The attack force was designated Nemesis 12. There was an additional reconnaissance craft assigned to the expeditionary force. That craft was a highly modified unmanned vehicle using an X-37C spaceplane platform powered by a newly developed fusion reactor. The ship was given the codename BugEye. Miniaturized fusion plants were already in use on military aircraft, though prior to BugEye they were largely experimental.
Though highly classified, it is our understanding the spaceplane power plant incorporated design breakthroughs developed from the study of bug nest ship fusion plants. Bug ships likely use a magnetized target fusion process. More specifically, a hybrid magnetic and inertial containment system. The propellant (fuel) was likely hydrogen in a mix with the nuclear catalysts Deuterium and Helium-3. Here’s the rundown. The fuel product would be magnetically confined as it was quickly heated to a plasma state by the squeeze of inertial confinement. The thrusters eject the resulting plasma at high velocity as reaction mass.
Military design engineers suspect bug nest ships have a secondary plasma tank providing an afterburner effect to gain additional thrust as needed. Hot spent fusion material would be vented into the afterburner tank of cold hydrogen fuel to increase reaction mass flow.
BugEye evidently incorporated similar fusion rocket technology, though without the more complex afterburner technology.
The mission operational plan had two imperatives. One was to engage the enemy blockade with an intent to destroy it. Test data suggested a relatively brief laser attack could overcome the shielding of a bug nest ship. Their energy shields are not primarily designed to deflect light. The laser cannons deployed on the Nemesis ships were specifically tuned to devastate the hull material of bug ships.
The second imperative was to gather information. Reconnaissance was needed to establish the location of the enemy base on the Moon, to allow takeover or destruction. The Earth strike force would attempt to draw the enemy ships away from the planned route of the reconnaissance ship. BugEye could, in theory, reach 20% light speed, .2C. There would not be enough time to accelerate to that velocity. It was deemed too risky to send the ship on the 20-hour acceleration run that would be required to reach full speed. That would risk detection and interdiction by the much faster bug contingent.
Of primary importance, the ship was capable of high acceleration, though it could not match nest ship afterburner capabilities. The mission was simple enough to allow AI ship control with systems hardened against high G-force acceleration. That was necessary since bugs can handle the stress of high G-forces. The reconnaissance part of the operation would be a one-way trip so there would be no need to decelerate.
A number of if/then scenarios were considered. Ideally, the Earth attack fleet should have been larger. Yet, time was of the essence. Only 12 attack ships were available. Even so, the military had high-hopes the directed energy weapons would devastate the enemy ships. The relatively slow Nemesis ships would need the long reach of those powerful lasers.
Ultimately, the planners decided the Earth strike force would make best speed to the Moon, vectoring in a feigning move to the right. There was no intention of braking for orbital insertion or to land on the Moon. Fuel consumption was a major limitation. In order to reach a reasonable velocity, there would not be enough fuel to return. A rescue mission was included as part of the plan. That part of the mission involved the use of one of the captured bug ships.
Several strategists pointed out, pulling the blockade marginally to a rightward alignment would not be particularly helpful. Bug ship acceleration and fuel stores would negate the effect of such a feigning move. Yet, no harm would come of such a move either, so the plan moved forward.
The Nemesis ships could accelerate quickly to over 40,000 miles per hour <64,000 km per hour>. That is very fast for an Earth to Moon mission. The G-forces due to acceleration made it miserable for the crews. They were able to make-due because of their training and newly developed liquid cocoon G-suits. The acceleration time was of short duration, a product of using chemical fuels. The ships would be able to reach the Moon in a record breaking 10 hours. Of course, bug ships could make the same trip in less than an hour, perhaps in under 30 minutes.
The Nemesis DEW systems could track and follow as long as the bug ships maintained a fairly steady course and rate of acceleration. It was helpful the laser beam would be moving at the speed of light.
As the Nemesis ships traveled on a right-oriented vector, in order to pull the blockade, the X-37 BugEye would travel on a left-oriented vector. Prior to acceleration, BugEye would appear to be nothing more than a large satellite circling the Earth. When the best opportunity was presented, BugEye would make a run for Darkside base.
While an exact location for the base was not known, the general area had already been determined. The trip would take a little more than an hour.
The clock ticked down and Operation Nemesis was under way to challenge the 10 bug nest ships positioned in blockade formation at an average distance of 25,000 miles <40,234 km> from the Moon.
An hour into the flight of the Nemesis Strike Group one of the bug ships left the blockade on a 45-minute intercept course. The bugs opened their communication channels. They sounded all too human as they made fun of the Nemesis class ships, those remaining in the blockade urging the interceptor to hurry. They mocked, concerned that half the primitive human ships might self-destruct before a shot was even fired.
When the bug ship
