The Sol System Makes Plans For Defence

The final jump point of the Sol system led to EZ Aquarii system which has three stars EZ Aquarii-A has a spectral class of M5-V and is orbited by three terrestrial planets and three gas giants none of the planets are currently suitable for colonies. EZ Aquarii-B has a spectral class of M7-V orbits Star A but is also orbited by a gas giant and a chunk. Finally EZ Aquarii-C has a spectral class of M9-V and this star is orbited by four gas giants.

On the 13th of May 2037 a grav survey is started in the system. A geo survey will commence when Goldrush 002 completes the survey in Ross 128.

The research labs are still working flat out on weapon research and defensive measures. The aim is to get some combat ready ships in a fleet to patrol the Tau Ceti jump point.

On the 12th of June a new jump point is found in the EZ Aquarii system.

On the 17th of June supplies of Boronide run out on Earth the only source is Saturns moon Tethys and it as accessibility of 0.8. Boronide is the primary material used in the construction of power systems and capacitors and also for the creation of Terraforming facilities. We still have a stockpile of 28,850 so are fine for the time being.

The design of the Godrush geo survey craft is updated with the latest tech level of engines and extra geo survey instruments.

Goldrush MK 2 class Geosurvey Ship 3850 tons 373 Crew 882 BP TCS 77 TH 160 EM 0

2077 km/s Armour 1-21 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/0/6 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 0

Annual Failure Rate: 39% IFR: 0.5% Maint Capacity 430 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP Est Time: 4.18 Years

Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 Military (4) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 26.0 billion km (144 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR25-R100 (1) GPS 5000 Range 25.0m km Resolution 100

Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

Geological Survey Sensors (6) 6 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

The plan is to refit the original Goldrush design.

Work has also been started on a Sector Command which is due to complete on the 10th of December 2038.

On the 17th of July 2038 the Earth Defense PDC's are completed Earth now has a protection level of 288.

All ships are called in for overhauls whilst new versions are designed.

It's getting late so that's all for this update hopefully the military craft will be designed and start production in the next post.

Aftermath Of Our First Contact

Now we know we are not alone priority has to be given to defending both the Earth and also the Tau Ceti jump point. So the first move is to concentrate all research on weapons and defensive measures.

While the survey fleet from Tau Ceti refuel. New Horizon 002 explores the fourth jump point in the Sol system and enters Ross 128 this system has one star with a spectral class of M4-V. Only one planet is terrestrial but it's not within a colonisable range for humans. The other six major bodies are gas giants. New Horizon 002 commences a grav survey and the other survey ships will join once there refuelled.

On the 17th of August 2036 the Earth Defense Missile Bases are designed and plans are put in place to build four on Earth.

Earth Defense Missile class Planetary Defence Centre 2900 tons 340 Crew 357.5 BP TCS 58 TH 0 EM 0

Armour 10-18 Sensors 1/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 32

Magazine 32

PDC Size 4 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 4 Rate of Fire 20

Missile Fire Control FC96-R200 (1) Range 96.0m km Resolution 200

This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 2 sections

On the 3rd of October 2036 it is decided that we will never be able to communicate with the Tau Ceti aliens and no further communication attempts are to be made.

Grav survey of Ross 128 is completed on the 27th of December and no jump points are found.

The fifth jump point in the Sol system is explored on the 19th of April 2037 this leads into the Luyten 726-8 system on entering the system three wrecks appear on the scanners two 8000 tons and one 2500 tons. This all seems eerily familiar. The decision is made to await military backup before the system is explored.

The survey fleet transits back to Sol and heads for the sixth and final unexplored jump point. This jump point leads to the EZ Aquarii system.

That's all for this installment hopefully tomorrow I can start building up a military force and make the Sol system feel a little bit safer.

Missile PDC's

Just a quick update I have designed the following missile fire control:

Active Sensor Strength: 32 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%

Sensor Size: 2 HS Sensor HTK: 1

Primary Mode: Resolution: 200 Maximum Range: 96,000,000 km

Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%

Cost: 32 Crew: 10

Materials Required: 8x Duranium 24x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 320RP

and research will be started shortly using this design our first defensive PDC will be designed utilising our first missile design.

We are also now starting a survey of the newly discovered Tau Ceti system which has one star with a spectral class G8-V this is orbited by four bodies one chunk and three terrestrial planets. Tau Ceti V has a colony cost of 3.28 although colonisation will be difficult due to the presence of dangerous gasses. Tau Ceti V and Tau Ceti VI also have moons in orbit. There are also 18 asteroids in the system.

Oh dear on the 2nd of June 2036 two thermal contacts are picked up by Goldrush 001 in the Tau Ceti system. The contacts are two different ships designated Anubis 001 and Marshal 001 all craft in the system are ordered to return to Sol and await further orders.

At this early stage we have no idea if the alien craft have detected our ships. 15 seconds after first contact the alien craft activate active sensors and a third craft designated Spider 001 is detected. Commander Emma Pearson onboard Goldrush 001 decides to activate the active sensor so more information can be gathered about the alien craft. A diplomatic team is also put together to attempt communication with the Tau Ceti aliens.

The first data gathered is that the alien ships are all capable of at least 5625 km/s which is more than twice as fast as the survey ships in the system. Marshal 001 is heading away from Goldrush 001 but Anubis 001 and Spider 001 are heading towards the human craft. At 23:44 on the 2nd of June 2036 the aliens intentions become clear as Goldrush 001 is hit by 4 Stybjorn Anti-Ship missiles which causes massive damage due to multiple explosions. Commander Emma Pearson fails to escape and is killed as the ship explodes. 83 survivors are detected in life pods but it is currently unsafe to approach the area. All other Sol ships in the system are heading for the Sol jump point at full speed and the whereabouts of the Tau Ceti aliens is unknown.

It is noted on the shipboard scanners that the wreck with a tonnage of 24,000 is an Anubis class craft which may mean another alien race has hostile relations with the Tau Ceti aliens.

Goldrush 002 is the first ship to successfully transit into the Sol system. Light Seeker 001 is the second ship to safety.

All attempts at communication with the Tau Ceti aliens are unsuccessful and the diplomatic team feel communication may prove impossible.

Finally on the 7th of July all craft except New Horizon 001 sucessfully transit back into the Sol system. Before it transits the New Horizon activates the active sensor to check the immediate area around the jump point. All evidence seems to suggest that the aliens had not detected any other Sol craft.

Nothing is picked up within 25 million km of the jump point so the New Horizon transits back to Sol.

Based on this first contact situation we need to start increasing our defensive abilities both planet based and ship based this need to be done sooner rather than later. Also we need to decide if we should continue exploration of the Sol jump points or keep all ships safe until the more is known about the unknown menace.

That's all for this update and things are really getting interesting now hope you enjoyed this installment.

New Systems Await!!!

In light of the replies to my post on the forum a new plan has been decided. Instead of building up defences at the current tech level which will be potentially useless when I actually have enemies. I'm going to explore and survey all the systems within one jump of Sol and whilst doing this concentrate on researching techs that will allow us to build better weapon systems in the future.

So the first system we need to explore and survey is Barnards star and due to no planetary bodies only a grav survey is required so I'll get the two Light Seeker survey craft into the system.

A second Hercules freight ship and a Barroso colony ship are requested at the commercial shipyards.

On the 12th of February the first unexplored jump point in the Barnards star system is discovered.

On the 17th of March scout ship New Horizon 001 suffers a jump drive maintenance failure this could be serious since it is currently my only jump ship so a second one is ordered just in case.

On the 23rd of March two more jump points are discovered and another on the 7th of May. On the 21st of May the survey of Barnards star is completed. All survey ships will now probe the second unexplored jump point in Sol.

The second jump point is transited on the 26th of June 2034 and New Horizon 001 discovers Alpha Centauri the system has two stars Alpha Centauri A which is the largest and has a spectral class of G2-V this star is orbited by two gas giants and one terrestrial planet the surface temperature on this planet is 503.7 degrees so not colony material.

Alpha Centauri B which orbits A has a large asteroid field is orbited by three gas giants and one terrestrial planet although again not colony material. Each of these bodies have several moons in orbit.

Based on these findings the geo survey ships will also survey this system.

We run out of mineable Gallicite on Earth on the 20th of July 2034 this is used in the construction of engines so a supply will need to be found we do however have 20,690 in the stockpile so it's not too serious a problem. We also have 99,983 on our mining colony on Ganymede but this has an access level of 0.1 which means it's hard to get too.

Our survey team on Ganymede are still hard at work and on the 12th of November 2034 100,000 tons of Sorium are discovered with access level of 0.7. Sorium is used in jump drives and jump gates and is also refined for fuel so this is a good find this also means the survey level of the team and all it's members has increased it is no 141 not sure what the max is though.

It is now 10 years since Kate Wallace came to power and the human race decided to explore systems beyond Sol. So far there have been no signs of life and things have been progressing nicely. The people of Earth wonder what the next ten years will bring.

On the 30th of May construction of a new naval shipyard completes on Earth.

The geological survey of Ganymede completes on the 25th of August and an extra 100,000 tons of Mercassium are discovered this mineral helps with research facilities, life support systems and tractor beams.

The team is moved to carry out a geological survey on Triton and within days of the start of the survey 100,000 tons of Mercassium are discovered.

After an extensive survey of Alpha Centauri on the 1st of December 2035 only a single jump point is discovered other than the one leading to Sol.

The geo survey report is as follows:

Rocky Planets: 2 Surveyed: 2

Gas Giants: 5 Surveyed: 5

Moons: 50 Surveyed: 50

Asteroids: 87 Surveyed: 0

Alpha Centauri-A III

Sorium 22,626,600 Acc: 0.3

Alpha Centauri-B V - Moon 1

Duranium 220,448 Acc: 1

Uridium 53,824 Acc: 0.8

Alpha Centauri-B V - Moon 8

Corundium 59 Acc: 1

Alpha Centauri-B V - Moon 10

Duranium 294,912 Acc: 0.9

Tritanium 640,000 Acc: 0.9

Alpha Centauri-B VI

Sorium 144,000 Acc: 0.1

Alpha Centauri-B VI - Moon 14

Neutronium 314,721 Acc: 0.7

Alpha Centauri-B VII - Moon 16

Duranium 348 Acc: 1

On the 9th of March 2036 New Horizon 001 transits the 3rd unexplored jump point in Sol and enters the Tau Ceti system. On entering the system seven wrecks are discovered 3 at 8000 tons, 1 at 15,800 tons, 2 at 16,000 tons and 1 at 24,000 tons.

Are these the remnants of a battle long passed or something more recent? Due to this been right on our doorstep care needs to be taken.

Well that's all for now hope you are enjoying my write up if there is anything you want me to add please comment and let me know.

Moving Beyond Sol

The first order of the day is to complete the design of the missile defenses on Earth therefore a size 4 anti-ship missile has been designed called "Dark Shadow" the specs are below:

Missile Size: 4 MSP (0.2 HS) Warhead: 2 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 15

Speed: 15500 km/s Endurance: 24 minutes Range: 22.5m km

Cost Per Missile: 1.6583

Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 232.5% 3k km/s 75% 5k km/s 46.5% 10k km/s 23.2%

Materials Required: 0.5x Tritanium 1.2833x Gallicite Fuel x1125

Development Cost for Project: 166RP

We also need a fire control for this missile and the scientists have designed the following:

Active Sensor Strength: 10 Sensitivity Modifier: 50%

Sensor Size: 1 HS Sensor HTK: 1

Primary Mode: Resolution: 140 Maximum Range: 21,000,000 km

Chance of destruction by electronic damage: 100%

Cost: 10 Crew: 5

Materials Required: 2.5x Duranium 7.5x Uridium

Development Cost for Project: 100RP

Finally a magazine needs designing:

Capacity: 300 Internal Armour: 0 HS Explosion Chance: 30

Magazine Size: 20 HS Magazine HTK: 1

Cost: 100 Crew: 30

Materials Required: 25x Duranium 0x Neutronium 75x Tritanium

Development Cost for Project: 1000RP

This magazine will hold 75 size 4 missiles.

As a point defense a few turreted Meson cannon are currently in the research stages.

Also been researched is the military jump drive allowing exploration of the jump points. This research completes on the 29th of September 2030 and a design for a scout ship with jump capability can now be put together. This design will feature the latest engine tech.

On the 9th of October a call was received from Light Seeker 001 they had suffered a failure in one of there engines luckily they had enough maintenance supplies to carry out repairs.

The design of the New Horizon Scout Ship was completed on the 14th of October:

New Horizon class Scout 3950 tons 359 Crew 517.5 BP TCS 79 TH 160 EM 0

2025 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-22 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/1/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 0

Annual Failure Rate: 41% IFR: 0.6% Maint Capacity 1246 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP Est Time: 7.24 Years

J4000(3-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 4000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3

Nuclear Pulse Engine E9 Military (4) Power 40 Fuel Use 90% Signature 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%

Fuel Capacity 150,000 Litres Range 75.9 billion km (434 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR25-R100 (1) GPS 5000 Range 25.0m km Resolution 100

Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

Gravitational Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

The Atlantis Shipyard was retooled to allow construction this was due to complete on the 3rd of May 2031.

On the 14th of November the ordnance factories on Earth where given orders to produce 300 Dark Shadow anti-ship missiles.

Finally on the 12th of January 2031 the gravitational survey of the Sol system was completed and only 6 jump points where discovered. Light Seeker 001 was ordered to return to Earth and await further orders.

In readiness for freight transport and colonisation designs where worked on for a freighter and colony ship commercial engines needed to be designed first though.

Freighter Design:

Hercules class Freighter 33950 tons 226 Crew 383.5 BP TCS 679 TH 600 EM 0

883 km/s Armour 1-93 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0

Maint Capacity 7 MSP Max Repair 25 MSP

Cargo 25000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10

Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.9 Commercial (6) Power 100 Fuel Use 9% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 1%

Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 58.9 billion km (771 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

Colony Ship Design:

Barroso class Colony Ship 18650 tons 201 Crew 752.5 BP TCS 373 TH 400 EM 0

1072 km/s Armour 1-62 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 1 PPV 0

Maint Capacity 25 MSP Max Repair 25 MSP

Colonists 50000 Cargo Handling Multiplier 10

Nuclear Pulse Engine E0.9 Commercial (4) Power 100 Fuel Use 9% Signature 100 Armour 0 Exp 1%

Fuel Capacity 100,000 Litres Range 107.2 billion km (1157 days at full power)

This design is classed as a commercial vessel for maintenance purposes

The commercial shipyards are retooled and one ship of each class is requested.

Disaster on the 24th of June Luke Bentley is killed whilst prototyping the new warhead tech his skills will be sorely missed.

On the 24th of November 2031 construction finally starts on the first New Horizon scout ship. This is due to complete on the 7th of April 2033.

A Hercules freighter completes on the 9th of January 2032 and Lieutenant Lauren Metcalfe is assigned command. The first job is to place some automated mines on Ganymede to start mining some of the minerals that where found a survey team will also be placed on Ganymede. Luke Ali is given the role of overseeing the mining operation.

On the 9th of April Scout ship New Horizon 001 is completed and Commodore Issabella Donnelly is given command we are now able to explore beyond the Sol system.

Designing the PDC has got me very confused so I have posted some questions on the Aurora forum and hopefully I will be able to complete it tomorrow.

Before finishing tonight I'm going to send New Horizon 001 through the first unexplored jump point. New Horizon 001 goes through the jump point on the 19th of December 2033 and discovers Barnards Star this is an M4-V Star and no other bodies are present.

Well that's all for tonight thanks for reading.

The Continued Exploration Of The Sol System

The date is now the 9th of June 2028 and the decision has been made to start work on some defences on the surface of planet Earth. The first construction project is a powerful active sensor which will be used by missile silos to target any enemies that enter orbit.

The design is put together using the current level of tech and the sensor size chosen is size 10 with a resolution of 150 this will allow me to detect craft 7500 tons or more at a range of 75 mkm. I also need a sensor for detecting any missiles so we can create some point defense for this design I'm going for resolution zero and a size of 10 this gives a range of 500,000 km.

I currently don't have any research labs free so the designs will need to wait.

On the 28th of July a second jump point is found by Light Seeker 001.

On the 23rd of August Kai Riley joins the civilian administration with the following skills Shipbuilding 20% Mining 15% Terraforming 20% and Population Growth 25%. These skills are very good not sure if changing the planetary governor has any negative affect.

Also on the 23rd of August research labs are free so the sensors can start the research process. The first sensor to research is the largest which will complete on the 20th of November.

A third jump point is discovered on the 23rd of October.

The first active sensor completes on the 18th of November and research is started on the point defense sensor due to complete on the 11th of February.

Another jump point is discovered on the 28th of January bringing the total to four.

A fifth jump point is found on the 8th of March and a sixth on the 28th of March.

On the 3rd of July all planets and moons within range have been surveyed for mineral deposits.

Here are the findings:

Rocky Planets: 5 Surveyed: 5

Gas Giants: 4 Surveyed: 4

Moons: 50 Surveyed: 50

Asteroids: 366 Surveyed: 1

Earth

Duranium 125,890 Acc: 1

Neutronium 98,417 Acc: 1

Corbomite 23,895 Acc: 0.5

Tritanium 45,674 Acc: 0.6

Boronide 12,784 Acc: 0.58

Mercassium 119,437 Acc: 0.3

Vendarite 137,574 Acc: 0.6

Sorium 59,574 Acc: 0.6

Uridium 27,816 Acc: 0.4

Corundium 173,217 Acc: 0.4

Gallicite 6,646 Acc: 0.43

Deimos

Corbomite 9 Acc: 1

Ganymede

Duranium 5,683,574 Acc: 0.9

Neutronium 2,333,929 Acc: 0.9

Tritanium 949,806 Acc: 0.5

Saturn

Sorium 2,471,070 Acc: 0.3

Tethys

Boronide 59,438 Acc: 0.8

Iapetus

Duranium 675,122 Acc: 0.8

Neutronium 70,756 Acc: 0.8

Mercassium 461,041 Acc: 0.9

Triton

Tritanium 870,265 Acc: 0.4

Vendarite 680,163 Acc: 0.6

Pluto

Sorium 806,009 Acc: 1

Goldrush 001 is ordered to return to Earth to resupply and refuel ready to venture through the jump points when the technology is completed.

A design is put together for an early warning system:

Early Warning Sensor class Planetary Defence Centre 2300 tons 163 Crew 347 BP TCS 46 TH 0 EM 0

Armour 8-15 Sensors 25/100 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0

Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range N/A

Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1) GPS 100 Range 500k km Resolution 1

Active Search Sensor MR75-R150 (1) GPS 15000 Range 75.0m km Resolution 150

Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km

This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 1 sections

Work is started building the first one on Earth.

On the 29th of September 2029 research finally completes on the technology to design the first Jump Engine. The key thing is to make sure the engine is able to allow a tonnage equal to and maybe a little higher than the survey ships so that means at least 3300 tons. This will make the engine quite big at the current tech so it's decided to research efficiency level 4 first.

The first early warning sensor completes on the 19th of February 2030 and runs out of fuel which is a bit odd for a stationary unit.

On the 29th of February a message is received to say Light Seeker 001 is low on fuel and it is 5 days away from Earth.

On the 4th of March Goldrush 002 under Commander Emma Warner and Light Seeker 002 under Commander Scott Duffy are completed and assigned to the relevant task groups. For now both ships are left in dock.

Research into jump drive efficiency 4 completes on the 4th of August 2030 and a design is created for a military jump engine capable of allowing craft up to 4000 tons to use a jump point.

That's all for now in the next installment work will start on a jump capable exploration ship allowing us access to a new system. Also the defences on Earth will be continued.

The Second Year 6th January 2026

Kate Wallace stood in her office in the government complex looking out at the snow falling from a dark grey winter sky. As she stood looking out she felt proud that this would be the year when the human race would take it's first step towards exploration of the Sol star system and if the research team are right potentially the rest of the universe.

She had just received an updated report giving the current status of the Terran Federation and things where looking fine:

Current empire status

The previous year had been a year of scientific breakthroughs with research completing in areas of propulsion and sensor tech. The empire now had the technology to build Thermal Nuclear Engines and in just over three months the first space faring craft utilising the trans-newtonian technology would be designed and sent out to survey the local system.

As you can tell I'm trying to use a bit of fiction this is all new to me so please be gentle with any comments. At the start of this new year the geological survey team have been sent to asteroid #7 to help improve their skills which was the original plan.

Ok still unable to survey need to carry out an orbital survey first so until the ships are built I will disband them again.

On the 1st of May at 3am in the morning Kate Wallace was rudely awakened by her chief of staff with the news that the research on the gravitational survey sensors was complete this meant that the survey ship designs could now be finalised. An urgent call was passed through to the team at the Atlantis Military Shipyard requesting a meeting later the same day.

The meeting was convened with all the high ranking personnel in the federation and there was a high level of excitement as the breakthrough was revealed the only worry that was voiced was the possibility of other lifeforms gaining access to the the Sol system through the potential jump points that would be revealed by the survey. A decision was made to equip all survey craft with a full sensor suite including and active search sensor with a range of 100 million km to detect anything out of the ordinary. The military side of the federation where also concerned with the safety of the planet so it was also decided that defensive measures would be taken to protect the planetary population it was not decided what these measures would be.

Before the ship designs are finalised the research labs are working on an active search sensor which is due to complete by the 8th of June. This is a sensor that needs to be activated and when used gives away the position of the ship to any other ships in range with active senosrs searching.

The active search sensor completes on the 11th of June and the Goldrush Geological Survey Ship is designed:

Goldrush class Geosurvey Ship 3300 tons 323 Crew 647.5 BP TCS 66 TH 100 EM 0
1515 km/s Armour 1-19 Shields 0-0 Sensors 25/25/0/4 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 0
Annual Failure Rate: 29% IFR: 0.4% Maint Capacity 368 MSP Max Repair 100 MSP Est Time: 4.53 Years

Nuclear Thermal Engine E10 Military (4) Power 25 Fuel Use 100% Signature 25 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 50,000 Litres Range 27.3 billion km (208 days at full power)

Active Search Sensor MR25-R100 (1) GPS 5000 Range 25.0m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km
EM Detection Sensor EM5-25 (1) Sensitivity 25 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 25m km
Geological Survey Sensors (4) 4 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a military vessel for maintenance purposes

Not sure if this is a good design or not but it's my first attempt so again any comments much appreciated.

The Atlantis Military Shipyard is commissioned to retool and build the craft and the estimated completion is the 20th of April 2028 which means it will take nearly two years to build. Using the same basic design a Geosurvey ship is also set to construct this ship is called Light Seeker. This ship is built at the Freeport Military Shipyard and will also take nearly two years to construct.

No we have free labs so the next research target needs to be chosen also a check of the industry would be useful.

Due to the need to defend Earth the decision is made to study missile reload rate as this affects how many missiles can be launched over a period of time and any missiles in silos on Earth are going to be big. Research is also started in jump drive efficiency 3 so that once we have jump points we can build jump engines to build ships to use them.

Not sure about the design of PDC's so if anyone reading this can give me some pointers in the thread below that would be great:

http://aurora.pentarch.org/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=2482&p=24592#p24592

Right time to move forward again.

Jump drive efficiency completes on the 6th of November and we then choose to research capacitor recharge rate 2 which I think leads to the next level of engines at least I hope so. This is due to complete on the 26th March 2027.

Damn another error it's not capacitor recharge rate that leads to the next engine tech it's pebble bed reactor tech oh well I'm learning.

We start work on the next engine tech on the 11th of October 2027. Our research team is really starting to improve now Adam Connolly now has a research bonus of 25%.

On the 6th of April Charlotte Akhtaris promoted to Commodore which is the highest military position we currently have.

Finally on the 21st of April our two survey ships are completed and we can start to explore the Sol system. Commander Taylor John is assigned to Goldrush 001 and has a survey bonus of 21% and Commander Jamie Taylor is assigned to Light Seeker 001 and he has a survey bonus of 25%.

The first mission for Goldrush 001 is a survey of asteroid #7 so we can get a geo team in place. Light Seeker 001 will just start surveying the nearest survey point. The ship yards will also start building two more craft.

The time it will take to reach asteroid #7 is 1 day 23 hours and 6 minutes. Goldrush 001 arrives on the 23rd of April and starts it's survey. No minerals are found on the asteroid but a geo team headed by Lieutenant William Manning are despatched anyway. Goldrush 001 is then given orders to survey the nearest planet or moon.

The 8th of May is a sad day Commander Georgia Bird is killed in an accident but I'm not too sure what happened. On the 9th of May the sadness is forgotten as the first jump point in the Sol system is discovered by Star Seeker 001. This means we need to start thinking about developing ships with jump engines to explore further. Maybe more shipyards would also be useful.

Well that's all for this session but now that we are in space the game should really open up. In the next session I will survey more and hopefully get started on some defense for Earth just in case things go wrong.