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

[Tellistto]

Welcome back, Brian!

Are all those civilian ships newer models or are they tooling around still in Nuclear powered engines from decades ago?

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

Almost everything has ion engines now. Some were refit, most had to be built anew due to the refit costs involved with the new engines. Generally speaking SPACE does a refit at each new generation of propulsion tech.

[Brian Swartz]

Dola, I should mention that the ESF ships(Baltimore, Gearing, Frontier, Prospector, and Explorer classes) don't have ion engines yet and probably won't get them. Exploration is happening far faster than expansion is, and as long as that remains the case it probably won't be worth the cost to upgrade/refit them.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2090

With the dawn of the final decade, Director Stonerock was preoccupied with two major issues: the colonization of New Genesis, and the approaching mineral meltdown. It was clear that the struggle for mankind to determine our own destiny would succeed or not based mostly on matters of economics, not naval superiority. In particular gallicite stood out as a concern. Half the pittance of an annual yield was being spent in maintenance of military ships. The ESFs are due back probably late this year or early next, but even if they've discovered massive new sources that will be a long time in coming.

A shorter-term solution is needed, and there is simply no way to justify any more military ships than absolutely required right now. With the Guardians soon to take over jump defense and the new Alaska's going in, the old guard of the Nimitzes and Brooklyns are of only marginal use. They were ordered to be scrapped immediately in order to save what is spent on their upkeep, and get what value can be saved out of them. The rest of the military fleet is really pretty lean. SPACE can afford to lose a few Caldwell 84i VIP jump shuttles, but those don't draw enough to make a significant difference(less than three tons each annually). A decision on those can wait, and isn't that important in the grand scheme of things anyway. Another benefit of dispensing with the 'old war-horses' now rather than later is that their captains can be transitioned into new commands on the Guardians as they are built.

With that decision made, a very busy start to the year soon commenced. The first news took just three days, which is when Commodore Ali Mandujano, the most politically skilled officer the navy has ever had and presently in charge of the Alaska bases on Earth, retired. Mandujano is also highly skilled in logistics, but it was her connections that allowed her to reach the upper echelon of the Navy and stay there, though she was never a serious candidate for the top spot. She first came to prominence during a brief stay at the helm of the Excelsior(Pioneer class) during which she reported on the events of the Epsilon Eridani crisis, then made captain later that year in '64. A brief stay in public affairs, for which she was most highly suited, was followed by nearly two decades as logistics officer for the SDF. The last five were spent on Earth with the missile bases.

Anytime a Commodore retires, it is an important spot to fill. There are presently only nine positions at that rank, but more importantly it is the pool of experienced, proven men and women from which the new Fleet Admiral will be chosen when necessary. Therefore this was an occasion to select who would be that person to join this elite group. There are few bad candidates at this level, but the best by a considerable margin was Rocco Lett, CO of one of the Nimitz missile ships for the last several years and a lengthy tour in communications prior to that. Too lengthy, perhaps, as his age(58) may well have caused the Navy to turn to Rosemary Tallant instead. The Public Affairs officer for the SDF, Tallant is only 44 yet has spent almost two decades in the public eye. She led the failed diplomatic efforts in Epsilon Eridani several years ago, but managed to escape any blame for them. She is trusted by civilians and brass alike, and now Earth's protection is largely in her hands.

On January 6th, the new year still less than a week old, the first colonization group from Luyten came back. New Genesis was up and running, which was good: but an unfortunate snag was hit with the other group. It seems the first group of colonists took almost a full month to unload, meaning the second group just recently left New Genesis to make the journey back to Earth. Apparently it was an engineering screw-up, as nobody had bothered to put cargo loading systems on the colony ships so everything was done with crude, outdated equipment. The time could be slashed to just over two days for a mere 47k to add two loading beams to each Spruance 85i colony ship, just over a 2% increase in the price. Clearly this needed to be done. The Howaldtswerke SY quickly set to work on the retooling, which would take just under a month at a minimal cost of about 69k. A very minor setback, but yet still an embarassing one.

After a few weeks of fairly routine events, ESF Alpha returns more than four years after leaving Earth on February 23rd. The task group reports a successful mission from an operational standpoint, and it's report is relayed to Fleet HQ.

EARTH

January 14 -- Krohn SY finishes fourth slipway, which is all that is needed for now. Another Forrestal 88i is begun.

January 27 -- Another Forrestal finished.

February 15 -- Guardian finished, a total of seven corvettes are now in service.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

Mid-January -- GoA Gil Milstead appears to winning over the right people early(four months) into his time in the new position as head of the Army(Pol. Reliability up to 30%, or accomplished tier).


Research & Development

January 20 -- Meson Focusing is improved to the fourth generation(Dr. Minh Klausner).


Colonial Developments

January 28 -- Throne Trading established, a new civilian shipping line.

Early February -- Determined to not go quietly, Sedna expands again to 55 complexes.

[Brian Swartz]

ESF ALPHA Survey Report
Luyten 726-8 'Route'
February, 2090

Alpha's mission parameters were to survey the three systems extending away from Sol from the hub of Luyten 726-8, and then proceed further in those directions as the situation warranted.

May 2086 - April 2087: Nearly a year was spent in the first system, Epsilon Indi. Tau Ceti was considered to have the best potential of the three systems and so was set to be surveyed last.

Habitability: Good(A-II is a 1.90-cost world, with only a trace atmosphere, right in that Mars/Luna ballpark)
Fuel Availability: Good(A-III, a super jovian, has 16.7mt of sorium at 0.8)
Mineral Wealth: Poor. There are multiple-megaton sources of all minerals, most of it coming from A-I, but almost all at 0.1. Other than a moon with 1.4 mt of 0.6 neutronium, there's really nothing to recommend the system here. There's no need to travel for what can mostly be found on Venus already.
Strategic Importance: Miniscule. With no other jumps found except straight back to Luyten, using the system as a refueling spot is rather pointless.

May 2087 - May 2088 -- Lacaille 9352 was a smaller pattern, but the large number of asteroids meant that the gravsurvey actually beat out the geosurvey by several months.

Habitability: Very Good(A-II is another 1.9 cost world, but has an atmosphere already of appropriate thickness, just a bit more pressure than Earth's. All that would be needed is the addition of oxygen).
Fuel Availability: None. Multiple potential sources ended up barren.
Mineral Wealth: Above average. Like Epsilon Indi all minerals all present in massive amounts of low-accessibility, but there are also some higher-value sites. A-I has 0.4 concentrations of duranium(270mt) and Uridium(155mt). A-II has similar concentrations of those two with the benefit of allowing human-operated mining(lower cost, higher employment). A-III has 2.3mt of boronide at 0.7, and there are multiple interesting moons and dwarves. One has a megaton of 0.9 boronide, another 56kt of duranium and 116kt of vendarite both at high concentrations, a third with 157kt duranium, 95kt mercassium also highly accessible. Yet another has 15mt of 0.5 sorium should it ever be needed industrially. There's enough here to potentially justify either shipping in the needed fuel or mining and refining the sorium, though some minerals like neutronium would likely need to be brought in from elsewhere to support operations.
Strategic Importance: Miniscule. Once again no jumps anywhere but back to Luyten.

June 2088 - May 2089 -- Tau Ceti, the final system off the Luyten 'hub', with the first two leading nowhere.

Habitability: Good. Once again A-II is the best target, a 1.90-cost planet that needs only oxygen added. The atmosphere is thinner than in Lacaille 9352 so it would take somewhat less time to make it breathable.
Fuel Availability: Excellent. It's smaller than most deposits we've found, but based on how long it takes to go through atmospheric sorium that probably won't matter. 416kt on A-V, a gas giant, at a fine 0.9 accessibility.
Mineral Wealth: Miniscule. A-III has 6mt of vendarite at 0.1. That's it, and that's all.
Strategic Importance: High. Three more jumps were discovered, leading to the new systems of Proxima Centauri, TZ Arietis, and Gliese 1. TZ Arietis is the first 'empty' or 'transit' system we've seen: it has no moons, planets, comets, asteroids, nothing. . No bodies of any kind where potential resources could be. It's only possible usefulness is as a system to be traversed on the way to somewhere else. Nevertheless, this is a chokepoint system that could be used as a buffer. Occupying it would place Luyten, Epsilon Indi, and Lacaille 9352 firmly under human control.

June 2089 - November 2089 -- Proxima Centauri was the closest and quickest of the newly-discovered systems. Not much was expected of it, but there was clearly more than enough time to do this survey before returning to Earth.

Habitability: None. There is one planet and asteroids, that's all. The planet's gravity is more than two and a half times Earth's, too massive for any potential colonization effort.
Fuel Availability: None. With only one planet as a terrestrial, there were no sources here.
Mineral Wealth: Subpar. The massive planet has the usual spread that most such bodies seem to: great quantities of nine minerals, all at minimal(0.1) accessibility. Most of the asteroid finds are too small to be worth noticing, but one with 152kt duranium(0.9), 80kt mercassium(1.0), and 147kt vendarite(0.8) bears reporting. Another has six minerals, most in virtual trace amounts of about a kiloton or less, but also 22.5kt corundium(0.9). Overall the picture is still one that doesn't merit major investment.
Strategic Importance: Moderate. Jumps to the new systems of Procyon and Kapteyn's Star were discovered. The latter has an exceptionally habitable earth-like planet that is just a little bit too cold, a 0.8 cost, and terraforming could eventually eliminate even that.




Outlook

There were no game-changing, dramatic discoveries on Alpha's journey. A few interesting possibilities, but no must-have systems. Further exploration will be needed before a full assessment of the importance of the 'chokepoint' system in Tau Ceti can be made. There's no hurry in deciding where Alpha will be sent next: after a two-month trip back to Earth and refueling, an overhaul will take likely over a year before they are ready to leave again. By that time ESF Bravo will probably be back with more information.

[Brian Swartz]

FEBRUARY - MAY 2090

The next few months were a period of pretty routine goings-on. On March 1st, the cargo group from New Genesis returned, and they had a bit of a layover waiting for enough equipment to justify another trip. There are mines ready, but they are best kept doing something on Venus while the surface geosurvey teams finish their work. At the end of the month the colonization group returned, but they'll wait until refitting over the summer for another journey. April brought the final chapter of the 'old navy', as the Nimitz and Brooklyn warships completing scrapping at various points throughout the month. On the 18th, the cargo group departed for Luyten and New Genesis again with the initial terraforming installation, a little more infrastructure, one mine, a couple more factories, two more mass drivers, and the Ticonderoga 82 sensor base for the colony.

May began with ESF Alpha reaching Earth and beginning it's overhaul, while two officers include Operations officer for the flotilla, Captain Asa Hotz, will now retire. Alpha's next mission will not begin for about a year, giving Fleet Command about that long until sometime in the second quarter of '91 to decide where to send them next. On the 25th, ESF Bravo made a surprising early return, nearly a year and a half left on their mission clock when they emerged from the Van Maanen jump.


Earth

February 30 -- Forrestal 88i finished.

April 4 -- Forrestal 88i finished.

April 5 -- First pair of Caldwell Js, the VIP jump shuttles, are finished.

Early April -- Ticonderoga finished.

April 15 -- The three original Nimitzes are finished being disassembled and scrapped.

April 18 -- The four Brooklyn '72 ships are decommissioned.

Late April -- Four Nimitz 76c are scrapped.

May 1 -- The Brooklyn '76s are scrapped, the last of the 'old navy' to be done away with. ESF Alpha returns to Earth and begins it's overhaul.

May 10 -- Forrestal 88i finished.

May 24 -- Forrestal 88i finished. Scrapping of the old ones begins with a spare slipway now.


Colonial Developments

May 7 -- Uridium exhausted on Whipple. Four other minerals, including duranium and mercassium, remain on the comet.


Leadership Personnel

May 12 -- Dr. Ross Dodge(36, SF) moves up to the Accomplished tier. He's probably the best hope for a top researcher in the next generation of sensors scientists.

[Brian Swartz]

ESF BRAVO SURVEY REPORT
Van Maanen 'Route'

April - October 2087 -- There are two systems off Van Maanen to explore, and YZ Ceti is tackled first before GJ 1002. It's a small system, requiring only a few months for the gravsurvey.

Habitability: Moderate. There's nowhere good, but a lot of marginal places to potentially live. Two planets are in the prohibitively expensive range, including one several times hotter than Venus, but there are eight moons in roughly the 7-9 cost range similar to Titan etc.
Fuel Availability: Good. There are two sources, one with 3.24mt at 0.7, another at 799k but just 0.4.
Mineral Wealth: Utopia. Incredibly, off-the-scale, potential salvation level of rich. First up, the crushing heat of A-I brings with it the best known duranium source, 7.6mt at maximum 1.0 accessibility. There are several 0.1 minerals here, but also 2.4mt gallicite at 0.9 which would solve that issue, vendarite(7.3mt @ 0.6), corbomite(12mt @ 0.5), and boronide(16 mt @ 0.4). All in all a 29-efficiency, very high-yield rock. A-VI, a super jovian, has one moon worth noting, with several large 0.1 deposits but also mercassium at 0.8, almost four megatons. The 10th moon of A-VII, a gas giant, boasts another 6.3mt of duranium(0.9) along with 0.3 concentrations of boronide(4.16mt) and corundium(452kt). A-VIII, another super jovian, has a fine moon as well which I think is the highest-efficiency body we have access to outside of Sol at 41. Another 461kt of duranium(0.8) and 536kt gallicite(1.0) along with three of the more common minerals, corbomite, vendarite, and uridium in somewhat larger amounts. More on exactly how rich this system is in the overall summary.
Strategic Value: High. After GJ 1002 was discovered to lead to no additional systems, it became clear that YZ Ceti is another chokepoint system -- GJ 1002 and Van Maanen could be protected from here. Jumps to 40 Eridani and Gliese 908 were discovered, and those systems explored next.

October 2087 - June 2088 -- Gliese 908 survey operations. The intent was to catch 40 Eridani 'on the way back' as Bravo would journey across the YZ Ceti system back to the Van Maanen point.

Habitability: Good. A-II is the best, a nearly breathable atmosphere but a cost at 2.53 just somewhat too cold(20+ degrees warmer than Luna though, for example). There will be water here when the ice sheet melts if it is heated up enough. There are three bodies in the 4-6 range, three more in the 8-9 range, and another three just over 10 colony cost. That's ten habitable locations, which is the same number Sol has.
Fuel Availability: None. Two gas giants are both barren. The most distant super jovian known, 16b km out, was not surveyed as it was past the limit but it may be worth considering as the three 10+ cost bodies are all in it's orbit. Otherwhise fuel would need to be shipped in.
Mineral Wealth. A-II is not only quite habitable but also worth coming for in terms of resources. A 40-efficiency world, it has four 0.1 minerals including gallicite and duranium, 15+mt tritanium(0.5), 1.3mt neutronium(0.6), 24+mt vendarite(0.7), 14mt corbomite(0.9), and 9.9 mt corundium(0.9). Given the lack of major corundium and neutronium deposits in neighboring YZ Ceti, this is particularly welcome.
Strategic Value: Above Average. Three new systems were found: EZ Aquarii, the empty star of NN 3039, and Groombridge 34.

July 2088 - June 2089 -- 40 Eridani, the other new system off of YZ Ceti. A big pattern, but not much was expected.

Habitability: Above Average. Only A-II, which needs oxygen added only to a thick atmosphere but is at 1.9 already with good temperature and gravity, can be occupied.
Fuel Availability: None. The lone jovian is barren.
Mineral Wealth: Low. A-II has several 0.1 minerals, and there are a number of asteroids that contain resources but most of them don't have much. One has nine high-accessibility minerals, probably the most efficient source ever found at 85, but low amounts of most. Mercassium(17kt) is the biggest. There are a few other similar asteroids, a second one 25kt duranium, a bit of neutronium, and 38kt gallicite among it's virtues. The amounts simply aren't enough to warrant investment in the system.
Strategic Value: Low. While the discovery of an alien ruin on A-II definitely makes the system important for now, once that is excavated there will be relatively little reason to return. The lone new system, 82 Eridani, is another 'empty' one devoid of any resources.

October 2089 - March 2090 -- GJ 1002, the second system leading away from Van Maanen.

Habitability: Good. A-I is a 1.9-cost world, far better than rest. A relatively small amount of methane will need to be drained from it's atmosphere and oxygen added, and then thickened somewhat as it's currently over 25 degrees below the optimal range. A multi-stage but relatively short terraforming project. In addition, there are 11 other habitable bodies, most in the 6-8 range with a couple higher. This is another system where a network of colonies could develop. A full dozen sites makes it a record-setter in that department, yet only the one will have limited cost.
Fuel Availability: Very Good. Three sources: 5.4m @ 0.6, 156 kt @ 0.9, and 154 kt @ 1.0.
Mineral Wealth: Rich. The 21st moon of the third planet, a gas giant, alone makes that distinction. 68mt of duranium @ 0.8, dwarfing the entirety of YZ Ceti by itself. 628 kt of corbomite is an irrelevant kicker. Another moon further out in the system has another 2mt @ 0.5. Unfortunately there is little else, most minerals would need to be shipped in.
Strategic Value: Very Low. As no new systems were found, this is merely a side alleyway in galactic terms, though an important one.

Galaxy Map
The Known Universe as of May 25, 2090





Outlook

Bravo's finds are revolutionary. The discovery of the first alien ruins on 40 Eridani A-I would be so on their own merits, but as it is they are a mere massively important footnote. A total of over 82mt of high-accessibility duranium was found, along with significant finds of every other major mineral. To put that number in perspective, it dwarfs total usage by SPACE to date and at the projected minimum needs of 15kt per annum, would supply humanity for more than five millenia. Developing those resources will be a very lengthy process, but once done the future of humanity will be highly secure from an economic standpoint. Due to it's status as a chokepoint system, YZ Ceti becomes the top priority. This opens up the question of whether to approach it focusing on an immediate resource grab or a long-term development potential situation.

Overall, not counting the Sol system and the three which are inaccessible due to the alien presence, SPACE has discovered 23 systems and fully surveyed 13 of them. A second question is where to go next. The maximum distance allowed by the 1-year rule(a year travel there and back, resulting in at least 60% mission time on station) is 18.7 billion kilometers. As the route list below shows, in some directions exploration is beginnig to approach that distance:

Barnard's Star - Gliese 563.2: 8.21b
Sirius - V577 Monoceri: 10.1b
Luyten - Tau Ceti - Proxima Centauri - Procyon: 10.81b(another 2.1b to Kapteyn's Star)
Luyten - Tau Ceti - Gliese 1: 11.01b(0.3b less to TZ Arietis)
Van Maanen - YZ Ceti - Gliese 908 - EZ Aquarii: 15.4b(closest, the other two offshoots are almost a billion further)
Van Maanen - YZ Ceti - 40 Eridani - 82 Eridani: 17.26b

YZ Ceti is expected to become the first outsystem base, i.e. the first system with a 10kt-capacity maintenance facility operation to support fleet assets outside of Sol. That is well down the road though of course. Command presently intends to send one ESF out past Barnard's Star to the Gliese 563.2 given that it's by far the closest available unexplored system, with the second heading out through Luyten to the systems beyond Tau Ceti. There are multiple possibilities yet in that direction, but so far nothing has been found to indicate investment any further than Luyten(New Genesis colony) will be warranted anytime soon.

[Brian Swartz]

MAY - OCTOBER 2090

The second and third quarters were filled with a lot of mostly routine developments which are detailed in the departmental summaries as usual. The first substantial news was the departure of the colonization group to New Genesis for the second time on July 3. Their load this time around was another 150k colonists, a deep space tracking station, two more factories, two automines, and a smattering of additional infrastructure. On August 30 the new prefabricated missile base for Titan was finally completed. This set off a flurry of activity as the nine construction brigades on Earth were sent there to get it assembled. The nearly 30 factories devoted to building the components for the base were also retasked. Small accelerations across the board mean that almost all significant industrial projects are now expected to see results and/or completion by early 2092.

In September, the current run of Forrestal 88i sensor vessels completed, leaving only the Guardian jump defense missile corvettes still being built. Otherwhise, the shipyards are quiet. When the construction teams arrived on Titan, early estimates indicated the base would be ready sometime in 2093. The day after this announcement, September 23, Director Burt Stonerock made the anticipated announcement that he would be retiring in a month's time.

In the first week of October, the Guardian phase officially began as the first squadron was deployed to the Epsilon Eridani jump point.


Earth

June 14 -- Forrestal III scrapped, Spruance 85i finished and the first one begins refitting.

June 28 -- Forrestal 88i finished.

July 3 -- Forrestal III scrapped: first Spruance refit finished.

Mid-July -- Forrestal III scrapped.

July 25 -- ESF Bravo arrives at Earth for it's overhaul. They'll finish some time next year as well, close behind Alpha but probably a month or two after the first flotilla is ready.

August 2 -- Forrestal 88i finished, only one left in production.

August 5 -- Two more Forrestal IIIs scrapped.

August 8 -- Guardian(x3) finished. There are now ten in service. A second squadron begins training exercises, the first is finished and undergoing overhaul: it will be ready to deploy after that.

September 9th -- The 14th and, for now, last of the Forrestal 88i are finished. The only ship construction going on now are the Guardian corvettes. The shipyards are eerily quiet on the whole.

October 17 -- Final, fourth slipway completed for the Niehuis SY. Starting with the next run, they will be able to build a full squadron of Guardians simultaneously. For the first time in memory, there are no ongoing shipyard expansions of any kind.


Colonial Developments

June 16 -- Sedna expands to 56.

July 5 -- Europa finishes it's new Ticonderoga 82 sensor base. Only Ganymede's remains.

August 11 -- Sedna expands to 57.

Mid-August -- Another shipment of automines departs for Herschel-Rigollet, expected to be the final one.

September 22nd -- Components for the Titan base arrive, and after an engineering assessment of needed materials, minerals are shipped the next day. Initial estimates put completion of the base sometime in 2093.


Personnel Notes

Mid-July -- Defensive Systems has two elite scientists for the first time ever as Eliot Monks(36) steps up to that level.

August 20 -- Dr. Brandon Leyrer, not at all a household name for good reason, made a surprising breakthrough. The 33-year-old Biology & Genetics scientist is up to Accomplished despite not having been given any projects to direct recently. This would normally merit a reassessment, but there's really nothing for him to work on. He's still behind Noble Stephson, and there's only room for one researcher in the field right now, in terraforming.

September 19th -- Timmy Sheerin, governor at Triton, is up to elite status in mining production. Nearly a 200-ton increase in annual duranium yield from the moon is expected to result. A drop in the bucket, but every little bit helps.


Research & Development

September 23rd -- Dr. Leonel Wessels completes blueprints for a larger, more powerful 20cm laser cannon.

Early October -- Dr. Adolfo Walth finishes work on minituarizing cloaks, a ship of 1.25kt or larger can now potentially be outfitted.

[Brian Swartz]

OCTOBER - DECEMBER 2090

Burt Stonerock Bio

Nearly four years as Director come to and end now for the memorable and controversial Stonerock. He received his first posting on the comet outpost of Stephan-Oterma just a month after being commissioned in early 2050, and four decades of service later he steps aside. After almost two decades of comet postings he began the first of two tours on Mercury in 2069. While on Callisto in the mid-70s he began to develop health problems, but continued to develop his skills. Burt moved to Mercury in '81, then after just under two years as Earth's governor from 85-87 he was the landslide choice to take over the Director's Office in January of 2087. His legacy is that of being blunt and direct to a fault and a near-complete disregard for the 'political game', a decided rarity among high-level officials. He was responsible for formulating initial SPACE policy in terms of managing the mineral crash and before that, colonization efforts. He had a fairly tumultuous, but overall quite successful, term as Director. Burt Stonerock retires at the age of 61.

SPACE Directorial Election: October 23, 2090

Despite being a year older than Stonerock at 62, Earth Governor Delois Woznicki is still in good health and eligible for the office for the first time. Better late than never was probably never more applicable. Obviously her age meant that, if elected, she'd have a brief term in office. Despite this, she is so much more skilled and qualified than anyone else out there that it seemed a foregone conclusion. There are a total of ten qualified administrators, but a full half-dozen are fairly young with underdeveloped resumes and skills. Only three challengers were on the ballot, familiar names all, but none of them really had a chance despite well-formulated campaigns. This was a coronation, and it was over before it began.

Delois Woznicki -- 54.3%
Errol Igoe -- 18.5%
Russell Salvucci -- 18.1%
Evelyn Kaczor -- 9.1%

Kaczor will move from Venus to Earth to take over as governor on the homeworld. There's nobody with the industrial acumen of either Stonerock or Woznicki so some slowdown is expected, but she has the best balance of factory and shipbuilding skills(25/15). Also notable is Venus's replacement, the relatively young Gordon Semien. Now 33 years old, Semien has a gift for leadership and gets off the Neujmin comet operation at a good time -- it is only a month or two away from depleting it's duranium reserves. Meanwhile a newcomer who is just glad to get a foot in the door will take over there. A win for all concerned.

The day after the election, the 24th, another task group returned from New Genesis, and it was decided that it was time to get basic fueling and transport up and running in the system. In other words, a new task force had to be formed and assigned personnel and ships moved, or at least the ball needed to get rolling. It would be only months before the sensor base was ready, and the population was nearing a third of a million.

New Genesis Support Flotilla(NGSF) was the sixth task force formed. Captain Rocco Lett was the unanimous choice to head it up. A Long Beach fuel harvester and a Fletcher mid-size freighter would make the jump this time, along with of course the Caldwell J VIP jump shuttle that would take the officers through seperately. Sometimes it's just a matter of being around at the right time. Such was the case here for Lieutenant Solomon Curd, a man of only one useful skill. Fortunately, that skill is now needed as he was a year or two away from likely being pushed out of the service. Now a lieutenant commander, Curd will be the logistics officer for the New Genesis task force. Many a career has been built, or at least begun to be built, on such fortuiious happenstances.

Research tidbits dominated the news most of the rest of the year, but on Christmas Day there was news from New Genesis. A week and a half previous the new naval HQ had been set up on the colony, and the ground survey of A-I had been finished with no new results. This marks the completion of survey operations in Luyten 726-8, and clears the way for deployment of automines. Due to the slow speed of the fuel harvester traveling with the group, it will still be nearly two months before the group, which includes the necessary freighter, makes the jump to the system. By the end of the 2092 basic mining operations should be set up on all of the surveyed comets and the big duranium reserves on A-I, a key step towards making New Genesis fully operational.

The two geology teams now inbound to Earth will get some R&R while their GW shuttle undergoes it's maintenance work, and then they will be sent out to YZ Ceti. Confirming the results there is expected to take considerable time, but mining operations cannot begin in earnest until it is finished. That day must come as soon as humanly possible.


Research & Development

** November 3 -- Divisional HQs are now available following a report filed by Alphonse Lambeth. As expected they are considerably expensive, but Earth is in need of two of them and the work will start immediately. The estimated time is nearly two years each. Lambeth will take over work on improving cargo handling systems.

** December 4 -- A relatively inconsequential advance was announced by Lena Bohannan, whose team has completed work on the asteroid mining module. It is expected to literally be a century or two before any asteroid mining ships would be deployed, if ever. Nevertheless the engineers took a look at the specifications anyway. Each module costs the same as a standard mine, so there could potentially be a significant cost savings over using large numbers of automines which cost twice as much. Analysis indicates that for a moderate-sized mining ship(65 kt), there would be some savings over the automine option of about 17%, but when you factor in the need for shore leave and the inactive time that would require it does not seem to be a particularly useful option. For systems with multiple asteroids with significant deposits and no sensible colony sites it might be a good idea, but such systems are certainly going to be rare and none are set to be developed anytime soon.

** December 17 -- Capacitor recharge rates have been improved by Norris Gunterman. Decades down the road, if the economic situation has been stabilized, this may well prove important. For now, it's merely a curiosity. His next project is much more vital. The next stage in power generation, the stellerator fusion reactor, will now have his attention. Most of the work has already been done by more junior researchers, and results are expected in less than two years.



Earth

November 5 -- New research lab completed.


Colonial Developments

November 19 -- As expected, duranium deposits on Neujmin have now been exhausted. As one of the top neutronium producers, it will continue to be fairly important.

Mid-November -- The last of the construction brigades have made it to Titan, where it is expected the new base will be ready sometime in early 2093.


Personnel

Late December -- The tragic, early death of Dr. Kerry Rainbolt, a young scientist who had not yet been granted a project lead, went largely unnoticed. Such things happen unfortunately in the course of human experience, and with the research directorate possessing so many talented minds these days, there are many newcomers who remain on the sidelines.

[Brian Swartz]

There was quite a bit of activity in the early months of 2091, so I decided to split off a couple things.

2091 MRD SUMMARY

Duranium is up a rather astonishing 12kt this year, partly due to the scrapping of a lot of combat ships but at nearly 40kt a sizable emergency stockpile is now forming. This gain is almost exactly the amount coming from Sedna, but unfortunately is not sustainable. Mercassium held steady, showing small increases once the drain from the colony ships ended, while gallicite(1.8kt), corundium(100t), and neutronium(1.9 kt) all moved upwards. It was a very good year on the mining front, but it will still be at least a couple of years before the picture can be reasonably clarified.

Annual Supply as of January 1:

Duranium: 18.3 kt(+1.7%)
Neutronium: 3.24 kt(+2.5%)
Mercassium: 2.06 kt(-2.4%)
Corundium: 1.31 kt(+16%)
Gallicite: 926t(+16%)

Expansion of operations on Herschel-Rigollet provided some much-needed gallicite to help with use in ship maintenance needs, as well as making the corundium flow more secure.

Policy Review

Director Delois Woznicki had some choices to make with this information. It had become clear that a little more shipbuilding was regrettably necessary, which will further stress the system. With a Fletcher-class freighter having been sent to New Genesis, another one would be needed to handle Sol's needs. Additionally, it has become painfully obvious that more jump shuttles are needed. There are four survey shuttles, the George Washington class, and three are always in operation. The inadequacy of this can be shown that a replacement was needed to depart to relieve the shuttle currently in 40 Eridani with the xenology team ten days ago, but none will be ready for a couple months so it will have to stay over it's operational guidelines. With the need for the class expected to only increase in future decades, the choice was made to double the number of vessels from four to eight.

Also, with Herschel-Rigollet having reached it's complement of automines, the next destination for additional deployments had to be decided on. By the middle of the year the full complement needed for the New Genesis start-up would be finished, and the rest would be kept in Sol until the groundwork for YZ Ceti was completed. The uninventively-named asteroid 2004 XA192 was chosen. Nearly a billion kilometers past Neptune orbit(5.4b km total), it's distance was one reason why it has not yet been developed. XA192 will become the second asteroid(after Prokne) to be exploited by SPACE. It holds nearly 200kt of duranium and about 24kt of gallicite, along with lesser amounts of tritanium and boronide. The first shipment of automines should depart before the end of the year, and should aid in the diversification of duranium sources as operations on Sedna continue to tick slowly towards their final years.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY - JUNE 2091

The biggest news early in the year came out of research & development, with three new advances in January alone. On the 5th, both Deborah Barnhouse(ceramic composite armor) and Elliot Monks(thermal emissions reduced from 35% to 25%) had their announcements. As if that wasn't enough, the first terraforming installation to be deployed to Titan left that same day. Three weeks later, Jerry Bartholf's team announced that the new 9kt commercial jump drive for use with the Arleigh Burke brigade transports was ready. The new jump-capable specs:

Arleigh Burke 84i(J) Brigade-level Troop Transport
Size: 28.3kt
Crew: 186
Speed: 637 km/s
Fuel: 300k
Capacity: Five battalions/1 Brigade
Armament: 3x CIWS 79 battery
Cost: 710k

For now, Oregon SY will retool in order to build these. The first one should be finished sometime around late summer of '92. Three are expected to be built, which would allow for all six of the regular Burkes to be transported in three task groups of three each if desired.

February began with a bang as well. On the second, the current run of mass drivers which has taken up three dozen factories for years was completed. It was time to count the cost for YZ Ceti, as almost all the equipment for New Genesis has been shipped. The big difference is of course that more infrastructure will be needed to setup the colony there. It would again require several mass drivers(seven in this case, six were sent to New Genesis). Current estimates are that three and a half to four years will be required to built the necessary equipment. It will almost certainly take longer than that to get the ground surveys done in the system, which have not even started yet. It appears that will be the limiting factor on how fast humanity can expand. The total cost is around 7.7m.

The next day, terraforming operations began on Titan, an initiative which deserves it own small chapter in the rundown. This will be a much longer process than Mars and Luna are currently undergoing. The atmosphere here is fairly thick, mostly nitrogen with 5% methane. There's no point in even trying to make the atmosphere breathable here, at least not for a long time. Temperature is the issue here, at -178 celcius it is survival suits and other specialized equipment for dealing with the frigid moon that cause the biggest problems. Adding carbon dioxide to the atmosphere to trap more of what little heat Titan gets is going to be the biggest concern for decades, if not centuries. It's already a thick atmosphere(60% thicker than Earth), but if the temperature ever gets good enough(unlikely) the nitrogen and methane can be removed to lessen the pressure.

In the middle of the month, on February 17th, the recently formed NGSF officially went into action. The first freighter and harvester have reached the system. They jumped out with orders to report to their new headquarters. The freighter will be tasked with deploying mass drivers and mines to the five mining outposts in the system: administrators are en route to them already from New Genesis where they have been cooling their heels in preparation for this moment for years. The harvester will naturally make it's way to Luyten B-III, where it will begin harvesting operations. The jump ship reported that second journey will take a further two months, as it jumped back into Sol minutes later on it's way back to Earth.

Another two days, and yet another bulletin as from Ganymede there was word that the last of Ticonderoga 82 sensor bases has come online. Deploying and assembling the entire run of them took less than nine years. The construction brigade is sent immediately to assist on Titan.

There was relative quiet for a couple months, eventually broken by research again on the 27th of April. Dr. Carmelo Constanza announced that improved fabrication techniques are ready, with a projected increase of 14% in output across the board. Now that manufacturing has caught up to mining in terms of technological advancement once again, the pressure on the MRD will only increase.

News has come in bunches this year, and it did so again. On the last day of April, ESF Alpha departed Earth orbit, their overhaul complete. They will return to the site of their most recent explorations, heading to Luyten 726-8, then to Tau Ceti, and then to the systems beyond it. With the focus on YZ Ceti now, their work has become relatively less important to the public eye ...

May also waited until the very end to make it's presence felt. Another task group returned from New Genesis, with a few tidbits on the colony's progress:

Luyten 726-8 Updates(New Genesis Colony)

March 15 -- Automine operations begin on Luyten A-I, the site of nearly a megaton of duranium.

March 28 -- Sensor base is completed. It is noted by Admin. Reneau that SPACE never bothered to send out a CO for it, and that request will be sent as soon as possible. For now, the ten active construction factories will split 25% on new factories, 75% on new automated mines. This is a ratio that will need constant adjustment. Right now the work force is still lacking, with manufacturing going forward at only about a 43% -- and slowly rising -- efficiency. Infrastructure can support more than three times the present population of 330k, and another 150k are inbound from the Sol jump which will aid considerably.

April 25 -- The new colonists, the third such delivery, have been unloaded at New Genesis. The manufacturing sector is now operating at 62%.

April 26 -- Another first is established. The Long Beach harvester assigned to New Genesis deploys at B-III, the first in the system or any system outside of Sol for that matter. Here that will require a three-week trip back to the colony for shore leave bi-annually, a minor inconvenience all things considered.

Back in Sol, ESF Bravo left Earth on June 15 for it's next voyage. It will take the four-month journey to Barnard's Star, then past it to Gliese 563.2. It will be the first visit to the system in nearly a decade by the time they arrive. Another round of exploration is underway.



Colonial Developments

January 3 -- Corbomite exhausted on Herschel-Rigollet

January 5 -- A new terraforming installation headed to Titan, their first.

January 12 -- The colony task group returns from New Genesis. Another 150k colonists will leave with them, along with another mass driver and the rest of the automines needed for the system.

February 4 -- Sedna expands to 58.

February 19 -- Ganymede is the last moon to complete fabrication of it's Ticonderoga 82 sensor base.

May 16 -- Sedna expands to 59 complexes.

May 19 -- The jump ship that brought the freighter and harvester to Luyten has returned to Earth. A tanker and maintenance facilities that Earth no longer needs are next on the agenda, the last four factories that somehow have not been brought to New Genesis due to a clerical snafu, and of course more colonists though those will have to wait as the task group can't take them along with the needed space for the facilities.

Early June -- Sedna expands to 60.


Earth


January 3 -- Two more Forrestals scrapped.

Early February -- SPACE's treasury reports that the balance has reached a billion credits for the first time.

February 23 -- The latest trio of Guardians is ready for service. A third squadron begins it's training period, and another full squadron is begun in the shipyard. It will be more than a year yet before all five planned squadrons have been constructed.

May 13 -- A fifth military academy is finished on Earth. That is all that will be built for now, the supply of manpower will be monitored now for the balance of the decade.

Late May -- It's a few months late, but one of the GW shuttles is finished with the overhaul and heads out to 40 Eridani to relieve the ship standing watch. Better late than never, I think they say.

May 28 -- Just a few days later, the next pair of GW's are finished and a final(for now) pair begun.

June 4 -- Forrestal III scrapped.

Mid-June -- Forrestal III scrapped


Research & Development

** January 5 -- Ceramic composite armour finished(Deborah Barnhouse)

** January 5 -- Elliot Monks finishes work on thermal emissions(reduced to 25%). Shield regeneration and cloak miniaturization will be next up respectively for the two elite DS researchers.

** January 26 -- Jerry Bartholf's team finishes testing of the new 9kt commercial jump drive for the Burke.

** April 27 -- Construction rate improved(Dr. Carmelo Constanza).


Personnel

January 30 -- New administrator Frances Laprade is one to watch. She can already handle anything short of the director's office and has a wide-ranging beginner's skillset. Also, the Energy Weapons field has a new elite man in Dr. Freddy Salgiver. Only 29, he is tops in the field right now. Combined with other developments, there are now no novice researchers with ongoing projects at all. Long-term, that has to be a concern.

April 15 -- Earth governor Evelyn Kaczor has learned a bit about logistics in her new position.

April 18 -- Four army and three navy officers have been dismissed.

[Brian Swartz]

JULY - DECEMBER 2091

On July 13th, there was a little more news on the geosurvey front. While nothing has yet been heard from the teams in Barnard's Star, the other two have finished the overhaul period at Earth and are outbound for YZ Ceti. There are eight bodies, most expected to be large projects and take months to years to complete. That is not to mention that it will take some weeks to get in position, but mining cannot commence until the initial survey is complete. There will be a mix of automining and standard mines in the system eventually, but the richest, prohibitively hot A-I, will be the first to have a team. Director Woznicki has been busy this month as well. After working on her substantial political connections, for what reason I don't know since she's finished her last election, she has developed a bit of skill in population growth, one of her weak points.

On the 28th there was more significant news, with the latest efficiency leap for jump drives being completed(Dr. Alejandro Otteson). SPACE was waiting on this advance before putting into motion research projects aimed at new commercial jump drives. Currently we have operational versions for the North Carolina at the top end, and also for the Arleigh Burke recently developed. Two more are desired, one to fit a jump-capable Fletcher standard freighter, and another to fit the small Gato for smaller runs. The option of a Long Beach-sized drive was considered but rejected, as it is not believed they will need to make jumps often enough to justify the investment. A North Carolina can escort them through the jump when needed, and most of the time they will simply be on station in whatever system they are posted in. Otteson himself will handle the new jump drives. The freighters will have the same cargo capacity but will be significantly slower than their present counterparts, so they will only be used when needed to transport between systems. In the case of the Gato's drive, it will be soley a single-ship drive as the small freighters are too small to mount a multi-ship jump drive given current capabilities.

The very next day another task group returned from New Genesis. This time, however, they will not be going back. The colony has all that it needs. It's time to head to YZ Ceti, which means the long debate about where to settle first, the 'primary' colony in the system, needs a resolution. It's the kind of decision that is made only at the Director's desk.

There are eight bodies in the system that are in the 'marginally habitable range', with colony costs from 6.77-8.65 with current technology. At that level they are hostile enough that there will be some population available for manufacturing work but a minority. Titan, for example, is nearly the low end of that range and has just under a quarter of it's population available for similar duties. All of them will probably be developed eventually, but there are important mineral deposits on a couple of them. Director Delois Woznicki decided not to make the choice on the availability of minerals since automines would need to take the lead early while available population focuses on terraforming and construction(esp. infrastructure). Much later in the system's development, as more people become available a switch to standard mining may well occur ... but that would be a very long-term concern. Given that reality, the fifth moon of the sixth planet, a super jovian, was preferable due to it's already thick atmosphere(nearly twice Earth's) and resulting somewhat more tolerable temperature.

It was decided to go with a compound name for the various locations in the system, beginning with Quarry Hub for that moon as it would serve as SPACE's headquarters and control in YZ Ceti. With that decided, over a hundred sections of infrastructure and a pair of mass drivers departed on a max cargo group the next day. The trip to Quarry Hub is longer than the one to New Genesis, an average trip of about 9.3b instead of 5.7b kilometers. Put another way, it's almost exactly a five-month trip each way, so the process of getting equipment in place will definitely take longer than before. The promise is worth it though, many times over.

After a quiet August, on September 18 a new logistical issue became apparent. With a new squadron of Guardian corvettes readied, the total is now 17 of the 20 planned, and the final three will now enter production. The process of reassigning was slowed because officers needed to be exchanged in multiple systems(Luyten and ESF Alpha which was by now a couple systems away), a situation which revealed the need for more Caldwell J VIP jump shuttles. There are currently only two. The order went out for four more, tripling to a total of six. Efficiently moving personnel from one place to another is a necessity to ensure smooth operations throughout SPACE.

By early October a new commercial shipyard had been finished and maintenance supply stockpiles reached the desired level, as Earth continues to clear up it's backlog of industrial projects. As the calendar reached November, the Guardian project reached a crucial milestone with the deployment of the second squadron, this time to the Lalande 21185 jump. Both dangerous jump points should be under the watch of the corvettes indefinitely from here on out.

The first shipment to 2004 XA192, Sol's latest mining outpost, departed Earth ten days later. It is nearly a three-month journey by freighter, so it won't actually be operational until next year.

The first week of December brought significant industrial news from Earth. Governor Evelyn Kaczor has made a significant breakthrough which will increase production significantly. Over the next couple of weeks, SPACE celebrated a pair of population milestones. Mars became the first colony to reach 100 million, and then within days Earth crossed the two-billion threshold.



Personnel

July 1 -- Luna-born Stella Yon is sent to New Genesis to take command of the sensor base there.

August 15 -- Cmdr. Chance Perj has developed a few important friends: political reliability is up to 5%.

Mid-November -- Cmdr. Chance Perj has increased his connections a bit more(10%).

December 6 -- Earth gov. Evelyn Kaczor has achieved a breakthrough in factory oversight, significantly increasing her accomplished ability in that field. A noticeable, if marginal, decrease in required production times is being seen across the board.

Late December -- Dr. Leonel Wessels, currently working on a larger meson cannon, steps up to elite status. There are now a record nine elite scientists who command half the available laboratories between them. Wessels in the second in energy weapons, along with Salsgiver.


Earth

Early July -- Retooling for the jump-capable Arleigh Burke is finished a bit ahead of schedule. The first two of three planned are expected to be finished next May.

August 4 -- Sol is back up to it's complement of two Fletcher 84i standard freighters as the new one is completed.

Early August -- The second squadron of Guardians has completed its training, and returns to Earth for maintenance.

September 18 -- Another four Guardians built, and a fourth squadron will soon begin training exercises.

September 29 -- New commercial shipyard is finished, the Astilleros Espanoles. At least one more will be constructed. Astilleros Espanoles will expand to at least 30kt.

October 4 -- Earth has reached the desired reserve of five kilotons of maintenance supplies. About two dozen factories will be switched to shipyard construction.

October 18 -- New research lab completed.

October 27 -- Final pair of GW's finished.

November 1 -- The second squadron of Guardians is deployed, there is now one at each of the dangerous jumps.

November 5 -- The sensor base for YZ Ceti has been completed. It probably won't be shipped out for quite a while but it's ready now.

November 24 -- The colonization group returns to Earth. The only thing left now is more colonist shipments to New Genesis. They depart with another 30k souls a couple days later.

December 10 -- KCI Naval SY, Kaiser Company Inc. in full, has been finished on Earth and the remaining factories are diverted to the commercial shipyard.


Research & Development

** July 28 -- Alejandro Otteson finishes a significant advance in jump drive efficiency. The practical effect is miniaturization, allowing a jump drive to be less than 17% of a ship's mass instead of the current required 20%. On large ships, this can be a significant savings.

** October 25 -- Elliot Monks is in the news again with the announcement that we can now cloak a kiloton-sized ship. Wrapping up a project on improving shield strength will be his next task.


Colonial Developments

Early December -- Mars becomes the first colony to reach 100 million population.

[Brian Swartz]

**There was a lot to do even though the events of this time period were not particularly dramatic. I also spent some time getting the naval officers into a spreadsheet to facilitate being able to identify promotions more quickly.**

JANUARY - JUNE 2092

The mining outlook shows a more promising picture each year, but there's still plenty of work to do when you dive deeper into the numbers. Duranium stockpiles topped 50kt by the start of the year, and by the time Sedna expires there will likely be enough stored up to last decades. On the other hand production minus Sedna is at 79% of the current need, and only 51% when you take away the other duranium sources set to be exhausted during the same timeframe. Since some of those mines will be redistributed, the actual readiness probably lies between those numbers. Mercassium is the only mineral that continues to decline albeit only by a tiny amount.

Not a whole lot happened until March, when another terraforming facility was sent off to Mars followed by the completion of blueprints for a Fletcher-sized jump drive and the deployment of the first jump-capable brigade transport. The new design is quickly hammered out:

Fletcher 84i(J) Jump-capable standard freighter
Size: 49.1 kt
Crew: 230
Speed: 733 km/s
Fuel: 400k
Cargo: 25k
Cost: 850k

These will be used anytime a single installation needs to be transported to a different system, or when 'mid-size' ships need an escort they are also a much more cost-effective alternative to the massive North Carolina jump superfreighters. They cost more than a third more than a standard Fletcher and the speed is less than three quarters of the original variant so insystem use would only be in case of emergency. Vegesacker Werft SY will be prepared to begin the first of the class before the end of the year.

At the end of March, there was the latest update from New Genesis as well. The population there is up to 830k, with industrial efficiency at three-quarters of maximum. One implication of the results there is already clear: many new colonies, such as the hostile conditions in YZ Ceti, will require a lower number of construction factories to start with since they won't have enough manpower to operate them all. Most of the comets have basic mining operations up and running, and the freighter is working non-stop to get all of the automines in place as duranium is at 18 tons and dropping. From that point on, Gov. Michael Reneau will need to carefully juggle industrial priorities in order to make sure the colony has enough infrastructure but is also expanding mining and production facilities at an appropriate rate. Much will be made of the New Genesis colony's experiences over the coming years and decades, especially in terms of fine-tuning SPACE's approaches to expansion going forward.

On April 8, engineering was busy again with a new design as the Gato jump drive was finalized.

Gato-class jump-capable small freighter
Size: 9.95 kt
Crew: 51
Speed: 603 km/s
Fuel: 100k
Cargo: 5k
Cost: 204k

Again the jump model is slower and costlier than the original. A fair number of these are expected to be needed. Virtually every system SPACE colonizes is expected to either have a surplus of some minerals, a deficit in others, or in most cases both. The Gato 84i(J) will serve as a delivery vehicle for these materials, and scheduling these trips will provide yet another beauracratic task. The smallest commercial yard, Kvaerner-Masa, presently tasked with the Portland battalion transports which are not expected to be needed for the forseeable future, will retool and the first of the class should be in production by about the middle of the third quarter this year.

Another week, and the MRD got some good news with the completion of the Guardian project so far as the shipyards are concerned. The last three were pressed into service, and training exercises will begin as soon as their captains can be relocated from other assignments. With a few shipyards still active, it is a welcome relief to the MRD that this resource drain is no longer required.

May began with news from Sedna. The completion of a 62nd mining complex there was not worth any particular bulletin, but it was accompanied by a matter of more importance. Gov. Ronald Waxman reported that the beginnings of lost efficiency have now come. Accessibility of duranium is now just slightly down(89% as compared to the 90% it has been at since operations began decades ago). It's just the start, but the long-feared Sedna crash has now officially begun. The exhaustion clock is currently just over 14 years.

The month ended with the departure of what is to be the last group of colonists sent to New Genesis, and a period of shore leave for the crews of the first cargo group returning from YZ Ceti. Before the end of the year the transition of colonization efforts between the two systems will effectively be complete.

June 12 brought more news on the research front, more a matter of future consideration than anything for the present time. Dr. Julio Kuchler has completed theoretical research into electronic warfare, allowing for the creation of ECM and ECCM suites. Practically speaking, ECM works to reduce the accuracy of beam weapons fire against a ship, and the range at which a missile fire control can effectively track the ship. ECCM works to counter these effects. SPACE's researchers will be more concerned with defensive ECM aspects, though no study of them is slated to begin quite yet.


Earth

Early January -- Another pair of Forrestals scrapped.

February 18 -- The third Guardian squadron completes training and returns to Earth for overhaul.

March 23 -- First jump-capable Arleigh Burke is now ready. A second will be ready soon, and the third hull is begun.

April 2 -- The four new Caldwell(J) jump-capable VIP shuttles are now finished.

April 14 -- Last three Guardians completed.

April 25 -- Second of the jump-capable Burke's is finished.

May 14 -- The third squadron of Guardians is deployed. Having finished their training run, they'll join the first at the Epsilon Eridani jump point.


Personnel

April 12 -- Commodore Rosemary Tallant's crew training ability is now near the top of the scale. The 46-year-old, presently in charge of the missile bases on Earth, is a serious candidate for the next chief of the navy.

April 25 -- It is announced that Governor Jedidiah Thone(Io) is retiring at 64.

May 18 -- Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. retires. Last 18 years, almost his entire career, was spent in garrison duty on Titan.

May 26 -- A new administrator joins the cause, one with a solid starter ability in mining, Mr. Harley Reagen. I expect SPACE will need every able hand in that department available for decades, so this is a good shot in the arm for the colonization efforts.


Colonial Developments

February 10 -- Sedna expands to 61. You would think they would stop building new complexes that are going to be useless in a little over a decade, but apparently the civilians are very short-sighted.

March 15 -- A new terraforming installation is ready and sent off to Mars, which will give the red planet two once again.

May 4 -- Sedna expands to 62nd complex.


Research & Development

** March 23 -- Julio Kuchler has completed work on improving tracking time against missiles, now at a 40% increase. He'll finish up theoretical electronic warfare research that is almost completed next.

** March 27 -- The jump drive for the Fletcher is now ready, and Alejandro Otteson will move on to the Gato version, already mostly completed by Bartholf before the laboratory was required for a more pressing priority.

** April 8 -- The new jump drive for the Gato is ready.

** May 29 -- A new increase in shield strength, designated Gamma level, has been finished by Elliot Monks. He'll spend the next year-plus working on cloaking efficiency, a project about 40% completed by junior researchers.

** Dr. Julio Kuchler completes Electronic Warfare research, and will next focus on fire controls extended the range of our beam weapons.

[Brian Swartz]

JULY - DECEMBER 2092

The constant march of progress continued, August in particular was a buzz of activity for SPACE. It was one of those times when a bunch of different things just happened around the same time. The first bulletin was in the second half of July, as prodigy Norris Gunterman announced a working prototype of a reactor powered by what they are calling 'stellarator fusion'. Don't ask, I have no idea how it works. It is a significant leap forward however. There is currently ongoing research into increasing reactor power in general, so no new specific blueprints will be developed until that is completed. The Navy was most interested in the application of a new engine based on this naturally. The concept, which is all it is at this point, is known as a 'magneto-plasma' drive system. SPACE expects it will be at least a decade, and quite possibly longer, until such a thing becomes reality, and as we know from past experience, prototyping and refitting and all that rigamarole will take years after that. It's coming though. Eventually.

August began with the cargo group departing for YZ Ceti, weighted down by a full load(130 sections) of infrastructure. Then the first pair of Divisional Army HQs were readied a couple of weeks later, though it would be some time before officers could be reassigned. Dorian Shelite was promoted to Major General to take Second Division, with Zoe Bean and Sterling Silvers Jr. narrowly passed over for the spot. There was a lot more going on of less significance, as always check the supplementals for details.

September 6 brought the second shipment of automines departing for asteroid 2004 XA192. They'll be at this for a while, at least 40 are expected to start. At that level gallicite reserves would last for more than 30 years, duranium for more than two and a half centuries, and more than 700 tons a year would be supplied. Two days later the last Guardian squadron entered it's training phase. 20 of the Navy's 28 captains are COs on the corvettes. That number is expected to remain quite static for the forseeable future. Growth opportunities are significant in the ranks of the junior officers(106 Commanders, 91 Lt. Commanders and growing consistently) which is expected to make competition for the captain spots fierce in years to come. Another two days, and the two divisional HQs for the Army were formally arranged with all the officers now in place. At the moment there are only five brigades though, enough for just over one full division. Director Woznicki sets forth a plan to have a full four-brigade division for each billion citizens on a world, with a brigade for a population of 100 million. Every populated world already has a garrison battalion. To put this into place, four more brigade HQs will be needed, and each of the three training bases begins recruiting one immediately. With SPACE stretching it's legs galactically, the Army will need to expand to match. With all that going on in a five-days stretch, the beauracrats were quite busy for a while.

September closed with the completion of commercial SY Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock. Sun will expand to 30k as did the last one. No more shipyards are considered to be currently needed. This allowed the diversion of a full fifth of the factories into other endeavors. Research, colonization, and new investment in factories/mines now occupy almost a third each of the output. That result was far more important than the shipyard itself.

The hits kept right on coming in early October. A week in and there was the return of the colonization group from Luyten. They had much to report from the New Genesis colony. The population there had reached 1.03 million, with the industrial sector reporting in at almost 93%. The only remaining step was to move in Forrestals from the jump to Luyten into the system itself and to the Luyten-Tau Ceti jump point, but that would need to wait until there was enough population to support staffing the maintenance facilities. Other than that, New Genesis was up and running, fully functional.

Gov. Michael Reneau has set a goal of having the industrial sector keep infrastructure sufficient to handle a year's growth at any one time. The rest of the factories will work on producing automines. Right now that ratio is set at a third of capacity on infrastructure, a ratio that will constantly need to be tweaked. The colony has 19 tons each of duranium and corundium, with duranium slowly declining. More mines are needed, and it remains to be seen whether the fledgling industrial centers set up will be equal to the task in time. The first automine is nearly halfway finished though.

One note to trumpet on the positive side, though small, was that the task group had brought back the first-ever shipment of minerals from outside Sol. It wasn't a lot, but a surplus of 228 tons, only 20 of those in demand(mercassium, galacite, neutronium). Not even a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things, but it was something. There was unfortunate news as the man tasked with keeping the primary mines on the large first planet in Lutyen 726-8, Edison Fredrickson, had been forced into retirement suddenly by an unforseen medical issue a few weeks prior. This was clearly a job for the best free mining administrator, and Harley Reagen was the obvious choice.

After that, it seemed as if everyone tired of the hectic activity of the previous couple of months. Important events just fell of a cliff, and while there were various minor comings and goings, SPACE operations were pretty routine for the last several weeks of 2092. Unquestionably the near-finalizing of transporting equipment and colonists to New Genesis and the shift in focus to the rich deposits awaiting in YZ Ceti was the biggest news of the year.


Research & Development

** July 20 -- Stellarator Fusion Reactor research is finished by Dr. Norris Gunterman's team.

** August 23 -- Company-sized combat drop module finished(Stanley Kogut).

** November 4 -- Bessie Wallander finishes the latest upgrade to thermal sensors, and retasks to EM detection.


Earth

August 7 -- New research laboratory complex finished on Earth.

Mid-August -- First-ever pair of Divisional Army HQs are now operational, First and Second Division incorporated on Earth.

Mid-August -- The first Gato(J) is begun as well, and the Astilleros Espanoles SY reaches it's target of 30kt capacity.

September 6 -- Shipment of automines to 2004 XA192 leaves.

September 8 -- The fifth and final Guardian squadron begins fleet training exercises.

September 30 -- Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock commercial SY is finished and begins expansion.

December 4 -- The last colony task group arrives at Earth from New Genesis. Like the cargo group they will have shore leave now before joining the efforts in YZ Ceti.

December 7 -- Retooling finished for the new jump-capable Fletcher. Construction begins on the first, due out in the third quarter next year.


Personnel

November 6 -- The Navy is celebrating graduate Tracy Stransky as one to be fast-tracked. Lt. Stransky is borderline elite in training right out of the academy.


Colonial Developments

September 23 -- Tritanium exhausted on Comas Sola. Now only duranium remains, and a little over two years of that. At this rate by 2095 it will be the first comet(or any other body) that SPACE has completely mined out.

December 16 -- Sedna is up to 63 complexes. Despite this, it is still below it's peak production as returns continue to diminish ever-so-slowly.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY - APRIL 2093

The latest year in the annals of SPACE began with some relatively not particularly important advances in research. On February 10 the missile base was finished on Titan and the construction brigades headed back to Earth, and then eight days later there was a stunning development as Director Woznicki made a system-wide prime-time address.

For the first time in nearly a quarter century, SPACE naval assets have been attacked. This is the news that was delivered to Fleet HQ just hours before as both of ESF Alpha's Explorer-class jump scouts reached Sol space. The flotilla was damaged but no ships were lost and all are headed back to Sol, a journey which is expected to take several months. An analysis of the data will be undertaken at that time.

Woznicki wasn't done there, announcing that she would be retiring in early April to clear the way for her succesor to craft humanity's response to these events. It was expected that the 64-year-old would step down this year or next due to declining health; this just gave her an appropriate pretext for it. The public was both angered and stunned, and intense debate broke out about what, if anything, should be done.

The upcoming election dominated the news, though minor goings-on managed to penetrate the fog of rhetoric and speculation from time to time. A new research complex was finished on March 22, notable because the missiles & kinetics field, dead for years due to high-ranking scientists taking all the space for other projects, got underway again with Deacon Palmer III taking the reigns for improving ordnance production.


Research & Development

** January 8 -- Shield regeneration improved to 2.5(Dr. Deborah Barnhouse). Overall stronger shields(designated Delta) will next occupy her team's time.

** January 12 -- Minh Klausner finishes development of a 15cm HPM(microwave).


Earth

January 12 -- Third and final jump-capable brigade transport is finished.

January 27 -- Gato(J) finished, first of the jump-capable versions. A second one is begun.

March 22 -- Research complex finished.


Personnel

January 12 -- Commodore Rodolfo Caley has improved his training to go along with elite-level initiative.

Late January -- Luna governor Roxanne Harshberger has improved political connections to the accomplished level.

Mid-February -- Dr. Benny Carpenter is reported to have died of natuarl causes while working with the Chance Perj geology team. Their shuttle is en route to Earth now for a replacement.

March 17 -- Commodore Parker Lanzi has reached elite status in training. Also, Ens. Ted Makinster, only weeks out of the academy, is added to Chance Perj's geology team. He's something of a prodigy in surveying, and an exception is made to the normal requirements. Making Commander at age 21 is certainly a good start to one's career. The team heads back to Barnard's Star, where several years of surveying have achieved no results for reasons that boggle the mind.


Colonial developments

February 10 -- The missile base on Titan is finished. The contruction brigades will now head back to Earth.

February 15 -- Sedna expands to 64.

February 18 -- Colonization group leaves for YZ Ceti with terraforming installation from Mars, first group of colonists, and more infrastructure. Lucio Choi(24 years old) is sent in as the first administrator.

March 16 -- Sixth terraforming installation finished and sent to Mars, replacing the one sent to YZ Ceit a month ago.

[Brian Swartz]

Delois Woznicki Bio

Delois Woznicki was the first director to be born after the founding of SPACE, and upon her graduation from the academy she was heralded as the next great leader, being appointed within months to the comet Van Biebroeck. Nobody, not Duling, EIghmy, or anyone else, has joined the civil service possessing greater natural talent for the role. She hit all the major mining outposts: Triton, Sedna, Machholz, and spent some time at Titan as well, but for decades it appeared she would never make the improvements needed to excel at management of large-scale economies as she clearly did in small-scale ones. She spent the 60s and 70s as a mid-level manager for that reason: a lot of time spent on Mercury, stints at Callisto and Europa as well. When finally she made her breakthrough in the mid-80s, it didn't take long for her to be appointed to governor of Earth in '87, a precursor to winning the greatest landslide in electoral history in 2090. Better late than never? Perhaps, but humanity would have been much better off if Woznicki had developed her vision much earlier in her career. An excellent career, but clearly the chance to be truly legendary was missed out on.

Directorial Election: April 5, 2093

Woznicki served just roughly two and a half years, less than her predecessor Burt Stonerock(four years), which was less than his predecessor Riley Awad(six years). There is a pattern developing here, but one that is not expected to continue under the new administration, whoever is to win it. Her successor is expected to be in office for much longer, probably at least five years and possibly ten or more depending on who it is. That alone makes it an important vote. When combined with the recent report of the attack on ESF Alpha, lessons in colonization learned from the New Genesis colony, and the beginnings of the long-feared and anticipated Sedna Mineral Crash, it is a time of great importance for SPACE. Turnover was expected to be very high, and the campaigning was fierce.

Eleven were qualified, and seven of them made the ballot. Unfortunately, it is the weakest field ever seen. There are no truly excellent administrators around right now: the last of them just retired. Adding to the tension of the campaign was the fact that a trio distinguished themselves from the pack, a trio initially indistinguishable from each other in terms of their electability.

** Ambitious, risk-taking Errol Igoe has been the governor at Titan for the past dozen years. He's the foremost shipbuilding mind in SPACE, and desires to expand the navy to support more rapid colonization, along with designing a terraforming class of ship to be built en masse, avoiding requiring boots on the ground for such a task. Igoe, 55, has respectable but unimpressive skills in factory oversight and mining.

** Long-respected Evelyn Kaczor has been Woznicki's governor on Earth during the past years. She is not quite as skilled as the other two but makes up for it with a well-earned reputation as a straight shooter. She also wants to expand terraforming efforts, espescially in the colonies, but via ground installations not ships. Her time on Earth has significantly improved her talents in industrial administration. Kaczor is also the youngest of the three at 52.

** The most talented, and unfortunately also the most irresponsible which is why it's not in his pocket, is blowhard Russell Salvucci who has toiled on Mars for over a decade. He's the 'senior statesman' of the group at 60, though 'statesman' is hardly an appropriate appelation. Health is not a concern, unlike most of his age. Salvucci's best skill is in the financial realm where SPACE has no concerned, he's also accomplished in mining but not particularly able in industrial or naval supervision. Salvucci has made a career out of playing up mankind's worst fears and basest motivations. During times of unrest he is well regarded: during any other time he has tended to be barely tolerated.

There is one long-shot, Ricardo Bloise of Mercury who is 48 and in excellent health with significant skills in mining, shipbuilding, and financials. He doesn't have the rounded skillset or resume to really make a splash unless all three of the favorites falter though. Just glad to be on the ballot are Gordon Semien of Venus, charismatic Michael Reneau of New Genesis, and Carl McCloe from the mining colony on Machholz who is really just looking for exposure here.

In terms of drama, the election lived up to the buildup in this case. It was a disaster for Errol Igoe, who ran probably the worst campaign ever seen. Scandals, faux paus, missteps of every nature. That left a two-way race, and just about as clear a distinction as you could make, between Kaczor and Salvucci. This time, the forces of impatience and xenophobia were strong enough to get their way, and Salvucci won a very narrow victory. Full results:

Russell Salvucci -- 20.1%
Evelyn Kaczor -- 19.7%
Ricardo Bloise -- 14.5%
Gordon Semien -- 13.7%
Michael Renau -- 13.2%
Errol Igoe -- 12.9%
Carl Mccloe -- 5.9%

If merely a quarter of a percent had shifted their votes from Salvucci to Kaczor, a much different future would be upon us. It was an election where emotion won out over logic. Anger and distrust over the latest hostilities was as big a factor as any: the people want action, regardless of how senseless that desire might be from an objective point of view. Not all of the people, not even most of the people, but enough of them to put their man into the Director's Office. Just enough. The sentiment was described as 'maximum stupid' by some of the less charitable detractors of Salvucci. One thing's for certain: you can pile the status quo under a metric crapton of rubble now: it won't survive the morning.

[path12]

OK, that's pretty cool. If you get room for Path Thirteen they would be ready to try something.

[Brian Swartz]

There's always room for more. What branch of service do you prefer(navy/army/scientist/administrator)?

[path12]

Wherever the most need is would be fine but that election fascinated me so is that admin?

[Brian Swartz]

Yes, you need to go the admin route if you want a shot at screwing up SPACE ... ahem, being in the Director's election.

[path12]

Screwing things up is a specialty so politics it is!

[Brian Swartz]

This is suspended again as I've run into a couple of bugs with the old version I'm using(again, can't upgrade without losing the campaign).

I'm considering three options: continuing just to see where the story goes with some workarounds that I really don't like, starting a new campaign based on a more realistic, multi-faction start beginning at present day, or just doing something else entirely other than an Aurora project. I think I need to take some time to consider this.