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

[Brian Swartz]

The next couple of updates will differ from the usual pattern. First, I will be putting together a historical overview of summary of SPACE at 50, which will be followed by excerpts from the keynote address at the celebratory festival by the Director.

[Brian Swartz]

SPACE AT 50: RETROSPECTIVE

AFTERMATH: PREHISTORY 2022 - 2024

Though it is almost unthinkable now as few of us were alive to endure it, humanity almost destroyed itself in World War III, which raged from 2013 to 2022. The war was triggered by the discovery of the TN elements, and was our species' first attempt to deal with that discovery. 93% of mankind was lost in the self-inflicted near-apocalypse, and large sections of the Earth rendered uninhabitable, probably permanently.

The formation of SPACE in 2025 was the second attempt. The fledgling agency had but a fraction of it's current trained leadership then, much less support from humanity at large which was less than 40% of the current numbers. We knew one thing for certain: both unity and a working understanding of the eleven TN minerals would be required for any chance at our survival. We could no longer afford to fight each other.

A NEW HOPE: 2025 - 2028

Lena Dungey was chosen in a narrow election win over three men to head the agency. It was a time of many concerns, as we knew how to harvest the TN elements but not a whole lot about what they could do. It was clear that the deposits on Earth would not last long, in many cases less than a generation. Dr. Deacon Palmer was tasked with a more detailed investigation of TN properties and uses, without which the fledgling initiative was surely doomed to fail. His role was even more vital than Dungey in those early years.

A BRAVE NEW SOLAR SYSTEM: 2028-2040

With the arrival of Palmer's report in July 2028, mankind's place in the universe changed dramatically. Armed with the tools to more thoroughly explore and begin to exploit our system, both space-based naval capabilities and industrial efforts, including conversion to TN-capable facilities, were enacted in what proved to be a very long process. In five years the first shipyard was finished, and a year later the survey ship Marc Aaronson was christened in the early spring of 2034. Another four years and all of the habitable bodies were surveyed. Ground-based teams began follow-up surveys.

This period was also marked by the untimely death of Governor-Director Slick Willie, in 2036. The '37 election, narrowly won by Lena Dungey over Herbert Duling, was a key point and one of the closest in SPACE's history. Dungey's third term made a couple of missteps, an ill-advised colonization of Venus and dumping a lot of time, money, and resources into the Spruance colony ship, which was eventually abandoned. It had become clear by this time that the system's comets were a much better source, and Dungey's political career died an early and ignominous death as a result.

EXPANDING FRONTIERS: 2041 - 2056

Dungey's demise was Duling's gain, and he began the first of many terms as Governor-Director by spearheading the expansion of mining efforts on short-range comets. By the end of that term there were nearly 50 automated mines combined operating off-world, and he launched a bold plan to establish a human presence on Titan. On January 3, 2046, the first human colonists arrived at Saturn's largest moon. A week later, Dr. Ignacio Bravo's team reported on Jump Point Theory, which provided the promise of extrasolar travel. The galaxy could be within our reach.

Two years later, the GSV Hopeful was launched, a survey ship with one purpose: determining the location of any jump points out of Sol space. On May 21, a jump point was found just inside Jupiter orbit, less than 740m km from our sun. Armed with this information, Duling authorized Operation Uncertain Hope, the goal of which was to develop a ship capable of navigating jump points and exploring what lay beyond them. The Hopeful would take another three years, through early 2051, to finish it's survey. It found 7 jump points in all.

2049 brought a new Governor-Director, India Rakes, whose primary policy change was the 2% Initiative, authorizing eventual full colonization of all habitable bodes in our system. Mars and Luna were colonized immediately: others would follow. The other major challenge of her term was dealing with a corundium crisis. It's easy to forget it now, but off-world resource development was slowed for many years due to the relative scarcity of it in the system. Research priorities also began to be shifted as there was a growing demand for naval military capabilities to combat piracy and other undesirable elements in the growing colonies. SPACE was experiencing some fairly acute growing pains.

In 2053 Duling returned as Governor-Director, and immediately began exploiting the comet Faye and asteroid Prokne in an effort to increase the flow of corundium. The first TN-capable ground unit, the garrison battalion, began to be deployed that year. Meanwhile, civilian investment in a fledgling operation on the distant dwarf Sedna added much-needed duranium to the resource pool.

The next year brought the launching of the JSC Intrepid, first of the Pioneer-class 10kt science vessels which were the final product of Uncertain Hope, now completed after six years. Tragedy struck a few months before, with expected commander Gregorio Granberg found dead under suspicious circumstances. Without the expert handling of the situation by replacement Cmdr. Jay Cin III, the resulting scandal could have been disastrous.

The Intrepid launched on July 1, 2054. On July 10 at 1842, it successfully navigated Jump Point Alpha, finding beyond it the Epsilon Eridani system. In two years, assisted the last bit by the second in the Pioneer class, the Hyperion, initial surveys of seven distinct star systems had been completed.

Humanity had reached a new threshold: our reach was now interstellar in scope.

A TRAGIC DISCOVERY: 2056 - 2057

The Intrepid was tasked with a more thorough survey of Epsilon Eridani, which lay beyond by far the closest jump point, to ascertain suitability for colonization or any new jump points which might be found. When it did not return as scheduled, the Hyperion was sent in to investigate in June 2057. What they found changed human history forever.

The wreck of the Intrepid was found a month's journey from the entry point into Epsilon Eridani. Governor-Director Duling immediately authorized a reconnaisance mission under the moniker Operation Post Mortem in a globally televised address on June 11. In the early morning hours of August 3, that mission resulted in the destruction of the Hyperion by what appeared to be two flights of ten missiles each. Governors Herman Fox and Cruz Luscombe, as well as Cmdr. Dan Spengler and the 240 souls on board all perished -- some in the explosions, some in the lifepods two weeks later.

PREPARING FOR THE WORST: 2057-2064

SPACE initiated a series of changes in response to the stunning news that a hostile, advanced civilization had destroyed two of our three science vessels. To protect humanity and its interests as quickly as possible, operations beyond Sol were suspended indefinitely and the Forrestal-class jump point sensor boat was designed. Bases were designed for all of our holdings in the system, some with only sensors and ground troops but others housing defensive missile batteries. The Nimitz-class missile boat and Brooklyn-class gunboat were designed as well for additional combat capability. Research priorities shifted drastically as well, with propulsion and sensor capabilities taking center stage in an effort to begin 'catching up' with what little we know about alien technologies, and minimal sensors and CIWS anti-missile defenses were mounted on all SPACE-operated vessels larger than a shuttle.

By 2062, Earth had completed it's complement of deep-space tracking stations, dramatically improving the range at which any approaching threat would be detected. Two years later, and a pair of sensor vessels were in position at all of the seven known points of entry in Sol space. To date, they have yet to detect any attempt at penetration -- whatever the aliens motives, they seem to have decided to leave us alone.

EXPANDING CAPABILITIES: 2064-2074(PRESENT DAY)

The past decade has been marked by increasing SPACE's reach in Sol, and our potential abilities via continued massive investment in scientific research. Deployment of military bases throughout the system required the Tarawa-class Collier, the Burke-class brigade transport, hundreds of thousands of personnel in the seven construction brigades, and no small amount of time and effort. The Cleveland-class maintenance supply vessel was also deployed, as well as the first three of the Nimitz class for direct combat defense of our system. With the Alaska-class base on Titan set to begin construction, this effort is nearly completed at least in its initial phase. Comets Wolf-Harrington, Faye, Neujmin, and most recently Halley's Comet have received continued investment in mining with a special focus on neutronium, the scarcest vital mineral at the moment. At any given point in time, anywhere from 20 to two dozen research projects are ongoing as SPACE invests about a third of it's expenses in that endeavor annually, though the loss of a number of retiring elite scientists is beginning to have painful effects.

Continual advances in weapons systems, sensors, and propulsion abilities have brought us considerably closer to known alien technological levels. Meanwhile, expansion of the GLTC to four academies has seen the leadership pool grow by leaps and bounds to several times its original size, combating a brief crisis in political and administrative talent though the Army continues to need more officers badly. By the end of the 60s, the 2% Initiative was completed with full colonization of Sol: every habitable system body is occupied. Conversion to TN-capable factories on Earth and considerable expansion of the industrial sector had also been achieved.

[Brian Swartz]

JANUARY 5, 2075

At the beginning of the two-week festival marking 50 years of SPACE history, Director Herbert Duling made the welcoming address to mark the occasion as was his official duty. Much of the speech had the usual flowery language that most statesman reserve espescially for such occasions as this. He was magnimous in the extreme, lauding the contributions of all branches of SPACE and espescially of his predecessors and political rivals. There was more than a bit of rose-colored glasses and revisionist history in all of this. For example, he was hardly going to mention here the still-classified fact that he had seriously considered a coup to remove SPACE's first director, Lena Dungey, as she blundered about with wasteful projects in her third term. Fortunately for himself and humanity, the voters took care of that problem on their own. But this was a time for unity, for celebration, for speaking with one voice.

Such pleasantries having been dispensed with, Duling also sounded a personal note. "As I stand here at the east entrance to USCA(Unified Sol Command & Administration, also known merely as Sector Command), I am reminded of the fact that this building did not even exist 15 years ago. I have been blessed to spend half of my adult life as director of SPACE, but the thing which gives me the most pride and pleasure is not that great priviledge, but the fact that such an office exists at all. Every day this complex is a potent physical reminder of what we have done collectively as a species. We have, through great effort and considerable sacrifice, put aside our divisive past and forged an unbreakable commitment to a unified purpose. We have resolved to never again allow ourselves to believe that self-destructive violence is preferable to finding greater strength in our common future, and have demonstrated that resolve with concrete action. "

Duling then moved on to unveil the plans for the Forrestal III-class sensor boat, the South-Carolina-class Freighter, and the Long Beach-class fuel harvester, all of which would replace their predecessors in those classes. He described also the new Military Modernization Initiative, which had been developed in concert with top military brass. This policy would ensure a reasonable level of operational reliability in official SPACE ships and bases by requiring new construction instead of refitting any time a major change in the specifications was made.

At this point most expected the speech would end and the festivities would resume. Herbert Duling had a suprise for them though. He had the attention of humanity throughout Sol, and didn't intend to waste the opportunity. Besides which, the timing of this had really been determined by science, not himself.

"Since the tragic loss of the Hyperion in the Epsilon Eridani system 18 years ago, we have known that we could no longer capriciously view the galaxy as merely a scientific endeavor or a resource to be used. We have enemies who have declared their intent unambiguously through their actions. There are some who view the fact that they did not follow us into Sol as a sign that they are willing to live and let live -- and believe we should isolate ourselves here, accepting that arrangement. Most of us however, have always known that the day would come when we must honor the hundreds who lost their lives nearly two decades ago in the only fitting way, by resuming our exploration of the surrounding systems in an intelligent and pragmatic way, pursuing peace always but not ceding control of humanity's destiny to anyone but ourselves.

Today it is my duty and priviledge to announce that within two years, the tools to properly fulfill that vision will be within our grasp. Dr. Clint Wyche has labored the better part of a decade on a secret project that I am pleased to make public today: blueprints for advanced geological sensors which will allow us to not only survey astronomical bodies more quickly, but detect the presence of any anomalies on those bodies which may indicate the presence or ruins of alien civilizations. This technology, when available, will enable us to make the most of any exploratory efforts. We must not let fear control us, and we cannot ensure our continued prosperity through the resources of Sol alone. The only responsible choice before us is the exhilirating challenge of expanding our reach into the galaxy with caution and a responsible, humble approach.

What that approach ultimately is will be widely debated in the months and years to come, and it is for that reason I make this announcement today. This decision belongs to all of humanity, and in 2077 your voice will be heard clearly in the candidates you choose with your vote. For now, know that every effort is and will continue to be made to be fully transparent on the options and proposals available to us. "

[Brian Swartz]

Next up will be a more detailed briefing than has been previously presented on the surrounding systems, resource situation in Sol, top options for expansion, etc.

[Tellistto]

Battle fleet for Tell Perj, Jr.! Battle Fleet for Tell Perj, Jr.!

Let's go get them!

Hah!

[sterlingice]

I'm trying to remember and even having a bit of a hard time resolving even going through the old pages: Intrepid was destroyed but when did the public find out about that? I thought it was initially hidden from them that it was attacked. What about the Hyperion? Does the public even know about that?

SI

[Brian Swartz]

The short version of how all that went down is that the Hyperion was sent in when the Intrepid did not return for maintenance checks as scheduled. The wreck was discovered and a recon mission announced, under the moniker of Operation Post Mortem. The Hyperion investigated the wreckage site, with the JSC Excelsior(Pioneer class) and JS Velociraptor(North Carolina jump ship class) observing from the jump point. At that point Director Herbert Duling made a global address informing the public.

Everything we know(not much) about enemy naval combat technology is based on the Hyperion's destructing during Post Mortem.

[Brian Swartz]

TO BOLDLY GO: EXTRASOLAR EXPANSION BRIEFING

SECURING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: RESOURCE OVERVIEW

The clearest extremely practical reason to expand beyond Sol is simply that there will eventually be a need for additional resources to sustain the economy. There is, however, no compelling need in the short to medium-term. Corundium is the closest with only the 12kt on Schaumasse qualifying as a significant source, but in a pinch there are smaller deposits to tap and when Ikeya-Zang gets closer, its 80kt will end any needs fairly quickly. Duranium and neutronium, the two most vital TN elements, can easily support another century of activity.

A more visionary approach would however suggest that we should know where additional resources are going to come from when they are needed. Mapping other systems is not a short or inexpensive endeavor. By the time a need arises, it will be too late to go looking for the next mother lode ...

It should also be noted that there are three extremely long-period comets that have not yet been surveyed. However, these are almost completely irrelevant. Hale-Bopp(28.9b km) and Brooks(37b) are not only insanely far away, they are getting farther away all the time. It's not even worth calculating the amount of time it would take for them to get as close as, say, Sedna. We're talking centuries here.

McNaught Russell is nearly halfway back to the sun, but still 20b km away, twice the distance of Sedna. It won't become relevant this century. Ikeya-Zang(12.6b km) has had an initial survey revealing mostly the largest deposit of corundium in the system, and in a few decades it might perhaps be worth the effort to send some mines there. The other three are simply not within the realm of practical possibility, and everything else has been surveyed.

DEFENDING OURSELVES AND OUR POSTERITY

A far more compelling reason to act and act now is the simple fact that what we now know about the aliens is that they have access to two systems bordering us: Epsilon Eridani and Lalande 21185. SPACE does not know whether the other systems are 'safe', there is no compelling evidence one way or the other. Deployment of naval forces in Sol is seriously complicated by the fact they could emerge less than a week's journey from Earth at the EE jump point any moment -- or at any of six other points of entry. If some of these could be eliminated or mitigated as likely attack avenues by establishing them as free of alien presence, the value of that information could hardly be quantified too highly.

ALWAYS BE GROWING

Finally of course there is the simple fact that the high value of discovery continues, and the recent sensor advances mean that humanity is now ready for this. There may be no 'fierce urgency of now' but there is a fierce urgency to go eventually, and no compelling argument for waiting.

NEIGHBOURING SYSTEM ASSESSMENT

In order of distance from Sol(and therefore ease of reaching), here is what we know of the seven systems surrounding us:

1. Epsilon Eridani(737m km). By far the closest, it is also as we all know the most dangerous.

Habitable bodies: The second moon of Epsilon Eridani-II is the most obvious choice as it is as inviting as Mars or Luna and contains more accessible neutronium than Sol combined(over a million tons). Several other bodies are in the range of Titan or the Jupiter moons, requiring considerably more effort to settle.

Survey status: 3 of 7 planets were surveyed by the Intrepid on its first, unmolested visit. Tritanium and uridium, along with less-accessible corundium and gallicite, were the major finds aside from the already-mentioned neutronium. With more than half unsurveyed, there may or may not be considerably more to invite us. Possibilities for local fuel harvesting and duranium for construction are significant questions.

2. Lalande 21185(2.68b).

Habitable Bodies: none
Survey Status: 5 planets, 4 of them dwarves, a handful of moons and a bunch of asteroids. Danger aside, there isn't much here. No atmospheric sorium harvesting is even potentially present with no gas giants or superjovians around.

3. Van Maanen's Star(3.15b)

Habitable Bodies: The first moon Van Maanen I is the best target, and makes Titan look like a vacation spot(9.85 colony cost).
Survey Status: All we've done is poke our head in. Van Maanen I is a superjovian, so the potential for fuel there and the possibilities for its nearly 20 moons is the main reason to even investigate. The proximity to the Lalande JP(519m between the two) and the known enemy presence there was a strong enough reason to look no further.

4. Teegardens Star(3.2b)

Habitable bodies: 6 of them, most of them similar to Titan.
Survey Status: No further investigation was done, though the jump point is just 326km away from the star in a very small system. There are five of six planets in quite close proximity, with two gas giants among them, and a couple dozen moons to investigate. It would quite likely be worth the effort ...

5. Luyten 726-8(3.6b)

Habitable bodies: Four, two similar to Titan but Luyten 726-8 A II is similar to Mars/Luna, minimal cost. It also has no mineral resources.
Survey Status: Only the one planet was investigated. There are 8 in all, a mix of different types, with a minimal number of moons and five comets, a rarity to find so far outside of Sol space. This is another interesting system.

6. Sirius(5.1b)

Habitable bodies: 7, 6 of which are quite habitable. Two are Mars/Luna range, the other four less so but all much better than Titan or the Jupiter moons. Even better, Sirius A II could be terraformed with minimal expense, needing only a bit thicker of an atmosphere with a little more oxygen to become the closest thing to a second Earth by far that we have yet encountered.
Survey Status: Sirius-A I and II were surveyed with nothing to show for it. That leaves a bunch of asteroids and the Sirius-B star, which has a gas giant boasting 23 moons(four of them among the fairly habitable targets).

7. Barnard's Star(5.9b)

Habitable Bodies: Two, both similar to Titan.
Survey Status: One gas giant with 17 moons. Combined with the habitability issues and distance, this precluded any further investigation.

THE FOX DOCTRINE

This is the name that has been given to the general strategic approach to exploration and expansion, wherever SPACE decides to go. It is named of course for former administrator Herman Fox, one of the martyrs of the Epsilon Eridani tragedy, who articulated the basic concept well ahead of his time.

The central principle guiding the Fox Doctrine is to gain the maximum information while exposing SPACE assets and personnel(not to mention human pride) to the minimum possible risk. Specifically, it calls for the use of small, specialized vessels to carry out the surveys while communicating with and receiving logistics support, fuel, etc. from a larger ship or ships stationed at the entry point into the system. In the event of a disaster, these 'carrier' ships could evacuate, limiting loss of men and materials to the smaller, more expendable craft. This is the opposite of the all-in-one approach of Operation Uncertain Hope that led to the Pioneer science vessel. These smaller vessels would, in addition to being more expendable, also have the capability of being more difficult to detect.

NAVAL COMBAT ASSESSMENT

The known capabilities of enemy ships come from nearly two decades ago, but they are all we have to go on.

Top Speed: 6500 km/s. Nimitz and Brooklyn-class 'warships' operate at 2400 km/s, or less than 40% of that.

Sensors: Considered to be similarly advanced beyond our capabilities, although the gap has likely closed somewhat with the dedicated effort made to improve ours in the intervening time.

Armor/Shields: Completely unknown.

Size: Completely unknown.

Weaponry: Two flights of 10 missile-type objects impacted the Hyperion, traveling at speeds estimated to be 15k-30k km/s. By comparison, our best missile, the Defender II, is capable of 13.5 km/s. The best anti-missile missiles we can design would have about a 8-9% hit chance against such an incoming weapon, and the absolute best tracking speed we can get with our beam fire controls is 15-16k km/s.

[Brian Swartz]

It is now time for all with an interest in SPACE to voice their opinions. There are two essential questions that will need to be resolved by the time of the 2077 elections. Feel free to suggest any approaches that are not listed here.

1. What policy should SPACE take towards the aliens known to be present in Epsilon Eridani and assumed to be so in Lalande 21185? This question is really more about Epsilon Eridani as that's where we were attacked, it's the closest system and best in most respects one as a colonization target.

** Isolationism. This would continue the current policy of avoiding any and all jumps to EE, with the goal of not provoking the aliens further or risking any more loss of life.
** Diplomatic Contact. Under this approach a small diplomatic craft would be designed and deployed, with a team on board using long-range equipment to attempt to establish communication with the aliens and form a basis for possible future peaceful coexistence.
** Recon in Force. Several combat vessels would be sent to attempt to determine further the extent of alien forces in Epsilon Eridani, and if attacked they would shoot back. At current capabilities, this would likely be somewhat of a suicide mission but valuable intel on enemy strength and the practical combat effectiveness of current technology against them would be the primary aim.

2. What systems should be prioritized first for further surveying? There are five with no known enemy presence:

** Van Maanen's Star(3.15b) -- Infrastructure cost would be considerable to get a colony up and running, local resources are completely unknown. Proximity to the dangerous Lalande JP is a significant concern.
** Teegarden's Star(3.2b) -- Infrastructure cost would be considerable here as well, local resources also unknown. The major item in Teegarden's favor is that the jump point is very close to the star and the likely locations for deposits. Required in-system travel would be quite minimal.
** Luyten 726-8(3.6b) -- A binary system with one minimally costly planet(Mars/Luna range). Resources unknown. There are 5 comets present, the only neighbouring system which has any and based on our experience in Sol they are the most reliable source of high-accesibility deposits.
** Sirius(5.1b) -- Another binary. Sirius A II the only planet we've found that could be terraformed in a short time frame. No local resources have been found but most of the potential locations would be around Sirius B, which has not been investigated at all.
** Barnard's Star(5.9b) -- Considerable infrastructure would be required and the distance is of course rather prohibitive. Barring incredibly rich deposits being found, it is an easy system to dismiss.

Currently Teegarden's Star, Luyten 726-8, and Sirius are those being most seriously considered by SPACE brass. Despite the distance, the long-term viability via the terraforming option of Sirius has investigation there as the most popular option currently.

All opinions are desired, but in particular Admiral Tell Perj Jr. and Governor James Earl Jones V are in a position to have their thoughts count more than the average citizen or public servant. All requests for more information on anything in particular should be forwarded to SPACE HQ immediately.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by Tellistto

Battle fleet for Tell Perj, Jr.! Battle Fleet for Tell Perj, Jr.!

This is unlikely as he is four years away from retirement. However, as the third-ranking officer in the Navy hierarchy, what he thinks about the situation is of considerable importance .

[sterlingice]

I am risk averse so I think isolation is the easiest course to EE. Until we're even close to the level of what blew up SPACE 20+ years ago, it's not worth going back there. I think diplomatic contact and recon in force would be unneccesarily poking the bear.

As for future surveying planets, we're not really talking about colonization yet, right? I think these are just surveying runs to gauge if there's anything worth going after. While future colonization costs matter somewhat, it's much more important to see what is there, correct? For instance, with Teegarden's star, with a nearby jump point, could we send mining ships to mine and transport back to earth if it's too inhospitable? I would be in favor of Teegarden, Luyten, and Sirius as places to survey and see if there's even anything worth attempting to mine.

SI

[ntndeacon]

I am in favor of going the Sirius route. I do think we will eventually need to get a diplomatic ship in our bag of tricks. However we still need to make up a LOT of room to where we know others are. We should keep the research going strong, even after I retire.

[Brian Swartz]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

As for future surveying planets, we're not really talking about colonization yet, right?

It's on the menu.

it's much more important to see what is there, correct?

Depends on who you ask. Looks like we have your vote in on the matter .

could we send mining ships to mine and transport back to earth if it's too inhospitable?

Possible, though expensive. More likely would be either a colony with a limited amount of infrastructure or even orbital habitats to house the population.

Thanks for your feedback guys. The results of this have not been determined, and it's possible the events of 75 and 76 could shake things up.

Originally Posted by ntndeacon

We should keep the research going strong, even after I retire.

We will, but that's gonna hurt -- you've been one of the greats .

[Tellistto]

Okay, time to be realistic.

Speaking as the third ranking officer in the fleet.

In no way would I condone what would amount to a suicide mission to EE.

Either through speed or capable missile defense is the only option for that system.

The human race must continue to grow in all manner of ways.

To that, population and resources to fuel the knowledge growth of our civilization.
Sirius for one, and anywhere else for the other.

[Brian Swartz]

CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE

James Earl Jones V(6) -- The Governor of Sedna has not been heard from much lately. Of course, that can be said of every governor in the history of humanity's most remote outpost.

Pioneer Deacon Palmer(CP 60) -- Work on the jump gate plans is expected to conclude before the end of the festival, serving as a fitting send-off for the 71-year-old scientist.
Joe Tycho(EW 55) -- In the early stages of work on improving turret gearing and the resulting speeds that can be reached, Dr. Tycho has been battling health problems successfully for nearly a decade and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.

[Brian Swartz]

2075 ANNUAL REPORT

Shipyard activity picked up immediately as six massive hulls began to be formed, the first two South Carolina freighters and four Long Beach fuel harvesters. It was also clear that more larger shipyards would be needed in the years ahead, so two commercial yards(Oregon and ENDM) began expansion operations.

The debate began with great intensity over how to deal with the director's announcements. There was near-unanimous agreement that the more promising systems should be explored and more fully surveyed, but that was about the only thing with a clear consensus. Man on the street interviews revealed almost as many differing opinions as there were respondents, and the elite intelligentsia, etc. were not much more unified. It would clearly be some time before it became evident what direction SPACE would/should take.

Meanwhile, officials were still occupied with the usual concerns from the relatively mundane(such as the 11th mine departing for Halley's Comet and the usual comings and goings of ships refueling, doing maintenance checks, and returning to station) to those requiring more close attention.

An example of the latter was the announcement just eight days into the new year by Dr. Deacon Palmer that he was retiring, having completed plans for the jump gate. It was of course expected that Pioneer Palmer would be leaving soon, but as probably the most accomplished researcher in SPACE history his loss would still be felt acutely. The initial TN research was his doing as well as virtually everything we know about adapting it to large-scale industrial use in shipyards, fleet assets, factories, you name it. In the Construction & Production field there now remain only two noteworthy researchers: Dr. Curtis Gloster(45%, 45) and Dr. Shannon Patteson(30%, 57). While other fields have taken priority as a necessity, it is certainly hoped that a new talent will emerge in the second half of Gloster's career.

As March came to a close, a bit of a historic day arrived when the four brigades from Triton arrived on Titan to begin the work of assembling the first Alaska-class base off-world there. Initial estimates are for it to take more than seven years. The three brigades on Sedna will complete their work in a couple of months, but it will be almost year's end before any transports can arrive for them and well into '76 by the time they make it back to Titan.

May brought more news of importance. Two pieces in fact, on the same day midway through the month. The first Brooklyn '72-class gunboat, the first beam-armed warship of any kind to be deployed by humanity, was completed. At the same time, the final of the four Alaska-class bases on Earth was finished as well. Construction of new naval and commercial shipyards began immediately, as SPACE is strongly convinced they will be needed for the new exploratory vessels. Just days later, a potential new star was born in the scientific community. Elliot Monks possesses outstanding survey skill as a potential leader of a ground team should the need again arise, and is also notable for a considerable ability in Defensive Systems(20%). This makes him equally as skilled as the current #2 in that field, Adolfo Walth, while still more than a decade younger.

The summer brought some developments detailed below, and some that are not. There were a lot of noticed improvements to minor officials not worth mentioning on their own, but the collective effect was seen as significant in the aggregate.

October brought the deployment of the first two South Carolina-class 'superfreighters', though they will not see any immediate use. Two more will be added sometime next year, which should be well more than sufficient for current needs. They are twice the size of any other ship in Sol space, and likely to remain so for the forseeable future. Tankers are dispatched from Titan and Callisto to deal with the drain this and the fuel harvesters will have on the tanks.

The year ended with a significant development in the field of ballistic weapons. On December 20th, Karabishi Juishao completed her latest improvement in missile agility. With this advancement it is the opinion of the navy brass that anti-missile ballistics are nearing viability. Nearing, but not quite there. Estimated impact rates are now in the 13-14% range according to simulations. At least 20% is desired before it is considered worth fielding a system.

It was, however, time for the next anti-ship missile. Multiple missiles, in this case, as command wants to experiment with an alternate missile: slower, but with a larger warhead.

Simulations have indicated that the direct-line successor to the Defender II missile should be slower with more lateral thrusters to take advantadge of the agility improvements. This will be the Defender '76, with a slower speed than existing missiles but boasting a hit rate of almost 45%, about 5% higher. The Defender '76 P will more than double the damage if it hits, but it will hit considerably less often(a hair under 30% is expected). The engines powering each missile will be different but quite similar in size, with the primary distinction being that the P variant is much less maneuverable to allow for the larger explosive yield. Dr. Juishao is expected to spend the next year or more researching these engines before she can work on the new prototype missiles.

Aside from the dramatic announcements and everything else that attended the SPACE at 50 festival, 2075 brought more new talent than has been seen in quite some time, particularly in the Army and research capacities; the beginning of the new generation of missiles as just mentioned; the deployment of the first Brooklyn '72 and South Carolina-class ships; the beginning of the first off-world Alaska base, on Titan; the retirement of one of the great minds in SPACE history, Dr. Deacon Palmer; construction and expansion of shipyard capabilities; and of course, continued expansion of mining efforts on Halley's Comet, which now numbers 19 automines producing over 1.5kt annually. It was quite a productive year at SPACE, worthy of the historic occasion which began it.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** January 8: Jump Gate Construction Module finished by Deacon Palmer's team. The two laboratories freed up were added to existing projects in need of extra space.
** January 21: Cedric Wormack reports that blueprints for the Tractor Beam are now prepared. His two labs will next focus on the next step in the evolution of the TN-capable army: specifications for an assault infantry battalion.
** February 11 -- With a new lab completed, it is time to begin researching the needed technologies for the next exploratory push. The most costly obvious need for the Fox Doctrine to be implemented is a more modern jump drive capable of propelling a ship of 10kt. The MJD 46-4b is designed and Dr. Shannon Patteson begins the work.
** February 21: Dr. Curtis Gloster has completed the latest missile fire controls, which are now ready for use. He'll take over the work on the new jump drive from here on out.
** June 7 -- The first advance in microwave technology in some time is reported by Minh Klausner(improved focusing). Newcomer Ross Dodge will get his feet wet now investigating ways to harden electronic systems against such attacks.
** July 5 -- Julio Kuchler's team finishes the latest active missile search sensors. He'll begin the next stage in theoretical passive EM detection with inadequate support for the time being.
** September 19th -- Bessie Wallander announces the possibility of extending beam fire-control ranges out to 24k km, the inadequacy of which can be seen by the fact that alien missiles traverse that distance in 0.8 to 1.2 seconds. But it's still progress. A naval priority comes next, as they desire a larger version of the Phoenix engine to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of the next round of redesigned Brooklyn/Nimitz warships. The Phoenix 100L is expected to result in a 6-7% gain in fuel efficiency and will be headed up by Shannon Patteson, the best available researcher at the moment.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

Early February -- Young Rear Admiral Parker Lanzi has increased his training skill, continuing to develop his abilities in an effort to gain on his superiors sooner rather than later.

Mid-February -- Rear Admiral Mitchell Feeser, the clear choice to be the next long-term navy chief when Besler retires, has continued to work on his operations skills in preparation for that post(35%).

Late March -- A new sensors scientist, Ross Dodge, has moderate ability(10%) and is ready to join the fray.

Early April -- One to watch in the army officer corps is recently commissioned Jordon Roettger, who has both skills and political connections to succeed. At the same time, some 12 officers were dismissed.

Late May -- Power & Propulsion No. 2 Alejandro Otteson has increased to 20% expertise.

Early July -- Burt Stonerock, Governor of Callisto, is suffering a variety of health concerns lately.

Mid-August -- Not resting as retirement approaches, Sr. Admiral Jung Besler announces that logistics abilities have begun to exist(10%).

Early September -- A new star is born in the army. Justin Numbers is considered a savant in terms of battle command, and immediately moves almost to the top of the 'general material' list.

Early October -- A new researcher is available who may well be a significant part of the future. Lena Bohanan(10% CP) also possesses moderate survey skill, and will be in the mix of candidates for any future production-oriented research tasks. Meanwhile, Riley Awad(Governor of Earth) has learned a bit more from running the economy, boosting factory production(25% bonus).


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Mid-August -- Sedna's first expansion in some while brings it up to 30 complexes.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

Chief of the Navy Senior Admiral Jung Besler retires having held that post for four years. The bulk of his career, over two decades, was spent mostly at freighter postings, followed by a decade as an Intelligence and then Public Affairs officer. Anytime the top dog in a branch of service retires it is always a loss and a noteworthy event, but Besler was pretty much a caretaker and not much more -- he won't be missed horribly.

Cmdr. Justin Alltop, expected to take command of one of the Alaska-class bases this year, has been forced out due to extremely poor health. Alltop, 47, still had the potential to make Captain, so this is a major personal disappointment for him but his body has just had it. His biggest achievement was commanding one of the Forrestal stations for almost a decade in the early days of their deployment.

Lt. Cmdrs. Lino Roller, Nickolas Morvant, Weston Upthegrove, Sheila Nuzum, and Cassandra Minch were given age-based forced retirement. Col. Owen Baek met the same fate on the army side of things.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

Rear Admiral Tell Perj Jr. -- 1st out of 4. This next tour he'll be taking over command of the commercial side of the Navy, which still contains the majority of the ships.
Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj -- 7th out of 101. The contraction of the Navy keeps him at fuel harvester duty for another tour.

Brig. Gen. Sterling Silvers Jr. -- 5th out of 10. Unlike his father, Junior appears stalled in terms of his career, and it will be several years before any of those who outrank him retire. He'll remain in charge of one of the construction brigades on Titan, and the work there is of course of considerable note and importance.
Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. -- 22nd out of 51. Garrison duty for another tour, but he's a fair bit more respected than he was last time around.

[Brian Swartz]

Had an unexpected issue come up during the year but just about to the end of it, should have it up this weekend and then we'll get into the election cycle.

[Brian Swartz]

After much thought and consideration, this is now on indefinite hiatus. I'm saving all the files, info, etc. in case I decide to come back to it at some point, but as of right now I don't intend that in the near future.

Thanks everybody for all your contributions. I'm working on ironing out details on a new project that I think will work much better as an interactive venture.

[Tellistto]

Thank you for bringing this game to the attention of the board. I've enjoyed it very much.

It was a fun experience, hope to see you again soon!

Tell

[sterlingice]

Bummer, as it's been fun

FWIW: I didn't care as much about the interactive part as the good story.

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Thanks for the kind words, gents. One thing I discovered on this journey is that the interactive part and story walk hand-in-hand -- i.e., the story is much better because of the contributions of the community.

[Brian Swartz]

It's been about five months, but I've decided to start this up again. I spent some quality time with the files to refamiliarize myself. SPACE went through a systematic organization and computerization upgrade -- which is another(technobabble) way of saying I took the time to some overview deleting of obsolete components, task groups, and ship class designs, and more importantly made a master list of components and affecting technologies so I can get prototypes made in an appropriate timeframe. Occasionally I've fallen behind before -- it's gradually grown over time and I don't expect it to grow too much more, but there's presently 16 active ship classes utilizing 31 specifically designed systems derived from 24 distinct technologies. So yeah, organizing it helped keep things focused a bit.

Community participation, both in and out of character, has greatly improved this adventure in the past and I'm hopeful it will do so again. I had stopped at December 1, 2076, so it was a relatively small matter to finish up the rest of the year once all the organizing was done. I've come to the conclusion that while I enjoy doing more interactive types of community projects, my schedule won't allow what that requires. So maybe this kind of story is the best kind of project for me. Regardless, I'm excited to get it going again.


2076 ANNUAL REPORT

Mitchell Feeser is appointed Chief of the Navy as expected. At just 40 years old, he is expected to have a long stay at that position. His first order of business is to formulate the Navy's official positions ahead of the upcoming election. The youth movement continued with Hank Rohrer(31) promoted to Rear Admiral to keep the five active admirals.

The first actual act of Feeser as navy chief was to declare several vessels obsolete and order them to be scrapped. This included both Essex-class survey ships and the GSV Hopeful(grav survey) which were now completely obsolete and haven't been used for anything really in decades, the CS New Beginnings which has never really been needed, the JSC Excelsior(lone remaining member of the Pioneer-class of science vessels), the JS Velociraptor(North Carolina-class commercial jump ship), and the Belknap-class command ship. Some were well-intentioned attempts at filling needs that never really materialized, others have simply outlived their usefulness. Additionally, the Perry-class fuel harvesters were slated to be scrapped over the next few years as the new higher-capacity Long Beach ships replaced them.

On March 12, the first four Long Beach-class harvesters became operational. They then took the six-week-plus journey to Titan, and then over to Saturn where they deployed on April 28. A few days later, the new Phoenix 100L engine was announced to have completed initial testing. The time pressure led to both a skill increase and medical problems for Dr. Shannon Patteson. SPACE now has two significant choices to make: 1) Redesign specs for the Nimitz and 2) What to do with the 6 million research staff now available for new assignments.

It was decided to build another of the current Brooklyn '72 class, waiting until current research on the next generation of beam weaponry is complete before updating that design. The new Nimitz '76 compares as follows to the original:

Size: 10.3kt(26% smaller)
Speed: 2439 km/s(almost identical)
Crew: 273(27% less, a full 100 saved)
Weaponry: 1 CIWS anti-missile battery, 4 Defender Missile launchers(1 launcher fewer; CIWS has 50% greater tracking speed)
Armor: 3 layers High-Density Duranium armor(same protection of more bulky standard duranium armor on the original)
Cost: 1.62m(14% cheaper)
Build Time: 1.9 years(actually a month and a half longer here)

In short, the new Nimitz is smaller, cheaper, can 'see' better, and has less firepower. The Navy intends to continue the trend of downsizing, preferring multiple modest-capability ships over a few huge ones. They also saw a definite need for some new prototypes: A couple more size variations on the Phoenix engine, and a smaller missile magazine.

On June 20, the final three brigades arrive at Titan, and the crews of their transports will take an extended and much-deserved break now after their long journey. It is still expected to take another four years, until sometime at the beginning of next decade, before the base there is completed.

The fall brought another development of major significance: November 5th it was announced that after over a decade, the longest by far invested in any research project, the new and improved geological sensors were ready. This is a big step towards being ready for the Fox Plan, possessing the ability to scan from orbit for signs of past alien civilizations on a body. The next step, probably not ready for a couple years, is finishing the new jump drives.

Just a couple weeks later, word reached SPACE HQ of problems on the Tennessee-class base on Triton. It seems that the staid and stale atmosphere of the missile base is not providing all of the amenities the crewmen need and morale is being significantly affected. Human nature being what it is, they are not robots and diversions are needed. SPACE has only one real option, a recreational ship being that option and the purpose of the new New York-class Luxury Liner. It is considered theoretically possible that a semi-permanent population, housed in what in effect would be 'mobile space stations', could potentially be built and transported to remote mining colonies ... but for now that is a mere speculatory conjecture.

The specs of the new design:

Size: 122.2kt
Crew: 1237
Top Speed: 347 km/s
Range: 23.8b km
Fuel Load: 1m liters
Defenses: 13 CIWS batteries
Cost: 3.56m(21.5 mo.)

They're not small, and they're not cheap. Essentially floating amusement parks with casinos, entertainment(both wholesome and not), the concept is not expected to be politically popular, but it is considered a necessity.

It is also a problem which will get worse before it gets better, as it will take some time to get any into service. The Tod & MacGregor is the only shipyard large enough to handle them, and the cost to retool, then eventually retool back to the South Carolina, will not be a small matter. Try on 3.2 million credits just to get the shipyard ready. But there is little choice. If defending outlying colonies is a necessity, then providing those charged with manning the defenses with what is needed to perform their duty efficiently is also a necessity. The first New York is not expected to be ready until just about the end of the decade(late 2079/early 2080), by which time circumstances on the remote colonies are expected to be rather dire.

The lack of foresight here, esp. on the part of the Navy, could hardly have come at a worse time with the election just weeks away ...

On December 1st, the initial boat of the new Forrestal IIIs heads out to the Lalande 21185 jump point.

The changes in the Navy definitely headlined 2076. A new chief began the year in Mitchell Feeser, obsolete ships were scrapped, the first Long-Beach harvesters and Forrestal III upgrade to sensor ships were deployed, and of course two new major designs in the Nimitz '76 missile ship and the New York Luxury Liner. The new sensors also brought the Fox Plan one step closer to fruition.


Leadership Personnel

Early January -- Rear Admiral Tell Perj Jr. has increased his crew training to very good 250. This should enable him to fight off a positional challenge from Rear Admiral Ali Mandujano. Also, a fabulous new candidate in the army corps(Gil Milstead) has been found to possess high-level ability both in political contacts and combat command abilities. Milstead is also an espionage genius and has some diplomatic skill.

Mid-April -- With all the extra attention being drawn to the Phoenix engine, project lead Shannon Patteson takes maximum advantadge, upping to 40% skill. Meanwhile, Director Duling irrelevantly increases his terraforming skill to an agency-high 30%.

Late April -- Rear Admiral Hank Rohrer is up to 225 training, putting him on more equal terms with other admirals.

Early May -- The early returns are that Alberto Eighmy's chances of returning to the Director's Office are improving(45% political reliability).

Mid-May -- Tell Perj Jr. increases operations to 10%.

Early June -- With the amount of research currently being done in the field, you can never have enough sensors scientists. The latest is Irma Bartlebaugh, 10% skill, 20% Xenology.

Late June -- Dr. Mike Minaya of the nigh-irrelevant Biology & Genetics field increases his skills to 40%.

Mid-December -- A couple of mid-level administrators, Weston and Kaczor, have improved their knowledge of factory efficiency. This might even matter if we had factories anywhere but Earth, or a good reason to build such.

December 21 -- A notable new administrator has joined the fray, Ronald Waxman. He has excellent skills in mining and notable secondary abilities in factory production. Could be a good one in time, but should be at least decent right away.



Research & Development

** January 19 -- Wayne Sabagh's team completes Meson Focusing 3. Dr. Sabagh is another of the original members of the research team from SPACE's founding, and he retires now having been a promising energy weapons researcher but never really got much better. He had a moderately successful career of decreasing importance as time went on.

Prototyping the new meson cannon will now be led by Mike Minaya.

** March 4 -- The latest in active sensors is completed(GEI SSS 128) by Billie Allington's team. The space will diverted to speeding up completion of the new engine, the only thing that remains to be finalized before the next generation of redesigns are ready.

** March 8 -- Magazine Feed Systems have been improved(Harlan Welle, 80% efficiency).

** May 3 -- With the completion of the Phoenix 100L engine, a number of changes were made and most of the waiting prototypes received lab space, taking up five of the six available labs. The final lab went to Allington, who will begin laying the groundwork for the next generation of active sensors, though she will undoubtedly pass that work on to a more experienced scientist once more resources are made available for the project. These developments upped the number of ongoing studies to a record two dozen.

** July 18 -- Karabishi Juishao completes the first missile engine, and begins the prototype phase for the standard Defender III.

** September 16 -- Minh Klausner's team has completed the second new-gen laser.

** December 9 -- 12cm Microwave Research completed(Eva Vadnais). Next up is extending laser wavelengths into the ultraviolet spectrum, one lab for now and she'll need another when one becomes available.

** December 12 -- SPPI NP-35 missile engine prototype finished(Elliot Monks). This allows the final prototype for the slower, higher-payload Defender '76 P missile to be prepared. For now Dr. Vadnais claims the lab for her laser work, and she'll need a third eventually.



Earth

Early February -- Construction begins on the Forrestal III sensor boats. At about three and a half months per Forrestal, replacing the current fleet is expected to take a little over a year with all four slipways at the KSEC Shipyard operating.

Late May -- The newest naval shipyard begins expansion operations, and is named Permanant.


Colonial News

December 28 -- Sedna grows again. There are now 31 mining complexes there. Still almost 63 years of duranium at current production levels, but that clock continues to tick.

[Tellistto]

Very cool to see this back, Brian! I'm still around and looking forward to more!

I need to get back into playing this game. Always have enjoyed it since you brought it to the attention of the board.

Thanks!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

Glad you're back on board!

STATE OF SPACE, 2077

I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS

IA. Populated Colonies

Earth(1.483b, 500 CF, 50 OF, 75 REF, 40 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(54.63m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(49.24m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.32m, 1 DSTS)
Mercury(12.64m)
Venus(11.74m)
Io(110k)
Europa(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)

The inner-system colonies continue to grow, while there is virtual stagnation in the outer system. Titan was the only one to grow(by a mere 300k), for a total of just 1.7% growth in the outer system. Meanwhile the population of Mercury nearly doubled, leapfrogging Venus as now the 4th most-populous colony. Nearly 9% of humanity, over 146 million of us, now lives somewhere other than earth. Less than 20 million, or 9% of that 9%, lives in the outer system and nearly all of that small fraction is on Titan. Meanwhile, shipyard operations has surpassed construction factory work with more than 25 million employed as the #2 TN employer behind research at 40 million.

IB. Outposts

Sedna(31 CMC, 16 eff, 8.59 kt)
Triton(63 AM, 26.7 eff, 2.65 kt) -- mercassium(9.0)
Earth(50 SM, 6.3 eff, 546 t)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 37 eff, 2.27 kt) -- gallicite(2.2)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 40 eff, 1.94 kt) -- neutronium(0.5), gallicite(7.6)
Halley's Comet(28 AM, 51 eff, 2.25 kt) -- sorium(2.6), gallicite(6.1)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.15 kt)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 34 eff, 1.52 kt)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 378 t)
Faye(25 AM, 41 eff, 1.78 kt) -- uridium(3.7), corundium(5.1)
Comas Sola(25 AM, 36 eff, 1.49 kt) -- sorium(1.8), boronide(8.0)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.24 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 35 eff, 1.12 kt) -- corbomite(1.9)
Borrelly(17.8 AM, 49 eff, 1.37 kt)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 50 eff, 1.4 kt) -- corundium(1.4)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 11 t) --
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 865 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 10 eff, 165 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 327 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 428 t)

Total Production: 31.49 kt, +9.7%. A near-reversal over the last four years, buoyed by the mines being sent to Halley's Comet. It is still just a hair(a mere 150 tons) off the peak back in '69. Neutronium remains the top concern in the short term, and Stephan-Oterma will run out in months. Corundium, sorium, and gallicite will all see multiple deposits dry up in the next several years, but it is not expected to place any strain as those are all minerals will plenty in the stockpile -- for now.

IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production

Tier A(rare usage): Vendarite(56 kt), Corbomite(53 kt), Tritanium(45 kt), Sorium(40 kt)

Tritanium moves into the lowest tier as it's seen very little use of late, and the gradually increasing amount of sorium as well for the same reason.

Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(97 kt), Boronide(44 kt), Gallicite(39 kt), Mercassium(24 kt)

Two significant concerns here are gallicite, which declined slightly, has a number of sources drying up soon, and will see pretty much constant need for use in missiles. Increasing that amount against a time of war would be preferred, but is not possible right now and that could be a problem. Mercassium stockpiles shrunk by 3kt and that may well continue also with Triton's contribution shrinking with each passing year. Vital to the research laboratories, it could well become a bigger priority next time around.

Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Duranium(16.4 kt), Corundium(16.1 kt)

A slight 600-ton decline in duranium, which looks to be pretty stable. Corundium continues to gradually increase and while the number of sources will shrink soon, there's enough to last quite a while and tapping superdistant comet Ikeya-Zang(incoming at 12.5b km) will likely become an option well before it runs out.

Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Neutronium(9.25 kt)

Although it is up sharply over the period(+3.32 kt), neutronium is now on the decline again mostly due to the incredibly expensive operations of the larger shipyards. Continued investment in Halley's Comet to counteract this is expected.


ID. Income

Taxes(population): 43.5 m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 5.31 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 5.09 m
Scrap Sales: 567 k
Taxes(civ. fuel): 153 k

Total: 54.67 m(+28.3%)

Balance: 689 m(+70 m)

Tourism is up sharply, double the numbers this year as compared to four years ago. Taxes continue to come in increased amounts from the colonies.

IE. Expenses

Shipbuilding: 10.37m
Research: 9.42m
Mineral Purchases: 7.50m
Installation Construction: 7.00m
Shipyard Operations: 2.53m
Maintenance Facilities: 544k
GU Maintenance: 464k
GU Training: 250k
PDC Construction: 63k

Total: 38.13m(+33.0%)

Shipyard operations are expected to rise considerably in the next couple of years, and for the second straight cycle expenses have risen faster than income. Still a profit of better than 15m per year though, so nothing to be concerned about yet.

II. SHIPYARDS

IIA. Commercial Yards

Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Emergency re-tool for the New York class is underway but less than 9% complete. March of '78 is the expected timeframe, so it'll be a while.
P&A Group(4, 80.2 kt)
** Building the second of six planned quartet of Long Beach-class fuel harvesters. This yard will be busy with the for quite some time, at the end of which fuel concerns could be largely a thing of the past
Estalerios Navais(2, 73.8 kt)
** Expanding capacity for a while to reach at least 125kt so it can be used for the New York or similar size vessels.
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Idle. Set at a decent size now to be used for a variety of potential things.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle. Used for the Lexington-class shuttles.

IIB. Naval Yards

Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Retooling for the Nimitz '76(second-gen missile ship). Expected to complete around the end of next March.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Building Brooklyn '72(Beam-armed gunship). Completion expected in spring of '78.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Idle
KSEC(4, 1 kt)
** Idle. Used exclusively for the Forrestal sensor ships.

III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES

IIIA. Earth

** Three active training facilities
** Brigade HQ expected to finish in March. The other two are idle.

IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

IVA. Earth

Research Lab(33%) -- June 2077
Naval Shipyard(25%) -- June 2077
Commercial Shipyard(15%) -- February 2077
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 15%) -- 8-9 annually
Mine Construction(12%) -- 8-9 annually

V. ACTIVE RESEARCH PROJECTS

** Reduced-Size Missile Launchers(Elyse Buckler) -- January 6 2077
** Composite Armor(Edward Groat) -- Mid-January 2077
** Defender '76 Missile(Karabishi Juishao) -- Mid-February 2077
** Small-size Defender Anti-Ship MIssile Magazine(Garland Sidhom) -- May 2077
** Medium-size Defender Anti-Ship Missile Magazine(Harlan Welle) -- May/June 2077
** Phoenix Engine, 300t variant(Clint Wyche) -- October/November 2077
** Assault Infantry Battalion(Cedrick Wormack) -- Winter/Spring 2078
** Ground Unit Strength(Alphonse Lambeth) -- Spring 2078
** Phoenix Engine, 400t variant(Shannon Patteson) -- Summer 2078
** Reactor Power(Alejandro Ottenson) -- Summer 2078
** MJD 46-4b, Military Jump Drive for use in the Fox Plan(Curtis Gloster) -- Summer/Fall 2078
** Thermal Sensor Strength(Elwood Tousant) -- Fall/Winter 2078
** Turret Tracking Speed(Joe Tycho) -- Winter 2078/79
** Fuel Efficiency(Rosemary Urenda) -- 1Q 2079
** Electronic Hardening(Ross Dodge) -- 1Q 2079
** WT Excalibur 135 Meson Turret(Mike Minaya) -- 3Q 2079
** EM Sensor Strength(Julio Kuchler) -- 3Q/4Q 2079
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Bessie Wallander) -- Late 2080
** Ultraviolet Lasers(Eva Vadnais) -- 2081/82
** Minimal-power Efficiency Engines(David Gruis) -- Mid-2080s
** Jump Drive Minimal Size Theory(Reynaldo Darrington) -- Late 2080s

21 current projects which is fairly typical for the way things have gone with a peak of 24 about a year ago. Seven are prototypes though. The actual amount of general research going on at any one time has not increased that much. More prototypes, more individually expensive, are needed all the time.

As an extreme example, a little while back SPACE looked into the requirements for a jump drive capable of propelling one of the South Carolina-class superfreighters. The prototype phase alone would require billions of manhours. It was expected to be more costly than advancing general jump drive knowledge, which would allow a cheaper, more efficient drive to be produced, and so the idea was scrapped since we don't need such a drive yet. But this is the direction in which research is going. Current expectations are that in a couple decades, we may well be in a situation where more of the development budget is spent on specific application systems than on general advancements.

VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS

VI A. Military Bases

Alaska(4, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(2, 13.3 kt, 254 crew, missile base + sensors)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)

Total: 12 installations(+50%), 300.6 kt(+104%), 5,080 crew(+101%)

VI B. Combat Ships

MB Nimitz(3, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(1, 13.45 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)

Total: 4 ship, 55.3 kt, 1,475 crew, 7m fuel

Up from just one last time. Slowly but surely, a ramshackle navy is forming.

VI C. Military Non-combat Ships

MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SB Forrestal IIb(8, 600t, 13 crew, 4k km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
SB Forrestal III(9, 650t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)

Total: 21 ships, 27.65 kt(-17%), 460 crew(-32%), 1.55m fuel(-29%)

The big stories here are the scrapping and deleting of obsolete classes and the transition to the third-gen Forrestals. Overall this had lead to a smaller, but still a bit more effective MNC branch. It will shrink a little further once all of the old Forrestals are replaced.

VI D. Commercial Vessels

TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
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 Lexington IIId(27, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
FH Long Beach(4, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
FH Perry III(17, 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)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)

Total: 68 vessels(+4.6%), 1.77 mt(+95%), 8,631 crew(+55%), 45m liters fuel(+38%)

A few classes went the way of all flesh here, but the Long Beach and South Carolina were added. The official commercial fleet doesn't have many more ships in it, but it's a lot bigger in size.

Grand Total: 105 assets(+11%), 2.15 mt(+95%), 15.6k crew(+70%), 53.6m liters fuel(+45%)

The total tonnage of Naval assets nearly doubled in the last four years, and the Long Beach harvesters will ensure that it continues to rise. Enlisted personnel have quadrupled in the past decade, and there is now more fuel in ships in service than there is in reserve. A temporary situation.

Available Crew: 127k(+21%)

VI E. Fuel Status

Earth -- 10.6m liters
Titan -- 16.0m
Callisto -- 5.2m

Total -- 31.8m liters(-23%). The first reserve decline in memory, but it's largely due to the amount put into the new massive commercial ships. This should reverse itself once the Long Beach constructions are finished.

VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS

** Brigade HQs(4)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(10)
** Garrison Battalion(34)

Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 364k(+9%)

** Note: last report's calculation was wrong, incorrectly listing the number as 380k instead of 333k

The available officer corps remains nearly at full employment.

VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS

Voliva Carrier Company(57 vessels, 4.94m annual income)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(36, 3.13m)
Tolles Transport & Logistics(13, 1.9m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(3, 430k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 160k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 110k)
Presnar Freight(2, 60k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, 100k)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)

Total Vessels: 117(+18%)
Total Civilian Income: 10.83m(+50%)

Competition has never been healthier in the civilian sector. The 'big two' of Voliva and Jensrud now appear to have a legitimate third wheel in the form of Tolles Transport & Logistics. Voliva expanded their operations by nearly 50%, yet this was only enough to retain a 45 market share.

IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS

** Naval Officers: 122 of 165 assigned(73.9%), +1.1%
** Ground Forces Officers: 61 of 67(91.0%), +1.2%
** Civilian Administrators: 28 of 34(82.4%), -10.7%
** Scientists: 21 of 36(58.3%), -2.3%

Overall: 232 of 302(76.8%), -0.4%

The employment picture here has held steady now for over a decade.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

It is expected that Dr. Edward Groat, 68 and in failing health, who pretty much wrote the book on what we know in Defensive Systems(better armour materials, reduced thermal emissions, etc.) will retire in a couple of weeks when he presents his report on the newest armour upgrade to Composite materials. There are number of others who are in their early 60s but it will probably be at least five years, another research cycle from now, before any of them need to seriously consider being put out to pasture.

Political administration is a different story this time around. The list of retirees is significant and distinguished.

** Jarrett Hugh, currently serving as Governor of Venus, was a candidate in the last three directorial elections, with his best finish a distant second to Rakes in 2061. He served for nearly a half-century on important mining comet outposts early in his career, important colonies later as expansion into the system ramped up, including a couple of tours on Luna. He's been an important if not household figure in SPACE politics for the past couple of decades, and over time developed a well-rounded skill set that served humanity well.

** Damian Ackley has somewhat of a backwater station as Governor of Jupiter moon Europa, but he's seen better times. Back in the comet-mining rush of the 50s, he was in charge of Machholz during its heyday when it was the most important of those outposts, served on Van Biesbroeck as well when operations where expanded there, and more recently has been Governor at Venus, Ganymede, and the crucial mining outpost on distant Triton. He was involved in three elections, finishing third in '45 early in his career, but never developed the management skills required to handle the larger responsibilities of director as SPACE grew. This meant that his best skills(factory production and population growth) went largely wasted.

** Johnna Villicana will be missed far less. She was a paper-pushing beauracrat until the last decade, spending one tour on Venus from 65-69 and minor mining outposts the last couple of cycles.

** Finally, there was the matter of unquestionably the greatest politician SPACE has seen, 5-time director Herbert Duling. He was expected to seek one more term, but there was a lot of speculation as to whether the 63-year-old would want to go through another four years. With the recent New York fiasco weighing on his mind as well as the need to turn over the implementation of the Fox Plan to the next generation, he decided to forgo a chance at a sixth term and retire from public life.

Duling led the way during each of the most vital moments in SPACE's development over the first half-century. The mineral crises in the 30s, the Epsilon Eridani crisis in the 50s, the 50-year celebration and subsequent forming of the basics of the Fox Plan in the 70s -- all were accomplished under his leadership. It is not an exaggeration to say humanity might well have fallen into anarchy and internal conflict again without him. Time passes all of us by, no matter how much we wish to ignore or deny our own mortality. And so it is time now in 2077 for humanity to say a fond farewell to it's greatest statesman, and face an uncertain but brightening future under new leadership.

2077 ELECTION

There are only two people with the skills to approach Duling's political command and wide-ranging abilities. Alberto Eighmy, director two cycles ago from 69-73, continues to be in poor health and is not an optimal choice. The second is not a choice as all: Delois Woznicki continues to be relegated to backwaters as a result of her continued failure to learn how to manage larger-scale concerns. At 48, it is unexpected that she will ever learn, a waste of impressive talent.

As a result of all this it was the largest field seen since the early days of SPACE when everybody was thrown into the pool. What is lacking in great leaders will have to be made up for in an increased number of 'pretty good' administrators. This despite the fact that the requirements are now higher: a level 5(out of 6) is required for the position of Director, level 4 for Earth's Governor.

When all was said and done, Eighmy and the still-energetic India Rakes, both former directors, headed a field of nine candidates. The best long-shot was current Earth Governor Riley Awad. Rakes ran one of the best campaigns of her career, and far better than any of the current contenders to pull off a moderate upset over Eighmy. Full results:

India Rakes -- 20.8%
Alberto Eighmy -- 17.2%
Larry Steckel -- 15.3%
Riley Awad -- 11.0%
James Earl Jones V -- 10.5%
Burt Stonerock -- 8.8%
Russell Salvucci -- 6.5%
Carroll Westcott -- 5.6%
Francesco Alborn -- 4.3%

It was a disappointing showing for Awad.

POLICY REVIEW

India Rakes most recently occupied the Office of the Director from 61-65; this is her fourth term. As she is 60, it will also be her last. A good way to go out, and it allows her to have an unusually unrestrained approach. There are not a lot of major issues though, right now it's mostly a waiting game.

Rakes does implement one notable change. A new high-powered military thruster is ordered to pave the way for the Caldwell class of shuttles, intended to replace the Lexington and be a smaller, more secure transport for VIPs. Continued focus on mining and naval shipyards to support the Fox Plan is anticipated on the domestic front.

[sterlingice]

Glad to see this back. I guess I have to go back to checking the Dynasty Reports forum again. As always, have loved the idea and the storytelling is well done.

SI

[Brian Swartz]

CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE

James Earl Jones V(6) -- A 5th-place finish in the election earns him a spot on Titan, a definite improvement over his current posting on distant Sedna. Like Director Rakes, he is 60 years old, so this will be his final tour. It's a better posting than most he's had over the years.

Joe Tycho(EW 65) -- He'll be occupied with his turret tracking speed project for the next couple of years. After that, the 57-year-old Tycho is expected to be forced into retirement by his continually declining health.

[Brian Swartz]

2077 ANNUAL REPORT

Starting off the year SPACE absorbed a significant but not catastrophic loss, helped by the fact that it was expected. On January 12th Edward Groat's team finished the new Composite Armour and he announced his retirement. Engineering analysis indicates that only the combat ships will benefit sufficiently from this new material: the new missile ship was altered, named the Nimitz '76c, and will be able to carry a third more protection with the compressed material in the same space, at a negligible increase in cost and construction time. The commercial sector would see only very marginal improvement, not worth the hassle and cost of refits.

Dr. Groat retires having written the book pretty much single-handedly on defensive systems knowledge. His career spanned almost 50 years, and laid the groundwork for a navy that can have significant capabilities in damage absorption(three progressively better armour materials) and stealth(reduction of thermal signatures of our engines by nearly two-thirds).

Near the end of the month, a sixth commercial shipyard(Howaldswerke/Deutsch Werft, or simply abbreviated HDW in most settings) was finished. The most significant part of this was the transfer of factory capacity to increasing automine production. February saw the latest naval golden child, Emile Jeffcoat, celebrated as he graduated the academy.

In March a new brigade HQ was finished, ready for transport to Titan when the Alaska base there is finished, and mid-month the first Nimitz '76c began construction at the Wartsila shipyard. Then in April eight officers were cut loose by the navy and their newest shipyard, Niehuis van den Berg, was put into service. May brought the lauch of the second quartet of Long Beach second-generation fuel harvesters, and the Army celebrated a new star(Col. Romona Bosh).

So most of the year went, smoothly with noteworthy happenings on virtually all fronts but nothing to really hang your hat on as big news. Small, steady progression. July proved a bit more important, with neutronium running out on Stephan-Oterma(already down 750t this year), and Earth crossing the 1.5b barrier in population. That's triple what it was 52+ years ago at the founding of space, yet not a quarter of it's peak.

After a quiet-ish summer, 22-year-old Gil Milstead made headlines as he was promoted to Brigadier General. Official observers consider him the best officer even at that rank and favorite over Maj. Gen. Wyatt Pittman, presently twice Milstead's age, to take over the Army when Engelhardt retires. Such things are sterile conjecture at this point though, as that is not expected to happen for several years, and many things can change. He's off to a fantastic start though.

In November, things came to a head with the mining operation on Halley's Comet. Despite the concerted efforts, it's clear that the comet will need to take another 'loop' around the Sun -- in this case requiring 75 years for a full journey -- to extract all of it's mercassium, the most plenteous vital mineral. With the deployment of the 41st automine at the start of the month, MRD made the estimate that at current rates it would be exhausted around the time it returns in just over 80 years(finishing the current approach and taking one more complete 'loop'). All other minerals will be finished in less than half that time, and the 41 mines makes it the third-largest outpost, tops among comets by a fair margin. 3.3kt combined is the current mining rate, though that will drop significantly in short order with the depletion of small sorium and gallicite deposits.

For over four years Halley has been the sole target of automine production, leaving the question of what next? At the moment neutronium is the top concern, but any location that offered that in combination with duranium or mercassium was a top priority for new or expanded operations.

Neujmin has a lot of neutronium, but duranium will be exhausted there in about a decade. A little longer, and the neutronium on Faye will be gone, so those options would be of limited use. Wolf-Harrington was rejected for similar reasons. Borrelly(18 automines, over 160 years worth of neutronium and mercassium and 50+ of duranium at current extraction rates) proved a much more profitable target. Others such as Swift-Tuttle and Herschel-Rigolet were too distant, while the very rich neutronium deposits on Reinmuth would yield little else of value ...

Borrelly was the clear choice, and the decision was made to pump up investment there to around the same level as Halley, about 40 automines or a little over double the current level. This will take only about a couple of years, and should help shore up our biggest needs. Thankfully Borrelly is never more than about a two-week journey from Earth at it's greatest solar distance of less than 900m km.

Just before Christmas, another naval shipyard and the last expected to be needed for now was finished. Archaicly and simply named the International, it will add a second slipway, intended also for use in the Fox Plan for small survey/support vessels as was the one completed earlier in the year. The re-allocation of the factory space would prove far more newsworthy in some quarters ....

2077 didn't have any huge developments. Probably the biggest stories were the development of the Composite Armour, Dr. Groat's subsequent retirement, and the switch in mining expansion from Halley to Borrelly. But there were developments all across SPACE, from steady expansion of civilian operations in the system, new shipyards coming on-line, new ships and shipyard expansions, key personnel joining the leadership teams in all branches including the replacement in terms of numbers of the administrative retirees, a few new systems being prototyped by the research teams, etc. The public of course mainly remains focused on the morale oversights on the outsystem bases leading to the exorbitant expenses required for the New York project, as well as all manner of debate, criticism, and demand for more information relating to the Fox Plan. Director Rakes has said only that the New York is an unfortunate necessity, and that once the new jump drive is ready next year, the Fox Plan will move forward at that point ...


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** January 5 -- Elyse Buckler's team completes reduced-size missile launchers(75% size, but double the reload time). At the moment SPACE does not consider this to be a particularly important development, as present naval doctrine favors multiple launches and more missile capacity per ship over lower capacity and a larger 'alpha strike'. Buckler, a young and thus far very unimpressive project lead, learned nothing but she'll get another chance with the Defender '76 P high-yield missile prototype.

** January 12 -- Edward Groat's team finishes the new Composite Armour. This should improve the ability of all our ships to withstand alien weapons down the line, though only military ships will get the treatment: it's not enough of an improvement to make the commercial ships significantly more efficient. A new Nimitz, the Nimitz '76c, is recommended with this superior material. It can carry a four feet of armour instead of the previous three while maintaining exactly the same size. This change increases the cost by a little over 40m, but that's only about 1.3% on a 1.6b+ warship. Survivability is worth a lot more than that.

Dr. Billie Allington commandeers one lab for use in the JPS NP-42t, the new thrusters required for the planned miniaturized Caldwell shuttles. Eva Vadnais finally gets the third lab she's needed for her laser work, and for the third one all of the big projects are in need of a major project lead(all occupied). Modesto Huch takes one to begin work on a smaller, company-sized troop transport bay. Such things will hopefully not be needed for decades, and this project may well be suspended before long for many years, but the space should not go to waste.

** February 15 -- The standard Defender 76 missile prototype is finished and the ordnance factories are fired up again. Karabishi Juishao's next project is improving reload rates of the missile launchers, and she'll use two labs, one taken from Huch's work on troop transport bays which now is sidelined as anticipated.

** May 14 -- Garland Sidhom's team finishes HMI 16, the smaller of the new missile magazines. Huch gets some more time to work on the Small Troop Transport Bays, which he only was able to get about 2% finished earlier in the year. Within a couple days a new research lab is finished, and another 'make-work' training project is assigned. This one goes to talented young Eliot Monks(Defensive Systems). He'll work on improving shield technology.

** June 5 -- Harlan Welle completes HMI 25, the second and larger of the new magazine blueprints. His next task is improving Magazine Ejection Systems, which will again require only a single laboratory.

** October 25 -- Clint Wyche completes Phoenix 60L, a 300-ton military engine. He's got enough skill and clout by now to demand investment in a project in his field, the only one of which is improving terraforming(since cloning/genetic mutation are banned). The 'make-work/training' projects directed by Huchs and Monk are put on hold to free up a total of three labs for Wyche, which will suffice for his current needs.



EARTH

January 27 -- The latest commercial shipyard, Howaldtswerke /Deutsch Werft, is finished. It will expand until it gets to a reasonable size, probably at least 40kt or so. Progress can now be accelerated on the naval shipyard and, of more immediate value, expanding mine production operations. With a little over a third of Earth's TN factories devoted to that goal, they can now turn out a new one in less than four weeks time.

March 1 -- A new brigade HQ is finished, which will serve as the command HQ on Titan once the Alaska base is finished there.

March 15 -- Wartsila is ready for the new Nimitz '76c. Construction begins and is the first is expected to finish in late 2078.

Late April -- The new naval yard Neihuis and Van Den Berg is finished. Another yard is begun and Neihuis will add a second slipway. These are intended for use for the small survey and other utility vessels that will be required by the Fox Plan.

May 9 -- Second quartet of Long Beach harvesters finished.

Early July -- Population breaks the 1.5b barrier.

Late December -- The most recent, and for now final, shipyard is finished(the International)


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

February 15 -- The latest naval prodigy, Lt. Cmdr. Emile Jeffcoat, has graduated the academy. Very high marks in crew training and notable survey skill to go with it. In the current environment he's better right now than 90% of those who are at Commander rank, it's just a question of how long he waits to get his chance.

April 12 -- The Navy cuts eight officers.

Late April -- Long incompetent power & propulsion scientist David Gruis has finally managed to have light dawn on his marble head, and is up to a 15% bonus now. A long ways to go but at least he's marginally useful.

Mid-May -- Col. Romona Bosh is commissioned, one to watch as she has considerable talent in commanding ground forces.

June 3 -- Carl McCloe joins the civilian beauracracy, and he's better than most who have come out of the academy in recent years. He can manage anything short of the director's post itself and has mostly useless skills, primarily terraforming and diplomacy.

Late June -- Jerry Bartholf(Power and Propulsion 10%) is our latest researcher. That's going to be a crucial field for decades, so this arrival is pleasing.

June 28 -- Lt. Cmdr. Emile Jeffcoat has progressed further in his training skill(200), certainly not resting on his laurels.

Mid-July -- Logistics & Ground Combat researcher Alphonse Lambeth, still with most of his career hopefully ahead of him at 36, has improved to a 35% bonus. When Cedrick Wormack retires, which is expected to happen soon, he'll become the top man in that field.

Late July -- A couple of key developments in the beauracratic ranks. Mid-level Carol Westcott has made some new friends(20% political reliability) in an effort to force her way higher, and little-known Horacio Hufton, governor of the comet Crommelin, has been forced to retire early due to health concerns. Carl McCloe is appointed as his emergency, interim replacement. Fortunately it's close by at the moment, merely a three-day journey to approximately Jupiter orbit. He officially takes office two months to the day after graduated the Academy -- one could not ask for much better than that.

Mid-August -- Riley Awad increases his Factory Production skill bonus to 30%. That would have helped while he was Governor of Earth, but now that he's on the moon it doesn't do a whole heaping lot of good. No factories there, a little late to the party buddy.

Mid-September -- Col. Gil Milstead, just 22, is promoted to Brigadier General.

Late October -- Gordon Semien joins the civilian corps, and he has a couple of notable skills. Administratively he could handle the Director's job, and he also has solid abilities in population growth and factory production. A good man to have around.

Mid-November -- Douglas Greer joins the growing logjam of low-level scientists in Defensive Systems.

December 14 -- Lambeth strikes again, up to 40% now. He's on a roll this year!

Mid-December -- Merry Murray joins the civilian beauracracy. Decent administrator, majoring in wealth creation which is not exactly an area of need as the budgetary reports have always shown.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Early July -- Neutronium supplies have been exhausted on Stephan-Oterma. With more than a generation's worth of duranium and sorium still on the comet, it's unlikely to see a major draw-down in investment(currently the third-largest comet operation with 28 automines) in the near future.

November 1 -- Automine deployment switched from Halley's Comet to Borrelly.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

** Rear Admiral Tell Perj Jr., the navy's second-in-command, has decided to step aside at age 59. He spent 28 years as a Commander, during which he saw action on most classes of ship SPACE has operated, many now obsolete. Sensor vessels, freighters, geosurvey ships back in the Sol mining rush, fuel harvesters, command ships, the list goes on and on. It looked for a long time that he would never exceed that rank, but he had a late-career resurgence and spent four years as Logistics Officer for the SSF, the commercial branch of the Navy. It was a position quite befitting a man of his varied experience. The last four were spent as the SSF head, under Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser.

The four admirals who remain average less than 40 years of age. It should be a stable group leading the implementation of the Fox Plan in the years, maybe even decades to come.

** Tell is the only senior commander to leave the military this tour. Brig. Gen. Christopher Sonders(55) considered retirement but was convinced to stay until the Alaska base on Titan is finished in a couple of years. A number of junior officers who have failed to distinguish themselves in both branches are culled. Cmdrs. Reginald Mapps and Christopher Blair are among them, along with five Lt. Cmdrs. and four army colonels.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

** Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj -- 12th of 105. Another tour fuel harvesting at Saturn for Chance, though he does move up to one of the Long Beach ships.

** Brig. Gen. Sterling Silvers Jr. -- 6th out of 12. There's about two, maybe two and a half years left on the Alaska base being built on Titan.
** Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. -- 20th out of 56. Pretty stagnant career at this point, still on garrison duty on Earth.

[Tellistto]

It was a good run for him in the end. Finishing strong is the way to go out!

We'll miss you, Jr.!

Tell

[Brian Swartz]

It was, he did very well and will most certainly be missed. But time marches on. Speaking of which ...

2078 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 1)

June Aspinwall, 49, was quickly named the replacement Rear Admiral for Perj. Her experience and political connections immediately make her the new #2 in the Navy behind Feeser. This was almostly completely overshadowed by political unrest. There were loud protestations from some significant minorities about the rapid increase in automine deployment.

The 'Earth First' crowd, using slogans such as 'No Blood for Mercassium!' and 'No Halley in Our Name' wants more resources devoted to the homeworld -- though devoted to exactly what they've not been long on explaining. Fiscally conservative and self-appointed watchdog groups demand to know just what exactly SPACE is getting from all the shipyard activity, citing the New York 'boondoggle' and the new, thus-far unused naval yards as evidence that the political class has lost the thread and needs to be booted. The conservationists have also put in their two cents, usually in the form of long-winded analyses of how off-world mining operations are not giving us the same bang for the buck they used to, and pointing out that SPACE will be in a pretty fix when Sedna starts to exhaust its deposits. Finally, there are the anti-technologists who constantly question just what exactly humanity has achieved by the TN leap, other than ticking off an alien interstellar empire. They prefer that we simply withdraw from the galaxy, show the other races we mean them no harm by abandoning the network of outposts in the system and returning to a simple life on Earth. Generally this is accompanied by blaming the horror of WWIII not on the depravities of human nature, competition among nation-states and international mega-corporations, or overblown misunderstandings between cultures, but on our stubborn and in their opinion breathtakingly arrogant insistence on always seeking advancement whatever the cost.

Director Rakes is not saying much beyond reminding everyone that there will be more detailed news on the Fox Plan later in the year and pointing out that stockpiles all four key minerals(duranium, neutronium, mercassium, and corundium) are declining over the last couple years is a pretty good argument for expanding operations. Patience is running thin in some quarters though, and for the first time in decades internal strife is a major concern. Despite the many voices holding forth in the echo chamber, most just want clear answers and are frustrated with not getting them.

Three weeks into the year, retooling finished for the New York and fabrication of two hulls began. This reminder the administration did not need, though it helped that the second Brooklyn '72 was finished on the same day to partially defuse the impact of the first story.

In February, the decision was made to reduce mine production somewhat and work on expanding ordnance factories to triple their current amount(50 to 150). This was based on the fact that with multiple active missile bases and a few Nimitzes now 'in the field', producing enough missiles to resupply them takes about a decade at current production rates, which High Command considers to be far too long. Some termed this decision as reactionary and proof of Director Rakes' weakness, but increasing readiness while at the same time adding five million new high-paying TN jobs over the next several years was an effective counter to that.

March brought another piece of good news, with the last of the new Forrestal IIIs leaving the space docks. The previous generation has now been completely replaced. Soon afterwards, a sudden illness required the hospitalization of Luna Governor Riley Awad, who you may recall was Earth's governor from 73-77. Doctors say the 54-year-old should return to good health, but will need to be watched closely.

More good news in April with the return of the first tour from the initial quartet of Long Beach fuel harvesters resulting in well over three million litres being deposited in the Titan fuel tanks. With good news to trumpet three months straight, some of the impatience was mollified for a time. The month wasn't done either: later Billie Allington finished the new thruster and the Caldwell-class VIP shuttle was announced:

Size: 950t
Crew: 14
VIP Capacity: 8
Speed: 2210 km/s
Fuel: 500k
Sensors: Basic commercials of all types
Armament: None, depends on stealth
Cost: 150k, a little under six months.

The Lexington is the oldest design presently in service, having been operated in one form or another for 30 years since the late 40s. The Caldwell will allow for much greater stealth, and therefore more security for the VIPs whose skills are so important to the smooth operation of the agency.

The key factor here is that while it will burn through a lot more fuel, the Caldwell has a thermal signature just a shade over a seventh of the Lexington IIId. An enemy would have to be practically on top of it or banging away with active gravs to know it was there. Despite the small size, it is actually 13% more expensive than the current commercial-grade shuttles, but still miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

KSEC is expected to begin production in a couple months. Replacing the entire 30-vessel complement required will probably take through the end of 2082, give or take, a 3-4 year process.

After a relatively quiet summer, the silence became an issue again. Then on August 28, The most important of a record 25 concurrent ongoing projects was announced to have been finished, a bit behind schedule but it's done. Director India Rakes announced that she would be making a major global address regarding humanity's future that evening ...


RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

** January 5 -- Another laboratory is finished and Modesto Huch's on-and-off work on Small Troop Transport Bays resumes.

** February 12 -- Cedrick Wormack announces plans for the newest army formation, the Assault Infantry Battalion. As the name implies it an offensive-focused unit. Essentially the reverse of the Mobile Infantry in capability, it is twice as effective on the attack, half as effective in defense. This is by far the most effective invasion formation we can field, and as such the AIB is an important development that will be needed eventually, but not anytime soon.

He'll remain in control of two labs and direct them towards Orbital Habitat Modules. This is a concept that could eventually replace the function that will be served by the New York luxury liners, and in a more politically acceptable manner. Space stations could be built and then towed into position at any unihabitable location where SPACE needs a long-term presence. These would house on site all the essential needs without mobile casinos being required.

** March 7 -- Alphonse Lambeth announces a new round of general improvements in tactics, equipment, and training for the army. This is a 14% improvement, so that each soldier now has the combat effectiveness of 16 pre-TN soldiers.

Eliot Monks and Adolfo Walth resume 'training projects' on improving shield technology.

** April 22nd -- Billie Allington's team has finished the JPS NP-42st, the new max-power, thermally shielded thruster for use in planned Caldwell shuttle which will replace the Lexington. Alphonse Lambeth gets to work on a battalion-sized CDM(combat drop module, a pod for deploying troops in hot spots where taking a day or two to methodically unload isn't an option. This is purely another 'something to do' project.

** June 2nd -- Shannon Patteson's team finishes the 400-ton variant of the Phoenix military engine. Next up will be beginning a project that will need a lot more investment eventually, improving mining output. There are other priorities right now, though, and Patteson isn't yet top in the Construction & Production field, so there won't be any more labs diverted at present.

** August 1 -- Alejandro Otteson completes research on improved reactor output(+20%). This frees up three lab spaces but also creates a need for two new prototypes. Otteson takes the larger power plant, Jerry Bartholf gets his first project lead in going after the smaller one, and Billie Allington gets back in the game by doing some preliminary work on improving fire control tracking speeds.

** August 24 -- A new lab is ready, and a first lead given to one of the glut of young Logistics & Ground Combat scientists, Stanley Kogut. His goal is the design of a Maintenance Module, for use in adding maintenance facility capability to a PDC or space station. It is unclear whether this potential technology will ever be used.

** August 28 -- The long-awaited new military jump drive has been finished, courtesy of Dr. Curtis Gloster


EARTH

January 20 -- Retooling complete for the New York. A year and a half will be required, est. late summer of '79. On the same day, the second Brooklyn '72 is ready. A third will be built while the latest meson turrets are finalized.

May 28th -- A third group of Long Beach harvesters are launched, a full dozen out of the 24 planned.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

February -- Sedna expands again, 32 complexes now.

Late February -- Corundium exhausted on Wolf-Harrington. Neutronium and mercassium will keep the operations there going for decades yet.

April -- The first full tour of one of the Long Beach harvesting groups is completed, and they dump nearly four million litres into the holding tanks on Titan.

Early May -- Boronide on Neujmin is exhausted. This is of very little significance.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

Mid-March -- Emile Jeffcoat, 13 months out of the academy, is promoted to Commander.

Early May -- Errol Igoe, Governor at Sedna, has improved his mining bonus to 20% through his experience at the distant cash cow. The result is an increase of about 350t of duranium a year, which will help stem the current decline.

Late June -- Mitchell Feeser has made a few new friends(25% Political Reliability), strengthening his grip on the Navy.

[sterlingice]

Tease

SI

[Brian Swartz]

Guilty as charged

BS

[Brian Swartz]

August 28, 2078
Director India Rakes, live from Sector Command

'Less than three weeks ago, the twentieth anniversary passed of the fateful, painful, and tragic day when Herbert Duling announced to all of us that the worst had happened in Epsilon Eridani. It has been a trying two decades. Deep trauma often lays bare our greatest passions. As we continue our efforts to honor those who sacrificed there as best we can, and move forward boldly into the future as a species, I am pleased to announce that today humanity has taken a major step forward in that struggle.'

'As most of us well recall, it was four years later that the broad outlines of a strategy to renew our push into the systems surrounding Sol were formulated, named the Fox Doctrine in honor of Herman Fox, one of the many both well known and virtually unknown who perished in the unprovoked alien attack. While there are some among us who still believe we should not go at all, such an approach dooms us to nothing but isolation and fear for the indefinite future at best, eventual annihilation at worst. We owe it to our children, grandchildren, and the generations who will come after them to confront the challenge of being a spacefaring people. We must act courageously and wisely. There is no quality future that involves shrinking into the shadows.'

'Recently I received word that the work of one our most accomplished scientists, Dr. Curtis Gloster, has been completed. A new jump drive, significantly smaller than the one the Pioneers used yet able to produce the same magnitude of space-time disruption, has been tested and certified ready. With this accomplishment, SPACE is finally ready after 16 long years to begin to put feet to our plans. The Fox Plan now moves from the planning stage to becoming a reality. I am pleased to be joined by Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser, who has served in that position for three years and many more to come. He is well known to be as talented as any naval officer SPACE has ever known. Chief Feeser will outline the ships that will conduct the first explorations beyond our system in nearly a quarter-century.''

Chief of the Navy Mitchell Feeser, live from Sector Command

At 43, Feeser is still quite a young man for his position. Only Ellie Camble stands in SPACE annals as a more respected naval officer.

'What I am about to describe to you has been dubbed Operation Renewal. Renewal will be the most complicated operation SPACE Command has ever conducted. Great care and expense has been taken to minimize the danger to the servicemen and servicewomen involved, and to maximize success of the mission. The objective of Operation Renewal is to conduct detailed surveys of any incompletely mapped star system. These surveys will include any evidence of alien life past or present, TN mineral deposits, jump point locations to other systems, and where those jump points if any lead to. '

'For this mission, five new ship classes have been designed, and they will recieve support from sixth already in use. The 850-ton Explorer-class scout will be our first entry into any system without any current human prescence. The Explorer is the tip of the spear, so to speak, and will jump in, briefly scan the area around the jump point, and then jump back out a few minutes later. In this manner minimal exposure to danger by the rest of the ships will be achieved. Slightly larger are two 950-ton vessels. The Frontier-class gravitational survey vessel will be responsible from surveying all potential jump point locations in a system, and the Prospector-class geological survey vessel will investigate any planets, moons, asteroids, comets, etc. for any mineral deposits and/or signs of alien life.'

'These three types of utility vessels will be housed in one of two new classes of carrier ships, each 10kt in size. The first is the Gearing Survey Carrier. The Gearing has over half its size devoted to hangar storage, and can maintain two of each class and their crews. Secondly, the Baltimore Command Carrier will house one Frontier and one Prospector, and will serve as the nerve center of the flotilla. It has military-grade passive sensors of the same quality as are stationed on the Nimitz and Brooklyn combat ships, the jump drive required for transit of the larger ships betweens systems, and also quarters and equipment for a command staff to oversee the operation. Finally, an Iowa fuel tanker equipped for extended deployment time, hereafter known as the Iowa XR variant, will accompany the carriers to refuel them. They carry minimal reserves in an effort to maximize hangar space. This leaves the flotilla composition at 1 Baltimore Command Carrier, 1 Gearing Survey Carrier, 1 Iowa fuel tanker, 2 Explorer jump scouts, 3 Frontier gravitational survey vessels, and 3 Prospector geological survey vessels. The Baltimore, Gearing, and Iowa XR carry enough supplies for an extended five-year deployment: the Frontier, Explorer, and Prospector have enough for a two-year sortie from their mother carrier ship.'

'To co-ordinate these efforts, an Admiral on board the Baltimore command ship will be in overall command of the mission and all eleven ships, with two captains to assist him with operational and logistical matters. The flotilla is designed to minimize the chances of detection by hostile forces, and contains minimal defensive and no offensive weapons systems. Both carriers and, under most circumstances the tanker as well, will remain at the jump point of entry into the system being surveyed. Should any hostile act be witnessed, the command carrier will withdraw immediately through the jump. Any of the utility vessels not in close proximity at that time will be considered missing and presumed lost in action. In this manner, a catastrophic disaster such as befell us in Epsilon Eridani will be avoided at all costs.'

Director Rakes

'Thank you Admiral Feeser. I should emphasize that no firm decision has been made on what systems will be prioritized. This administration is strongly of the opinion that such a determination would yet be premature. We have committed to building two ESFs, or Exploration & Survey Flotillas such as the admiral just described. The first is estimated to be operational sometime very close to the 2081 election. It has been my duty to determine that we will proceed, and how, but the next director will decide where.'

'Thank you for time, and may God always bless our common human journey'.

ESF TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Baltimore-class Command Carrier

Size: 10kt
Crew: 284 + 48 for docked flight crews
Speed: 600 km/s
Fuel: 750k(7.5 months)
Cost: 1.42m

Gearing-class Survey Carrier

Size: 10kt
Crew: 158 + 148 for docked flight crews
Speed: 600 km/s
Fuel: 750k(7.5 mo.)
Cost: 1.17m

Iowa XR-class Fuel Tanker

Size: 9.7 kt
Crew: 53
Speed: 1050 km/s
Fuel: 6m
Cost: 642k

Frontier-class GravSurvey Vessel

Size: 950t
Crew: 24
Speed: 1263 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 191k

Prospector-class GeoSurvey Vessel

Size: 950t
Crew: 24
Speed: 1263 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 251k

Explorer-class Jump Scout

Size: 850t
Crew: 18
Speed: 1411 km/s
Fuel: 250k(over 21 months of constant travel)
Cost: 92k

Total per ESF: 11 ships with a combined 37.1 kt size, 675 crew, 9.5m litres of fuel, and at a cost to the treasury of 4.74m. This of course does not include the time and cost of shipyards dedicated to the production.

[Tellistto]

Very nicely done! Looking forward to seeing the future expansion of the human species in your universe!

Down with the aliens!

Tell

[sterlingice]

Are you planning on having any defensive ships posted on the other end of the jump point in Sol in case the enemy decides to follow?

SI

[Brian Swartz]

It hasn't been decided where we will go yet, that's for the next election. But the design is intended to be used in systems with no known enemy presence. It's not a force designed to be used in places like Epsilon Eridani where there is(or at least, was, a lot can happen in two decades) alien presence. So because of that, generally the answer is no.

Edit: SPACE continues to keep all military ships at Earth in the event of an attack through the Epsilon Eridani jump. At recorded top speeds from 2058(6435 km/s), it would take an anywhere from just over a day to a little more than a day and a half for them to reach Earth if they came through, depending on where we were in terms of our orbit around the Sun. That kind of proximity pretty much precludes sending our still-overmatched navy anywhere else at the moment.

[Brian Swartz]

2078 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2 -- Conclusion)

It is never the case that everyone is happy, and many thought the announcement of Operation Renewal should have come sooner than it did. It was enough to head off any serious fracturing of the support for SPACE though, and allowed things to move forward in a more typically undisturbed fashion. The status of that effort:

Permanant Shipyard(presently at 6.4k) will need to expand to 10kt before work on the Gearing can begun. Meanwhile the Baltimore Marine is retooling for the Baltimore, coincidentally enough, and the Iowa XR will be built at the Oregon Shipyard. The smaller vessels should be ready well ahead of those. It is uncertain which of the bigger ships will be the last to be ready.

**Author's note: After next annual report, which will bring us to a year out from the '81 election, a synopsis of the key contenders for the directorship and their positions on the question of 'where' the ESFs should be deployed first will be presented. The community 'vote' will have some degree of impact on the results if anyone wishes to hold forth. **

September brought a new naval star on the horizon, Nigel Bilski. He is cut from the same mold as Mitchell Feeser in terms of overall talent, the only other recruit yet seen with that talent level. He's good at virtually everything, excellent at training, solid political connections ... 'Born to Win' is virtually tattooed on his forehead. It will be interesting to see how his career develops.

The next month, the 40th automine departs Earth for the comet Borrelly, meeting the goal that was set for more than doubling operations there. Since the ramp-up of shipyard activity following the announcement of Operation Renewal over a month ago, the stockpiles have been monitored closely by MRD. Neutronium levels are holding steady, corundium and mercassium continue to decline gradually, but duranium is fast becoming the biggest concern. The best option for expansion continues to be Triton, but it hasn't gotten any closer: Neptune is still 4.5b km away. Still, there is still 458mt available there, a 500-year supply at current rates. Getting out there will be far more efficient with the South Carolina superfreighters, and they'll finally have a job now. One trip per five automines, so they'll only need a few journeys a year. The current 63 automines on Triton will be cranked up to about 100, and then SPACE will reassess the situation.

November was the busiest month of the year's final stretch. In the first few days, an initial quartet of the new Caldwell shuttles were deployed. A couple weeks later theoretical advances allowing for improved thermal sensors were announced, instigating another shakeup in the current state of assignments, with new commercial and military-grade sensors necessary to take advantadge of the new capabilities. The SITG ThermoScan 121 will be 16% more powerful and 15% smaller than it's predecessor ... each step marking an improvement in SPACE's efforts to gain an advantadge against our enemies. Another week, and the first pair of Frontier gravsurvey vessels cleared the docks, the first tangible success to trumpet in the progression of Operation Renewal. And then in the final days of the month, the first of the Nimitz '76c, sporting the new composite armour, launched from Wartsila Shipyard. Not a bad set of accomplishments for one month!

For December, the only real news was the latest top talent on the army side. Col. Zoe Bean graduates with combat training marks off the scale, and some skill in xenology. The last one is a curiosity since we have no practical xenology experience as a species, and therefore one wonders how we know she is any good at it. Regardless, she rates out as the second-best officer in the service straight out of the academy, so this is very good news for our ground forces.

2078 will certainly be remembered most for the announcement of Operation Renewal and the various activities surrounding it. Secondarily, the efforts to keep increasing mining output with the ramp-up in automine deployment and the gradually increasing numbers of comet deposits being exhausted over time is also worth noting.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** August 28 -- Curtis Gloster took over the work on improving mining outputs, requiring three labs, and some of the 'training projects' were shifted around a bit. By far the best 'odd man out' right now is Garland Sidhom, a decent researcher but unfortunately he's in the nearly-irrelevant Biology & Genetics field, by far the least important of the eight disciplines.

** September 12 -- The Defender '76 P, the high-damage variant that is also slower and therefore less accurate, is ready to go. The ordnance factories switch to producing 60% of the P variant and 40% the standard Defender '76 in order to eventually catch up. The P is also a hair more expensive(about 4,040 credits per instead of 3,870).

Dr. Elyse Buckler unfortunately learned not a darned thing in the process, and she will be sidelined once again.

** October 28 -- Jerry Bartholf's team has finished prototyping one of new power-boosted reactors.

** November 15 -- Elwood Tousant and his team have acheived a breakthrough resulting in the next generation of passive thermal sensor capabilities. Tousant will handle the military prototype personally, while Irma Bartlebaugh takes the commercial variant and another lab is freed up for one of the rookie scientists.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

Mid-September -- Oft-derided Delois Woznicki has improved her ability to manage larger-scale endeavors for the first time ... at age 50. She's still a long way from being eligible for director duty, but there may yet be a small sliver of hope if she improves this more.

Late September -- He doesn't really need any as he's well-known to be among the best researchers SPACE has had and tops in the energy weapons field, but Joe Tycho has upped his political connections(+25%).

Late October -- A couple of key R&D developments, with Harlan Welle(Missiles & Kinetic Weapons) and Bessie Wallander(Sensors & Fire Controls) both hitting the 30% bonus line now.

Early December -- Col. Zoe Bean joins the army as the latest talent in their ranks


EARTH

November 4 -- The first quartet of Caldwell VIP shuttles are prepped and ready.

November 23 -- The first two Frontier gravsurvey vessels are ready, making use of recycled electronics from the original Coontz-class ships, long since dismantled. That was of course the class which originally mapped the seven jumps leading from Sol following the development of jump point theory.

Late November -- The first Nimitz '76c, clad in the latest composite armour, is prepared.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Late November -- Corbomite(on Crommelin) and sorium(on Halley's Comet) are depleted.

Early December -- Sorium depleted on Comas Sola. Duranium remains along with two other less significant minerals, but the entirety of the deposits there will be depleted in less than 18 years.

[Brian Swartz]

CIVILIAN CHARACTER UPDATE

James Earl Jones V(6) -- Thus far a quiet final tour as Governor of Titan, one of SPACE's most strategically important colonies.

Joe Tycho(EW 65) -- His current work on Turret Tracking Speed is expected to wrap up within days, which has lent itself to another round of speculation as to whether his health will allow the brilliant but frail scientist to continue his contributions ...

[Brian Swartz]

2079 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 1)

Hope was on the rise as the year began. Having a specific plan in place, with tangible evidence of its progress as the shipyards were busier than ever before(a record 16 hulls being constructed simultaneously), did wonders as a placebo for public concerns. This was true even for some of those who disagreed with the goals/implementation of Operation Renewal. After two long decades of waiting, there was now the anticipation of results finally coming. MRD had new concerns, with duranium down under 10kt(two years ago it was noted as quite stable, with a 16.4kt stockpile, nearly twice the current amount). All that activity wasn't cheap. In the past year, shipbuilding has far eclipsed research as the top item in the budget, which showed a historically-low surplus of just over 20%, less than 9m. That's still a surplus, and it is expected that the numbers will look more healthy once the initial pair of ESFs are built. But for now, any thought of preparing for the next phase of naval development -- the ships that will be needed to colonize whatever Renewal might discover -- has gone on the back burner. The economics just aren't there to sustain this kind of massive activity for long. All of this has Director Rakes focused on making sure the automine runs to Triton go smoothly. On cue, the first South Carolina superfreighter run ever began the loading process on the first of the year.

January 3 -- Dr. Joe Tycho's research into Turret Tracking Speed is completed, a 20% increase achieved over present capabilities. Giving a man of his age and health another major project is considered risky, but he's not quite at the point of being ready to go yet. For now he takes over the final stages of prototyping the latest Meson turret. This approach has the added benefit of freeing up two more labs for low-level scientists to get a start on new projects. One of these is particularly notable: Ion Drives, the next generation in more powerful starship engines. It will be some time before any result is seen from it. This also pushes current projects to a new high of 27 ongoing.

Mid-January -- Rosemary Urenda, tops in the Power & Propulsion field, has made a minor improvement to her abilities(45%).

Mid-February -- Billie Allington, one of the most politically active scientists, has become even more well-connected(40% Reliability). She'd do better to work on her actually research skills.

[Brian Swartz]

February 18
SPACE Missiles & Kinetic Weapons Research Compound
Location: Classified

At first the only sign was a deafening crash, followed by what appeared to be a minor earthquake tremor. A few minutes later, one of the 15-ton 'mock-up' missiles was found to have come loose from its carriage and crashed to the floor -- crushing the body of 65-year-old lead researcher Dr. Karabishi Juishao into a mangled, lifeless heap. The medical response team was just a formality -- nobody could withstand such a massive blow and live.

Director India Rakes released a statement later in the day. She praised Juishao's long service record and seminal contributions to the advancement of missile technologies, deploring her tragic demise. It was standard PR-speak, and lacked the inspirational capacity that was really needed. As much as anything, what has held her back from further achievement is her propensity to fill the role of the negative reactionary, and that was clearly on display here. An independent review of not just this incident but security and safety procedures at all 43 compounds was ordered.

** OOC Note: A loss of 5M credits to SPACE and the forced idling of one-quarter(11) research labs for the remainder of 2079 will be enforced to simulate the cost of these measures **

Naturally, BOG had a lot to say. Not all of it made any sense. Burt Stonerock(Mercury) stuck his foot in his mouth as usual, referring to such things as 'the cost of doing business' and advocating that SPACE forge full steam ahead. Evelyn Kaczor(Halley's Comet) said similar things in a much more sensible and sensitive manner. . A number of members, both significant and less so, took the opportunistic route by decrying Rakes' 'incompetence' and calling for everything up to and on occasion even including her head. In this group there were Dee Respress(Prokne), Marion Polizzi(Faye), Errol Igoe(Sedna), and noted blowhard/ignoramus extraordinaire Russell Salvucci(Venus). Most managed to follow the wise lead of former and probable future director Alberto Eighmy(Earth), some because they lacked the courage to do anything else, some because they knew calming the public was the right thing to do. Other than lightning-rod Salvucci, most of the troublemakers are minor players. The elite corps of leadership, many nearing the ends of their careers, knew that the people would make up their own minds in a couple of years anyway if they felt major changes were required.

[Brian Swartz]

2079 ANNUAL REPORT(Part 2)

The loss of Juishao had at least one more effect that was immediately obvious: it hastened a crisis in the missile-related field as a whole. There is only remaining skilled researcher in the field, [b]Harlan Welle[b], and he's 64 with retirement looming. He was working on a less essential task(magazine ejection systems) and takes over the work on missile loading processes. The fact remains that advancement in this field, which High Command presently considers crucial to any realistic chance of combating the known alien threat in the near future, will virtually grind to a halt if nobody steps up to fill the void.

As the entirety of the scientific community reorganized to meet the needs of the coming investigation, Rosemary Urenda finished the latest advancement in fuel efficiency techniques. . There was considerable debate in the upper echelons of SPACE about whether to design new engines now. Eventually it was decided it is not worth the cost at the present time -- redesigns and all the subsequent costly refits will wait until Ion Drives are ready, which could well be a decade or more. Urenda meanwhile took over the Ion Drive project, while most of the low-level scientists are out of job for the time being.

Art Weston(Reinmuth) seemed to be the guy rising to the occasion in the aftermath, with noticed improved response to his leadership on the mining colony. A complete lack of important friends in BOG made it unlikely this would mean all that much though in the grand scheme of things.

In March, a second shipment of automines left for Triton, and construction began on the first two Baltimore command carriers. One should be ready in the summer of 2080, the second in the fall. The Gearing won't be set to begin for a few months yet, it looks like that will be the longest holdup. April brings the retirement of another top weapons scientist. Dr. Joe Tycho finishes the work on the latest meson cannon, the WT Excalibur 135. Given the current environment and the continued health issues, he retires from public service. It's been an amazing career -- although not as long of one as some, he's reached heights as great as any researcher SPACE has seen in terms of his peak productivity. His body just didn't let him keep it going. Eva Vadnais(62) remains to carry on, but when she retires the energy weapons field will only have a couple of low-level newcomers in place. Better than the missile field can say for itself, but not by much. Later in the month, the first two Prospectors come off the line and the Iowa XR begins production as the ramp-up for Renewal continues.

Throughout the summer progress continued on all fronts, espescially with more ships being completed in multiple categories, details follow as always. By the end of July, SPACE welcomes a potential political star in Augustine Wollner, and the biggest shipyards completed their conversion operations, allowing them to idle and save precious duranium. It's now under 7kt, and unfortunately this will only slow the depletion of the reserve. In early August the first Gearing begins construction, and estimates are that it will finish probably a couple months or so ahead of the '81 election. Then in quick succession the two New York 'casino ships' are finally launched, and the second new civilian shipping firm to enter the fray this year is formed. There's a lot to be excited about. Before the month was out, a third Brooklyn '72 entered service. Command wanted to be ready for the redesign long before now, but we just aren't there yet. Turreted versions of the latest lasers and meson cannons aren't ready, and without them it would only be a minimal upgrade in effectiveness. A fourth of the seven-year-old tech is queued.

The news was mostly positive, and the tragic death of Juishao already fading to a nearly-forgotten footnote in terms of headlines. Then, a week into September, came the news from Faye of a public disturbance at the base there following the arrival of the first New York. Unfortunately this would soon become a much bigger problem than at first it appeared to be ...


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

Mid-February -- Fuel efficiency improvements are announced by Rosemary Urenda.

Late February -- Electronic Hardening techniques have been advanced(Ross Dodge).

March 13 -- New commercial thermal sensors are ready(Irma Bartlebaugh).

April 2 -- Joe Tycho finishes the WT Excalibur 135, new Meson turret prototype.

April 13 -- Another research lab is finished, and dedicated to a new CIWS prototype. Elyse Buckler leads the project.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

Mid-March -- A second shipment of automines to Triton leaves Earth, as duranium levels fall below 8.5kt, now less than neutronium to make it the scarcest mineral in the stockpiles. The first shipment is still two weeks away from arriving.

April 24 -- A new shipping line, Hayter Container Group, has been formed.

Early June -- Gallicite deposits exhausted on Reinmuth. With the ramp-up of missile production the supply is slowly being drained. This is not a concern yet, but could forseeably become one. Massive neutronium supplies(over 400 years to depletion) will keep SPACE on Reinmuth for a long time to come.

August 20th -- Yet another commercial shipping firm is launched, Sherill Freight and Trading. This would seem to be a good sign for that sector of the economy.


EARTH

March 27 -- Retooling is finished and construction begins on the two Baltimore command carriers.

April 13 -- The Navy jettisons another seven underachievers.

April 15 -- The first two Prospectors are finished.

April 21 -- Retooling finished for the Iowa XR tanker. The first is expected to be ready around the same time as the first Baltimore, next summer.

May 23 -- A second pair of Frontiers are completed, and the third and final duo begun.

July 12th -- Fourth Long Beach group departs earth for Saturn.

July 28 -- The big shipyards have completed their various operations, and are now idle.

August 6th -- Permanant Shipyard reaches the 10kt needed, and begins work on the Gearing survey carrier. This is expected to be the last ship completed, the first to be ready in the fall of 2080.

August 14th -- The two New Yorks are finished and depart for Faye and Machholz, which along with Reinmuth are the worst off of the military bases. Arrival at Faye is expected at the end of the month, and then we'll see how they react to these floating casinos. They had better work.

August 28th -- The third Brooklyn '72 is finished.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

April 29 -- A big year for Rosemary Urenda continues. She's up to 50%, fully in the elite class of scientists now.

Mid-June -- Mitchell Feeser, not resting on his laurels, has improved in training skills(300, a rarely seen level).

Late July -- Augustine Wollner is a potentially bright new star on the political horizon. The good news is solid political connections, skills in wealth creation and logistics. The bad news? He can't effectively manage anything bigger than a mining outpost. Hopefully he doesn't end up being a poor man's Woznicki.

Late July -- Elyse Buckler has managed to gain some measure of skill(10%). Anything she can do to stem the decline in the missile field will be most welcome.

[Brian Swartz]

NEW YORK SCANDAL ERUPTS!

By the end of September it was clear that neither were working. Maintaining comfortable conditions in such a large ship over the constantly shifting mass of a comet just a few miles wide ... it was too much for the shuttles and thrusters to handle.

The second New York reached Machholz on September 19th, by which time there was a growing chorus of voices demanding answers on the situation at Faye. It fared no better, and by the end of the month India Rakes had no choice but to publicly address the situation personally. The basic problem is an issue of scale. The casino ships have to maintain a constant relative position in close orbit in order to have regular transportation between the comets and the ship. This presents a problem given the various unpredictable factors: gases in the comets tail, shifting axes of rotation and gravitational forces, etc., as well as the simple fact that the 122kt ship is in the case of Faye(1.77 km wide) about half as big as the actual comet itself. All of this results in the need for constant abrupt maneuvering via thrusters, making life on board the 'casino' actually quite a bit less pleasant than on the surface. A remarkably tone-deaf statement by Rakes indicated that SPACE would 'explore all possibilities' before deciding on a course of action. The inference was obvious and in this case accurate: she didn't know what to do.

The political effect of this announcement was thermonuclear. 'Independent' firm Andersen Accounting estimated the cost of the New York and associated shipyard activities at nearly 6kt of duranium and over 15m in public funds, all of which was now virtually wasted. The fact that the New York would still be a solution on larger bodies smacked of excuse-making and was practically speaking nearly irrelevant. The only place that would even matter was on Triton, all the other outposts are either inhabited, making a relief ship unnecessary, or smaller, making it impossible. Perhaps stationary orbital habitats would fare better, perhaps not. That consideration was equally irrelevant considering it would be years until they could be ready as research was still in its infancy.

Protests began in most major cities, and it was clear pretty quickly that this would not be one of those embarassing moments that would just blow over. Humanity's united front in support of SPACE showed the most serious cracks seen since the founding of the agency, an effect which snowballed as various sub-factions of splinter groups opposed for whatever crackpot reason found a louder voice and more friendly reception in the chaos. Front and center of course was Russell Salvucci, self-appointed spokesman for the disaffected. Over and over again he pounded home the point that it was India Rakes herself who had authored the entire plan of spreading off-world bases throughout Sol in the wake of her most important victory in the 2065 election. Accusations then that it was an opportunitistic and wasteful political stunt were ineffective, but that was no longer the case. The total cost of the bungling now hanging around her neck very much like a millstone dwarfed what was spent on the New York by itself. Protest strikes at official facilities all over the world began to grow, and in some areas all but the most essential services shut down. By the end of October, a little less than two months since the first reports from Faye, some regional blocs were beginning to suggest that perhaps they should govern their own affairs independent of SPACE.

BOG had no choice but to take action. Faced with an imminent 'no confidence' vote removing her from office, Rakes took the only option available and jumped before she was pushed. Her resignation officially took effect on November 4th. A brief statement offering a half-baked, defensive apology and a plea for cooperation to win out over division was almost universally ignored. The only thing for her to do was just go away. The director's office would remain vacant for the time being, with the additional responsibility of any emergency rudder orders -- subject to veto by a majority vote of BOG until a new director is elected -- passing to Earth's current governor, Alberto Eighmy. As the only remaining former director still in the service, Eighmy has as much practical clout and authority as anyone could have under the circumstances.

The present situation represents the most serious internal unrest humanity has faced since World War III, and those few who were alive when that horrific conflict ended were too young to remember much of it. For the first time in decades, fear seems a more powerful force than hope and unity.

** Author's Note: These events are my attempt to RP a reasonable response to the fact that the recreation modules are either bugged or not fully documented. Apparently they work on moons and planets, not anything smaller. On a personal level I'm really looking forward to the ramp-up of exploration which will now be delayed, but I also felt things were too 'clean' and perhaps 'pollyanish' in the way things have unfolded the past several decades. Combined with Juishao strategy, such an occurence as this which could be seen no other way than as gross incompetence by the official government, provided an in-game backdrop for a serious problem, unless I hand-waved it away which I'm not predisposed to do. I will say that from here, while anything is possible, inertia will be in the direction of SPACE gradually recovering from the current state of relative disorder. If things go well it could just be a bad memory in a few years that simply delays human progress. If not ... well, civil war is not completely out of the question but would require some fairly disastrous events and soon More likely it would just be a lengthening of the current period of unrest and resulting crippled economy. The previous plan for having the '81 election be a Renewal referendum has also been thrown out the window. The 'echo chamber' malcontents in BOG will have increased clout, exactly how much more depends on events between now and then. It appears the election will instead be focused on a reactionaries(Salvucci et al.) vs. progressives(status quo, more or less) dynamic **

Meanwhile ...

September 19 -- Eva Vadnais has stepped up to 65% matching Tycho's high and filling the void as best she can. This is considered the maximum any researcher can achieve. Also, Alejandro Otteson completes second, larger power plant prototype.

October 10 -- Julio Kuchler's team achieves a new advancement in EM sensors. He quickly sets to work on a new commercial suite using this. Active sensors will need to wait until the accompanying grav advancement.

[Brian Swartz]

A TENSE TRANSITION(2079 Conclusion)

Over the last couple months of 2079, Eighmy emphasized that the people needed to have their say in the next election before any major changes were made. However, there were a number of things that still needed to be done. It was clear that sustaining bases on uninhabitable bodies was not going to happen with current technology. The crews needed to be returned to Earth, and whatever could be salvaged from the bases as well. Unfortunately SPACE does not have a ship capable of such a mission.

With this in mind, the Wickes-class Salvage Ship was reluctantly and unpopularly announced, though nobody had a better idea. Further damage to public confidence was largely avoided by focusing on the fact that SPACE was skimping as much as possible on its design, an all-in-one makeshift approach to limit the cost.

Size: 20.6 kt
Crew: 188
Speed: 486 km/s
Cargo: 5kt
Cryogenic Berths: 1000 capacity
Salvage: 1 module(500t/day)
Fuel: 250k
Armament: Commercial-quality sensors, 2 CIWS batteries
Cost: 682k

It would still not be cheap, but when you need to mount a 10kt salvage system there's a certain cost involved. Privately SPACE views this as an opportunity to get a handle on salvage/rescue operations which will certainly be needed in the future, but this was not the time to discuss that in public.

Several shipyards were shut down due to the striking, protests, etc., including production of the Baltimore, Caldwell, Nimitz, and Iowa XR classes. This meant Operation Renewal was on indefinite hold until order could be restored. Fortunately Howaltswerdke was able to begin production immediately, expected to be finished in just over a year.

As Rakes ignominiously left the scene, only a fraction of the research laboratories were operational and just under half of the factories and shipyards. Both New Yorks were ordered back to Earth to be scrapped.

In the following weeks, a number of adminstrators stepped up and saw their skills flourish. Coincidentally enough, duranium supplies are on the rebound for the first time due to the fact that the far-flung automines have been largely unaffected by the crisis, while the production reductions leave demand much lower than it was. Mostly the year finished in a state of relatively peaceful inaction ... there were a couple of clerical oversights such as a Forrestal not returning for overhaul until a couple of weeks late, etc. ... but nothing that seriously rocked the boat. Not all that much was achieved either, but a quiet recovery would be just fine by SPACE right now. Every uneventful week ends with a few hundred thousand more back to work in the plants, and unrest dipping a bit lower. In a best-case scenario, things could be 'back to normal' in a few months time, though memories and distrust will last longer than that. On the other hand, civilian shipping has declined over the last month, a reminder that there is a long way to go.

November 23 -- The last pair of Frontiers is finished at International Shipyard, and production switches to the Explorer. Even small events such as this are trumpeted by SPACE for all their worth, in an effort to rebuild a strong consensus of support.

December 4 -- The last pair of Prospectors comes off the line.

Mid-December -- Administrator Timmy Sheerin joins the service, another fairly talented guy who majors in small operations unfortunately. Excellent mining ability, some connections and reasonably diverse skillset make him an interesting potential.

[Brian Swartz]

RETIREMENTS

The present chaos lost the services a few officers a tour earlier than they might normally have otherwhise retired, but among the senior officers both branches are still pretty young and stable. The only one to leave this cycle is Brigadier General Christopher Sonders. The navy loses six junior officers, four from the army, and things will continue on much as they have. From a military point of view the leadership is at a very healthy point, much in contrast to the political arm.

MILITARY CHARACTER UPDATE

The new survey ships already built for Renewal have created new job opportunities which move most naval officers up a peg by default, though some of this will go the other way when the bases are salvaged and those leaders are freed up.

Lt. Cmdr. Chance Perj -- 12th out of 112. For now he's done with harvester duty, but he'll stay in the same neck of the woods taking over one of the Burke brigade-level transports as they await the completion of the base on Titan.

Brig. Gen. Sterling Silvers Jr. -- 7th out of 12. Another tour with the 59th Construction Brigade, which will be on Titan for another year or two finishing up the base there.
Col. Deacon Palmer Jr. -- 24th out of 60. More garrison duty on Earth, still waiting for something bigger to break his way.

[Brian Swartz]

2080 ANNUAL REPORT

Thankfully the civilian shipping recession quickly abated at the beginning of the year. The new decade seemed to bring with a new determination and efficiency. Between late January and mid-February Sedna expanded not once, not twice, but three times, adding significantly to the already-massive contributions from the distant dwarf. The timing is of course fantastic, clearly they must have lit a fire under them to profit from the downturn. In this case, it's all for the common good.

There continue to be minor hiccups here and there, two steps forward and one back for most of the early months, but progress is made albeit slowly. At the end of February the first two Explorer jump scouts are finished, and then to start of March the security review is finished. It's a couple months late but that's hard to fault under the circumstances. Juishao's death was found to be a preventable equipment failure, but also an isolated case and no major policy changes were recommended other than a fix for the specific malfunction. Research will now begin ramping up again, but production across the board in all sectors is still only a bit over 55% of capacity and many major shipyard priorities have not been restarted yet. There is much left to do.

The first shipment of the year to Triton leaves in the middle of April, another sign that slowly but surely, progress is being made. Along with a couple of minor research advances finalized in the month, support starts to galvanize around the recovery. People have had time to consider the situation, and there isn't really a good reason not to get behind SPACE again. Another month, and production approaches the two-thirds mark. The Baltimore Marine yard is back in business, with the Baltimore carriers back in production.

By July that's up to three-quarters with a little bit of good news here, a little bit there, mostly just everything getting settled back into a positive routine. By the last week of August, production in all sectors was back to maximum output and the utility vessels for the ESFs were finished as well. Nearly a year after it began, the crisis was finally over -- though not forgotten.

The very next month, there was another tremor as Cpt. Roman Madore was forced to retire unexpectedly due to medical issues. He was one of the solid veterans that make up the backbone of Navy leadership.

A couple of good academy candidates come in the fall, and then November brings the first Gearing Survey Carrier and another quartet of Caldwell shuttles. At the end of the year, the Wickes salvage & recovery ship was finally launched. This was an important public relations moment for SPACE. A smooth maiden voyage is needed, and a successful test before the elections wouldn't hurt. The oldest bases will be taken first, as their crews are under the greatest hardship. That means Stephan-Oterma is the first target, with Lt. Cmdr. Sammie Appelbaum -- stop laughing -- taking the assignment as the best of the recent academy graduates who is still without a command. Unfortunately, the end of the year will come about a week before the ship can arrive ... just a hair too late. Privately Eighmy was pleased with this since it meant the ship being a dud would come too late to affect the campaign, which is why he didn't divert it to Faye or Machholz which are closer.

2080 will have to be remembered as the year SPACE got back on its feet and apparently averted disaster.


COLONIAL DEVELOPMENTS

January 24 -- Sedna expands to 33 complexes, then finishes a 34th just four days later.

February 12 -- Sedna adds a third complex in three weeks.


EARTH

February 28 -- The first two Explorer jump scouts are ready.

Mid-May -- New Yorks are scrapped, another healing sign.

Late May -- Baltimore Marine is back in business, with the first carrier set to be ready next spring.

May 30 -- Another pair of Explorers is completed. The first ESF now has a full complement.

Mid-June -- Wartsila is the next shipyard to resume operations with the Nimitz missile boat.

July 8 -- A fifth Long Beach harvester group departs Earth. Only one remains of the originally planned six.

August -- KSEC(Caldwell) gets underway again.

Mid-August -- Oregon gets moving with the resumption of the Iowa XR. The tanker is now expected to be the final element of the first ESF to be ready, probably sometime around late spring of next year.

August 28 -- Last two Prospectors are finished.

September 3 -- With the completion of the last two Explorers, utility craft are finished for both ESFs. The larger ships are all that is needed now.

November 9th -- First of the Gearing Survey Carriers is complete, as well as a quartet of Caldwell shuttles. Cmdr. Christin Dinges(39) is assigned the posting.

December 8th -- The Wickes salvage recovery ship is launched.

December 9th -- A new laboratory is finished.


LEADERSHIP PERSONNEL

Early March -- James Earl Jones V Wealth Creation to 15%.

Early April -- James Earl Jones V factory production up to 35%. The final year of his career is a strange time to put his foot on the gas ...

July 7 -- 22-year-old Zoe Bean is promoted to Brigadier General. Evaluations are still that she is the second-best officer in the army behind Engelhardt.

August 30 -- Lt. Cmdr. Zenaida Howse, while not quite on the level of a Feeser or Jeffcoat, is the latest star to come out of the academies on the naval side. She has good training skills already and a few political connections.

Late October -- Col. Rodger Henning, near genius-level in both ground combat and xenology(?), has graduated the academy.

Mid-November -- Another pointless skill increase for James Earl Jones V(Factory production to 40%)

Mid-December -- Nearly irrelevant Garland Sidhom(BG) just got slightly less so with a good jump to 35% bonus.


RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

** April 5 -- The latest in automated defenses, the CIWS '79, has been completed by Harlan Welle's team. It's the first tangible step by the research teams in some time, and gives everyone a bit of a productive jolt. Welle will now finally be able to get back to the missile launcher reload work that still has not been finished.

** April 18 -- Elwood Tousant finishes work on the new commercial-grade thermal sensors. He'll next look at the building blocks of effective combat countermeasures in Electronic Warfare.

** May 10th -- Eva Vadnais finishes theoretical research into expanding lasers into the ultraviolet spectrum. Things are a bit out of balance though in that current-gen technology doesn't have turreted versions yet, so she'll hammer those out beginning with the 'Excalibur' single-meson variant.

** Early July -- One of the new training projects for the young scientists, Douglas Greer in this case, is worth particular mention. He's doing the groundwork for Cloaking Theory, which involves various techniques to mask a ship's gravitational field and therefore hide it from active sensors, though it won't help with passive thermal/electromagnetic detections. Ships like the Explorer jump scout might potentially be equipped with such devices in the future, but it's mostly a speculative project that SPACE could find uses for in the decades to come.

** July 13 -- Vadnais has finished the meson turret, and moves on to the twin-laser one. That'll take a bit longer, six months or so.

[Brian Swartz]

The SOS report is up next, but before I get into that there's something I've decided to change that deserves an explanation. I probably found all this a lot more interesting than anybody else will, but I thought it was worth sharing.

The starting point was that I've been growing more and more dissatisfied with the research aspect, both how I report the jobs and how I assign them. I've tried to keep a certain level of focused detachment, i.e. not overwhelming things with too much detail. In the Navy, for example, whereas once it was a huge deal whenever somebody got promoted to captain, I don't even mention it now because there's 12-13 of them. There's only five admirals though(I generally set the 'importance' limit at 10 of whatever). In this way I try to make sure everything I report on is something you'd care about if the story of SPACE was reality and you read it/saw it in a news report. The guy who just got appointed to some minor mining colony like Wild or Prokne? Nope, do something worth reporting .

Anyway, when it comes to research there were only a few scientists at first so they all mattered. Not a ton of projects going on so they were all relevant as well, and assigning them was pretty basic. I followed the '5-Year Rule', i.e. giving out as many labs as necessary to finish something within five years. Usually that was just one, and the exceptions were worth talking about -- things like Palmer getting us started with TN knowledge, others later with concepts like Jump Point Theory, or the push to get Improved Geological Sensors as a centerpiece of exploring again. But eventually I found myself talking about how the fifth-best logistics scientist borrowed a lab from the third-most-important construction researcher to finish some project that wasn't even vital to begin with, and I've had the growing feeling that I'm writing about research just to write about it, not because it adds anything to the story or anyone should conceivably care much about it.

This is one of the things, by the way, that I love about Aurora and espescially the conventional start that I've done here, is that as SPACE grows and gets more complex, I have to find new ways of approaching it. What worked fifty or even thirty years ago often does not work now. After considering the research aspect, I decided on something that it later occurred to me would work well for all four branches of the leadership tree. All skills, instead of getting a stale number, will be divided into three categories:

** Elite(top third of the rating range, for most this is 50% and up)
** Accomplished(middle third, 25-45%)
** Novice(lowest third, 20% and under)

I'm going to use these descriptors when talking about the improvement in a leader, for example Governor Y is now an accomplished financial administrator, or Naval Officer Z has improved his already elite crew training abilities, etc. I like this kind of element much more in trying to craft the story of SPACE. In the case of research though it also serves as the basis for the new paradigm for assigning labs to a project.

** Elite scientists will demand at least 3 laboratories, more if required, and will choose jobs(almost always started by someone else) based on importance and time needed. They will focus exclusively on tech advances, not prototypes. Those are jobs to be delegated to others after an elite has made up the blueprint.
** Accomplished scientists will take 2 labs, and do more complicated/costly prototypes or work on tech advances.
** Novice scientists will use a single lab, working on most of the prototypes and also doing startup work on tech advances. This I imagine as being things like setting up the equipment for the experiments, assembling control groups, doing other low-level tasks as a 'training level'.

In the SOS report I'm only including the prototypes and soon-to-be finished tech advances. I've also listed the accomplished/elite scientists in each field. This results in only 9 of 36(!!) ongoing projects being listed and 13 of 40 scientists. But what's there is what's really important right now. It's a transition time so there's a lot of young researchers working on stuff they'll never finish(30+-year times in some cases listed for completion), but that also means there's a lot of potential for them to improve. Right now it's at a low ebb due to retirments recently, but with more elite scientists there will eventually become less 'training' and more 'major advancements' going on. Another aspect I like about this is scientists doing more work in their specialized fields, it has a more organic feel to what gets done which I think is appropriate to a larger organization. After all, the bigger a ship, the harder it is to turn ...

Anyway, I hope this is helpful to the reader, at least in understanding why a few things will be different in future reports.

[Brian Swartz]

STATE OF SPACE, 2081

I. IMPERIAL HOLDINGS

IA. Populated Colonies

Earth(1.618b, 500 CF, 80 OF, 75 REF, 46 RL, 4 AC, 3 GFT, 5 DSTS, 15.2k MF, 1 SP, 1 SC, 4x Alaska MB)
Mars(64.67m, Tennessee MB)
Luna(59.89m, Tennessee MB)
Titan(17.56m, 1 DSTS)
Mercury(16.83m)
Venus(13.96m)
Io(110k)
Europa(110k)
Ganymede(110k)
Callisto(110k)

Total Population: 1.791b

The demand for infrastructure in the inner system and the reduced cost of getting it there continues to ensure that the out-system moons remain stagnant. Mercury has nearly surpassed Titan despite the fact that conditions are much harsher there. There are no indications that this will change in the forseeable future.


IB. Outposts

Sedna(35 CMC, 16 eff, 9.41 kt)
Triton(97 AM, 25.5 eff, 3.95 kt) -- mercassium(4.6)
Earth(50 SM, 6.3 eff, 561 t)
Halley's Comet(41 AM, 43 eff, 2.47 kt) -- gallicite(0.5)
Borrelly(39.8 AM, 49 eff, 2.73 kt) -- corbomite(3.9), vendarite(8.2)
Reinmuth(33.8 AM, 30 eff, 1.49 kt)
Stephan-Oterma(28 AM, 32 eff, 1.38 kt) -- gallicite(4.2)
Machholz(27.6 AM, 24 eff, 1.02 kt) -- sorium(8.3)
Neujmin(25.8 AM, 25 eff, 903 t)
Titan(25 SM, 6 eff, 231 t)
Faye(25 AM, 41 eff, 1.51 kt) -- uridium(0.0), corundium(1.6), neutronium(9.1)
Comas Sola(29 AM, 29 eff, 1.07 kt) -- boronide(4.8)
Schaumasse(21.8 AM, 36 eff, 1.10 kt)
Crommelin(20.4 AM, 26 eff, 743 t)
Wolf-Harrington(17.8 AM, 40 eff, 1.25 kt)
Callisto(10 SM, 6 eff, 8 t)
Van Biesbroeck(10 AM, 55 eff, 770 t)
Prokne(10 AM, 9.2 eff, 129 t)
Wolf(8 AM, 26 eff, 291 t)
Wild(8 AM, 34 eff, 351 t)

Total Production: 31.37 kt, -0.4%. This is a deceptively low number, as things should improve once there is a full-time acting director to oversee operations. The current ramp-up in mine production won't proceed indefinitely though. There are uncertain times ahead.

IC. Mineral Stockpiles & Production

Tier A(rare usage): Corbomite(65 kt), Sorium(48 kt)

This is a vanishing category, as all minerals are seeing some use and the minor ones increasing in the need. Down to two here, there have been four at least in all previous reports. Both saw the stockpile grow by several kilotons in this cycle.

Tier B(some usage, but a good stockpile): Uridium(112 kt), Vendarite(62 kt), Tritanium(48 kt), Boronide(39 kt), Gallicite(36 kt)

Uridium is by far the most plenteous, supplies of it are going through the roof despite significant use in shipbuilding of late. You can practically pick the stuff up off the ground many places in Sol. Vendarite and Tritanium are very safe, just moved up a tier as SPACE is using more of them now. Boronide(fuel tanks) and Gallicite(missiles) are on the decline however. The former can be found in whatever quantity we need easily on Venus if the need arises. The latter is a growing issue, still plenty for now and supplies might stabilize when the latest round of missiles are finished, but two key sources(Halley's Comet and Stephan-Oterma) are drying up soon so that's unlikely. There are multiple sizable finds that could be exploited(five in the 20-45kt range), but sustaining a significant missile fleet and base system will require extrasolar sources in the next century.

Tier C(major usage, needs close watching/ under 20 kt): Mercassium(19.8 kt), Neutronium (12.6 kt), Corundium(9.70 kt)

The decline in mercassium accelerated as the big three minerals become the big four. That's the good news unfortunately, as Triton supplies 390t per year, 21% of the total extracted. It is very possible than within the next decade or two research lab construction may have to be reduced. The good news is that demand should decline a bit, at least for a time, once the harvesters and ESFs are finished next year.

Neutronium is up well over three kilotons, but this is mostly because it's not being used hardly at all. There are no shipyards being built/retooled/expanded, and that's definitely not a permanent situation. Corundium meanwhile has been cut almost in half this cycle. The current rate of automine production is not sustainable, which will complicate efforts to keep supply up across the board. The options for getting more are either low-accessibility(Venus) or long-range(multiple comets). There aren't any really good choices.

Tier D(major usage, economic growth limiter): Duranium(8.13 kt)

Duranium crashed hard prior to the New York scandal, recovered some during it, and is now on a more modest decline. Maintaining the industrial base and kind of breakneck shipbuilding(15-20 at any one time) that's been going on the last few years just consumes an incredible amount of it. Short-term Triton will fit the bill, but in the long-term the greatest concern remains how to replace what Sedna produces when that dries up in a few decades. There just aren't enough mines (the equivalent of 350 there is about two-thirds of the current 528 total in service under SPACE control), and the emergency contingency calls for dumping a bunch of them on Venus which has only decent accessibility(0.5). A couple of Oort-cloud asteroids have considerable(about 100kt) reserves that could be tapped, but there's no way to quickly get that many mines out there.

At the moment, expanding duranium until/unless the current shipbuilding rush abates(unlikely) is the primary goal.


ID. Income

Taxes(population): 41.1 m
Taxes(civ. tourism): 7.1m
Taxes(civ. shipping): 4.95m
Scrapped materials: 1.44m
Taxes(civ. fuel): 162k

Total: 54.73 m(+0.1%)

Balance: 719m(+30 m)

Tourism continues to rise, but the shipping industry has been very inconsistent. The lack of a director is the biggest reason for stagnant income though.

IE. Expenses

Shipbuilding: 10.32m
Mineral Purchases: 8.7m
Research: 7.92m
Installation Construction: 5.43m
Maintenance Facilities: 989k
Ordnance Production: 825k
GU Maintenance: 496k
PDC Construction: 56k

Total: 34.73m(-9.0%)

The expense report is virtually worthless, as it was hugely affected by the crisis. Thankfully money has not been a problem to worry about thus far.

II. SHIPYARDS

IIA. Commercial Yards

Tod & MacGregor(2 slipways, 166 kt capacity)
** Idle
Estalerios Navais do Montego(ENDM)(2, 127 kt)
** Idle
P&A Group(4, 80 kt)
** Building the last trio of the Long Beach harvesters, a project which has taken several years and is scheduled to finish this summer.
Howaldswerke/Deutsche Werft(HDW)(1, 55.3 kt)
** Idle. Most recently built the salvager/recovery ship Wickes.
Oregon Shipbuilding(1, 50.7 kt)
** Building the first of two Iowa XR extended-deployment tankers for use with ESFs. First is expected done in May.
Vickers-Armstrong(4, 10 kt)
** Idle. Used for the Lexington-class shuttles.

IIB. Naval Yards

Wartsila(1, 17.6 kt)
** Building the Nimitz '76c, second of the class so far. ETA April.
Yokohama Dock Co.(1, 15.2 kt)
** Building Brooklyn '72, fourth of the class. ETA April.
Baltimore Marine(2, 12.2 kt)
** Building two Baltimore Command Carriers for the ESFs, ETA March/May
Permanant(1, 10 kt)
** Building the second Gearing Survey Carrier, ETA early 2082
International(2, 1 kt)
** Idle, used from Frontier and Explorer
Niehuis and van den Berg(2, 1 kt)
** Idle, Prospector and Explorer
KSEC(4, 10 kt)
** Building the fifth of seven quartets of Caldwell VIP shuttles. ETA April

III. ARMY TRAINING FACILITIES

IIIA. Earth

** Three active training facilities
** All are idle for the last few years

IV. INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY

IVA. Earth

Research Lab(33%) -- August 2081
Mine Conversions(standard to automated, 30%) -- approx. 21/year
Mine Construction(24%) -- approx. 21/year
Ordnance Factories() -- 70 still on order, about 11 per year

V A. PRIORITY RESEARCH PROJECTS

** Note: The research approach has changed somewhat, so only current prioritized projects are listed here. More info on this in the election update.

** SpearPoint DL-12(Twin-Laser Turrett)(Eva Vadnais) -- February 2081
** Orbital Habitat Module(Cedrick Wormack) -- Late Feb/Early March 2081
** Active Grav Sensor Strength(Julio Kuchler) -- April 2081
** SITG ThermoScan 121(military-grade sensor suite)(Bessie Wallander) -- May/June 2081
** Terraforming Rate(Clint Wyche) -- November 2081
** Missile Launcher Reload Rates(Harlan Welle) -- Late 2081/Early 2082
** Ion Drives(Rosemary Urenda) -- Late 2083
** Mining Production Rates(Curtis Gloster) -- Late 2083
** Electronic Warfare(theoretical)(Elwood Tousant) -- Late 2084/Early 2085

V B. NOTABLE SCIENTISTS

** Biology/Genetics
Clint Wyche(Elite)
Mike Minaya(Accomplished)
Garland Sidhom(Accomplished)

** Construction & Production
Curtis Gloster(Accomplished)
Shanon Patteson(Accomplished)

** Energy Weapons
Eva Vadnais(Elite)

** Logistics/Ground Combat
Cedrick Wormack(Elite)
Alphonse Lambeth(Accomplished)

** Missiles & Kinetic Weapons
Harlan Welle(Accomplished)

** Power & Propulsion
Rosemary Urenda(Elite)

** Sensors/Fire Control
Julio Kuchler(Elite)
Elwood Tousant(Accomplished)
Bessie Wallander(Accomplished)

VI. ACTIVE NAVAL ASSETS

VI A. Military Bases

Alaska(4, 59.45 kt, 1020 crew, major missile base)
Tennessee(2, 13.3 kt, 254 crew, missile base + sensors)
Tennessee(Lt)(2, 12.1 kt, 214 crew, missile base)
PDC Ticonderoga(4, 3.0kt, 16 crew, sensor base)

Total: 12 installations(--), 300.6 kt(--), 5,080 crew(--)

VI B. Combat Ships

MB Nimitz(3, 13.95 kt, 373 crew, 2437 km/s, 1.75m fuel, missile-armed)
MB Nimitz '76c(1, 10.25 kt, 273 crew, 2439 km/s, 1.25 m fuel, missile-armed)
GB Brooklyn '72(3, 13.45 kt, 356 crew, 2379 km/s, 1.75 m fuel, beam-armed)

Total: 7 ships(+75%), 92.5 kt(+67%), 2,460 crew(+67%), 11.8m fuel(+69%)

SPACE may soon have the firepower to do something. Not sure what, but something.

VI C. Military Non-combat Ships

ST Caldwell(16, 950 t, 14 crew, 2210 km/s, 500k fuel, VIP shuttle w/8 capacity)
MV Cleveland(2, 2.1 kt, 30 crew, 2380 km/s, 100k fuel, supply ship)
SC Explorer(6, 850 t, 18 crew, 1411 km/s, 250k fuel, jump scout)
SB Forrestal III(14, 650 t, 14 crew, 3692 km/s, 50k fuel, sensor buoy)
GSV Frontier(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, gravsurvey)
SVC Gearing(1, 10 kt, 158 crew, 600 km/s, 750k fuel, survey carrier)
GEV Prospector(6, 950 t, 24 crew, 1263 km/s, 250k fuel, geosurvey)
CO Tarawa(2, 6.4 kt, 85 crew, 781 km/s, 250k fuel, supply ship)

Total: 53 ships(+152%), 67.8 kt(+145%), 1,204 crew(+162%), 14.7 m fuel(+845%)

The non-combat portion of the navy exploded, well over doubling between the ships built so far for the ESFs and the transitioning of shuttle duty here from the commercial wing. Maintenance work is definitely a growth sector right now.

VI D. Commercial Vessels

TT Arleigh Burke(4, 17.8 kt, 136 crew, 563 km/s, 350k fuel, brigade troop transport)
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 Lexington IIId(30, 2.0 kt, 28 crew, 2500 km/s, 250k fuel, shuttle transport)
FH Long Beach(21, 79.1 kt, 411 crew, 379 km/s, 1.5m fuel, fuel harvester)
FH Perry III(4, 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)
FT South Carolina(4, 164.6 kt, 531 crew, 607 km/s, 2.15m fuel, superfreighter)
SV Wickes(1, 20.6 kt, 188 crew, 486 km/s, 250k fuel, salvage/recovery)

Total: 76 vessels(+12%), 2.88 mt(+63%), 14.2k crew(+65%), 68m liters fuel(+51%)

Largely the same, with the Wickes added and most of the Perry's replaced by the Long Beach. The Lexingtons are still around but this is to be their last election. When the Caldwells are finished in a couple years, they will be scrapped and the numbers will shrink here.

Grand Total: 141 assets(+34%), 3.04 mt(+39%), 17.9k crew(+15%), 94.5m liters fuel(+76%)

Another major expansion of the Navy. The commercial ships are still the majority across the board, nearly 95% by size, despite the growth of the military sector.

Available Crew: 154k(+21%)

VI E. Fuel Status

Earth -- 9.3m liters
Titan -- 12.1m
Callisto -- 5.2m

Total -- 26.6m liters(-16%) A second straight decline, and the new pair of tankers for the ESFs will put even more strain on the reserves. It remains to be seen whether the almost-finished Long Beach's will be up to the task of recovering it after that or if even more need to be built.

VII. ACTIVE ARMY ASSETS

** Brigade HQs(5)
** Construction Brigades(7)
** Mobile Infantry Battalions(10)
** Garrison Battalion(34)

Total Active-Duty Soldiers: 420k

VIII. CIVILIAN SHIPPING CORPORATIONS

Tolles Transport & Logistics(23 ships, 4.65m annual income)
Voliva Carrier Company(68, 4.48m)
Jensrud Transport and Trading(47, 2.99m)
Everton Shipping & Logistics(2, 160k)
Hayter Container Group(3, 140k)
Suter Shipping Services(2, 96k)
Ouellet Shipping(3, 90k)
Presnar Freight(1, 10k)
Clavette Shipping Line(2, --)
Abair Shipping(1, --)
Forbus Carrier Ltd(1, --)
Sherrill Freight & Trading(1, --)

Total Vessels: 154(+32%)
Total Civilian Income: 12.62m(+17%)

Tolles exploding with infrastructure runs from Earth to Mercury and colonists from the moon to Earth. Despite having only a third of the ships, they have taken the top spot from Voliva, something once thought impossible. A decade ago, Tolles was just an afterthought. They sure aren't anymore after more than doubling their income in this past cycle. The others didn't do as well. Everton was looking to make some noise, but they've fallen off again. There's a full dozen firms right now, but after the Big 3 the other nine might as well not exist -- they have a combined market share of less than 4%.

Overall the civilian sector was up and down, showing marginal growth over the cycle as whole.

IX. SPACE LEADERSHIP PROSPECTUS

** Naval Officers: 148 of 176 assigned(84%), +10%
** Ground Forces Officers: 62 of 82(76%), -15%
** Civilian Administrators: 27 of 34(79%), -3%
** Scientists: 36 of 40(90%), +32%

Overall: 273 of 332(82%), +5%

The reorganization of the R&D Directorate has been much to the delight of the scientists. Meanwhile, naval prospects have rarely been higher, but a lack of resources has limited expansion of opportunities in the army.

[Tellistto]

I think it works very well, Brian. I'm still enjoying the read very much. Really looking forward to seeing how expansion proceeds going forward. Keep up the great work!

Tell