Infrastructure and supply lines

[rfmcdpei]

Looking up distances for my part in the Freihafener segment of the Tirane Sourcebook, I noticed that the distance from Alpha Centauri (Tirane) to DM+10 2531 (Freiland) is 69.43 light years, the last stretch passing through Hochbaden, Wiseman, and the Klaxun world of Lightfall at DM+17 2611. Travelling to Aurore, it's 55.71 light years to Aurore and another 14.93 light years from there to the future Freihafener colony, for a total of 70.64 light years. (Interestingly, Aurore is easily the surviving closest colony, with Hochbaden obliterated and Nous Voila devastated.) Freihafen is probably operating at the outmost limit of its national energies to build up Freihafen.

That got me thinking. Sol to Aurore is 51.24 light years. Sol to DM+19 2881 with its garden world is 60.16 light years. Finally, it's 71.41 light years from to Lambda Serpentis, and a slightly shorter 71.21 light years from Sol to the Kafer home system of Gamma Serpentis. If it's presumably enormously expensive for a Freihafen that has America's population to set up a colony, then how expensive was it for a multinational force to fight the Kafers down past Aurore, deep into Kafer space, and smash civilization there and in the home system. The costs of a continued occupation of Gamma Serpentis and surveillance of the other planetary systems in the human-conquered sphere must be enormous.

How does the French Arm support that? While an Aurore relatively untouched by the war is almost certainly a major supply base, the destruction of relevant facilities at Hochbaden and Nous Voila and the general state of economic disarray among the colony worlds lying between Aurore and Beowulf make supporting the surviving worlds and the human fleets physically quite difficult. As Anders writes in his writeup of the Porrima outpost at Gamma Virginis, the 13.26 light years from Freiland to Carmentia on top of the ~70 or so from Tirane to Freiland would make the cost of colonization rather difficult.*

Where can the infrastructure come from? With the traditional powers exhausted, others are likely to come into play. Freihafen and Nibelungen would probably make a killing off a rebuilt Hochbaden--probably unless the Kafers fight back and push humans from their new conquests--and Wellon may yet play a major role in the Wolf Cluster. But what will happen until then? Can colonial shipping to Aurore and thence to Gamma Serpentis really increase that much? Or are we witnessing bottlenecks in formation?

* Yes, it's a longer distance from Earth to the Latin Finger, a bit more than 87 light years to Procyon and its Paulo. The difference there and in the other distant Chinese Arm worlds is that they have uninterrupted trade flows and each colony was able to build upon and count upon the worlds settled before it under a secure Manchurian peace. That does not come to play with the French Arm.

 

[dan891]

Militarily the easiest thing is to keep everything as much as possible in orbit - it's when you start messing with gravity wells things start becoming expensive. For warships the support bill is relatively light - armament, fuel, consumables, food etc - all of which can be dealt with using fleet train replenishment techniques. Fleet trains are relatively survivable staying outside the main system FTL shelf and discharging around outer bodies. Sure you then need to keep the fleet trains resupplied but that can be pushed forward with normal convoys of the 2300 equivalent of liberty ships.

Major depots could be established QAS-Dunkelheim-Aurore in orbit to allow for protection and forward movement. Major issue would be when the ground forces go forward which is no small number - so much more food (I'm guessing Beowulfian GAM and BC staples), ammunition and the thousands of items which go into keeping any sized force running. Again orbital factories for most of them and cat shot food.

Difficult yes, but not when you have all the major nations bar Manchuria pushing together to get the job done.

Colonisation is more difficult as it is essentially a single nation effort and that distance factor and cost really begin to bite. Which is not to say all those demobilised 'liberty ships' and mothballed military facilities might not be of some use. Bilateral aggrements with other nations would also come into it - ie for Freiland Dunkelheim might be a staging post..

Also I think Hochbaden will be seeing some sort of revival - although probably in military, corporate or freelancer hands in orbit. I don't see the re-establishment of Kolonie Zwei though, unless Germany wants to make a point.

 

[Anders]

The real nightmare supply line is to Gamma Serpentis - not just long and winding, the last part also has Kafer raiders.

Maybe what has happened is post-Bayern logistic development. The Bayern demonstrated that one could go absurdly far without outposts by having self-sufficient systems. Really modern ships do not need as much repair, refueling and frequent stops as the old ones, so much longer supply lines are realistic.

I think the situation would be a goldmine for belters and the Libertine Traders, at least down to Aurore and Freiland: they are setting up wildcat "fuel stops" on suitable asteroids or ice moons. The military forces may disdain them and even claim they are a security risk, but they help maintain the route and get some support. Privateers may use these new outposts as home bases and sell their presence as defence. Smugglers of course love them - making law enforcement increasingly worried about them. And the Freihafen Blackhand is of course raking in money somewhere.

In the long run, if the ships are becoming supply line independent, many outposts will become irrelevant except as towing services if something really goes wrong. Ships will just use systems for discharge and nothing else, leaving the outposts to whither or find new purposes.

 

[rfmcdpei]

The real nightmare supply line is to Gamma Serpentis - not just long and winding, the last part also has Kafer raiders.

If I was a strategic planner I'd be mounting a big push for a colonization of DM+9 2881 (?), on and around the habitable planet where Triumphant Destiny kept those prisoners. It's a nice environment, nice enough that the selective Kafers wanted to colonize it, colonies like Hochbaden could be shipped itno place fairly quickly,

Maybe what has happened is post-Bayern logistic development. The Bayern demonstrated that one could go absurdly far without outposts by having self-sufficient systems. Really modern ships do not need as much repair, refueling and frequent stops as the old ones, so much longer supply lines are realistic.

But are there enough of those? Curses! That is what comes of not letting ProVolution run governments.

I think the situation would be a goldmine for belters and the Libertine Traders, at least down to Aurore and Freiland: they are setting up wildcat "fuel stops" on suitable asteroids or ice moons. The military forces may disdain them and even claim they are a security risk, but they help maintain the route and get some support. Privateers may use these new outposts as home bases and sell their presence as defence. Smugglers of course love them - making law enforcement increasingly worried about them.

Not only because they're starting to see independent outposts form. I don't think that there's precedent for those elsewhere in the human sphere.

[T]he Freihafen Blackhand is of course raking in money somewhere.

On the Freiland route? Of course! They might be criminals but they're patriots, too. Ahem.

[M]any outposts will become irrelevant except as towing services if something really goes wrong. Ships will just use systems for discharge and nothing else, leaving the outposts to whither or find new purposes.

At least the outpost systems on the French Arm will mostly continue to have some value. Stutterwarp tugs are going to make the outposts in the Cold Mountain area fairly irrelevant.

Cherryh's Alliance-Union timeline comes to mind, with the discovery of Pell triggering a mass migration to new and more suitable economic territories.

Is this how the Wolf Cluster gets settled? There's some drain from Tanstaafl, and if Porrima works out that's another destination.

 

[Anders]

If I was a strategic planner I'd be mounting a big push for a colonization of DM+9 2881 (?), on and around the habitable planet where Triumphant Destiny kept those prisoners. It's a nice environment, nice enough that the selective Kafers wanted to colonize it, colonies like Hochbaden could be shipped itno place fairly quickly

I think it would be a controversial move, since it is a Kafer world. Core opinion might not support "taking" it, but that is likely not much of a problem for military planners and the people of the French Arm. The only headache is who foots the bill.

But are there enough of those? Curses! That is what comes of not letting ProVolution run governments.

Provolution: our trains may not be on time, but that is because they are evolving!

Not only because they're starting to see independent outposts form. I don't think that there's precedent for those elsewhere in the human sphere.

Yes, hider or isolationist habitats are one thing, outposts that have no allegiance is another. The closest thing is Drexler, but that is a completely irrelevant system. I can see some good adventures revolving about an outpost that strives to remain independent while various governments and agencies want to impose some law on it. Sounds like Cherryh, all right.

Stutterwarp tugs are expensive compared to normal ships: right now due to scarcity, but even if they were just priced like other ships they would still have an individual cost. Since a tug link requires at least two tugs, that means that the cost of using the link will be *at least* equal to twice the normal cost of a ship trip. Hence tuglinks will be competitive only when they can go where nobody else can go, or where they shorten a trip by more than half the distance.

 

[rfmcdpei]

I think it would be a controversial move, since it is a Kafer world. Core opinion might not support "taking" it, but that is likely not much of a problem for military planners and the people of the French Arm. The only headache is who foots the bill.

If the Core as a whole isn't interested in doing so, then--who knows?--it might be left up to the independent or near-independent colonies of the Arm to do something. Nibelungen's a heavily industrialized world and Alicia would probably rank alongside Canada in the interstellar power ranking. If Nibelungen's engaged in joint ventures with Freihafen at Hochbaden and Freiland, why not--say--go a step further and become a lead partner in a more adventurous adventure? For example.

Or, to make things amusingly interesting, the Manchurians can decide to fund a Hochbaden-style station there, "for the good of all humanity," ships of every nation welcome. Who doubts their claims?

Yes, hider or isolationist habitats are one thing, outposts that have no allegiance is another. The closest thing is Drexler, but that is a completely irrelevant system. I can see some good adventures revolving about an outpost that strives to remain independent while various governments and agencies want to impose some law on it. Sounds like Cherryh, all right.

The kicker would be if this outpost manages to happen upon some way to become a self-sustaining society without the funding of an external power, in a bit of the style of the Union's surpassing of the Alliance (and presumably Earth).

>95% of the human population in 2320 lives on planets with shritsleeves-habitable environments because of cultural bias and available environmental technologies of all kinds, thus explaining why distant Dunkelheim has a population comparable to that of Mars. If, despite the machinations of the various powers uninterested in its success, the Wiseman or Grosshiddenhafen or [x] outpost manages to thrive thanks to some sort of cultural and technological package of its own devising, the economics and politics of space colonization become interesting.

(Does any of the above makes sense? If not, please ignore it.)

 

[Jame]

Um, one question - how does fuel work in 2300 again?

 

[Colin]

Typically, fuel runs the small power plants, fuel cells and MHD turbines, and is oxygen/hydrogen. Teh nuke power plants (fission, fusion) are self-contained. Stutterwarp drive requires no fuel per se, just power. Thrusters for landing operations also require fuel, but the majority of starships do not land, relying on carried vehicles or local infrastructure for interface operations..