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Vapourware Aurora - Three-Power Race to Space

GarfunkeL

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2024-2025 is now finally complete. I might have to start doing annual posts instead of two-year longs, since it seems more things are starting to happen already.
 

GarfunkeL

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2026

oEePgAc.jpg


While the media representatives were all on solid ground on Earth, only some of their interviewees were physically present. Vice-Admiral Jonathan Woodcock, backed up by the Fleet spokesperson, Lieutenant-Commander Jason Quinn and head of Fleet Survey office, Lieutenant-Commander Bethany Thompson, sat behind a table covered with the PATO Survey Command flag. Next to them, a widescreen monitor showed the smiling face of Commander Billy Giles, captain of GEV Albert Einstein, the first geological survey vessel of PATO, soon to depart for its first mission.

"The Inner System Survey Mission will start with Luna, our moon, then proceeds to Venus and Mercury. After those two, it will survey the comet Van Biesbroeck, as the comet is currently passing through the inner system. Then is the time for Phobos, Deimos and Mars itself. Two more comets are in suitable position between Mars and Ceres, Comas Sola and Reinmuth to be specific. Then Ceres and that completes the Inner System Survey Mission", explained Thompson. "The ship will not actually land on any of them, everything is done safely from close orbit with a multitude of scanners. If the scanners find something interesting, then yes, Survey Command will send a manned mission to investigate further", she continued.

"What about Luna City?" One reporter asked. Thompson shot Woodcock a look but Quinn took the question:
"The survey of Luna will actually assist Logistics Command in determining the best location for Luna City. Those plans are progressing but, as I'm sure you can understand, we do not want to put down colonists until we're certain of their safety and of the viability of the colony in the first place", the man smoothly explained, then quickly pointed to an attractive blonde sitting to the side.

"Amelie Wist from E Entertainment. Commander Giles, how are you prepared for a close encounter with alien lifeforms?"

Thompson gave Woodcock another glance, as if to ask who let celebrity gossip site to take part - but the Admiral merely shrugged. Meanwhile, Commander Giles smiled disarmingly and proceeded to charm the panties of Miss Wist and her viewers, somehow making quarantine procedures sounding sexy.

"And that is why Giles is the first captain of a survey ship and not you Bethany", Woodcock later explained, as the officers were walking to the Mission Control. "He is just as good with the media as Quinn is, which is important at this stage. Don't worry, you'll time will come." Thompson nodded but inside she was seething, even if she understood her admiral, on a logical level.

***

The numbers were coming in to the Survey Command Mission Control Center at the Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado. Since NORAD and the now obsolete US SPACECOM already had the base as their headquarters, it made sense for SURCOM to move in with them as well. Vice-Admiral Woodcock monitored things from the tranquillity of his office, allowing Lieutenant-Commander Thompson to run the actual situation room. Since they only had a single vessel to monitor, was surprisingly packed. Transport Squadron had been grounded on Earth while Albert Einstein surveyed Luna, just in case. Woodcock thought it was paranoid safety but he didn't want to interfere with how Thompson had planned the mission. LOGCOM had acquiesced nicely, probably because Richardson had overruled Hanson and would not let the construction of Luna City to start before PATO could effectively protect them, though that wouldn't last long, what with the fervor among parts of the civilian population.

"Okay, so this is fantastic!" He heard Thompson shout out loud. Checking the numbers, Woodcock had to agree. Sorium levels on Earth were down to just slightly over twenty thousand tons, so finding over million and a half of it on Luna was good news indeed. Finding Tritanium, Boronide and Gallicite was a nice bonus on top.

"Admiral Woodcock, sir. I would like permission to immediately begin planning for manned survey mission", Thompson had switched channels and was now speaking to the intercom.
"Agreed Thompson, go ahead."

Woodcock made a note in his file - the next generation survey ship would need better sensors. Spending 35 hours just scanning a body as small as Luna seemed wasteful to him. He made that an official recommendation to the ship planners once he learned that scanning Venus had taken five days.

***

up1GCJr.png


***

Admiral Richardson and administrator Hanson were the last two to arrive in the conference hall. All the senior staff of the Fleet as well as PATO civilian management side were present. With the results of the Inner System Survey Mission at hand, it was time to formulate some concrete plans for PATO and its expansion into space.

"Can we get the mineral situation on the screen please", Richardson asked.

gEZOMcD.png


"There we go. Note that the estimated time to depletion ignores what the Chinese and Russians are doing, as we do not know their exact mining capabilities. We have a decent stockpile of all materials but, as you can see, some TN-minerals are running out soon, like Neutronium, and some of the critical resources, like Sorium, are not much behind. This certainly puts PATO in a tough position - we have a clear deadline in sight", Richardson lectured. "Once the minerals on Earth run out, that's it unless we get off-planet mining operations going on", he passed the turn to Hanson.

"Thank you admiral. Unfortunately PATO is not in a position to start large scale excavation operations immediately. We must build up our infrastructure further. However, before we delve into that topic, let's see what minerals are available in the Inner System. Most importantly, we can get more Neutronium from the comet Van Biesbroeck. My mining office has drafted a plan, utilizing a mass driver and robotic mining facilities that only require minimal human supervision. We'll have months, if not years, of time to harvest that comet before it leaves the inner system. The surface area of the comet is at least 314 square kilometers, probably more as it certainly is not a uniform sphere. So room is not an issue. Cargo lift is the issue. It will take Buffalo five trips to move the mass driver and then five more trips for each automated mine. While we are building more freighters, PATO ultimately needs a bigger one, which means that the commercial shipyards must be built up as well. This takes money, minerals and time", Hanson sat down as he finished his explanation. Richardson motioned to Woodcock, who stood up.

"Survey Command would recommend building emergency infrastructure in the inner system. Currently, if there is a problem somewhere, we cannot really handle it at all. Furthermore, as it is likely that civilian projects start operating and that space tourism is now reality, both Schelleis and I agree that setting up few bases would be useful. Certainly one at Ceres is required, to support missions going beyond the asteroid field. Phobos is a good candidate for another base. For the moment, we recommend a tracking station at both and some fuel stored away. To safeguard them against our enemies, some ground troops would be a bonus. Meaning that we need to develop a tanker and a transport, in addition to the bigger freighter that administrator Hanson talked about. While all this is happening, ISSM will proceed with surveying the asteroids, a process which will take months. Once Niels Bohr is completed, it will form the Outer System Survey Mission and head straight to Jupiter. Our last first generation survey vessel, Isaac Newton, will, once ready, support OSSM", Woodcock concluded. Rear-Admiral Martin Schelleis stood up.

"Logistics Command agrees with the previous speakers. While Trans-Newtonian materials allow us to operate purely from Earth, it would be prudent to enlarge our network to Mars and Ceres for the time being. Eventually, it would be wise to push it to Jupiter and Saturn as well. There are several moons there that have sufficient gravity for permanent habitation without undue health risks. Especially if the hypothesis of Sorium, in a gaseous form, existing in gas giants turns out to be correct, as we can and should then harvest it directly there, saving solid form Sorium for engine construction. This may all sound outlandish but do realize that it is now faster for Buffalo to fly to the Moon than it is for you to drive to your nearest McDonalds", this brought up laughter from the crowd. Rear-Admiral Tomohisa Takei took the podium in turn.

"Orbital Defence Command is halfway between happy and unhappy", the diminutive Japanese officer smiled tightly. "The OWP24A is a solid platform and in the time that we have been operating them, a remarkable lack of issues has proven the work of the engineers who designed it. There are ten platforms currently in service, divided into two Orbital Divisions of five each. In addition to simulation training, my boys and girls have been cleaning up the neighbourhood from space debris. But this is just a start. ORDCOM would like to transfer the current divisions to guard Luna and Mars, respectively, while two new divisions, utilizing the OWP24B platform, would be set up on Earth orbit. Such deployment would give all PATO assets in the local area a good umbrella of protection from", Takei grinned, "more space debris".

Then it was turn for Vice-Admiral Michael Hood to speak.

"Planetary Defence Command finds itself much in the same position as our orbital brothers-in-arms. We have two divisions equipped with the Hellstone missile, with another two still using conventional missiles. For the moment, we're all good. However, on the long-term, our forts should be built on Luna and Mars as well. The scientists assure me that constructing a long-range laser, one that could protect Mars from missile attacks, while based on Deimos or Phobos, is altogether possible. Otherwise, PADCOM is good, thank you", Hood announced and sat down.

"Greetings. I am Major-General Charlene Taylor and am currently the commanding general of PATO ground forces", the stacked female introduced herself. "We have activated 16 battalions as TN-capable. The battalions are capable of independent operation and in fact, that is the only thing they are capable of at the moment, as the forming and development of brigade and divisional headquarters goes on. As some of you are aware, the aim of the first wave of reorganization and activation is to have ten divisions fully operational, whether on or off Earth. While there have been repeated calls for the creation of a multi-national unit, I am completely opposite to it. Perhaps, in the future, a multinational-division can be created, perhaps even a multi-national brigade, but for now. those countries not tapped for the first ten divisions, please be patient and wait for your turn. I would wish for additional TN-standard training facilities but the Army will make do with what it currently has. The plan remains the same - that each division will have a mixture of heavy and light brigades, thus ensuring independent operations capability. The Fleet has not yet asked for any sort of Marine contingent, so we haven't really looked at the feasibility of such operations at all. They would be highly premature in any case. This concludes my presentation", Taylor gazed directly at all the senior officers present before sitting down.

"Thank you all for contributing. I will list a preliminary listing of priorities, after which each team should move to their allocated work space to continue for planning. First, establishment of Luna City. Second, establishment of mining operation on the comet Van Biesbroeck. Third, establishing emergency stations on Ceres and Phobos. Fourth, the growth of ORDCOM and relocating of assets to Luna orbit. Fifth, the continued survey work. Sixth, establishment of a Martian colony, alongside feasibility studies of terraforming Mars. Seventh, creation of Mobile Command. Eight, continuation of the Army reactivation. Ninth, improvements to PADCOM, and tenth, general scientific progress. Dismissed", Richardson had listed the priorities off the top of his head but the audience largely nodded to him. Hanson especially looked satisfied, having convinced Richardson that Luna City could not wait for the military to get there first.

***

It took three days after the meeting for Leonard Container Group - a consortium created by DHL, Cargolux and Martinair - to launch its first two freighters. It suddenly became obvious why Hanson had pushed so hard for the Fleet to allow Luna City creation as the ships must have been under private construction for months already. Month after that, Leonard launched its first colony ship. Nothing could stand in the way of private enterprise in space.

***

WELCOME TO LUNA CITY

The large sign was gently floating in the near-microgravity of Luna over the main airlock. Without a proper space port, Markus and Maria had, just like the other fifty-thousand colonists, slowly walked their way through the flex-tube from the colony ships loading bay into Luna City. It wasn't quite what the young couple had expected. There was no reception committee or anything, just the banner, which certainly looked like it had been just made. Luckily, their phones Wi-Fi worked and an instant message gave them directions to their habitat. The entrance dome was massive but not nearly big enough to have all the colonists stumbling around it simultaneously. At least the first batch of colonists were all well educated and of above average intelligence - the dome emptied fairly quickly as people found their bearings and moved on.

"Room 3 slash 58", Markus read out. The door was unlocked and Maria eagerly stepped inside. This would their new home. It was a simple room - a double bed against the far wall, a wardrobe and a tiny desk. Above the bed, a screen had been embedded in the wall. No windows, as they level three was underground. A slide door showed a tiny bathroom with a standing shower and a folding toilet. "Well, they didn't exaggerate when they said that life would be spartan over here", Maria observed. "And the TV works but shows no channels", she continued. Markus shrugged: "Probably teething issues, you know they weren't expecting colonists here for at least six more months. Now, we have an hour before reporting for duty, Madam Enviromental Engineer, so how about we christen the bed?" Maria giggled: "Very well Mister Hydroponic Farmer but we should christen that shower too!"

Markus kicked the door shut while tearing his overalls off.

***

Hanson electronically signed the document and shot copies off to his staff. Planetary Resources had just become the first company to mine in space. Well, actually on Mercury. Hanson would have thought that an asteroid would be the first place and not the Sun scorched planet where temperatures fluctuated between 100 K and 700 K but apparently the presence of water ice in the craters and plentiful TN-minerals made the risky operation profitable for them. And since Hanson had just agreed to purchase their mineral output for PATO use, their plan was certainly sound.

"Note to self: flag strategically important bodies forbidden for commercial use as soon as possible. Email Richardson", Hanson thought out loud and his electronic secretary did the rest.

Leonard Container Group transported Planetary Resources assets and personnel to Mercury and before the year was over, three mining complexes would be up and running, using a mass driver to "shoot" mineral packets to Earth and it's ever-hungry factories.

Not to be outdone, a month later Deep Space Industries applied for operation licence on Rheinmuth. Hanson gladly signed it as well and immediately contracted their output for PATO use as well.
 

GarfunkeL

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Well, Steve is working on a C# version of Aurora now, the VB6 version will finally be laid to rest. Obviously multiplayer is not very high on hist list of things to do - he said that after getting the conversion and current round of bug-fixes done, he'll most likely improve on the diplomatic system - the vastly improved coding might make a MP version possible, maybe some kind of master version syncing with clients once a day or something. There's been some discussion on such possibility on Aurora forums.

Working on an update now.
 

GarfunkeL

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o8kjLsN.jpg


"Good morning sir", Lieutenant-Commander Nicholas Joyce greeted his boss as Admiral Richardson stepped in to the secure room. Hidden in the basement of the First Fleet Headquarters building, it was protected by a Faraday cage and had no electronic connection to the outside world. Any material discussed in here was printed out beforehand.

"Morning Nicholas. Did the alphabet agencies give you any trouble?" the Admiral asked. "Yes and no sir, they have finally come aboard but organizational paranoia and old habits die hard. Obvious space related stuff is forwarded to us quickly but peripheral things aren't and I need to go digging for it. But I'm managing", the intelligence officer replied and handed over a thin dossier.

"That's our most up-to-date summary of both China and Russia. We suffer from a lack of good HUMINT, which SIGINT can never truly replace, so we have solid data on their inventories and construction, while estimates on their plans and motivations are quite shaky, I'm sorry to say", Joyce explained. Richardson grunted and glanced over the summaries.

"Are you sure these numbers are correct? That PATO industry is this far ahead of them?" Richardson asked, surprised by the numbers.

"Yes sir, we are. Vast majority of Chinese manufacturing is still of very poor quality and tied down with producing junk for the consumer market, though they are shifting more and more of that to the Philippines and Vietnam. Russian industrial base has always been smaller than us once Soviet Union collapsed. While we could fairly easily upgrade our plants, they are playing catch up. We have roughly 2.17 times the construction capability of China and 4.6 times of Russia. In the mining sector, it's 2.36 times of China and 4.46 times of Russia. It is unlikely that these ratios change in the short term unless something drastic happens in the world."

Richardson nodded. Since such a large percentage of the industrial powers were working together under the PATO banner, it made sense.

"Both of them have a functioning Mass Driver and the Russians have a second one ready to go off-world. Don't ask where they will send it, we don't know. China has recently opened some ordnance factories for manufacturing TN missiles but they have been idle as far as we can tell. It might just be planning for future. Russians have not built any fuel refineries, which is curious. Obviously they have reserves, as they likely used conventional refineries, like we did at the start. Since their construction base is so limited, it is likely that they are prioritizing other projects first, relying on that reserve to see them through until they get refineries running", Joyce explained.

"What about the Chinese space port? The media has been raving about it being bigger than ours", Richardson asked and looked quite unhappy when Joyce confirmed it:

"It is true. Again, no idea why they went for such a massive construction right off the bat, when a smaller one would have suited them just fine to get things started. Russians have almost finished with their space port, which looks to be similar to ours."

"Fine. Let's move to shipyards. What's the status there?"

"Right. So we have Vollenhoven and Hilton on the commercial side for a total of forty thousand tons. China has Tan which has only one slipway but is twenty thousand tons on its own and then Chiang which is the same size of ours but again with only one slipway. Both are being expanded as well, though it looks like they are not making more slipways. So it's likely that the Chinese will be able to put out bigger freighters quicker than we can but only one ship at a time, while we can put out two. On the military side, NAVAL-1 has three slipways of thousand tons though it's being expanded now and NAVAL-2 has a single slipway of three thousand tons and another slipway under construction. The Chinese also have two military yards, named Shi and Zhau. The former is just one slipway of thousand tons while the latter has one slipway of two thousand tons. Both are being worked on and it seems that Zhau is going to be the big yard while Shi will get multiple slipways."

"And the Russians?"

"No shipyards yet and none under construction. We're certain of that, you can't hide anything that's up in orbit."

"Ground forces?"

"Both have created some TN-standard units but of pretty poor quality, intended for population suppression and defence. General Taylor don't have to worry about them for a while", Joyce smiled.

"Well that's something. Let's round this up with research. Do we know anything?" Richardson was curious - penetrating the research facilities of either country was notoriously difficult.

"Chinese are working on sensors and ground forces, Russians on space ship things. We don't know the details. We know the Russians are ahead of us in lasers, but aside from that, we're holding a comfortable lead on all fields", Joyce finished.

"Good, good", Richardson mused as he got up. "Thanks for the briefing Nicholas, keep up the good work", he commended the junior officer.

***

The raucous crowd erupted into yet another cheer. The other patrons in the pub seemed annoyed at their antics but nobody dared to say anything. If the Fleet uniforms hadn't been enough, the fact that everyone recognized the woman of the hour, Lieutenant-Commander Bethany Thompson. Her appointment as the commanding officer of Niels Bohr, the second survey ship of PATO, had been front page news that day across all media.

"All right you monkeys, one more round and then I'm off to bed", she laughed, her face reddened by alcohol and laughter.

"I'm going to miss you Beth, you know", a statusque woman said to her. "As if Freya! You'll be watching over my shoulder as much as the comms allow now that you've usurped my place in the staff!"

"Well, maybe. Thanks again for mentoring me in, I know it was a hassle for you while you were preparing for this command", Freya Long said sincerely. Bethany just waved at her, lifting the pint to her lips: "Don't worry about it, it was my pleasure. How often do you get to train your successor?"

Their conversation was cut short as someone got the jukebox running and Spaceman started playing.

"Let's drink for the first human on Jupiter orbit!"

***

"What is on Corduba?" Hanson asked, annoyed that he couldn't remember off the top of his head. "Less than twenty thousand tons of duranium and about fourteen hundred tons of uridium", answered one of his assistants. "Huh", Hanson grunted.

"I guess Deep Space Industries doesn't want to keep all their eggs in a single basket. Approved and we'll buy the output, we can always use more duranium", Hanson thought out loud as he signed the paperwork.

"Oh and Mr Frost, congratulations. You're the best man to oversee that operation. Enjoy!" Hanson said, wide grin on his face. William Frost had a background both in naval construction and mining, and had been for some time considered as a possible successor to Hanson. Now the man could cool his ambition on some miserable asteroid.

Hanson laughed out loud when, that evening at his stately home, he checked Corduba out and found out that it was mere 106 km by diameter and floated outside Ceres orbit.

***

Bethany Thompson stared through the viewscreen at Jupiter. Despite spending over a week scanning the gas giant and finding no Sorium whatsoever, she wasn't disappointed. Niels Bohr was enroute to Ganymede, so she could spare some time to once more take in the beauty of the Red Spot and the magnitude of being among the first humans to observe it first-hand. Some in her crew had grown bored of the view in just few days but not her. The fact that the stable, eternal storm was twice the size of Earth never ceased to amaze her.

"Entering Ganymede orbit in five minutes, ma'am", the helmsman announced. Thompson concentrated on her ship. The Jovian moons were fascinating as well as dangerous - some of them produced volcanic eruptions tens of kilometers high and the area was, astronomically, quite crowded. Crossing through the dust rings had been a visual feast.

"Very well helm. Take us in slowly. Survey, double check that all cameras are recording. We're going to see the largest moon in the system up close and the scientific community back home is salivating at the prospect. Let's make sure we're doing this properly", Thompson reminded everyone.

Disappointingly, the Jovian system was completely devoid of TN-minerals but at least the four Galilean moons were confirmed to be habitable, gravity wise. During the two weeks that it would take the ship to reach Saturn from Jupiter, Thompson had ample time to upload to Earth thousands of pictures and video across the EM-spectrum that her crew had taken.

***

Hanson signed off the application for Vibilia. Half way between Ceres and Jupiter, only carrying twenty thousand tons of Duranium, it was no prize location. Deep Space Industries did not care. Planetary Resources had steadily grown their operation on Mercury, so DSI - instead of focusing on their existing two sites - went for another asteroid. Once again Hanson bought their entire output for PATO use. He wasn't looking forward to telling Robert Gallagher that their poker nights couldn't continue but at least the younger administrator could bring his guitar with him.

The fact that two days later Thompson found over two hundred million tons of Sorium in the atmosphere of Uranus was just icing on the cake. Jupiter would have been so much better but Hanson could work with this.

"Note: increase priority for tugs and gaseous Sorium harvesting ships", he dictated to his personal computer.

***

"With Italy online, we're reorganizing and forming a third division. Old first will become third division and Commander Charles Pritchard will assume command. Ali, you'll move from America to Italy and that platform will become the flag for the new first division. Once we have enough OWPs in orbit, we'll do a similar thing with Benjamin's second division. Questions?" Rear-Admiral Takei looked at the three men facing him. Captain Benjamin van Eekelen cleared his throat.

"Is there any schedule for the relocation to Luna and Mars?"

Takei shook his head: "None whatsoever. Rumours say that Hanson is trying to accelerate the tug program but who knows. It will not happen for at least six more months and probably will take longer."

Since the others had no questions, Takei stood up from behind his desk. "Well, let's go see this marvel of modern technology then. I was quite impressed by the specs, of putting four barrels on that turret instead of one and having increased the armour by fifty percent. I'm sure we would all like to see it personally, so shall we?"

Ali, van Eekelen and Pritchard enthusiastically agreed.

***

"Sorry to say boss but we found nothing. Albert Einstein did too good of a job", Alex Sullivan explained to Vice-Admiral Woodcock. His team members were all military and vinced over the friendly attitude of their civilian-scientist team leader but Woodcock had long ago grown used to to peculiarities of Survey Command, like working with academics and other civilians.

"That's a damn shame Mr Sullivan. Now that Earth ran out of Neutronium, finding few million tons of it on Luna would have been godsend", the Vice-Admiral responded.

With a smirk, he continued: "I hope you enjoyed the amenities of Luna City. I assume you took part in the celebrations when the population passed the thirty million mark. Einstein is enjoying some R&R at Earth, having finished with the asteroid belt, so I'll have it relocate your team to Mars. Easier to work there, with no distractions around!"

Sullivan groaned. He had a difficult conversation ahead of him with a certain coffee-shop waitress who would be hard-pressed to believe that he was genuinely being sent to Mars.

***

Lieutenant-Commander Olivia Willis was happy to gain her own command so early. Isaac Newton was the third Einstein-class geological survey ship. Her sisters had done such an exemplary job of surveying that she was to be last of her class. There wasn't much left for Willis and her crew of sixty, mostly just comets and the distant planetoids past Neptune mixed with asteroids. That didn't bother Willis at all, in fact it excited her more. Ship captains had, over the years, become more and more tightly roped into networked systems and had to suffer under growing amount of micromanagement from their superiors. With a delay of hours in her communications, she would not be quite as cut off as her heroes from the Age of Sail but it was the closest thing available.

"Please find us some Neutronium out there and stay safe", Woodcock had said as he stepped off the ship. Willis had agreed.

"Helm, take us out. Navigation, plot a course to Halley's Comet, we'll start with that", she ordered.

***

"I hear congratulations are in order", Hanson said once the waiter had retreated from the table. Richardson looked at his civilian counterpart questioningly. "I meant that your spymaster caught the Chinese with their hand in the cookie jar", the administrator continued before savoring the succulent steak.

"Oh that. Yes, Joyce has been quite overjoyed, though credit goes to MI5. Though they do think that they managed to get some information sent back home before we caught up with them", Richardson explained. The admiral tried to be nonchalant while checking out their surroundings, he couldn't believe that Hanson would bring up such a sensitive topic while they were out in public.

"Relax, the acronym agencies are all leaking information to their political masters. Everyone in this place is either a government employee, a politician or a lobbyist", Hanson calmed him. "Or hell, maybe all three. Most of the people in here probably know the general outline of what happened anyway. So let's have a toast to the blundering foreign agents!" He raised his wine glass and reluctantly Richardson agreed.

"Oh, I'm sure your people will be happy to know that Vollenhoven is retooling for the tug and should finish constructing the first one next year. My eggheads finalized the plans for a troopship for Taylor's boys as well as for the tanker but we don't have the shipyard capacity to build them for a while. Hilton will be completely tied down for years. They've building two Buffaloes right now and I've placed an order for another two after that. That'll give Martin ten of them to tide him over until we get Bisons ready. There'll be ten of them, eventually", Hanson exclaimed, looking smug and proud.

"What about that third shipyard", Richardson asked. Hanson waved his fork: "Yeah, it's coming along but it will not be ready to build either class anytime soon. Maybe next Christmas if we're lucky."

Richardson focused on enjoying his steak as Hanson switched topics and the men stopped talking shop. Outside the panoramic windows, a light snowfall made London look almost magical.
 
Last edited:

Hellraiser

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Well, Steve is working on a C# version of Aurora now, the VB6 version will finally be laid to rest. Obviously multiplayer is not very high on hist list of things to do - he said that after getting the conversion and current round of bug-fixes done, he'll most likely improve on the diplomatic system - the vastly improved coding might make a MP version possible, maybe some kind of master version syncing with clients once a day or something. There's been some discussion on such possibility on Aurora forums.

Well that is good to hear. I just wonder if he will ditch the access database as well and replace it with something more... conventional. At least so that I do not need to remember to use kwan regional setting to run the damn thing.

Although I still have respect for him for using such crude tools to create Aurora in the first place, no matter the odds. There are people proficient in better tools that did jack shit with that knowledge, while Steve followed his vision with what was available to him and brought it to life.
 

GarfunkeL

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pxY8JJV.jpg


Drinking his morning coffee, Hanson turned the flatscreen in his kitchenette on to the financial channel. Planetary Resources stock was rising after news that they had once more expanded their mining operations on Mercury. The administrator smiled, counting the new value of his portfolio in his head. It had definitely been worth it to purchase a bunch of their stock early on.

***

"There she goes", Richardson muttered to himself. "Right, we have good scans now, what can you tell me", he asked his aides. On the large screen dominating one wall of the command centre, the Chinese Luhu-class spaceship slowly rotated.
"Sir, target cross section thirty, tonnage estimated one thousand and five hundred", one of the technicians monitoring it answered. "Heading to Luna on a direct intercept course", another continued. Richardson nodded in silence. His four commander stood beside him. The Chinese had not made any secret of the maiden voyage of their first Trans-Newtonian space vessel. They said it was unarmed, a pure scientific mission and PATO intelligence agreed. Despite these reassurances, the atmosphere in the command centre was tense. Luna City had 54.7 million inhabitants now, making it larger than some PATO member states, yet it had no real defences at all.

A collective brief of relief was released once the Chinese craft settled on low orbit, clearly following a similar survey pattern that the earlier PATO ships had followed. "Okay people, back to business as usual", Richardson clapped his hands and nodded to Hood: "Keep me appraised if our friend deviates from the routine".

***

"We're at eleven hundred construction factories and that's where we will stay for now, senator", Hanson explained to his phone. "We're facing a Duranium crunch and our current capabilities are more than sufficient for now", he continued. "I can appreciate how many jobs could be created in your constituency but it's not going to happen and don't even think of going public with this - we outproduce both the Chinese and the Russians! Good day!" The red-faced administrator slammed the phone down, cracking its surface. "Fucking leeches", he grumbled out loud and pulled out the whisky bottle he kept for such occasions on his desk. For comfort, he pulled up the mineral numbers. Earth produced 6,509 tons of Duranium annually. Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries sold another 1,729 tons to PATO. The Earth production was going down as the Duranium veins became more scarce. The PR and DSI amounts would grow, if those companies continued to invest but the total amount gathered each year was going down, not growing. In three or four years, Earth would run out of Duranium completely. If, at that point, there wasn't sufficient amounts of Duranium coming from elsewhere in the system, Hanson had failed and the worst recession in human history would hit them. Joe was determined to prevent that. He didn't mind taking advantage of his position and getting filthy rich but the end game was clear. He was truly a noble man, a saviour of mankind even. A modern Jesus, you could say. His chair felt strangely woozy. Determined to figure it out, he took one last chug of the bottle, only to realise it was already empty. Angrily he hurled the bottle away, fell over from his chair and promptly passed out.

***

The Alberta summer day was gorgeous and the testing ground of CFB Suffield was packed with spectators. Dynetics has promised a good show, trying to outperform Patria's Gauss cannon with their improved Rail gun. They had two weapons to show off, both smaller than the Patria one. The 100mm one shot every 10 seconds, while the 120mm one fired once every 15 seconds. Their accurate ranges were quite impressive as well: 15 kkm and 30 kkm, respectively and a clear improved over the 10 kkm of the Gauss cannon. The test went off without a hitch. As the test winded down and the guests were guided to the catering tables, admirals Richardson and Takei snuck to the side.

"Sheppard tells me that Patria is working on an improved version of the Gauss cannon", Takei started as soon as they were out of earshot. Richardson nodded. "And if there is any risk of budget cuts, then I must insist we wait until that demonstration before finalising the next generation main weapon", Takei continued, clearly worried. Richardson shook his head: "Hanson hasn't even hinted at budget cuts. Don't worry, you'll get your improved cannons but it's clear now that the guns are the perfect choice for our ships. Which reminds me, you should swing by the art house, the boys are drawing all sorts of interesting designs in there". Relaxed once more, the diminutive Japanese officer made a slight bow: "I will indeed".

***

"So you are seriously saying that, because of a software error in the communications between your office and the Leonard Container Group, the latter dumped over half a million colonists on Mars when there was only sufficient living space for sixty thousand?" The journalist looked incredulous and Hanson couldn't blame her. It was a gigantic fuckup, that was already ruining LCG's stock value. After all the trouble of convincing Richardson that there was no danger and they could start the Mars colonization process early. And then some jackass placed a dot in the wrong place and nobody bothered to double check.

"Yes Margaret, I am seriously saying exactly that. Relief efforts are already underway and we'll of course do the best we can. Our developers are hard at working tracking down the error and will make sure that nothing like this ever happens again", Hanson smoothly explained. He knew he wasn't convincing the journalist but that wasn't necessary as long as he could calm down the public outrage. At least the communications were handled by the military side and were censored for now. Nobody needed to see suffocating colonists in full HD.

Hanson sacked few mid level managers and a couple of technicians and LCG did a similar purging. This seemed to mollify the public, understandably angry as they were over the deaths of nearly thirty thousand colonists. Needless to say, the Chinese and Russian state media were having a field day.

Yes, I forgot to check if the civilian shipping line had its colony ships full of people when I hauled few dozen infra on Mars. The shipping lines do not overload a colony on purpose but when a dozen colony ships already had a load and were looking for a place to unload, they don't talk to each other. So yay for me.

***

"All passengers are reminded that bringing alcohol from Luna City back onboard is strictly prohibited. All purchases must be stored in the cargo hold by our crew. You will be able to pick them up when departing the vessel back on Earth"

Hitomi and Anri ignored the message that was repeated through the space liners intercom. They were busy looking innocent as they entered the customs check. Aboard LCG Nordic, the crew didn't care what you drank, smoked or snorted. Luna City laws were different and neither woman wanted to spend ten years licking carpet in a micro-G prison. Outrageously dressed, they certainly caught the eyes of the customs agents but passed without incident. The ladies hailed one of the automated drone cabs. Despite its massive population, traffic was light thanks to the multilayered transport system which had maglev trains, electric busses, automated walkways and more operating in harmony. Surprisingly quickly, the drone taxi dropped them off in front of a dormitory that looked like a beehive.

"Please sign my petition ladies!" A gangly young man shouted at them as they approached the dormitory. The Japanese women looked at each other, shrugged their shoulders and walked up to him.
"What's this then?" Hitomi asked.
"It's the Independence Petition, to ask PATO to grant Luna City full national rights", the man explain, trying desperately to not oggle the acres of flesh that the women had on display.
"We're just visiting here", Anri explained. "We're Japanese", she continued as the man lost the struggle and just stared at her bust.
"Wha- oh, that doesn't matter, we're all technically citizens of one Earth nation or another", he answered.
"In that case, it'd be our pleasure", Hitomi said and flashed him the brilliant smile that had for years ensured her being the top JAV queen.
Both women pressed their thumbs against the datapad to sign the petition.

Few minutes later, they had made their way into the dormitory and found the apartment rented for them, as well as the nervous attendant who greeted the women.
"Hey! Welcome to Luna City!" the bubbly blonde shouted the moment Hitomi and Anri stepped inside the apartment. She handed them over a laminated ID cards. "Here are your passes. Please don't lose them! Your first appearance isn't until noon tomorrow, so feel free to play tourist until then or rest or whatever you want to do", she spat out in a rapid-fire manner.
"There is no official opening ceremony?" Hitomi asked to which the greeter just shook her head.
"While AVN is now a global expo and awards show and some said that the first time it's held on Luna should be marked by some festivities, the police denied our appeal for holo fireworks as well as for the parade", the woman explained.
"If there is nothing else, I'll leave you in peace now", she said and left.

"Well I'm too tired to go out", Anri announced as she flopped down on the bed. Hitomi merely giggled, lifted her gargantuan breasts up and pulled the tiny vials out that she had smuggled to Luna City. "After we drop these babies, you'll be ready to party all night long girlfriend", she said, smirking at her friend.

A week later, wearing large sunglasses, both women nursed the worst hangovers of their life as they waited boarding the Leonard L1 space liner back to Earth, when Hitomi's communicator beeped. It was a priority call from her lawyer. Resigned she answered it:
"HITOMI! What the hell! Your contract specifically stops you from freelance work!" The gray haired man on the other end of the line shouted, face red.
"Hold on, what are you talking about", Hitomi asked, her brain still fuzzy from days of partying with the other adult film stars.
"Some sleazy fly-by-night setup is selling a movie called Bukkake Queen of Luna, starring you and a bunch of others porn stars! The president of Hokuto is furious and threatens to sue you for contract violation. And I don't need to remind you that your finances would not survive it!" Her lawyer sounded truly desperate.
Hitomi pinched the bridge of her nose. She could hardly remember half of the things that happened to them in that last week, so she guessed it was entirely possible that someone had filmed one of the impromptu gangbangs she had participated in.
"I didn't sign any papers, so can't we sue whoever is selling that crap? Pretty sure I didn't sign anything", she told her lawyer, who just shook his head.
"Different jurisdictions. By the time we got any money from them, Hokuto would have ruined you already", he explained.
"Oh well. Don't worry, I'll go meet him straight from the spaceport and sort this out", Hitomi responded and killed the connection. She nudged Anri awake.
"Hey girlfriend, is your schoolgirl outfit clean? I need to go plead forgiveness from Hiroyuki again", she announced. Anri wordlessly handed over her carryon bag.
"There's some mints and baby wipes there too, which you should probably use before meeting him", the slightly less busty porn starlet sighed.

***

The staff of PATO Fleet Command were all present in the command room. The launch of the first Russian survey ship was a sufficiently important moment that nobody wanted to miss it.

"Do we know the name", asked Vice-Admiral Hood.
"I believe Intelligence said it was Frunze, after their military academy", Admiral Richardson answered.
"And look, they have already started construction another one", said Vice-Admiral Woodcock as he pointed to a second screen, showing a closeup of the Russian shipyard.
"What I'm worried about is whether they are armed", put in Rear-Admiral Takei. Everyone nodded. Lieutenant-Commander Joyce, running the Intelligence Office, had said that the ship was unarmed but their lack of human intelligence from inside Russia was a source of constant concern to the admirals.
"Okay look, it's doing the usual survey flight path to Luna, just like the Chinese did", Hood said, completely unnecessary as the computer had already put up this information.
"Yeah and the new course looks set towards Mars. I think we can all breathe easily and the Russians have built an unarmed survey ship. Back to your usual work people", Richardson announced. The spectators quickly filed out.
"I'd still feel better if we had the ability to catch their ships elsewhere in the system if necessary", Takei said quietly to Richardson, who acknowledged him. "I agree but it's difficult to justify creation of combat vessels in face of negligible threats and the risk of budget cuts", the man explained.

***

"2003 UZ413? What the hell is that", Hanson asked perplexed. One his aides was quick to explain:
"It's a trans-Neptonian plutino-type asteroid, or a dwarf planet".
Hanson shot him a glare that made the poor man shake.
"Uh, I mean, sir, it's a big asteroid, smaller than Pluto though, sharing roughly the same orbit as Pluto, with decent amounts of Neutronium and Sorium", he tried again.
"Okay, that I understand. Fine, grant the application and might as well buy the minerals for our use", Hanson declared.
"And, I think Gemma Mitchell is a good candidate to oversee it", he continued.
"But sir, Ms Mitchell has no mining experience, her background is in heavy industry and the financial sector", the aide protested.
"So it's about time she learns about mining in outer space", Hanson decided, shooting the aide another withering glare. Finished, he rose up, wished Merry Christmas to his staff and left the PATO Civil Administration building, local police keeping the protestors demanding independence for Luna City away from his limousine.
 
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GarfunkeL

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"So the Russians got another shipyard operational?" Admiral Richardson asked.
"Affirmative sir, but based on telescope imaging, they are not constructing any ships there, rather improving on the single slipway", Lieutenant-Commander Joyce responded.
"So we don't have to worry about it for a year or two then. What about the Chinese?"
"TAN is now able to construct ships of 50,000 tons and they are still enlarging it. We have no idea what the Chinese will use it for, unfortunately"
"That's a damn shame son", Richardson let out. He certainly wasn't happy but he knew, on an intellectual level, that it wasn't Joyce's fault. For decades, all Western intelligence agencies had blindly believed in SIGINT over HUMINT. The Russians and the Chinese were not efficient as PATO was but they had far fewer vulnerabilities.
"Well, no point in pulling my hair out over uncertainties. Keep me briefed", Richardson said, dismissing his intelligence officer.

***

"New rule! Mining permissions for asteroids no longer require my explicit permission. I am delegating that responsibility to you guys", Hanson blurted out. He had just wasted twenty minutes looking at the commercial proposal for 2003 MW12. "There is absolutely no need for me to personally review each of these, now that they are getting more and more commonplace. Just buy the minerals for PATO use and call it a day", he continued. After a short pause, Hanson sent an email out, ordering his underlings to prepare a status update of minerals being purchased from the civilian sector.

The report was presented to him two days later:
LUNA:
uLEULDD.png


VALA:
QdHhabF.png


MERCURY:
NgZx9WM.png


VIBILIA:
Q1sWh3N.png


CHERNYKH:
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REINMUTH:
bSG9vOq.png


2003 UZ413:
djrCmED.png


MACHHOLZ:
gqoFqzP.png


STEPHAN-OTERMA:
4FKMcIt.png


CORDUBA:
KAzvLwH.png


HERSCHEL-RIGOLLET:
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SWIFT-TUTTLE:
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NEUJMIN:
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2003 MW12:
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Hanson rubbed his chin. The mineral situation looked much better now than it had looked few years ago and it would only improve further as more and more automated mines were placed on Vala

***

The launch of the second Russian survey ship did not garner nearly as much anticipation and excitement as the first one had. However, the launch of China's first freighter literally on the same day electrified PATO officials. Despite what the majority of analysts expected, the vessel headed towards Mars instead of Luna. Once it reached the Red Planet, its crew laboriously unloaded the basic buildings blocks of a base. Apparently Beijing was content letting PATO reign on Luna and wanted its first colony/base somewhere little farther away.

"But if they wanted peace and quiet, why not head to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn?" Hood wondered aloud The answer, surprisingly, came from Hanson who had joined his military colleagues:
"Logistics. The PRC hasn't been about Communism for decades now, they only care that the Party is in control. Mars is much closer and easier to colonize than any of the Galiean moons, not to mention Titan or Triton. I bet the Chinese want to get their commercial sector involved after seeing the possibilities for profit, plus they can grow that base relatively quickly even with a handful of freighters"
The admirals nodded in agreement, the explanation was sensible.
"Does this mean that we need to consult their opinion before moving any military assets to protect OUR colony on Mars?" Hood asked.
"Yes. We're not going to start the first space war because we provoked Beijing", Richardson confirmed.

Mere two months later, Hanson's hypothesis was confirmed as Xiao Transport Services launched its first ship, a space liner for wealthy Chinese tourists to cruise to Mars, land briefly and then return to Earth.
 
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Kalin

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I like how China invested in a luxury liner first of all. Very Celestial of them. :)
 

GarfunkeL

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The bosun's pipe played the shrill noise that Captain Benjamin van Eekelen both loved and hated. Hated, because it hurt his ears. Loved, because it signalled him coming aboard a vessel as its Captain. He hard heard it already when he assumed command of Orbital Weapon Platform Australia and now getting to hear it again, as the new Captain of OWP Sweden, a larger and more complex weapon of war, was a pleasure. But it still sounded annoying. Regardless, he saluted the bosun and the 80 crewmembers who had somehow managed to fit in the airlock. Zero-G made that feat possible and for a moment, Benjamin felt vertigo as rows of saluting soldiers surrounded him in three dimensions. He needed to say few words to these strangers, having had to leave his well-trained crew behind.

"At ease. I am grateful to the PATO Navy for this assignment, as I'm sure you all are. Sweden will be the flagship of the new Division Two and, until Norway is complete, its only unit. That means it is our job to create the working culture and traditions that will maintain our capabilities through good and bad times. You all know that I've transferred from the old second division, now named the fourth but I have no illusions that things that worked well on the A-models might not work so well here, in a B-model. I will soon conduct an inspection of all stations so crew, please return to them. Officers, remain here for a moment, please", the lanky Captain ordered.

***

"So this new missile is a marked improvement?" Admiral Richardson asked.
"Certainly. I just hope we never have to use them", Vice-Admiral Hood answered.
"LGI-102 Brimstone, which is a fitting name, is obviously the same size as the old Hellstone but the boffins managed to make it deadlier. The velocity is the same, as is the range but the warhead is a third again as effective, measuring 60 on the new standard chart. Which comes with a similar increase in radiation. With the hundred and sixty we are putting to service in Third and Fourth Missile Divisions, we can glass Earth completely, even without using the existing Hellstones. Or I guess we could wipe out Luna City", Hood continued.
Richardson flinched.
"The intelligence boys are pretty sure they've made my office bug-free but please don't say things like that. We don't want the rags write headlines about us planning to nuke all human life", he admonished the long-serving leader of the Planetary Defence Command.
"Fair point. There isn't any other use for these though. I know, and agree, that we must maintain credible nuclear deterrence against China and Russia but I can't help but think that this path is a waste of resources", Hood complained.
"Fine. What about the other missile?" Richardson asked.
"In my opinion, the RSI-101 Skybolt and RSI-103 Skyarrow are even more of a waste. We have nothing that can actually shoot them. Sure, the Skyarrow is noticeably faster and more agile and has a better range than its predecessor but the 'bolts are sitting in storage and the 'arrows will do the same", Hood lamented.
"The R&D needs the practice in developing them and the ordnance factories need the contracts to stay in business. We will eventually have missile boats and then we'll need the missiles", Richardson explained, feeling exasperated that he had to again have this debate.
"Yeah, I hear you and I understand. But shooting unarmed survey ships or, heavens sake, a Chinese liner, isn't very high on my list of space combat achievements", Hood put, standing up.
"True. But it's not like we have any aliens to shoot at either, so just keep at it", Richardson concluded the meeting, waving the other man off.

***

April 1st became the independence day of Luna City. Having surpassed 100 million colonists, it was the fourth most populous country in PATO, behind Japan, Philippines, and the United States. In fact, the continuing colonization from both inside and outside PATO meant that Luna would surpass the declining population of Japan in the near future. Initially Hanson and the PATO Council advocated that the date be pushed back once talk-show hosts and other comedians pointed it out but the heterogenous population of Luna - consisting of all ethnicities from Earth - embraced the humorous date. Massive amount of paperwork would keep bureaucrats both on the moon and on the planet busy for months, if not years, as the people of Luna often had to resign their previous citizenships and acquire new Luna passports. As barriers for movement, trade and commerce in general had been reduced over the last decade inside PATO, there were few practical issues. And the PATO council grew by one seat, as Administrator Reece Price became the first elected representative of Luna. A special economic relationship emerged, as Luna was still largely dependent on imports from Earth to sustain its growth and had no Trans-Newtonian industry of its own. Yet it exported heavy machinery that was easily fabricated in the low gravity and constructed from local sources, as well as precious metals and, as surprising as it was, special spices. The marketing campaigns for a range of Lunar Spices had soon became a staple of business classes, on how to whip up demand over a imaginary superiority of a perfectly average product. Every foodie and snob on Earth demanded Luna spices on their food. Lunawood had become the go-to place for filming movies that required high-flying or zero-gravity segments and the Lunar dramas were wildly popular escapism back on Earth.

***

Woodcock sighed. The extensive ground-based survey of Mars has not turned up any additional TN minerals, despite the hopes of everyone working at Survey Command. But since Inner System Survey had finished its mission months ago, at least he could task Albert Einstein to operate as a taxi for the team. Question was - what to survey next? After a moment of deliberation, he chose Ceres. The big asteroid already held a PATO listening post, helping monitor inner system traffic. With luck, the team would find some additional minerals there so the automated mines that were busy reducing Vala could be moved there next, instead of farther away.

The insistent banging against the rough plastic door woke Sullivan up. Groaning, he rolled from under the skinny female that he didn't recognize and reached across the tiny distance that served as a room on Mars habs, opening the door with a press of a button. The smirking face of Lieutenant-Commander Alexandra Hart made his headache worse.
"Good morning sleepyhead, get dressed and say your goodbyes. We're off to Ceres", she informed her nominal superior, though still a civilian to the bone. "Oh, your ladylove does not seem happy to hear the news", Hart continued, mockingly placing a hand over her mouth. "Oops!"
Sullivan had no time to curse, too busy as he was trying to get dressed while a pissed-off Martian pelted her with insults and threats to his masculinity: "You promised you'd be staying here!"

Ten minutes later, the team was walking towards the airlock, ready to depart. As they were cycling through, Hart spoke up:
"Seriously Alex, you have to stop claiming eternal love to them. We all know that you're not going to leave Survey Command and you should know better than to give empty promises like that. At least on Ceres, there won't be any civilians for you to chase!"
Sullivan merely grunted.

***

Hanson threw the bottle against the wall in his bedroom. PATO council had gone ahead with the creation of a new high-level post, intended to oversee the entire system, now that PATO interests were growing outside of Earth. Hanson had lobbied hard for that position, to maintain his power but somehow Charlotte Phillips, five years his junior, who had been the overseer of the mining operation on comet Swift-Tuttle, was appointed instead of him. He deserved that slot, god dammit! He had no idea that the bitch had such connections or otherwise he would've gotten rid of her. Accidents happened in space all the time.

But maybe this was for the best, he mused as he uncorked another bottle. He could maintain his lucrative network on Earth. He was the big fish, regardless of what Phillips' official title was. He'd act as the puppet master, pulling the strings behind the actors.

***

Woodcock shook hands with the departing officers and technicians. Now that every asteroid and trans-Neptunian object in the system had been surveyed, there wasn't much for Survey Command to do. They would continue to provide support for the GEO team performing ground-based surveys but that hardly required an extensive staff. Since both Orbital Defence Command and Logistics Command were growing, most of his staff were reassigned to them. In a way, it was an end of an era. He wistfully remembered that moment over four years ago when the first survey ship departed Earth. He was proud that there had not been any major incidents under his command. Richardson had promised that he would head the Mobile Command once it was started. For now, he divided his time between routine command of Survey and planning meetings for Mobile.

***

Rear-Admiral Tomohisa Takei radiated an aura of calm despite the nervousness inside him. His OWP Division Three was going to be the guinea pigs for the first inter-planetary tug operation in human history. Rear-Admiral Schelleis claimed that his tug skippers had practice and the simulations worked flawlessly but Takei wasn't reassured. One quarter of his force was going to be moved from Earth orbit to Luna. But it was the job of admirals to look calm and collected at all times, so he did just that as the monitors showed the tugs Annie, Glorie, Scuffy, Theodore and Toot attaching the primitive and poorly understood tractor beams to his orbital weapon platforms. All magnetic locks reported solid connections and, one by one, the tugs started their main engines, the miracle reaction of Sorium inside the Gallicite engines enabled reactionless drive and off they went. Just eight minutes later, the operation was complete and OrbDiv 3 now protected Luna City, where sufficient maintenance facilities had been waiting for years alongside the necessary TN-minerals to keep the OWPs maintained.

BQU527x.png


***

Admiral Richardson looked over the plan that Rear-Admiral Schelleis had brought to him. PATO already had eyes on Ceres and Phobos and now that surveillance network was going to be extended further - much further. The first two Bison class freighters had been completed and they would undertake the long mission to establish listening posts on Europa and Titan.

"I hope your boys brought few books with them", Richardson said, face deadpan, as he took in the length of each mission. Schelleis merely nodded. With a max speed of merely 632 kilometers per second, the two massive freighters would take a long time to reach their destinations. Richardson was again struck by the exponentially growing distances once you departed the Inner System.
"Fifty-one days for two trips to Europa and back is bad enough but a hundred and thirteen for Titan?" The admiral let out a low whistle.
"Well, the crews will have half a day or so of leave when they get back to Earth for loading before departing again", Schelleis explained.
"I don't even want to know what sort of time-off and overtime pay the crews will get for this", Richardson stated. But he knew those papers would be crossing his desk soon enough.
"That would be a headache for LCG if we had went with Hanson's plan", Schelleis shrugged his shoulders.
"But you know just as well as I do that for strategic reasons, the Fleet must have at least some cargo capacity of its own and not only rely on civilian contracts. If there ever erupts a war...", Richardson left the idea hanging but Schelleis nodded somberly, after all he had been a staunch proponent of military lift capacity over the years.
"And we'll have more Bisons, probably ten all together so that combined with the Buffalos', the Fleet will have ten light and ten heavy freighters. That should be enough for military purposes and Hanson can out-source the rest to LCG", Schelleis said.

***

General Taylor couldn't think of a better way to spend her 40th birthday than inspecting the four new heavy infantry battalions and their shining new equipment. With a stronger compliment of armoured vehicles and heavy weaponry, they were better suited for extensive assault operations than the earlier light infantry battalions, though they lacked the engineering and support elements that made light infantry superior on the defence. The flags of 4th Battalion, Royal Green Jackets, as well as Queen's Own Yeomanry, and 6th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and finally 7th Battalion, The Light Infantry, were waving in the biting autumn wind.

"Look at those bikes go", Major-General Alfie Sullivan exclaimed. Taylor turned her head to see the motor recon squad swoop by on their reinforced, special motor trikes. The noise was awful.
"I guess there's no stealth with those", Brigadier-General Dylan Houghton quipped.
"Noise is not a problem if there is no atmosphere to transmit sound", Brigadier-General Louise Hammond answered him.
"I seriously doubt we would be fighting in space anytime soon", grunted Brigadier-General Louis Short, making the other nine Brigadiers chuckle.
"You could be surprised", said Major-General Kate Smith. "Now that the fifteenth infantry and twenty-fourth airmobile brigade combat teams are nominally ready, we're going to start brigade level exercises and those will include both assaulting and defending on the moon", she continued.

The general officers barely managed to stifle their surprise.

"Smith is correct", Taylor confirmed. "The first two Victory class transporters are under construction so until they are ready, the two brigades will fight each other on every possible environment on Earth and finally, on the Moon itself and, if I can get the permission from both politicos as well as the bean counters, even on Mars!"
 
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"Well, that was a short life time wasted", Sullivan remarked to Hart as the five team leaders of the SURCOM GEO Close Survey Mission entered GEV Albert Einstein, tasked as GEO Survey Taxi. The female soldier-slash-surveyor didn't bother to answer. Everyone was feeling frustrated and disappointed - Ceres had been devoid of TN-materials and not having any found any additional material on Corduba smelled like failure. "Though I'm not sad leaving this miserably rock behind", Sullivan continued, "I am sorry that we can't keep taking the miners money off of them in poker!" The other three men - Lieutenant Commanders Liam Lane, Adam Fowler and Matthew Parkinson - snorted. "Don't worry Alex, Vibilia has twice as many mines as Corduba, you'll have plenty of new victims", Hart said. Effortlessly, the Einstein lifted off the deformed ball slightly over hundred kilometers wide, setting a course deeper into space. Ten hours later the ship landed on the asteroid Vibilia, the team members snapped their spacesuits shut and got to work.

***

Administrator Hanson kept his poker face intact as System Administrator Charlotte Phillips outlined the mineral situation that the aides had put together and the future plans to improve it. "As you can see from this table, the previous focus on Duranium, while understandable, was somewhat misguided. We are in a very good situation with Duranium, as well as Boronide, Mercassium, Vendarite and Uridium. With my plan to both increase our number of automated mines, as well as shifting existing ones from Vala to the new site on the comet Encke, the Neutronium situation will slightly improve, though it remains a source of worry for us", the 31-year old woman announced.

fwH0AIK.png


"Miss Boyer, you're being transferred from Borrelly to Encke. Miss Power, you'll be moved to Borrelly once Vala has been cleaned out completely, which should happen inside the next 24 months", Phillips continued. Hanson perked up at that. Gemma Power probably wasn't happy that she was being sidelined by some newcomer. She had been the overseer of the most important PATO mining organization, completely under government control and not just babysitting one of the commercial ventures. Maybe he could flame the fires of malcontent in her and get an ally. He smiled contently as Phillips went on:
"The two Light Transport Squadrons of the Logistics Command will be responsible for the transfer. While we could outsource this project, the squadrons are apparently under tasked at the moment, as Admiral Schelleis put it, so I've agreed to give his spacers something to do"

***

The viewing room was zero-G but all the Very Important Persons present were accustomed to it. The sleek curves of the three gunboats filled the viewing screen as Hemlock, Hyacinth and Jasmine departed their slipways. Admiral John Richardson had gathered his four branch commanders for the occasion as the Pan-Oceanic Treaty Organization launched its first armed space ships. "It's funny that we call them gunboats, when USS Asheville, the last ocean going gunboat, was about half of that size", Vice-Admiral Michael Hood remarked. Rear-Admiral Tomohisa Takei smiled as he countered his colleague: "Well the Yamamoto displaced about seventy thousand tons and was the largest battleship ever built. Yet Nelson's flagship, Victory, was mere three and half thousand tons barely heavier than these gunboats, less than two centuries earlier and was, in her time, just as powerful". Vice-Admiral Jonathan Woodcock nodded in approval. "My point was that it feels stupid to call a three thousand ton ship a gunboat", Hood tried again but the others did not respond, focused as they were on Jasmine turning and leading her sisters towards the barely-visible black hulls of the Orbital Division One, under whose watchful eye the gunboats would go through last minute refits in preparation for their maiden voyage through the inner system.

"Have you warned Gardiner of the Russians secret project?" Richardson asked Woodcock, who now held two posts - commander of the diminished Survey Command and commander of the fledgling Mobile Command. The Brit shook his head: "I thought it prudent not to worry him with such nonsense. Until the spy boys come up with hard facts, Captain Gardiner is better off focusing on his flotilla". The other admirals nodded along - the intelligence report had been lot of hot air, aside from the fact that the Russian research teams had been put under even heavier than usual security. Something was brewing there but when it would come to fruition, and in what form, nobody could say.

***

RUSSIA OPENS A MINING COLONY ON MERCURY JUST WEEKS AFTER CHINA - screamed the headline, though few passersby seemed interested enough to buy a copy. Anthony Hobbs was old enough that he preferred the feel of actual paper in his hands, though he knew he was part of a ever-diminishing minority. He tapped a button on his smartphone, paying for the paper, and grabbed one. It would make good reading while he sat in the employee bus to the labs. Anthony had never owned a car and, despite his considerably salary as one of PATOs chief scientists, wasn't going to start using a car service either. A card-carrying environmentalist, he swore in the name of public mass transport. Besides, it was interesting to overhear snippets of office gossip from the support staff and junior researchers who mostly made up the passengers and who, not realizing who was hiding behind a newspaper, blathered freely. Which probably explained how both China and Russia could follow PATO's research progress as closely as they did, he thought ruefully. Oh well, that was a problem for the cloak-and-dagger-types. Anthony opened the paper and marveled at the grainy picture of the Russian mass driver, comfortably sitting in the twilight zone of Mercury, that eternally hazy area between the burning hellscape of its "day" side and the frozen wasteland of its "night" side. The paper must have considered the pictures important enough to pay some poor miner from the Planetary Industries mining complex to drive over and snap it. Amused, he engrossed himself in the four page article. He could review the specs of experimental kinetic weaponry later.

***

Jóse Cortez leaned back over the hood of his Mars buggy, admiring the gigantic pipes of the terraforming unit that had just been turned on. In few hours it would properly belch gasses out to thicken the thin Martian atmosphere but for now, it merely rumbled. He hardly believed that fifteen years before he had been bussing tables at a tourist resort on the cost of the Mediterranean and now he was part of the million-strong Martian Atmosphere Project. It would take decades but eventually the crowded habitats would be moved to museums and humans could walk on the surface without space suits. Once the atmosphere was stronger and the terraformers started breaking down asteroid ice into oxygen, the Martian Life Project would begin, probably employing thrice as many people planting genetically modified plants all over the planet. "Hookay bitches, the heavies are in orbit so haul ass to the loading site and start prepping for the next bastard", a gruff voice, in an godawful Texas drawl that Jóse only barely understood, commanded. Sighing, he rolled inside the buggy and, after double-checking the seals, opened his helmet to make driving somewhat more comfortable. It was going to be a long day.

***

Captain Martin Faulkner was too busy to admire the sunset, despite having an amazing view of it across the slope of Olympus Mons. His company of mechanized infantry was hull down on the southern slope, hidden in the ancient canals carved by lava flows and undisturbed by the weak gravity of Mars. The fine reddish-brown dust that made the Tharsis region famous had already covered his unit and made him wish fervently that none of his troops had neglected to install the improved dust filters. There was no escaping the dust on the shallow slopes of Olympus Mons since there was nothing blocking the wind. Though that had not stopped his staff sergeant from ordering two privates to hold a camouflage net around him. Martin suspected that the two lads had fucked up somehow and this futile task was their punishment. The dust made it difficult to monitor his map or Unified Multi-System Digital Assistant as it was officially known. What looked like a tablet strapped to his left arm was actually a pretty powerful computer that he could control even suited up, the touch display reacting to the heavy kevlar-rubber gloves he had to wear. Unfortunately the display was in the process of being covered by the Martian dust. At least the process was slow. His company was part of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, in turn part of the 24th Airmobile Brigade. Major-General Kate Smith had ordered the brigade to acclimatize to Mars the best way a military can - by training in the worst parts of Mars available. Which is why he was waiting for Colonel Jay Phillips, the CO of the battalion, to unleash his hidden company to take the boys of 7th battalion by surprise as they were advancing towards the top, under mock fire of the infantry of the other two battalions. Finally the symbol marking 15 minutes until execution popped up on the table. Faulkner turned towards his staff sergeant and made the hand-signal for getting ready - no need to use voice comms and possibly give out their location. The fusiliers moved determinedly, gathering their camouflage nets and packing them into their tracked vehicles. Soon enough the company was ready to move, still in utter silence. The thinness of the atmosphere meant that sound didn't travel far. Logically Faulkner knew that there was a lot of noise being produced just few kilometers away, yet he couldn't hear it. Then his UMSDA beeped as the timer reached zero. He flipped the company channel open and said:
"Let's ride"

***

"Is nobody bothered by the fact that we haven't seen Frunze or Murmansk in months", asked Lieutenant Commander Nicholas Joyce. Nobody in his small team responded. Commander Freya Long, who was in charge of the Survey Office and thus somewhat under-utilized at the moment, had been spending her time in the spy hut, as the Intelligence Office was being called. She looked thoughtful as she pondered the rhetorical question:
"Hmmm, we know the Russians upgraded them somehow as the old geological sensors were replaced with something different when they left, but they still definitely looked like survey sensors, just kinda weird. And it isn't strange that they would be gone for months and months while surveying the outer system, where we have no eyes"
Joyce had to agree. It made sense but his gut said that there was more to this.
"I'm going to suggest to the Admirals that we use the gunboats to shadow them", he proposed but Long was already shaking her head:
"That won't work. They don't have search sensors as they were only intended to work near Earth in the inner system"
"Well, then I'll float the idea of building a dedicated scout vessel", Joyce went on, undeterred. "PATO must know what the other powers are up to out there, in the deep dark!"
 

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