Month 253, Cannon Cartell, Second Expansion Branch, Bullet System
With tension the defenders awaited the coming assault. That the Red Fleet would assault was a given, but when. For once the yet enigmatic aliens had declined to immediately follow up on a probe. Most likely they were formulating a response to the presence of Cartell fighters. But how would it manifest?
The Norse Yetis had send twelve battle cruisers and a staggering 54 corvettes to aid in defending the system, all crewed by superbly trained warriors. Unfortunately they were technologically obsolete by the standards of this conflict. On the other hand, they lend numbers to a defensive force which due to the local supply situation was rather small. Six heavy cruisers, twelve light carriers and fifteen destroyers reinforced the six Class 3 weapon platforms guarding the warp point. While the Yetis hung close to the warp point, only three light seconds of to bring their laser weapons to bear, the Cartell forces were further back, with the heavy cruisers at four light seconds and the bases at six, with the carriers and their escorting destroyers even further back to avoid being swarmed over by small craft.
But given the recent encounter in Bootlegger next door, all battle cruisers of the Red Fleet were priority targets to remove their advanced gun/missile launchers from the equation as fast as possible, and allowing the fighters the best chance to inflict damage.
The long wait ended quite suddenly and in an unexpected way. Twenty-seven destroyers blinked into existence on the warp point, and two immense fireballs announced that four of them managed to interpenetrate. Six more destroyers arrived conventionally. Then they started to take the Yetis corvettes under fire with three force beams each. These were those quite resilient ships which had given the undines trouble once, but used in a new way. Nineteen of the destroyers used their force beams to eliminate two corvettes. The corvettes which activated retaliated and destroyed a destroyer and damaged a second one with a laser each. But seven of the other destroyers fired anti-mine-missiles into the minefield and eliminated five patterns, halving the strength in that sector. Only six of the Yeti battle cruisers activated, but this was enough to eliminate two of these destroyers. The two Cartell Destroyer II class bases which activated destroyed a third one despite its deployed EDM missiles. The lone cartel cruiser could only clear away the crippled two gun destroyers, leaving four of them to recycle their launchers.
Six battleships arrived through the warp point and launched 72 gunboats, followed by another simultaneous transit of 72 armed pinnaces, ten of which interpenetrated, leaving 60. The disregard of their own lives displayed by the aliens here left the allied commanders somewhat stunned, allowing two the gun armed destroyer to link up and fire their mine-clearing missiles again, reducing the minefield strength to 30% in the sector. The reporting name Lynx was assigned to these, and Kirishima to the force beam armed ones.
Three Yeti battle cruisers then fired as once, and destroyed one of the two Lynxes, but the other one stubbornly kept at its task and reduced the minefield strength to 20% of what the field started out with. The Kishimas used the pause given by the destruction of the Lynxes to cripple four corvettes, slowing them down instead of eliminating them. The corvettes shifted to shooting at gunboats, killing 27of them. Three Cartell cruiser eliminated the two remaining lynxes, and three bases took out a Kirishima. The six Daiku class battleships crippled another three corvettes.
Then the Kigishimas advanced, sweeping through the remaining mines and closed some to the corvettes while leaving two of their number behind, and the Daikus also advanced slightly. Six more battleships arrived on the waypoint and disgorged their parasite crafts.
First to fire were the three destroyers who had not yet done so, and their surprise was a nasty one, they used primaries and destroyed two engine rooms on a Skadi battle cruiser doing so. It also made them priority targets. For reporting purpose, they were named the Sturmfeur class for their weapons able to pierce all armour. In return, a data group of Skadies eliminated a Sturmfeur. The Daikus responded, carving away at a Skadies armour with their beams. This merry exchange continued once more, destroying another two Sturmfeuers and leaving the Skadi slowed down due to the loss of three engine rooms. One Kigishima was crippled, and removed a crippled corvette with its remaining beam.
Then the battle descended into an exchange of beams between the corvettes and the destroyers. The Six new battleships revealed themselves as Marauders by taking out the lonely Thief class corvette hovering just in range of its data-gathering sensors, and then another Hodur class frigate and a crippled one. It seems that the Yeti were not meant to gain technological data from this fight.
The Cartell cruisers damaged another Kigishima, and the bases ripped the shields and some armour off one marauder.
Then another five BBs arrived, followed by 42 gunboats, of whom 36 survived. The red fleets destroyers advanced by half a light second, modulating their engines while the six battleships already in system dashed ahead and started to unleash salvoes into the yeti battle cruisers. But even this titanic display of firepower only managed to remove one Yeti battle cruisers from datalink and damaging the armour on another. Both of these where then breached and slowed by the six marauders on the warp point with later torpedoes, while the yeti battle cruisers whipped a battleship from space and damaged another one. This now left four battle cruisers slowed down near the warp point. The cartel CA’s destroyed a damaged red fleet destroyer, and damaged another one, while the corvettes and destroyers engages in mutual slow erosion of their presence, hampered by both sides using evasive manoeuvring. The gunboats all stayed on the warp point but the armed pinnaces advanced somewhat into a position to pounce should the defenders still remain on the warp point. The final exchange was by the bases, but of fifty missiles thrown at a Marauder class battleship, only two managed to evade the point defence and scrap more armour.
while the Daikus pushed further, and the allied fleet moved off the warp point, six red fleet battle cruisers materialised. Finally the targets the allies had hoped to eliminate first were present, but no longer in optimal range for most of their ships. still the Norse Yeti were quick of the mark, initiating the exchange of fire. But the Daikus had gotten too close, and their data nets went down by jamming. The first BC to fire scrubbed more armour of a Daiku, in return a Skadi battle cruiser got seriously damaged. His comrades continues to fire, and heavily damaged the Daiku and stripped most of the armour of a second one. The Marauders targeted the bases, but for a lucky first salvo did not damage them, while the bases salvoes damaged a battle cruiser heavily. These revealed themselves to be Quickdraws by firing their lasers at the Norse battle cruisers for negligible effect. The corvettes focused on the Daiku with armour damage, but they didn't manage to breach its defences, with only 24 lasers hitting. Meanwhile the armed pinnaces swept over the slowed battle cruisers and slaughtered them wholesale with their mounted lasers. The destroyers managed only to damage two corvettes, and in return the cartel cruisers whipped two of them out, leaving seven in the fight.
Now the armed pinnaces turned away from pursuing the battle cruisers, towards the three bases between the warp point and the carriers. This set up a flurry of activity, with the corvettes and the cartel cruisers turning to intercept them, leaving the remaining battle cruisers and battleships to duke it out. The gunboats as well moved though the breach in the minefields, with sixty peeling off towards the other three bases and the remaining 213 moving somewhat indeterminate towards the battle cruisers. The Red fleets destroyers also moved off after the corvettes, trying to keep themselves in the play. Meanwhile, the Cartells fighters moved forward, nearing the bases from the other side. Also, another six battle cruisers arrived through the warp point.
Once again a Norse battle cruiser fired first, unloading into the battleships the corvettes had weakened from less than a light second. The battle cruiser hit with all lasers, ripping deeply into the battleships engines. In return, two battleships eviscerated a Norse battle cruisers. By the time the intense fire was resolved, only two unscathed battleships remained, and three undamaged Norse battle cruisers with a fourth having lost its armour. The Cartell bases stripped the passives from a newly arrived battle cruiser, but in return, after seeing one salvo defeated by the bases point defence, the red fleets Marauders managed to breach one base with laser torpedoes and remove it from its data group.
Then the Cartell heavy cruisers engaged the destroyers in close range with plasma guns and sprint mode missiles, and allocating fire a bit conservatively, destroyed dour of them, but with better allocation possibly could have destroyed more. still, this removed the destroyer force as a factor from the battlefield. And the cruisers advanced point defence took out seven armed pinnaces. Twenty-seven armed pinnaces managed to fire, then the corvettes had eliminated the ones still bearing arms unfired, and eliminated a few more. Leaving twenty-three armed pinnaces in space, but most likely unable to fire again at the bases. In return, ten corvettes lost armour and engines, but their sacrifice saved the bases.
But no, not carrying for their safety, the remaining pinnaces just raced on and hurled themselves like huge guided missile onto the three bases, trying to bring them down. Twelve were in targets, but only one on each base survived the defensive fire.
The Norse battle cruisers turned to run, prolonging the chase for the gunboats. The corvettes and the heavy cruisers followed the armed pinnaces to prevent further ramming, and the three still capable destroyers moved closer to the bases, as well. another three battle cruisers appeared on the warp pint, signalling a possible end to the number of ships still coming through. And the seven still capable battleships continued to chase the battle cruisers. The Cartell fighters as well dove into the fur ball around the bases. The battle cruisers and the battleships exchanged fire, leaving one battleship and one cruiser crippled, and another cruiser stripped of its armour. The bases fired on the damaged marauder class battleship, and managed to breach its armour finally. In return the second base group lost one base from its data link. And eight armed pinnaces died as the first base group focused all point defence on them. One of the destroyers fired on the bases, but this drew an immediate response from the Cartell cruisers, and they damaged the other two. One was able to return fire taking out the passives of a second base, but the other cruiser group then finally killed the destroyers, and the cruisers took out the last pinnaces with their point defence. with no other targets, the corvettes eliminated the wrecked destroyers with long range sniping from their lasers. Ina final exchange, the second wave of battleships dealt with one Norse battle cruiser, and stripped the armour of a second one, leaving only one undamaged norse capital ship in the battle. In return, they had crippled five Daiku class battleships, notoriously hard targets, an almost unparalleled number yet in the known record of engagements with this implacable foe.
The allied battle cruisers managed to gain some distance as the red Fleer Daiku class battleships bunched up into a solid element, but only a total of six remained undamaged from the eleven they started out with. An exchange of laser fire between the two fleets lead to a damaged Daiku being almost scrapped and an undamaged one losing a chunk of armour, but crippled the remaining two battle cruisers. With the corvettes lacking a target right now and the fighters and gunboats still converging, the fight shifted to the long range sniping between the bases and the Red Fleet elements on the warp point. The Cartell Carnage V class cruisers rained down salvoes on the isolated intact battleship and eroded its shields, but some leakers from the battleships in turn did likewise to a heavy cruiser. Then the bases fired, but the first salvo of 20 laser-headed capital missiles was just targeted abysmally, and the sole missile on target was dispatched with contemptuous ease. The red fleets response was not much better, but their missile at least evaded the counter fire. Things picked up slightly but both sides having equivalent point defence allowed only singular leakers to pass the defensive fire.
The remaining 5 undamaged battleships turned back to the warp point, leaving the cripples to follow as well as possible. The gun boats maneuverer, trying to slip around the fighters, but these proved somewhat better at positioning and flanked the gunboats. The remaining 26 undamaged corvettes closed to within a light second of the gunboats, also on a flank. The heavy cruisers continued to distance themselves from the warp point, slipping out of capital missile range. On the other hand, the sixty detached gunboats closed into laser range of the second base group. Judging their HET lasers to be ineffective at the range to the corvettes, the battleships proceeded to melt crippled battle cruisers from the battlefield. Then the slaughter started. While the marauders and the first base group exchanged further missile fire, crippling the damaged marauders and removing he weapons from a second base, the other base group killed three gun boats but then was destroyed in a single pass of searing laser fire.
With the corvettes, cruisers and fighters engaging the gunboats and these using their point defence to engage fighters, 86 of the gunboats were destroyed, but taking 34 fighters with them, leaving 127 or 110 respectively.
Then the battle cruisers and battleships on the warp point advanced, now that the bases threatening their rear are gone, and the gunboats turn sharply around and flee into the firepower umbrella of the ships. The Cartell fighters decline to follow, and instead sweep round and over the crippled battleships, destroying them before joining the remaining 28 corvettes and the cruisers in high-tailing it away from the warp point. even though costly, this is the first battle where a fleet survived the confrontation with a detachment of the red fleet, and especially the surviving flight crews gained a lot of practical experience. The red fleet is slow to pursue and destroys first the crippled allied ships around the warp point before setting a course for the planet. Bullet, despite a valiant defence, had been doomed by the lack of sufficient supplies in-system to support a larger defensive fleet.
Second Expansion Branch, beyond the Bullet System
While the allies retreated from Bullet, the supporting systems for bullet started going up in flames, eliminating the support network for Bulet. But... this was not the work of the red fleet.
Theban Empire, Alexandria sector, Haremakhet Secundus
Haremakhet Secundus is a Theban system with a benign planet, though poor in resources. Only recently it had been settled by evacuees from Nun Secundus, removed from there before the red fleets advance from Pedise. The settlers were still rebuilding their lives when the planetary traffic control spotted an incoming contact. To the horror of the colonists, and soon of the Theban fleet command, the contact resolved into six red fleet light cruisers, which proceeded to wipe out the colony. This was grave news. The closest fleet concentration is just two systems away in First Katarakt, but it was there guarding against the incursion from Pedise. Now the quandary was, how many ships to split off to guard the systems reached from Haremakhet Secundus? Too many lay open beyond Akhab, the system accessed from Haremakhet Secundus to abandon it without a fight.