time.

[sterlingice]

Looks like we've hit a bit of a stall: nowhere else to colonize and possible hostilities through jump points

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Yeah that's very true. There's a limit to how long it can last(Sol's resources are not unending) so something will eventually break. However, I've been surprised by how long we will actually be able to sustain it if need be.

[Tellistto]

Must have missed the promotion to Captain somehow. Good for Jr.!

If you want you can put me in for another Naval Officer the third.

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

Will do! It was actually rather interesting as you made in just under the wire ...

more naval recruits led to more promotions, and in this case the result is extending the career of Tell Perj Jr. who is promoted to Captain! The 49-year-old Perj was a year and a half away from mandatory retirement, but will now soldier on for another decade, having spent nearly three at his previous rank of commander

I was all set to write his retirement, then a few timely promotions opened the door. The whole thing was quite interesting, and I'm curious to see what he does in his final few years.

[Brian Swartz]

Retirements

Captain Claudio Offutt -- Claudio spent almost his entire career as a Captain, taking less than five years to reach the rank in early 2035. He was a survey officer, mostly at Fleet HQ, for the last 35 years and will not easily be replaced in that capacity. A man who served well for a long time, he never had the connections or varied skills required to make it further.

Major General Abel Rosinski -- Objectively the best army officer SPACE has ever had, Rosinski was more than able, made general rank in less than four years, spending most of his career as the second-in-command to legendary Sterling Silvers. He has been Chief of the Army for only a single two-year tour.

Brigadier General Conrad Brocklehurst -- A 30-year veteran of general rank, Brocklehurst spent a number years in policing duty on Venus before returning to Earth to head one of the modern brigades. Limitations in training skill kept him from advancing any further up the chain.

Colonel Rickie Drexler also retired this year.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. -- 5th out of 9. Having returned from his final tour at the Epsilon Eridani jump, Tell is now the Logistics Officer for the SSF.
Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III -- 16th of 88. After two tours on board the FT Hercules, Nielsen(37) is headed to one of the harvesters at Saturn.


Waiting List

Sterling Silvers Jr.
Tell Perj III

[ntndeacon]

I would love to have Deacon Jr. be an Army guy!

[Brian Swartz]

So it shall be written ... so it shall be done!

[Brian Swartz]

2070 ANNUAL REPORT

The expected round of promotions included new Chief of the Army Anton Engelhardt(46, M) being promoted to Major General, Filomena Miga(34, F) and Dave Fruth(23, M)moving up to Brigadier General, and the last real prodigy in the naval pipeline, Parker Lanzi(23, M) moving up to Captain.

A new standard in beam fire controls(3k km/s base) is reached on January 27 by Elwood Tousant's team, and this is relevant for two reasons. It allows for a marginal but significant chance of hitting known alien missiles(somewhere around 25% accuracy expected with large suites) and also allows smaller fire controls to be used vs. their known enemy ships, allowing for size decreases or greater range. Fire control development is split into two tracks, the new Bullseye 12k having a 50% increase in speed over the current version, and Ramsey Sheets & Johnson also are developing the Hybrid system which balances speed and range.

On February 3, Rosemary Tallant(24, F) becomes the 10th active navy Captain. From now on, we will note only rear admiral promotions in this space due to increasing number of captains.

In March, the final maintenance facility arrives at Callisto, completing 800t capacity at both refueling colonies. Around the same time, the first pair of Tarawa-class colliers enters production, retooling having been completed at Baltimore Marine Shipyard.

May brings awareness of a need for a new ship class, a supply ship to ferry maintenance supplies between Earth and Titan/Callisto. The Cleveland class is born, which is basically a shuttle with a maintenance storage bay added on.

Size: 2.1kt
Crew: 30
Maint. Storage: 1.04 kt
Speed: 2380 km/s
Range: 92.3 b km
Cost: 136k(just shy of six months)

Yokohama Docks takes the project of getting a pair of Clevelands into service.

In mid-July, the second-ranking officer in the Navy, Rear Admiral Anton Ericson, is forced into early retirement for medical reasons. Anton was expected to be a long-running replacement for Schnepel, so this is definitely a major loss to the branch. Chong Vaugh, also in poor health, is the new heir apparent and Mitchell Feeser is promoted to give the service four rear admirals again. At 35, he is by far the youngest to reach that post.

After a quiet summer and early fall, October brings the training of a 5th Construction Brigade(deployed immediately to assist the one already on Luna) and the first Cleveland enters service, immediately taking 200t of maintenance supplies to Callisto and Titan each.

A quiet year for SPACE, 2070 sees prototyping of new beam fire controls and the development and deployment of the Cleveland-class supply ship as highlights, while the loss of Rear Admiral Ericson certainly was the biggest disappointment. Completing small-scale maintenance capabilies at Titan and Callisto is also worthy of mention. 2071 is expected to bring more activity, with the first Nimitz expected to enter service, the first off-world missile base expected to be completed on Mars, and no less than ten significant research projects slated for completion.


Commissioned Officers

January 7 -- Tell Perj III graduates the academy on Earth.
Fleet Movement Initiative: 394(might be the biggest I've seen in a recruit, definitely a warship captain potential)
Training: 75
Bonuses: Diplomacy(30%), Xenology(15%), Fighter Combat(10%), Diplomacy(10%)
Personality: Dynamic, Intolerant

Outlook: Political skills, specialized teams skills(diplomacy/xenology may well become relevant in his service time), and serious command potential. A pretty good recruit initially, well-rounded with above-average outlook for improvement. I expect to hear more from him in the future. Initially ranked 12th out of 89 Lieutenant Commanders, and certain to receive a command when the next tour begins in '72, quite possibly before if an interim position opens up.

February 15 -- Serious medical problem for Rob Nielsen III. It is not considered so serious as to threaten the 37-year-old's current assignment, however. A number of officers, some higher-ranking such as Rear Admiral Chong Vaugh, followed suit later in a cursed month for military personnel. One exception is Admiral Schnepel, who actually strengthened her position with many new political contacts(25% reliability).

Early August -- Two significant skill increases, with Director Eighmy's Shipbuilding skill increasing to 10% with the recent projects(1 Nimitz, 1 Cleveland, and 2 Tarawa's are currently under production). Meanwhile, Dr. Wayne Sabagh ups to 25% in the field of energy weapons.

Early September -- Earnest Joeckel becomes the latest naval prodigy to graduate the academy. He's not as skilled as the likes of Feeser, Gullo, etc., but is considered the equal of the top Commanders right now, particularly in matters of crew training.

Mid-October -- Tell Perj Jr. has amassed a couple of new political connections(10% reliability).


Earth

Mid-January -- The Tod&MacGregor reaches 100kt capacity: it will need at least 160k for the next generation of super-freighters intended for outsystem and/or interstellar shipping.

Spring -- Sedna expands to 26 complexes.

October 1 -- The first of the Clevelands enters service, and a second is begun.


Research & Development

** January 27 -- Fire Control Speed(3k km/s base) has been completed by Elwood Tousant's team. Tousant will work on the Bullseye system first, while Curtis Gloster gets the Hybrid team going.
** July 10 -- Dr. Rosemary Urenda's team completes the next stage in reactor enhancements(+15% power). The GE GCF series is born with two variants(a small 25-ton one like the current models in use, and a 150-ton for larger applications). Urenda and newcomer Reynaldo Darrington take the project leads in the prototype phase for these.
** July 30 -- New beam fire controls are completed(RSJ Bullseye 12k) by Elwood Tousant. He'll next work on improving their anti-missile tracking bonuses, and will need another lab for this which will shortly be available.
** August 15 -- The latest research lab is assigned to Tousant's work on missile tracking.
** September 25 -- Dr. Reynaldo Darrington's first project is complete, prototyping one of the new GCF reactors. Increasing the maximum number of ships per jump is his next goal, and will require at least one more complex in time.
** December 20 -- The Hybrid fire control is complete(Curtis Gloster). The lab is diverted to Darrington's jump research, who reports he will need yet another to finish on time.

[Brian Swartz]

CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE

James Earl Jones V(6) -- The Venus governor still hovers on the outskirts of significance, good enough to make the final ballot in any forseeable election, not good enough to be any kind of real challenger. This is largely because he continues to studiously avoid playing the political game.

Pioneer Deacon Palmer(CP 60) -- The current shipbuilding project has about a year left. The only real question is whether Palmer, now 67, will pursue one last project lead or retire at that point.
Joe Tycho(EW 65) -- Relentless medical difficulties have not stopped Joe, who is still investigating laser wavelengths in the Near-UV band.

[Brian Swartz]

Tell Perj III, 22 years old and just over a year out of the academy, retired due to early diagnosis of a rare bone disorder in early March of 2071. The navy has lost a talented young officer.

[Tellistto]

Ouch, that's painful.

Perhaps we need a new name, a cousin perhaps. Chance Perj next time.

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

2071 ANNUAL REPORT

As the year began, the happy news was announced that all minerals, even neutronium, were now creeping upward again. Alberto Eighmy has managed at least to keep the machinery running and not screw anything up, somewhat blunting the health concerns so far.

February saw the first significant news of the year with the Mars Tennessee base going operational on the 10th. Two brigades were diverted to Luna with the third sent out to distant Sedna(expanded again to 27 complexes within the previous week). Earnest Joeckel was appointed as the interim CO.

The spring brought some interesting recruits from the academies and various research projects completing. In March, a new round of passive sensor prototyping began and the second Cleveland-class supply ship was finished, and April followed with the first naval purge in some years. Later in the month, the Tarawa colliers were completed and one of them headed to fill the empty launchers on the Mars base. At the same time, two new Burke-class transports were begun to handle the increasing workload in transporting construction brigades around the system.

The summer was extremely busy and productive, beginning on June 8 with the announcement by Dr. Adolfo Walth that for the first time in decades an advancement in ship armor has been reached, in the form of a high-density version of the current duranium armor. Estimates indicate about a 20% reduction in weight and space required, with the same investment of duranium. A modest improvement, but nonetheless worth noting, and the new HD armor will be integrated into all new designs.

Harlan Welle gets to work on a new prototype, an upgrade of existing CIWS systems to take advantadge of new, faster tracking speeds. Also, [/b]David Gruis[/b] starts off work on increasing capacitor recharge rates, a project which is really mostly intended to get him some experience in the hopes of developing the power & propulsion scientist into a more productive leader. For now, the one lab leaves the project woefully understaffed.

The total number of active research teams is now at a record 20, largely due to six 'small' prototype development phases going on.

July brought better planetary sensors, but that news was soon forgotten as two days later on the 23rd SPACE had inaugurated the first human space-capable combat navy with the launch of the first Nimitz-class missile boat. Recent graduate Chance Perj has interim command with precise orders to do absolutely nothing beyond basic crew drilling until an experienced commander is appointed at the end of the year. A second Nimitz is begun immediately as well, which will probably be the last of this version as many components are already obsolete compared to SPACE's best technology. It was, however, not deemed prudent to design a more modern version until the next generation of active sensors becomes available(1-2 years yet).

Meanwhile, Yokohama Docks is at 10.7kt, some 4kt+ away from being ready to support a Brooklyn-class construction.

The second half of the year was not nearly as newsworthy. 2071 was a very eventful year for SPACE, with the deployments of the first Nimitz as well as the Tarawas and Clevelands keeping the navy busy, while leadership and scientific advances were too numerous to summarize. The thickness of the appendices in this year's report has rarely been approached for this reason. '72 has a moderate amount of research coming but aside from that and the election it is expected to be quieter.



Commissioned Officers

Mid-March -- At long last, an army officer has graduated worthy of the name Sterling Silvers II.
Training: 50
Bonuses: 15% Ground Combat, 15% Political Reliability
Personality: Astronomy Geek, Authoritarian, Dispassionate, Patient

Outlook: Why an astronomy geek would choose the army over the navy is beyond me, but SSII immediately becomes the top colonel in the service on his graduation and should make general before his mid-20s. He has considerable unit-level abilities and also knows how to take advantadge of his famous grandfather's name.

April -- Herbert Duling increases his record-setting political connections(45%).

April 3 -- The first naval purge in several years sees nine officers relieved of their non-duties.

April 12 -- Rosendo Hoglen(M, 22) becomes the latest Brigadier General ... Silvers II is not eligible for promotion for several months yet.

May 6 -- Chance Perj is commissioned.
175 Fleet Movement Initiative, 25% Survery, 20% Fighter Combat.
Personality: Indifferent, Patient, Subjective.

Survey work is by far his top calling. Chance looks like a good-but-not-great officer for now.

Early May -- Dr. Everette Snuggs is up to 50%. He's prototyping new EM sensors for now, but has joined the elite class of scientists with this advancement and will be able to command appointments in Logistics & Ground Combat. Unfortunately this will be of limited use since both he and fellow LGC stalwart Brandon Grimett are both facing retirement later this decade at 67 years old each, though Cedrick Wormack has a little over a decade left.

Mid-May -- More news from former director Duling as he announces breakthroughs in ground unit training speeds(40%).

Early June -- Top Defensive Systems researcher Edward Groat has progressed to 40%. Also, Tell Perj Jr. continues his improbable late-career drive in a rather transparent attempt to make admiral(political reliability 15%). Sources indicate only all-time brown-nose champion Ali Mandujano is considered a better promotion candidate among the ranks of the ten current captains.

Late July -- Again Duling is in the news, this time with a terraforming breakthrough.

Early August -- Ronald Dunkin is the latest naval prodigy to be worthy of remembering. With solid political connections and genius-level ability to train crews under his command, Dunkin is expected to do great things.

Early October -- Chance Perj's Initiative is up to 208.

Mid-November -- Missile research got a significant bump as Harlan Welle made a major personal breakthrough, nearly doubling his effectiveness to 25%. He's now a serviceable #2 behind Juishao in the field.

Early December -- Duling again, now increasing Mining to 50%. He's the runaway favorite in '73 now, poor health or not.

Meanwhile, Rear Admiral Jung Besler has made a breakthrough in training techniques(up to 275), and has now surpassed Chong Vaugh as the top candidate to replace Schnepel. The final decision on that appointment will be made in just 20 days ...

Shortly afterwards, the other admiral Mitchell Feeser made a significant jump in Operations, but he's still well behind Besler and Vaugh for the time being.


Research & Development

** February 18 -- Hangar Decks are now available, courtesy of Brandon Grimmett and team. Next up in Logistics is an Ultra Large fuel storage module(5m liters, for use in tankers etc.). This is now a second project in need of additional lab help.
** Early March -- Everette Snuggs has completed an increase in EM Sensors(Sensitivityx8). One lab each is diverted to aid the Darrington and Grimmett teams, bringing all current projects up to full funding. Snuggs gets back at it with next generation of military EM suites, the SITG Emdar-36, 20% more powerful and 10% smaller than the current iteration at 225t.
** April 15 -- A new turret is complete thanks to the work of Wayne Sabagh. Curtis Gloster takes on prototyping the next generation of civilian-grade thermal sensors.
** April 29 -- A new research lab is completed and devoted to improved civilian-grade EM sensors, under the direction of long-idle Shanon Patteson.
** June 30 -- Rosemary Urenda's team finishes the new GCF reactors. She next takes over the capacitor research project, which Gruis led without distinction or much progress either for four weeks.
** July 15 -- General-purpose EM sensors are now ready(Curtis Gloster). Gruis takes on another basically 'make-work' task, diving into more efficient maneuvering thrusters(25% power).
** July 21 -- Bessie Wallander's team completes an increase into Planetary Sensor Strength, effectively increasing the range of our deep-space tracking stations by a third. Maintaining the same two labs, she'll next direct research into increasing the range of our beam weapon fire controls.
** August 1 -- The new civilian EM sensors are now available(]b\Shanon Patteson[/b]). Wayne Sabagh is back in action now to investigate larger, more powerful lasers.
** September 26 -- Eva Vadnais and team have increased turret tracking speed, allowing for more efficient use of space via less gearing required. She'll investigate advances in meson cannons with her pair of labs next.
** November 5 -- New missile fire controls have finished the prototype phase(Billie Allington) and are ready for use. Wayne Sabagh's laser research claims the lab space.
** December 13 -- Deacon Palmer's team unveils a 16% increase in shipbuilding speed, reducing the expected completion time of the second Nimitz by nearly six months.

For his final contribution, he will research a module capable of building a highly classified device colloquially known as a 'jump gate'. If constructed, it is believed this device would allow for ships to navigate a jump point without the aid of a dedicated jump engine. It seems a fitting end to a fantastic career.

** December 18 -- Tiny Engineering Sections are now available for fine-tuning ship designs, thanks to Cedrick Wormack. He'll next investigate a topic once thought to soley be the domain of science fiction: ship-to-ship tractor beams. Should a catastrophic maintenance failure be experienced, they may well be necessary in the future, and it has been theorized that orbital facilities could be moved to differing locations with their use as well. More resources will be needed beyond the lone initial lab he begins with.


Earth

April 25 -- The two Tarawa-class colliers are finished. Judah Thone gets one of the interim command assignments, and missiles are quickly shipped to Mars.

May 23 -- An expansion to the army training facilities on Earth has been completed, allowing for three units to be trained at once. Another construction brigade is recruited immediately.

Early July -- A third slipway is added to the KSEC Shipyard, tasked with all Forrestal operations, and a fourth is begun.

July 29 -- The last of the Tennessee missile bases has completed prefabrication on Earth, and more resources are diverted to the Alaskas which are now expected to be finished by the middle of the decade.

August 3 -- The initial run of Defender II missiles(1000 of them) is completed on Earth.

Mid-October -- A new garrison battalion is trained and Sterling Silvers II gets his first official command. Meanwhile, the long journey to Sedna has finally been completed, and construction of a the Tennessee-class base over 11 billion kilometers out from Earth has begun.

December 20 -- A new construction brigade is finished on Earth, the sixth with a seventh in training. It will be sent to Sedna, but that deployment was delayed due to the impending reassignment at the end of the eyar.

December 28 -- Earth's second Alaska-class base is finished in the waning days of the year.


Colonial Developments

May 3 -- Another complex comes on-line on Sedna(28 in total now).

** A couple of mineral deposits of minor importance were also exhausted this year, one on Crommelin and another on Neujmin. Vendarite and Boronide, both with considerable stockpiles available, were affected.

[sterlingice]

Wow- you weren't kidding about it being a busy year. I didn't realize how far out Sedna was until I hit the wiki page. It makes the orbits of Neptune and Pluto look like inner planets by comparison

Also, great to see a Silvers back in the game

SI

[Brian Swartz]

It's a hike out to Sedna. We can get someone to the moon in less than a trip to the corner store(about two and a half minutes), and to Mars in less than a day, but it takes almost two months to get to Sedna, so that's still a considerable trip.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

Senior Rear Admiral Leota Schnepel presided over the creation of the first element of the combat navy, though she held the top spot for only four years. She spent most of her career as a captain('34 through '66) as Logistics Officer at Fleet HQ. Her only ship command was the Essex-class Marc Aaronson, since scrapped decades ago.

Lieutenant Commander Chiquita McGuffie retires as well.

Brigadier General Joann Altschuler, second in command under MG Anton Engelhardt, is the last of the old guard to step aside. She held the rank of General for the last 13 of her 40 years in the service, commanding one of Earth's combat brigades for the last few.

All of the remaining generals are in their 40s or younger, so the current group should be quite stable for a while.

Overall, a couple of big names leave but not that big a shakeup in the grand scheme of things.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. -- 1st out of 10. The 53-year-old is still Logistics Officer at Fleet HQ, and is presently the top candidate for promotion to Admiral. If that happens though, it is not expected for a few years.
Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III -- 19th out of 95. Routinely surpassed by younger recruits, Nielsen's career is expected to be over soon. At 39, he's one tour away from being 'encouraged to pursue other opportunities' to allow those with more potential to step up . He'll finish out, barring something pretty dramatic, with another tour onboard one of the fuel harvesters at Saturn.
Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj -- 11th. A good start sends Chance out to Saturn as well, but it's a solid initial posting after he managed not to do anything particularly stupid on the Nimitz's shakedown.

Col. Sterling Silvers Jr. -- 1st out of 46. Currently CO of the 34th Mobile Infantry under Engelhardt himself in the 2nd Brigade, Silvers has an important job while he awaits the inevitable promotion. Most observers consider him superior to the majority of active generals already.

WAITING LIST

Deacon Palmer Jr.(Army)

[Brian Swartz]

FYI, 2072 is in the books but I haven't had a chance to write it up yet(coming Wed/Thurs.). The '73 election is more important than usual ...

[Brian Swartz]

2072 ANNUAL REPORT

Jung Besler is named Chief of the Navy as expected and promoted to Senior Rear Admiral, while the Army names young Col. Cole Callihan(M, 23) as Altschuler's replacement. By late February, with the appointment of another captain, the navy has enough staff officers for a full complement at both task forces for the first time ever.

On March 14th, the Research Directorate loses one of it's most senior and more recognizable scientists as Dr. Everette Snuggs retires with the 68-year-old citing poor health. The most crowded field in SPACE science(Logistics & Ground Combat) can at least shoulder the loss, but it will still hurt as Snuggs was one of three elite members. He is also one of very few public servants remaining from the agency's founding.

Early May brings the completion of Luna Base, and the redeployment of construction brigades to Sedna and Triton, with the latter less than half the distance but still quite a journey at an average distance of 4.5b km. Less than two weeks later, on the 20th, the new pair of Burke-class brigade transports clears the docks and joins the efforts.

A relatively quiet year gets a jolt exactly at the midway point, as it is announced on July 1st that Yokohama Shipyard has reached the required size for the Brooklyn-class Gunboat. This leaves Eighmy in a bit of a quandary though. The Brooklyn is by now obsolete, with better versions of all components now available. Using that design would be decidedly wasteful: however, it would be preferred for the current round of sensor research to be completed. Theoretical active sensor improvements aren't going to be ready until November, and then it would take some time after that to design a new system specifically ... so SPACE has decided to go with what is available now. The Brooklyn '72 design was put together with the following specifications(numbers from the never-built original design in parentheses)

Brooklyn '72-class Gunboat
Size: 13.45 kt(15.15kt)
Speed: 2379 km/s(2376 km/s)
Crew: 356(415)
Armor Plating: 4 feet of high-density duranium(3 feet of regular duranium armor)
CIWS: 1 battery(same)
Armament: 3 Twin-laser turrets, 1 single-meson turrets(1 fewer of each)
Cost: 1.89 m(1.88m), about 22 months

The new version is smaller, better armored, but has less firepower(though much more accurate) as well. Speed and cost are virtually identical. About a year is the expected retooling time, which would put the first one in service for early 2075.

September brings a welcome shift in industrial resources on Earth, as all of the needed Ticonderoga components have been completed, though the construction teams will be busy for some time with larger installations. Most sectors receive part of the newly available capacity to speed up existing projects.

On November 5, Dr. Julio Kuchler announces a considerable breakthrough in active grav sensor abilities. The new developments allow for considerable minituarization and other increased efficiencies. The new specs are included in the R&D supplement.

The final month of the year brought more news of significance. The expansion of Earth's massive industrial centers to 500 construction factories is completed, and that will be the new status quo for now with capacity again being redeployed to further other projects for the second time in just a few months. Then, just two days before the election, the news came that Earth has finally exhausted its supply of duranium. Corbomite, vendarite, and tritanium remain, all of which are minor both in use and need at the moment. Earth has now become virtually irrelevant in the grand scheme of things in terms of mining, the transition to a purely industrial center more and more complete.


Research & Development

** January 10 -- Harlan Welle completes the latest upgrade of the CIWS defense system, and a new research lab is built. Welle will pursue improving efficiency of magazines for better missile storage, and the tractor beam project gets a needed second lab as well.

** January 20 -- Near UV Laser completed, Joe Tycho. Since a larger laser is currently being worked on, Tycho takes over that project from Sabagh: a new generation of laser cannons will be developed with greater punch and range when it's complete. Wayne Sabagh moves on to the final piece of the next generation of meson cannons, improved focusing.

** March 14 -- The SITG Emdar-36 is now ready, and Everette Snuggs retires. Minh Klausner debuts as a project lead, a young one to be sure as the EW researcher is less than nine months removed from the academy. Klausner will investigate improved high-powered microwave concepts.

** November 5 -- While Julio Kuchler completes research into better base active grav technology(sensitivity 16). It's time for a new round of active sensors ...

The GEI MSS 192 is a little more powerful and 20% smaller than the current MSS 180(military grade missile search sensor). The next generation of anti-ship sensors does even better, with nearly a 50% size reduction, and 40% smaller on the new anti-ship missile fire control suites. Kuchler has found a considerable leap in active detection, and new suites for the Forrestal sensor buoys as well as basic commercials will be incorporated in time.

** November 8 -- Levitated-Pit Implosion Warheads are here(Karabishi Juishao). Prospects for anti-missile ballistics are improving(estimated interception chances of about 10% on enemy missiles are now possible), but to really be useful better engine technology is required, so no development of anti-missile systems is expected until then. Juishao moves on to missile agility, and newcomer Elyse Buckler will look into reduced-size launchers.


Commissioned Officers

Late January -- Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. increases his position with crew training upped to 200.

Mid-February -- Rosemary Urenda's skill increases to 40%, an important development as she's the second of only two quality power & propulsion researchers.

Mid-April -- Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. commissioned.
Bonuses: 10% Political Reliability, 5% Ground Combat
Personality: Good Motivator, Observant, Subjective, Tough

Outlook: Above-average recruit, Palmer will definitely be headed straight down the command career track, no specialized teams for him. A command is expected before the year is out.

Early May -- Herbert Duling continues to amass favors to call in for the upcoming election(50% political reliability). With Director Eighmy continuing to basically sit on his arse, it's not looking good for his re-election chances right about now.

Mid-November -- Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III increases his training bonus to 100, but it might be too-little, too-late to save his career.


Earth

March 8 -- A fourth and for now final slipway has been added at the KSEC Shipyard.

August 5 -- The final(for now) and seventh construction brigade is completed. With the shuffling around of commands that is required, Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. is given his first command, one of the mobile infantry battalions.

September 17 -- The latest research lab is finished, and Klausner's microwave research gets a needed boost.


Colonial Developments

Mid-August -- The first construction brigade arrives on Triton, and construction of the military base there is underway.

[Tellistto]

Late charge by Tell Perj! Really hoping we see some more exploration sooner or later. Need to beef up that Navy to go stomping around in the nearby systems!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

Yes indeed it has been, Tell has done well. On the exploration front, it's inevitable. The only question is when.

[Brian Swartz]

STATE OF SPACE, 2073

I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS

IA. Populated Colonies

Earth(1.358b, 500 CF, 50 OF, 10 FF, 75 REF, 35 RL, 3 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, SC, 2x Alaska MB)
Mars(46.82m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(42.14m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.02m, 1 DSTS)
Venus(9.58m)
Mercury(7.29m)
Europa(110k)
Io(110k)
Callisto(110k)
Ganymede(110k)

All of the inner-system colonies grew considerably, and while Titan edged up a few hundred thousand, the Jupiter moons have not been invested in at all and remain stagnant. Callisto's mines remain scandalously undermanned. The conversion to TN industry is now complete on Earth.

Total population is at 1.481 billion(+9.4%). About 70% of the growth came from Earth, but the colonial share is still growing. 1 in 12 humans now lives somewhere else, a significant number, but not yet enough to give them a major political voice. In time, however ...

IB. Outposts

Sedna(28 CMC, 16 eff, 7.90 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 28 eff, 3.12 kt)
Earth(50 SM, 6.4 eff, 705 t)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 37 eff, 1.84 kt) -- gallicite(7.5)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.73 kt) -- neutronium(5.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 39 eff, 1.58 kt) -- corundium(0.8), mercassium(3.6)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 34 eff, 1.42 kt) -- boronide(5.4)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 331 t)
Faye(25 AM, 48 eff, 1.94 kt) -- tritanium(2.3), uridium(8.3), corundium(9.7)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 36 eff, 1.46 kt) -- sorium(6.0)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.15 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 35 eff, 1.21 kt) -- corbomite(5.4)
Borrelly(17.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.28 kt)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.37 kt) -- corundium(5.3)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 808 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 147 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 400 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 306 t)

Total Production: 28.7 kt, 9.3% less than at last report. This is the first decline in mining production since off-world mining expansion first began way back in the late 30s, over 40 years ago! Some deposits were exhausted(it can be seen at a glance that most comets are in the mid-30s efficiency when many were once over 60), but just as important is the fact that Eighmy isn't the mining administrator that his predecessor was. Borrelly, Neujmin, and other locations received some additional mines, but it wasn't enough to prevent a significant decrease.

IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production

Tier A: Vendarite(50 kt), Corbomite(44 kt), Boronide(40 kt), Gallicite(40 kt)

Tier B: Uridium(84 kt), Tritanium(40 kt), Sorium(32 kt), Mercassium(27 kt)

A small decline(about 2 kt) in mercassium has resulted in a small amount of concern, particularly considering that a major source(on Machholz) will be drying up soon and production on Triton is starting to dwindle. Every known major source save one in the system has been tapped(more on that source in the election aftermath), and there is only just under 150kt total in known mineable reserves in Sol. That's enough to last just under a century at current usage rates. SPACE projects mercassium to become a more and more vital concern gradually as time goes on.

Meanwhile, sorium joins Tier B as it continues to be used only minimally for industrial concerns and the fuel on Saturn is expected to last millenia.

Tier C: Duranium(17.0 kt), Corundium(15.2 kt)

Duranium has mostly stabilized with the increase in factories on Earth, but it is still slowly increasing. Corundium appears well on it's way to becoming a minor need with the stockpile of the once-crisis mineral growing rapidly.

Tier D: Neutronium(5.93 kt) rose and then declined again with massive shipyard operations and increased ground forces training, both of which will be less needed during the next cycle. Still, it's a vital need and the dominant factor right now in mining considerations. With the considerable production from Stephan-Oterma only lasting a few more years, this will continue to be the case.

ID. Income

Taxes(population): 35.6 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.25 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 2.58 m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 142 k

Total: 42.60m(+6.8%).

Balance: 619 m(+55m)

Slower growth than the previous cycle, but still a very healthy balance sheet

IE. Expenses

Research: 8.23m
Mineral Purchases: 7.01m
Installation Construction: 3.98m
Shipyard Operations: 3.97m
PDC Construction: 3.02m
Shipbuilding: 1.47m
GU Maintenance: 384k
Maintenance Facilities: 319k
GU Training: 280k

Total: 28.67m(+30.1%)

Shipbuilding became a significant expense again after a lull with more Burkes and the debut of the Nimitz. Maintenance of military vessels(mostly the Forrestals) is becoming more expensive, but is still a very minor expense in the grand scheme of things. Overall, expenses rose sharply but are not yet close to catching up with income.

II. SHIPYARDS

IIA. Commercial Yards

Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Expanding for the next generation of higher-capacity freighters(approx. 175 kt, nearly there)
P&A Group(4, 80.2 kt)
** Idle
Estalerios Navais(2, 45.5 kt)
** Idle
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 10 kt)
** Idle
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle

IIB. Naval Yards

Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Second Nimitz in production(March 2073)
Baltimore Marine(2, 11.3 kt)
** Expanding Capacity
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Retooling for the new Brooklyn 72(Summer 2073)
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle

III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES

IIIA. Earth

** Three active training facilities
** Garrison Battalions(One in February, 2 more in the summer)

IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

IVA. Earth

Research Lab(33%) -- May 2073
Alaska PDC(28%) -- Two more by mid-2075
Prefab Alaska PDC(15%) -- For Titan, Early 2074
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 10%) -- approx. 7 per year
Mines(8%) -- same rate
Military Academy(5%) -- Fall 2074

V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

** Jump Drive Efficiency(Santo Makar) -- Mid-January 2073
** Damage Control Module(Edward Groat) -- Summer 2073
** Missile Tracking(Elwood Tousant) -- Early 2074
** Ultra Large Fuel Tanks(Brandon Grimmett) -- Spring 2074
** Larger Laser Cannons(Joe Tycho) -- Spring 2074
** Larger Meson Cannons(Eva Vadnais) -- Spring/Summer 2074
** Jump Squadron Size(Reynaldo Darrington) -- Summer 2074
** Capacitor Recharge Rate(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2074
** Jump Gate Module(Deacon Palmer) -- Late 2074/Early 2075
** Ship Tractor Beams(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late 2074/Early 2075
** Improved Microwave Focusing(Minh Klausner) -- 2075
** Beam Fire Control Range(Bessie Wallander) -- 2075
** GEI MSS 192(Julio Kuchler) -- 2075
** Improved Meson Cannon Focusing(Wayne Sabagh) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** Magazine Feeding Systems(Harlan Welle) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** GEI SSS 128(Billie Allington) -- Late 2075/Early 2076
** Improved Geological Sensors(Clint Wyche) -- Late 2076/Early 2077
** Reduced-size Launchers(Elyse Buckler) -- Late 2070s
** Missile Agility Improvements(Karabishi Juishao) -- Late 2070s
** Improved Thruster Efficiency(David Gruis) -- Late 2080s

There are a number of prototypes in the pipeline and 20 on-going projects ... a very busy time right now. A lot of stuff in the '74-'75 time period much like in '71, but not much expected for the coming year, and a few existing projects in need of additional labs as well.

VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS

** Starting with this edition, this is being divided into additional sections that mirror the naval hierarchy. This will hopefully aid both in understanding where a particular commander's posting ranks in the grand scheme of things, and summarizing what parts of the navy are currently growing/being invested in.

VI A. Military Bases

Alaska(2, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)

Total: 8 installations, 149.1 kt, 2,532 crew

VI B. Combat Ships

MB Nimitz(1, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed combat ship)

Total: 1 ship, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 1.75m fuel

VI C. Military Non-combat Ships

CC Belknap(1, 2 kt, 50 crew, 1250 km/s, 60k fuel, command ship)
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
GSV Coontz(1, 2.25 kt, 32 crew, 1377 km/s, 130k fuel, gravitational survey)
SB Forrestal IIb(14, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
JSC Pioneer(1, 10 kt, 240 crew, 1000 km/s, 600k fuel, jump scout)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)

Total: 21 ships, 33.25 kt, 681 crew, 2.19m fuel

VI D. Commercial Vessels

TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
GEV Essex II-x(2, 2.2 kt, 35 crew, 1135 km/s, 60k fuel, geological survey)
FT Fletcher IV(2, 36.9 kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVb(2, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter)
FT Fletcher IVc(4, 36.9kt, 162 crew, 813 km/s, 650k fuel, freighter )
TK Iowa(2, 9.8 kt, 53 crew, 1.02k km/s, 6m fuel, fuel tanker)
ST Lexingon IIIc(5, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
ST Lexington IIId(19, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
JS North Carolina(1, 19.2 kt, 133 crew, 520 km/s, 250k fuel, large jump ship)
FH Perry III(21, 20.1 kt, 123 crew, 498 km/s, 350k fuel, fuel harvester)
TT Portland(2, 4.3 kt, 35 crew, 581 km/s, 60k fuel, troop transport)
CS Spruance-b(1, 20 kt, 110 crew, 501 km/s, 250k fuel, colony ship)

Total: 65 vessels, 908 kt, 5,584 crew, 32.7m liters fuel

Grand Total: 95 assets(+18%), 1.10 mt(--), 9.17k crew(+58%), 36.6m liters fuel(+9.3%)

Most of the commercial vessels have been in service for decades in some form or another. The growth sector is definitely on the military side right now.

Available Crew: 105k(+8.8%)

VI E. Fuel Status

Earth -- 17.6m liters
Titan -- 13.3m
Callisto -- 10.7m

Total -- 41.6m liters(+6.9%). The reserves continue to grow slowly, outpacing the needs of new ships and fueling existing operations.

VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS

** Brigade HQs(3)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(6)
** Garrison Battalion(32)

Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 380k(+93%)

The army has grown almost exponentially for over a decade now, and is starting to come close to current needs. There is also an issue of finding enough qualified officers to lead(only six colonels are unemployed as of this writing). One way or another, growth is expected to slow soon.

VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS

Voliva Carrier Company(54 vessels, 3.24m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(21, 2.61m)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(7, 730k)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 240k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 220k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 125k)
Presnar Freight(2, 70k)
Clavette Shipping Line(3, --)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)

Total Vessels: 99(+24%)
Total Civilian Income: 7.24m(+10%)

Jensrud increased by about 150%, while Voliva's revenue declined by over 30%. For the first time in decades they have viable competition, though still possessing the top spot with a 45% market share, a far cry from the 70% they enjoyed just four years ago. Also making a move is Tolles Transport & Logistics, more than doubling their fleet and nearly quintupling their income to become a credible third firm. Everybody's favorite underdog last cycle, Ouellet Shipping, saw their brief renaissance crumble.

Surprisingly, the civilian sector saw only modest increases overall.


IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS

** Naval Officers: 107 of 147 assigned(72.8%), -1.4%
** Ground Forces Officers: 53 of 59(89.8%), +10.6%
** Civilian Administrators: 27 of 29(93.1%), +3.4%
** Scientists: 20 of 33(60.6%), -- +3.9%

Overall: 207 of 268(77.2%), +2.3%

Opportunities are good in all branches, with the army and administrative career paths taking pretty much anyone with a pulse.

[Brian Swartz]

** For reasons that are yet classified(but observant and studious followers of the goings-on at SPACE are not expected to have much trouble guessing), this election is considered the most important in several cycles. In practical terms, this meant a doubling of the effect of political reliability in determining eligibility and appointment as more favors than usual were called in. This is only in place for this election cycle, and not a permanent change**

RETIREMENTS

Herbert Robards, Governor of Machholz, faces mandatory retirement this year. Machholz is the best of several comet-based assignments he's held after emerging from two decades of toiling in beauracratic obscurity to receive his first governor posting in the early 50s. His talents were mostly in shipbuilding and the financial sector, and they were largely wasted as he did not have enough ability or connections to garner a colonial job.

2073 ELECTIONS

The field was a tad smaller than usual, with six qualifying for the final ballot. The work put in by Herbert Duling looked certain to pay off, as he was the prohibitive favorite with only Director Eighmy considered capable(and unlikely) to mount a serious challenge. Fmr. Director India Rakes along with Riley Awad, Jarret Hugh, and Larry Steckel filled out a mostly familiar field as many of them have finished distantly behind the winners before.

On the eve of the election it was clear that both favorites had pushed too hard, age and poor health showing in a number of campaigning mistakes and gaffes which left the door open to the other challengers. Rakes ran a fairly good campaign, but it was largely unknown Riley Awad, governor of Io, who hardly put a foot wrong despite being last in the field in name recognition, having appeared only sporadically in the past and never in the last several cycles.

All of that potentially made for a rather suspensful and longer than expected night at the polls but the groundwork put in by Duling was thorough and his overwhelming advantadge could not be overcome. Herbert won his record fifth Directorial election, having spent the last 12 years now out of the office, by the reasonably comfortable margin of 25.9% to Awad's 20.4%. The rest of the field:

India Rakes -- 17.8%
Alberto Eighmy -- 16.7%
Larry Steckel -- 11.3%
Jarret Hugh -- 7.8%

Hugh, who was just embarassing, and Eighmy, finishing 4th as the incumbent, both were big losers on the night.

POLICY REVIEW

While making veiled references to the 'defining challenges' of the years ahead, Duling did have a number of changes to put in place as he reoccupied the Director's Office for the first time since leaving in '61 -- before Sector Command had been finished.

** Development of Halley's Comet. The most famous comet in Sol due to our fascination with it going back to decades before TN physics were even known to be possible, the long-period comet is only a little over 2.5b km from the sun, less than half it's maximum distance, between Saturn and Uranus orbit. A mass driver and administrator will be sent immediately, along with all automated mines produced for the indefinite future. Halley contains almost 30% of the mineable mercassium in the system and is the single largest remaining source(38.9kt) along with over 18kt of needed neutronium and minor amounts of four less vital minerals.

** Acceleration of Academy Expansion. Adding Halley to the list of developed sites, combined with the retirement of Robards, will leave SPACE once again with zero surplus administrators. The possibility that a mining might have to be shut down temporarily for lack of a qualified person to lead it is not remote. More than doubling the investment in the expansion will allow it to be finished this fall, with fewer mines being produced in the interim to compensate. In the last cycle, only two administrators were found -- recruitment must do better during the next cycle to avoid shutdowns.

** Two new ship class were announced. The first Long Beach-class fuel harvester, a long-desired upgrade which is now ready.

Long Beach Fuel Harvester
Size: 79.1 kt
Crew: 411
Speed: 379 km/s
Defenses: 5 CIWS Batteries, basic sensors
Sorium Harvest Modules: 26(728k per year harvested under optimal conditions)
Cost: 1.66m(about 15 months)

A Long Beach will produce more than four times the fuel of a third-generation Perry for just over three times the cost and has upgraded sensors and CIWS batteries. It's slower ... but the trip from Saturn to Titan is only 1.2m km and will take no more than an hour. Speed is a virtual non-issue for these vessels. The Long Beach is expected to be a permanent solution to increasing fuel capacity and reserves ahead of anticipated future needs as the military wing of the navy grows. Only minor changes are expected in forseeable plans.

The P&A Group Shipyard is retooling for the massive new ships, which are more than twice the size of a Fletcher-class freighter, and the existing Perrys will have their equipment repurposed one task group at a time, along with building three more vessels to make all six TGs four harvesters each for a total of 24. The first wave of refits is set to begin sometime around the end of the summer.

** The second new class was the South-Carolina class superfreighter, intended for heavy transport for jobs when a Fletcher or two just wasn't enough to get the job done. They will be most useful for huge transport activities to the outer system.

South Carolina Freighter
Size: 164.6 kt
Crew: 531
Speed: 607 km/s
Fuel load: 2.15m
Defenses: 18 CIWS batteries, basic sensors
Cargo Space: 125 kt(equivalent to 5 Fletcher-class freighters)
Cost: 2.08m(10 months)

The South Carolina will be by far the largest ship in Sol space -- civilian designs have topped out at less than half the size, about 70kt. The massive engines(10 of them) can be detected 16m km away by even our basic commercial sensors.

Two are intended to be converted right away, with construction beginning at the end of the summer like the Long Beach.

** Six new Lexington-class shuttles were ordered to be built, to keep up with the needs of shuttling VIPs around. This will bring the total to 30.

[Brian Swartz]

CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE

James Earl Jones V(6) -- A small demotion this go-round from Venus, as he'll head out to super-distant Sedna. Jones does have some mining skill, but it's hardly the best use of his abilities.

Pioneer Deacon Palmer -- Roughly two years remain on the final project of his career(jump gate construction module). It seems fitting that Palmer's retirement will closely coincide with the planned 'SPACE at 50' celebration.
Joe Tycho -- Joe has seemingly learned to adapt to his health difficulties the last couple of years. At the moment he's set to finish work on a larger, more powerful laser cannon varianit sometime in the spring of '74.

[Brian Swartz]

It's been an extremely busy RL week. Current game date is July 2073, midway through the year. Not a ton going on so there's a pretty good chance I'll be able to get an update up this weekend.

[sterlingice]

You can't lead with a line like "For reasons that are yet classified(but observant and studious followers of the goings-on at SPACE are not expected to have much trouble guessing)" and then say you can't write for a while

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Of course I can. See!:P

2073 ANNUAL REPORT

SPACE noticed one election impact right away: a significant slowdown in production time for everything, both planetside and orbital ship construction. Alberto Eighmy was a director with many flaws, but none to occupy the office have had his mind for getting more done in less time. Add to that new Governor of Earth Riley Awad's very minimal skills in mining and production(he has more of a financial focus, and is also good with the training of new army units) and there was an immediate delay of weeks to months in everything across the board. With a number of major projects completed under Eighmy's watch, and others set to finish in the next year or two, this is at least a relatively painless time for such a transition to occur.

Less than three weeks into the new year, Santo Makar finished his latest project(jump drive efficiency, see the appropriate appendix for details) and the 69-year-old retired to private life. Makar's most prominent achievement was the development of jump theory itself, but his legacy goes beyond that. He laid the groundwork for virtually everything important we know about TN propulsion technology, and the crucial field is expected to suffer considerably in his absence. Rosemary Urenda(40%) is a third less efficient at leading research teams in the field, and there's nobody else that could even be considered good at it. In fact, only one other researcher has any aptitude for propulsion science at all(Reynaldo Darrington, 15%). David Gruis seems to have the gift, but a number of make-work projects have not resulted in the slightest improvement. At 50 years old, Urenda is no spring chicken either. A very real potential crisis is brewing in the power & propulsion field, which SPACE considers one of it's most critical research priorities. Known enemy combat ships(from nearly two decades ago, I might add) travel at a speed that is still nearly three times as fast as the Nimitz and Brooklyn ships, and that's with a huge portion of their mass devoted to engines. If the academies aren't able to recruit new talent in this area, it will have a huge impact both on research as a whole(as more and more labs will have to be poured into less efficient research) as well as a slowdown in the advancement of propulsion technology specifically. This is no small concern for Duling's new administration.

Before the end of the month, there was a small bit of better news as a spare administrator finished the academy and was ready for assignment. He's horrible, but better than having to face the shutdown of an outpost.

March brought the completion of a second Nimitz. Wartsila began a third, with plans to seriously consider a more modern ship after it is completed. A month later, Halley's Comet officially joined the list of SPACE outposts, as the first automated mine came on-line.

The summer was pretty quiet, but a modest buzz was generated with the promotion of a second Major General -- Wyatt Pittman(40, M), the first time the army has taken that step. He'll still remain second in command under Engelhardt. Also, the first beam warship(Brooklyn '72 class) is begun at Yokohama in mid-July.

In October, retooling is finished for the Long Beach and South Carolina classes is finished, but for now no construction will commence. There are fundamental issues being debated within the administration and the navy, and until they are resolved no further activity on these ships will proceed. One thing is certain, a huge drain on duranium and neutronium reserves has ended for the moment.

The rest of the year was quiet -- overall not that much happened in 2073. With bases on Sedna and Triton more or less halfway finished, Titan's massive Alaska-class base set to be ready for shipping in the spring, and many other expected developments, next year will likely be more eventful leading up to the 50-year celebrations in 2075.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** January 17 -- Santo Makar's team finishes improving the efficiency of our basic jump drive technology. They have effectively reduced the necessary size of jump engines by 25%, which will allow for jump ships to either be smaller and cheaper, or to pack on more equipment.
The lab space was reassigned to Juishao's missile agility research, which is now funded at the desired level.

** June 28 -- New research lab completed. Curtis Gloster takes another of the prototype jobs, the new missile fire controls. There are still two awaiting space for a project lead to be assigned.

July 20 -- Edward Groat's team completes blueprints for a Damage Control station, increasing the capabilities of ships to repair themselves away from a colony. This is not considered important for immediate application, but certainly will be needed for future interstellar excursions at some point.

Groat and little-used but fairly talented Alphonse Lambeth, from the Logistics & Ground Combat branch, will sub as prototype leads for the final two sensor suites currently designated -- Groat takes the Sentinel 400, for use on the next Forrestal upgrade, and Lambeth a new commercial sensor.


COMMISSIONED OFFICERS

Late January -- Another improvement for Cpt. Tell Perj Jr., a minor increase in training to a very respectable 225.

Early April -- 8 Navy officers are released, a sign that the military feels current numbers are more than sufficient.

Late May -- A new general is promoted(Jimmie Atteberry). Command decides it's time for the fourth(and for now, final) combat brigade on earth. Two new mobile infantry battalions are recruited to complete it.

Late June -- Sterling Silvers Jr. is promoted to Brigadier General as well, and is considered average at that rank already despite his youth.

Early July -- James Earl Jones V is heard from for the first time in years, increasing Logistics knowledge to a fairly strong 25%. Also, light finally dawns in the mind of David Gruis, who is up to 10% in Power & Propulsion. Still a long way to go, but this cuts the time of his current research by more than four years, and he will now be at least as effective as any general-purpose replacement could hope to be for actually important research.

Mid-November -- Industrial production increases on Earth as Governor Awad has learned a couple of things in his first year in office there(20% Factory Production).


EARTH

March 19 -- A second Nimitz-class warship is finished.

Mid-July -- Retooling is complete at Yokohama, and the first beam-armed warship enters construction there(Brooklyn 72 class).

November 25 -- Military Academy expansion completed on Earth(4 operational now). A mass driver is ordered up using the freed capacity to replace the one sent to Halley.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

April 16 -- Halley's Comet officially joins the list of SPACE outposts, as the first automated mine comes on-line. Two more would be added by year's end; a total of 30 are planned.

Late July -- Sedna expands to 29 complexes.

August 30 -- Corundium deposits on Machholz have been exhausted. Another quarter-century's worth of neutronium will keep the mines there in place.

[chesapeake]

No protests from the astro-conservationists over the naked plundering of Halley's Comet? Imagine having to deal with an insane alliance of conservationists and fundamentalist Christians that believe that Halley's Comet heralded the baby Jesus. That could see the end of a number of political careers.

[Brian Swartz]

Snicker. Yeah I'm glad I'm not forced to deal with such concerns.

[sterlingice]

So, uh?

SI

[chesapeake]

The Jesus Loves Halley's Comet Coalition has shut down the dynasty.

[Brian Swartz]

Sometimes good-bye is a second chance ...

A hailstorm knocked out the internet for the computer that has Aurora on it, latest in a series of things. The dynasty is not dead, thanks for asking . The Halley's Comet protestors have been loud but ineffectual -- both of them :P

[Brian Swartz]

The unplanned, month-long hiatus has been due to several factors. I had a brief lapse in interest(happens with any project from time to time unforunately, though this is the first one I've had with Aurora), a generally difficult job transition, weather and health stuff, and general lack of focus personally. I'm not sure how things will proceed now but I definitely want to keep the story going as best I can.

RETIREMENTS

Cmdr. Bennett Cadorette -- Most recently of one of Earth's Alaska-class bases
Lt. Cmdr. Rob Nielsen III -- Spent his two decades mostly on the harvesters with a couple tours on the FT Hercules as well, but was never able to make a leap.

Cols. Sean Riney, Helen Perales, Dan Yawn, and Jeanne Pont also take early retirement.

Leadership in the upper echelon of the Army is particularly stable right now, with all of the current generals expected to remain in place into the 80s.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. -- 1st out of 11. The most senior captain by a decade, he remains Logistics Officer at Fleet HQ.
Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj -- 9th out of 100. Another tour harvesting fuel at Saturn awaits. Chance is looking for a break to move up, but it hasn't happened yet and competition is as tough as ever.

Brig. Gen. Sterling Silvers Jr. -- 5th out of 10. Junior is headed to ?? to take over one of the construction brigades, his first brigade-level command.
Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. -- 28th out of 45. Like most colonels, Palmer Jr. is assigned to a garrison battalion.

[Brian Swartz]

Present gamedate is April 10, 2074 -- we are less than nine game-months from the long-anticipated 'SPACE at 50' celebration.

[Brian Swartz]

2074 ANNUAL REPORT

It was a year of industrial transition on Earth, beginning with the completion of a mass driver in February to replace the one sent to the new outpost on Halley's Comet. Mine production and work on the Alaska bases increased, and would increase again in late April when the components for the Titan base were completed.

March brought a number of important developments on the research front, including the retirement of one of the agency's original scientists, Dr. Brandon Grimmett. At 70 years old and in poor health, it was an easy decision. The early part of his career was spent in leading one of the ground-based geology survey teams in the exploration and exploitation of Sol('37-'48), after which he became a leading Logistics researcher, contributing many vital components for ship construction as well as modernization of ground forces. Another of the original minds that formed the initial research community at SPACE's formation, his retirement continues the process of handing the reigns to the next generation.

Two of the three elite Logistics scientists that made it the strongest research field for decades have now retired: only Cedrick Wormack(61) and younger, far less skilled researchers remain.

Aside from shipping the components and minerals needed for the new base to Titan in late April and May, there was not much news in the late spring and summer. Fall passed as well, until a November shakeup in the navy's power structure provided the first bit of hard news in several months. Veteran Cpt. Tell Perj Jr. became the fifth active admiral, a new high, on the 5th. Just two days later, the overall #2 in command, Chong Vaugh, was forced into medical retirement a little over a year ahead of schedule. Then about three weeks later, just before the end of the month, 28-year-old rising star Parker Lanzi brought the number back up to five again.

Such things would often just be footnotes, but given the slowness of the year more than usual was made of them. In the final week of the year, as all eyes were on the preparations for the upcoming festival, the launching of a third Nimitz-class missile boat went virtually unnoticed ...


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** Jan. 26 -- Third-gen. commercial grav sensors(Alphonse Lambeth) and improved missile tracking(+20%, Elwood Tousant) are completed. All three labs are assigned to Adolfo Walth for work on a new composite material for use in strengthening armor capabilities.

** March 5 -- A surprisingly important day scientifically. Dr. Joe Tycho's team announced new, larger and more powerful laser cannons(15 cm focal size). This would have been enough, but top sensors scientist Julio Kuchler announced a breakthrough(55% expertise), AND a new, much-needed power & propulsion researcher joined the fray. Already serviceable with a 15% skill, Alejandro Otteson immediately becomes a potential contributor. Tycho will spend a couple of months hammering together a usable blueprint for the next UBOS laser prototype, while Otteson gets an immediate project, horribly understaffed, to work on improving reactor power output.

** March 19 -- Brandon Grimmett's team completes a more efficient fuel storage tank for very large ships. Each of the massive tanks can hold 5m liters in the same space but using just over half the boronide required for five 1m-liter tanks.

Elwood Tousant begins the next generation of theoretical sensor improvement, beginning with the passive thermals. He'll take two labs for the project and will require at least one more -- considerable investment is needed to improve existing capabilities at this point as all the easy advances have already been made.

** April 23 -- Tousant claims the latest lab complex to be completed, bringing his project up to full funding.

** May 3 -- Foundational work on a 15cm Meson Cannon to match the new lasers is completed by Eva Vadnais. She'll turn her attention to a better microwave weapon while capacitor and focusing technology continues to be developed by others for the next generation of weaponry. A second lab is taken by Alphonse Lambeth for work on improving effectiveness of ground units.

** May 5 -- Joe Tycho finishes work on the new laser cannon, only to discover that a new round of research will be necessary once new capacitors are finished to allow for a faster firing rate. The last couple months were basically a waste of his time, to no small amount of annoyance.

He'll get basic foundational work done on improving turret gearing, a fairly long-term project which there is not space to fully fund at this time.

** June 5 -- Reynaldo Darrington's research team has completed plans for improving the number of ships that can transit with a single jump engine from 3 to 4(including the jump ship itself). Two projects that were a lab short are reinforced, and Darrington gets a make-work job looking into jump engine minituraization.

** September 30 -- Edward Groat's team finishes the Sentinel 400, the latest advancement in active sensors for the jump point detection ships. The new Forrestal III class will have improved armor and twice the sensor range for a slight size increase(650t) and a 19% cost increase to over 95k. Groat will take over work on the composite armour project, and Otteson's work on reactor power improvements gets a boost with a second lab.

** October 13 -- Rosemary Urenda's team has improved capacitors to allow recharging at a rate 50% better than existing technology. She'll next turn her attention to working on increasing fuel efficiency.


EARTH

March 3 -- Two mobile infantry battalions are ready for service.

April 27 -- The Alaska components for Titan have been completed. Needless to say it is a massive project: more than half of the freighters, five in all, will be required to transport it, with a sixth taking the required minerals to be used in the assembly process. Meanwhile, mine construction is further accelerated to about nine per year, and addition funding goes to the last Earth-based Alaska base as well. Initial estimates are that even once all seven brigades are transported to Titan, assembling the base will take over four years.

Late May -- Earth's population reaches 1.4 billion.

Mid-July -- The newest Brigade HQ is ready on earth and the training facilities fall silent, as the officer corps needs to grow before new units can be accomodated.


KEY PERSONNEL

Early May -- Curtis Gloster, the heir apparent to Palmer in the Construction & Production field, increases his skill to 45%.

Early October -- Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj has learned a bit about crew training(25).

Late Dec -- James Earl Jones V ups shipbuilding to 55%. Too bad that by far the greatest mind in the agency in terms of building ships never has had the chance to actually supervise such operations.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Mid-November -- The Tennessee base is finished on Triton, and the construction brigades there(four of them) will soon depart for Titan and their greatest off-world task: assembly of the Alaska there.