Author Topic: Chronicle of the Calana War (Read 1502 times)

Ghostly · « **on:** December 15, 2024, 12:17:30 PM »

In the year of our Lord 2047, the Russian Stellar Empire has encountered the Calana Imperium, the second known active interstellar alien civilization in the galaxy and the closest one to the Empire's current borders. Communications were established quickly, but the relationship soon turned sour due to the Empire's repeated trespasses on Calana territory. By 2049, the Imperium had declared hostilities, which amounted to a couple attacks on Russian surveillance buoys and the destruction of one of its spy-ships. No attempt at reprisal was made, as intelligence has been gathered of a Calana ship class with engines utilizing Inertial Confinement Fusion technology that Russian scientists were only beginning to conduct reactor experiments with, and fleets of significant size were observed roaming Calana space.

Off-Topic: A fleet of ~300 Fast Attack Craft encountered in the Kuiper 41 system • show

Four years of military buildup, information gathering, careful buoy placement and exploration followed, and by 2053 the Empire had decent relations with another interstellar polity, the Kiamba Freehold, who appear to have been warring with the Calana since before the first Russian ship has left the Solar System. Many Calana wrecks were observed in Kiamba space, and many were scavenged, revealing useful information about Calana ship classes. Furthermore, a massive Calana fleet exceeding a million tons was observed, seemingly stranded deep within Kiamba territory with no jump capability to allow it to come back. More importantly, the now extensive Russian buoy network revealed no attempts by the Calana to mount any offensive operations during this time.

Off-Topic: Lost Calana fleet blockading a worthless jump point • show

Emboldened by this information, the Russian Naval High Command has authorized a limited incursion into Calana territory to secure the shortest route through Omicron Lyrae into Kiamba space, where the Empire's dig site at an ancient ruin was beginning to cause diplomatic friction and its wealth desperately needed to be transported back home. Recent destruction of a Russian survey ship in Omicron Pyxidis was cited as a pretext. A small task force made up of older, Magneto-plasma-driven ships, led by a carrier, entered Calana space ahead of the dig site-bound cargo fleet and encountered no resistance; even after several civilian vessels were boarded, known enemy fleets were content to guard jump points into their populated systems.

Map of known Calana space in 2053.

After the cargo fleet had made a few trips, the incursion fleet was reinforced and committed to unrestricted naval warfare, destroying or capturing many lone ships, escorted convoys, and a small number of military patrols. Its most important prizes were Inertial Confinement-driven destroyers that were immediately sent to the nearest repair yards for disassembly and reverse-engineering, and massive Sagara-class fuel harvesters equipped with the same technology, which were towed all the way back to Terra where a shipyard expansion was ordered to accommodate their bulk.

On June 16th, 2053, the previously encountered massive FAC fleet was detected in 92 Draconis by a Russian missile frigate group. The frigates utilized their long-range, sensor-capable missiles in a novel staggered firing technique to rain a constant stream of destruction upon the enemy, eliminating a great number of them. A populated Kuiper 41 system, home to the biggest known Calana missile destroyer fleet, was infiltrated from several directions, and a previously known but unexplored high-traffic jump-point was traversed by a lone fighter scout and revealed to be a path into 91 Pegasi, which was very likely to be the Calana home system.

Off-Topic: Missile frigates utilizing staggered fire against a FAC fleet • show

Off-Topic: Frigate task group tracking down a large convoy • show

Off-Topic: Troop transport convoy surrendering to a new Admiral Lazarev-class destroyer • show

Off-Topic: Spy ship evading the Kuiper 41 fleet • show

Off-Topic: Carrier group poised to board the third advanced enemy destroyer in a row • show

Kuiper 41 Defense Fleet:
1x CL Nara – railgun jump cruiser of ubiquitous design
19x DDG Kanazawa – missile destroyer with long-range sensors
19x DDG Kochi – missile destroyer with anti-FAC sensors
21x DDG Tokushima – missile destroyer with anti-fighter sensors
1x SC Omuta – capabilities unknown, provisional designation Scout, likely to be a missile frigate
1x FF Fukui – missile frigate with anti-FAC sensors
2x FF Asahikawa - missile frigate with anti-fighter sensors

By October 2054 every lone ship in Kuiper 41 would get hunted down and boarded or destroyed and the enemy fleet would move from jump point to jump point in vain, never managing to catch the Empire’s forces. Suddenly, it decided to abandon the system and the three colonies within altogether, leaving the system through a jump point into the wreckage-strewn Eta Vulpercae system. Said jump point was guarded on the other side by a minor Russian detachment consisting of just two ships, an old Sapsan-class railgun frigate and a Carnot-class light railgun cruiser of Precursor design. The detachment was obliterated by enemy missiles at point blank range as soon as their fire controls came online, though not before destroying one enemy ship, damaging or crippling two more, and having another one surrender, only to be brutally eliminated by its former comrades. Barring a few expendable boarding craft, these were the first Russian losses of the war.

Off-Topic: The Kuiper fleet breakout • show

The Kuiper 41 fleet then proceeded into the Theta Puppis system, losing several ships on the way to missile fire of whatever Russian ship was close enough to intercept it. Carriers previously raiding in Kuiper 41 were able to outrun it and lay an ambush on the other side of the jump point, leaving behind their fighters, gunships and breaching pods to inflict as much damage as possible before the enemy could fight back, then attempt boarding on the surviving ships. The Calana fleet, despite being composed of fairly ancient vessels, outmassed the Empire's forces in the area 7:1 and strike group casualties were projected to be heavy.

This, however, turned out to be a non-issue, as on October 23rd, 2054, upon entering Theta Puppis and receiving a couple railgun volleys, the Calana fleet inexplicably surrendered with all hands.

The Great Surrender of 2054

Grand Trophy Fleet:
17x DDG Kanazawa
10x DDG Kochi
17x DDG Tokushima
1x FF Asahikawa

Now in possession of ~800 kilotons of Ion-era missile ships, and having its ordnance stockpiles doubled in size overnight, the Russian Stellar Empire had no choice but to start preparing for the invasion of the Calana home system. And since it had neither the ability nor the will to maintain its newest trophies, the invasion was on the clock. It was also noted with amusement by the High Command that the Omuta-Fukui-Asahikawa-class ships were of an even older generation, boasting Nuclear Gas-Core engines, and their sluggish top speed was the only thing that made the ambush possible. The fleet was to remain in place until a tanker could arrive to refuel it, its fuel tanks emptied what must've been the final act of alien defiance, and an extensive screening proccess was carried out to ascertain the Calana crews' willingness to fight for the Imperial cause.

A blockade of the 91 Pegasi jump point was established, and more confoundingly, the intermittent transits of lone, unprepared Calana combat ships through the jump point did not cease, with many ships appearing brand new, fresh off the shipyard and boasting the coveted Inertial Fusion technology. A few troop transport convoys entered Kuiper too, and due to the jump shock no ship was in shape to fight back before getting overwhelmed.

This, along with the recent surrenders, has left the High Command confused as to what state the Imperium's communications were in and what sort of political upheaval it might be experiencing. In just a few short months, the Empire has captured enough prize ships for even the most pessimistic projections to forecast immediate finalization of the Inertial Confinement Fusion Reactor tech and full completion of the respective Engine tech as soon as scrapping operations were complete, and many thousands of tons of precious gallicite were expected to be recovered from the wrecks of the ships that didn't warrant or weren't feasible to capture.

The Kuiper 41 ship graveyard

Russian military intelligence has theorized that the ships attempting to pass through Kuiper 41 were aiming to enter the empty system of 95 Pegasi where a Calana jump point blockade was established for reasons unknown, but said system proved inconsequential in the year to come and no ship within has made any attempt to disrupt the Empire’s operations as preparations for the invasion were underway.

Kaiser · « **Reply #1 on:** December 15, 2024, 12:41:24 PM »

Never seen such a mass surrender before, I'm wondering if Steve has read this.

Ghostly · « **Reply #2 on:** December 15, 2024, 01:28:42 PM »

Map of known Calana space at the commencement of the invasion. October 16th, 2055. Flags indicate known populations or fleet holdouts, a JP link between Mu Pyxidis and 91 Pegasi is strongly suspected.

By October 2055, just as the captured ships began exceeding their rated deployment, everything was in place. An invasion fleet has assembled at the 91 Pegasi jump point in Kuiper 41, numbering more than half of the Empire’s current-generation navy, with many ships recently having proven themselves in two campaigns against precursors, as well as the subjugation of a minor trans-newtonian race known as the Followers of Kent. All Tokushima-class trophy destroyers were also committed to the latter campaign where their short-range missile launchers were utilized to break through the Kent homeworld’s orbital defenses to a rather poor effect. Those now-expended destroyers were now awaiting dismantlement in occupied shipyards, and the High Command had low expectations of their longer-range siblings.

Two ground assault divisions, each 240 kilotons strong, were fighting to secure the last xeno colony in the system. No attempt to gather a sufficient army for the homeworld invasion was made yet, as the size and the extent of Calana ground forces across 91 Pegasi were not known. Thus, achieving space supremacy, eliminating all known enemy ships and surface-to-orbit elements, as well as obtaining intelligence of ground force strength throughout the system in preparation for the upcoming landings, were defined as main objectives of the invasion.

Russian Stellar Empire Order of Battle:
Assault Carrier Fleet:
3x CVH Knyaz Pozharsky-class Assault Carrier: Ekaterina, Petr Veliki, Tsessarevitch
Mightiest vessels of the Empire, each envisioned as a flagship capable of spearheading an entire operation. Three were built in total, and this was the first time all three were deployed in one area.

Strike Group:
25x GS Vepr-class Gunship - A fast strike craft, capable of outranging all known Calana vessels in a beam fight, but bereft of any staying power.
5x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod - A capable boarding vessel each carrying a company of well-armed and armored marines.
110x FTR MiG-65-class Fighter - A nimble fighter possessing great strength in numbers.
10x FTR MiG-65S-class Fighter - A fast scout utilized alongside fighter strike groups or separately.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

Carrier Fleet:
1x CV Knyaz Potemkin-class Carrier
The previous-generation flagship of the Empire Fleet.
2x CV Kuzma Minin-class Carrier: Donets, Rostislav
Current-generation fleet carrier. Slow and unprotected, but boasts great capacity, often sees use as a mobile repair dock.

Strike Group:
24x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod
25x GS Vepr-class Gunship
50x FTR MiG-55-class Fighter – A previous-generation railgun fighter.
9x FTR MiG-55S - A previous-generation scout fighter.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

2nd Combat Fleet:
2x Destroyer Task Group:
8x DD Admiral Lazarev-class Destroyer
The backbone of the Empire’s Navy, a general-purpose combat vessel.
2x DE Admiral Lazarev-E-class Destroyer Escort
A modification of the Admiral Lazarev hull, specialized for anti-missile screening.
2x CDD Admiral Lazarev-C-class Command Destroyer
A modification of the Admiral Lazarev hull, specialized as a task group leader.

Strike Group:
4x MiG-65S-class Fighter

All destroyers are organized into two Destroyer Task Groups, consisting of two specialized classes and four base classes.

Beam Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Orlan-class Frigate
A modern railgun frigate.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

This fleet consists of shielded vessels only and is intended to perform breakthroughs alongside the Assault Carrier Fleet

4th Combat Fleet:
Frigate Task Group:
6x FF Pustelga-class Frigate
A modern missile frigate with limited point defense capability. This hull type is a direct descendant of the very first Russian warships.
1x JF Pustelga-P-class Jump Frigate
A modification of the Pustelga hull, specialized as a task group leader.

Old Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Krechet-class Frigate
A previous-generation missile frigate, veteran of the incursion.
1x JF Krechet-P class Jump Frigate
A jump-capable modification of the Krechet hull.

1x DD Admiral Nakhimov-class Destroyer
A previous-generation general purpose Destroyer.

Kagoshima Task Group:
3x DE Kagoshima (IC)-class Destroyer Escort
The newest generation of Calana point defense vessels, captured, crewed and pressed into service rather than scrapped.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

This fleet consists of less protected vessels and is intended to perform long-range missile strikes and provide point defense on demand.

Commercial Carrier Fleet:
2x CVE Patrulniy (MC)-class Escort Carrier
A commercial carrier designed for convoy escort duty, but employed throughout the incursion thanks to its tremendous staying power.

Strike Group:
142x MiG-65-class Fighter
10x MiG-65S-class Fighter

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

Grand Trophy Fleet:
17x DDG Kanazawa-class Missile Destroyer
An obsolete missile destroyer class captured in the Great Surrender of 2054, crewed by expendable Calana traitors.
10x DDG Kochi-class Missile Destroyer
An anti-FAC variant of the above hull.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

New Collier Fleet:
2x FSV Soratnik-P (MC)-class Fleet Support Vessel
A bulky fleet support vessel carrying fuel, supplies and missiles for the invasion. Due to an ongoing ordnance shortage, older basic Kinzhal missiles and even ancient Gonchaya missile variants had to be loaded.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

Soratnik-P (MC) class Fleet Support Vessel 100,000 tons 771 Crew 4,445.4 BP TCS 2,000 TH 9,000 EM 0
4500 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 2-191 Shields 0-0 HTK 150 Sensors 14/14/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 20,027 Max Repair 250 MSP
Magazine 4,000 / 0 Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 12
Kapitan vtorogo ranga Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months

Krylov Thrust JC100K Commercial Jump Drive Max Ship Size 100000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3

Glushko MCRD-1000.00C (9) Power 9000 Fuel Use 2.80% Signature 1000 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 21,075,700 Litres Range 1,357.2 billion km (3490 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 100,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 210 hours

Garda Mod.2 AMM (200) Speed: 65,500 km/s End: 0.9m Range: 3.4m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 218/131/65
Kinzhal Mod.2 AShM (50) Speed: 39,000 km/s End: 30.3m Range: 71m km WH: 12 Size: 8 TH: 182/109/54
Kinzhal AShM (100) Speed: 29,325 km/s End: 40.4m Range: 71.1m km WH: 16 Size: 8 TH: 136/82/41
Gonchaya(M) AShM (100) Speed: 25,525 km/s End: 45.7m Range: 70m km WH: 12 Size: 8 TH: 112/67/33
Gonchaya AShM (200) Speed: 20,050 km/s End: 41.8m Range: 50.3m km WH: 12 Size: 8 TH: 83/50/25
Ordnance Transfer Rate: 80 MSP per hour Complete Transfer 50 hours

Shevchenko-Maslov Micrometeorite Detector AS11-R1 (1) GPS 28 Range 11.2m km MCR 1m km Resolution 1
Zaytsev Electronics Active Search Sensor AS51-R100 (1) GPS 2800 Range 51.8m km Resolution 100
Kalinin Electronic Systems EM Sensor EM1.0-14.0 (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 29.6m km
Kalinin Electronic Systems Thermal Sensor TH1.0-14.0 (1) Sensitivity 14 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 29.6m km

Spy Fleet:
2x IS Kornilov-M-class Intelligence Ship
A spy vessel recently refitted to possess commerce raiding capabilities, utilized as advance scouts for the invasion.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

Ghostly · « **Reply #3 on:** December 15, 2024, 11:38:58 PM »

The same MiG-55S that sacrificed itself a year ago to reveal the 91 Pegasi system has also revealed a meager force guarding the Kuiper 41 jump point. Since any Calana reinforcements since then seemed dead bent on traversing the jump point to the other side, a decision was made to keep the first contact force small to provoke an overconfident response from the enemy.

On October 16th, 2055, the Destroyer Task Group #2 has performed a squadron jump into 91 Pegasi, instantly detecting 4 Maikaze-class railgun destroyers, 4 11-kiloton ships of unknown class and 1 Wakayama-class destroyer escort which immediately began firing slow AMMs at the Russian ships, inflicting minor shield damage. All enemy ships were ancient, outranged and vastly outgunned, and thus perished in short order, with the task group intentionally closing distance with the last remaining unknown-class ship in the end to discover its armament of 10cm railguns, leading to its designation as FFE Hosho. As soon as the coast was clear, the rest of the invasion force performed a transit and the Kornilov-M ships departed towards points of interest, one towards 91 Pegasi III, a habitable Desert Mountain world which was almost certainly the Calana homeworld, and one towards 91 Pegasi V, a gas giant with numerous moons. The rest of the fleet waited at the jump point, waiting for the enemy to come to them.

Map of the 91 Pegasi system

The system was vast, and only by October 19th, 2055 had the homeworld-bound Kornilov-M detected thermal contacts heading for the jump point at 6967 km/s. The detection happened unexpectedly close despite the spy ship’s powerful passive sensors, and it frantically fired a surveillance missile in the enemy’s direction while attempting to evade detection. It did not work, and soon after the surveillance missile illuminated the enemy fleet, a strong EM contact was detected, soon followed by a salvo of missiles approaching the spy ship. As the call to abandon ship was made, a few crewmen elected to stay behind and deploy a powerful passive sensor buoy at the last moment in hopes of assisting further detection during the battle. The surveillance missile revealed the following ships:

91 Pegasi First Response Fleet:
7x DDG Kitakuyshu – missile destroyer with anti-fighter sensors
11x DDG Hiroshima – missile destroyer with anti-fighter sensors
6x DDG Obihiro – missile destroyer with anti-fighter sensors

Those were the ships of the Magnetic Fusion generation, roughly equivalent to the Russian Fleet in technology. Since no faster ships were detected on approach, it was surmised that all modern Calana vessels perished in their attempts to enter Kuiper 41. Markedly, no point defense vessels were present in the first response fleet, which allowed the Empire High Command to quickly decide on the further course of action. All Russian ships except the original Destroyer Task Group #2, to which the 4th Combat Fleet designation was transferred for the time being, retreated back into Kuiper 41, and the Old Frigate Task Group moved almost 100 mkm away from the jump point to lure the enemy toward it, if the need arises.

Several hours later, the buoy deployed from Kornilov’s surveillance missile detected a second fleet moving at a slower pace.

91 Pegasi Second Response Fleet:
4x CL Nara
5x DD(G?) Miyazaki
5x DDG Hakodate
5x DD(G?) Atsugi

These were the ships of the Magneto-plasma generation seen in the lost Calana fleet still fruitlessly roaming Kiamba lands. No Miyazaki or Atsugi has ever been encountered by the Stellar Empire, but they are thought to follow the same sensor and fire control distribution pattern as all other known Calana missile classes. Clearly, the Calana have decided to keep their formidable Nara railgun cruisers in the slower fleet rather than bog down the first responders, but in doing so, they doomed both.

The Sacrifice of Kornilov-M pays off

By the end of October 22nd, 2055, two sensor pings from Obihiro-class Destroyers were first detected some 200mkm from the jump point. In the early hours of October 23rd, the entire first response fleet had entered active sensor range, and was moving in fast. The Destroyer Task Group was ordered to hold their fire and let the Calana approach until inbound hostile missiles are detected, at which point the Destroyers would retreat into Kuiper and the Old Frigate Task Group was expected to take over in luring the Imperium fleet towards the jump point from a safe distance, where the trap would be sprung.

However, the fleet kept closing in, and no attack came, despite the Russian destroyers now being in range of all three ship classes. It was then that the High Command realized that no EM emissions were being detected anymore. No Calana ship had its active sensors on, and as their missile destroyers possessed no EM sensors and their thermal sensors could not detect stationary Russian warships at long range, they were entirely blind.

First Response Fleet on approach.

Baffled by this display of incompetence, the High Command was more than happy to let the Calana approach until their thermal sensors detected the heat emanating from the stationary Russian vessels at a distance around a million kilometers, at which point the vile xenos were quick to realize their terrible mistake. Their active sensors sprung to life, most enemy ships fired their missiles towards the Destroyer Task Group and the Calana fleet instantly reversed course.

The Task Group lingered for a few seconds, waiting for the rest of the ships to unload their missile launchers, but no follow-up came, so a squadron transit back into Kuiper was performed to evade the missile strike. The High Command spent a moment contemplating ordering the traitors’ fleet through, to absorb the rest of the missile strike, but deemed such an action too risky, as despite the lack of mutinies during their year-long idle stay in Calana space, nobody could tell how they’d behave under fire. It was chosen to order a squadron transit by the Assault Carrier Fleet, as the Knyaz Pozharsky class’s strong shields were expected to handle the remaining enemy missiles.

Assault carriers jumped through and immediately detected significant missile fire from the remainder of the Calana fleet. Each enemy destroyer has now initiated its lengthy 10-minute reload. All fighters and gunships were launched in pursuit of the fleeing enemy, and the carriers’ crew began to brace for impact. Tsessarevitch, targeted by the smallest number of missiles, also gave chase, while the other assault carriers lingered around the jump point. Mere seconds later, a fresh Destroyer Task Group #1 from the 2nd Fleet also jumped through to give chase with the rest of the fleet expected to follow after the original Task Group’s jump drives recharge. At the same time, the Commercial Carrier fleet has performed a squadron transit assisted by one of the FSVs, along with a normal transit by one of the Kagoshimas while Knyaz Potemkin and the rest of the Carrier Fleet followed in a squadron jump with the 2 other Kagoshimas which reunited with the first one and also gave chase, as every strike group in the carrier fleets was launched to follow the assault carriers’ one.

Due to a miscommunication, the Grand Trophy Fleet failed to execute a jump along with the first Kagoshima and was still in Kuiper 41. Cursing the xeno crews’ sluggishness, the High Command directed Ekaterina to the jump point, to rouse the traitors into the battle as soon as its jump drive recharges. This happened faster than expected, before the enemy missiles could strike any of the assault carriers, so right after Ekaterina entered into Kuiper 41, evading the inbound salvoes, nearby Petr Veliki was soon to follow. Unfortunately, Tsessarevitch was already too far away, so it performed a rendezvous with the Kagoshimas to hopefully blunt the impact of the incoming ordnance.

The Russian High Command has overestimated the strength of the carrier's shields, and upon tearing through the hail of Kagoshimas’ railgun fire, Calana missiles blew away Tsessarevitch’s defenses, ravaging its armor belt and achieving penetration in the rear section of the ship, taking out one of its three engines, its jump drive and one of the now-empty hangar bays. The crippled capital ship has left the Kagoshimas to their pursuit and maneuvered back to join a detached portion of the Trophy Fleet in an attempt to hide itself among more vulnerable targets should any enemy ships survive long enough to fire a second salvo, with its crew knowing full well they will not survive another impact of such magnitude. The High Command retaliated by authorizing the Destroyer Task Group #1 to begin firing their Gonchaya missiles, which could be expended in this engagement with little loss of combat capability in the battles to come. Kinzhal missiles aboard ships in the rest of the 2nd and the 4th Combat Fleets, which were already in the system and in pursuit by that point, were deemed too valuable to expend at the present. An order was also given to the Trophy detachment to fire their missile launchers at their former comrades, and they obliged with unexpected enthusiasm.

Mere minutes later, the carrier strike groups have finally reached the enemy, and the slaughter has begun in earnest. Even the formidable modern Calana armor couldn’t hold under sustained fire from the Russian railguns, with the connecting missiles also leaving their deadly mark. Ships that sustained too much damage to keep up with the rest were set upon by fighters or, in later stages of the battle, fell victim to heavy guns of the destroyers. Less than 3 minutes after fighter contact, the last enemy ship turned into a cloud of debris, with plenty of time to spare before it could fire its missiles again.

Empire’s ships raining death upon the enemy.

The aftermath.

After regrouping and quick resupply, all ships were ordered to their original fleets and proceeded towards 91 Pegasi III at their best speed, with the Assault Carrier fleet lagging behind to perform field repairs and replenish part of the maintenance supplies consumed by damage control on Tsessarevitch.

By October 24th, 2055, the 2nd Fleet was deep enough in-system to order one of its fighter-scouts to boost the escape pod with survivors from the Kornilov back towards the safety of the fleet, and another to scout a nearby Comet #1, which, in case of no hostile presence, would make an excellent temporary detention camp for several thousand prisoners from the previous battle crammed into cryogenic holds and hangar bays of Tsessarevitch.

A most hospitable comet.

Concerns were voiced about the lack of contact with the Second Response Fleet, an encounter being long overdue. However, the consensus among the High Command was that the slower, yet more conspicuous xeno fleet would reveal itself in due time. This proved to be true when several hours later, thermal emissions of the Nara cruisers heading for the Kuiper 41 jump point were detected by both Admiral Lazarev-C classes around 150 million kilometers off the port bow, far from an expected direct collision course. Whether this was an attempt by the xenos to execute an ambush is not known. The 2nd Fleet closed in to acquire the rest of the previously detected contacts while the enemy reversed course towards an unknown point in the system, and deliberations began on how to best engage it. With fighters alone being likely to sustain heavy losses under Nara railgun fire, and Fast Attack Craft certain to suffer greatly from missile attacks by Miyazaki and Hakodate classes, whose active sensor signatures were soon being detected, betraying their anti-FAC and anti-fighter specializations, a more conventional approach was chosen.

The 2nd Fleet would perform a rendezvous with the 4th Combat Fleet and the fighter strike group of the nearby Assault Carrier Fleet, bolstering its point defense as it closed in to a sub-70mkm range, enough to conduct Kinzhal missile strikes on the Hakodates, lessening the enemy close-range firepower considerably. It would then linger at the edge of the Atsugis’ 75 mkm range, weathering their missile strikes until their ammunition was depleted, at which point the 2nd Fleet would detach its vulnerable and slower 4th Fleet elements and close in to railgun range while taking fire from the Miyazakis only. The guns of Admiral Lazarev and Orlan classes outranged those of the Nara considerably, so by that point, victory was assured.

The plan was put into motion, and 7 hours later, Kinzhal and Kinzhal Mk.2 of the fleet’s Admiral Lazarev and Pustelga ships were striking their targets. A few instances of miscoordination between the ships firing different missiles with different speed turned out to be a blessing in disguise when it was revealed that Calana Magneto-plasma missile destroyers had significantly poorer armor than their successors. Kinzhal missiles in the later salvos would lose their target when it was destroyed by the Kinzhal Mk.2s, but those in the earlier salvos were able to acquire a new target and thus, soon after the last Hakodate was destroyed, an additional Atsugi-class was struck and immobilized, leaving only four in the enemy fleet.

The Russian force sustained no enemy fire during this engagement despite the Atsugi-class ostensibly having longer range, so an order was given to close in further, just outside the Miyazaki-class fire control range. Soon, just two enemy salvos were detected, followed by two more a dozen seconds later. Admiral Lazarev-E destroyer escorts fired a conservative number of AMMs at the inbound missiles, but this proved to be superfluous, as poor firing discipline of the Calana has ensured that each salvo was defeated by the Empire’s point defense in its entirety, so an order to conserve counter-missiles was given. The next several Calana salvos were defeated with minor shield damage and a few missiles struck a Kagoshima’s heavy armor with little consequence. A decision was made to begin close approach immediately, without waiting for the Atsugi fire to subside.

Concerns were voiced that without the 4th Fleet’s contribution to point defense, the combined onslaught of Atsugi and Miyazaki missiles would become impossible to cope with, but the Miyazakis have exhibited similarly poor firing coordination. Additionally, some appeared to be launching slightly slower missiles of a previous generation, bringing further disarray into the xenos’ attack. A few salvos coincided enough to warrant an AMM response, and few struck the lesser-shielded Orlan frigates, inflicting armor damage, but nothing could halt the Imperial fleet’s advance. It was also noted that the Calana missiles, smaller than those of Precursor design usually encountered by the Russian Navy, could not be tracked by active sensors long enough to compute an optimal firing solution for the fleet’s point defense. A single Admiral Lazarev-E was ordered to break formation and bring its powerful sensors to a million kilometers in front of the rest of the fleet, boosting the tracking time for each incoming salvo considerably. This, however, proved to be a mistake when an unexpected thermal contact was detected off the port side, coming from a previously disabled Atsugi-class that must’ve repaired its fire controls during the fleet’s approach. The danger posed by this couldn’t be identified until it was too late, and an entire missile salvo struck the lone destroyer, breaching its shields and armor and inflicting significant internal damage, disabling one of its four engines. The destroyer was immediately ordered to abandon its advance and fall back into the ranks of the 4th Fleet for a further rendezvous with the Carrier Fleet, where it could be repaired in its spacious hangars. Four MiG-65S scout fighters were detached and ordered in front of the 2nd Fleet to provide further illumination of the incoming salvos.

The 2nd Fleet’s advance.

As the 2nd Combat Fleet approached closer than 5 mkm, scout fighters were gradually recalled back into its ranks. The Atsugi fire had long subsided, and soon after defeating yet another Miyazaki volley, Russian railguns open fire at the first enemy Nara light cruiser from a safe distance, and the entire fighter strike group, low on fuel, is recalled back towards their carriers. Soon, Naras begin to fall one by one, and then every missile destroyer gets obliterated at point blank range. The 2nd Fleet is ordered to continue its advance towards 91 Pegasi III at its best speed without waiting for the rest of the invasion force. Tsessarevitch is ordered to round up the enemy survivors and intern them on the nearby comet, which has since been scouted and proven to be unpopulated, and Petr Veliki’s strikegroup is sent to finish off the lone surviving, crippled Atsugi. Soon, the 2nd Fleet’s scouts return, and survivors from the lost Kornilov-M are given a hero’s welcome.

On October 25th, 2055, the surviving Kornilov passes Comet #3 on its way to 91 Pegasi V, revealing a population signature, most likely an automated mining colony, protected by a ground force of 37 thousand tons with active sensor signatures indicating STO presence, the first confirmed Calana colony in the system. A day later it approaches the gas giant, revealing two more populations and three garrisons, numbering 80, 70, and 50 kilotons. More importantly, it detects twelve large commercial ship signatures moving away from the gas giant at an abysmal 99 km/s, likely old fuel harvesters. Feeling the need to seize such a valuable prize, the High Command orders Donets from the Carrier Fleet with a complement of gunships and boarding craft to suppress enemy STO forces in the area and capture the harvesters for the Empire. Kornilov-M proceeds towards 91 Pegasi IV.

On October 27th, 2055, powerful sensors of the Assault Carrier Fleet detected a staggering EM signature with a strength of 278 thousand, nearly double that of Terra, emanating from the 91 Pegasi III. All theories about it being the Calana homeworld had just been confirmed.

By October 28th, 2055, the 2nd Combat Fleet was less than half a billion kilometers away from the planet when the trailing Assault Carrier Fleet detected a sensor ping by a Nara class between the orbits of 91 Pegasi II and III. While the assault carriers moved to investigate, the 2nd Fleet approached within 250 mkm of Pegasi III and fired a surveillance missile at it. Within three hours contact was achieved, revealing merely eight 22-kiloton stationary vessels of three previously unknown classes. Three vessels promptly destroyed the missile by unleashing a massive volley of 10cm railgun fire. Around the same time, the assault carriers’ active sensors have located the Nara, revealing the biggest Calana fleet yet seen in the system, moving sluggishly towards an unknown objective away from their planet. The despicable xenos were abandoning their homeworld to its fate.

The Great Calana Armada:
2x CL Nara (37,696 tons)
13x CL Akagi (32,981 tons)
8x DE Wakayama (21,999 tons)
4x DD Kongo (21,961 tons)
3x DDG Kochi (17,125 tons)
2x DDG Tokushima (17,125 tons)
2x DDG Kanazawa (17,125 tons)
1x FFG Omuta (13,744 tons)
1x FFG Asahikawa (13,744 tons)
8x FFE Hosho (10,982 tons)
Total: 989,458 tons.

This shocking discovery shed light on the mystery that plagued the minds of the High Command for a few days now. Ever since the invasion began, traffic through the unexplored jump point in Mu Pyxidis that was assumed to connect to 91 Pegasi has seen a drastic increase. And while it usually saw moderate amounts of civilian movement, dozens of Calana military vessels now entered Mu Pyxidis through it, whereas before they would almost always take the perilous Kuiper 41 route. Not only that, the majority of Calana warships whose trajectories could be tracked by the jump point-adjacent buoy did not head for one of their two large planetary colonies in Mu Pyxidis, one of which had been orbited by an old Kornilov spy ship for years prior to the original declaration of hostilities by the Calana and reported to have a population of 39 million. Neither did they head for the jump point into Lambda Delphini, which was only lightly blockaded from the other side by two Sapsan-class railgun frigates. Instead, most of them were heading for a small mining colony on an asteroid in the far fringes of the system, billions of kilometers away from the jump points. The High Command originally deemed this an elaborate deception, perhaps an early stage of an ambush in preparation, but now all was revealed: the cowardly alien crews were running for their lives.

State of the observed enemy movements in Mu Pyxidis.

Ghostly · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2024, 12:08:19 AM »

Early preparations were underway to engage the massive Calana force in 91 Pegasi, and the 2nd Fleet was ordered away from the xenos' homeworld to trail the Armada at the edge of its sensor range until the rest of the Empire's forces were in position. One Admiral Lazarev-C class was detached and sent closer to the star to allow its scouts to investigate the two innermost planets in the system.

The Armada was moving at a glacial pace of 1819 km/s, far slower than the speed of its oldest vessels. Hosho, Kongo and Akagi classes all had an observed top speed of ~2700 km/s, although the capabilities of the latter two were unknown, they have been picked up by sensors before. In the meantime, Petr Veliki was detached from the Assault Carrier fleet and was sent ahead of the Armada to match its bearing and move in its destination's direction to reveal the stabilized My Pyxidis jump point with its powerful sensors. In the meantime, Tsessarevitch had finished unloading POWs at the newly set up Comet prison colony, with its population now exceeding four thousand. It was ordered to intercept the Armada's course vector in the outer system and begin a head-on approach, scouting for the jump point from the fringes of the system as Petr sought it from within.

This approach quickly paid off, as in the following hour the 2nd Fleet detected a convoy of six previously unseen large commercial ships protected by a Wakayama-class destroyer escort and Petr Veliki detected an unprotected convoy of four small Okayama-class commercial vessels of unknown purpose, both fleets maintaining the same course as the Armada. A single Admiral Lazarev destroyer left the formation to engage and defeat the Wakayama with its railguns, also taking out one of the smaller commercial vessels, before the High Command ordered it to cease fire and rejoin ranks, as the unknown ship classes warranted investigation due to the possible value they could hold. Ekaterina, the last carrier remaining in the Assault Carrier Fleet, was sent to attempt boarding action on the now-defenseless vessels, and the nearby 4th Combat Fleet was ordered to move much closer and maintain sensor contact with the Armada in its stead.

As Ekaterina was closing in, its breaching pods already an hour away from their mark, Petr Veliki's strike group, composed exclusively of Vepr-class gunships, had finally run down the Okayamas. The High Command didn't exhibit enough interest in the puny 20-kiloton vessels to wait for the Carrier fleet to catch up and enable their capture, so the Veprs received an order to fire at will. Three Okayamas blew up instantly, with the fourth sustaining heavy damage and beginning to frantically broadcast surrender calls. Their surrender was accepted, and Petr Veliki soon caught up with its strike group and sent an investigation party aboard the crippled vessel. Its true purpose was finally revealed: a civilian colony ship not unlike those of Russia's many shipping lines, designed to carry 50,000 Calana in cryogenic stasis. The convoy departed their homeworld with full holds, most likely the privileged who could afford the last ticket off-world, and 10,000 Calana still survived in the last undamaged cryo wing of the damaged ship. 190 thousand Calana civilians perished in this brief engagement.

The crews of Petr Veliki’s strike group could now boast the highest combined kill count in the Empire in more than one way.

Petr proceeded onward as the first wave of Ekaterina's boarding operations were finalized, proving the frugal High Command right, as the captured lesser ships revealed their purpose as fuel harvesters, receiving the designation FH Aomori. Regrettably, they posed no tactical usefulness at the present, as their tanks were dead empty. Boarding companies reentered their breaching pods and proceeded to invade the hulls of the two surviving 140 kiloton vessels, which proved to be an even more valuable prize - orbital miners, now designated OM Shiroyama. Its boarding pods recalled, Ekaterina turned to join the 2nd Combat Fleet, forming the core of a future assault group.

A day later, on October 29th, 2055, Petr Veliki encountered yet another contact on the same path, a small and very slow freighter, and carried out a boarding operation using its own marine complement. No cargo was found onboard, but not long after, a new contact of a different sort caused jubilation among the Petr’s crew - an unexplored, stabilized jump point was discovered right on the charted course. Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the High Command still retained a few doubts about the jump points being connected and was unwilling to risk an entire assault carrier in a blind transit, lest the other side be guarded by a more formidable force than the one currently stationed in Mu Pyxidis, numbering 4 magneto-plasma destroyer escorts of the original Kagoshima class and 8 large Matsuyama-class troop transports. Fortunately, the slow Carrier Fleet happened to be in relative proximity to the jump point, so one of its MiG-55S scouts was ordered to perform a transit, ready to perform the same sacrifice that led to discovery of the 91 Pegasi years ago.

All doubts were cast aside as the fighter scout was torn apart by four volleys of point-blank railgun fire, and Rostislav left the Carrier Fleet and headed for the jump point, where Petr Veliki by now awaited. After closing range to four hundred million kilometers, Rostislav launched 10 Otvaga breaching pods, and the assault carrier waited for them to come close before performing a jump, landing outside the Kagoshimas’ puny range. The Calana fleet instantly began fleeing in-system as Petr launched its gunships, eliminating each escort in short order. Minutes later, the Otvagas entered Mu Pyxidis and performed a coordinated boarding operation against the Matsuyamas assisted by Petr’s household guard. It took several minutes to drill through the troop transports’ heavy armor, and some losses were sustained against the ships’ vast crews, but soon every Matsuyama was brought into the fold, boosting the Empire’s troop transport capability notably.

The transports had no way of reaching Russian territory at the present, as the custom jump tender commissioned to allow transit of the Sagara fuel harvesters years ago had since been relocated, but the Empire currently wanted for troops, not transports, so the High Command was content to order them through Kuiper 41 into the 98 Leonis system where some of their previously captured brethren already waited for its jump point to be stabilized. In the meantime, Petr Veliki would remain at the Mu Pyxidis side to provide advance warning should any of the numerous Calana warships have a change of heart and actually decide to fight for their home. The Otvagas have collected their marines and underwent a quick refuel in Petr’s hangars then five remained with the assault carrier in lieu of five Vepr gunships, which followed the rest to Rostislav in 91 Pegasi, allowing it to rejoin the Carrier Fleet.

Mu Pyxidis

On October 30th, 2055, Kornilov-M approached 91 Pegasi IV, revealing a population signature and yet another garrison of 60 thousand tons. It was ordered back towards the gas giant to provide sensor detection of the suspected fuel harvesters in preparation for the upcoming boarding operation by the Donets.

Later the same day, a Calana force guarding the jump point towards Lambda Delphini in Mu Pyxidis must’ve received reports of what happened to their counterpart and panicked, performing a sudden transit into Delphini and beginning to flee into Kuiper 41 of all places. Despite being over their maximum deployment time, the venerable Sapsan frigates blockading the jump point reacted with haste. This Calana force was larger than the one dispatched by Petr Veliki, but was similarly helpless even in the face of the previous-generation Russian railguns. Yet again, a Kagoshima after a Kagoshima fell, with one choosing to surrender after getting immobilized. Lacking any boarding capability, the Sapsans eagerly fired a few volleys at each of the 12 Matsuyama transports and two chose to surrender, with the rest continuing toward Kuiper 41. Uncharacteristically, the High Command let them flee to be captured at a later date, as every adjacent jump point had excellent buoy coverage, leaving the slow vessels no chance to escape in the end.

Sapsans were ordered to perform routine survivor roundup and interrogation until it was realized that the prisoners drastically outnumbered the Russian crews, and the frigates had no chance of retaining combat effectiveness and securing their captives at the same time. Furthermore, no vacant modern ships to take over the blockading duty were available in the area of operations, with most vessels not committed to the invasion recovering from the Kent campaign. The final solution was contemplated, then disregarded, and a tough decision was made to utilize two ancient, Ion-era Bogatyr(M)-class destroyers performing garrison duty at the nearest naval base, with a Bogatyr-P (M)-class jump destroyer to lead them. Those antique vessels, a modernization of the very first Russian destroyer class, carried the same amount of missiles as the newest destroyers, but were far slower, lacked shields or heavy armor, and had no close-range armament save for a dozen point-defense railguns. The High Command hoped this would suffice, as rapid-firing railguns and squadron jump capability, coupled with an adequate missile complement, were still a force to be reckoned with.

Off-Topic: Fleet Specifications • show

Map of known Calana forces in 91 Pegasi by November 1st.

As the events around Mu Pyxidis unfolded, the High Command was busy contemplating how to actually deal with the massive Great Armada. After detecting both 2nd and 4th Fleets, its projected trajectory began to flicker, alternating between the directions of the Kuiper 41 and the Mu Pyxidis jump point. As junior Russian officers were openly starting to make bets on whether the Armada will pass close enough by the surrendered Okayama and whether they will obliterate ten thousand of their kind in nuclear fire, the aliens seemingly decided on heading towards 91 Pegasi V instead, an unacceptable course of action that would put way too much distance between it and the Empire’s forces currently out of position. The 2nd Fleet executed a long, roundabout maneuver, placing itself between the Armada and the gas giant, at which point the xenos suddenly decided to head back to their homeworld instead. Only after the 4th Fleet moved to cut off their advance, did they resume their southbound course.

Defeating them was another matter entirely. A fighter strike was out of the question given the fleet’s formidable point defenses and Tsessarevitch’s inability to contribute its strike group until it returned from the outer system, an unacceptable delay given the erratic nature of the Armada’s course. Its bulk was far too large for a long-range Kinzhal strike to inflict significant damage, given their limited availability. Even elimination of the enemy's point defenses could not be guaranteed. Meanwhile, a Gonchaya strike would surely expose the Empire’s ships to retaliatory missile fire, with the High Command strongly suspecting Akagi and Kongo classes to possess significant ordnance capabilities due to both fielding long-range sensor suites, with the former also boasting an additional one capable of detecting smaller craft. Finally, consensus was reached: this was a job for the traitors’ fleet.

The Grand Trophy Fleet was brought into the invasion to break through the Calana homeworld’s defenses, and under no circumstance has the High Command considered employing it in anti-ship maneuver warfare, owing to its low top speed, meager armor and the short range of its missiles, with a Kanazawa-class barely being able to match the range of an old Gonchaya. Furthermore, the High Command initially had reservations about xenos being able to fight their own kind. However, the orbital defenses on 91 Pegasi III turned out to be meager, depriving the Fleet of its original role, and the Great Armada’s speed far lower than even that of the trophy ships. Furthermore, the glee with which traitors fired their launchers during the opening engagement of the invasion has left the High Command with no reservations about their desire to fight their brethren - or die trying.

The slow fleet was still halfway through the system, escorted by the Commercial Carrier fleet of similar speed, but by November 1st a detachment of Kanazawa-class ships were moving to close distance with the Armada, with the remaining Kochi-class ships resuming their course for the homeworld, their puny fire control range surely useless in the battle to come. Commercial carriers fell back, launching their fighters to escort the Kanazawas for the upcoming battle, ostensibly to provide point defense. In truth, there was little a hundred light railgun fighters could do to blunt the missile onslaught of the Armada, but the fighter screen had a second purpose: to decimate the traitors should they change their allegiance once again.

By then, the Carrier Fleet linked up with the 4th Fleet, and both maneuvered around the Armada behind the 2nd Fleet. Scout-fighters were placed in front of the 2nd Fleet and the Trophy Fleet to provide advance warning of the enemy missiles. The Armada’s course became erratic once again, but with Tsessarevitch and Donets still many days away, the battle had to begin here and now.

Russian Stellar Empire Order of Battle:
2nd Combat Fleet:
1x CVH Knyaz Pozharsky-class Assault Carrier: Ekaterina
2x Destroyer Task Group:
8x DD Admiral Lazarev-class Destroyer
2x DE Admiral Lazarev-E-class Destroyer Escort
2x CDD Admiral Lazarev-C-class Command Destroyer

Strike Group:
10x GS Vepr-class Gunship
5x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod
4x FTR MiG-65S

4th Combat Fleet:
Frigate Task Group:
6x FF Pustelga-class Frigate
1x JF Pustelga-P-class Jump Frigate

Old Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Krechet-class Frigate
1x JF Krechet-P class Jump Frigate

1x DD Admiral Nakhimov-class Destroyer

Kagoshima Task Group:
3x DE Kagoshima (IC)-class Destroyer Escort

Beam Frigate Task Group:
4x FF Orlan-class Frigate

Carrier Fleet:
1x CV Knyaz Potemkin-class Carrier
1x CV Kuzma Minin-class Carrier: Rostislav

Strike Group:
5x BPOD Otvaga-class Breaching Pod
20x GS Vepr-class Gunship
50x FTR MiG-55-class Fighter – A previous-generation railgun fighter.
8x FTR MiG-55S - A previous-generation scout fighter.

Grand Trophy Fleet:
17x DDG Kanazawa-class Missile Destroyer
110x FTR MiG-65
10x FTR MiG-65S

Calana Imperium Order of Battle:
The Great Calana Armada:
2x CL Nara-class Light Cruiser
13x CS Akagi-class Strike Cruiser
8x DE Wakayama-class Destroyer Escort
4x DDG Kongo-class Missile Destroyer
3x DDG Kochi-class Missile Destroyer
2x DDG Tokushima-class Missile Destroyer
2x DDG Kanazawa-class Missile Destroyer
1x FFG Omuta-class Missile Frigate
1x FFG Asahikawa-class Missile Frigate
6x FFE Hosho-class Frigate Escort

All fleets closed in to a safe 60 mkm range, then the Trophy Fleet was ordered to approach to a 49 mkm range and open fire as the 4th Combat Fleet began unloading their long-range missiles at the Calana point defense ships in preparation for the traitors’ missile attack.

Opening salvos of the engagement.

As the first Russian missiles approached their targets, a massive Calana missile strike was detected by an advance fighter scout. Four hundred missiles were heading for the Trophy Fleet, which was still 55 mkm away and unable to return fire. More alarmingly, the missiles moved at 48 kkm/s, corresponding to the newest known generation of Calana ordnance, twice the speed of the obsolete Javelin missiles aboard the Kanazawas. Still, the 2nd fleet was ordered to close in to 49 mkm to unleash their own Gonchayas at the enemy while they were reloading.

The 4th Fleet’s strike did not achieve its objective, with five Hoshos slowed down or destroyed, but only two Wakayamas sustaining enough damage to break formation. This was not communicated to the 2nd Fleet, which enthusiastically launched several Gonchaya volleys at the enemy’s missile carriers before overstaying its welcome, as 15 minutes after the first Calana volley, just as it struck the Kanazawas leaving three destroyed and one crippled, another one was detected heading for the Russian ships.

The 2nd Fleet immediately disengaged, seeking a rendezvous with the 4th Fleet and the Carrier Fleet’s strike group to bolster its point defense. The Carrier Fleet maintained its distance, as it was calculated that insufficient time was available to get the 2nd Fleet under Knyaz Potemkin’s protective umbrella. Around the same time, Kanazawas were finally close enough to open fire.

The 2nd Fleet faces peril.

The rendezvous succeeded and every AMM still loaded on Lazarev-Es was fired, but it was not enough. The missiles struck two destroyers of the 1st Task Group, a command one, which lost half its engines, and a basic one, which lost its shield generator and was down to one engine. Both were immediately ordered to fall back to the Carrier Fleet, and the 2nd Fleet maintained a safer distance, leaving it to the traitors to trade blows with the Armada.

Off-Topic: Obsolete missiles striking the enemy • show

Soon it was evident that the missile exchange was going badly for the Kanazawas. Every enemy salvo destroyed two or three ships while the Javelins failed to do significant damage at first. Eventually the quantity of incoming ordnance began to decline and some very slow missiles began to be seen, indicating the enemy was running low on ammunition. The Kanazawas, of which by then only four remained, with one sustaining heavy damage, were also empty. Finally, the call was made for the 2nd Fleet to advance. By that time, the Armada lost an additional 5 Akagis, 4 Wakayamas and 2 Kanazawas.

The breakthrough.

The 2nd Fleet received several half-salvos during its advance, dealing with them effortlessly. It also began taking fire from the xeno close-range missile vessels, but those were few in number and some of their volleys targeted Ekaterina’s strike group, which was able to break target lock by sheltering in its hangars. A fighter scout was lost after moving too close to an immobilized Wakayama, but inevitably, the 2nd Fleet moved into railgun range and dispatched the Nara cruisers from a safe distance, at which point, the fate of the surviving Calana missile ships was sealed.

The Armada falls.

After destroying the last enemy ships, the 2nd Fleet split into two Task Groups once again to eliminate the remaining survivors that left the Armada’s ranks earlier due to sustained damage. Afterwards, all ships were ordered to regroup with the Collier Fleet for replenishment, with Rostislav having run especially low on maintenance supplies trying to repair the damaged Admiral Lazarev destroyers. Ekaterina, with its supply stores mostly intact, was ordered to round up the enemy survivors and dump them on the same comet that housed their comrades-in-arms. Three surviving Kanazawas were ordered to gather survivors of their fleet and station them in the same place, with little concern given by the High Command to how the traitors will be received by their former comrades-in-arms.

By November 2nd, 2055, Donets had finally approached Comet #3 and sent its strike group to expose and defeat enemy STO elements, with most strike craft suffering superficial armor damage in the process. It then proceeded towards the enemy commercial vessels by 91 Pegasi V, which were soon illuminated by the returning Kornilov. A massed boarding operation followed, and soon, the vessels were indeed exposed as fuel harvesters, receiving the designation Taiho and ordered to return to the gas giant whose moons’ garrisons soon suffered the same fate as the comet’s one. Continuous Vepr railgun fire has taken a toll on the Donets’s maintenance stockpiles, so it was ordered back into the Carrier Fleet. Two of the Orlan frigates, which didn’t partake in the previous battle, were ordered to attack the garrison of 91 Pegasi IV in its stead.

Off-Topic: Donets preparing to board • show

On November 3rd, Petr Veliki unexpectedly detected a small missile group consisting of a Kochi, a Kanazawa and an Asahikawa attempting to return to 91 Pegasi from Mu Pyxidis. Some captured Matsuyamas were still close to the jump point on the other side, so performing an ambush was unsafe and instead, a risky head-on boarding action was authorized. Unwilling to risk its few breaching pods under missile fire, Petr’s commander ordered the assault carrier to close distance before attempting boarding action, confident its shields would handle the enemy’s assault. This turned out to be almost true, and the carrier sustained minor armor damage before the xeno vessels fell and prize crews were placed to continue the ships towards the jump point to bolster its defence.

The following few days were uneventful, with the exception of a few xeno civilian freighters escaping into Lambda Delphini before the Bogatyr blockading force could arrive. They passed right by the immobilized turncoat Kagoshima, whose crew happily carried out orders to destroy every ship that approached it.

On November 7th, the combined invasion force completed resupply operations, loading every last missile and spare part from the Fleet Support Vessels’ vast reserve. Damaged destroyers were repaired, both Donets and Tsessarevitch finally rejoined their fleets, and Petr Veliki was also recalled from Mu Pyxidis, with the 4th Fleet (sans the Kagoshima (IC) escorts temporarily pressed into the 2nd) taking its place, its unprotected vessels deemed to be of little use in the upcoming homeworld assault. Every fleet proceeded towards 91 Pegasi III, where commercial carriers and Kochi-class missile destroyers of the Trophy Fleet already awaited.

A day later, a few million kilometers from the alien homeworld, the assault carriers’ powerful sensors detected something all other fleets missed: a convoy of five massive Sagara-class fuel harvesters slowly escaping the planet. Those were the save vessels that contributed so much to the Empire’s current knowledge of Inertial Confinement Fusion technology. Memory of failed boarding attempts ground down by their vast crews still being fresh, the High Command waited for the Carrier Fleet to catch up before executing a coordinated boarding operation utilizing every marine in the system, with 33 companies fighting to secure the valuable prize. The harvesters turned out to be full of fuel, so the Carrier Fleet moved to rendezvous and refuel while launching their strike groups to escort the breakthrough force of the Assault and the 2nd Fleets, positioned near the Kochis 100 mkm from the Calana home.

Off-Topic: Biggest boarding operation on record • show

The plan was to escort the Kochis towards the planet to the edge of their 20 mkm range, defeating incoming missile fire along the way, then utilize their two and a half thousand missiles to break through the enemy anti-missile defence, which was certain to be formidable. However, as the combined force closed in, no attack came. Almost disappointed, the High Command ordered the Kochis to open fire at the orbital defense bases lacking railguns, believing both types to possess counter-missile capability. Sure enough, hundreds of small nuclear detonations soon lit up the sensors, as volley after volley tore through the xeno point defense. The Javelins were slow and ineffectual though, and when the Trophy Fleet finally exhausted its magazines an hour later, two of the five anti-missile bases remained standing. The Kochis were ordered to fall back and the Russian Fleet pressed onward, with the heavily shielded Knyaz Pozharsky-classes leading the way.

After acquiring the planet on its smallest-resolution sensors, nearly 300,000 tons of military forces were detected on the ground, with many times that number undoubtedly concealed by its Desert Mountain terrain. Around 2.5 million kilometers, hundreds of inbound thermal signatures were detected moving at just upward of 100,000km/s, the most advanced AMMs ever observed in Calana service. The 2nd Fleet halted, and the assault carriers let the bases fire a second volley before retreating under the cover of the fleet’s point defense, surviving all impacts with their shields holding. This maneuver was repeated a dozen times before the xeno bases ran dry and the Empire resumed its advance, preparing to engage their enemy at close range. Upon approaching closer than 160,000 km, the assault carriers came under fire from 10 kilotons of surface-to-orbit railguns, with most shots missing their mark. Both fleets moved just beyond that range and quickly obliterated the anti-missile bases then moved away further to the edge of their own 250 kkm railgun range, following the standard procedure for eliminating enemy ground defenses. The ground bombardment has begun.

Several minutes into the siege, the Assault Carrier Fleet was ordered to undertake an incursion closer to the planet, coming under fire from the previously unrevealed xeno railguns of lower caliber at the 80kkm mark. The carriers dared to move as close as 40kkm before turning back to join the 2nd Fleet, their shields in danger of being overwhelmed. The High Command was now confident that the full extent of Imperium’s anti-orbital defense had been revealed, its true strength exceeding 30 thousand tons.

Surface bombardment of the alien homeworld.

This posed a serious threat to the bombardment’s success, as the sheer bulk of the enemy surface batteries combined with their favorable terrain made running out of supplies required to maintain railgun fire before the enemy could be defeated a real possibility for the Russian fleet. Rules of engagement for the Vepr gunships were updated to seek resupply from the assault carriers after expending their maintenance supplies if their weapon failed just once, conserving supplies in the long run. Of further concern was a lower than usual kill rate against the STOs, as not every battery struck had its armor penetrated, let alone destroyed. An unorthodox decision was made to move all shielded ships to a 124 kkm range, where they would be exposed to the Calana’s longest range railguns, but would also deal significantly more damage with each shot. As expected, all reports of collateral damage and civilian casualties skyrocketed, but the kill rate rose considerably and the fleets’ shields were easily able to cope with the incoming damage.

A few minutes later it was discovered that no ship in the 2nd Fleet received any shots during the exchange, and the enemy was dead bent on targeting the massive assault carriers exclusively. All Vepr gunships were also ordered to close distance (though most of them were already resupplying, their guns moments away from malfunctioning) and soon, the High Command was confident enough in the xenos’ firing pattern to order the destruction of still-remaining point railgun defense orbital bases so the Empire’s fighters could finally join the fray.

Expectedly, collateral damage rose through the roof, with dozens of installations reported destroyed after each firing cycle, but soon, the defenders’ signature dropped below ten thousand. Firing restrictions for Veprs were lifted, with every gunship ordered to shoot until it could shoot no more. Several agonizing minutes later, the bombardment was over. Nearly every Vepr was no longer combat-capable and all Orlans also possessed a broken railgun or two, with most other ships at or below 15% of their maintenance reserve. The alien homeworld’s signatures declined several percent, probably indicating tens of millions dead. Most importantly, the previously hot and desertic planet was now enveloped in a thick layer of dust and ash, with surface temperatures approaching -20 below freezing, its terrain now being dominated by Subarctic Mountains. Despite this kind of terrain technically being more defensible, this was excellent news for the Empire, as the Calana were undoubtedly more suited to combat in their native deserts and had little experience in winter warfare. Meanwhile, the Empire possessed a large standing army trained to fight in extreme temperatures, and after raising an additional infantry force specialized for both the cold and the mountainous terrain, a suitable force would assuredly be available for the ground invasion. A side effect of this event was that untold millions of xenos were bound to succumb to the conditions of their now-inhospitable homeworld.

In either case, the invasion has achieved its initial objective - no known xeno ship was left afloat in 91 Pegasi. All strike groups were recalled to their hosts, and Orlan frigates temporarily docked with the commercial carriers to utilize their maintenance stockpiles to repair their railguns and retain combat effectiveness. In a risky move, only Donets was left to guard the disarmed planet, with its strike group circling its valuable, but still dangerous shipyards. The rest of the invasion force was still needed to complete their final task: to purge Mu Pyxidis of all alien ships within and eliminate all threats to the future Russian subjugation of this entire sector.

Ghostly · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2024, 10:27:46 AM »

Known remaining Calana forces in Mu Pyxidis:
8x CL Nara
7x CS Akagi
1x DDG Kitakuyshu (IC)
8x DDG Miyazaki
6x DDG Hakodate
7x DDG Atsugi
2x DDG Tokushima
2x DDG Kanazawa
1x DDG Kochi
2x DDG Kongo
1x FFG Asahikawa
4x DE Wakayama
3x FFE Hosho

The 2nd Combat Fleet and the Assault Carrier Fleet conducted a rendezvous with the Carrier Fleet by the Sagara fuel harvesters, refilling their tanks in preparation for the journey ahead. The invasion force then proceeded into Mu Pyxidis, where the 4th Fleet awaited, although Donets remained on guard duty and Ekaterina had its boarding complement strengthened and proceeded into Kuiper 41 to capture the wayward Matsuayama dropships. Remains of the Trophy Fleet were ordered into 98 Leonis to await a transit assist into Russian space where they would be decommissioned. Hours later, the nearly-spent Collier Fleet finally reached the vicinity of 91 Pegasi III and siphoned off the remainder of fuel from the Sagaras, leaving just enough for them to complete the journey towards 91 Pegasi V, where fuel extraction operations were expected to be set up someday. It was then ordered to refuel the Aomoris captured early in the invasion for them to make the same journey, then head there by itself to take all it could from the captured Taiho-classes by the gas giant before it could finally head into Mu Pyxidis as well.

On November 11th, 2055, powerful thermal sensors of the Pustelga-P of the 4th Combat Fleet detected 20 contacts rapidly approaching the jump point into Mu Pyxidis. Detected engine signatures corresponded to those of the newest class of xeno missile boats, the FAC Soryu. While this encounter was not unexpected, it fell to the vulnerable ships of the 4th Fleet to fight this threat, with reinforcements from Pegasi being many hours away and captured Calana ships still having most of their controls disabled and offering little assistance. Fortunately, a similar battle was fought once before and the Russian captains knew exactly what to do.

Every missile launcher in the 4th Fleet was locked onto coordinates directly behind the incoming enemy fleet. Then, just like 2 years ago in 92 Draconis, the first Krechet fired a single missile at the target coordinates, then another, and another. After all Krechets began reloading, Pustelgas and Admiral Nakhimov took over. Staggered fire continued until it was estimated that the missiles' active sensors could overlap no more, with the ships mounting basic Kinzhal missiles ceasing fire early to account for the drift with the faster Mod. 2s. An accidental discharge of 13 Kinzhals followed shortly, a minor waste, then all went silent and the fleet waited.

Soon after getting illuminated by the captured Kochi's anti-FAC sensors, two Soryus enabled their own actives and every Russian ship was ordered to prepare to jump, a deadly missile strike surely heading towards them. Fortunately, the FACs didn't deviate from their course, or every Kinzhal would've been wasted. Minutes later, twenty small salvos of missiles moving at an unfathomable 72 kkm/s were detected, and the 4th Fleet waited before jumping into 91 Pegasi along with the captured detachment. At this point, conventionally guided missiles would've lost fire control lock and self-destructed, but the Russian missiles were targeting a specific point in space that wasn't going anywhere. That is, until the xeno force was passing in the middle of the missile stream and a command to change the point's coordinates was sent through a nearby buoy, scrambling the missiles' preset guidance and compelling them to seek a new target using their active sensors, with most of them finding one. Nuclear warheads rained on the doomed Soryu fleet, each hit lethal, and soon the missile boats were eradicated with no survivors. The 4th Fleet performed a transit back in and resumed its advance guard duty.

Staggered fire against the Soryus

Off-Topic: The result • show

On November 12th, 7 FACs of an antique Sendai class performed a transit into Lambda Delphini. This encounter was a surprise, but they posed no threat whatsoever to the Bogatyrs who’d been blockading the jump point for a few days now and had already destroyed several civilian cargo ships. The missile boats couldn’t outrun the venerable destroyers, and succumbed to railgun fire shortly.

Around that time, the 2nd Fleet entered Mu Pyxidis and began advancing together with the 4th Fleet towards the asteroid colony which buoy data indicated to be a rally point for the xeno forces in the system. The ships’ maintenance stockpiles being dreadfully low, they were expected to fight a single final battle before they could return home. Alarmingly, one Admiral Lazarev quickly suffered an engine failure it could not repair, so the fleets had to slow their advance to 7500 km/s. Tsessarevitch soon entered the system and followed the fleets, and Petr Veliki waited for the Carrier Fleet to catch up before proceeding into the inner system to investigate the Calana planetary colonies. Days later, the Commercial Carrier Fleet would arrive and be ordered to investigate the distant asteroid colonies detected during the original survey of the system in the far reaches of its asteroid belt.

On November 13th, two Kitakuyshu-class missile destroyers were suddenly detected about to enter Lambda Delphini. Bogatyrs promptly readied their weapons and managed to damage the first one with a point-blank railgun and missile volley, allowing them to catch up with it and finish it off with railguns then return to the jump point. Soon, the second one’s weapons came online and it retaliated with a fearsome missile salvo, which the Russian group evaded via a squadron jump into Mu Pyxidis, then returned as soon as it could and obliterated the remaining Kitakuyshu with two missile strikes. This attempted escape by Calana combat vessels has cast doubts on whether any still remained at their asteroid rendezvous point.

On November 14th, Ekaterina’s search efforts in Kuiper 41 finally bore fruit as it detected a detachment of the lost Matsuyamas that previously fled through the system into 92 Draconis, then split up and turned back with one group heading back into Lambda Delphini and another towards Eta Vulpercae. The first group was boarded and captured, with the second one suffering the same fate a day later. In the meantime, yet another Matsuyama convoy entered Lambda Delphini, its escort instantly eliminated by Bogatyrs and its dropships allowed to proceed into 98 Leonis for future capture by Ekaterina.

On November 17th, while the Carrier Fleet was conducting a sweep of xeno planetary colonies, eliminating their surface batteries but detecting no shipping, calamity struck. A sizable force of alien warships was detected heading for the Lambda Delphini jump point, consisting of:

2x CL Nara
2x DDG Miyazaki
2x DDG Tokushima
1x DDG Kanazawa
1x DDG Atsugi

This was far in excess of what Bogatyrs were expected to handle and the jump point buoy’s short range gave them too short a notice to escape. However, all capabilities of these enemy ships were well-known, so a plan was quickly concocted: the old Russian destroyers would exploit the enemy’s jump shock to deal whatever damage they could to the Naras before evading the enemy missiles with a jump, then returning to finish off all enemy ships before they could reload.

However, the Calana have managed to surprise the High Command by executing a squadron jump, exposing their fleet as two separate jump assault groups - the first such maneuver ever observed from them despite their massed use of jump cruisers. And then another surprise came when instead of ganging up on the exposed vessels of the Empire, both groups began fleeing towards 98 Leonis, their spirits seemingly broken by the defeat of their home-system fleets. Not willing to stick around to find out whether the xenos have any fight left in them, the Bogatyrs jumped away, though not before their missile strike impacted one Nara, disabling a few of its engines. Mere seconds later, another stroke of good luck came as the aliens chose to unload all their missile launchers at the disabled Kagoshima floating aimlessly near the jump point, their hatred of traitors seemingly overwhelming their sense of reason.

Off-Topic: Calana jump point assault • show

Soon after reloading their launchers, the Bogatyr group returned into Lambda Delphini and gave the impaired Nara a wide berth, taking a few minor hits, while performeing an emergency fire-at-will order. Their missiles incapacitated the first Nara and damaged armor of the second one, as well as heavily damaging an Atsugi. When the next missile strike finished off both Naras, the group was already in position to descend upon the helpless Calana missile ships and dismantle them with their low-caliber railguns, braving seemingly insurmountable odds. A thousand aliens were taken prisoner, an Atsugi-class surrendered upon getting immobilized, and the group was sent into Mu Pyxidis to provide advance warning of further incoming enemy warships. While previously such an action was not considered for fear of scaring off lone enemy vessels, now the Bogatyrs’ magazines were too depleted to put them at risk of getting ambushed again.

Off-Topic: Destroyers outmaneuvering their enemy • show

By November 19th, 2055, having utilized their strike groups to destroy the surface batteries on both Calana planetary colonies, the Carrier Fleet was en route to reinforce the Lambda Delphini blockade, with Petr Veliki taking a detour to follow the 91 Pegasi - Lambda Delphini vector in hopes of detecting and capturing more commercial shipping. This approach soon paid off, with several colony ships and freighters falling into Russian hands, but on the next day, another xeno fleet was detected, consisting of a CL Nara, a DDG Kochi, a DDG Kanazawa and an FFG Asahikawa.

Once again confident in his ship’s shielding, Petr’s commander ordered a head-on approach to defeat the enemy force. The assault carrier’s strike group, once again consisting exclusively of Vepr-class gunships, was to provide point-defense assistance as well as hopefully attract some of the enemy missiles and evade their highly specific target locks through a hangar maneuver. This time, the approach almost went badly, with the carrier sustaining significant armor damage before it was close enough to launch its strike group inbetween the enemy salvos, but after receiving just a single railgun volley, the entire enemy missile group surrendered. It would seem like the feeble xenos were indeed past their breaking point.

Around the same time, the 2nd and 4th Combat Fleets led by Tsessarevitch approached the enemy asteroid rally point and found it deserted, save for a small STO battery on its surface. With most surviving enemy ships now surely somewhere between it and the Lambda Delphini jump point, the High Command ordered the fleets to remain in place, unwilling to accept that such a large part of the invasion force had made such a long journey for nothing.

On November 21st, five ships of a previously unknown class were detected approaching the asteroid colony at an unusual speed of 9528 km/s. The high command wasn't overly concerned, as Calana vessels that were unusually fast for their technology have been detected before, and always turned out to be unarmed scouts. Tsessarevitch sent its fighters, and sure enough, the ships went down without firing a shot, earning the designation SC Takamatsu in the process. Tsessarevitch was soon dispatched to investigate a known xeno colony on a nearby asteroid, its fuel reserves permitting such a detour.

Hours after the assault carrier's departure, another contact was detected heading for the asteroid rendezvous point: a DDG Kitakuyshu (IC). Aware of the destroyer's limited-range fire controls and observing no active sensor emissions yet again, a detachment of Admiral Lazarevs moved closer because firing the last of their Gonchaya missiles at their hapless enemy, retaining their more modern ordnance. A decision was made to hesitate no longer, and the combined Russian fleets were ordered to advance towards the Lambda Delphini jump point, the High Command being certain that the last enemy remnants would be found along that route.

Indeed, another enemy fleet soon revealed itself. On November 22th, 2055, as Petr Veliki had finally linked up with the Bogatyr blockading force, carrying out boarding operations of inbound civilian ships with five Otvagas once again borrowed from Rostislav, and the Carrier Fleet was conducting sensor sweeps of the nearby space, word of a sizable enemy fleet was sent by the previously surrendered xeno detachment:

4x CL Nara
5x DDG Miyazaki
5x DDG Hakodate
5x DDG Atsugi

Unfortunately, the Carrier Fleet's search efforts took it quite far away from the jump point, and it had no chance of reaching it in time. Furthermore, the traitors who had sabotaged their own ship controls before yielding to Petr Veliki's gunships were now in their former comrades’ path. An order was relayed to them to prepare for battle as best they could, but with no ships in the surrendered group being able to match the Atsugis' range, they perished without managing to fire a single shot in retaliation.

The High Command was satisfied to watch xenos kill xenos, but now it fell to the outmatched blockading force to protect the jump point. Petr Veliki and the Bogatyrs were ordered into Lambda Delphini along with all captured civilian ships that still remained in Mu Pyxidis, and the wait began.

On November 23rd, 2055, a missile salvo struck a captured colony ship that couldn't make it through in time, adding another 50,000 to the xenos' kill count against themselves. In return, the blockading force carried out a jump back into Mu Pyxidis and unloaded every single missile still remaining in Bogatyrs’ magazines at one Nara, immobilizing it. The Empire’s ships lingered until a thermal contact with the incoming missiles was established, confirming their velocity of 48,000 km/s, then jumped away. Several hours later, when the incoming fleet was just 1.5 million kilometers away from the jump point, the Russian ships jumped in a second time and Petr Veliki deployed its gunships to offer the enemy as many targets as possible. The High Command’s confidence in Russian crews’ ability to carry out a jump back to safety within the 30 seconds it would take enemy missiles to connect has paid off, and when the xenos finally entered Lambda Delphini, they found themselves facing massed railgun fire with their missile launchers just 4.5 minutes into their 12-minute reload cycle.

Off-Topic: Petr Veliki provoking enemy fire • show

Russian Bogatyrs and Veprs instantly gave chase and were able to eliminate one Nara-class in half a minute. Another 30 seconds later, a boarding operation against the other two was authorized and Veprs fell back outside the contested cruisers’ weapon range, expecting their guns to come online at any moment, and directed their fire against the enemy missile destroyers. Old Bogatyrs also fell back and picked off any ship that sustained enough damage to leave its fleet’s ranks, before returning to the jump point two minutes later. The Veprs pursued the longest, firing their railguns incessantly, but their damage output from long range was low, and by the time ten minutes had elapsed since the enemy’s first volley, their fleet lost only 3 Atsugi-classes, one of which surrendered upon losing its engines and got instantly annihilated by the cruisers. The boarding operation against the Naras was going badly, with the already battered Russian marines getting pushed back by the cruisers’ vast crews, and soon, the Veprs were ordered back to the jump point, to wait out the imminent enemy missile strike in Mu Pyxidis then return to finish the job. Knowing that by then the enemy would be too far from the jump point, and the next strafing run will accomplish even less, the Veprs’ crews chose to risk overstaying their welcome. And then, in yet another pathetic display of cowardice, the xenos laid down their arms after losing yet another Atsugi to engine damage. Every enemy ship began broadcasting its surrender, with their missiles less than a minute away from being ready to obliterate the gunships that tormented them. In an ironic twist of fate, the Atsugi whose loss broke the aliens’ spirit was still afloat with more than half of its engines operational. Detecting no broadcasts from it, the gunships quickly chased it down and finished it off, ending the battle.

Yet another mass surrender.

On the same day, Ekaterina, having traversed Lambda Delphini mere hours before the enemy fleet was first detected, caught up with the escaped Matsuyama dropships in 98 Leonis and captured every single one. It then refueled at a tanker that was sent from Russian space to replenish the invasion fleet, before turning back into 91 Pegasi to finally relieve Donets of its guard duty over the alien homeworld.

On November 28th, yet another small Calana patrol was detected attempting to break out of Mu Pyxidis, consisting of a CL Nara, a DDG Miyazaki, a DDG Atsugi and a DDG Hakodate, the last known ships of their respective classes in the system. Petr Veliki, now guarding the jump point alone as the Bogatyrs were ordered back home to deliver the vast amount of prisoners they had accumulated over the last few days, once again allowed it to approach the jump point before evading its missile strike in the usual manner. It then unleashed its strike group upon it, quickly eliminating the missile destroyers before conducting a boarding operation on the Nara using the troops transferred from the returning Ekaterina in days prior. One boarding shuttle was lost and another got significantly damaged by the cruiser’s guns, but soon, the enemy vessel was captured in the name of the Empire. This was the last military engagement in the western side of the Mu Pyxidis system.

In the southeastern side of the system, the 2nd and the 4th Fleets were moving steadily towards Lambda Delphini in a scouting formation, the High Command being certain that a significant Calana naval presence still remained around their route, with more than a dozen vessels previously exposed by a buoy but still not located. Tsessarevitch was en route to join the fleets, its scouts having previously confirmed a substantial STO garrison on the distant asteroid it was investigating, while in the northeast, the commercial carriers have uncovered a few more instances of similar presence. Two Orlan frigates were detached in both directions for STO suppression. With neither group having enough fuel for the journey home, they would have to rendezvous either with the colliers incoming from 91 Pegasi or the tanker incoming from Lambda Delphini when their duty is concluded.

On November 30th, 2055, the last xeno fleet was detected by the powerful sensors of the combined invasion force:

7x CS Akagi
4x DE Wakayama
2x DD Kongo
3x FFE Hosho

Off-Topic: Search efforts finally bear fruit • show

These ships were the last known Calana vessels in the system, with no other lost contact remaining in the buoys’ database. The Akagis’ ordnance reserves were undoubtedly significant, and a head-on engagement was not favored, so the Russian fleet expended their very last Kinzhal and Gonchaya (M) long-range missiles to attack the point defense vessels of the fleet.

Off-Topic: Missile fire against the Wakayamas • show

Lessons from the Grand Armada battle were learned, and every Wakayama was targeted by enough ordnance to ensure its abandonment by the fleet. Not enough missiles were left to fully handle the Hoshos, and a single one remained in the fleet, undamaged, but this was of no concern to the High Command. A 2-day chase followed to allow the distant Tsessarevitch to catch up with the enemy fleet, during which every damaged ship had drifted far enough away from the main group to be safely engaged by the Admiral Lazarevs’ railguns. Finally, on December 2nd, 2055, Tsessarevitch’s fighters made contact with the weakened xeno fleet, and destroyed its Hosho while losing just three of their number, then proceeded to exterminate the unprotected missile ships with impunity. Every enemy cruiser and destroyer fell, with yet another one attempting a surrender only to be instantly blown up by his compatriots, which appeared to be a common type of behavior for this despicable race.

The last battle ends.

And just like that, the invasion was over. On December 7th, 2055, Ekaterina took over the xeno homeworld guard duty, and any ship that would come out of its docks in the following months would have to contend with its powerful shields and the many railguns of its strike group. By the year 2056, every ship of the 2nd Combat Fleet was in home territory, their crews enjoying well-earned rest. Many other vessels of lesser potency were employed to control the Calana space, and a few minor skirmishes followed, with several additional Matsuyama-class dropships falling into the Empire’s hands, bringing their combined count to 35. The war was far from over, with several Calana fleets still surviving outside their core territory and hundreds of thousands of troops guarding their colonies in the two conquered systems, but their ability to defend against the upcoming ground invasion was crushed. Soon, their vast population will be brought into the fold and the vile xenos will pay dearly for the transgressions they’ve committed against the Russian Stellar Empire. But that’s a whole other story.

Garfunkel · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2024, 06:56:53 PM »

What a campaign! Well done.

Author Topic: Chronicle of the Calana War (Read 1502 times)

Ghostly (OP)

Chronicle of the Calana War

Kaiser

Re: Chronicle of the Calana War

Ghostly (OP)

Chronicle of the Calana War: The Battle for 91 Pegasi. Order of Battle.

Ghostly (OP)

Chronicle of the Calana War: The Battle for 91 Pegasi. Part I

Ghostly (OP)

Chronicle of the Calana War: The Battle for 91 Pegasi Part II

Ghostly (OP)

Chronicle of the Calana War: The Fall of Mu Pyxidis

Garfunkel

Re: Chronicle of the Calana War