Author Topic: Campaign Updates  (Read 47898 times)

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Offline Kurt (OP)

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Cold War: Month 117 - Advance
« Reply #105 on: November 12, 2020, 08:53:57 AM »
Month 117, Day 4, 2000 hours, Solar System, Combined Fleets
Admiral Ruston immediately called a meeting with General Semenov.  Before meeting, he ordered a Coalition frigate-scout to jump through the warp point and confirm the departure of the alien fleets.  Even as the two fleet commanders entered their virtual conference, the scout returned with confirmation that the aliens had left and that space was clear around the warp point. 

Before Admiral Ruston could speak, General Semenov began speaking.  “We must follow them.  We have no choice.” 

The Russian commander was as dour as ever, but Admiral Ruston caught an added note in other’s tone that hadn’t been there the last time they had spoken.  “They almost certainly out-mass us, unless something major has changed.  This could be a trap.”

The Russian general shook his head.  “It may be.  Knowing the aliens, it almost certainly is.  Still, we have no choice.  We must follow.  And you know why.”

Admiral Ruston’s face hardened.  They had avoided speaking of it since they returned to the Solar System, but they both knew that there were whispers of cowardice attached to their names since their retreat in the face of the alien fleets.  They both had kept their positions, but both suspected it was more because no one wanted responsibility for a possible disaster should the aliens jump into the solar system than for any other reason.  “We did the right thing when we avoided battle and retreated.  You know that.  Are you suggesting we do the wrong thing now?  For what reason?  To prove we aren’t cowards?  Should we waste our crews in a battle we can’t win just to prove what we both already know?”

The big Russian shook his head.  “No.”  He looked directly at Admiral Ruston, his eyes piercing.  They had bonded during the Long Retreat, as they struggled to save as many as they could and were forced to watch their ships fall behind, one by one.  “We must go because if we don’t, our respective commands will relieve us and appoint someone else in our place.  I don’t know about your side, but if they relieve me, the one who would replace me would almost certainly be a political creature, not a leader.  Is it the same for you?”

Admiral Ruston wished it wasn’t, but he knew that the same was true on his side.  The other true leaders had been sidelined over the last several years, leaving a bunch of politically ambitious admirals who would almost certainly make decisions based on their effect on their careers more than anything else.  Admiral Ruston held the other’s eyes for a few seconds, then looked away.  “It’s true.  The only reason they haven’t already replaced me is because they are afraid that the aliens will attack and overwhelm us, and if they are in charge when that happens, they will be held responsible.”

“With the new reinforcements working up in the inner system there is already movement back home as the political generals begin jockeying for position.  Those reinforcements will give us an advantage in mass, unless the aliens have received major reinforcements, and they all want to be in charge during the glorious offensive that will start once the reinforcements are ready.”

Admiral Ruston nodded.  “It is the same on my side.  We have seven battlecruisers working up in the inner system, along with seven smaller ships.  I estimate that I will remain in command of the fleet until those reinforcements reach our position next month, and no longer.”

“That is why we must strike now!  If we wait, we will be replaced as soon as it becomes clear that the aliens have departed, and our replacements will blunder into trap after trap in their eagerness to win a big battle.  We must continue to protect our crews, and our nations, as long as we can, and to do this we must move now.”

Admiral Ruston looked at his friend intently.  There was more here that he wasn’t admitting.  The last intel reports from Earth had made it clear that unrest in the USSR was on the rise.  “There is more, isn’t there Dimitri?”

The Russian looked at him for several seconds, then nodded.  “Yes.  Things are deteriorating back home.  It is almost certainly worse than you know.   Two weeks ago, General Secretary Yakubov died.  He had been sick for some time; it was not unexpected.  His death, though, has exacerbated already existing instabilities within my nation.  He was the hero, the great man, that held us together after the Last War, and no one could speak against him.  More than anyone else, he held our people together, because they knew that his leadership was what held our nation together when all of the other governments fell during the Last War.  With him gone, I’m afraid that the last thing that held us together is gone.”

Admiral Ruston frowned.  “There have been no announcements.  I didn’t see anything in my last briefing packet from home.”

General Semenov shook his head.  “The fools that are now running my government have kept his death a secret.  Or, at least, they have tried.  In typical Russian fashion they tried to suppress the information, and then began arresting people when the news of his death began spreading.  That just forced the news to spread faster and farther.  And caused a proliferation of rumors, including that there has been a coup and that the General Secretary is either dead because of the coup, or is languishing in a jail cell.  This has exacerbated an already existing situation.  Before his death, the General Secretary was forced make concessions to the more…reluctant…of our allies to ensure their continued cooperation.  Our losses in troops and ships were so heavy that we feared that uprisings could spread among the more discontented, and if they were widespread enough, we would not have enough troops to put them down.  So, we made concessions.”

Admiral Ruston looked at his counterpart curiously.  “What kind of concessions?”

The Russian general shook his head.  “The usual.  Increased self-rule, local elections, limited autonomy.”

“And now?”

“It was a mistake.  With the death of the General Secretary, and the floundering of the general’s council that has replaced him, the people have lost faith in the government and our ‘allies’ see this as an opportunity.”  The big Russian sighed dramatically.  “But, to be honest, there were no good options.  Almost 60% of the orbital workforce in our shipyards are European, and many of our best remaining ground troops are Arab.  The Arabs were certainly willing to put down revolts in Europe, but if the orbital workforce went on strike, or even slowed down production…”

“There was no one to replace them.”

General Semenov shook his head.  “No.  It would be a disaster.  And if we send European and Arab troops into Russian cities to put down riots, it will ignite a rebellion of titanic proportions.  So, we gave in on some of their carefully worded demands.  Now that we are on the brink of a new offensive, with the General Secretary dead, they are demanding more freedom, more independence, and worse, there is unrest spreading throughout the heart of Russia.”  He shook his head.  “For too long the generals have ruled with an iron fist.  They cared nothing for ideology, justifying their continued rule by pointing out that it was only by the means of their strength of will that Russia continued after the Last War when all of the other governments failed.  And the people listened.  We were grievously wounded, but with our military in control of our enemies and the General Secretary in control of the military we were still great, and everyone could see that even the lowest in Russia had it better than most everyone else outside of Russia.  But the generals never gave them a unifying belief and instead just trusted in their continued strength and the people’s faith in the General Secretary to ensure their rule.  And then, when the interstellar age dawned, it became more and more clear to our people that their leaders had squandered the wealth that they had conquered during the Great War.  It had been used to give Russia the illusion of wealth, but it wasn’t real.  The standard of living in the Coalition passed that of Russia long ago, and has done nothing but climb since, and the Russian people know it.  Their obedience to the generals was ingrained by then, so it continued, but when the generals continued a war that the Coalition ended, and then lost that war, their faith in their government began leeching away.  And so now, with our ‘allies’ pulling away and our people marching in the streets, our leaders are panicking.”

“It’s that bad?”

“Worse.  I received a warning two days ago that this fleet may be recalled to Earth, to conduct ‘pacification’ operations on Earth.”

Admiral Ruston jumped to his feet, appalled.  “That would be a treaty violation!  They can’t be serious!”

General Semenov shook his head.  “The message came from a low-level planning bureau and was a warning only, but it is indicative of their concern.”  General Semenov leaned forward.  “That is why we must leave, now!  If we are in pursuit of the aliens, my government will not be willing to recall the fleet, and our positions will be secure, at least for now.   Between us, we can watch for alien traps and misdirection, surely.”

“If the situation in Russia is as bad as you say, then my government may not be willing to see my fleet depart either.”  Admiral Ruston turned from his pacing.  “Have you received direct orders in this matter?”

General Semenov shook his head.  “I have not.  The leadership is divided on the course of action to take, and I don’t think they anticipated the alien fleets suddenly leaving.”

Admiral Ruston thought furiously.  “Our official orders from the Allied High Command are to guard the warp point and ‘react to alien movements’.  I’m sure they meant us to react to an assault into the Solar System, not an unexpected retreat, but still, that gives us a lot of leeway.”  He came to a sudden decision.  “Order your fleet to prepare, we will jump to Sigma Draconis within the hour.”

General Semenov disappeared from the virtual conference, and Admiral Ruston began issuing orders.  Thirty minutes later the fleet jumped out of the Solar System and began pursuit of the alien fleets. 

 
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Offline Kurt (OP)

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Cold War: Month 117, Events in Phyriseq and Moskva
« Reply #106 on: November 14, 2020, 09:54:31 AM »
Month 117, Day 5, Phyriseq System
Skull Splitter’s task force reached the warp point to the Mintek home system, and then passed it, with the Mintek fleet in pursuit.  Because his force was composed of heavy cruisers, he could outrace them at any time, but for now he was content to see what the Mintek would do.  He had no interest in fighting them, he merely wanted to force them to flail about, wasting time, until reinforcements could assemble in the Chruqua nexus. 

The Mintek fleet moved over the warp point and settled into defensive positions.  Skull Splitter watched as one by one the larger Mintek ships jumped back to their home system, and then reappeared in the Phyriseq system ten or fifteen minutes later.  Unless he missed his guess, those ships were jumping back to the Mintek home system and taking aboard supplies.  His run at the Mintek warp point apparently taught the Mintek that their big ships were vulnerable to having their supplies cut off, and were now remedying that weakness.  He could anticipate their next action fairly well.  Once their ships were resupplied, they would set out for the warp point to the Chruqua nexus, in an attempt to cut his force off, threatening his supply lines just as he had threatened theirs.  And he would have to respond to that threat, just as they had. 

Sure enough, several hours after they arrived at the warp point, the Mintek force set out on a direct course for the warp point to Chruqua.  This was a threat pointed directly at Skull Splitter’s force.  He must either attack them before they could invest the warp point, or run ahead of them and jump out, ceding the system to them.  For Skull Splitter the decision was easy.  The Phyriseq colony was of minor importance in the larger scheme of things.  The Chruqua nexus was of vital importance to both the D’Bringi and the Rehorish, and it must be defended.   

The D’Bringi fleet turned to follow the Mintek, then accelerated to maximum cruising speed and raced ahead of them, then settled down to pace the Mintek force to the warp point out of the system.  Their ETA to the warp point to the Chruqua nexus was twenty-six days. 

Month 117, Day 10, Yeack (Leningrad) system
The combined alien fleets arrived in the Yeack system early in the day, successfully jumping out of the Duril (Moskva) system and leaving the pursuing human fleets behind.  The fleets paused while the mines deployed at the warp point were picked up and added to the mines recovered from the WP to the human’s home system, and then the combined fleets departed for the closed warp point back to D’Bringi space.  For all intents and purposes, the D’Bringi were abandoning this front and withdrawing to their space. 

Month 117, Day 11, Moskva system
The Combined Coalition and Russian fleets arrived at the warp point approximately fourteen hours behind the withdrawing alien fleets.  Once in place, Admiral Ruston and General Semenov issued an urgent request for reinforcements.  Scouts shadowing the withdrawing alien fleet had confirmed its strength – one battlecruiser, twenty-eight cruisers, twenty-six light cruisers, fifteen destroyers, and eight corvettes.   Compared to the human fleet strength, six battlecruisers, eighteen cruisers, fourteen light cruisers, nine destroyers, one frigate, six corvettes, and twenty-five escorts, the alien fleets still out-massed the human fleets by about a third, raising the question of why they were withdrawing. 

In any case, regardless of why they were withdrawing, there was no way that Admiral Ruston or General Semenov were going to order an assault against a warp point that was likely defended by a superior force.  The forces working up in the inner Solar System consisted of nine battlecruisers, a heavy cruiser, seven light cruisers, a destroyer, three corvettes, and twelve escorts.  These ships would go a long way towards redressing the imbalance between the human and alien forces, and would give the human force twelve light cruisers designed to assault warp points and eliminate minefields. 

The request from the two fleet commanders was received approximately eight hours later on Earth after being relayed through the warp point by scouts positioned there as comm relays.  Allied Fleet Command approved the request and issued orders to the newly built ships working up in the inner system, and the two groups set out for the warp point to the Moskva system. 

 
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Cold War: Month 117, Events accelerate
« Reply #107 on: November 16, 2020, 06:37:09 AM »
Month 117, Day 13, Moskva System
Admiral Ruston watched as General Semenov boarded his flagship.  The Russian general looked old and tired, in a way that he hadn’t during the Long Retreat.  The intelligence reports must be true, Ruston thought, as his friend and second in command walked forward and grasped his hand in greeting. 

“Admiral, we need to talk.”

Admiral Ruston had anticipated this and led the big Russian to a nearby conference room.  “The intelligence reports are bad, Dimitri.  Tell me that we have It wrong.”  Ruston took a chair while gesturing for his second in command to do the same. 

The Russian shook his head, settling heavily into the proffered chair.  “It is worse.  I believe that within a matter of days my fleet will be recalled to Earth by the Politburo.”

Admiral Ruston leaned forward.  “That would be disastrous!   Not only would it be a treaty violation on several levels, but it would leave us open to attack here!  If you withdraw, I’d have to withdraw as well, or face an attack from the combined alien fleets alone.”

“It’s worse, old friend.  My leadership fears an internal revolt and secession by our allied states.  My orders will almost certainly be to return to Earth and provide support to our military to put down the rebellions.”

Admiral Ruston looked aghast.  “But…to do that you’d have to be in orbit over Earth, and that would be a violation of the Earth Defense Treaty.  If your fleet crosses the ten light second line, it will almost certainly mean war with the Coalition!”

General Semenov looked even more haggard, if possible.  “I know.  The leadership has become increasingly detached since the death of the General Secretary.  They believe that everyone else is weak, and that a show of force will be sufficient to cause everyone else to back down.”

“You know that won’t work.  They are playing brinksmanship with nuclear weapons!”

“I know.  And that is why I am here.  I have no intention of taking my fleet back to Earth.  That can only lead to a world-wide war and the final annihilation of Earth.  Therefore, as of now, I have instituted a communications blackout throughout my fleet.  We will accept no further communications from Earth.  I have the support of most of my officers, and those that do not support this course of action have been removed.  That would not have been possible just a short time ago, but most of the firebrands went down with Marshal Kosygin, and the Long Retreat has forged a bond amongst those of us that remain.  To make this work, however, I will need your assistance.  Your staff must impose a blackout on your fleet as well, or word will inevitably leak to someone in my fleet.  Together we can retain sanity here, on our fleets, if nowhere else.”

Admiral Ruston settled back in thought.  “I have been considering just this.  With the worsening news back home, the crews are becoming restless at being so far away.  A blackout would give us time.  Eventually we are going to have to tell them something, but at least for now we can keep the lid on.”

The two fleet commanders talked for another hour, and came to an agreement.  Both commanders would send messages home emphasizing the importance of their current mission.  General Semenov would impose a total blackout on his fleet, while Admiral Ruston would severely limit contact with Earth. 

Month 117, Day 14, Earth
On this date politely worded demands arrived in Moscow from the Warsaw Pact nations and the Arab Soviet Socialist Republics (ASSR).  After the Final War, the victorious USSR had consolidated all European nations into the Warsaw Pact, and formed a ‘semi-autonomous’ SSR out of the remnants of the Arab states that survived the war.  Both of these areas had been devastated by the Last War, and Europe, in particular, had been further impoverished after its conquest by the USSR.  However, in the decades since the war, both areas had recovered, to a certain extent, and were now important parts of the Soviet empire.  The Politburo had long been concerned by the growth of nationalism and independence movements in the two semi-autonomous zones, and much of the USSR’s internal politics for the last decade had been a delicate balancing act aimed at weakening the independence movements in those areas while catering to their political leadership and benefiting from their economies.  Now, though, that delicate balancing act was falling apart.  The defeats suffered by the USSR in the war had forced heavier requirements upon the two semi-autonomous zones to make up for the losses, at the same time that it brought into question the effectiveness of the USSR’s leadership.  The death of the General Secretary followed by protests in many of the cities in Russia proper, including Moscow, had greatly emboldened those pushing for independence for the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR. 

The demands were brought to Moscow by small delegations of politicians and negotiators from the two states.  In essence the demands called for increased independence from the USSR and the freedom to run their economy and government in the manner that they wished, without interference from Moscow.  The two delegations were received by low level bureaucrats and put into hotels while the council of generals who were now running the USSR consulted. 

Month 117, Day 15, Earth
The delegations from the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR were arrested early this morning.  Orders were sent to all Soviet military units to begin mobilization and redeployment, and messages were sent to the two semi-autonomous zones informing them that their political leaders were declared invalid and were to be removed from office immediately.  If those demands were not met, the Soviet Army would be deployed to both zones to enforce the will of the Russian People. 

In addition, messages were sent to the Soviet Fleet units both in the Solar System and in Moskva, withdrawing them from the Alliance.  The fleet in Moskva was ordered to return to Earth, while the reinforcements currently headed out-system towards the warp point to the Moskva system were ordered to continue the warp point and hold there, to ensure that the Coalition did not interfere with the return of the fleet. 

The Coalition government is shocked by the rapidity of the developments in the USSR.  It had been aware of the growing discontent in Russia, but the death of the General Secretary and the rapid increase of the boldness of the separatist movements had caught them by surprise.  The Coalition government issues a formal protest against the actions of the Russian government in withdrawing its fleet from the Alliance, and sends orders to the reinforcements now headed out-system to shadow the Russian reinforcement group.  In addition, it sends a warning to Admiral Ruston. 

Month 117, Day 16, Sol, warp point to the Moskva system
The Soviet reinforcement group reaches the warp point to Moskva on this date.  In accordance with its orders it holds position on the Solar System side of the warp point, taking station off of the two Soviet asteroid forts guarding the warp point.   The Coalition reinforcements take station with the Coalition bases guarding the warp point. 

The Russian fleet in the Moskva system, commanded by General Semenov, has gone silent and is not responding to messages from Earth. 

Month 117, Day 17, Sol, warp point to the Moskva system
Early in the day two Soviet light cruisers and six escorts break away from the group of Soviet ships that arrived yesterday and immediately transit out of the system.  This causes a flurry of conflicting orders from the group commander and the commanders of the two asteroid fortresses which breaks down into a three-sided argument.  During the argument, the battlecruiser Admiral Ushakov, which had just been repaired, transited out as well.  Ultimately, the remaining twelve ships in the group are ordered to take up a station well away from the warp point and warned against approaching for any reason. 

The ships that jumped out immediately set course to join up with General Semenov’s force at the warp point to the Leningrad system. 

The Coalition High Command wants to order the Coalition force on the warp point to Sigma Draconis (Moskva) to jump out to join Admiral Ruston’s force, but fears the growing instability of the USSR and needs to counter balance the Russian force at the warp point in the Solar System.  Therefore, the Coalition ships in the Solar System will stay in the Solar System.  However, the Coalition government confirms Admiral Ruston in command of his fleet, and sends him orders to clear the Sigma Draconis system and the surrounding systems of aliens. 
 
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Cold War: Month 117, D'Bringi Reinforcements
« Reply #108 on: November 17, 2020, 03:04:48 PM »
Month 117, Day 20, Chruqua Nexus, D’Bringi Expanses
Four T’Pau cruisers arrive in the Chruqua nexus.  These cruisers, two heavy and two light, are the first of the forces converging on the nexus to arrive.  The force immediately sets out for the warp point to the Phyriseq system, where the D’Bringi have ordered all reinforcements to assemble. 

Later this same day the Rehorish, D’Bringi, and T’Pau fleets that had retreated to the Yeack (Leningrad) system reached the closed warp point in that system and jumped through to the Jerothal system.  The D’Bringi and their allies had succeeded in breaking contact with the human fleets and withdrawing beyond their reach.
 
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Cold War: Month 117, End of Month events
« Reply #109 on: November 18, 2020, 08:00:52 AM »
Month 117, Day 25, Earth
The USSR has received no response to its demands that the political leadership of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR be removed and arrested.  Its mobilization of its ground military forces continues, and units have begun assembling along the borders with the two recalcitrant states.  Both the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR have begun mobilizing their own military forces, and while they cannot face the Russian military in a direct fight, they are not inconsiderable. 

Early in the day the rumors of the death of the General Secretary are confirmed by the beleaguered Russian government.  This news, coupled with the withdrawal of the major military units from across Russia, prompts massive protests in nearly every major city in Russia as the people give vent to their frustrations and anger at their government.   

In frustration and fear, the Russian government sends multiple messages to every ship commander in the fleet deployed in Moskva, ordering them to arrest General Semenov and to return to the Solar System. 

Month 117, Day 27, Moskva system, WP to Leningrad
The Russian ships that broke away from the Soviet force at the warp point in the Solar System joined the Russian fleet under General Semenov today.  Their commanders brought word of the riots in Russia and the death of the General Secretary.

With his communications blockade effectively broken by the arrival the new ships and their release of the news, General Semenov decided to address his fleet before the rumors started or the situation degenerated too far. 

“Comrades!  By now you have all heard of the grim news from home, and many of you will be wondering if the communications blackout I imposed on the fleet is related.  I will be honest with you.  I knew of the rumors of unrest, and the rumors of the General Secretary’s death, and I did not want mere rumors to divert you from your duty.  We are the front line, protecting the Motherland against vicious aliens.  The same vicious aliens who, we must never forget, destroyed our colony on Triton for no known reason.  We are all that stands in between those aliens and our homes.”

General Semenov paused and shook his head.  “There are some back home that want to order us to return to Earth and put down the unrest in our cities!  I say no to that!  This fleet is a weapon of war!  A weapon of mass destruction!  If we return home there is only one way to influence events on the ground, and that is to threaten to launch our missiles at those who are disobeying the government!  And what then?  What if they ignore us?  Do we destroy our own cities?  And if we try, the Coalition will try to stop us.  Perhaps our own defenses will try to stop us!  I do not support the unrest in our cities, or the actions of our allied governments, but I do not believe that it is our place to intervene!  We are Fleet!  We are the last line of defense between our people and the denizens of the galaxy that would loot and rape our planet!  I say we should stay here, where we can defend our people, rather than return.  Let our people decide what they want, while we defend them!  While we go forward and liberate the Brezhnev system, the Home Fleet, and all of our colonies that languish under an alien yoke!”

General Semenov, who had been standing and leaning into the camera, now sat down and took a deep breath.  “I know this is all new.  I know that this is a lot to adjust to on very short notice.  But I am asking you to stand with me, here, defending humanity against the alien threat.  Talk amongst yourselves.  If you decide that you must return, I will give those who so decide ships and allow them to go freely.  I will be disappointed, but I will understand.  You have four hours to decide.”

Soviet Fleet: 4xBC, 2xCA, 12xCL, 2xCT, 31xES, 1xEX

Perhaps, if a larger proportion of the fleet’s crews were from Russia proper, or even Earth, his speech would have failed.  But the percentage of crew persons from the colonies had been increasing for some time, and now a majority of the crews and sizeable percentage of the officers were from off world, and had a smaller stake in what happened on Earth.  In the end, just over eight percent of the officers and crews decided to return to the Earth.  General Semenov kept his word and transferred them all to eight escorts and allowed them to depart. 

Month 117, Day 28, Moskva System
With the situation deteriorating back home, Admiral Ruston and General Semenov decide to take a risk and probe the Leningrad system to determine if the D’Bringi are still there. 

The probe force will consist of six Soviet assault light cruisers accompanied by a Coalition frigate-scout and four corvettes.  Their orders are to transit into the Leningrad system and immediately turn around and return.  If they survive, the entire probe should take around a minute to complete.   

The ships transit out one by one, and sure enough, thirty seconds later they begin returning.  All of the ships return except the Coalition frigate-scout, which remained behind to scan the area around the warp point.  The probe force commander confirmed that the area around the warp point was apparently clear out to seventy-two light seconds. 

Admiral Ruston and General Semenov had been in their virtual conference, waiting for the report.  Before Admiral Ruston could say anything, General Semenov broke in. “We must take advantage of this!  The D’Bringi are gone.  The route to the Brezhnev system is clear.  We must determine the fate of the Home Fleet and those who remained in the Brezhnev system.”

Admiral Ruston shook his head.  “Dmitri, we must be cautious.  The D’Bringi and their allies out-massed us significantly, and are known for their ambushes.  This has to be a trap!  Why else would they retreat when they have a superior force?”

General Semenov leaned forward.  “Who knows?  Perhaps they have been attacked closer to home, or maybe their alliance has fallen out and they now distrust each other.  In any case, now is not the time for undue caution.  We must act, before events back home deteriorate further.  If I can reach the Brezhnev system, and the Home Fleet still survives, that may be just the boost that the people back home need to calm things down!”  The big Russian general sat back.  “Still, you are not wrong about the D’Bringi.  Therefore, I have a suggestion.  I will take only a small force with me into the Leningrad system.  If we still hold the Brezhnev system then I will not need more, and if it is a complicated ambush then we will not be risking much.  While I am doing this, you must move to the Volvograd system, or the Shaka system, if you prefer.  The Rehorish are still present there, and are blocking our routes to our colonial systems.  If we can dislodge them and force them back, then the resulting morale boost back home will also be valuable, particularly for you.  We will have obtained solid results that no one can dispute.”

The two leaders discussed the possibilities for a short time, then agreed on that basic course of action.  The Russian and Coalition fleet split into three groups.  The smallest was a squadron of Coalition ships left on the warp point from the Moskva system to the Leningrad system, to watch for D’Bringi raiders.  General Semenov’s group was somewhat larger, while the main force under Admiral Ruston was the largest. 

Moskva-Leningrad Picket: 3xCL, 3xDD, 2xEXS (Coalition)
Leningrad Expeditionary Force (General Semenov): 1xBC, 2xCA, 6xES, 1xEXS (Russian)

Main force (Admiral Ruston):     
Russian: 3xBC, 12xCL, 2xCT, 17xES
Coalition: 3xBC, 16xCA, 1xCL, 6xDD, 1xFGS, 4xCT, 2xEXS

The forces under the commands of Admiral Ruston and General Semenov separated and set out for their destinations, leaving the picket group behind to watch their backs. 

Before departing, General Semenov sends several messages back to the Solar System, informing leaders within the Russian military of his plans to liberate the Home Fleet and the Brezhnev system. 

Month 117, Day 30, Chruqua Nexus
The Rehorish Reserve Fleet arrives in the nexus and immediately sets its course for the warp point to the Phyriseq system.  D’Bringi reinforcements are also in the nexus, and the T’Pau squadron has already reached the assembly point. 

Late in the day the combined Rehorish, D’Bringi, and T’Pau fleets enter the Chruqua nexus from the Jerothal system. 

Month 117, Day 30, Earth
General Semenov’s message arrived early in the day, and caused quite a stir in the Naval Headquarters in Moscow.  For weeks General Semenov had been under threat of arrest, branded a traitor by the Council of Generals.  Unfortunately, Semenov was about as far from Russia as he could get, and he had proved that he was beyond the power of the Council, at least for now.  Some within the HQ still supported General Semenov, and when the message containing his plans arrived, they seized on this to attempt to rehabilitate the general and his fleet.  In normal times this would not have worked, however, these were far from normal times.  Everything was chaos, and several purges had already worked their way through the upper reaches of the armed forces. 

At this particular moment, the Council was looking for ways to rally the people, many of whom were marching in the streets screaming for their blood.  Tomorrow would almost certainly bring a new policy, but today the Council was all about reconciliation and rallying the people.  And the message from Semenov arrived at just the right time.  The Home Fleet and its ambush in the Leningrad system and subsequent escape had achieved almost mythic proportions amongst the people.  Now, with the situation deteriorating daily, the Council seized on this new development as the opportunity they had been looking for.  Nationwide announcements were made about a new planned offensive to reach the Home Fleet.  General Semenov was rehabilitated and all arrest warrants and mentions of treason were removed. 

For a time, it appeared that the announcements would have the effect the Council wanted.  Public opinion shifted, and the riots quieted, at least somewhat.  After the announcement Semenov’s faction in Naval HQ seized upon the moment to send the USSR’s four mobile shipyards away from Earth, loaded with supplies, with authorization to jump out of the Solar System and join up with General Semenov’s fleet.  The shipyards would be needed to help recover and repair the Home Fleet units in the Brezhnev system, if they still existed.  They tried to break loose some of the combat units that had been held in the solar system, but the Council of Generals was not ready to go that far and those orders were rescinded. 
 
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Cold War: Month 118
« Reply #110 on: November 20, 2020, 12:30:26 PM »
Month 118
D’Bringi:
Repairs are completed on four corvettes, a heavy cruiser, and a battlecruiser.  Four heavy cruisers finish refits that bring them up to the latest standards. 

The D’Bringi have redeployed to face the Mintek threat, and have apparently successfully broken contact with the humans and withdrawn through their closed warp points. 

Rehorish Stellar Dominion:
First battlecruiser is completed in the home system yards.  Three BS3’s are reactivated from mothballs and take station at the warp point leading to the D’Bringi Expanses.  Two captured Russian ships are repaired and join the fleet. 

The Rehorish Grand Fleet withdrew with the D’Bringi Forward Fleet and is moving to engage the Mintek.  The Rehorish government is concerned about the fact that they now have insufficient forces in the conquered Russian territories to stop a human advance, but for now believe that the Mintek are a greater threat. 

T’Pau Syndicate:
New technology becomes available (ECCM (UTM)).  A light cruiser is launched, and 125 laser buoys are completed. 

Reformation Coalition:
Three BS3’s are completed in Sol, intended for the warp point defenses.   Two BS0’s are completed in Epsilon Eridani.  Four frigate-scouts are launched in the Solar System as well. 

USSR:
Four light cruisers are launched from the orbital yards.   

Month 118, Day 1, Earth
The Politburo withdraws troops from the invasion forces assembled on the borders, and sends them into Russian cities to restore order.  In Moscow and several other major cities, the presence of foreign troops amongst the ‘peacekeepers’ drives the people wild and fuels a rebellion that spreads rapidly, in spite of the deployment of troops.

 
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Cold War: Turn 118, D'Bringi Reinforcements Arrive
« Reply #111 on: November 22, 2020, 10:43:13 AM »
Month 118, Day 2, 0200 hours, Phyriseq system
Skull Splitter’s force reached the warp point to the Chruqua nexus and began jumping out.   The Mintek force was coming up behind them, but the D’Bringi force, which was faster, had been able to ensure that they would have enough time to leave the system.  Skull Splitter was on his command deck, at his command station, watching as his cruisers jumped out one by one.  After watching for a few seconds, he nodded at his comm officer, then, looking into the video and audio pickup, began his message.  “Strategos Neeron, if your fleet advances into the next system, it will be destroyed.  If you do not withdraw from the Phyriseq system, you will be destroyed.  We will return.”

The comm officer ended the recording, and then at a signal from Skull Splitter, send the recording to the pursuing Mintek force.  Thirty seconds later Skull Splitter’s flagship jumped out. 

On the far side of the warp point, Skull Splitter’s force met up with the T’Pau reserve force.  The T’Pau force was only four ships, two cruisers and two light cruisers, but its presence was welcome all the same.  Additionally, the Rehorish Reserve Fleet and the D’Bringi Reserve Fleet were five days away, and the Combined Fleet, which had withdrawn from human space, was ten days away. 

Given the presence of heavy reinforcements in the system, Skull Splitter decided to withdraw from the warp point, rather than set up a defense, as he had originally intended.  If the Mintek pushed through, then he could afford to retreat and join up with the reserves and the Combined Fleet.  Once joined, the allied forces now in the Chruqua system would out-mass the Mintek force over four to one.  Plus, the mines emplaced around the warp point would ensure that if the Mintek did want to push into the Chruqua nexus, they would have to pay for the privilege. 

Ten hours later… 
The Mintek fleet was drawn up in front of the warp point to the Chruqua nexus.  It had arrived ten hours ago, and now, finally, the order to assault the far side was given.  The mammoth superdreadnoughts led the way, with three passing through the warp point every thirty seconds.  CD’s returned over a minute later, confirming that the D’Bringi had withdrawn, but that the warp point was surrounded by a minefield.  Strategos Neeron was unprepared for the minefields.  The Mintek knew of the existence of minefield tech, and had deployed a few minefields in their home system, but had not thought that the D'Bringi, whom they considered to be relatively backwards, had deployed them.  This created a problem for Neeron.  His orders were to secure Phyriseq and the missionaries located there, prepare for further expansion into D’Bringi space to secure the missionaries that had been sent to other systems, and to reduce or eliminate the D’Bringi Fleet, but to limit casualties to his fleet.  Pursuing the D’Bringi into the Chruqua nexus would necessitate punching through the minefield, which would damage his ships and put him at a disadvantage during the next battle.  And, the D’Bringi could just keep withdrawing, drawing his force away from the Phyriseq system and the troop transports that had entered the system to liberate the colony from its D’Bringi Clan oppressors.  In the end he decided to set up his fleet in defensive positions in the Phyriseq system at the warp point to the Chruqua nexus, with a single SD located on the far side of the warp point to watch the D’Bringi fleet, which had withdrawn to ten light seconds, outside of the of range of capital missiles.   

Month 118, Day 5, Chruqua nexus
The D’Bringi reinforcement group, consisting of one battlecruiser, four cruisers, and four corvettes, joined up with Skull Splitters force while the lone Mintek SD watched from the warp point.  With the reinforcements, Skull Splitter’s force now had near parity with the Mintek.  The remaining reinforcements were five days out, and still out of range of the sensors on the Mintek superdreadnought sitting on the warp point.  Skull Splitter didn’t want the Mintek to know how massively he was about to be reinforced, so he ordered his newly enlarged fleet to advance on the warp point. 

The Mintek SD watched them come, and Skull Splitter wondered if the Mintek would fight, or retreat.  Unknown to them, this was the last chance they would have to fight the D’Bringi on an even footing.  After a minute, the Mintek SD jumped out, conceding the warp point to the Mintek.  The approach of the remaining reinforcements would be unobserved.
 
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Cold War: Month 118, Human Advances
« Reply #112 on: November 24, 2020, 12:06:04 PM »
Month 118, Day 8, Leningrad system, WP to Brezhnev
The small force under General Semenov approached the warp point to Brezhnev cautiously.  There had been no sign of the D’Bringi or their allies during the ten days it took them to travel to the warp point, and there was no sign of them anywhere around the warp point. 

General Semenov ordered his fleet to assume a defensive position ten light seconds from the warp point, out of caution, as they didn’t know who was in control on the far side.  Once they were in position, his flagship launched a CD, which promptly ran towards the warp point and jumped through. 

Five minutes later a CD returned, bearing messages encrypted with the Russian codes that had been current at the time that the Brezhnev system was cut off.  The messages were signed by Polhovnik General Fedorov, the CO of the Home Fleet at the time it was forced to retreat to the Brezhnev system, and appeared valid in every way.  Polhovnik General Fedorov was suspicious of the CD’s coming through the warp point, and their messages, and wanted assurances before he allowed any ships into the Brezhnev system. 

The two leaders, each suspicious of the other and of possible D’Bringi tricks, finally agreed that General Semenov would come through himself, aboard the smallest ship in his fleet.  General Fedorov knew General Semenov personally, and if they could meet in person, he would be reassured that this was not a trick.  It was a risk for General Semenov, but he was willing to take the risk if it meant liberating the Brezhnev system.

General Semenov boarded the ES-001, nicknamed the ‘Lightning’ by its crew, and jumped into the Brezhnev system.  Once there they found themselves surrounded by a small group of Soviet ships hovering around the warp point.  They were a welcome sight to General Semenov, as he recognized the codes of all of the ships as ships that had belonged to the Home Fleet before it disappeared. 

One of the light cruisers around the warp point disgorged a cutter, which made its way to General Semenov’s escort.  General Semenov was waiting at the lock as the cutter docked.  When the airlock cycled, four Soviet naval infantry men in bulky armored power assist suits entered the corridor and fanned out, scanning for threats.  After a few seconds they signaled to someone in the cutter, and General Semenov saw General Fedorov himself enter the airlock. 

“Ivan!  Welcome to the Lightning!  And welcome back!”

General Fedorov had stopped at the exit to the air lock and looked around, scowling.  When he saw General Semenov, his face broke into a huge smile and rushed forward to hug the other general.  “Dimitri!  You dog, of course it would be you!  Who else would come all the way here for us!”  The two generals broke apart and General Fedorov signaled to his guards that they could withdraw. 

Before General Fedorov could speak further, General Semenov shook his head.  “We must talk, Ivan.  Much has happened.”

General Fedorov searched the others face for clues, but saw nothing.  “Very well, Dimitri.  Let’ s talk.  I have much to tell you as well.” 

General Semenov led the other general to a small room near the bridge that had been set aside for their use.  On the way General Fedorov looked around interestedly.  General Semenov noted his interest.  “It’s a wartime design, stimulated largely by the defeat and disappearance of your fleet.”

General Fedorov nodded.  “Very basic.  No frills.  I like it.”

The two generals arrive and entered the cabin, closing the door behind them.  General Semenov began.  “Ivan, it must have been hard, trapped in the Brezhnev system for all of this time.”  He gestured at the other general, who looked generally healthy, if somewhat gaunt.  “It’s been ten months.  How have you survived?”

General Fedorov shook his head.  “It hasn’t been easy.  I mothballed most of my fleet when we got here.  We just didn’t have enough supplies to support the fleet, and the former D’Bringi mining outposts here can only generate so much.  I kept a small force active to guard the warp point, and to patrol the location we believe contains the D’Bringi closed warp point, but aside from that everything was shut down.  Even so you cut it close.  We had just over four more months of supplies left, and then we were going to have to mothball most of our remaining ships.”

“Well, that’s over.  We are here now.  That’s at least one problem we can solve.”

“Why did it take so long?  I thought maybe the Motherland had fallen and everyone had forgotten we were here.”  General Fedorov shook his head.  “The despair was a problem.  As the months wore on, we began losing crew members and even officers to suicide.  The unending watch after watch, with no end in sight and with hope leaking away day after day became too much for many of my people.  But now that’s over.  Word is spreading already, and your arrival will change everything.” 

General Semenov looked his old friend in the eyes and grimaced.  “I’m afraid it’s not completely over, Ivan.  The Motherland is not the same as you remember.  The General Secretary died just over a month ago.”  He paused as General Fedorov sat back in shock.  “A Council of Generals led by General Petrov has taken over since his death, and things have steadily worsened.  Europe and Arabia are in revolt, and our own citizens are rioting in nearly every major city.”

General Fedorov had paled as the enormity of the disaster became apparent.  “And what of the Coalition?  What part do they have in this?”

“The Coalition is, in theory, our allies.”  General Semenov noted the surprised look on his friend’s face but continued on.  “After the defeat of your fleet and my retreat back to the Solar System, they finally admitted to themselves that they couldn’t allow the aliens free run of the Solar System.  They signed an alliance with us and attacked the D’Bringi in concert with my fleet.  However, the D’Bringi were able to link up with the Rehorish fleet, and their combined fleets forced us back to the Solar System.”

“What changed?  Something must have changed if you are here now.”

General Semenov looked faintly discontented.  “We don’t know.  After chasing us back to the Solar System they just disappeared back to their own space, presumably back through the closed warp point in the Leningrad system that they used to ambush your fleet.  We’ve been pushing out, trying to find them, but so far, aside from a force in the Volvograd system, we’ve found nothing.”

General Fedorov’s eyes narrowed.  “With the unrest at home, its remarkable that the government gave you permission to come this far out.  If I know Petrov, he wants this fleet in orbit to threaten anyone that even looks like an enemy.”

General Semenov looked troubled.  For all that General Fedorov was a friend, Ivan Fedorov was also known as a patriot first and foremost.  And, General Fedorov out ranked him.  Should Fedorov decide that the fleet must return to Earth, General Semenov would have a hard time opposing him.  Knowing this was coming, he had already decided that he would follow General Fedorov’s orders, whatever they were.  “I have received several orders to return home.  Orders I have ignored.”

General Fedorov frowned.  “You have ignored these orders?  And your officers supported you?”

“I spoke before my crews and officers and gave them a choice to either return home, or to defend the Motherland from marauding aliens.  I may have hinted that one of the ways we would be defending the Motherland would be by liberating this system and its valiant defenders.  There is much support within the fleet for rescuing you and your ships and crews.”

“And the situation back home?”

“Worsens.  But there is little we can do about that except make it even worse.  That is why I am here.”

“And the Coalition Fleet?  What of them?”

“I have grown close to their commander, Admiral Ruston, during the time we have served together since the treaty was signed between our nations.  I believe him to be an honorable man.  Even now he is leading the Coalition fleet, along with the bulk of our new fleet, to Volvograd, to open the routes to the colonies.”

General Fedorov settled back to think.  After a minute or two, he narrowed his eyes and looked at his old friend.  “And what will you do if I order my fleet and yours to return home?”

General Semenov took a deep breath.  “I will follow whatever orders you give.  I have thought much on this.  With the Motherland falling apart, we must stand together out here, or surely all is lost.”

General Fedorov jumped to his feet.  “Good!  I agree entirely.  We cannot affect what is going on back home, but we can make a difference for our people out here.  First, we must evacuate this system of our loyal citizens and fleet units, and then retreat to the Moskva system and secure it.  Once there we can re-evaluate our situation and determine our next course of action.”

General Semenov was cautious.  “What do you see as our most likely actions at that time?”

General Fedorov smiled at his old friend.  “Why, to begin liberating our colonies, of course.”

General Semenov realized that his mouth was hanging open.  “But…”

“But…you expected that I would order the fleet home, right?”  When General Semenov nodded, he continued.  “Maybe a year or two ago I would have, regardless of what I thought was the right thing to do. Now, though, well, things are different.  I spent nearly a year in this system at a near starvation diet, thinking about how my orders led us to this point, and how blind our leaders back home were to the true situation out here.  I will do the right thing for our people, and the people I can help are out here.”

General Semenov was nearly overcome with emotion.  After a few seconds he pulled himself together.  “What forces do you have available?  What do you need?”

“I wasn’t able to keep very many of my ships active.  I have a squadron of light cruisers here at the warp point, along two understrength destroyer squadrons and a corvette squadron.  In addition, there are two scouts watching over the sensor buoys watching the area where we believe the D’Bringi close warp point is, and a DSB control ship here at the warp point to watch over the limited number of automated weapons we managed to deploy.”

General Semenov was disappointed but not surprised.  “That’s better than I had expected.”

General Fedorov looked surprised.  “That’s just what I have managed to keep active.  We put the rest of the fleet into mothballs in a hidden location in the outer system.  I have two battlecruisers, two heavy cruisers, three destroyers, three automated weapons control ships, and fifteen scouts sitting out there.”

General Semenov was stunned.  The battlecruisers alone would bolster his battlecruiser strength by 50%.  “That is…amazing!  Those ships and their crews will be very welcome!  Very welcome indeed.”

General Fedorov held up a hand.  “They will need to be reactivated, and many of them are damaged to a greater or lesser extent.”

General Semenov smiled.  “Well then we are very fortunate that my supporters in Naval HQ were able to secure for us four mobile shipyards, all of which are headed here and will arrive before the end of the month.”

General Fedorov burst into laughter at that.  “Good news indeed!  We must begin preparing to evacuate this system.”

Now it was General Semenov’s turn to hold up a hand.  “We are evacuating the D’Bringi colonists of this system?  Back to our territory?  Is this wise?”

General Fedorov sat down and leaned forward.  “The D’Bringi of this system are loyal allies.  They have unflinchingly supported my fleet throughout our isolation, even at great cost to their people.”  General Fedorov gestured to his gaunt frame.  “Believe me, while it may not appear so, my crews get the best food in the system, and the most.  The D’Bringi here have sacrificed greatly to support us, and I have promised to take them to safety when possible.  And it is possible now, correct?”

The general’s last words had the unmistakable ring of command and General Semenov leapt to his feet and saluted.  “It is possible, sir!”

General Fedorov stood and returned the salute.  “Well then, let’s make it happen.”

The two generals went forth to begin the evacuation of the Brezhnev system. 

Month 118, Day 10, Sigma Draconis (Moskva) system
The Coalition fleet under Admiral Ruston arrived at the warp point to the Shaka system without incident, and without spotting an alien ship.  During the trip they had been receiving reports from the scouts which had remained behind in the system when the combined human fleets had been forced to retreat to the Solar System, so he knew that the immediate area around the warp point was clear on the far side, but that a Rehorish force of unknown strength was present 72 light minutes from the warp point, watching the Coalition ships that were watching them. 

Knowing that the warp point was clear on both sides, Admiral Ruston’s fleet began transiting immediately after arriving at the warp point.  Once assembled on the far side, Admiral Ruston ordered his fleet to begin closing on the Rehorish contact.  The Rehorish appeared content to let him close, as they remained where they were, waiting. 
 
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Month 118: Attack into Phyriseq
« Reply #113 on: November 25, 2020, 08:15:25 AM »
Month 118, Day 10, Chruqua System
Finally, the last group of reinforcements, the Combined Fleets, arrived at the warp point.  With the arrival of the Combined Fleets, the D’Bringi Alliance now had a combined force of ninety cruisers of all types, and thirty-four smaller ships.  This assemblage represented nearly the entire fleet strength of the Alliance.  And the Mintek had no idea that they were here. 

Skull Splitter and Fortress Breaker had been in communication as the fleet had approached, along with Cho-sho Banzan, and all had agreed on an immediate assault into the Phyriseq system, before the Mintek could bring up automated weapons to impede their advance.  No one consulted the T’Pau, who would do as ordered.  Therefore, when the Combined Fleet arrived at the warp point, they merely took a few minutes to reorganize and integrate the ships already there, then launched an immediate assault.   
 
Skull Splitter, as the Clan Chief who had been dealing with the situation for the longest, and who knew the situation the best, took command of the overall assault.  He had to agree to allow Fortress Breaker to lead the D’Bringi contingent of the assault to get the other clan leader’s agreement to his overall command.  The Rehorish had already agreed to D’Bringi overall command of the combined fleets, given the fact that this action was taking place in D’Bringi territory.  As usual, the T’Pau didn’t get a say. 

As the first wave lined up in front of the warp point, Skull Breaker linked all of the ships in the fleet into a communications net.  “Warriors of the Alliance!  The Mintek are cowards!  Instead of open and honorable attack by force of arms, they sought to subvert our colonies and those of our allies!   They chose the coward’s way, and now they will pay the price.  What you do here today will bring honor to your clans and your people for all time!  Your honor will ensure their safety!  We will sweep the Mintek from space and destroy their shipyards!  We will ensure that they never raise a hand against our great Alliance again!”  The crew of Skull Splitter’s flagship cheered when he paused, their warrior’s blood stirred by the thought of battle.

“The Rehorish and their ancient and glorious clans know honor!  The D’Bringi clans are honor itself!  And the T’Pau are learning honor by following our example!  I speak now to the T’Pau leaders and crews of the ships in this fleet!  Know that by your bravery and service you are securing your people’s place within the Alliance!  Your sacrifice today ensures their future!  To honor!”

Skull Splitter gave the signal for the first wave to move out.  The warp link from Chruqua to Phyriseq had the largest known capacity, thus making the assault easier and more likely to succeed without excessive casualties.  T’Pau heavy cruisers led the way, accompanied by D’Bringi corvettes flying in close formation with their ‘allies’.     

The first wave transited into Phyriseq, to find the Mintek fleet waiting for them.  Six Mintek SD’s and six DD’s were sitting just three quarters of a light second from the warp point, arrayed around it to surround the warp point with firepower.  Six Mintek BC’s were located four point five light seconds from the warp point, while the seventh was ten light seconds away and out of weapons range. 

The first three T’Pau cruisers through the warp point had assembled their data group on the warp point as they came through, and then began moving away on a pre-plotted course which just happened to take them directly between a Mintek SD group and a DD group.  One of these cruisers was the first ship to fire, targeting its three lasers and four sprint missile launchers at one of the big Mintek SD’s.  In spite of the debilitating transit effects, the T’Pau ship hit with all three lasers and two sprint missiles, but the Mintek superdreadnought shrugged off the damage.  One by one the remaining five T’Pau cruisers opened up on the same Mintek SD, getting nine laser hits and ten hits with their sprint missiles.  Even the massive Mintek superdreadnought couldn’t stand up to this firepower, and the big ship staggered, its drive field fluctuating. 

It became apparent that the assault had caught the Mintek off guard when only a single Mintek DD and two BC’s fired in response.  The two Mintek BC’s scored several hits with capital missiles on the lead T’Pau heavy cruiser, with each BC launching three-missile salvoes, while the lone Mintek DD that managed to get to action stations hit the same cruiser with a new weapon that launched balls of plasma.  The beleaguered T’Pau cruiser’s point defense managed to stop one of the two plasma balls, but the other slammed into the ships weakened passive defenses, stripping them away and taking out its datalink before it could stabilize after the warp transit. 

While the T’Pau cruisers were contending with the Mintek SD’s and BC’s, the D’Bringi corvettes of the first wave were fighting their own battle against a group of Mintek DD’s.  Because Skull Splitter had no way of knowing the Mintek deployments, he had purposefully sent the ships of the first wave on different courses away from the warp point, hoping to scatter the defenders before the later waves arrived, and hoping to avoid having the defenders end up in the blind-spots of the entire force.  By random chance the lead group of D’Bringi corvettes ended up at point blank range of one of the Mintek destroyer groups, and the corvette crews gleefully opened fire at the bigger destroyers as they closed.   The transit effects had degraded their gunnery, though, and only one force beam hit the target, but it stripped away most of the Mintek destroyer’s shields.  Two of the second group of D’Bringi corvettes also opened fire, but were three quarters of a light second distant, so their force beams did less damage.  The third corvette held its fire, as it was armed with the latest plasma guns.  This new weapon was powerful, but slow firing, and the D’Bringi captain decided to delay firing until his targeting systems recovered from the transit.  The other two corvettes hit with both of their force beams, punching through the Mintek DD’s shields and armor and damaging its engines. 

The second assault wave consisted of six Rehorish heavy cruisers and three D’Bringi corvettes.  They emerged from the warp point to find that the battle between the first wave and the Mintek defenders had evolved into a furball, with a group of first wave cruisers chasing the Mintek BC’s that were trying to maintain the range, while a Mintek DD group chased after them.  One of the Mintek SD groups managed to close to point blank range of a T’Pau cruiser group as it left the warp point, while the second SD group closed on the warp point to engage the second wave.  Meanwhile, the first wave corvettes were swirling around a Mintek DD group.  The Mintek ships were struggling to get to action stations, while the first wave ships were recovered from the transit effects. 

The first units to fire were two Mintek DD’s that were facing off with a D’Bringi corvette group that had closed to a quarter light second.  Two of the DD’s had managed to get their crews to their stations, and the DD’s were each armed with a force beam and two plasma guns.  The two Mintek ships divided their fire between two corvettes, and only missed with one plasma gun.  One of the D’Bringi corvettes disappeared in a fireball, while the second was heavily damaged.  A T’Pau cruiser group which had managed to close to point blank range of a Mintek SD group opened up with twelve sprint missile launchers and nine force beams, ripping through the big ship’s defenses and destroying an engine room. 

Two Mintek BC’s opened fire on the T’Pau cruiser group that was chasing them, targeting the same cruiser that had been damaged earlier.  The Mintek BC’s also launched capital missiles from their XO racks, and scored five hits on the already damaged CA, wiping out most of its engine rooms.  The T’Pau cruisers chose to focus their fire on a closer foe, the Mintek DD group that was closing, trying to distract them from the Mintek BC’s.  They targeted an already damaged DD and wiped it from space in a deluge of laser and sprint missile fire.  The two remaining Mintek DD’s returned fire at the T’Pau cruisers, swamping one of them in a tidal wave of plasma fire that overwhelmed the damaged CA, leaving it a burning wreck. 

The first datagroup of Rehorish cruisers in the second wave ended up poorly positioned, and could only target the lead group of Mintek SD’s which was one and a half light seconds away.  They targeted the lead SD, which was streaming atmosphere from earlier laser hits, and the elite crews of the Rehorish cruisers proved their worth when nearly all of their weapons hit their target in spite of transit effects, stripping away the SD’s remaining shields and taking out most of its engines.  The second Rehorish cruiser group had emerged from the warp point on a reciprocal heading from the first group, to cover its blind spot, and found themselves facing the second Mintek SD group at three quarters of a light second.  These crews excelled as well, scoring hits with most of their weapons and severely damaging the already damaged SD. 

One minute into the assault and none of the Mintek SD’s were active yet.  That changed as the third wave entered the system.  The third wave was comprised of six D’Bringi heavy cruisers, and was led by Clan Chief Fortress Breaker aboard his Clan’s flagship.  Even as the last ship of the first wave entered, the heavily damaged Mintek SD that was limping towards the warp point opened up with all of its remaining weapons, six plasma guns.  The crack crew of the clan flagship managed to stop two of the plasma balls before they hit, and one missed entirely, but the remaining three slammed into the clan cruiser and wiped away all of its passive defenses.  One of the D’Bringi cruiser’s consorts returned fire with force beams and energy pulse cannons, punching deep within the big Mintek ship, and when the other D’Bringi cruiser fired its gun/missile launchers in sprint mode, the big Mintek ship simply blew up. 

It was at this point that the other heavily damaged Mintek SD opened fire on a Rehorish heavy cruiser that had closed with it.  The big Mintek ship fired eight plasma guns at the Rehorish CA, but two missed and the cruiser’s elite crews managed to intercept three of the six remaining plasma balls with their massed point defense fire.  The three remaining plasma balls were sufficient to wipe away the cruiser’s older standard armor and shields, and burned deep within the ship, taking out most of its engine rooms.  The damaged Rehorish cruiser’s datagroup companions returned fire, and the elite crews hit with five out of six force beams, and all eight sprint missiles hit as well.  The remaining Rehorish weapons wiped out the big SD, leaving an expanding wave of debris and life pods. 

It was at this point that a third Mintek SD opened fire.  This SD was part of the group sitting just a quarter of a light second from the warp point, engaging newly arrived ships.  The Mintek SD targeted an intact D’Bringi CA that had just transited in, and fired twelve plasma guns at the CA.  Three missed and two were intercepted by point defense, but the seven remaining plasma balls ripped the D’Bringi cruiser apart.  The Mintek SD also targeted a T’Pau cruiser two light seconds away with five capital missiles, and it launched eight XO mounted sprint missiles at a second D’Bringi cruiser on the warp point. 

The lead T’Pau cruiser group had closed on one of the Mintek SD groups, and the three T’Pau cruisers opened fire on one of the two remaining SD’s in the group, wiping away its shields and armor with their massed laser and sprint mode missile fire.  Meanwhile, three Mintek DD’s, only two of which were at action stations, were tangling with five D’Bringi corvettes at point blank range.   The two active DD’s opened fire, each targeting a different corvette, destroying one and heavily damaging the other.  In response, the other three D’Bringi corvettes targeted the last DD that hadn’t fired yet, cutting through her armor and doing light internal damage.  The second Mintek DD group targeted a Rehorish cruiser that had already been damaged, but only managed to hit with their two force beams, doing light damage.  The second Rehorish cruiser group, approaching the Mintek DD group from behind, targeted them at three quarters of a light second and destroyed one of the Mintek DD’s with a deluge of accurate laser and sprint missile fire.  Two T’Pau CA’s coming up alongside the Rehorish cruiser group also targeted the remaining Mintek DD of that group, heavily damaging it.  Fortress Breaker’s cruiser group was pursuing one of the Mintek SD groups, but a Mintek DD lay in between his cruisers and their ultimate goal, so it became a target for the D’Bringi cruisers.  The hapless DD was overwhelmed by energy pulse cannon fire, left a drifting hulk. 

The battle had now degenerated into two close-range fights, centered on the two Mintek SD groups.  The Mintek BC’s were standing off and sniping from a distance, and the last remaining Mintek DD group had broken free of its corvette assailants and was coming around to assist one of the SD groups.  Six more Rehorish cruisers entered in the fourth wave. By random chance, all were headed away from the battle. 

The lead Mintek SD group was beset by five Allied heavy cruisers, three Rehorish and two T’pau.  The Rehorish CA’s fired first, gutting an already damaged SD with nine force beams and twelve sprint missiles.  That SD’s consort returned fire, firing everything it had into a T’Pau cruiser a quarter of a light second ahead of it.  The T’Pau ship was overwhelmed and destroyed by the deluge of fire.  The remaining two T’Pau cruisers in the datagroup avenged their loss by savaging the already damaged SD, leaving it a drifting hulk. 

The two SD’s of the second SD group, now active, unleashed their broadsides on the Rehorish cruisers that were closing on them.  Each SD fired eight XO mounted sprint missiles, twelve plasma guns, and five capital missiles, each targeting a separate Rehorish cruiser.  Both cruisers suffered heavy damage.  The return fire from the other cruisers nearby ripped through one of the two SD’s leaving it limping and heavily damaged. 

The six Mintek BC’s had maintained their range from the main battle, but two D’Bringi corvettes were still closing on them, and were now at three point five light seconds range.  The two BC groups turned their fire on the two corvettes, damaging both.  The corvettes fired back with their force beams, causing minor shield damage on one of the battlecruisers. 

The remaining Allied ships fired on which ever superdreadnought was closest.  This left two of the three remaining behemoths burning in space, still active, but heavily damaged.  Six more allied cruisers entered as the cruisers already present fell upon the floundering SD’s like wolves.  A hapless T’Pau cruiser raced in front of the last undamaged Mintek SD at exactly the wrong time and was targeted by the SD’s entire broadside, which had just recharged.  The T’Pau cruiser was vaporized. 

Two Rehorish cruisers were on top of the lead ship in the second SD group, which had been moderately damaged earlier in the battle.  The Rehorish cruisers slammed their force beams and sprint missiles deep within the SD, heavily damaging it.  The SD’s damaged partner returned fire, crippling one of the two Rehorish cruisers in return.  The last crippled SD finished off the Rehorish CA in front of it, but its time was limited. 

All three remaining Mintek SD’s were damaged and slowed, and the Mintek BC’s were clearly withdrawing, as were the two remaining intact Mintek DD’s.  The end came quickly.  A D’Bringi cruiser group closed on one of the limping SD’s and raked it with their energy beams and sprint mode missiles, destroying it before it could fire.  The other two Mintek SD’s had recently fired their plasma guns and were struggling to recharge, but wouldn’t get the time.  They were overwhelmed by vengeful Allied cruisers before they could get another shot off.     

Clan Chief Skull Splitter, now in the Phyriseq system with the remaining Allied ships, began reorganizing his fleet and detailing ships to pick up life pods.  His losses were painful, but lighter than expected. 

Intact
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 4xBC, 20xCA, 2xDD, 2xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 20xCA, 23xCL, 18xDD, 2xCT
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 5xCA, 8xCL

Damaged
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 1xCA, 6xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 3xCA

Destroyed
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 2xCA, 4xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 1xCA
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 3xCA

The Mintek losses of six superdreadnoughts and two destroyers far outweighed the Allied losses, both in terms of sheer mass and as a percentage of their overall force, so all in all Skull Splitter was satisfied.  Fortress Breaker was elated, having survived being in the heat of the battle.  Fortress Breaker was in particular impressed with the performance of the T’Pau cruisers, which could have hung back and minimized their casualties, but instead plunged into the hottest parts of the battle with near reckless abandon, inflicting severe damage to the Mintek whenever the opportunity presented itself.  Indeed, Lieutenant General Morx, the commander of the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, barely survived the destruction of his flagship by massed plasma gun fire from a Mintek superdreadnought at point blank range.  He was rescued from his life pod by Fortress Breaker’s command ship, and personally welcomed aboard by the Clan Chief, who, since the battle, has been regaling the entire fleet with tales of the bravery of the T’Pau warriors during the assault. 

After consultations between Skull Splitter, Fortress Breaker, Cho-sho Banzan, and for the first time Lt. General Morx, the decision is made to split the Allied Fleet into three forces.  A small group of Rehorish and D’Bringi ships will be left behind at the warp point to the Chruqua nexus to guard their lifeline to their home worlds.  A similarly small force of D’Bringi ships would be dispatched to the inner system, to secure the colony against any Mintek ships left behind in the system.  The bulk of the Allied Fleets would pursue the withdrawing Mintek.  They would be unable to catch them, as the Mintek force had lost its slower ships, but they could chase them back to their home system and ensure they left. 

With the preliminaries resolved and squadrons detailed to their assignments, Clan Chief Skull Splitter ordered the fleets into motion. 

As they departed the warp point, he sent a message to the withdrawing Mintek Fleet asking for negotiations towards a possible peace deal.  While he was not sure that a true peace was possible with the Mintek, he was ever mindful of the fact that the Humans would be advancing out of their home system.  With the Mintek fleet defeated and withdrawing, he had to try and resolve the situation with the Mintek without further losses, if possible. 

There was no response from the Mintek fleet. 

Author’s Note:  For this battle I used the standard readiness rules in 3rdR (and in the URD for that matter).  These rules give every ship in the defending fleet a 30% chance to be active and fire on attackers on the first turn of the assault, with increasing chances of activation on the following turns.  For this battle the Mintek suffered because their ship’s crews are all green, which gave them a -1 to their activation rolls, meaning only 20% were active on the first turn.  I guess the lesson there is that you want better trained crews if you are in that situation <G>. 

This battle reminded me of why I don’t like these rules, though.  For smaller forces, like the Mintek fleet, this method is way too random and a few bad rolls, like the ones the Mintek suffered through, can change the whole battle.  Worse, I don’t think these rules reflect the way it would work in real life.  After all, if you were in command of a fleet guarding a position that could disgorge numerous hostile enemy ships at any second, you would want every ship close to that position to be ready for battle in every respect.  They couldn’t stay that way forever, obviously, but while they are within weapons range of that position, they’d want to be ready fire at as soon as possible.  Unfortunately, as written the standard rules don’t allow for anything like this.  Under the standard rules the defender must place his ships and then after that it’s randomly determined which ones activate.  That means the defender must choose to either put ships in harm’s way that won’t be able to activate for some time, or put them in positions out of range of attackers so that they have time to activate, but if they randomly activate on the first turn they can’t affect what is going on at the warp point until they close to combat range. 

Therefore, I dug up the alternate activation rules from Electronic Communique.  Actually, they were in the same edition that had the warp point assault transit rules I’ve been using.  Under these rules, the defender divides his fleet and bases into five groups, and then randomly determines which of the five groups will be active on the first turn of the assault.  They can then position their forces based on this information, with active forces close in and inactive forces further out and presumably safer. 

I think this system more accurately reflects a defense commander’s ability to have at least some ships at ‘action stations’ and ready to fight, and I will be using this system going forward. 
 

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Cold War: Month 118, Events accelerate on Earth
« Reply #114 on: November 28, 2020, 09:26:48 AM »
Month 118, Day 10, Earth
The Politburo has been forced to withdraw more and more forces from their invasion groups to reinforce the military units trying to put down the growing rebellion in the major cities.  In some areas the leadership suspects that Army units are actually aiding the rebels rather than putting them down, but cannot crack down on anything less than open disloyalty at this time for fear of provoking an open break.  These developments have caused the USSR to order its forces on the border of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR to assume defensive positions until the unrest in the Soviet Union is resolved.  This development does not go unnoticed. 

On this date the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR, emboldened by the appearance of weakness in the Soviet Union, announce that they are withdrawing from the USSR.  Both newly independent governments send delegations to the Coalition to request military and economic support for their fledgling independent nations. 

Month 118, Day 11, Earth
The USSR denounces the breakaway nations as rebels, and sends a firm warning to the Coalition to avoid interfering in the internal affairs of the USSR.  Orders are sent to the troops deployed to the cities, which had been gaining the upper hand against the rebels, to return to their mustering points on the border.  This has several effects.  First, multiple Army units, which had been actually aiding the protesting citizens of the cities they had been assigned to patrol, began moving but reported difficulties in relocating and only slowly began following their orders.  Secondly, the governments of the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR began discussing the possibility of a spoiling attack against the Russian forces on their border, although they both still hoped to avoid open warfare.  Finally, the Coalition government ordered their forces across the planet to a higher level of readiness, but took a conciliatory stance towards the Russian government, again offering to mediate between the different sides of the dispute. 
 
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Cold War: Month 118, Events on and around Earth
« Reply #115 on: November 30, 2020, 09:26:26 AM »
Month 118, Day 12, Shaka System
The Rehorish ships waited until the combined human fleets reached fifteen light seconds range before they turned away and started running ahead of the human fleet.   Apparently, they wanted the same thing the human commanders wanted, which was a good look at the opposing fleet.  The Rehorish fleet in the Shaka system was composed of two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers, eleven destroyers, and three corvettes.  It obviously wasn’t a large enough force to impede Admiral Ruston’s combined fleet, and so they ran across the system, with the Rehorish force headed directly for the warp point to the Smolensk system and the Russian colonial territories. 

Month 118, Day 15, Earth
The Coalition government, having received no response to its offers of mediation, now warns all three governments against military adventurism.  The Soviet government responds with a threat of nuclear attack against the Coalition if they interfere in any way, followed by a warning to the breakaway states that the USSR will use its nuclear arsenal against them if they persist. 

The Coalition government is shocked by how quickly this situation has devolved, and the CEO convenes emergency meetings to determine a plan to resolve the multiple situations facing the Coalition.  The Senate wants to recall the fleet, but the CEO warns that if the Coalition recalls its fleet, the Russian fleet will likely return as well. 

Month 118, Day 20, Earth
The Coalition government begins a massive diplomatic effort across the planet to put together an alliance of nations to oppose the military adventurism of the USSR.  In particular, the Coalition government is focusing on the various Asian nations that have remained neutral and self-involved since the Final War.  In addition, the Coalition government agrees to send humanitarian aid to the breakaway nations, which are suffering from economic dislocations now that they are isolated from the USSR’s internal market.  The Coalition offers this same aid to the USSR, but receives no response.   

Month 118, Day 22, Earth
The government of the Soviet Union again threatens the Coalition and the breakaway states with nuclear attack, and accuses the Coalition of supplying the Warsaw Pact and the ASSR, now renamed the Arab Caliphate, with military arms and support.  Unfortunately, the Soviet Union’s attempt to redeploy its Army back to the borders has resulted in chaos in the large cities.  Several Army units have openly refused to redeploy, claiming that their presence in their assigned cities are the only thing that is holding the city together.  Elsewhere, in the areas where the Army did withdraw, the rebels have regained control or are openly contesting with local authorities for control of the cities.  Several military units are suspected of going over to the rebels, but the nation’s communications are spotty in large areas and this is not confirmed.  All and all, the redeployment to the border is taking much longer than it should, leaving the forces deployed to the border areas weaker than the Politburo would like. 
 
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Cold War: Month 118, Attack into Mintek Home System
« Reply #116 on: December 01, 2020, 08:04:30 AM »
Month 118, Day 20, Phyriseq System
The Combined Allied Fleets arrived at the warp point to the Mintek system shortly after the remnants of the Mintek fleet transited out.  The fleet’s leaders ordered their ships into defensive positions and settled in to wait.  As no more reinforcements were on their way they wouldn’t wait long, but right now the Mintek defenders were undoubtedly on the alert, and so the Allied Fleets would wait until the defenders were forced to stand down. 

Month 118, Day 22, Phyriseq System
The first wave was lined up in front of the warp point, ready to transit through to the Mintek Home System.  They had no idea what was waiting for them, but the leaders of the Allied Fleets were fairly sure that the Mintek did not have a significant force of mobile units waiting.  If they had a large number of mobile units, surely, they would not have allowed the Allied Fleets to chase them back to their home system.  However, just because the Mintek probably didn’t have a lot of ships left didn’t mean anyone thought this was going to be a walk over.  Home systems tended to have significant defenses, and no one thought the Mintek were any different.  Just what form those defenses took was uncertain, but the fleet’s commanders knew they had to resolve this situation and quickly.  The humans were already advancing out of their inner systems and towards Rehorish territory.  Fleet units would have to be diverted there and quickly.   

Clan Chief Skull Splitter looked over the deployments.  The first wave was composed of six heavy cruisers, three T’Pau and three D’Bringi.  Once again, the T’Pau were leading the way.  He activated the all-ships channel, and spoke.  “To all ships in the Allied Fleets.  We strike today to end a threat to all of our planets.  Make no mistake, the Mintek are a threat to everything that we stand for, and should they win they will make every effort to change us and our people into something that we don’t recognize.  They are insidious!  They are not fighting for honor, or conquest, or even resources, but for our very souls!  If we are to remain who we are, then we have to fight now, and if we must, then we will make the ultimate sacrifice!”  He paused for a few seconds, marshaling his thoughts.  “Once again the valiant T’Pau lead the way into danger and destruction!  Once again, they show us their bravery and honor.  We will honor them by following them into battle and defeating our enemies!  Onwards to victory!”

At the signal, the six heavy cruisers of the first wave transited into the Mintek home system. 

On the far side, the Allied heavy cruisers jumped into the middle of a cauldron.  Nine mammoth bases surrounded the warp point, positioned just a light second from the emergence point of the attacking ships.  The bases were almost 50% larger than the Mintek superdreadnoughts, and those were larger than the largest ships fielded by the D’Bringi and their allies.  In addition to the bases, there were five destroyers completing the ring of defenses around the warp point, and an additional twelve destroyers and six battlecruisers sitting four light seconds away from the warp point.  If there were mines or other automated weapons nearby, the Allied cruiser’s warp-addled sensors couldn’t detect them. 

Lieutenant General Morx, the commander of the T’Pau contingent of the assault, was aboard the lead ship in the T’Pau squadron.   As his vision cleared and the plot updated, he saw his death in the Mintek defenses that surrounded him.  As planned, his squadron had stopped just after exiting the warp point, as they had no idea if the Mintek had mines around the warp point, and they had no wish to run into a minefield with transit degraded sensors and weapons.  Not knowing which of the massive bases were active, he ordered his cruiser to target one of the destroyers hovering a light second away, knowing that the other T’Pau ships in the first assault wave would follow his lead. 

The lead T’Pau cruiser fired everything it had at a Mintek DD, scoring hits with two of its lasers, but missing with the third laser and its sprint missiles.  Then one of the pairs of Mintek bases fired.  Their target was the trio of D’Bringi cruisers that followed the T’Pau cruisers through the warp point.  Each base fired eight plasma guns, four force beams, and some sort of heavy laser, divided between the three D’Bringi cruisers.  The results were uneven.  Two of the D’Bringi cruisers were targeted by eight plasma guns and a heavy laser each.  One of the two D’Bringi ships simply melted under the fire when all eight of the plasma guns hit their target, while the other suffered relatively minor damage when only three of the plasma guns targeted on it hit.  The third cruiser was targeted by eight force beams and some sort of heavy sprint missile, resulting in heavy damage that cut deep into the ship. 

The third D’Bringi cruiser, the Indefatigable, was heavily damaged but fired next, targeting one of the mammoth bases for its two remaining energy beams.  It missed, but also launched a CD which immediately began heading back towards the warp point.  Next, a Mintek destroyer group targeted one of the T’Pau cruisers with six plasma guns and three force beams, hitting with most of them and heavily damaging the cruiser.  An undamaged T’Pau cruiser fired next, scoring additional laser and gun hits on the same Mintek DD targeted earlier.  The T’Pau cruiser also launched a number of CD’s back towards the warp point.  Mintek return fire from the remaining destroyers stripped away the passives from a T’Pau cruiser, while the return fire mostly missed. 

Thirty seconds into the battle and the attackers had lost one cruiser completely, and had four others more or less heavily damaged.  Only Lt. General Morx’ command cruiser was left undamaged.  In exchange, the attackers had done minor shield damage to one of the Mintek bases and light internal damage to one of the destroyers.  Even as General Morx tried to come to grips with what they faced, his sensors cleared and confirmed that there was a minefield surrounding the warp point.   

Even as the CD’s launched by the attacking cruisers jumped back to the Phyriseq system, the second wave of attacking cruisers jumped into the Mintek system.  This wave was composed of six Rehorish cruisers, and the elite ships fanned out facing a different direction than the first wave.  Like the first wave, though, they came to a halt on top of the warp point. 

The same two Mintek bases that had fired earlier opened fire on the newly arrived Rehorish ships, targeting the first four cruisers with sixteen plasma guns, eight force beams, two heavy lasers, and eighteen capital missiles.  Lt. General Morx watched the resulting destruction with amazement.  His race did not use plasma guns, but his understanding was that they took approximately a minute to charge.  Therefore, each of the mammoth bases had to mount sixteen of the devastating weapons to maintain their current rate of fire.  The results were horrible.  Three of the elite Rehorish cruisers took crippling damage, with the fourth taking only light damage from the base’s relatively inaccurate close-range capital missile fire.  In response, General Morx’ crack cruiser gutted the Mintek destroyer it had targeted before, but none of the T’Pau, D’Bringi, or Rehorish ships were in their datalink groups and it fired alone.  An intact Mintek destroyer group targeted the Rehorish cruiser that had been lightly damaged by the base’s capital missiles, but their plasma guns were recharging.  The destroyer’s force beams cut into the Rehorish cruiser’s hull, doing internal damage.  A Rehorish cruiser turned on the damaged Mintek destroyer and gutted it with its force beams and sprint missiles, and one by one the damaged cruisers of the assault force fired what weapons they had remaining, all targeting the destroyers sitting one light second from the warp point.  Two of the Mintek destroyers were eliminated, and one of the two remaining DD’s suffered internal damage.  Once again, the attacking ships all launched CD’s, which all turned back towards the warp point. 

After watching the devastation of the second wave, General Morx knew that their assault was a failure.  Even though no new Mintek units activated and fired, the few active units were able to cripple half of the second wave.  Once more Mintek units came online, the situation would become completely untenable. 

Back in the Phyriseq system, Skull Splitter watched as the third wave of cruisers, this time D’Bringi, began jumping out.  Fortress Breaker was with this wave, and would take command from General Morx on the far side after he arrived.  Even as the third wave ships jumped out, Skull Splitter’s plot updated with data from the CD’s that had returned from the 1st wave ships.  These CD’s had been launched seconds after the ships arrived, and would have only rudimentary data.  What the plot showed, though, was not good.  Nine massive bases surrounded the warp point, along with five destroyers.  Additional ships sat four light seconds away, doubtless ready to move in to support the bases.  The information he had didn’t show what the Mintek bases were armed with, or what the results of the first exchange of fire were, but he knew it wouldn’t be good.  After a few seconds hesitation he activated the comm system and issued an order for the assault to stop.  It was too late for the third wave, the last ship of which was jumping out, but he could prevent the loss of any more cruisers. 

Back in the Mintek system, General Morx had recognized Clan Chief Fortress Breaker’s command ship in the newly arrived third wave, and opened a comms channel even as his ship engaged one of the Mintek DD’s.  “Clan Chief, you must retreat with any ship able to return!  I will remain here and cover your retreat!”

Even as General Morx spoke, the lead group of Mintek bases, which had been active from the start, focused their fire on three of the newly arrived ships, including the flagship.  The comm channel cut out as the Clan Chief’s ship was hit by numerous plasma guns, evaporating its passive defenses and melting about half of the ship.  General Morx wasn’t sure that the Chan Chief had survived until an ‘all-ships’ channel opened and Chan Chief Fortress Breaker ordered all ships to retreat.  Even as the order went out, the two sides continued to tear at each other.  It soon became clear that the situation was beyond retrieval when five additional bases opened fire on the beleaguered attackers.  The first pair to fire crippled the three remaining undamaged cruisers in the third wave, and then the newly activated bases began firing on the ships from the earlier waves.  In addition, the six battlecruisers hovering four light seconds away began taking pot shots with their capital missile launchers, targeting heavily damaged cruisers which were struggling to get turned around. 

After the deluge of fire, the attackers only had one ship that was still intact.  Miraculously, General Morx’ flagship, the first ship through the warp point, had remained untouched.  The rest of the attacking fleet was not so lucky.  One T’Pau cruiser and four D’Bringi cruisers had been destroyed, and the other eleven cruisers were heavily damaged.  Compliant to Fortress Breaker’s orders, the attacking cruisers began exiting the system, those that could.  A damaged T’Pau cruiser led the way, followed by two damaged Rehorish cruisers from the second wave.  The other two Rehorish cruisers were too damaged to complete their turns, and all of the D’Bringi cruisers of the third wave had only begun their turns when the defenders fired again. 

It was at this point when a heavily wounded D’Bringi cruiser from the third wave fired its X-Ray lasers for the first time, hitting one of the big Mintek bases with all four, doing considerable damage to its armor.  The bases returned fire, killing a D’Bringi cruiser and, for the first time, General Morx’ command ship came under fire as the two bases fired eight force beams, two heavy lasers, and eighteen capital missiles at it.  The damage was considerable, and the cruiser lost most of its weapons and engines.  General Morx opened his mouth to order his crew to abandon ship, but before the words came out a second pair of Mintek bases fired on them, destroying his flagship in a deluge of fire and destruction.  Morx was killed instantly.  Clan Chief Fortress Breaker’s ship blew up shortly thereafter, beaten into destruction by the awful broadsides of the mammoth Mintek bases. 

Clan Chief Skull Splitter watched a grand total of three cruisers limp back into the system, all burning and heavily damaged.  General Morx and Clan Chief Fortress Breaker were not among the survivors.  Fifteen cruisers had been lost along with the two leaders, greatly reducing the fleet’s strength.  All in exchange for destroying four Mintek destroyers, damaging another, and minor armor damage to one of their bases. 

In the aftermath of the disastrous attack Skull Splitter ordered his fleet into a defensive formation, and ordered his automated warfare ships to begin moving the minefield that had been emplaced in the Chruqua nexus to his current location.  If they couldn’t eliminate the Mintek, they’d bottle them up. 

There being no sign of Mintek forces in the Phyriseq system, Skull Splitter called the forces he had left at the warp point and at the Phyriseq colony forward to join his depleted main fleet. 
 
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Cold War: Wrapping up Month 118
« Reply #117 on: December 02, 2020, 09:02:09 AM »
Month 118, Day 22, Shaka System
The Combined Human Fleets arrived at the warp point to the Russian territories on this date.  The Rehorish squadron had run ahead of them, maintaining the distance and jumping out when they reached the warp point to the Smolensk system.  After arriving at the warp point the Human force waited for six hours before jumping through, to give the Rehorish time to stand down from action stations if they were defending the warp point.  The Russian assault light cruisers led the way, but found the far side of the warp point clear of defenders.  When their long-range scanners came up, they realized that the Rehorish were still there, waiting for them, one light minute away.  The rest of the fleet jumped through and set their course for the next system down the line.  The Novosibirsk system was the first system they’d encounter that was inhabited, and thus was likely going to be the place the Rehorish were going to defend, if they were going to defend anything. 

Month 118, Day 22, Brezhnev system
Four Russian mobile shipyards arrived in the Brezhnev system, loaded with supplied and spare crews for the mothballed ships.  They immediately set out for the mothballed ships of the Home Fleet. 
 
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Cold War: Month 119
« Reply #118 on: December 03, 2020, 09:18:21 AM »
Month 119
D’Bringi Expanses:
The Keepers are making progress on an extremely secret project.  No details have leaked, and indeed the Clans have no idea about the project.  This may not be surprising given their focus on the Mintek war and the Human’s advances in the Rehorish-controlled territories.  Repairs are completed on two clan cruisers, and several Keeper automated warfare ships are launched. 

Rehorish Stellar Dominion:
The Rehorish complete R&D on the plasma gun, but there are no immediate plans to incorporate this new weapon in their fleet.  Several laser buoys are completed, and an automated warfare ship is launched in the home system. 

T’Pau Syndicates:
Repairs are completed on a heavy cruiser, and two new heavy cruisers are launched. 

United World Republic (Tarek)
The Tarek colonization efforts continue, with colonies being placed on three moons of the outer gas giants.  In addition, the Tarek complete R&D efforts into HT 2, and begin development of several new weapons and defenses. 

Reformation Coalition:
Five new frigate-scouts join the fleet. 

Bjering Consolidate:
The Bjering complete research into the last HT 6 system, advanced gun/missile launcher. 

USSR:
Two new assault light cruisers are launched from the orbital yards.  In the Brezhnev system, the mobile shipyards began reactivating the mothballed ships.  In addition, transports arrived to take the colonists of the Brezhnev system to the Moskva system, where they will be settled in the asteroid belt. 
 
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Cold War: Month 119, Rehorish Reaction
« Reply #119 on: December 04, 2020, 10:14:51 AM »
Just a short one today.  I'll have a bigger, more humancentric post tomorrow. 

Month 119, Day 1, Phyriseq System
Cho-sho Banzan, CO of the Rehorish Grand Fleet, meets with Skull Splitter and states that he is taking his fleet to meet the humans in battle, to stop their advance.  With the Mintek bottled up and unlikely to attack after the decimation of their fleet, he strongly feels this is the best course of action.  Skull Splitter ultimately agrees, but convinces him to leave some ships in the Phyriseq system to assist the blockade.  The Grand Fleet sets out for the Russian territories by mid-day. 
 
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