The Paradoxian Federation – Aurora Forum Game II, run by Rendap.

[Rendap]

06:08 ZULU - I think we can wave good bye to 8 fighters and a Paradoxian in command. Game has gone to 10 seconds intervals and we are still 24 mio. out. Our targeting range remains 15 mio. with the Strenght 50 ECM.

06:13 ZULU - Range is now 19,2 mio km and the first fighter explodes after taking a barrage of 44(!) anti missiles. The third fighter to be hit was the F2 Lucifer callsign 34-009, piloted by Captain Vainglory II.

06:14 ZULU - The fighter attack is over, before it even started. The Kox shot 352 missiles after a mere 8 targets and our fighters never stood a chance. Vice Admiral OrangeYoshi realises this and orders the fleet to retreat towards the entry point while ordering the JCS Connector to enter the system when it arrives. Until then, colliers will be jumped into the system and replenish the carrier magazines.

Operation Purple Dawn is hereby at an end. We have taken Gliese 1's outer system, but probably PDC's prevents our missiles from penetrating to the target, for now at least. The rest of 2052 will follow in next post.

[Boris ze Spider]

@ vainglry

[reis91]

It was in Vain...

[Rendap]

14/10 - Planetary Sensor Strength 550 researched.
19/10 - Lord Isaac Strange completes research into Three-Stage Thermonuclear Warhead. And we are missing an asteroid. For the rest of the year, he will do a placeholder research before new missiles can be designed.
24/10 - Captain Kiwi increases Deck Crew Bonus to 15%.
5/12 - JCS Connector finally arrives in Gliese 1 and begins construction.
19/12 - Joebthegreat II inproves our power efficiency with 10% at the expense of 5% power.

Thus endth 2052 with Operation Purple Dawn completed. We destroyed app. 38k tons of ships with the cost of 8 fighters.

Stay tuned for update re. our brave fighter pilots.

[Rendap]

The situation was not all in Vain.....

I will let you choose between the following 2 stories.

PNN is now transmissing live from the funeral of Captain Vainglory II - The flight leader of the 34th Squadron "Swordsmen" who was wiped out be enemy action in the Gliese 1 system. Captain Pyotr Taiisatai Rurikovich is making the speech on behalf of the navy as Captain Vainglory II's commanding officer

PTR - Humanity has a new hero. There is no other or better way of putting it. And that hero is Captain Vainglory II.

After leading 2 strikes against the hates Kox and sweeping all enemies before our fighters the Fleet discovered 2 additional targets upon Gliese 1-A II. Since these 2 were stationary, Vice Admiral OrangeYoshi decided to hold the fleet at 250 mio. km distance while sending in a single fighter squadron to investigate the capabilities. The Vice Admiral would not order anyone to undertake this mission, but he did not need to because all our fighter pilots wanted to go.

Captain Vainglory II clearly indicated that if any of his pilots were to fly to their doom, he wanted to be among them. To share the danger with them. To die with them, if need be. Such Honor could not be taken from Captain Vainglory II. Commander Devin Perry, CO of the Fighter Wing, wanted to go with the Captain, but 1 of them had to remain to lead the 35th Squadron if anything happened to the 34th.

During the approach and still 5 mio. km. outside range, the first fighter is destroyed by a massive barrage from the Kox. Only Planetary Defence Centers would be able to launch massive salvos of 44 missiles against fighters. And they did - 44 missiles against each fighter in Captain Vainglory II's squadron. When this happened Captain Vainglory II never hesitated. He ordered all fighters to evasive maneuver but also to close the range and launch their own missiles. Captain Vainglory II was the third to die and no fighter reached the range. Yet no fighter hesitated. No fighter turned back. They all attempted to complete the mission they set out upon. And as such the Fighter Community has a new standard against which to measure themselves.

I am proud of having commanded the carrier supporting such a Hero. I am proud of having known him. And I am proud of saying, that we will be back! We will avenge the deaths of the SC Henry Hudson and Commodore Boris ze Spider as well as the deaths of Captain Vainglory II and the 34th Squadron!!!!

At this time, the camera turns to the sky and 5 F2-Lucifers thunders overhead. As they pass the crowd, the center fighter pulls up and streaks towards space, The Missing Man, a final salute from the fighter community to it's lost comrades......

-----------------------------------

CV Blue Emu, December 28th 2052. Flag Bridge.

"Admiral, we are picking up something, but I'm not entirely certain what it is." Vice Admiral OrangeYoshi turns from his discussion with Rear Admiral Randakar and faces the sensor tech. "What do you mean with strange?" He demands.

"I have no idea at this point. It's moving to slow to be a fighter, but to fast to be anything else. At least of our manufactury." The sensor tech responded. "Yet, if it is a Kox, it is a lot smaller than what we've seen. And it is behaving oddly. Almost like it was a training session from a completely new pilot. At the moment distance is 140 mio. km."

"Launch a Fighter Squadron and bring the Task Force to hightened readiness" Vice Admiral OrangeYoshi orders and Rear Admiral Randakar swiftly relays the orders.

2 hours later

"Silver Leader to Barn - Do you read over?" Commander Devin Perry had taken the squadron out himself to get away from the ship and the empty bunks of so many friends. It had been almost 3 months since the battle of Gliese 1 and the Task Force was protecting the massive Jump Gate Construction Ship JCS Connector which was their only way home. However it would still be some months and Perry wanted as much time away from the Carrier as he could.

"Silver Lead this is Blue One actual reading you two by five. Be advised that Flag is listening as well." Captain Pyotr Taiisatai Rurikovich was not normally taking calls, but the whole fleet was on edge here.

"Understood Blue One. We have reached 15 mio. km. of the target and it has stopped. Target mass shows 50 tons but not, repeat not, missile shaped. It looks like a ship. If we are to shoot it down, we need to get a lot closer than this, sur to the size.

"Silver Lead, this is Flag". Commander Perry swallowed and looked at his crew. It was normally not a good idea to be talking to The Admiral. "How close do you need to get before you can lock the target up?".

"Sir", Commander Perry started, "We would probably need to get within half a million clicks. At that range, we might as well shoot it with our lasers".

"Understood Silver Lead, Stand by". Commander Perry's command pilot wiped sweat off his brow while muttering to the others "Just our luck". Commander Perry was about to answer when the radio cracked once again.

"Silver Lead, this is flag. Dispatch 1 fighter, not your own, for visual confirmarion of target profile. If target remains stationary, take up position 5 mio. km. behind while DD Nagoya closed for investigations. Confirm orders".

Commander Perry looked at his crew and didn't bother hiding his surprise. He could see that the rest of the crew shared it. "Understood Flag. 1 fighter dispatched for visual flyby and if no hostile activity or movement follow at 5. mio km. behind target and away Nagoya. Silver Lead out". "Wonder what they are thinking" Commander Perry muttered to himself before reaching his own desicion. He called the squadron.

"All Silvers this is lead. The flight will circle around the target and take up position 5 mio. km. behind the target except seven. Seven, you will perform a visual flyby and advice further to myself. Should you be locked by targeting radar you are authorised to fire upon the target. Do not engage unless targeted or fired upon." The radio cracked back with 7 confirmations and the squadron set off once again.

Minutes later

"Silver Lead, this is Seven". Commander Perry heard the excitement in the voice of the young pilot. "Go ahead Seven. Blue 1 and Flag are listening as well." If this would normally scare Seven, it did not today. "Understood Lead. Sirs, I am looking at the most Bastard thing I have ever seen. It looks like a shuttle, yet not one of ours. And there is no visible weapon pods or anything looking to be dangerous. It is just sitting there and.... Please don't think that I've been drinking of duty, but I think they are trying to communicate. There's a light blinking oddly and regulary."

"Seven this is Flag", Rear Admiral Randakar broke in, "Please advice, how regular?"

"Sir," Seven replied, "The light is blinking regulary. It is blinking fast and slow at a changing pace and it looks like it is repeating the pattern, but I do not regocnize it. It is doing 6 rapid blinks and then 3 slower ones before repeating again."

"Bloody Hell!" it came over the line. Moments later: "Silver Seven, this is Blue One. Do you have visual of this thing? And can you see an airlock or similar?"

"Captain, what are you doing??" Rear Admiral Randakar asked quickly. "Sir, That is not just an attempt at communicating. Seven got the code wrong. It is not 6 fast and 3 slow. It is 3 fast, 3 slow and 3 fast once again." With this message Commander Perry suddenly understood and blurted out: "An SOS?!?!?!?!?!"

Captain Rurikovich answered: "That would be my expectation. And if it is an SOS, it would explain the behaviour. And if that is the case, we are either seeing one of the first attempts of communication, or someone who understands who we are - And might want a ride home. I recommend that Nagoya speeds the hell up, Sir".

"Agree on that recommendation", Vice Admiral OrangeYoshi broke in. "Silver Lead - Keep an eye out, but do not fire, repeat, NOT fire."

To Be Continued.



I need to explain this a bit, since I only intended on doing the first part, but then suddenly realized something.

I never got the message that Vain was killed.

It looks like I've encountered a bug in the game, so even after Vainglory's fighter was shot down (And no survivors, I checked that) the avatar was still in the officers list with a "Unknown" location. I tried unassigning and suddenly Vain was on a Freighter. After unassigning once again, he's back on Earth avaiting reasignment.

I leave it to the councilors, and Vain in particular, which of the stories you want to continue with. The Glorious Death or the Prison Break? Depending on the decision, I will write an additional chapter tomorrow to round off The Tale of Vainglory II and the Space Koalas.

Furthermore, I also submit to the council the question of what to do from here. We can't break through to the PDC's without running it low on missiles. That means losing fighters or ships or doing something alternative. The Rocks are a possibility. So is massive AM or PD ships. What route do the councilors want me to take?

[Lord Strange]

Prison break!

A glorious escape from the evil koalas, resulting in a crash landing on Earth.

[Boris ze Spider]

Would it be possible to create dummy missles that are cheap to make but expend thier missile supplies?

[reis91]

AI abuse, and boring, as they should have a lot of missiles stocked.

[Vainglory]

Wow, I was resigned to my death, and I feel like using a get-out-of-jail-free card is a bit cheap... but on the other hand, that seems like a gift from the gods, and it's a cool story, so let's roll with it!

[blue emu]

There are a few possibilities...

1) We "bombard them" with super-long-range size-1 homing missiles fired at a waypoint fixed to the planet. We can use our PD missile tubes to launch hundreds of them, one per ship per increment (ie: one per salvo). If the Koalas fire at them, they should waste fourty-four of their own missiles against each. If they don't fire, then let the missiles accumulate at the waypoint and then release them all at once. Tried this in my Aurora game, and it works.

2) Rocks. Or just conventional thick-skinned missile boats.

3) MIRVs... salvos of low speed missiles each releasing several high-speed warheads when they get within 5 m-km or so.

[GaiusC]

I suppose those 44 hits were all size-1, anti-missile missiles?
Still, even size-1 is nasty. They probably have thousands of them at hand.

First of all, I think we need electronic counter-measures, and longer-range missiles.
Then, if all 44 launch tubes are linked to a single fire control, we should fire 1-2 missiles at the same time, from a safe range, so that we can exhaust their AMM stocks at a rate of 1/10, 1/20 or even 1/40 if we're lucky.
The main problem now is to guess how far these anti-missiles can go. They apparently spotted tiny fighters something like 25 m km away, if not more. Their sensors are really good, but we can't tell if AMM couldn't have hit farther, had we sent a bigger ship that would've been spotted 50m km away instead of 25m.

[blue emu]

First of all, I think we need electronic counter-measures...

Over-sized Fire Controls are much cheaper (both in research points and in Hull Squares) than ECCM. Just give your ships FCs scaled to twice your missile's engagement range.

[Vainglory]

Any missile with a warhead of 0 does no damage (which is fair enough, except that when you think about it, 10 tons of missile doing 40,000KM/s will put a lot of hurt on you) and so it's simply a dummy. I've heard of people using them in cluster munitions to overload PD. I'm not sure but I think it's possible to load 12 size 0.5 missiles into a size 6 missile (if it had no components of its own) so by cutting out the warhead you could squeeze in a few more dummies - and you could set agility to nothing as well, because to-hit is irrelevant. Design a dummy missile and an ASM, with identical speeds, and you can (I'm told) overload even the best PD.

We've got nothing comparable for the task here, but as I've said previously, and as Emu suggested under #2, damage sponges are one way. My ~28,000t BBs with 10 armor, 210 shields, each soaked up several salvos of 64 size 1 ASMs with my DEs being largely ineffective due to the ASMs having 60% higher speed than my AMMs! And my DDs were at home, overhauling, because I didn't realize I'd need them so desperately. So if we had some really big warships with at least 10 armor and 100 shields we could send them in to soak up damage. The only downside I found was that in my more recent game, the precursors started shooting at my BBs when they could see my 5,000t supporting ships. Enemy warships have always, in my experience, expended their arsenal against my heavy-hitters first, but the precursors engaged my BBs with salvos sufficient to knock out my shields and sandpaper my armor to nothing, but then switched targets (having expended all ammo before the first salvos hit my ships) as that happened to my 5,000t vessels. And I lost a number of highly trained vessels as a result, although I was fortunate that they didn't fire an extra two or three salvos against my BBs instead and probably kill them. So there's a risk if your sluggers can't take it on their own that you'll lose them, and/or support vessels if you send them in.

The drone-MIRV idea is workable too... although the exact mechanics of it are dependent on whether you want to build a new orbital bombardment ship or just try shoehorn new designs into the biggest launchers on your CA/CLs.

[Capt. Kiwi]

I require the services of Missile specialist Blue Emu and Propulsion Expert Capt. Kiwi.

Anything that can be improved on this ASM? What is a good speed versus NPR and Precursor PD systems? I am at Ion tech level btw, with 4 months ETA on Magneto Plasma.

Missile Size: 4 MSP (0.2 HS) Warhead: 4 Armour: 0 Manoeuvre Rating: 24
Speed: 25100 km/s Endurance: 6 minutes Range: 9.0m km
Cost Per Missile: 3.025
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 602.4% 3k km/s 192% 5k km/s 120.5% 10k km/s 60.2%
Materials Required: 1x Tritanium 2.775x Gallicite Fuel x500

4 WH strength per MSP
3 Engine Power per MSP
48 Missile Agility per MSP

Depends on your fuel efficiency tech, too. Obviously you're going to have 1 MSP devoted to warhead. Divide the remaining 3 MSP as 1.5+(20/48) engine, and 1.5-(20/48) agility. Take off points of agility until your maneouvre rating is only just at whatever number it was originally. Take the same amount of points off your engines. Put whatever you've shaved off into fuel. Do you have enough range? If yes, design done. If no, you'll have to shave equal amounts off engines and agility until you're done, preferably stopping just before your maneouvre rating goes down.

But expect missiles to get obsolete very fast at your tech level.

[Taiisatai64]

Hey, I got to talk!

[Rendap]

@ Lord Strange - I think I will be able to combine the stories actually...... I'll think over it during the day and we'll see tonight.

@ Boris - Dummy Missiles.... Pfffft!!!!!

@ Vain - You've made the decision. I'll see what I come up with. Since your fighter is gone, do you want a new one or a new role in the Navy?

@ Blue Emu - I'm not sure that we have the technology to sneak a size 1 launching ship into range at this point. I'll play around with it when I get home tonight, but at least we just got a better warhead, so we can spend more on Fuel.

@ GaiusC - I think that we need at least 75mio km. as a safe distance. I'll see what the R&D people can do before we launch operation "Purple Morning".

@ Blue Emu - Exactly. I think that our Slayers need a refit anyway.

@ Vain - Drones I will pass on for now. It will either be rocks or extreme long range missiles.

@ Kiwi - I agree. Unless I have a need for missiles, I try to wait on designing them till I hit Ion or Magneto, depending on Research Labs.

@ Taii - We strive to please. I will try to put in more of this kind of chatter and see what traits you have to include.

[Devin Perry]

Looks like i'm being played as the sensitive type who cares about his fellow pilots rather than the ambitious type who sees the death of Vainglory as an opportunity for promotion.

[Vainglory]

Drones are good for orbital bombardment because they fly further for a given size, so then you add the second-stage missiles in them.

Anyway, park my blessed butt in a fighter again. If a carrier becomes available, can I please transfer to that as a fleet officer rather than fighter jock?

Looks like i'm being played as the sensitive type who cares about his fellow pilots rather than the ambitious type who sees the death of Vainglory as an opportunity for promotion.

You'd be best to take that attitude. I'm rather like Scottish Thistle: pricky, and hard to eradicate.

[Rendap]

@ Devin - You are supportive of the fighter community, but I'll check you'r traits later to see if I can get some more flavour.

@ Vain - I can park you on an Escort Carrier until our next batch of Fleet Carriers become available. I think that we need to build 3 more and the 6 Serapis Heavy Cruisers that we looked at before, but we only have 1 year to do it and there's more critical needs for our Duranium at the moment.

[Vainglory]

@ Devin - You are supportive of the fighter community, but I'll check you'r traits later to see if I can get some more flavour.

@ Vain - I can park you on an Escort Carrier until our next batch of Fleet Carriers become available. I think that we need to build 3 more and the 6 Serapis Heavy Cruisers that we looked at before, but we only have 1 year to do it and there's more critical needs for our Duranium at the moment.

Is the Grey Galah completed yet? May I transfer from being a fighter jock to her captain once she's off the stocks?