Kephan Unity - Tordell Invasion Campaign - First Blood
Aug 2, 2022 18:08:37 GMT -7
trynda1701 and brickwall like this
Post by rarcher on Aug 2, 2022 18:08:37 GMT -7
Ok I know I said weeks ago I was going to post this but I held off for two reasons, 1) My work really picked up and I didn't have time to give it a proper write up till tonight, and 2) The First Blood battle got divided into two session, the second of which just happened this last weekend. So I'll give you the entire battle from start to finish here. Again no pictures (I keep forgetting to take them in the excitement of play and hanging out with my buddies so rarely!), but for reference I will be using this word doc I made of all the Unity's ships as per 2269 found here. As is also usual we worked in some roleplay elements where we could to make this more 'story like'. brickwall my buddies and I would like to know when such ships get lost are you ok enshrining the events into the Unity's lore about the losses they suffer? If not its cool but having an 'official' lore take flight between us all would be to them amazing to do!
Unity Forces:
Unity Objectives:
Tordell Forces:
Tordell Objectives:
February 5th 2269, 0931 Hours - Border Of Unity Space Near Ur Region - Unclaimed System UC-07
It was the second month into laying claim to the third planet of UC-07. This system near the Ur Region of space was a class-m world rich in both dilthium and other exotic minerals for higher quality ship production and computer core construction methods. For the past two months the gaggle of ships under the direct command of a human Captain by the name of Brandon Horn aboard the HHS Atol. Escorting and supporting this effort was a Denobulan Commander by the name of Cas'ket Sho aboard the HHS Swift Winds. Overall command of the trio of three liberty class transports HHS Puppet's Fury, Popper's Fury and Harry's Fury were commanded by the Lt Commander ranked triplet humans named Daniel Fury, Mark Fury, and Son Fury respectively.
By now down on the planet just a few weeks before nearly 400 colonists having arrived by a trio of Unity colonial transports had laid the colony groundwork and got it up and running on its own power before departing a day ago. The remaining five ships had orders to remain on station until a support force with further orbital defenses and gunboats could arrive to relive them. All of the ship crews knew there was a remote possibility of Tordell forces arriving but since last year no further signs of Tordell ships or scans had been made. Scouting forces and warp probes had equally missed any signs of movement out many light years to where the known borders of the Empire were located. For now though all crews remained on alert, most figured no danger would come from this angle. Instead they were more on alert for possible pirate raider groups looking to raid the newly formed colony.
Beep Beep! Came an alert from the science officer aboard the Atol. "..Captain long range sensors are picking up an energy anomaly a quarter light year out from the system.." he said. "..Checking signal returns now in the ship's library.."
"..Understood, Lieutenant," Captain Horn replied. "..Is it possible pirates trying to sneak into the system to get us with our pants down?" he queried.
Suddenly the science officer turned, "..No Captain! Sensors are now clearing due to a passing ion storm dissipating. We have Tordell ships dropping from warp and moving in fast to the system! ETA 2 minutes to contact!" the man said.
Horn cursed under his breath, "..Tactical alert! Alert the Fury brothers to remain on station near the colony they are to drop into low orbit and go silent. Comms, alert the Swift Winds to close fast with us. Helm bring us about and get us into an intercept position!" Horn said a flurry of commands soon being carried out and the transports and ships and colony going quiet.
"..45 seconds till they're within weapons range, Captain! Confirming two Savage class destroyers, a Fly Jacket Scout, taking the lead, just behind is a Class IX vessel possibly a heavy cruiser or light battle cruiser, to rear in formation are two Pointy Slug assault transports. They have weapons and shields armed and locked, and are maneuvering into a close attack pattern for their usual support tactics.." Came another ensign nearby.
"..Did we get our call out to any ships in range?" Horn asked.
"..Negative the ion storm nearby is blocking all long range comms.." Came the return reply.
Flipping a switch on his command chair Horn spoke to the approaching enemy ships, =/\= Tordell ships you are invading claimed KUSN territory retreat now or we will defend our claims! =/\= he said. Several distant pot shots across the two combat ship's bows were all the return answer they got. "..Alright then combat it is!" Horn said gripping the side of his chair for the coming fight.
Turn 1
As the first turn of combat began the Atol and Swift Winds were positioned 10 hexes from the third planet, where behind it all three Liberty transports were hiding awaiting further orders. The colony had gone on the alert as well the limited security forces preparing to attempt to repel a ground attack, and the colony's engineering teams were scrambling to somehow get the planetary laser battery online. The colony's defense screens were raised and at the ready. Approaching fast were the two lead Savage class destroyers, with the Fly Jacket scout coming up behind. Further behind but still close enough to support the primary attack force, the Star Dart command cruiser it kept its weapons primed but not ready to fire instead focusing on bolstering further combat tactics of the three ship's ahead. Meanwhile the Pointy Slugs were slowing their approach to prepare to enter orbit of the colony to batter it aside for ground transport.
As combat began the Atol opened fire first, all four of its FH-3 phasesrs firing, all four were focusing fire on the first Savage destroyer all four shots hit home, much to Horn's delight. The phasers streaked along the forward polarized hull of the destroyer eventually with the third shot hitting breaking threw with the fourth landing directly on the hull. Damage was picked up as being the superstructure and causing a few small hull breaches. The Swift Winds meanwhile fell back slightly and after careful effort used a dangerous shield maneuver to attempt to bolster the Atol's forward arc shields at the cost of leaving themselves without shields or weapons or maneuvering. The effort was successful and came just in time as 8 concentrated energized missiles were released from both destroyers and scout. The flurry of missiles had 3 of the 8 missiles hit the Atol directly along its forward and forward port arcs. But the reinforced shields held and the remaining missiles streaked off into the blackness of space.
With the first round of combat finishing up, the scout, destroyers and command cruiser continued to maneuver jointly while the Tordell transports took a wide arc to get to the colony. Neither group of enemy ships seemed to notice the hidden liberties in a low orbit yet primed and at the ready for a fight.
Turn 2
As the second round of action began, the Tordell Star Dart held back from engaging, but continued to forego weapons to bolster its main three ships. The two Savages and Fly Jacket remained in tight formation and attempted to out maneuver the Atol and Swift Winds. This time first shots went out from the Fly Jacket its paired port facing disruptors lancing along the forward port quarter of the Atol. Both shots hit and bolstered by their command cruiser that arc of shields fell fast, bleeding into the ship's superstructure. Next to open fire was the Atol, both port facing phasers striking out to hit once more on the first destroyer. It seems luck was in their favor as both strikes hit, but due to the bolstering of all Tordell ships they were unable to penetrate. The Swift Winds meanwhile unable to attempt their reinforcement of the Atol again maneuvered to starboard and was able to get into the aft quarter of the first Savage which the Atol had been focusing on. Opening up with both disruptor banks along the forward arc both shots burned deep into the ship's rear causing a lucky strike on one of the four Savage's impulse reactors destroying it entirely. With its last remaining effort the Swift Winds port disruptor opened fire on the Fly Jacket, the disruptor also struck along the Jacket's port quarter near the warp nacelle housing which also was unshielded, damaging it slightly and reducing its power supply. The Savages not to be denied their own strikes, remained focused on the Atol. A total of 10 shots went out from both ships but somehow through the miracle of evasive maneuvers only 2 of the energy beams and 1 of the missiles struck the unprotected port and forward port arcs of the Atol! The hits though were vital strikes, utterly destroying the shield emitters in those arcs, and carrying through to injure a fair bit of superstructure and crew in those areas of effect. Limping about the Atol attempted by the close of the round to bring their still operational shield arcs to bare on the enemy forces.
Meanwhile at the colony, the three Liberty transports STILL were undetected by the approaching two Pointy Slug transports. By now the colony engineers had been able to hastily get power to the planetary laser battery, but failed to get the second online and powered properly leaving only the colony able to fire a single shot in their defense. This they now did so opening fire. The laser streaked skyward and struck one of the transports, but since they had not started ground transport still was shielded. The damage by this shot burned through the first Slug's forward arc hull and badly damaged not only the superstructure but also the forward arc emitters for the polarization system!
OOC: For reference the colony's laser battery was stat wise an FL-6 however, the max power/damage was raised to 6 vs 3, and the range limit was 10 hexes from the planet with a 360 degree arc. For shields we used the Orion OSJ with protections rated for a class X weight vessel on the charts. But we raised the max energy to 10 points and long as the colony's generator (we used the Orion single nacelle stats for the OWD-2) was producing 9+ power then all shield arcs got fully charged as did the laser battery. SS of the colony was 40 points.
At this point the Liberties led by Daniel Fury came out of hiding and also opened fire with their combined forward lasers the 3 strikes struck home on the first Slug hit by the planet and taken off guard by now all three burned further into the ship's forward hull! The ship ended up gutted from stem to stern, and lost control of its ability to maneuver and respond to control demands. While barely hanging on in operation for now this Slug was out of the fight! The remaining Slug not expecting the colony to be defended nor the appearance of armed ships was caught with no weapon's prepared, but all shields raised as the round ended.
Turn 3
As the third round of combat began Captain Horn looked around at his damaged bridge and ship, they had taken a beating but were still in the game. The Swift Winds was still undamaged and in the fight as well. He saw that much to even his surprise the colonists on the third planet had even gotten into the fight, and with the help of the Liberties had it seemed knocked out one of the two assault transports. "..We may have a shot at winning this yet!" he thought.
As the round began the Swift Winds put most of her energy into movement and her aft arc shields, leaving on a single shot to her aft quarter for minimal firing. Coming about the Swift made haste to get out from between the larger Tordell cruiser and the two destroyers. As she passed to the forward bow of the damaged Savage that she opened fire into the forward bow arc, by luck the destroyer's captain it seemed had thought the Winds would remain to their rear leaving no defense up front. The single shot from the rear of the Winds struck again home into the forward bow of the unprotected Savage though light the damage did reduce the destroyer's superstructure further. Next to operate was the Star Dart Cruiser which maneuvered and kept their shield arcs facing both Unity ships but still did not open fire choosing to support the defense of both destroyers and the Jacket. The Jacket meanwhile had also come about and both missile batteries and four energy beams. The six shots were divided with both missiles and two of the four energy strikes going for the Atol, and the other two for the Winds. The missiles struck into the Atol's direct port quarter both strikes were absorbed the shields with only minimal carry through to the superstructure. Of the two energy strikes one missed entirely but the second cut into the starboard hull causing damage to the starboard phaser banks. The second undamaged Savage came within range as well and opened up along the forward starboard arc with three beam shots and three missile shots. The Atol was lucky once more evading two of the three beams and two of the three missiles. The beam and missile that hit badly depleted but did not fully drop the shields in that arc. But hot on this action the damaged Savage was caught unable to fire due to its earlier assumption of where the Winds would be. It though attempted to jockey for position to flank the Winds next round, but this took it outside the range of effect from the command cruiser to be bolstered.
At the colony the disabled Slug transport was still failing to recover, the second Slug now allocating its defense and weapons to bare opened up on one of the Liberties. Four energy beams and a single missile struck out for the HHS Popper's Fury, the transports shields took a beating and were knocked aside with the missile slamming home into unprotected saucer. The ripple effect of damage bored through secondary effects badly damaging the Popper to critical levels and crew efficiency dropped significantly as a result. But the Popper had opened fire at the same time with its forward laser, striking back at the Slug attacking it, the shot hit home but did minimal damage to the Slug's polarized hull. The Puppet and Harry came about in concert and also opened up on the operational Slug in the same arc of fire as their wounded brother had a moment before. Both shots struck home but even combined they were not enough to break through the Slug's polarized hull. Down on the planet the colony had prepared another shot with their laser battery, but had chosen to focus fire on the disabled Slug. The shot struck true and with the damage already done this proved too much and the enemy transport bloomed into a fireball in its death throws. Thankfully none of the allied ships were damaged in the blast, but neither was the remaining Slug.
Turn 4
As the fourth turn began the Atol had again maneuvered to keep its protected starboard arcs to bare on the enemy forces. With careful maneuvering the Atol had gotten some distance from the undamaged Savage and Jacket and opened forward fire 4 times on the Savage still well within range of its phasers. Three of the four hits struck along the damaged areas. The Savage's single nacelle was blown away in the first blast, and the second and fourth struck deep into the ship's core. The damage proved too much and the destroyer slowly flickered with power loss and then a moment later exploded unable to act in this turn in revenge. The Jacket it seems had gotten orders from the cruiser to focus on the Winds, this it did so, coming about and catching the Winds partially on its port flank. Of the four beams and two missiles fired, two of the beams and both missiles hit home. Both beams quickly burned through the ship's shields, and caused secondary hull damage. The missiles came next slamming home with one blowing off one of the Winds nacelles and the other further damaging the core structure of the Winds to critical levels. Before this damage though took effect the Winds had returned in reply with two disruptor strikes, the first was absorbed by the Jacket's polarized hull but the second partly burned through causing one of the scout's three impulse reactors to fail. Thankfully for the beleaguered Atol and Winds the remaining Savage destroyer it seems had gotten orders to break off and head to the colony to deal with it and the Liberties. The command cruiser meanwhile powered its engines and closed in, preparing it seems to provide its own direct fire on the remaining ships.
At the colony during this the colony's laser battery once more opened fire aiming for the last Slug. The shot struck home tearing aside the transports hull protection and scoring a hit on the hull itself. The badly damaged Popper's Fury was given an order. =/\=..Alright Mark fall back get your shit in order and make full haste out of here, we still haven't been able to signal anyone else due to that Ion storm nearby and someone has too!..=/\= Daniel said.
=/\= Piss off Daniel! My ship still has some teeth in this fight! We're not licked yet by these bastards! =/\= Came Marks reply.
=/\= Come on Mark, don't be a stubborn idiot! If no one can warn the Capitol about this more lives and ships will get lost! =/\= the brother Son said.
There was a pause but then Mark spat out, =/\= Damn you both! If you both die here, know that I'm going to find a way to make you both pay dearly for your heroics! Helm full speed out of the system! =/\= he spat and then closed the comm.
Sluggishly the damaged Liberty began to make for the far edge of the system. Meanwhile the Slug had reorganized itself and opened fire once more only able to get off two shots one a missile the other a beam, both shots were directed at the fleeing Mark's ship. Daniel attempted to use his prepared laser shot to intercept the missile but missed, the third brother Son made an effort to physically intercept the missile with his own ship, on this effort he succeeded. The impact caught the Liberty along its forward port quarter badly damaging the shields there but not knocking them fully down. Thankfully for all three ships the beam attack missed the wounded Mark's Liberty entirely. With their efforts spent, both remaining Liberties came about to prepare to meet the Slug head on and the incoming Savage.
Turn 5
As the next turn began the Slug at the colony was the first to act. Foregoing any form of defense or movement, the transport opened up with all weapons on the two remaining Liberties. Six shots went out, two of the beams each toward the Puppet and Harry respectively with a single missile for both Liberties as well. The Harry was struck first, both beams impacting hard along the forward port quarter, the shields did their best, but were quickly overwhelmed, the remaining energy burning into the saucer and damaging the ship directly. The follow up missile finished the job of dropping the shields and the carry through energy also bored into the hull. The Harry's Fury shuddered under the impact, but somehow held on enough to keep in the fight, and return fire with its forward laser battery. The shot though missed by a wide margin. The Puppet meanwhile closed to minimum range on the Slug and opened fire with its own laser. This shot too hit but without a defense raised burned into the Slug. The Puppet's tactical officer got lucky hitting the ship's command area and causing massive loss of control. In turn the colony also responded firing its own laser battery and hitting the beleaguered transport dead on. The combined effort proved fatal and destroyed the Slug outright. But close as it was the Puppet's Fury was caught in the blast and was equally critically damaged both in shields, hull and crew as a result. This timing mistake would prove costly for them as the Savage closed the distance for the next round. Meanwhile the fleeing Popper's Fury already committed to retreat kept going and by the round's end had reached the system's far edge and was preparing to warp away.
Elsewhere the Atol and Winds were fighting for their lives with the Command cruiser closing fast. The Atol and Winds had maneuvered so they could cover each other in the best way possible, and focused their energy on taking out the Jacket scout. The Atol was the first to act, firing all four of its phasers at the Scout but only 2 of the 4 hit home. But this was enough to batter aside their forward hull defenses and carry through to the hull causing direct damage there. The Winds was next to act opening fire with its two forward arc disruptors with the damage already done and no defense in their way the two ships were able to take out the Jacket as it tumbled away from them in loss of control and then exploded in several places.
The Tordell command cruiser though by this point had closed to range and opened up four missile strikes all aimed at the Winds, the shields absorbed the three strikes that hit but failed utterly, the carry through effect sheered off the remaining nacelle and unable to compensate the blockade runner fire bloomed in destruction. The Atol's helm officer attempted to get the cruiser out of the line of fire and partly succeeded the effect though was all of its port shield emitters were now also offline! Limping away from the loss of its partner ship the Atol under Horn was ordered to remain in the fight. Opening a comm channel Horn said =/\= HA! Is that all you got? Look at you! Two transports destroyed, a scout destroyed and a destroyer all gone! he said while spitting blood off his bleeding cheek and mouth, while on his bridge he struggled to reroute power from any freed up system to get more power for the attack.
=/\= You try to taught us weakling, but you fail utterly. We come to claim this system in the name of our Empress. We fear not death, we only live to serve at Her will. We will take this system, even if we have to burn it to ash in Her name! =/\= A fanatical male toned voice said.
Without another word shared between either ship the next round of combat began.
Turn 6
The Atol was by chance the first to act this round. Horn had his ship come about and put all power to his forward shields and weapons. He even was able to squeeze some extra defense into all three shield's arcs. "..Will it be enough?.." he thought gritting his teeth and hitting the flickering tactical controls to fire four phasers at the command cruiser. All four would hit the cruiser directly which somewhat to his surprise did not even try to avoid as if showing his efforts to resist were foolish. But with their combined strike some bleed through did get through to the hull directly damage the superstructure some.
Then Horn saw the weapon ports of the Star Dart ship charge up and missile ports opened, =/\= Evasive maneuvers! All hands brace for impact! =/\= he said over a ship comm and to his bleeding helm officer, hoping the warning would be enough to keep them in the fight a bit longer.
Six energy shots went out with four hitting the Atol directly, four more missiles also came speeding in but only one would hit. The shields for a second held, but then failed along the forward arcs, bleed through and the missile strike caused sparks to erupt across the ship. The missile carried through all decks sheering off the port nacelle in the end. The beams also did structural damage, and reduced impulse power to minimal levels, as well as knocked out three of the four phaser emitters, but somehow the already damaged Atol was hanging on!
Blinking up at the ceiling of his now smokey and dark bridge, only lit by a pair of console fires where once the helm console had been, Horn coughed wincing as the pain shot up his sides and his left hand came away seeped in blood. Oddly he realized distantly he was so injured that the pain was not even registering to his body. "..Heh, well then..." he wheezed somehow managing to get to one of the aft engineering consoles, pushing aside the dead or unconscious body of the engineer that had been there. Fighting to keep conscious himself he tried to send orders to emergency bridge, hoping someone down there was alive to receive and carry them out.
OOC: Ship was down to 1 SS!
Meanwhile at the colony the Savage had closed to weapon's range and opened up on both badly damaged Liberty transports. With its weapons readied the Savage opened fire between both ships, the energy and missile shots all hit home on the Liberties, and as the two ships were rocked both got off parting shots from their lasers which would impact the destroyer belatedly to minimal effect. As the smoke cleared, both transports were gone, the colony fired its own laser battery but missed the destroyer fully. Fading fast on sensors the damaged Popper's Fury was retreating from the system barely holding together at warp 5.5.
Turn 7
On the 7th turn of combat, the Atol was a sitting duck, somehow somewhere someone was still controlling the ship by orders from the mostly damaged bridge. Horn had by now crawled over to his command chair and leaking blood from his left ribs somehow fell into it. With blood pouring out of his nose and mouth he saw the flickering view screen the Tordell ship. He hoped and prayed someone in the emergency command room was able to carry out his final orders. Letting out a ragged breath in then out he waited somehow still clinging to life to see what would happen in the next moment.
Down in the emergency command room, Ensign Bordan and Ensign Michelle somehow had avoided any serious injuries unlike the other three Lieutenants who had up till a few minutes ago working in the room. "..We've lost life support on all decks, casualties are.....critical. I think we still have one of our forward phaser emitters and able to power it. Port nacelle is gone and..." Bordan said though quietly he wondered why it mattered, they weren't getting out of this alive, even if they somehow tried to limp away he was pretty sure that ship out there would still destroy them.
Ensign Michelle nearby coughed, wincing from a bruised rib. "..I think....I think the bridge is gone." She began then a beep beep sounded, "..Wait no! We.....its Captain Horn, he..." she blanched, but then swallowed heavily, "..we're ordered to divert all remaining power to the warp engine and....and ram the enemy ship.." she said.
Bordan considered whether to follow the orders or not. But then as if sensing his choice to run Michelle took the choice from him, pushing him aside, she keyed in the command and hit the engage button locking in the course before either could reverse it. With a flash the Atol slammed forward in an instant hitting the Star Dart directly.
The Tordell ship was it seems not expecting this maneuver, indeed in the instant before impact occurred, the Tordell Commander reflected that all intelligence by scouting forces had shown these Unity peons were not courageous enough or dedicated to their cause to do such a thing. Smirking ruefully the Commander said outload, "..For the Empress...". Then in a flash he and his ship too were gone.
Back by the colony the now lone Savage destroyer saw the loss of their command ship. The destroyer's female Commander there reflected that now she was in charge of this attack. Suddenly her second in command spoke, "..Commander! We should re---" he began but then a energy pistol caused him to be vaporized mid-sentence.
"..No, continue the attack, it is just the colony, prepare our billeted troops, we will finish our mission in claiming this system for the Empress!" she said to no on in particular as she put the pistol away.
In orbit the Savage opened fire on the colony below its first salvo cored through the defense screens and much of the industrial and living areas of the colony were battered and destroyed outright the generator was equally badly damaged. But the colony returned fire anyway with their laser battery the shot hit the destroyer but the shields absorbed the impact with no carry through damage.
Turn 8
As the eighth round began, the colony was the first to act, sending another laser shot skyward. But again though hitting the damage was not enough to break through the destroyer's defenses. Once more the destroyer opened up with all weapons. More hellfire rained down on the colony proper, causing massive fires, explosions and loss of life all over. The shield emitters were utterly destroyed, as was the laser battery. The colony's population fighting or otherwise had been reduced from 400 souls to 80 in a matter of moments.
"..Commander the colony is in ruins, their defenses are gone.." A male reported.
"..Good begin beaming down our troops, they are to kill any survivors and claim what remains in the Empress's name.." She said crossing her arms about her armored chest.
With the colony in ruins, and no space borne weapons intact, the arrival of the 70 armed troops from the destroyer was hardly opposed. Though a few fighting forces remained they were too scattered to do any good, and though others among the 80 colonists tried fighting in one way or another. One by one they were hunted down and slaughtered to the last. The Tordell soldiers only lost 6 of their number in the attack. The final 11 hold outs of the colony making their last stand near what remained of the colony security post. Within another 10 minutes the enemy soldiers had broken down the make shift barricaded and slaughtered all the remaining men, women, and 3 children.
==End Combat==
Condition: Moderate Victory For Tordell Forces!
February 8th 2269, 1532 Hours - Tri-Party Capitol
Fleet Admiral R'Archer listened with other major members of the Unity council, their major allies, and other high ranking officials. In front of them in a hover chair sat the badly wounded Lt Commander Mark Fury, his ship had barely made it back to Unity space and had been towed by several scouts back to the Capitol, "..I can only assume all forces were lost, and that these Tordell now claim that system.." Mark said.
A quiet murmur went through the room, another tellarite Captain spoke, "..If the reports are believed, this was not their only attack point. Five other systems have gone quiet as of 3 days ago. You were the only one to return here. We must assume this silence of these patrol ships and colonies means they too were taken by the Tordell.."
Another rumble both of anger, and worry went through the room, R'Archer spoke with his usual force of Charisma, "..You are correct Captain, it is likely what you say. But we knew the Tordell likely would come eventually. This was why for the past five years I have been working our ship yards to the utmost producing newer designs of our own make, and refitting where possible other ships already in our service.." the Andorian began but was interrupted by another older Andorian.
"..We know this Fleet Admiral! But this enemy is powerful as our intelligence efforts and after action reports show. Is it enough to push them back and prevent them from attacking us again?" he asked.
"..I can not promise an easy victory, but we WILL resist and we WILL fight for what is ours. This Empire's ships are strong it is true, but what you do not know is I have devoted considerable efforts in war games to lessen the advantages their ships have. They use a complicated linked comm and computer array system, which bolsters their ships when in close range of each other. While we do not yet have a means to block or disrupt these signals yet I am confident we will have such soon. Further, the tactics we have developed for engaging this enemy in force are ready. I have already sent orders out for several fleet groups to assemble here to counter attack and secure our border supply lines.." R'Archer explained.
A hopeful energy came then through the room at this news, and a fury of commitment to this cause was hastily approved. As the Admiral left the room and got a status update he knew that whatever happened in the coming weeks, or months or more would be a bloody slog no matter what.
Unity Forces:
- HHS Atol - Anton Class Mk-II Cruiser - Reserve Fleet
- HHS Swift Winds - Swift Solara Blockade Runner - Reserve Fleet
- HHS Puppet's Fury - Liberty Mk-I Transport/Escort - Commerce Command
- HHS Popper's Fury - Liberty Mk-I Transport/Escort - Commerce Command
- HHS Harry's Fury - Liberty Mk-I Transport/Escort - Commerce Command
Unity Objectives:
- Destroy all invading Tordell ships
- Destroy both Tordell assault transports to prevent claiming of the Unity colony
- Retreat from the system at any time with 2 or more ships capable of warp movement
Tordell Forces:
- TSE Star Dart I - Star Dart Medium Class Command Cruiser
- TSE Savage VIII - Savage Class Destroyer
- TSE Savage XXI - Savage Class Destroyer
- TSE Fly Jacket XXXI - Fly Jacket Class Scout
- TSE Pointy Slug XLII - Pointy Slug Class Assault Transport
- TSE Pointy Slug XLII CXXXII - Pointy Slug Class Assault Transport
Tordell Objectives:
- Destroy or disable all Unity forces and claim the third planet and Unity colony with at least 1 assault transport
February 5th 2269, 0931 Hours - Border Of Unity Space Near Ur Region - Unclaimed System UC-07
It was the second month into laying claim to the third planet of UC-07. This system near the Ur Region of space was a class-m world rich in both dilthium and other exotic minerals for higher quality ship production and computer core construction methods. For the past two months the gaggle of ships under the direct command of a human Captain by the name of Brandon Horn aboard the HHS Atol. Escorting and supporting this effort was a Denobulan Commander by the name of Cas'ket Sho aboard the HHS Swift Winds. Overall command of the trio of three liberty class transports HHS Puppet's Fury, Popper's Fury and Harry's Fury were commanded by the Lt Commander ranked triplet humans named Daniel Fury, Mark Fury, and Son Fury respectively.
By now down on the planet just a few weeks before nearly 400 colonists having arrived by a trio of Unity colonial transports had laid the colony groundwork and got it up and running on its own power before departing a day ago. The remaining five ships had orders to remain on station until a support force with further orbital defenses and gunboats could arrive to relive them. All of the ship crews knew there was a remote possibility of Tordell forces arriving but since last year no further signs of Tordell ships or scans had been made. Scouting forces and warp probes had equally missed any signs of movement out many light years to where the known borders of the Empire were located. For now though all crews remained on alert, most figured no danger would come from this angle. Instead they were more on alert for possible pirate raider groups looking to raid the newly formed colony.
Beep Beep! Came an alert from the science officer aboard the Atol. "..Captain long range sensors are picking up an energy anomaly a quarter light year out from the system.." he said. "..Checking signal returns now in the ship's library.."
"..Understood, Lieutenant," Captain Horn replied. "..Is it possible pirates trying to sneak into the system to get us with our pants down?" he queried.
Suddenly the science officer turned, "..No Captain! Sensors are now clearing due to a passing ion storm dissipating. We have Tordell ships dropping from warp and moving in fast to the system! ETA 2 minutes to contact!" the man said.
Horn cursed under his breath, "..Tactical alert! Alert the Fury brothers to remain on station near the colony they are to drop into low orbit and go silent. Comms, alert the Swift Winds to close fast with us. Helm bring us about and get us into an intercept position!" Horn said a flurry of commands soon being carried out and the transports and ships and colony going quiet.
"..45 seconds till they're within weapons range, Captain! Confirming two Savage class destroyers, a Fly Jacket Scout, taking the lead, just behind is a Class IX vessel possibly a heavy cruiser or light battle cruiser, to rear in formation are two Pointy Slug assault transports. They have weapons and shields armed and locked, and are maneuvering into a close attack pattern for their usual support tactics.." Came another ensign nearby.
"..Did we get our call out to any ships in range?" Horn asked.
"..Negative the ion storm nearby is blocking all long range comms.." Came the return reply.
Flipping a switch on his command chair Horn spoke to the approaching enemy ships, =/\= Tordell ships you are invading claimed KUSN territory retreat now or we will defend our claims! =/\= he said. Several distant pot shots across the two combat ship's bows were all the return answer they got. "..Alright then combat it is!" Horn said gripping the side of his chair for the coming fight.
Turn 1
As the first turn of combat began the Atol and Swift Winds were positioned 10 hexes from the third planet, where behind it all three Liberty transports were hiding awaiting further orders. The colony had gone on the alert as well the limited security forces preparing to attempt to repel a ground attack, and the colony's engineering teams were scrambling to somehow get the planetary laser battery online. The colony's defense screens were raised and at the ready. Approaching fast were the two lead Savage class destroyers, with the Fly Jacket scout coming up behind. Further behind but still close enough to support the primary attack force, the Star Dart command cruiser it kept its weapons primed but not ready to fire instead focusing on bolstering further combat tactics of the three ship's ahead. Meanwhile the Pointy Slugs were slowing their approach to prepare to enter orbit of the colony to batter it aside for ground transport.
As combat began the Atol opened fire first, all four of its FH-3 phasesrs firing, all four were focusing fire on the first Savage destroyer all four shots hit home, much to Horn's delight. The phasers streaked along the forward polarized hull of the destroyer eventually with the third shot hitting breaking threw with the fourth landing directly on the hull. Damage was picked up as being the superstructure and causing a few small hull breaches. The Swift Winds meanwhile fell back slightly and after careful effort used a dangerous shield maneuver to attempt to bolster the Atol's forward arc shields at the cost of leaving themselves without shields or weapons or maneuvering. The effort was successful and came just in time as 8 concentrated energized missiles were released from both destroyers and scout. The flurry of missiles had 3 of the 8 missiles hit the Atol directly along its forward and forward port arcs. But the reinforced shields held and the remaining missiles streaked off into the blackness of space.
With the first round of combat finishing up, the scout, destroyers and command cruiser continued to maneuver jointly while the Tordell transports took a wide arc to get to the colony. Neither group of enemy ships seemed to notice the hidden liberties in a low orbit yet primed and at the ready for a fight.
Turn 2
As the second round of action began, the Tordell Star Dart held back from engaging, but continued to forego weapons to bolster its main three ships. The two Savages and Fly Jacket remained in tight formation and attempted to out maneuver the Atol and Swift Winds. This time first shots went out from the Fly Jacket its paired port facing disruptors lancing along the forward port quarter of the Atol. Both shots hit and bolstered by their command cruiser that arc of shields fell fast, bleeding into the ship's superstructure. Next to open fire was the Atol, both port facing phasers striking out to hit once more on the first destroyer. It seems luck was in their favor as both strikes hit, but due to the bolstering of all Tordell ships they were unable to penetrate. The Swift Winds meanwhile unable to attempt their reinforcement of the Atol again maneuvered to starboard and was able to get into the aft quarter of the first Savage which the Atol had been focusing on. Opening up with both disruptor banks along the forward arc both shots burned deep into the ship's rear causing a lucky strike on one of the four Savage's impulse reactors destroying it entirely. With its last remaining effort the Swift Winds port disruptor opened fire on the Fly Jacket, the disruptor also struck along the Jacket's port quarter near the warp nacelle housing which also was unshielded, damaging it slightly and reducing its power supply. The Savages not to be denied their own strikes, remained focused on the Atol. A total of 10 shots went out from both ships but somehow through the miracle of evasive maneuvers only 2 of the energy beams and 1 of the missiles struck the unprotected port and forward port arcs of the Atol! The hits though were vital strikes, utterly destroying the shield emitters in those arcs, and carrying through to injure a fair bit of superstructure and crew in those areas of effect. Limping about the Atol attempted by the close of the round to bring their still operational shield arcs to bare on the enemy forces.
Meanwhile at the colony, the three Liberty transports STILL were undetected by the approaching two Pointy Slug transports. By now the colony engineers had been able to hastily get power to the planetary laser battery, but failed to get the second online and powered properly leaving only the colony able to fire a single shot in their defense. This they now did so opening fire. The laser streaked skyward and struck one of the transports, but since they had not started ground transport still was shielded. The damage by this shot burned through the first Slug's forward arc hull and badly damaged not only the superstructure but also the forward arc emitters for the polarization system!
OOC: For reference the colony's laser battery was stat wise an FL-6 however, the max power/damage was raised to 6 vs 3, and the range limit was 10 hexes from the planet with a 360 degree arc. For shields we used the Orion OSJ with protections rated for a class X weight vessel on the charts. But we raised the max energy to 10 points and long as the colony's generator (we used the Orion single nacelle stats for the OWD-2) was producing 9+ power then all shield arcs got fully charged as did the laser battery. SS of the colony was 40 points.
At this point the Liberties led by Daniel Fury came out of hiding and also opened fire with their combined forward lasers the 3 strikes struck home on the first Slug hit by the planet and taken off guard by now all three burned further into the ship's forward hull! The ship ended up gutted from stem to stern, and lost control of its ability to maneuver and respond to control demands. While barely hanging on in operation for now this Slug was out of the fight! The remaining Slug not expecting the colony to be defended nor the appearance of armed ships was caught with no weapon's prepared, but all shields raised as the round ended.
Turn 3
As the third round of combat began Captain Horn looked around at his damaged bridge and ship, they had taken a beating but were still in the game. The Swift Winds was still undamaged and in the fight as well. He saw that much to even his surprise the colonists on the third planet had even gotten into the fight, and with the help of the Liberties had it seemed knocked out one of the two assault transports. "..We may have a shot at winning this yet!" he thought.
As the round began the Swift Winds put most of her energy into movement and her aft arc shields, leaving on a single shot to her aft quarter for minimal firing. Coming about the Swift made haste to get out from between the larger Tordell cruiser and the two destroyers. As she passed to the forward bow of the damaged Savage that she opened fire into the forward bow arc, by luck the destroyer's captain it seemed had thought the Winds would remain to their rear leaving no defense up front. The single shot from the rear of the Winds struck again home into the forward bow of the unprotected Savage though light the damage did reduce the destroyer's superstructure further. Next to operate was the Star Dart Cruiser which maneuvered and kept their shield arcs facing both Unity ships but still did not open fire choosing to support the defense of both destroyers and the Jacket. The Jacket meanwhile had also come about and both missile batteries and four energy beams. The six shots were divided with both missiles and two of the four energy strikes going for the Atol, and the other two for the Winds. The missiles struck into the Atol's direct port quarter both strikes were absorbed the shields with only minimal carry through to the superstructure. Of the two energy strikes one missed entirely but the second cut into the starboard hull causing damage to the starboard phaser banks. The second undamaged Savage came within range as well and opened up along the forward starboard arc with three beam shots and three missile shots. The Atol was lucky once more evading two of the three beams and two of the three missiles. The beam and missile that hit badly depleted but did not fully drop the shields in that arc. But hot on this action the damaged Savage was caught unable to fire due to its earlier assumption of where the Winds would be. It though attempted to jockey for position to flank the Winds next round, but this took it outside the range of effect from the command cruiser to be bolstered.
At the colony the disabled Slug transport was still failing to recover, the second Slug now allocating its defense and weapons to bare opened up on one of the Liberties. Four energy beams and a single missile struck out for the HHS Popper's Fury, the transports shields took a beating and were knocked aside with the missile slamming home into unprotected saucer. The ripple effect of damage bored through secondary effects badly damaging the Popper to critical levels and crew efficiency dropped significantly as a result. But the Popper had opened fire at the same time with its forward laser, striking back at the Slug attacking it, the shot hit home but did minimal damage to the Slug's polarized hull. The Puppet and Harry came about in concert and also opened up on the operational Slug in the same arc of fire as their wounded brother had a moment before. Both shots struck home but even combined they were not enough to break through the Slug's polarized hull. Down on the planet the colony had prepared another shot with their laser battery, but had chosen to focus fire on the disabled Slug. The shot struck true and with the damage already done this proved too much and the enemy transport bloomed into a fireball in its death throws. Thankfully none of the allied ships were damaged in the blast, but neither was the remaining Slug.
Turn 4
As the fourth turn began the Atol had again maneuvered to keep its protected starboard arcs to bare on the enemy forces. With careful maneuvering the Atol had gotten some distance from the undamaged Savage and Jacket and opened forward fire 4 times on the Savage still well within range of its phasers. Three of the four hits struck along the damaged areas. The Savage's single nacelle was blown away in the first blast, and the second and fourth struck deep into the ship's core. The damage proved too much and the destroyer slowly flickered with power loss and then a moment later exploded unable to act in this turn in revenge. The Jacket it seems had gotten orders from the cruiser to focus on the Winds, this it did so, coming about and catching the Winds partially on its port flank. Of the four beams and two missiles fired, two of the beams and both missiles hit home. Both beams quickly burned through the ship's shields, and caused secondary hull damage. The missiles came next slamming home with one blowing off one of the Winds nacelles and the other further damaging the core structure of the Winds to critical levels. Before this damage though took effect the Winds had returned in reply with two disruptor strikes, the first was absorbed by the Jacket's polarized hull but the second partly burned through causing one of the scout's three impulse reactors to fail. Thankfully for the beleaguered Atol and Winds the remaining Savage destroyer it seems had gotten orders to break off and head to the colony to deal with it and the Liberties. The command cruiser meanwhile powered its engines and closed in, preparing it seems to provide its own direct fire on the remaining ships.
At the colony during this the colony's laser battery once more opened fire aiming for the last Slug. The shot struck home tearing aside the transports hull protection and scoring a hit on the hull itself. The badly damaged Popper's Fury was given an order. =/\=..Alright Mark fall back get your shit in order and make full haste out of here, we still haven't been able to signal anyone else due to that Ion storm nearby and someone has too!..=/\= Daniel said.
=/\= Piss off Daniel! My ship still has some teeth in this fight! We're not licked yet by these bastards! =/\= Came Marks reply.
=/\= Come on Mark, don't be a stubborn idiot! If no one can warn the Capitol about this more lives and ships will get lost! =/\= the brother Son said.
There was a pause but then Mark spat out, =/\= Damn you both! If you both die here, know that I'm going to find a way to make you both pay dearly for your heroics! Helm full speed out of the system! =/\= he spat and then closed the comm.
Sluggishly the damaged Liberty began to make for the far edge of the system. Meanwhile the Slug had reorganized itself and opened fire once more only able to get off two shots one a missile the other a beam, both shots were directed at the fleeing Mark's ship. Daniel attempted to use his prepared laser shot to intercept the missile but missed, the third brother Son made an effort to physically intercept the missile with his own ship, on this effort he succeeded. The impact caught the Liberty along its forward port quarter badly damaging the shields there but not knocking them fully down. Thankfully for all three ships the beam attack missed the wounded Mark's Liberty entirely. With their efforts spent, both remaining Liberties came about to prepare to meet the Slug head on and the incoming Savage.
Turn 5
As the next turn began the Slug at the colony was the first to act. Foregoing any form of defense or movement, the transport opened up with all weapons on the two remaining Liberties. Six shots went out, two of the beams each toward the Puppet and Harry respectively with a single missile for both Liberties as well. The Harry was struck first, both beams impacting hard along the forward port quarter, the shields did their best, but were quickly overwhelmed, the remaining energy burning into the saucer and damaging the ship directly. The follow up missile finished the job of dropping the shields and the carry through energy also bored into the hull. The Harry's Fury shuddered under the impact, but somehow held on enough to keep in the fight, and return fire with its forward laser battery. The shot though missed by a wide margin. The Puppet meanwhile closed to minimum range on the Slug and opened fire with its own laser. This shot too hit but without a defense raised burned into the Slug. The Puppet's tactical officer got lucky hitting the ship's command area and causing massive loss of control. In turn the colony also responded firing its own laser battery and hitting the beleaguered transport dead on. The combined effort proved fatal and destroyed the Slug outright. But close as it was the Puppet's Fury was caught in the blast and was equally critically damaged both in shields, hull and crew as a result. This timing mistake would prove costly for them as the Savage closed the distance for the next round. Meanwhile the fleeing Popper's Fury already committed to retreat kept going and by the round's end had reached the system's far edge and was preparing to warp away.
Elsewhere the Atol and Winds were fighting for their lives with the Command cruiser closing fast. The Atol and Winds had maneuvered so they could cover each other in the best way possible, and focused their energy on taking out the Jacket scout. The Atol was the first to act, firing all four of its phasers at the Scout but only 2 of the 4 hit home. But this was enough to batter aside their forward hull defenses and carry through to the hull causing direct damage there. The Winds was next to act opening fire with its two forward arc disruptors with the damage already done and no defense in their way the two ships were able to take out the Jacket as it tumbled away from them in loss of control and then exploded in several places.
The Tordell command cruiser though by this point had closed to range and opened up four missile strikes all aimed at the Winds, the shields absorbed the three strikes that hit but failed utterly, the carry through effect sheered off the remaining nacelle and unable to compensate the blockade runner fire bloomed in destruction. The Atol's helm officer attempted to get the cruiser out of the line of fire and partly succeeded the effect though was all of its port shield emitters were now also offline! Limping away from the loss of its partner ship the Atol under Horn was ordered to remain in the fight. Opening a comm channel Horn said =/\= HA! Is that all you got? Look at you! Two transports destroyed, a scout destroyed and a destroyer all gone! he said while spitting blood off his bleeding cheek and mouth, while on his bridge he struggled to reroute power from any freed up system to get more power for the attack.
=/\= You try to taught us weakling, but you fail utterly. We come to claim this system in the name of our Empress. We fear not death, we only live to serve at Her will. We will take this system, even if we have to burn it to ash in Her name! =/\= A fanatical male toned voice said.
Without another word shared between either ship the next round of combat began.
Turn 6
The Atol was by chance the first to act this round. Horn had his ship come about and put all power to his forward shields and weapons. He even was able to squeeze some extra defense into all three shield's arcs. "..Will it be enough?.." he thought gritting his teeth and hitting the flickering tactical controls to fire four phasers at the command cruiser. All four would hit the cruiser directly which somewhat to his surprise did not even try to avoid as if showing his efforts to resist were foolish. But with their combined strike some bleed through did get through to the hull directly damage the superstructure some.
Then Horn saw the weapon ports of the Star Dart ship charge up and missile ports opened, =/\= Evasive maneuvers! All hands brace for impact! =/\= he said over a ship comm and to his bleeding helm officer, hoping the warning would be enough to keep them in the fight a bit longer.
Six energy shots went out with four hitting the Atol directly, four more missiles also came speeding in but only one would hit. The shields for a second held, but then failed along the forward arcs, bleed through and the missile strike caused sparks to erupt across the ship. The missile carried through all decks sheering off the port nacelle in the end. The beams also did structural damage, and reduced impulse power to minimal levels, as well as knocked out three of the four phaser emitters, but somehow the already damaged Atol was hanging on!
Blinking up at the ceiling of his now smokey and dark bridge, only lit by a pair of console fires where once the helm console had been, Horn coughed wincing as the pain shot up his sides and his left hand came away seeped in blood. Oddly he realized distantly he was so injured that the pain was not even registering to his body. "..Heh, well then..." he wheezed somehow managing to get to one of the aft engineering consoles, pushing aside the dead or unconscious body of the engineer that had been there. Fighting to keep conscious himself he tried to send orders to emergency bridge, hoping someone down there was alive to receive and carry them out.
OOC: Ship was down to 1 SS!
Meanwhile at the colony the Savage had closed to weapon's range and opened up on both badly damaged Liberty transports. With its weapons readied the Savage opened fire between both ships, the energy and missile shots all hit home on the Liberties, and as the two ships were rocked both got off parting shots from their lasers which would impact the destroyer belatedly to minimal effect. As the smoke cleared, both transports were gone, the colony fired its own laser battery but missed the destroyer fully. Fading fast on sensors the damaged Popper's Fury was retreating from the system barely holding together at warp 5.5.
Turn 7
On the 7th turn of combat, the Atol was a sitting duck, somehow somewhere someone was still controlling the ship by orders from the mostly damaged bridge. Horn had by now crawled over to his command chair and leaking blood from his left ribs somehow fell into it. With blood pouring out of his nose and mouth he saw the flickering view screen the Tordell ship. He hoped and prayed someone in the emergency command room was able to carry out his final orders. Letting out a ragged breath in then out he waited somehow still clinging to life to see what would happen in the next moment.
Down in the emergency command room, Ensign Bordan and Ensign Michelle somehow had avoided any serious injuries unlike the other three Lieutenants who had up till a few minutes ago working in the room. "..We've lost life support on all decks, casualties are.....critical. I think we still have one of our forward phaser emitters and able to power it. Port nacelle is gone and..." Bordan said though quietly he wondered why it mattered, they weren't getting out of this alive, even if they somehow tried to limp away he was pretty sure that ship out there would still destroy them.
Ensign Michelle nearby coughed, wincing from a bruised rib. "..I think....I think the bridge is gone." She began then a beep beep sounded, "..Wait no! We.....its Captain Horn, he..." she blanched, but then swallowed heavily, "..we're ordered to divert all remaining power to the warp engine and....and ram the enemy ship.." she said.
Bordan considered whether to follow the orders or not. But then as if sensing his choice to run Michelle took the choice from him, pushing him aside, she keyed in the command and hit the engage button locking in the course before either could reverse it. With a flash the Atol slammed forward in an instant hitting the Star Dart directly.
The Tordell ship was it seems not expecting this maneuver, indeed in the instant before impact occurred, the Tordell Commander reflected that all intelligence by scouting forces had shown these Unity peons were not courageous enough or dedicated to their cause to do such a thing. Smirking ruefully the Commander said outload, "..For the Empress...". Then in a flash he and his ship too were gone.
Back by the colony the now lone Savage destroyer saw the loss of their command ship. The destroyer's female Commander there reflected that now she was in charge of this attack. Suddenly her second in command spoke, "..Commander! We should re---" he began but then a energy pistol caused him to be vaporized mid-sentence.
"..No, continue the attack, it is just the colony, prepare our billeted troops, we will finish our mission in claiming this system for the Empress!" she said to no on in particular as she put the pistol away.
In orbit the Savage opened fire on the colony below its first salvo cored through the defense screens and much of the industrial and living areas of the colony were battered and destroyed outright the generator was equally badly damaged. But the colony returned fire anyway with their laser battery the shot hit the destroyer but the shields absorbed the impact with no carry through damage.
Turn 8
As the eighth round began, the colony was the first to act, sending another laser shot skyward. But again though hitting the damage was not enough to break through the destroyer's defenses. Once more the destroyer opened up with all weapons. More hellfire rained down on the colony proper, causing massive fires, explosions and loss of life all over. The shield emitters were utterly destroyed, as was the laser battery. The colony's population fighting or otherwise had been reduced from 400 souls to 80 in a matter of moments.
"..Commander the colony is in ruins, their defenses are gone.." A male reported.
"..Good begin beaming down our troops, they are to kill any survivors and claim what remains in the Empress's name.." She said crossing her arms about her armored chest.
With the colony in ruins, and no space borne weapons intact, the arrival of the 70 armed troops from the destroyer was hardly opposed. Though a few fighting forces remained they were too scattered to do any good, and though others among the 80 colonists tried fighting in one way or another. One by one they were hunted down and slaughtered to the last. The Tordell soldiers only lost 6 of their number in the attack. The final 11 hold outs of the colony making their last stand near what remained of the colony security post. Within another 10 minutes the enemy soldiers had broken down the make shift barricaded and slaughtered all the remaining men, women, and 3 children.
==End Combat==
Condition: Moderate Victory For Tordell Forces!
February 8th 2269, 1532 Hours - Tri-Party Capitol
Fleet Admiral R'Archer listened with other major members of the Unity council, their major allies, and other high ranking officials. In front of them in a hover chair sat the badly wounded Lt Commander Mark Fury, his ship had barely made it back to Unity space and had been towed by several scouts back to the Capitol, "..I can only assume all forces were lost, and that these Tordell now claim that system.." Mark said.
A quiet murmur went through the room, another tellarite Captain spoke, "..If the reports are believed, this was not their only attack point. Five other systems have gone quiet as of 3 days ago. You were the only one to return here. We must assume this silence of these patrol ships and colonies means they too were taken by the Tordell.."
Another rumble both of anger, and worry went through the room, R'Archer spoke with his usual force of Charisma, "..You are correct Captain, it is likely what you say. But we knew the Tordell likely would come eventually. This was why for the past five years I have been working our ship yards to the utmost producing newer designs of our own make, and refitting where possible other ships already in our service.." the Andorian began but was interrupted by another older Andorian.
"..We know this Fleet Admiral! But this enemy is powerful as our intelligence efforts and after action reports show. Is it enough to push them back and prevent them from attacking us again?" he asked.
"..I can not promise an easy victory, but we WILL resist and we WILL fight for what is ours. This Empire's ships are strong it is true, but what you do not know is I have devoted considerable efforts in war games to lessen the advantages their ships have. They use a complicated linked comm and computer array system, which bolsters their ships when in close range of each other. While we do not yet have a means to block or disrupt these signals yet I am confident we will have such soon. Further, the tactics we have developed for engaging this enemy in force are ready. I have already sent orders out for several fleet groups to assemble here to counter attack and secure our border supply lines.." R'Archer explained.
A hopeful energy came then through the room at this news, and a fury of commitment to this cause was hastily approved. As the Admiral left the room and got a status update he knew that whatever happened in the coming weeks, or months or more would be a bloody slog no matter what.
I'll compile things sometime haha