PACT NOTES 11

GLOSSARY

Dyson Spheres: Usually abbreviated to dyson, these huge spherical megastructures are shells constructed around a star as a bio-habitat and can capture the entire energy output of a star. This structure is made from disassembled planets and existing planetoids. A Dyson Sphere is a classic example of megascale engineering. Other types include statite-based dysons, and submerged dysons for neutrino harvesting for some picotech applications.

Type I Dyson Sphere-A rigid shell consisting of a single piece. A Type I Dyson is not very stable(since it experiences no net attraction to the star), requires super-strong materials, and has a weak internal gravity. The famed Dusarra Mega-Dyson Sphere is reportedly the only known example of a Type I.

Type II Dyson Sphere-A shell that generally consists of many independent solar collectors and habitats in separate orbits, generally from a 100,000 to a million in separate but interlocking orbits. From the viewpoint of a distant observer, the star would gradually fade in the visible region, and would brighten considerably in the infrared region of the spectrum.

Type III Dyson Sphere-A large number of separate but inter-connected worldlets connected via flexible and semi-flexible strands. Included here are the pico-tech and buckytube diffusion spheres.

Hospital Ships: These massive vessels dwarf most standard warships and have only recently been built in response to heavy Dionii attacks in the Nemo Combat Region and the outbreak of fighting between various factions and states across the Pact of Humanity. During the initial contract phase several ships were proposed but the Rosalind Yao-class winning out over the four other competitors. Over eighty of these warships have been built since fighting broke out within the Pact and only the Jonas Salk, Bernald Goldstein, Michael Y. Smythe, Xaxier Chou, and Mikhail Subhash are currently stationed in the Olympus Combat Region.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries: One of the largest Megacorps in existence, Kawasaki specializes in consumer goods, mass transport systems, heavy industrial production, and bio-genetic adaptation. When the Megacorp first began its rise to power some 2,000 years ago it started on the high-population world Hokkaido in Hokkaido Cluster. In fact it was this association that propelled that world to financial and eventually political prominence within its own Cluster. The original founder, Iso Kawasaki, still runs the financially successful firm via uploaded brain-scan in the corporations’ mainframe. Under his direction Iso's heirs continue to run the company and his offspring also comprise the majority of the Board as well.

Krulak Family: An high-profile and politically progressive family of some prominence, the Krulak's have consistently fielded outstanding military officers, with many serving in the flag ranks of both the Pact Navy and Marines.

Brian: Brigadier General in charge of securing several insurgent planets, Brian Krulak has been called upon by the Trantor Council to protect vital installations with his II Marine Corps. These installations include the commercial shipyards, the Hyperwave Installation in orbit of Trantor, and the vital bases guarding the main wormhole nexus in the system.

Daniel: A Brigadier General of the Marines in his own right, Brian's younger brother, Daniel, commands the III Corps, which has recently taken the industrial asteroids surrounding Caan, after heavy fighting. Casualties were reportedly heavy, including BG Krulak, who suffered injuries when his attack transport came under fire from heavy planetary batteries on the planet Caan.

Dino: The current Governor of Morgans' World in Yorktown Cluster, Dino Krulak has built the Frontier planet up from practically nothing, encouraging immigration to this backwater world by personally paying for colonists' transportation out of his own pocket. Rumors indicate he has purchased Horriblis-class Bolos from the Daewoo Megacorporation to defend the area from predatory Holot attacks.

Max: An important Senator of Pegasus Cluster, Max Krulak has led the fight to have Governor Javier Medina elected as High Secretary of the Pact. His knowledge of the Senate and his wielding power in the Naval Oversight Committee has enabled him to push Governor Medina to the forefront of the upcoming elections.

Ramon: The fifteenth Governor of Renown, a major planet in Oriana Cluster, Ramon Krulak has pushed the planets' government to fund a massive increase in defense spending since the raid last month by Neitzchean attackers, which left nearly two million people dead and another 580,000 homeless. He also has ordered planetary defense Bolos (the Magnificent-class) in spite of howls about expense from the Planetary Legislature.

Marta: The first woman Planetary Senator on Recognition, a world renowned across Beta Cluster as a misogynists' paradise. Marta Krulak, trading on her family name, has risen from a lower level bureaucrat to Planetary senator in just four years. It didn't hurt that her family's firm builds the housing domes that dot the planets' surface.

Supertechnology:The Pact of Humanity is just beginning to develop supertechnology, which is defined as advanced technology not normally attributed to the physical universe. Technology is usually judged based on the depth of control over matter and energy. The different scales are:

Macroscale civilizations control structures and energy using macroscopic(on the order of meters to micrometers) tools. This is where naturally evolved civilizations begin. Energy is produced using natural power sources such as hydroelectric, solar or geothermal power, or nuclear energy, mainly fission. Macroscale civilizations usually are bound to a planet, a solar system, or possibly a small stellar neighborhood.

Nanoscale civilizations control matter using nanotechnology, achieving atomic precision. Nanoassemblers, customized materials, molecular computers, self-replicating machines, and megastructures become possible. Fusion power, large scale solar collectors and antimatter production are possible. Uploading minds into computers becomes feasible, as well as artificial intelligence. Most of the civilizations in known space are on this level.

Femtoscale civilizations control matter on the subatomic level, able to construct structures made of quarks, quantum fields and other exotica. Neutronium, femtomachines, artificial elements and stellar core engineering are possible. Energy can be produced by matter-energy conversion. Due to the enormous speed of computation in femtoscale computing such civilizations often develop quickly.

Planckscale civilizations control reality on the quantum gravity level, able to produce artificial gravity, micro- and macro-black holes, wormholes, baby universes, closed time-like loops and exotic space-time topologies. Planckscale civilizations are rarely accessible for less developed civilizations and often depart for abstract spaces.

TECHNOLOGY

Assault Pod, Light(APa): A planetary assault pod loaded with defensive measures including integral point defense, chaff, ECM, and evasive maneuvering, the APa holds up to three combat-ready Light PCFs. These combat troops can stay indefinitely inside the Pod while it is docked to a ship via "access bay", otherwise they have a 12 hour endurance. Assault pods are designed to attack planets with heavy defenses, thus a AP can land while a planets’ PDCs are still operational. Pods can dock at access bays, one bay per every 10hs of ship. Due to their defensive enhancements, all Assault Pods are -3 to be hit. APa cost 35MCr, costs 2,000 to develop, and are TL 3. 

Assault Pod, Medium(APb): A planetary assault pod loaded with defensive measures including integral point defense, chaff, ECM, and evasive maneuvering, the APb holds up to two combat-ready Medium PCFs. These combat troops can stay indefinitely inside the Pod while it is docked to a ship via "access bay", otherwise they have a 12 hour endurance. Assault pods are designed to attack planets with heavy defenses, thus a AP can land while a planets’ PDCs are still operational. Pods can dock at access bays, one bay per every 10hs of ship. Due to their defensive enhancements, all Assault Pods are -3 to be hit.  APb cost 45MCr, costs 4,000 to develop, and are TL 4.

Assault Pod, Heavy(APc): A planetary assault pod loaded with defensive measures including integral point defense, chaff, ECM, and evasive maneuvering, the APb holds one combat-ready Heavy PCF. These combat troops can stay indefinitely inside the Pod while it is docked to a ship via "access bay", otherwise they have a 12 hour endurance. Assault pods are designed to attack planets with heavy defenses, thus a AP can land while a planets’ PDCs are still operational. Pods can dock at access bays, one bay per every 10hs of ship. Due to their defensive enhancements, all Assault Pods are -3 to be hit. APb cost 55MCr, costs 6,000 to develop, and are TL 5.

Assault Pod, Bolo(APd): A planetary assault pod loaded with defensive measures including integral point defense, chaff, ECM, and evasive maneuvering, the APd holds one Bolo. This Pod can stay indefinitely docked  to a ship via an "access bay", otherwise they have a 12 hour endurance. Assault pods are designed to attack planets with heavy defenses, thus a AP can land while a planets’ PDCs are still operational. Pods can dock at access bays, one bay per every 10hs of ship. Due to their defensive enhancements, all Assault Pods are -3 to be hit. APd cost 55MCr, costs 6,000 to develop, and are TL 5.

Assault Pod, Evacuation(APe): A planetary assault pod modified to permit emergency evacuation of a planetary population, the APe can carry 1/8^th of a planets’ "Outpost" population. These evacuees can stay indefinitely inside the Pod while it is docked to a ship via "access bay", otherwise they have a 12 hour endurance. Pods can dock at access bays, one bay per every 10hs of ship. APe cost 35MCr, costs 2,000 to develop, and are TL 3.

Combat Wasp, First Generation(wa-a):" With the advent of antimatter, the Pact Navy began experimenting with a small, highly maneuverable ram platform that could be deployed away from a task force and possibly work autonomously against enemy forces. The result of this research was the "combat wasp", a surprisingly fast and easily-controlled XO-mounted small craft that could be deployed in large numbers(one wasp per XO). Heavily-laden with antimatter, combat wasps proved to be a most effective anti-ship weapon although that are unable to transit a warp point by themselves. Damage is 10 points when ramming, autonomous range is 3 system hexes(remote-pilot controlled is only 120 TH and beyond that they auto-return to the ship or station that launched them). Combat wasp’ endurance is six days and they are re-useable unless they ram; if they survive a combat run they auto-return to their port or nearest military facility for refueling. Speed 7, +4 bonus to ram. Cost: 95MCr, TL10, dev cost 25,000.

Combat Wasp, Second Generation(wa-b):" Incredibly successful in combat, the first generation wasps were used during several important campaigns in Chandrasekhar Cluster, primarily against the invading Goog forces. A improvement of the basic combat wasp, the wa-b carries an advanced antimatter warhead, moves at speed 8, and costs 125MCr each. +4 bonus to ram. Damage is 20 points. Dev cost 30,000. TL12.

Combat Wasp, Third Generation(wa-c):" A major improvement over standard combat wasps, the wa-c is not designed to ram enemy warships, instead it enables long-range beam strikes against enemy vessels. This is a substantial improvement in long-range firepower since most LR platforms are single-shot missiles, while the wa-c can do continuous firing runs against its foes until they are depleted. Beams may be either forcebeam, hetlaser, or plasma. Damage varies per weapon. +4 bonus to ram. The wa-c speed is 9, cost is 155, dev cost 35,000, TL14.

Combat Wasp Bay(WAB): Not happy about having antimatter-filled craft on the outside of their warship hulls, Pact naval engineers quickly developed and deployed the WAB. They can launch or retrieve two wasps in one turn. Refueling a combat wasp takes 8 turns. TL10, cost 50, holds six combat wasps, 2 hull spaces in size, dev cost = 5,000.

Deep Space Foundry(DSF): Due to the advanced techniques of zero-G construction, a DSF lowers ship/spacebourne construction costs by 1% per DSF built(max 10%). They are based only in Industrial Asteroids; DSF area 50 hull space item. 100 MCr, TL1, Dev cost 1,000.

Industrial Asteroid Fortress(AFi): An Industrial Asteroid Fortress is a 500-1,000 hull space item that is filled with industrial structures like SY and MS. It also usually has a substantial population(at least three Qc; 300,000 people). It is built like an AF. Afi has the following bonuses:

*Each boosts a planets' GPV by 3%, up to 15% maximum,

*Lowers ship construction costs by 10%(three needed to receive this bonus),

*Gives +10% to research involving space-only constructs like Solar Panel Arrays, megahabitats, and defense bases,

*Gives +10% off construction of spacebourne industry, like Solar Panel Arrays, SS, AF, and orbital forts,

*Is the only location Deep Space Foundries can be built,

   Industrial Asteroids are critical components in a planets orbital based industry and can be an Achilles heel in times of invasion. Military asteroid forts can be built among them, making it hard to distinguish between the two. Industrial asteroids can be built at TL1, and have the same construction costs as AF.

Quarters, City(Qc): A City Quarters is a self-contained living environment containing large numbers of personnel. Ships may have these installed but are classified as colony ships only. Each Qc holds 100,000 people. You must have 2 per Megahabitat, 1,000 dev. Using two per 1,000 hs lowers maint by 1% per SS. One Qf/Qc can support 500hs, no need for Q/Lh. 40 hs, cost 80MCr, Ind2.

Pressurized Hull(PH): Making a ship that is capable of surviving in a brutal environment is no easy task, thus a PH-capable ship’s hull cost is +25%. Similar to "Atmosphere Capability", except that instead it allows a ship to enter deep into the atmosphere of a Gas Giant planet. No ship can be detected, much less attacked, while inside a gas giant. No communication in or out is possible, with the exception of courier drones. Xr does not help a ship inside a gas giant. The main advantage to using PH-capable ships is hiding or ambush. Cost +25% hull, dev cost 8,000, TL8. NOTE: Ships larger than BB cannot use PH-capability.

OMEGA WORLD

   After being colonized for nearly 6,000 years, Roke has become an important planet in Solomons Cluster and is one of the largest major medical nanotech center, specializing in nanonics and IQ enhancement. The huge continent Havnor is the location of the Neural Nanonic Institute, which serves over 3 million customers a year. It is also an important trade nexus, cultural treasure house, and source of media. An impressive artificial ecosphere has been built on Bowie to facilitate zero-g construction as well, with a population of 80 million people. Roke is a vast world ocean and Havnor is the only continent, with Roke Island the political center of the planet. Overall  population on Roke, including freebanders, virch-citizens, and aliens is nearly 40 billion people. Roke's leader is Governor Eli Swaggerty, who is immensely popular after his recent support of the planets’ military forces that defeated attacking Neitzchean rebels. Governor Swaggerty(at age 52) has had a very checkered past, including being implicated in the collapse of the Yablonov Combine, but charges were dismissed against him when high-placed friends intervened. Twelve years ago he was caught by the Kona Tatsu smuggling weapons off world by was spared by Secretary MacDonald, his distant cousin. Later appointed by MacDonald as Governor of Roke eight years ago, there have been no reported scandals since then. Governor Swaggerty has twenty-three legitimate children by six different women, most of who have grown up and went off world. Major exports include high-end fish products, neural nanonics, and anti-geriatric medicines. Squabbling governmental factions keeps things lively on the planet, but serious fighting hardly ever breaks out. Roke is also a major Maronite political stronghold and fully supports Governor Joseph Composo in his bid for the Secretaryship. In orbit, six industrial asteroids labor mightily, keeping industrial pollutants off-planet. These asteroids include Fountain, Version III, Ataturk, Havnor Up-port, Resolution, and Gigant Prime. Roke is also a major construction site for System Defense Boat building and completes nearly 100 of the new vessels every month, primarily for export across Solomons Cluster. The new Cheetah-class System Defense Boat is an incredibly fast warship that pulls no punches in combat, eliminating nearly every contestant in the acceptance trials last year. The small Cheetah-class is ton-for-ton more powerful than standard warp-capable warships and uses an experimental but fantastically successful kinetic gun that outranges most other beam weapons. The kinetic gun has a very high damage profile for a weapon of its size. Although not warp-capable, the Cheetah-class is incredible fast due to the installation of highly agile engine systems, limiting this class of SDB to the planetary/system defense role. The SDB can out speed any conventional warship and has a very short building time. Roke is also major political power in Solomons Cluster and gets along well with its neighbors, except McGuffins' Planetoid and a few other systems that are discontent with Roke's economic dominance of the Cluster. Despite the serious conflicts immediately after the planet was colonized thousands of years ago between early and second-wave settlers, Roke has become one of the "classic" systems of the Pact of Humanity; an important trade nexus, cultural treasure house, and source of media.

REBELLIOUS WORLDS: SOMERSET CLUSTER

   The Cluster Somerset is a study in classic political breakdown, especially since the outbreak of serious fighting has spread all across the Pact of Humanity. The initial break point for Somerset Cluster was the failure of Governor Chandra Winkler to halt the fighting that started in the Free System, where isolationists crushed the local fleet commander’s forces with a determined Gunboat strike. Using the old but sturdy Hardtack-class gunboats, forces reportedly under Captain Raima Zimwalt engaged a sneak raid on eight of Commodore Angelo Moreno’s destroyers who were enforcing a no-entrance policy in the break-away system. Emboldened by the Pact Navy's defeat, the Independence Movement began crash building numerous small warship types, which the Cluster government in the Somerset System was unable to deal with as numerous alien worlds had revolted by then, forcing the Cluster naval forces to retreat to more defensible locations near Han Kao. At the behest of Fleet Admiral Alexei Krichev the Depot located in Mannheim is rapidly demothballing its’ major warships starting with the Catapult-class battleships whose long-range firepower should sustain the Cluster forces in combat. The Independence Movement(a political organization that has grown in power within the Cluster) is making major strides in their push for autonomy including the blockade of the Oreana region where Commodore Todd Arlington(a well-known Heller and firebrand) is holding the system against the Independence Movement with the 115^th BatCruRon. Commodore Wellington Grant is holding Teton after bombarding the rebels in that system but he has been urgently requesting ground troops for some time. Other naval officers, including Commodore Dagste Tso and Rear Admiral Iwo Mishima are battling aliens forces and secessionist groups all across the Cluster.

Deseret: A EuroChristian ethnic colony, colonized by Third New Missionary Minded Mormons(3M), Deseret has been a contentious world from the beginning of its foundation, when factional fighting killed nearly 2/3rds of the initial population in a devastating conflict fifty years after planet fall. Since then, fighting has wracked the planet on and off for nearly a thousand years as religious zealots and armchair guerillas duked it out with each other using chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons, in between shooting Pact marines who were brought in to bring stability and order on the planet. Deseret is run by the rebellious President Noam Harding who has been running the planet for the last eight years and is very popular with the "Josephs’ Followers", the largest religious group on the planet. The loyal asteroid fortress Green Mountain is orbiting Deseret and has not rebelled, but it has refused to fire on the planet and is desperately calling for help via the systems’ Hyperwave Generator. Deseret has a population of eight billion people.

Free: One of the newly declared Independence Movement worlds, Free is also a under-populated planet which is governed by a religious democracy formed sixteen years ago after the overthrow of the previous "Claytonist" government. As the entire Pact of Humanity was plunged into violent Civil War, the planet Free was also thrown into the conflict for which she was ill prepared. Only a few small, temporary shipbuilding yards have been built from scratch in Somerset Cluster and subsequently all sizes, shape, and construction of warships constructed by Free have been dictated by the lack of shipbuilding facilities. Naval Constructor John Shirley has retained overall control of military production so far, having been placed in that position by Premier Tucker Brinkmeyer. Free is a EuroChristian ethnic colony and the popular Premier is currently in his fourth term as governor of the system. The planets’ orbital bases have also been captured, enabling the planet to defend itself effectively against naval counter-attack. Free has a population of 400 million people.

Middle Finger: A EuroChristian ethnic colony, Middle Finger is one of the more important planets in Somerset Cluster because it is one of the primary organizers of the "Independence Movement." The Independence Movement was started nearly three years ago and promotes local autonomy for underdeveloped planets. It is thought the Kona Tatsu believed that the Independence Movement would die on the vine after it exposed several high-ranking members immoral proclivities, but then the civil war exploded in everyone’s face and the rebellion rapidly expanded. Middle Finger has a very small population and is a Constitutional Republic. Prime Minister Leo Blanco runs the planet and is currently in the middle of his third term. A mere 40 million people live on the planet and even though it is lacking sufficient construction yards, skilled workers, and raw materials, Middle Finger is producing warships, consistently showing the ingenuity and skill at improvisation with which Blanco and his subordinates have approached the problems facing them.

Zede: Zedeans are infamous throughout Somerset Cluster for their frequent rebellions and the current rebellion is by far the worst. Nearly three Cluster corps have been wiped out by the Zedeans and they are apparently building up their military forces. The revolt of this system has cut off the loyal planet Nouveau Dijon from the rest of the Cluster. Zedeans are genetically engineered militant humans, similar to Nietzcheans in nature and fantastically violent. Ruled by oligarchy, Premier Andra Wirayuda is the senior-most member of this bloody government. A heavily populated world, Zede has over forty billion people with billions more on nearly two dozen colony worlds in Somerset Cluster.

STAR KING CENTRAL: TRAFALGAR STATION

   One of the most important defensive facilities on the Pact-Holot border, the third Star King Central ever built was constructed in Trafalgar, an important border system located near the strategic Frogstar Warp Nexus. A major outpost for the Pact Navy, the system was donated by multi-trillionaire Gavin Wisdom to defend nearby systems from random Holot attacks that periodically plagued the area. Trafalgar was unique as a Pact naval facility as originally it had no local population, only a few Ramat Gan miners and some backwater pirates. Neitzchean hideouts were hinted at but by the time Pact engineers showed up and began building the station the area had already been heavily sanitized by Pact naval patrols. Trafalgar developed from a basic supply and maintenance post into a full-fledged naval base during the 7th Interregional War, hosting the Pact Central Fleet on more than one occasion and it is currently the Pact Navy's primary military headquarters in Olympus Cluster, which covers sixty different worlds. Trafalgar is now home to the famous 6th Fleet under Admiral Maria Arzumanova and receives major support from two nearby high-population systems: Anantapur and Dharmavaram. Both planets have populations over 40 billion and are desperately hoping that Trafalgar’s presence will mitigate or(more hopefully) halt all Holot cross-border raids. Their massive financial commitment to the Station is needed now more than ever as Clusters fall away and federal spending on Old Earth plummets in its wake. An important officer during the last Dionii Wave, Admiral Arzumanova began that war as a mere Captain but rose to prominence by her sheer will and abilities as an administrator and superior tactician. The Admiral recently relieved Vice-Admiral Mitch Minniken, an abrasive, ruthless, and territorial officer who was unpopular with the local Navy brass and only his relationship as cousin to Secretary MacDonald kept him in office for so long. Trafalgar is also a major training center for the Pact Marines, houses a branch of the Pact Navy Officer Academy, a branch of the Engineering School, and the Navy Technical Evaluation Office, as well as the highly secretive Fleet Intelligence Arm. It is also the principle research laboratories for supralight communications in Pact space and has massive strategic defense platforms guarding its approaches, including nearly two dozen major fighter bases. A massive facility, Trafalgar Station houses over three million people excluding transiting Fleet personnel and Marines.

   An important naval construction yard, Trafalgar Station has the following units currently building:

            *Two Warlord-class supermonitors,

            *Three Furious-class superdreadnoughts,

            *Ten Repellant-class dreadnoughts,

            *Six Rancor-class battlecruisers,

   Patrols from Trafalgar Station are constant and "showing the flag" is an important deterrent to the aggressively hostile Holot Fleet, which has never given up its territorial claims within Pact space. Trafalgar is known by Pact officers as "the Hatchet Ground" since Admiral Arzumanova has removed nearly one third of the Stations’ naval captains, mainly because "they are too timid". Unfortunately, the area is also known for its very high casualty rates, triple that of any other area and is most likely because of sneak Holot raids over the border. No Holot incursion has officially been noted however. The station rotates around the gas giant Majestix, a near-brown dwarf planet with an immense gravity well. In fact the nearness of the planet enables the station to concentrate most of its firepower in the opposite direction, making Trafalgar a highly deadly defensive installation which has survived three substantial Holot attacks over its 2,000-year existence.

   The Pact Navy's war plans against the Holot Empire envisioned using Trafalgar as a major staging ground and re-supply port but its past experiences with Holot forces have been very brief and extremely one-sided, in favor of the Holots. Their supremely advanced technology has ensured that Pact forces have never prevailed against them in combat except on two rare occasions. Major recent hardware upgrades have been finished, including the addition of new Cheetah-class System Defense Boats (each equipped with a powerful kinetic gun), hundreds of automated defenses, new combat wasp patrols, and installation of new long-range Long Lance Torpedo launchers orbiting low around the gas giant Majestix. Trafalgar Station is widely known as a "high energy" port, with morale surprisingly high considering the grueling refits the station's personnel have to endure. The crewmen are always energetic with the grunge chores and the chiefs are aggressive; overall a most satisfactory post.

MAKING A RUN FOR IT

   Alarms screamed at the officer in the Admirals’ uniform who was slightly dozing in the command chair of the Glorious Reunions' command center, jerking the man instantly awake. Graying hair and aged eyes were Leonidas Polks’ most prominent features, but his quick mind and smart decision making was the reason that he had been posted to this system. He looked quickly at the holomatrix a few feet away from him, seeing a rash of angry red objects coming out of the Tung warp point.

   "Contact!" His Tactical Lieutenant barked after looking at the data. "Sensors indicate six capital ships, estimating six dreadnought sized vessels, Sir." And after a moment the toe-headed young man spoke again.

   "New estimate. Sensor drones are showing twelve additional attack cruisers and ten destroyers. It definitely looks like Admiral Trujillo’s force, Sir".

   Polk stared at the holodisplay for a moment, thinking. We new that he had fled down-chain to this location, but I wasn’t entirely sure where he had moved too, until now. He scratched his two-day old bearded chin unconsciously. Clearly the enemy force had been cut off in the Tung System, but they were finally making their move. Making a run for it, eh?

   As he walked over to the Tactical Station, Polk thought for a moment. Trujillo’s a good fighter, and I’ve served with Commodore Romero-Soto twice. He’s also a good officer; this is gonna be rough.

   The Admiral again looked at the holomatrix of the system, searching for his newly-built carriers. The massive assault carrier Yorktown was back in planetary orbit, executing fighter exercises between the planets' two moons. The Wasp was in spacedock, undergoing minor repairs. The Independence was en route to the planet but she was taking the long way, around the systems' outer gas giant. The Isa Jima and the Junyo, his small light carriers, were both at the Loris warp point. At that, he was lucky. He had a total of five carriers and if he needed to project power, he had the assets to give people something to think about. He also had a lot of planetary fighters at his disposal. And the Army’s’ thirteen divisions and 3rd Marine Division on the moon Gabon didn't hurt either.

   "What do we have in Yulath right now?"

   "Mobile Bay, Curtis, Shandler, Reid, and Fletcher are doing operations with Commodore Cortez. The carriers Tonnant and Yamal are patrolling the Prond warp point with their escorts."

   Polk nodded. He usually kept some high-end assets (like the carriers) close to the warp points. Trujillo was dead meat, and he didn’t even know it yet. He began barking orders to his officers and crew.

   "Okay people, let’s get the fleet together and take care of business." Polk tried to say it in the most positive way, but deep in his heart he wasn’t happy. Hunting down and killing rogue forces that failed to support the military government under Fleet Admiral Braxton Bragg was turning out to be a duty of horror, and his crews' morale had sunk considerably in doing their gruesome task. What was worse was that all of his carriers and their crews were hideously new, thanks to that damnable New Washington Naval Treaty. Now, as the fighting got more serious, the Pact Navy was terribly crippled in carrier operations and it showed. Only the automated weaponry, drones, and combat wasps helped maintain the balance or power in the border areas of the Pact. Truillos' supported that mad fuck Ortegza, and that’s the only reason why all their crews were going to die, Polk thought unhappily.

   "Sir?" A young man’s voice behind him shook him out of his revere. Turning to the voice, Polk saw his Flag Captain, Hoon Jumata, a ethnic Hindu from New Bombay, standing close. "What are we going to do with the Fleet Train?"

   "Keep ‘em in orbit, Hoon, especially the Gorgon. The planetary defense fighters can cover them," he replied, glancing at the gray-green planet in the viewscreen. The Chinese-ethnic world had little to endear its inhabitants to it other than its strategic location between the core worlds of Chandrashekhar Cluster and the neighboring New Jerusalem Cluster. Shanxi itself was only marginally habitable and it wasn’t choice real estate in any sense of the word and hence the planet only had a small population. It did, however, support an important naval presence since it guarded the Yunjiang Chain’s entrance and discouraged adventurism by the newly-forming New Jerusalem navy. The only real reason they were there at all (it seemed to Admiral Polk) was to protect the immensely productive industrial asteroids in orbit of the planet. The stupendously large Punbatta, Amravati, Balapur, Chatrapur, and Indore were important industrial assets in this lightly populated Cluster and Bragg owned a major stake in the Hindi Import/Export Company, the asteroid owners.

   "Should we off-load the Gorgon’s troops, Sir"? The swarthy man asked his superior, in a neutral tone. The Gorgon was a newly-built Hera-class attack transport that had ten bulky Assault Pods attached to its armored flanks, holding over 30,000 Marines.

   "No. Leave ‘em. We might need to move quickly out of the system."

   "Understood, Sir. Fleet rendezvous is in forty-four hours, and we’ll be catching Trujillo’s forces just as they are approaching the Prond warp point. Tactical estimates the strikewave will be ready a few hours after that, Sir."

   "Good," Polk replied. "Send the faster fighters and drones in together and keep the bombers and wasps combined for a second, slower strike."

   Polk watched the displays in front of him, showing nothing on his face. Turning to his officer, he sighed in disgust and then grumbled, 

   "I hate the shit jobs."

   My balls are gonna get fried off, the short squat man thought gloomily, looking at the 10 megaton warhead he was working on.

   The missile was huge and packed with antimatter, fully twenty feet long, and it was pitch black(as dark as the fat bomber that carried it).

   "Hey Bertoni!" a shout rang out, crossing the huge flight bay. "Bertoni" was Adam Bertoni and he was wearing the traditional gray and green cammies of a crewman, obviously covered in grease, solvent, fuel oil, and god knew what else. He popped his head out of the massive bombers’ ordinance bay at the sound of the voice.

   The huge stub of a recently smoked New Cuba cigar stuck prominently out of Bertoni’s mouth, a chief petty officer whose swarthy dark Italian/Arabic looks made him stand out prominently among the mainly Anglo crew. The Flight Deck Officer of the assault carrier Yorktown, Bertoni growled for a second and then laid down his tools, stood, and walked towards Cob, the man who had addressed him. Cob wasn’t really his name; it stood for "Chief of Boat" and Toshi Ames was the most senior petty officer on the ship. As the two men walked towards each other, Bertoni looked at the master chief, eyeing the short Asian man. All three of the Yorktown’s top personnel had been reassigned after the Yorktown’s shakedown a month ago, and Captain Frederico Be Doya, the XO Thea Belo, and Toshi Ames had been placed aboard in some bullshit shakeup that had cost the crew dearly in morale. Since the fighting had started, shipboard morale had been crushingly low, and Bertoni had been working hard to build it back up again, but he had achieved little in the previous weeks and months and to have the ship’s top three managers---"the command" as they were called---replaced all at once meant a complete change in the ship’s operating style. No crew ever liked that. Not that Ames was a bad guy, but Bertoni had been in the service for nearly 20 years and he had met many assholes during that time. He had served with Ames for a few weeks and he hoped that Ames wasn’t that sort of guy.

   "Hello chief, what can I do for you," Bertoni spoke loudly as both men faced each other in the immense cavern of the flight deck. Surrounded by over two hundred men who were rushing to arm the fighters and bombers for the coming strike, the clanging noise of their actions, the test start-ups of screaming engines, and the foul smell of industrial fumes, the two men had to shout just to hear one another.

   "I was just wondering where we are on the strike? The Captain wants an update," the small man yelled, even though he was a mere two feet away from Bertoni.

   "Everything on schedule," Bertoni yelled back. "The total strikewave from all five carriers will be 312 fighters, 120 bombers, 150 combat wasps, and 40 drones."

   "Good, good," the Asian man said, smiling hugely at Bertoni.

   Bertoni thought for a moment. He liked being on the flight deck in the front of the ship. The captain didn’t visit there often, so he wasn’t in your face much. Be Doya let him pretty much run the show up front. The Yorktown was a big family, and, except for a few whiners in the engineering department, Bertoni thought they were the best bunch of guys he would probably ever work with. Be Doya certainly was the best skipper he could hope for, very competent.

   The master chief motioned to a nearby wall screen and both men slowly walked over towards it. The display showed the ships of Task Force 51, two superdreadnoughts, five carriers, and five escorting destroyers. Normally such a small force wouldn’t be able to handle the heavy warships of Admiral Trujillo’s fleet, which included five dreadnoughts, twelve heavy cruisers, and ten destroyers, but the carriers’ strike force was extremely heavy and would almost certainly overwhelm that force before it reached the warp point and escaped. Bertoni had noticed  that tensions were high on the ship and he was sure it was because the Pact Navy hadn’t launched a carrier-led fighter strike in over a hundred years. He himself had been based planetside on Dharwar, had been the senior maintenance officer of three squadrons for over two years, and he personally had more fighter experience than any ten men aboard the Yorktown.

   Both men were watching the large timing display that was in count down mode as well, with only fifteen minutes showing, the crew in the 1,500 foot flight deck were furiously preparing the sleek fighters and bulky space-black bombers for the strike. Cob had come down for the launch and with 120 fighters and bombers and their escorting automated weaponry the Yorktown and her sister ships were about to rain down a shitload of crap on the enemy. Bertoni didn’t want to think about the enemy however. He had most likely served with some of the men on those enemy ships, and now he was gonna kill them. The flight deck itself was newly built and had almost a hundred electromagnetic rail launchers that threw the fighters and bombers out into space at incredible speeds. The Pact Navy had decided to use the more flexible flight deck instead of traditional hangar bays, mainly because of the ability to launch fighters, bombers, and gunboats from the flight deck, that and the collapsible nature of the hangar bays made them very unpopular with the pilots. The flight deck, however had its own Achilles heel for any damage that a carrier took had a high probability of hitting the wide-open bay and Bertoni scrunched his eyes at that, not wanting to even think about what would happen to a fighter or bomber loaded with antimatter would do if it was hit with battle damage while still within the bay.

   The timer counted down rapidly, and both men became anxious as the flight crews cleared the deck, allowing the fighter jocks to power up their small craft and begin launching them out of the bay. After thunderous roars and continual blasts of heat, the huge titanium deck was nearly empty, except a lone fat bomber. It was loaded with antimatter and every man on the flight deck was immediately nervous. The veins in Bertoni’s face suddenly bulged in anger and he shouted into his comm-mike,

   "Get that shit off my deck!"

   The pilot of the bomber obviously heard him in his head mike because he looked in Bertoni’s direction and gave a cheesy smile and a jaunty wave before turning back to his controls.

   The lone bomber’s engine finally started and it sluggishly moved off the flight deck, into deep space through the energy barrier that maintained the atmosphere on the flight deck. With a huge sigh of relief, Adam Bertoni turned back to the display, smiling slightly at Chief Ames and following the graphics of fighters and bombers as they sorted themselves out into combat groups and proceeded full speed towards the Prond warp point. Task Force 51 was moving, slowly closing in on the much larger fleet that was desperately trying to run the gambit and reach safety of the New Jerusalem Cluster

   Nearly two dozen crewmen also gathered around the wall display, watching the strike proceed. The enemy fleet had rearranged itself in the last half hour, Bertoni noted, obviously aware of the massive strikewave that was now approaching their ships. The destroyers, most of which were anti-fighter Nottingham’s, placed themselves between the fighter strike and the dreadnoughts, desperate to defend the much larger warships from danger but Bertoni knew that the effort was clearly hopeless against that many fighters, bombers, and automated weapons.

   Hell the combat wasps alone could wipe most of their fleet, Bertoni mused grumpily. Combat wasps were loaded with antimatter and were designed to ram slow-moving warships, causing crushing damage to the enemy. He glanced around at his crew, grateful that they had performed so well in servicing and arming the strike. He was proud of them, they were all good men.

   A slight alarm rang out and every eye turned to the wall display again. The first wave of the strike was going in. The three-hundred twelve fighters and their escorting drones, most of which had laser warheads, had reached attack range and ships and fighters began to die.

   As Bertoni watched the screen anxiously, nearly two dozen fighters disappeared from the display. Clearly they had been wiped out by the destroyers which were obviously engaging with anti-fighter missiles in rapid-fire mode. But then the destroyers were annihilated and disappeared off the screen. When that happened a mild cheer went up from his crewmen and their was a lot of backslapping and big grins. Bertoni also smiled slightly, but he knew the hard part was coming. The combat information center had ID’d the dreadnoughts on the display and the drones began a run at them, followed by the fighters which were dodging around the cruiser screen. The dreadnoughts’ Vagrant and the Balkaria looked to be heavily hit as the fighter wave screamed past it and began to return home. The  Kabardino and Quest appeared to be crippled as well, limping along now and slowing the enemy fleet down significantly.

   His men began slapping each other backs and congratulating themselves as the fighters began returning to this ship. The drones had expended themselves against the dreadnoughts, heavily damaging their armor and internal systems according to the battle reports coming in. The much slower bombers and combat wasps were still 100 light minutes away and it would take some time before they were able to close the range on the enemy fleet but it was clear that the remaining ships would be no match for the heavily armed bombers and antimatter-packed combat wasps, whose ramming tactics would surely doom their ships. 

   "We did it chief," Toshi Ames said, grinning at the beefy Italian. At that moment, the alarms began to scream".

IN THE NEWS

Robotic Warfare

   There is a major struggle brewing in the Pact naval hierarchy over who is best qualified to pilot combat wasps and how quickly these automated spacecraft should be brought into service. The Undersecretary of Defense, Grand Admiral Dominic Dezzutti, is eager to field more combat wasps but the aerospace arm of the Pact Navy are nearly all genetically engineered pilots, and can’t help resisting the rapid introduction of combat wasps. A major subject of dispute is over who should remote pilot the wasps, and from what location(shipboard or from orbiting bases, fortresses, and stations). The Pact’s aerospace force is using geneered pilots for this, and now wants to give these wasps pilots flight and combat pay so wasp duty isn’t seen as some kind of punishment. The Pact Navy had also suggested hiring civilians to pilot the wasps. These could have been retired military pilots with lots of flying experience, but not physically fit enough to still fly aerospace fighters and bombers. The pro-aerospace Admirals were not keen on this as they have had recent trouble with the outbreak of the Civil War in getting sufficient money to keep its own pilots flying. Suggestions to use enlisted troops to pilot wasps went also nowhere, despite the fact that some of these young men and women already have thousands of hours on civilian flight simulator games(via the Interlink as teenagers). This fight is going to get worse, as some of the wasps fly under software control(no controlling pilot) and this is what more future wasps will do. The fight is going to get nasty, with the aerospace Admirals going to great lengths to avoid admitting they just don’t like the idea of fighters and bombers without pilots in them.

PACT NAVAL RANKS

E1: Spaceman Recruit

E2: Spaceman Apprentice

E3: Spaceman

E4: Petty Officer Third Class

E5: Petty Officer Second Class

E6: Petty Officer First Class

E7: Chief Petty Officer

E8: Senior Chief Petty Officer

E9: Master Chief Petty Officer

O1: Ensign

O2: Lieutenant(JG)

O3: Lieutenant(SG)

O4: Lieutenant Commander

O5: Commander

O6: Captain

O7: Commodore

O8: Rear Admiral

O9: Vice Admiral or Sector Admiral

O10: Fleet Admiral or Grand Admiral

O11: Warlord

O12: Skymarshal

*High Admiral’s are personal advisors to the High Secretary and typically serve from 4-6 years before being rotated back into the service to keep them up to date on operations.

EVENTS TO WATCH

0204 Naval skirmish at Castilia

0204 Cinseowski’s troops destroy New Rome, Suid Georgia

0205 Reformation space raid damages Cortweiller fleet at Ganges

0207 Admiral Hamilton occupies Raider’s World

0208 Chandrasekhar fighter/bombers raid Goog forces in Albion

0209 Over 400 Oan fighters attack Pol Cluster carriers, only 12 fighters return

0211 Trantor commissions first assault carrier TNS Lexigham

0212 Trantor long-range drones arrive on New Maui

0214 Recognbiba elects Conrad Weismar as "King"

0216 Planet Yorktown fields its first naval units

0217 Skirmish at Kallumett III

0219 First Battle of Gabrani begins

0220 Widespread fighting in Mauna Loa System

0222 Naval strike on Kraken and its orbital facilities

0227 Governor Ortegza’s forces embark on major attack on Mindanao

0228 Marko Blaine becomes leader in the Gilan System