10 September 4001
After several tense minutes, reports from Ardent Knight began arriving back through the jump point, relayed to Legion high command from Avenging Wrath and the Warden-class traffic monitor which remained on the Sol side of the jump point. The system to which Ardent Knight had transited was known to Legion astronomers as Lalande 21185, named after an ancient astronomer according to historical records which had survived to that time. Captain Perseus Abas further reported that the system contained ten planets with sixty-six moons, including one in the near-habitable range with a thin nitrogen-CO2 atmosphere, though it was tidally locked and thus would only support a small maximum population if developed fully. As Lalande 21185 was a relatively small star, nine of the planets orbited fairly closely, but the tenth planet in the system orbited rather impractically at a more than 15 billion km radius. Ardent Knight was ordered to survey the near-habitable planet carefully, and then if no dangerous aliens were found she would proceed to survey the rest of the bodies in the system while Avenging Wrath would begin the gravitational survey. Due to the smaller size of the star, each survey location would take only 60% as long to survey compared to those in Sol, much to the pleasure of the Legion high command which was eager to begin extrasolar expansion in earnest.
Astrometric survey data from Lalande 21185 showing the distribution of planets in the system. For scale, note that Planet IX orbits at 3.2 billion km from the star. Not shown: Planet X at 15.7 billion km.
Two weeks later, the ground survey of the third planet had been completed without incident. While the initial results were mediocre, Ardent Knight reported severe magnetic field anomalies which had interfered with her sensors, thus necessitating that a ground survey be carried out in the future, though few if any additional TNEs were expected to be discovered. This aside, the Lalande survey frigates were in the clear to complete their assessment of the system with all due haste.
Lalande 21185-A III
Duranium 2,592 Acc 0.4
Neutronium 254,016 Acc 0.3
Vendarite 6,718,464 Acc 0.1
Sorium 5,143,824 Acc 1.0
Gallicite 685,584 Acc 0.1
Ground Survey Potential: Minimal
While the discovery of Lalande 21185 was momentous, the Legion survey command did not lose a single step back on Duratus. By the time Ardent Knight had transited, two more survey frigates had already moved into position at the jump point nearest to Sol and were ready to commence exploration of whatever system laid beyond it. The survey frigate Adamant was ordered to transit the jump point, backed up by the newly-built Angel of Ares which would follow her once the system was declared clear for surveying. Unfortunately, on transit Adamant reported the discovery of a planetless system, Ross 128, which was of little use for the Legion colonization machine; however, as Ross 128 was a smaller star than even Lalande 21185 the gravitational survey would proceed quite rapidly especially with two survey frigates on the job.
The remaining jump points in Sol were surveyed as the survey frigates came away from the overhaul yards. The survey frigate Archon transited the second-closest jump point to reach the system of EZ Aquarii, another bodiless system despite consisting of three stars, and was soon followed by her sister, Archrival. Almost immediately a new jump point was discovered, and Archrival was ordered to press onward, transiting into the binary star system of WX Ursae Majoris, while Archon remained in-system. Finally, as the year drew to a close, Ars Magica transited the final jump point in Sol and emerged in a system known as Luhman 16, a small binary system with a mix of planets, moons, and comets with none particularly habitable.
Year 4002
The Legion high command continued to review survey reports pouring in from Lalande 21185. In addition to the near-habitable third planet, The eighth moon of the seventh planet contained numerous kinds of TNEs and would make an excellent short-term automatic mining base, alongside other small moons of that planet which were easily mined from orbital platforms. Thus, the Legion would establish a colony in this system of perhaps ten million to support mining operations and potentially a minor naval station. As the first extrasolar colony of the Duranium Legion required a suitably momentous name, the system would be rechristened as Olympia - although privately some of the Lords Admiral wondered if such a grandiose name should be reserved for a more impressive system further afield. To support this effort, two Andromeda-class stabilisation ships would be assigned to the Sol-Olympia jump points; the task of these vessels would be completed soon enough, on 2 August, which would enable civilian shipping lines to service the new colony.
Olympia-A VII - Moon 8
Duranium 5,618 Acc 1.0
Neutronium 169 Acc 1.0
Boronide 5,329 Acc 1.0
Mercassium 2,704 Acc 1.0
Uridium 900 Acc 1.0
Corundium 7,569 Acc 1.0
Gallicite 2,500 Acc 1.0
After over two years of Legion-exclusive space operations, the Centaurus Mining Group was the first entity not under the Legion high command to be granted a license to operate off-world. Their license allowed them to establish an outpost of twenty civilian equivalents to the Legion automines on the Jovian moon Europa, with provisions for expansion based on performance. At least for the near term Centaurus would be subjected to heavy taxation, although some clauses in the license agreement provided for a future possibility of direct TNE purchases by the Legion high command at a reduced rate in exchange for tax exemptions. While Europa itself was a frankly mediocre choice for a civilian mining concern, from the perspective of Legion admirals, it was hoped that this agreement would pave the way for similar future licenses at more lucrative locations.
Europa
Duranium 414,063 Acc 0.9
Mercassium 1,994,021 Acc 1
Much of the year 4002 passed in relative obscurity, as events which were once remarkable were now considered routine operations by the restless crewmen of the Navy ships. The survey frigate Angel of Ares discovered a nearly-habitable planet in the system of GJ 1061, which turned out out to have a very poor distribution of TNEs but could be very rapidly terraformed despite being 50% greater than Duratus in diameter, as it had an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere with only slightly more oxygen than was safe for human habitation and otherwise was only a little bit on the chilly side. Hopefully the rest of the system would prove more enticing, allowing this planet to serve usefully as a base for system mining operations.
GJ 1061-A II
Boronide 65,545,216 Acc 0.2
Mercassium 17,139,600 Acc 0.1
Vendarite 46,348,864 Acc 0.2
Nitrogen 71.000% 0.901 atm
Oxygen 29.000% 0.368 atm
Surface Temp (K / C) 191.64 -81.36
On 10 December, the survey frigate Adjudicator reported that the geological survey of the Sol system was completed, as the last significant body had been surveyed, an asteroid labeled as 2009 YE7.
Year 4003
On 19 January, the survey frigate Aether Net transited the unexplored jump point in HH Andromedae and came upon the Alpha Centauri system, much to the delight of the Legion Navy public relations department which had been struggling to keep the population interested in exploration of systems with names like GJ 1061. The Alpha Centauri system was a binary star system, and the initial astrographic survey indicated the presence of an amazing five near-habitable bodies. The primary component star possessed the majority of these, two planets and a moon along with an additional moon around the second planet which was similarly suited for colonization aside from a very low surface gravity. The secondary component star only had two such bodies, but perhaps more intriguing was a large asteroid belt nestled directly in the star’s habitable zone. While most of these asteroids would still require low-gravity infrastructure to support human colonies, one asteroid along with the second planet of that star made up the remaining near-habitable bodies in the system, along with a low-gravity moon of the second planet.
While this was potentially an incredible bounty, Legion high command was wary of the high probability for alien contact within this system, as any one of the five near-ideal worlds might just meet another species’ definition of “ideal”. Therefore, orders were issued for the Warden-class traffic monitor from HH Andromedae to approach each of these bodies in turn ahead of Aether Net, as while both ship classes were equipped with similar passive sensors the Wardens were also equipped with small active sensors and were significantly smaller and faster than the lumbering Ars Magicas. Therefore it was hoped that the Warden would not only provide more intelligence on potential alien contacts but also would have a better chance of escape from any hostile encounter. The unspoken presumption that the loss of a Warden would be considered more tolerable than one of the survey frigates was left unsaid, and after all to die in battle was a fate far eclipsing any glory most traffic monitor crews could ever dream of.
Warden 4 would take seventeen days to arrive in the planetary system of Alpha Centauri A, detecting no alien contacts hostile or otherwise during her review of the system. From there, travel to the B component would take another eleven days, with the brief flyby proving equally uneventful. By 17 February, the Alpha Centauri system had been declared clear of alien presence, to mixed reception at Legion high command.
Unexpectedly, first contact for the Duranium Legion would come from an unlikely source, on the far side of the known galaxy…
Shipbuilding
2x Defiant class Light Cruiser: Deadly Poison, Domination
2x Charybdis class Destroyer: Calamitous, Creeping Death
1x Bellerophon class Frigate: Brutal Legend
1x Excelsior class Jump Frigate: Endless Night
2x Phaeton class Freighter
2x Typhon class Colony Ship
2x Libra class Fleet Tender
2x Ogre class Tug
1x Obsidian class Orbital Mining Platform
Research
Construction Rate 12 BP
Geosurvey Equipment
Maintenance Support Per Facility: 1250 Tons
Maximum Orbital Mining Diameter 125 km
Particle Beam Range 150,000 km
Planetary Sensor Strength 300
Powered Infantry Armour - ARM 1.5
Shipyard Operations: 5% Time/Cost Saving
Wealth Generation per Million TN Workers: 120
Systems Discovered (Year 4002 onward)
HH Andromedae: FS Aether Net, 17 February 4002
GJ 1061: FS Angel of Ares, 1 May 4002
Kruger 60: FS Ars Magica, 9 September 4002
AD Leonis: FS Archon, 8 November 4002
Alpha Centauri: FS Aether Net, 19 January 4003
Gliese 1: FS Adamant, 28 January 4003
Kuiper 79: FS Avenging Wrath, 9 February 4003
WISE 1738+2732: FS Ardent Knight, 19 February 4003
