Project PRISM
Situation
The Frontier Wars of the '80s shook the confidence in the capitals of Earth, turning the freewheeling optimism of the '70s to cynical pessimism. The promise return to unquestioned economic and political superiority was shattered on the anvil of well-armed indepencent movements. The '90s tempered these into an era of pragmatism, as a new generation of leaders came to power in the postwar era. The lines had been drawn but both sides now knew the rules.
Seven years have passed since the ZOCU war ended in the halls of the UN building in Geneva. While the EU was a nonbelligerent in the greater conflict it was involved in localized actions, most notably on New Mercia and to this day shares a prickly peace with its former colonies. Funding to update the fleet and set up planetary defenses have absorbed the lion's share of the EU's discretionary budgeting and the headlines have been grabbed by sophisticated new warship designs, not much-needed replacements for the EU's old survey ships.
In this political climate it is no surprise that Operation Phoenix was politically divisive. The very idea of sending out Neue Silesia's newest capital ship on a mission to re-establish contact with the PRISM worlds was seen as the heights of folly. Even with the Consolidated European Trading Company (ConEuro) throwing its political backing behind the Kylmann administration, the St Patrick's Agreement on New Mercia was the only thing that kept the government from failing its confidence vote.
Mission
Operation Phoenix's goals are to reach the PRISM worlds and complete a chart of the Hydra Passage, a goal originally intended to be completed in the '70s but since delayed due to shifting priorities. In fact the survey ship attached the small flotilla - the FV Ptolemy - is the same ship originally assigned in the abortive 2177-2178 expedition. Another goal of equal priority is to re-establish contact with Cinereous and Henrietta. These worlds were cut off by the Breakdown and consequently have suffered four decades of isolation and official records remain unclear as to just what percent of the population could not evacuate in time. Finally, a secondary goal is to attempt to reconstruct the loss of the original PRISM mission of 2146, if such a thing is possible.
The reason Operation Phoenix was so politically charged was due to the escort demands; unlike during the glory days circa 2100 AD, human and posthuman activities have roused Velan drones to increasing threat levels. A simple massdriver to discourage the rare inquisitive mining machine is no longer sufficient. Dedicated warships are necessary, warships taken away from vital role of protecting the interests of the EU.
Flotilla
The flagship of the flotilla is the NSS Dominion, the second Europa class battleship to be completed and the first to enter service in the Neue Silesian navy. While the use of Neue Silesia's 'most powerful ship' in such a questionable endeavor was a major criticism, the counterargument that it was far more suited for these sorts of long-duration independent operations than the legacy Drakes.
Armed with new, high-performance Mercurius kinetic-kill cannons in several turrets and a positron cannon in a retractable housing the Dominion sports a heavy gun armament. Additional flexibility is afforded by the Dominion's missile room, capable of deploying a variety of weapons and probes. Neue Silesia has not publicised that the Dominion will be equipped with a number of medium and high yield fusion devices.
The advanced systems on the Dominion are not limited to the armament; the Dominion includes a full gravity-resist system and is designed to land, operate, and launch from gravity wells and atmosphere. Finally in a first for EU capital ships (and one of the reasons why the Europa program was so controversial) the ship includes substantial hangar volume for a mixed array of mobile suits and aerospace interceptors.
The other warship is the EUS Zrinyi, a Hammerhead class 'pocket battleship'. A somewhat older warship, the Zrinyi was laid down in the early 80s for long-range patrols and independent operations. Well-armed and defended and equipped with a respectable small-craft bay, the Hammerheads also proved to be expensive for the capabilities they featured and suffered from insufficient specialization. Few were built and most tend to find themselves on similar missions.
The flotilla's survey ship is the FV Ptolemy, an old Explorateur class survey ship. Refitted in 2172 with a new jump drive (replacing the previous locked-up Gen 1 unit) and new sensors she was active in refining the jump plots for over fifty systems before being put to work as an auxilary picket cruiser from 2184 to 2189. The Ptolemy was almost scrapped in the 90s, but instead underwent a SLEP, seen as a cheaper alternative to buying new survey ships.
Originally an austere design, progressive modifications over the past five decades have reduced manning and increased supply bunkerage and equipment payload. Today's Ptolemy is a tired but comfortable ship with a civilian crew split between multi-decade veterans and eager young novices.
The last ship is the FV ConEuro Thalassa, a ConEuro FE-7 'Far Trader' acting as the flotilla's supply and logistics ship. Like the Ptolemy the Thalassa was re-engined in the early '70s and spent much of the subsequent two decades operating in the peripheral Eurosphere, including into ZOCU space during the prewar period. While structurally robut due to sheer size, the Thalassa is no warship and is, as the flotilla's cargo ship, a vital asset.
Crew
The PCs will take the positions as various department heads in the Operation Phoenix flotilla. Characters do not need to be onboard the Dominion, though this is recommended.