Fiction > Aurora

The Great Offensive

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TheBawkHawk:
Welcome to my first AAR! This will follow the tales of the Terran Hegemony, my current Aurora campaign. The story picks up 76 years into the game on the eve of the largest offensive I've undertaken in my entire Aurora career, and the first I've launched against my current enemy, the Jiadliaokl Coalition. I'm going to try and write this mostly as if it were a history book or a presentation of some kind, with brief sections following specific characters.

Comments and criticism is much appreciated.


Part One: Troublesome Developments


If recent Human history had to be boiled down to a few events, those events would be the founding of the Hegemony, the discovery of Trans-Newtonian elements, the first interstellar colonies, the discovery of advanced alien life, and the War. The War against the Jiadliaokl Coalition has been the defining event for most of Human society over the past decade. The war was being fought long before Earth joined, however. The Coalition had been advancing against Humanity’s ally in the stars, the Federation of Taga. The Sol system and the Federation’s home system were right next door to each other in the Jump Network, and both discovered each other quite early on in their development of TN tech. Neither side had expected to find intelligent life so close to home, and so neither side was prepared to take the other down. The alliance that has lasted so long was formed not because either side had a desire for peace, but because both knew that neither could land a decisive killing blow.

The Jiadliaokl Coalition encountered the Federation of Taga first, and so they were the first target of the Coalition’s onslaught. The Federation, however, was reluctant to let their allies across the Jump know anything was amiss. They continued to trade happily as ever, and bonds with their Terran brothers and sisters grew ever stronger, while they pretended everything was going fine. Terran strategists had long noted the lack of any significant Tagan military presence, but mainly chalked it up to the fact that either they were focusing on closing the tech gap between Earth and Taga before committing to any design, or that they felt so comfortable with the Terran Hegemony that they didn’t see the need for it.

In June of 2088, first contact was established with the Jiadliaokl Coalition, in the Centaurus system. Once it was reported to the Federation that contact had been established, the Federation government released all the information about their war to the Hegemony. The information release at first raised suspicion towards the Federation, but it was deemed more important to purse upgrades to Humanity’s defences in Centaurus rather than to scrutinize allies. A Corvus class Fleet Supply Base was to be constructed and placed in orbit of the most mineral rich planet in the inner system, which was renamed Anchorage. This would serve as a home away from home for the defenders of Humanity, and a jumping off point for any future offensives against the alien menace.

No offensives would be launched for the first 8 years of war, as the Navy was struggling to maintain control of Centaurus in the face of intense enemy pressure. No less than 4 entire battlefleets were lost in this time, plus several other smaller fleets, totalling over one and a half million tons of warships and nearly ten thousand of Terra’s children lost to the void. The Coalition had a staggering tech advantage over the Hegemony, and greater still over the Federation. It was truly a miracle that the Tagans were able to hold the might of the Coalition at bay for so long.

Eventually, the main thrusts of the Jiadliaokl war machine were pointed squarely at breaking the stranglehold the Hegemony had slowly built up around Centaurus. The Federation of Taga could finally work on rebuilding their navy and rebuilding damaged colonies. With the pressure of war transferred to the Terrans and their population weary of conflict, the Tagans were reluctant at best to continue the fight. Instead, for the last 6 years the Federation navy has instead occupied its time with what appear to be pleasure cruises, visiting the many colonies of Earth. Yet they remained ever cautious not to stray too close to the front, lest they be dragged into war yet again.


October 10, 2101

Preparations for the offensive against the Jiadliaokl Coalition has completed. A significant portion of the Terran Hegemony’s military and industrial might have gathered in orbit of Anchorage. A main combat force consisting of no less than fourteen war fleets, and fifteen supporting fleets. The main line alone weighs in at nearly three fifths of the total tonnage of the Navy, not to mention the supporting fleets of colliers, tankers, supply ships, and more. Total numbers of the main line put it at a strength of one Supercapital, eleven Heavy Capitals, fifteen Capitals, one hundred and thirty seven Cruisers, one hundred and thirty five Destroyers, one hundred and sixty seven Frigates, and five hundred and fifty two fighters. This is the single largest concentration of military might in the history of the Hegemony, and most likely will be for a long time to come. At least, if all goes according to plan. The offensive is scheduled for January 1, 2102, the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Hegemony.


November 2, 2101

The Federation of Taga has undergone a severe political shift. It is unclear if there has been a coup, or if this is a natural progression of the Federation’s internal mechanics. The normally talkative Tagans have lately been increasingly reluctant to communicate, generating a sense of unease in the upper echelons of Terran Command. Significant numbers of Tagan commercial ships were noted travelling deep into Terran space, refusing hails and disregarding customs. Patrol squadrons were dispatched from Sol to follow them, both to attempt to regain communication, and to determine their motives.


November 29, 2101

In flagrant violation of Terran sovereignty, the Federation of Taga has colonised a planet in a system containing a Human colony, and in addition have also set up a settlement directly on a Human colony world. Official protests and demands to withdraw were sent, to no response. After nearly a month of silence from their once steadfast allies, the more hawkish elements of Fleet Command are starting to entertain the idea of cancelling the Coalition offensive in order to prepare defences against any potential moves from the Federation. These ideas are quickly shot down, as most of Fleet Command isn’t too eager to widen the divide that has formed with the Tagans, and the fallout from cancelling the offensive would be catastrophic to the Hegemony. The decision is made to maintain the offensive as planned, but also to begin constructing additional defences. Sol will gain several new missile bases placed in strategic locations, and the contested colonies will gain dedicated patrol fleets and increased garrison forces.


December 5, 2101

Communications silence continues from the Federation. Fleet Command decides to dispatch a pair of Oberth class Recon Frigates to enter into the Taga star system, to try and discern what exactly has happened. Commander Katherine Nelson is selected to lead the force, and with her orders she sets out. The Oberth class is a relatively new, and still untested design. Quite a small ship at only two thousand tons, the ship nonetheless sports both a self-jump capable jump engine, and large active and passive sensor arrays. Due to limited space, the ship lacks any offensive armament, sporting only a single point defence turret. Hopefully, Commander Nelson thought, this would mean the Tagans wouldn’t take too much offense to their arrival.


December 6, 2101, 09:20 Hours

The Recon detachment has reached the Sol-Taga jump point, and is preparing to jump. Commander Nelson looked around her modest bridge, taking in the faces of her crew. Although this was a relatively minor mission in the grand scheme of things, it was still the first mission this crew had been on, not to mention this ship, or this class of ship. It may be minor, but for the crew it meant everything. Her bridge officers dutifully tapped away at their consoles, preparing for the jump.


December 6, 2101, 09:24 Hours

The duo of Frigates powered up their jump drives, and the ships began to shudder violently under the strain. Making a jump was a difficult task no matter the ship, but for one of this size, a jump was a catastrophically violent event. Bulkheads groaned as the ship threatened to tear itself apart, as an inky black void tore out of reality in front of the ship. And to think, the modern jump drives fitted to the Oberths were orders of magnitude gentler than the original designs. After a moment of thought, Commander Nelson ordered the helmsman to enter the writhing mass of darkness growing before the ship. As the frigate approached, the crew began to shut down non-critical systems in order to protect them from the energies of the jump. Once the ship was completely enveloped, Commander Nelson gave a quick nod of approval to the helmsman. The helmsman triggered the collapse of the void, causing the ship to disappear as the cloud of darkness imploded upon itself, a small burst of high energy radiation the only evidence of the Jump left behind.

Commander Nelson was never good with jumps. She swallowed with an audible gulp, trying to put her stomach back where it belonged. Luckily, most of her bridge crew were better at handling the vertigo from jumping and were already hard at work restoring ship systems to normal. As she examined the tac-map on her console, nearly a dozen Federation signatures appeared as the ship’s sensors were brought online. Two things worried the Commander. One, they were all warships, located in extreme proximity to the jump point. Two, they all had active sensors engaged, likely meaning that weapons were also armed. Hails were sent out rapidly by the two frigates, desperate to explain the situation and why they had entered. Surprisingly, no hails were answered. Nothing was answered. The warships were dead silent and refusing all forms of communication. If it weren’t for the engines and sensors being powered, one could easily have mistaken them for wrecks.


December 6, 2101, 09:25 Hours

As the ships at the jump point weren’t responding to communications, further investigation was decided to be necessary. Commander Nelson ordered the second Oberth to remain at the jump point, in case a message needed to be relayed back to Sol.

While FTL travel and communications were relatively simple feats with the advent of Trans-Newtonian technology, they had limits. Jumps could only be made at points where the curvature of spacetime was smooth enough, such that it wouldn’t cause the jump engine to tear itself and the ship apart under extreme gravitational stress. As for communications, instantaneous transmission in system is quite easily done. Communication beyond the gravity well of a star however is nigh impossible. While still technically doable, it would require precise mapping of a myriad of different factors across the entire line of transmission, in real time. The stabilizing effects of a star’s gravitational field simplify this mapping down to a near trivial level. Transmission through jump points is typically achieved through beacons placed on either side of the jump point, which can transmit messages back and forth nearly instantly. There was a buoy placed on the Sol side of the jump point, but the Federation never allowed one to be placed on the Taga side. The second Oberth would act as a stand in for a buoy.

Commander Nelson felt uneasy. Why were these ships so quiet? Maybe the hawks were right, and the Federation is planning a betrayal? If they were, then there would most likely be significant forces preparing in the inner system. Perhaps some kind of calamity has struck the Federation’s capital and has crippled their leadership. Long range scans show that the climate of Batan, the Federation’s homeworld, appear to be completely normal. If there was a calamity, it most likely would have been political in nature. Perhaps a coup? In any case, nothing was to be learned sitting at the jump point playing guessing games. The only way to find out for sure, was to continue towards the inner system.


December 14, 2101

As the Oberth and her crew approached the inner system, the passive sensors began to discern large numbers of contacts in orbit of Batan. The signatures were that of trade ships, which eased the tension on the bridge slightly. At approximately three hundred and fifty million km from the planet, Commander Nelson ordered the active sensors on. A few seconds after the activation, data came pouring in to the consoles on the bridge. A significant collection of Federation warships was in orbit, potentially the largest gathering yet seen by the Hegemony. Tension on the bridge was rising by the second, as crew thought back to what the war hawks had said. This fit the definition of an attack fleet, to the letter.

Eager to get her crew’s minds off the sensor data, Commander Nelson ordered the Oberth left behind at the jump point to send a message to Fleet Command, containing the sensor data she had acquired. With that, she ordered sensors off and best speed to the jump point, to get out of this eerie situation she had found herself in.


December 15, 2101

Commander Nelson and her crews are back safely in the sol system, and the data collected has been thoroughly mulled over by Fleet Command. It is clear to most that the betrayal theory is currently in the lead. Command is now split between two factions. One faction wishes to continue the planned offensive against the Coalition, as the ramifications of cancellation on the home front would be disastrous at best. The other faction wishes to quietly shift forces away from the offensive, and stage a pre-emptive invasion of Federation space. The Terran Navy is undoubtedly larger and more advanced than the Federation’s, so a large enough surprise attack could very well cripple their offensive ability. On the other hand, if the Jiadliaokl Coalition decided to invade in force at this time, there would be very little that could be done to stop them before they deal significant damage to the colonies.


December 22, 2101

A decision is reached. Due to the stalemate between the two factions in Fleet Command and the dire need for action, a compromise is reached. The offensive will continue as planned, but the First Crusade Fleet, featuring Humanity’s largest warship, will stay behind to bolster the Sol Defence Fleet against a potential surprise attack from the Federation. Additionally, the new missile bases originally destined to fortify the outer colonies will instead be diverted to further bulk up the defences around the Sol-Taga jump point.


January 1, 2102

The day has finally arrived, the day when Humanity takes the fight to the aliens, the day when Humanity takes the first step forwards to victory. Vidstreams of the assembled fleet at Anchorage are broadcast to every corner of human space and beyond, the ships nearly as dressed up as their crews. With carefully orchestrated grace, the fleet sets off from Anchorage to much fanfare and celebration.

The first stop for the fleet is the Novaya Rodina system, at the entrance to known Coalition space. Advance elements of the fleet have deposited a large amount of fuel, munitions, and maintenance supplies here to act as a staging ground for further assaults, as well as a handful of tracking stations to warn of incoming enemy fleets.

While the staging ground would preferably have been placed closer to Hegemony space to keep it safer from enemy assaults, the next closest system is Shadaowa. Shadaowa is home to the Church of Casere, an alien civilization that appears to have no ambition for spaceflight. They are contented to stay at home, but will still gladly accept any trade that comes their way. Fleet Command was unwilling to risk sensitive data potentially falling into the hands of the Church, as it would most likely be sold to the Coalition at the earliest possible convenience. Not out of malice or favouritism, but simply because the Church is greatly interested in making as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, with as little effort as possible.


January 7, 2102

The fleet is just a few million kilometers away from the Centaurus-Donwaltz Jump, when a transmission is received from the forward base in Novaya Rodina, priority critical. A Coalition armada has been detected, jumping in from the Indra system. The enemy force comprises of sixteen Heavy Capital, thirty two Capital, and sixty five Cruiser size ships. In comparison, the combined Main Line of the offensive consists of eight Heavy Capital, twelve Capital, one hundred and twenty Cruiser, one hundred and nineteen Destroyer, and one hundred and fifty one Frigate size ships. The total estimated mass of the Coalition fleet is just over 1.7 million tons, whereas the Main Line sits at just under 2.2 million tons. The forward base is also a bit over 5 billion km away, so its possible that smaller signatures have simply gone undetected. It is unlikely though, as no warships smaller than Cruiser size have been observed in use by the Coalition.

Although in terms of mass the Hegemony fleet appears to be more powerful, one must not forget to consider that even the most technologically advanced Human ship today is nothing more than a fanciful arrangement of sticks and stones compared to the average Coalition ship, even at the start of the war. Based on the combat data from the beginning of the war, a mass advantage of around two to one is required to ensure a Human victory. However, this is only relevant for jump point defences, where the Hegemony fleet is usually positioned roughly 20 million kilometers away from the jump point. Comfortably inside of effective missile range, but still safe from the powerful energy weapons some Coalition ships are known to mount.

Open combat is right out of the question. The only time the Hegemony ever met the Coalition in open space, the Coalition fleet effortlessly destroyed five times their weight in Human vessels, and the only thing that prevented the complete destruction of Anchorage was that the enemy had already expended all their munitions destroying the fleet and had to turn back to rearm. The Coalition had missiles that were either twice as fast and ten times the range, or three times as fast and three times the range of the main Hegemony missile in service. The only thing Human missiles have going for them, is that their warheads are noticeably stronger than their adversary’s.

All of this together puts Terran naval strategists in a difficult situation. The only scenario in which a Hegemony fleet can win, is if it has a massive weight advantage, or if the fleet is defending a jump point and can maintain favourable range. If the fleet approaches in open space they’ll be shot down from nearly a billion kilometers away, and if they get caught in a knife fight, they’ll be turned to drifting hulks in under a minute.

The Coalition armada, if it is headed for Centaurus and the Anchorage fleet base, will take approximately two weeks to arrive. The Main Line will take just over 3 weeks to get to the forward base. A defensive fight is the only one that the Hegemony Navy can win, and so the offensive fleet will have to attempt to ambush the incoming armada somewhere along their route. The trouble is, to win the fight would require nearly the whole of the Main Line, which even with a total victory would require a considerable amount of time for R&R after the battle, delaying the offensive and allowing the enemy time to prepare. There isn’t much choice though, as the alternative is to hold some forces in reserve, so that after the battle they can continue to push forwards. This would push the odds away from victory, in face of already tenuous prospects of success. The decision is made to ambush the enemy at the Donwaltz-Shadaowa Jump, and force the enemy to retreat.

Garfunkel:
Well now, this is definitely something little different!

TheBawkHawk:
Part Two: Brace for Contact


January 13, 2102, 12:38 hours

The newer ships of the Main Line have arrived in position around the Donwaltz-Shadaowa Jump, with the older and slower fleets still on the way. The First Patrol Squadron, a small frigate flotilla, is sent through the jump to keep an eye out for the enemy fleet. As soon as they complete the jump, passive sensors detect hostile actives in the inner system. The squadron is ordered to hold position on the jump point, and maintain emissions silence, lest the enemy decides to attack the still preparing fleets. The squadron combined has the PD capacity to handle only a handful of missiles at once. However, if the enemy decides to fire upon the frigates, they will simply duck back through the jump point to safety, causing the enemy to waste their ammunition.


January 13, 2102, 19:48 hours

The Coalition armada appears to be hunting down shipping within the Shadaowa system. Only a handful of Human ships are present, with a significant amount of Federation shipping in close orbit of the Church of Casere’s world. Despite the certain deaths they would face, much of the squadron is champing at the bit, eager to fling themselves at the enemy to try and save the civilian ships.


January 14, 2102, 09:00 hours

A civilian freighter was struck by a salvo of missiles and destroyed in the inner system. The older fleets of the Main Line, the First, Second, and Fourth Battlefleets, as well as the Second and Fourth Expeditionary Fleets, are still approximately two days from reaching defensive positions. The Coalition armada on the other hand, is a mere 10 hours from the jump point. A few tense moments pass as the Coalition armada turns about, all eyes in the squadron plastered to the sensor consoles. For a moment it appears that the armada has decided to advance further into human territory, but again they turn about to head further in-system to hunt the remaining freighters.

As the captains of the squadron are getting rather restless, they devise an ambush to at least let them do a little damage. One tactic that had been employed semi-successfully during a jump point defence was to use the missiles of the fleet as improvised mines. Each missile has an active sensor, so it is capable of automatically targeting within about 300 thousand kilometers. Not ideal, but still useful, as this allowed all missiles to strike at the same time, overwhelming point defence. The Coalition armada was currently on course to transit through a Lagrange point, so this could serve as the jump point for the purposes of the ambush. The Arrow missile used by the Hegemony has a maximum range of 100 million kilometers and an endurance of 56 minutes, while the missile launchers have a reload time of 2 minutes. It takes 18 minutes for the frigates to completely expend their munitions, and assuming perfect timing, leaves 38 minutes of endurance on the first salvo. In 38 minutes, the Coalition ships can travel just over 25 million kilometers. In the same time, the frigates can travel just over 14.

Assuming perfect execution, the frigates could be 114 million kilometers away from the Lagrange point by the time the hostile armada transited through, with 360 missiles waiting for them. 114 million kilometers was still dangerously far from safe, even with the issues the enemy would have targeting such small vessels. It is likely that not a single ship sent would make it back to safety before being destroyed. Although the potential to destroy several enemy ships is tempting, the squadron captains decide to shelve the plan for the time being. It’s not worth the safety of their ships and crew to damage or destroy a handful of ships. They’re far more useful to the fleet alive.


January 15, 2102

The Coalition armada has transited through the Lagrange point, and has disappeared from passive sensors. While the squadron captains aren’t happy to have lost track of the enemy, the same can’t be said for the crews. They’re just happy to have the looming threat of annihilation gone, at least for the time being.


January 16, 2102

The remainder of the Main Line has arrived in position for the ambush, and the trailing support elements are not far behind. Everything is now in position for the battle. All that’s left, is to wait for the enemy to come to them. In the meanwhile, the crew of the Main Line will prepare themselves for the upcoming battle, and pray that they make it through the other side.


January 17, 2102, 08:15 hours

The Coalition armada is still unaccounted for, somewhere inside the Shadaowa system. The crews of the fleet are dutifully organizing and preparing whatever they can, performing drills to keep their skills as sharp as possible. The admirals on the other hand, are spending more time than ever in conferences, trying to squeeze out every bit of strategy possible before the battle. That is, until the conference is interrupted by a transmission from the Novaya Rodina base, priority critical. The message states that at 08:08 hours, the sensor posts on the Forward Base have detected 29 Coalition Cruisers transiting into the system. The news is met with excitement from the admirals. Perhaps, if they were lucky enough, this signalled the beginning of the withdrawal of the enemy forces from Shadaowa.

Sadly, the luck of Humanity has been thoroughly and painfully proven to have run out a long time ago. This wasn’t a withdrawal. These 29 Cruisers were reinforcements, transiting in from the Indra system, just like the armada had ten days ago. This has the potential to tip the scales irreversibly against the Hegemony. An additional 29 Cruisers brings the number of Hegemony and Coalition Cruiser size vessels nearly to parity, with a small advantage to the Hegemony. Not to mention that the mass advantage the Main Line had was nearly completely gone, with the Main Line now massing only 10% more than their adversaries.


January 17, 2102, 18:57 hours

While the Coalition armada is still undetected, the destruction it brings is not. For the past five hours, there has been a steadily moving path of high-yield nuclear detonations, heading directly towards the Church of Casere. What the Jiadliaokl Coalition hopes to do once they reached the small world is anybody’s guess, but most outlooks are grim.


January 19, 2102

Nuclear detonations are detected above Casere. For a moment, the space around the planet is brighter than the small star it orbits, with no less than 294 separate detonations detected. Miraculously, the inhabitants appear to be unharmed, for the time being. Their infrastructure is likely in shambles due to the intense EMP effects, but no detonations have been detected on the surface. It appears that the target of these missiles is the orbiting freighters and other civilian vessels.


January 23, 2102, 04:15 hours

The Coalition reinforcements have transited into Shadaowa and appear to be on a direct course towards the First Patrol Squadron. This is both good and bad news. While a conflict against the cruisers on their own was a significantly more favourable engagement than taking on the whole of the armada at once, it did mean that the frigates currently in Shadaowa would have to transit back into Donwaltz. Doing so would leave the fleet blinded for a small time to any incoming strike by the rest of the Coalition armada, which was still unaccounted for somewhere in Shadaowa.

Due to the imminent combat, the fleet commanders decide to detach their fleet support vessels and carriers and send them to a safer distance. Should the battle with the Coalition cruiser fleet or the armada go poorly, the carriers could hopefully continue to harass the enemy from a safer distance.


January 23, 2102, 08:15 hours

The Coalition cruiser fleet has split into four separate groups during its approach, and two of the groups have come to a stop at 300 and 350 million kilometers from the jump point. After 20 minutes, a dozen missile contacts are detected in close proximity to the frigate squadron on the jump point. While a battlefleet, or even an expeditionary fleet, would easily be able to handle this number of missiles, the frigate squadron has but three defensive turrets. The order is given for the squadron to retreat behind the safety of the jump point, and to prepare for fleet combat.


January 23, 2102, 15:34 hours

One of the cruiser groups has transited into Donwaltz. Alarm bells are ringing across the fleet as crews scramble into position. The enemy group only consisted of six ships, so a full salvo would not be sent, and the fighters would not partake. Ammunition needed to be conserved, and the alpha strike from the fighters was far too valuable and took far too long to reload to use on only six ships.

A salvo was launched by the First Battlefleet, with 32 missiles sent after each of the six enemy ships. Immediately after missile launch, a second cruiser group transited through the jump point. This group consisted of seven ships, with five of them being the reviled Athor class. The Athors were highly effective laser armed ships, with a proven effectiveness. Just eight of them were almost completely responsible for the destruction of the Second Battlefleet several years earlier, in an event now known as the Jump Point Massacre.

However, things were different now. Hegemony ships were more powerful, and tactics have been improved. At the current range of 15 million kilometers, they were little more than sitting ducks, and could be safely ignored while the missile armed hostiles were dealt with. Very few among the crews were willing to let this chance for revenge escape them, though. Athor class ships have since been treated as priority targets, with some crews competing to see who can destroy the Athor first. The rebuilt Second Battlefleet was more than happy to send a salvo against the newcomers.

Mere seconds after the salvo was away, the Coalition cruisers appear to have recovered from jump shock, as multiple active sensor emissions are detected moving towards the Main Line at high speed. New developments in missile technology have made missile interception systems possible, and the technologies have been mounted on an escort cruiser and an escort frigate hull. Due to the recent introduction, live tests have not been conducted. While a relatively safe test of the new system is quite appealing to most in command, the simple fact of the matter is that all the interceptors were going to be needed for the main fleet engagement. There simply weren’t enough of them to go around to be using them when not absolutely necessary.


January 23, 2102, 15:39 hours

While the Hegemony missiles were just over half way to their targets, the long stream of Coalition missiles has just arrived. Defence turrets rouse from slumber and begin spitting out a wall of defensive fire, easily swatting the paltry coalition salvos aside. The Terran salvo was still several minutes away from impact, which brings up a potentially important topic. Due to the disparity in missile speeds and the distance, by the time Terran missiles reach their targets, the Jiadliaokl ships would have had enough time to launch around a dozen salvos. While the salvos from the cruisers were no threat, being small and uncoordinated, the salvos from the armada would be another beast entirely. Moving the fleet closer to the jump point would allow Terran ships to land hits sooner, allowing less time for the Coalition ships to fire. At the same time, it also means that the enemy missiles have a shorter distance to travel, potentially causing casualties before additional salvos can be launched. Most importantly, it means that the enemy laser combatants, such as the Athor, would be able to close on the fleet much faster than otherwise. The Athors in Donwaltz have already managed to close the distance by 3.5 million kilometers, out of the total distance of 15 million kilometers.


January 23, 2102, 15:40 hours

The first Hegemony missiles have struck their target. 32 missiles streaked in towards two of the coalition cruisers, annihilating them in a brief flash of nuclear light. Seconds later, the five Athor class class ships are subjected to a similar bombardment, however only one ship is destroyed. Three of the remaining four ships continue onwards. One ship shows little signs of damage, still moving at maximum speed. One has taken minor engine damage, with another having severe engine damage. The final ship has taken moderate damage, but it’s weapon systems were likely knocked out, as it turns about and begins retreating towards the jump point. Another salvo is sent against these ships.


January 23, 2102, 15:45 hours

The second salvo sent against the Athor class cruisers strikes their targets, turning the three advancing ships into rapidly expanding clouds of debris. The Athor that has chosen to flee is destroyed moments later. At this time, the order is sent to the support fleets to bring an ordinance reload to the Main Line. While only a few percent of the fleets total ammunition was spent, those few percent have proved crucial in previous engagements.


January 23, 2102, 15:48 hours

The final outbound Terran missiles strike their targets, with five of the original six ships being destroyed, and the remaining cruiser having suffered extensive damage. The damaged cruiser would be allowed to withdraw, as it was no longer an immediate threat. As well, it was hoped that it may draw the attention of the Coalition armada to the Donwaltz system, instead of continuing to harass the remaining civilian transports, or the Church of Cesare. All that remained for the time being was to weather the remaining salvos still incoming towards the Main Line, and to resupply the magazines of the ships in anticipation of either the main engagement, or the arrival of the other half of the Coalition cruiser fleet.


January 23, 2102, 16:10 hours

The surviving coalition Cruiser has made it through the Donwaltz-Shadaowa jump, and crews are released from combat stations. The resupply fleets would make it to the main line in under two hours, and be back to safety in another two. Just as the crews are beginning to relax, alarm bells begin ringing again, calling crews to battlestations once more. Another cruiser group has transited through, this one consisting of nine cruisers. There are six Thoth class, and three Anti class vessels, neither of which have been observed utilizing laser weapons. A salvo is sent out from the First and Second Battlefleets as they already had their resupply fleets on approach. The salvos are increased to 40 missiles per ship, to try to ensure the destruction of the enemy with the first salvo.

A few moments later, the famed Coalition jump-shock recovery speed is shown again, as a medium-strength nuclear detonation is detected on the Donwaltz-Shadaowa jump, destroying the sensor buoy placed there. This potentially means that at least one of the two ship classes are capable of missile interception, although the fact that they are using anti-ship missiles means that either they don’t have, or are simply all out of missile interceptors.


January 23, 2102, 16:23 hours

The missile salvos close on the enemy vessels without incident, and the cruisers disappear in a cloud of nuclear radiation and debris. All that remains, is to weather the remaining enemy missiles inbound. The Main Line has already shot down over five hundred in this engagement alone, without a single impact on the fleet.


January 23, 2102, 16:32 hours

The last of the enemy missiles is shot down, and once again crews are relieved of combat stations. All, except for the crews of the First Patrol Squadron, who would once again be sent through the jump point to act as forward warning. While the last element of the Coalition cruiser fleet has yet to show itself, it is deemed an acceptable risk. The last element consisted only of seven ships, and they were significantly farther out than any other of the cruiser fleet elements when the Patrol Squadron retreated. If the enemy were to transit through unexpectedly while the resupply fleets were still closing on the Main Line, it is likely they could be targeted. There were no escorts with the support fleets, as they were all with the Main Line.

Escorts could be detached to provide a limited amount of missile defence, or missile interceptors could be used to shoot down anything that would threaten the supply ships. Neither option was particularly favourable, as the Main Line would have to either weaken its final defensive fire or expend precious missile interceptors. The supply ships incoming are older vessels that were designed and outfitted to service warships designed before missile interceptors were introduced, so to bring an interceptor reload would require newer vessels and another several hours. Hours, which may make or break the offensive.


January 23, 2102, 17:05 hours

The remaining 7 Coalition cruisers are detected. However, this could not have come at a worse time. The frigate squadron has yet to transit and is only two million kilometers from the Donwaltz-Shadaowa jump. The squadron is immediately ordered to turn about, and retreat back to the Main Line.

Upon receipt of their orders, Captain Kian Coles, in overall command of the frigate squadron, decides that enough is enough. He instead orders his fleet directly at the Cruisers. On their own, the thirteen frigates weighed less than just three of the enemy ships. That wouldn’t stop them in their moment of glory though. Every few seconds, Captain Coles’ command console chimed at him, alerting him to a new priority message from command. He quickly recorded one final message to the Fleet Admiral, before disabling the speaker on his console. It wouldn’t be needed anymore.

Aboard the Adamant class Dreadnought Victorious, Fleet Admiral Elizabeth Ball was not amused. Insubordination, heading towards a pointless and near certain death, on the eve of the greatest fleet engagement Humanity had ever fought. The consensus among the bridge crew was that dying in combat or being captured by the Jiadliaokl were far more appealing fates than whatever Fleet Admiral Ball would have in store for Captain Coles, if he were to survive. Of course, none dared to voice that opinion in front of the Admiral, her patience having been stretched to the absolute limit over the past few days.

Fleet Admiral Ball’s console chimed at her. Finally, a response to the fusillade of orders sent to Captain Coles. Seeing that it was a video file, Admiral Ball ordered it brought up on the main display. “Dear Fleet Admiral Ball,” Captain Coles started.

“Make me.”

Cavgunner:
Really been looking forward to this.  Great start!

TheBawkHawk:
Part Three: Last Ride of the First Patrol Squadron


January 23, 2102, 17:06 hours

The frigate squadron is flying full speed at the Coalition cruisers, when active sensor emissions are detected approaching at high velocity. Missiles streak in through the void at the frigates, at just a bit over 15% of light speed. On board each of the frigates, the crews put into motion a spectacular display of ship handling and maneuvering, performing twists and stunts that would put even the greatest of airshows to shame back on Earth. However, it all seems to be for naught, at least for the time being. The missiles blast straight through the frigate’s formation, continuing towards the heavier fleet units behind. At least for the time being, it would seem the final ride of the frigate squadron would continue on.

Moments later, the missile salvo launched by the frigates strikes its target, turning a cruiser into a large collection of scrap. Cheers erupt all throughout the squadron delaying retargeting for several moments, leading to some firing errors. None of the missile technicians, or their captains for the matter, seem to mind.

January 23, 2102, 17:10 hours

Another salvo from the frigate squadron has struck its target, destroying yet another cruiser. Several hundred Coalition missiles have sailed past the frigates, instilling a sense of invincibility in the crews. The lone Flower class frigate of the squadron, armed with a single 20cm mass driver, leaps out of formation and begins closing on the nearest cruiser on its own. It has a top speed just higher than the cruisers, so the range would slowly close. Whether or not they would get in range before the Main Line’s missile salvo arrived, was another question entirely. But to the crew, it was still an infinitely better choice than waiting helplessly to be blasted out of the skies, at least for the crew on board.

January 23, 2102, 17:15 hours

The salvo from the Main Line soars through and past the frigate squadron, causing the small ships to rock back and forth as the exhausts from several hundred missiles blast the frigates. Seeing that the main salvo has passed them, Captain Coles orders his ships to cease fire, for two reasons. First, any missiles they fired would reach the enemy after the Main Line’s salvo, and it was nearly guaranteed that nothing would be left once it struck. Second, survival was becoming an increasingly likely prospect. Understanding that he would likely have to face the wrath of Fleet Admiral Ball once the battle was over, he was uneager to add wasting munitions to his list of transgressions.

At this time, only three enemy cruisers remained, the other 4 having been destroyed by the salvos from the frigate squadron. Captain Coles made a mental note to recommend that High Command accept Frigate wolf-pack style attacks into official doctrine, with his squadron’s exemplary performance hopefully providing any evidence needed.

However, luck seems to have run out. Lured into a sense of security by the lack of any missile contact, the defensive crews of the frigates are caught off guard when three missiles detonate close against the hull of one of the three Oberth frigates causing the engine to rupture, flooding the ship with superheated plasma. Only twenty seven crew make it to life pods. Captain Coles had barely a moment to register what had happened, before his own Oberth was struck by seven missiles. Nearly every single component of the ship was damaged, with over 85% of the ship by mass being made unusable. Miraculously however, many crew are able to escape to the safety of the intact crew quarters, with only nineteen of the sixty two crew being killed. Seconds later, another missile impacts the ship, causing it to split in half. Many of the crew seeking refuge in the crew quarters are immediately ejected into space, with only the crew remaining on the bridge or attempting repairs on the engines being left alive. Captain Coles and twenty seven other crew manage to make it to life pods before the wreck falls apart. Another salvo of two missiles impacts one of the River class Missile Frigates, one detonating near the missile launchers, and another destroying the bridge and igniting a fire in the magazine. Thankfully, the magazine was ejected before the missiles could detonate, leaving the ship damaged, but still intact.

Survivors are taken aboard the remaining Oberth in the squadron, and the squadron makes way to the Forge class Repair Ship still approaching from the Centaurus system. The Forge had the largest medical facilities available, as well as the ability to repair up to Capital sized ships. The Flower class turns about and heads to rejoin the Patrol Squadron, as the Main Line missile salvo has passed them and the single mass driver onboard could offer help in preventing additional missile hits. It would not offer much help, but it would offer something at the very least. That is, until the Flower class begins taking missile hits. Despite its role requiring the ship to close on the enemy, the Flower class has less armour than a River class, in order to mount a larger weapon. The first hit is absorbed by armour, but another hit in the same area would produce a breach. The next hit destroys one of the engines, cutting the speed in half. After this, no more missiles are spotted heading towards the frigates.

January 23, 2102, 17:17 hours

Several missiles have been detected on a course that will bring them in towards the frigates. Initially it appears that the missiles will impact the Flower class and finish it off, only the first missiles hit the Flower, the rest pass and begin hammering into the damaged River class. Several salvos hit the ship, and after a few moments it is left nothing more than a slowly spinning hulk. By the time all the incoming missiles pass, the Flower is left dead in the water, both of its engines destroyed, and three Rivers are destroyed. A fourth River has suffered heavy armour damage but is still entirely intact internally.

The missile salvo from the Main Line has finally impacted the remaining Coalition cruisers, destroying them in an extreme display of overkill. After each cruiser is atomized and dispersed into a rapidly expanding cloud, one hundred and sixty eight missiles remain. As before, all that remains is to weather the missiles still incoming.

January 23, 2102, 17:24 hours

All hostile missiles are shot down, and quiet again returns to the fleet. The frigates of the First Patrol Squadron are again responding to orders, now that the rebellious Captain Coles is confined to his life pod. The squadron is diverted from its course towards the Forge and is instead ordered to collect as many Coalition life pods as they can, and to drop off all survivors – Human and Jiadliaokl – to Anchorage for processing. The squadron would then continue to Reach for repairs and reinforcement, as well as a change of command.

In the meantime, a forward picket force is still needed, as the main Coalition force in the Shadaowa system was still unaccounted for. The Seventh Expeditionary Fleet is dispatched to perform this role. Significantly more powerful that the frigate squadron originally tasked, the Seventh consists of seven cruisers, eight destroyers, and eighteen frigates. The Seventh is chosen due to it having the heaviest missile defence capability out of all present Expeditionary Fleets, notably two escort cruisers, and nine escort frigates. Another important aspect, is that it consists entirely of the newest generation warships, having a 25% increase in speed over the older vessels of the fleet.

January 23, 2102, 18:24 hours

The Seventh Expeditionary Fleet has transited into Shadaowa and is on the lookout for the Coalition armada. Once the sensors are brought back online after the jump, a single Coalition cruiser is detected, just under fifty million kilometers from the jump point. The contact matches the profile of the cruiser allowed to escape from the first engagement with the cruiser fleet. The cruiser appears to be on course to transit into the Novaya Rodina system, potentially back to a shipyard for repairs. The cruiser has yet to repair engine damage sustained in the combat and is slower than the ships of the Seventh. Shadowing the cruiser back to it’s base of operations could reveal the location of a Coalition colony, although the risks involved would be significant. A brief conference with Fleet Admiral Ball concludes that the risk is well worth the reward. A pair of Oberths are detached from the Fifth Battlefleet and are ordered to shadow the damaged cruiser for as long as possible.

January 24, 2102, 18:34 hours

While the Oberths are pursuing the damaged cruiser, two active sensor emissions are detected from near the Lagrange Point, deeper in the inner system. The Seventh sends word back to the Main Line, letting them know to get ready for potential fleet contact. The fact that the Seventh has detected the enemy means that the enemy has also detected them, and as such the Seventh is put on a higher alert status.

January 24, 2102, 21:55 hours

The hostile contacts have approached close enough to be picked up by the Seventh’s own sensors, and the blinding red light from the tac-map confirms that this is indeed the armada. The Seventh will remain for as long as they can in Shadaowa to confirm that the armada is going to transit into Donwaltz, and to bait out an attack from the enemy to waste some of their missiles.

January 24, 2102, 22:55 hours

Somehow, a Coalition missile strike has managed to impact the Seventh before it could be detected by missile sensors. One hundred and ten strength thirteen nuclear detonations tear into the fleet, instantly destroying eight destroyers and one cruiser. Luckily the fleet’s command cruisers are still intact, and the fleet can retreat through the jump point at any time. The fleet would wait until a salvo was detected approaching, and then it would retreat.

January 25, 2102, 00:00 hours

A missile salvo has been detected by the Seventh, at under five hundred thousand kilometers distance. One hundred and eighty two missiles raced in towards the Seventh, with potentially many more yet undetected. Crews scramble to engage a transit through the jump point, and the last of the ships blink through just as the missiles streak past. Based on their distance from the jump point, the Armada is estimated to arrive in approximately sixteen hours. Alarmingly, the missiles that were detected travelled in only nine distinct salvos. The Armada could have launched several dozen distinct salvos if they launched at full strength. The Armada was either critically low on munitions, or they were simply pacing their attacks.

January 25, 2102, 15:55 hours

The Main Line is now minutes away from enemy contact, if the estimations were correct. Fleet Admiral Ball aboard the Dreadnought Victorious decides that this is the time to begin launching missiles at the jump point. While the Jiadliaokl had more advanced jump drives and could exit from a transit much farther from the jump point than their Terran counterparts, the Coalition has often transited the majority of their large fleets through directly on top of the jump point. Fleet Admiral Ball orders the fighters to launch their entire payload at the jump point, as they have significant alpha strike potential, and because they would rearm sooner than if they waited for targets to arrive, even though they were unlikely to get a second salvo off before the engagement has run it’s course. The fighters launch their payload, one thousand three hundred and thirty two missiles in total. The combined force of the engine exhaust from so many missiles is enough to shake even the dreadnoughts to their core, as they race away to their gathering point in proximity of the jump point.

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