Ad Astra! ... an Aurora Forum Game, run by blue emu

[Count Lake]

Very excited to see the possible final act in this epic series of engagements. I wish I could offer more technical advice but all I can really say is that I hope everything works as planned and we are able to strike back at these Prix.

They have left far too many widows of scout ship captains and fighter pilots (me included!) for this to be anything other than a campaign of extermination.

Good luck blue emu!

[trajan]

Blast them

I concur. Only we should be building jump gates in our systems if we deem it necessary.

[blue emu]

The Culverin class Monitor has been launched, and the Combined Fleet of 25 vessels has set out for Sigma Draconis to join the slower elements. Only the Spy class recce vessels remain under overhaul, but with their speed of 7500 kps they can easily catch up to the fleet when the overhaul is complete.

[TheLoneGunman]

Blast them

Ask them on a date.

[blue emu]

Scientist Bo Mosberg has completed his theoretical study of Magneto-Plasma Drive technology, and is now designing newer and more powerful engines for Military, Commercial, Fighter, Missile and Drone applications. When he finishes that, he will work on a theoretical study aimed at adapting our engine technology for Fast Attack Craft.

The fleet approaches its jump-off station in the Sigma Draconis system.

[blue emu]

The operation has begun. The Decoy Force leads the way through the jump point to Wolf 294, then heads out to a blocking position several million km inward. The rest of the Combined Fleet follows two hours later. All active sensors are off... in the unlikely case that the attack should fail, we don't want to give away the precise location of our jump point entrance.

[Cromelex]

Good! I won't be able to sleep now, will have to keep up with the latest updates.

[Mattabesta]

Why do the times zones have to be so retarded even though I live so close to you.

[blue emu]

At 150 m-km from the entry jump point, the fleet turns on its active sensors... except for the captured Prix long-range sensor. That one's intended as a surprise, so we won't turn it on until we reach attack position.

Why do the times zones have to be so retarded even though I live so close to you.

I'm one of those "night people" anyway... I usually do my gaming very late at night, and then sleep in the next morning.

[blue emu]

Approaching the inner system, with the Spy ships spreading out in the lead, followed by the Decoy Force, then the Combined Fleet.

[Capt. Kiwi]

Here's hoping this expedition will be more decisive than the second, because with the proliferation of Prix controlled systems the fleet is going to be rather busy. The sooner we can clear this system the better.

What's the plan for after this campaign winds up? I know Admiral Edzako wanted to attack an NPR, though I'm not convinced that will get authorisation. Are we going to go Prix hunting in another system (I back this)? Will we refit the fleet to generation III standards first? Personally I don't think we should - we're satisfied with our current level of capability, and the fleet is more useful at the moment recovering Prix tech than it is sitting in dry dock.

[Guillaume HJ]

I support hitting the Prix as our policy priority.

[TheLoneGunman]

Commodore Gunman believes clearing the Prix out of the various infested systems and harvesting their tech should be our priority.

[blue emu]

Here's hoping this expedition will be more decisive than the second, because with the proliferation of Prix controlled systems the fleet is going to be rather busy. The sooner we can clear this system the better.

What's the plan for after this campaign winds up? I know Admiral Edzako wanted to attack an NPR, though I'm not convinced that will get authorisation. Are we going to go Prix hunting in another system (I back this)? Will we refit the fleet to generation III standards first? Personally I don't think we should - we're satisfied with our current level of capability, and the fleet is more useful at the moment recovering Prix tech than it is sitting in dry dock.

I was quite satisfied with the result of the second expedition, despite the lack of combat. If we can accomplish our goals without fighting, so much the better. Sun-Tzu.

I have no present intention of authorizing an attack on a peaceful race... we have enough on our plate already, dealing with the technologically superior Prix in half a dozen star systems. Also, the potential gain from pursuing our "Forever War" against the Prix is probably higher than the profit we might make by fighting the Charlies, the Chix or the Seals.

Not sure about the refit to Magneto-Plasma drives. It is probably not needed, but it would very likely speed up the campaigns and reduce friendly casualties by making our ships harder to hit and our missiles harder to avoid. We have been accumulating a number of techs that are not implimented in our current crop of warships... better armor, better shields, better sensors, better drives. It's very tempting to take the fleet in for rebuilding.

Opinions?

If we decide not to rebuild the fleet in the next couple of years, we should at least rebuild the scouts.

Regardless of that decision, we will remain focussed on defeating the Prix and ejecting them from the entire volume of space near The Nexus.

[TheExecuter]

Captain TheExecuter is of the opinion that he should focus on the current mission. My reputation as a fleet commander which nothing happens to, (and whose ship always comes home unscathed) is on the line.

Let's git 'er done!

[blue emu]

Our Spy class recce vessels have taken up positions about 93 m-km from the planet. No reaction from the Prix.

[TheLoneGunman]

Once the Prix of the Wolf 294 system are subdued, an upgrade of the fleet would probably be a good idea. We'll need to weight the costs to the benefits though of course.

[GaiusC]

I agree that taking on Prix in systems we strongly suspect they might not have big forces is more important and useful than going after the Seals.

Now, I just finished a large battle against a Prix fleet and their PCDs. Thankfully, their ships had already exhausted their missile stocks when they slaughtered my first fleet, and I came back with a far stronger one - with a carrier and my sensor-ships with 7 layers of armor, rock-light, but without 100 m range missiles, alas... -, otherwise, I would've been entirely annihilated. I'll tell you the specifics of their PCDs right now, that'll wait for after we've won this battle, but it was quite awe-inspiring.

[Capt. Kiwi]

I was quite satisfied with the result of the second expedition, despite the lack of combat. If we can accomplish our goals without fighting, so much the better. Sun-Tzu.

I have no present intention of authorizing an attack on a peaceful race... we have enough on our plate already, dealing with the technologically superior Prix in half a dozen star systems. Also, the potential gain from pursuing our "Forever War" against the Prix is probably higher than the profit we might make by fighting the Charlies, the Chix or the Seals.

Not sure about the refit to Magneto-Plasma drives. It is probably not needed, but it would very likely speed up the campaigns and reduce friendly casualties by making our ships harder to hit and our missiles harder to avoid. We have been accumulating a number of techs that are not implimented in our current crop of warships... better armor, better shields, better sensors, better drives. It's very tempting to take the fleet in for rebuilding.

Opinions?

If we decide not to rebuild the fleet in the next couple of years, we should at least rebuild the scouts.

Regardless of that decision, we will remain focussed on defeating the Prix and ejecting them from the entire volume of space near The Nexus.

I was satisfied with the second expedition too, the FC and sensors recovered were worth it on their own. Still, the facts remain that the expedition had no impact on the Prix presence in the system, and what we need this time around is to wrap things up once and for all.

I'd be interested to see what a next gen ship would potentially look like, once we've recovered any tech from Wolf 294. Still, a refit might take a few years and we may be better off using the fleet as it is to recover more salvaged xenotech. As long as we're confident the Prix have nothing new to surprise us with, I'd be in favour of keeping the battle fleet as it is, while upgrading the rest of the fleet (mainly the scouts) as practical. We may want to look at starting construction on a second fleet of latest tech ships, possibly diverting some of the ships from our current one for upgrades as a cadre, while leaving the rest as they are with ion tech. Of course, that would require resources, and only you know how many we have to spare.

[TheLoneGunman]

I agree that taking on Prix in systems we strongly suspect they might not have big forces is more important and useful than going after the Seals.

Now, I just finished a large battle against a Prix fleet and their PCDs. Thankfully, their ships had already exhausted their missile stocks when they slaughtered my first fleet, and I came back with a far stronger one - with a carrier and my sensor-ships with 7 layers of armor, rock-light, but without 100 m range missiles, alas... -, otherwise, I would've been entirely annihilated. I'll tell you the specifics of their PCDs right now, that'll wait for after we've won this battle, but it was quite awe-inspiring.

Let's try to not spoil any potential surprises for Blue Emu and the rest of us that have no progressed so far in Aurora.