ANS - Alliance News Service: The Chumakh War

[Kenneth New]

This thread will be used for news items relating to the Pharos Sector campaign. You may also discuss news in this thread.

[Kenneth New]

2352-208: Rimward Frontier

Reports have come in that the cease fire between the Shoomari and the Chumakh has been broken. On 2352-193, a Shoomari freighter convoy en route from Ashkuzari to the Burdeghrun was attacked by Chumakh raiders. Five ships, representing more than 50,000 dtons were lost, along with 431 crew and MCr 23.6 in cargo.

Shoomari, Alliance and Tekkaren fleets have been placed on alert.

[Kenneth New]

2352-225: Rim Sector

On 2352-205, a Chumakh battlegroup attacked the Alliance Navy Base at El Dorado. They were forced to withdraw after inflicting heavy casualties (information on fleet losses has been classified). However, in what Naval Spokesperson, Admiral Cullen, has described as a "sucker punch", a much smaller task force made a close pass on the planet from above the ecliptic while the main battlegroup was engaged.

"The Chumakh forces came in ballistic, moving at 1.5 million meters per second (0.5% light speed). The ships were running without gravitic drive or active sensors and were very difficult to detect. This second task force consisted mostly of battle cruisers. They appear to have emptied their magazines at about 1,000,000 km (this is when they were first spotted). Our orbital defenses responded admirably, given the 11 minute window of opportunity, they were overwhelmed and destroyed. It's believed at this time that 53 nuclear warheads struck the less populated nothern hemisphere of El Dorado. No casualty reports have been compiled as of this time, but we expect them to be quite high."

El Dorado is a core world within Alliance Territory near the Rim Sector. It was founded in 2117 and has a population of more than 500,000,000. It is the most rimward of the core worlds.

ANS military analyst, Marisa Chang, believes that this attack "does not constitute a new doctrine of battle for the Chumakh". She goes on to say that "Unless the Chumakh have developed significantly better radiation shielding that is available to the Alliance, the crew would have suffered considerable exposure to potentially lethal cosmic rays due to their velocity." This velocity is within the maximum allowed by the Alliance Navy, but is more than three times what is considered safe for normal operations.

Captain Chang went on to surmise that the attack was intended to demoralize the Alliance rather than to take territory, citing the apparent lack of troop transports in either task group.

[Kenneth New]

2352-230: Rim Sector

First casualty reports from El Dorado indicate that only two nuclear warheads struck heavily populated areas. 27 of them failed to detonate (probably due to heavy damage from their rapid transit through the atmosphere), 19 struck the northern ice pack, 4 struck in wilderness areas and 1 in the Durham agricultural region.

Becks Landing (population 756,234) and Camelia (population 1,321,200) were both hit by nuclear warheads. Current estimates place total missing or dead at 1,163,363. Nearly 400,000 severely wounded have been evacuated to emergency treatment facilities in other communities.

Complicating matters, nuclear strikes on the northern ice pack has causes tsunamis across the northern hemisphere, prompting evacuation of coastal cities. The loss of the northern ice pack (and sudden redistribution of mass) has introduced a wobble in the axial tilt. The ISS (Interstellar Scout Service) base has observed a 0.13 degree increase in the axial tilt, and suggests that it could increase the tilt by 2.5 degrees before the wobble has expended its energy.

The Brekke-Suk poll conducted on 2352-214 indicates that more than 63% of Doradans would move to another system given the option. 93% surveyed believe the Alliance should use nuclear weapons on Chumakh civilian centers in retaliation. A Zogby poll indicates that this sentiment is shared by 86% of Earth residents.

[John Niska]

Has the Alliance issued any recall orders for inactive and reservist military? As the ISS (Interstallar Scout Service) is an Alliance government agency, has any recall orders been issued for inactive scouts?

[John Niska]

The Chumakh have struck at civilian cities and freighters. As their has been war with the Chumakh before, is this a standard tactic for them?

If it is the standard tactic, then war as usual (as much as war can be usual) but if it is a shift in tactics, then something has changed among the Chumakh.

I noticed the poll results for nuking Chumakh civilian targets. What is the standard combat tactics for the Alliance, Shuumari, and Tekkaren?

Of the three, which has the better military?

[Kenneth New]

Jul 10, 2012 21:23:14 GMT -5 John Niska said:

Has the Alliance issued any recall orders for inactive and reservist military? As the ISS (Interstallar Scout Service) is an Alliance government agency, has any recall orders been issued for inactive scouts?

No recall orders have been issues so far. What typically happens in case of war is that recall orders are isued as new ships roll off the line, or if personnel are lost faster than ships.

The Navy and the Marines are most likely to issue recall orders. The Army is somewhat less likely to do so - unless the Alliance starts occupying territory. The scouts seldom recall officers in the event of war unless more scout ships are built for use in surveilllance.

[Kenneth New]

Jul 10, 2012 21:30:39 GMT -5 John Niska said:

The Chumakh have struck at civilian cities and freighters. As their has been war with the Chumakh before, is this a standard tactic for them?

If it is the standard tactic, then war as usual (as much as war can be usual) but if it is a shift in tactics, then something has changed among the Chumakh.

I noticed the poll results for nuking Chumakh civilian targets. What is the standard combat tactics for the Alliance, Shuumari, and Tekkaren?

Of the three, which has the better military?

The Chumakh [pronounced ch'MOCK] always attack any Alliance, Tekkaren or Shoomari vessel they encounter. Attacking civilian targets from space is not a typical tactic. Military analysts (pundits) are arguing publically over this attack was an aberration, a mistake* or a change in strategy.

*Were they just trying to take out the orbitals and sdbs in orbit and hit the planet because of the intensity of the barrage?

[Kenneth New]

The Alliance, Shoomari and Tekkaren have no tradition of using weapons of mass destruction on planetary targets. It's not come up before.

The Tekkaren have a distinct technological advantage over the Alliance, the Shoomari and the Chumakh in gravitics, hull design, maneuver drives and energy weapons. Their ships can pull much higher acceleration (2-3 times as much).

They also have a more economical and effective means of producing and handling antimatter. Their missiles are smaller and faster, and produce a 200 Mton explosion due to matter-antimatter explosion. They have also developed an anti-proton beam that can be used at close range to devastating effect.

Their military doctrine is also different, with a greater empahsis on one man fighters. They are currently the only one fo the four races to build carrier ships. The most modern Tekkaren carrier, the Ibrish, carries 300 fighters. Each fighter has two wing mounted lasers (mostly for point defense and distance), but they are much less powerful than those on larger ships (equivalent to a single laser turret on smaller human vessel). They carry two 50 Mton antimatter missiles and a weaker version of the antiproton beam as a spinal mount.

The Tekkaren build fewer ships than the other three races, but each ship is more powerful.

The Alliance takes a mixed approach in their military doctrine. They rely heavily on battlecruisers and heavy cruisers, but also have a sizable number of battleships. All their ships carry a complement of 25 Mton nuclear missiles, plus a smaller number of 50 Mton shipbuster missiles. They rely heavily on laser batteries of 10 laser cannons. Battleships typically carry 30 single man fighters, each of which carries four 25 Mton missiles and has a single heavy laser mounted on the spine.

The Alliance has only three dreadnoughts. These ships larger than battleships and use only large guns (laser bay weapons) to engage the enemy. Smaller laser turrets are used only for point defense. They also have a larger missile complement. The most modern of these dreadnoughts, the ANS Sun Tzu, mounts a massive spinal laser capable of engaging at long range (typically reserved for missile engagement). All three dreadnoughts carry 50 single man fighters.

The Shoomari military doctrine differs from the Alliance in two particulars.

First , they rely much heavier on missiles than does the Alliance, carrying three times as much at the expense of half the laser capacity for a ship of the same class. Furthermore, they have twice the missile tubes of a ship in the same class, giving them a greater missile load in each salvo and extended engagement time.

Second, they rely on heavier ships, having six dreadnoughts and two superdreadnoughts. They do not build battleships, but have a slight advantage over the Alliance in Heavy Cruisers and Battlecruisers. They use battlecruisers as a screen for their heavier ships, allowing them to play point defense.

Shoomari eschew one man fighters, but build a significant number of six man patrol boats that serve a similar function.

Even though they're allied against the Chumakh, the Alliance, the Shoomari and the Tekkaren do not mix their fleets. They coordinate on the theater level, and may even conduct joint operations, but each polity commands its forces.

[Luke Porter]

An attack on the core worlds? I expect an upswing in military news and culturally more nationalistic messaging in popular culture. Also this marks another slow down in rim-ward expansion. In Pharos Sector, we can expect more colonists in the next 180-220 days and, depending on the levels of hostilities, for years to come.

[Kenneth New]

The Alliance Navy Coordinated Information Office (ANCIO) has released the following information:

"On 2353-031, the Shoomari 2nd Fleet completed an assault on the Chumakh military outpost in the Redondo system. Although they suffered severe casualties, our allies were successful in destroying the system defense boats. All orbital facilities were destroyed and the planetary defenses were bombarded from orbit. Ambassador Kulzhe (of the Shoomari Imperium) announced that the Imperial Navy has laid thousands of mines in orbit around Redondo 2.

Five days later, on 2353-036, the Alliance Navy's 3rd Fleet caught a Chumakh force in a classic Volker Maneuver, trapping them inside the hyperlimit of Brekke's Star and boxing them in. Their only option was to engage a superior force at an acceleration disadvantage, or to slingshot around the primary in hopes of picking up enough delta-vee to shorten the engagement envelope. The third element of the Volker maneuver was the small force of stealth boats that lay in wait at the Volker point on the far side of the primary. The Chumakh task force of 19 ships, including two battleships, was destroyed with no survivors. Only three stealth boats were lost in the engagement.

We're pleased to announce that the action in the Tekkaren Ulammen system provided the allies with a trifecta on 2353-038. A force of 122 ships, including 2 dreadnaughts and 10 battleships prepared to attack what they thought was a soft civilian target. The Tekkaren fleet engaged in a fighting retreat, apparently allowing themselves to be trapped inside the hyperlimit between Ulammen 3 and the invaders. The ruse must have seemed believable because of the much longer missile engagement envelope enjoyed by the Tekkaren. Although the Tekkaren Military refuses to confirm numbers, civilian news agencies on Ulammen report that the system held a force of more than 5000 fighter craft. The Chumakh fleet was able to escape with almost 50% of their fleet, but they lost both dreadnaughts and 4 battleships. Tekkaren casualties were heavy, especially in the orbital facilities. Ambassador Alansa reports that the Tekkaren Federation is considering changes in their rules of engagement in light of continued Chumakh attacks on civilian targets."

[Kenneth New]

Alliance Navy Coordinated Information Service (ANCIO)

We are now prepared to confirm that a massive Chumakh task force has struck the Shoomari colony at the Garuma system. The best reports we have indicate that this assault force consisted of three battle groups. The Shoomari system defense force was overwhelmed in the assault. We have no records of the exact numbers. Forensic teams are still reconstructing the data from the salvage.

The planetary infrastructure was obliterated in concerted nuclear bombardment from orbit. It's estimated by the Imperial Shoomari Information Office that more than 85% of the 2.1 million colonists may have been killed in the assault. The survivors are being treated in emergency shelters. The average planetary temperature has dropped 10 degrees Celsius due to destruction of the terraforming plants and the increased amount of particulates in the atmosphere.

The heinous and unprovoked assault on Garuma seems to confirm that the assault on El Dorado was no fluke. The Chumakh appear to have embraced a new policy of direct assaults on civilian population centers.

In response to this violation of all the rules of civilized warfare, Voranbar* Hunashin of the Imperial Shoomari Court has arrived at Concord Station (L4) with a complete staff. Ambassador Plenipotentiary Tehonsha has also arrived from the Tekkaren Federation with a complete staff.

*Voranbar is a Shoomari Imperial title that seems to be equivalent to an Ambassador Plenipotentiary. No one can hold the title Voranbar, unless he has already held both the office of Kulanbar (roughly equivalent to Prime Minister) and command of a provincial fleet.

[Kenneth New]

United Network News Agency

After much heated debate, the Earth Alliance has elected Danilo Silveira as the first ever President Pro Tem of the Earth Alliance. As you probably know, the Earth Alliance has no chief executive under normal circumstances.

Dr. Silveira is the well-respected diplomat who headed the Alliance legation during the New Lexington Treaty negotiations. His appointment expires in one year, although the Alliance Council may choose to extend the appointment on an annual basis. Dr. Silveira holds a Ph.D. in Alliance Law, and M.A. degrees in Communications and Public Administration.

The official commission allows the President pro tem to negotiate treaties, to coordinate the departments of government, to coordinate Alliance Military Action (in consultation with allies and the Admiralty), to borrow money, to disburse money (with the assent of the Council in the case of domestic affairs, and subject to veto of the Council in the case of military affairs) and to coordinate Alliance police functions.

Presidential actions can be vetoed by a 2/3 vote of the Council.

Chin Mei, Council Spokesperson, insists that the appointment of a chief executive is merely a temporary measure in light of the emergency situation and does not reflect a change in Alliance policy.

An officer in the Office of Naval Procurement spoke off the record, saying that the Admiralty welcomes a unified voice coming from the civilian government in times of crisis.

A concilar staffer, also speaking off the record, said that the unanimous vote to create a chief executive came with "substantial strings" attached. He added that some of the members of the Council were more than a little angry over the intransigence of some members in the face of what seems to be an existential threat.

Vikram Pradesh, chairman of the Reformation Society, went on the record saying that this appointment was definitely a step in the right direction, but added:

The Alliance is an essentially flawed organization, paralyzed by a requirement for unaninimity in order to accomplish anything. Member worlds often hold progress on important issues hostage until they can gain unfair concessions for their own world.

The Alliance needs a permanent chief executive, independent of the Council, in order to coordinate government activities. A chief executive would also provide oversight on the bureaucracy, which is currently headed by professional bureaucrats with no regular accountability to elected officials.

The Alliance Council also needs a lower threshold for government action. Even a 2/3 majority threshold would increase efficiency tenfold.

[Kenneth New]

ANCIO

We can confirm that a joint Alliance-Shoomari task force has engaged the Chumakh fleet that struck Garuma. Casualties were light, but the Chumakh fleet was able to escape the engagement.