The Official Chronicle of the Duranium Legion

[kingflute]

In helmsman school, the helm officers learn about such important concepts, indeed fundamental building blocks of civilization itself, as "right on red". This has caused some understandable confusion when facing the Belaire lasers, as well as some less than understandable confusion among the command officers as to why helm officers abruptly turning to starboard somehow advances the fleet 5,000 km closer to their targets.

I wish to suggest that the CO of the navigation school be named Leslie "Left Hand Down a Bit" Phillips, after the infamously poor navigator and hazard to shipping from the Navy Lark.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

In helmsman school, the helm officers learn about such important concepts, indeed fundamental building blocks of civilization itself, as "right on red". This has caused some understandable confusion when facing the Belaire lasers, as well as some less than understandable confusion among the command officers as to why helm officers abruptly turning to starboard somehow advances the fleet 5,000 km closer to their targets.

I wish to suggest that the CO of the navigation school be named Leslie "Left Hand Down a Bit" Phillips, after the infamously poor navigator and hazard to shipping from the Navy Lark.

There is tempting fate, and then there is something like this which is waving a double 'V' in the face of Fate whilst insulting its mother and daring it to respond in kind. Which is not to say that the latter ought never be done, but perhaps it is best done from the deck of a large dreadnought with several dozen layers of armor and antimatter, if not photonic, drive technology, in other words such absurdities will be some time yet in coming.

However, such a time will one day arrive, and to hasten the arrival of that day let us now proceed to another update in which time advances slowly, yet surely.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

19 February 4009

As the fleet auxiliaries arrived back in the Belaire system, relieved not to have been blown apart by the latest Belaire battle fleet, recovery of the Belaire survivors could proceed and with this the usual occasional bits of intelligence gathering. Proving true once again the stereotype of the unreliable helm officer, the navigator of the first Sovremenny destroyed in the battle was easily persuaded to provide star charts for a system known to the officer as Algoma, which was soon identified as Tau Ceti, not too far from Duratus in light-years but rather distant along the jump network being reachable from Giclas 9-38. Of somewhat more practical use were sensor schematics provided by a sensor technician recovered from the wreckage of a Kiev, although the specifications provided did not match any sensor the Legion had yet seen in battle and was thus presumed to be a design intended for auxiliary craft. Finally, pulling off a rare hat trick a team of Legion intelligence officers managed to persuade a Belaire lieutenant, apparently recently promoted out of the Belaire survey corps into his role on a Kirov-class battlecruiser, to provide detailed mineral survey information from the Giclas 9-38 system. This turned out to be particularly useful, as it clearly indicated the presence of vast sorium deposits in the atmosphere of the third planet of the B-component star in that system, a massive gas giant. Legion commanders hoped this would prove a ripe target for a raiding action in the near future.

By the night of 23 February, First and Second Fleets had completed their rearmament and set out for the Giclas 9-38 jump point, transmitting a message back to Kuiper 79 requesting the B-108 buoy layer along with its third Type I probe be sent to perform reconnaissance of the far side of that jump point. This request was of course immediately granted. As the fleets set off, some slight shuffling of the order of battle occurred, such that Destroyer Squadron 1 contained the two damaged Charybdis-class ships as well as the light cruiser Domination, all of which would return to the Duratus shipyards for needed armor repairs.

On 25 February, while maneuvering through the Belaire inner system to take up watch over Belaire Prime, Brutal Legend reported resolving ground force sensor signatures on the planet surface. While the signatures could not be resolved into individual units, the intensity of emissions reflected a total of roughly 180,000 to 400,000 soldiers, depending on the composition of the Belaire forces as well as how well-fortified individual units were. As the Legion’s Ground Forces at this time could only boast of having some 97,000 soldiers under arms, this was a serious concern for the Legion high command as an invasion of the planet itself would not be feasible in the near future. Therefore, a multi-year siege would likely be required even after the orbital defenses of Belaire Prime had been eliminated, hardly an enticing prospect for the Lords Admiral who much preferred to list devastating victories in open battle on their service records.

From her monitoring position near the jump point to Giclas 9-38, Bad Omen reported detecting active sensor emissions from a lone Belaire Kiev on 2 March, as First and Second Fleets were closing in on the jump point. While the Kiev did not maintain its active sensors long enough for Bad Omen to determine its course, Commander Hera Thrace offered her opinion that the Kiev was likely attempting to recover the life pods of the spaceliner destroyed by Bad Omen two weeks earlier. This assumption was put to question eight hours later, as Bad Omen also reported detecting engine waste heat signatures from a pair of Borodino-class auxiliary vessels. By this time, First and Second Fleets had nearly pulled up even with the position of the Belaire contacts, albeit on a parallel trajectory, and thus First Fleet under Captain Felix Tegyrios was dispatched to investigate and likely interrupt what appeared to be some form of salvage operation.



Fleet and contact positions at 1724 on 2 March 4009, as Bad Omen reported detection of two Borodino-class contacts. While the Legion commanders had formed a working assumption that these vessels were carrying out a salvage operation, emissions analysis would estimate these vessels as displacing 170,000 void tons each, which was in retrospect rather a large size for a salvage vessel and certainly larger than even the Legion Navy’s most voluminous space stations, the 152,000-ton Achelous Mk III-class Terraforming Platforms.

As First Fleet approached the Belaire vessels, they were further able to resolve engine emissions from a Bodry-class vessel, estimated at 72,000 void tons displacement, before finally resolving not only the Kievs but a pair of escorting Slavas at a 12 million km distance. An additional trio of Osas were further resolved as First Fleet closed to under nine million km, at which point the Belaire squadron finally appeared to take notice of their Legion pursuers. Noting that the escorts, while unimpressive, would be able to break through the point defenses of First Fleet which presently had only one destroyer squadron attached, Second Fleet was ordered to join the pursuit formation while First Fleet held position at a six million km distance from their targets. By 2324 this maneuver had been completed, with Captain Jocasta Gelanor once again assuming command, due to seniority if not due to being favored by her immediate superior officer. Captain Gelanor immediately ordered her fleets to close with the Belaire convoy, without bothering to wait for the Slavas to exhaust their missile stores.

Duranium Legion Navy Combined Attack Fleet
Captain Jocasta Gelanor commanding aboard CL Disruptor
Cruiser Squadron 1: Denouement, Devastator, Dissolution, Grand Cross, 2x R-56, 2x AR-56 Osprey
Cruiser Squadron 2: Dauntless, Defenstrator, Disruptor, Gothic, 2x R-56, 2x AR-56 Osprey
Cruiser Squadron 3: Devourer, Double Edge, Garrote, 2x R-56, 1x AR-56 Osprey
Destroyer Squadron 3: Catharsis, Centaur, Chronomancer, Final Blow
Destroyer Squadron 4: Champion, Covenanter, Cry, Ye Wicked, Final Judgment
Destroyer Squadron 7: Carnivore, Chu Ko Nu, Cretaceous, Felstalker
1x Bellerophon class Frigate (detached): Bad Omen
Totaling 265,000 tons displacement with 7,991 crew complement

Republic of Belaire Auxiliary Convoy 1
Designation and commander unknown
1x Kiev class Jump Cruiser
2x Slava class Escort Cruiser
3x Osa class Destroyer Escort
2x Borodino class Auxiliary Vessel
1x Bodry class Auxiliary Vessel
Totaling 480,000 tons displacement (69,000 tons military) with unknown crew complement

The encounter could be described by any number of words, but “battle” would not be among them. As the Belaire convoy could only make 891 km/s due to the slow auxiliary vessels, the Legion fleets closed from six million km to point-blank range in only twenty-two minutes. While the point defense work was in large part more than sufficient to deal with the output from just two Slavas, a number of inexplicable fire control mishaps aboard the fleets’ destroyers occurred as the cruisers prepared to fire, causing Champion to suffer hits from eleven missiles in addition to receiving a number of laser hits from the Osas, suffering internal damage to a number of components before all three Osas were destroyed in a thoroughly-uncoordinated volley of fire from the Defiants. While the display of gunnery had been, stated generously, appallingly unprofessional, with the three Osas destroyed there remained no threat to the Legion warships and the remaining Belaire vessels were summarily dismissed from their duties with extreme prejudice. This was in spite of a futile and frankly amusing attempt at retreating once the Osas had been eliminated, as the Belaire convoy plodding back toward Belaire Prime at 891 km/s could hardly be called a proper attempt at withdrawal.

Interestingly, the massive Borodinos appeared to have multiple layers of armor, as the 152 mm railgun blasts failed to penetrate the armor of either vessel on the initial salvos. Based on this, Legion intelligence officers would tentatively designate this class as a heavy assault transport for carrying out planetary invasions, largely as Legion intelligence officers could think of no other reason to armor a large auxiliary vessel so heavily. In any case, armored or not the Borodinos could not put up any resistance beyond dogged persistence, and by 2348 the space around the jump point had been cleared of any Belaire presence save for nine smoldering wrecks. The wounded Champion was detached to collect the Belaire survivors and return them to Kuiper 79 for debriefing before setting her course for Duratus to receive armor repairs. While questioning these survivors, Legion intelligence officers were able to persuade a nervous Belaire sensor technician to confirm technical specifications of the large active sensors mounted on the Kirov-class battlecruisers, a minor coup though hardly groundbreaking.

Barely three hours later, yet another Belaire auxiliary vessel was detected between First and Second Fleets and the Giclas 9-38 jump point, this time of the Kanin class displacing only around 34,000 void tons. Fortunately for the Legion crews, who were by now getting slightly annoyed at having to slaughter random unarmed passers-by just because there was a war on rather than conserving their ammunition for glorious battles with proper enemy battle fleets, the Kanin was unescorted. The ship also proved to be unarmored, being destroyed with only 49 hits with Captain Tegyrios and Dissolution claiming the kill. No further Belaire vessels were encountered along the path to the jump point, granting the Legion crews some questionably-deserved rest.

First and Second Fleets arrived at the Giclas 9-38 jump point by 0942 on 3 March, at which time the B-108 buoy layer which had already arrived launched its third and final Type I probe through the stabilized jump point. Even by Legion Naval standards, the returned telemetry from the probe proved quite illuminating, and in fact highly surprising.



Initial sensor telemetry from the Type I probe sent through the Giclas 9-38 jump point. While the Legion Navy may have been prepared for any number of possibilities, detecting a fleet of 31 undefended Belaire auxiliary vessels directly at the jump point was decidedly not on that list.

Not one to pass up an opportunity to easily destroy a large fraction of the Belaire auxiliary fleet, Captain Gelanor ordered First and Second Fleets through the jump point to ambush and destroy the fleet of Azovs. The destroyers Covenanter and Cry, Ye Wicked were detached to intercept the two Udaloy-class destroyer-size vessels, which appeared to be unarmed in spite of their provisional hull type designation, while the rest of the Fleets intercepted the fleeing Azovs. While the Fleets easily overtook their slower targets, it did take about two minutes before the fire control systems on the Legion vessels had recovered from the jump transit and could line up shots in the hapless Belaire ships. In the ensuing slaughter, two of the vessels briefly signaled their surrender to the Legion forces, but this surrender was apparently not supported by the entire crew and in an unclear sequence of events a number of rogue crew members managed to destroy the engines of both vessels, causing each to explode spectacularly as roughly one-third of their crews escaped in life pods. The rescued Belaire crew members would later confirm that the Azov class were in fact small civilian-operated colony ships, which had been gathered about the jump point awaiting a signal from the Belaire Navy that their home system was safe to traverse.

Far more tragically, one of the Udaloys began frantically signaling Cry, Ye Wicked, protesting that the vessel was a diplomatic ship and requesting that the destroyer cease firing. Unfortunately, the diplomat had displayed even worse tactical aptitude than a typical Belaire Naval officer, and signaling the diplomatic status of his vessel while it was being fired upon proved to be far too late to save the Udaloy.

Once the unarmed Belaire colony fleet had been neutralized, the light cruiser Disruptor was detached to collect the survivors and return them to Kuiper 79, bringing with her Captain Gelanor who would be in attendance at the upcoming Naval Conference. Disappointingly, though not unexpected from a fleet of largely civilian crews, no useful intelligence was gathered from the non-surrendering survivors. As Disruptor returned to the Belaire system, she transmitted orders to Bad Omen ordering the frigate to transit to Giclas 9-38 to provide long-range sensor coverage for the Legion fleets on the jump point. While crossing the Belaire system to the Kuiper 79 jump point, Disruptor detected active sensor emissions from yet another Belaire Kiev, apparently fleeing the system. However, as the Kiev could be accompanied by any number of escort vessels, Captain Gelanor contented herself with sending a message of warning back to the Legion fleets assembled in Giclas 9-38, alerting them to the incoming traffic and sending best wishes for good hunting.

These best wishes apparently had some effect, as when the Belaire convoy was detected jumping into Giclas 9-38 on 7 March the Legion officers were delighted to discover that the escort consisted of three Osas but no Slavas. Not even thirty seconds later, another Belaire convoy had been reduced to trans-Newtonian waste, with the greatest problem confronting the Legion fleets being that of prisoner transfer to Kuiper 79. As the jump point was stabilized and the Grand Cross class contributed no firepower to the cruiser squadrons, it was determined to use the jump cruisers as prisoner transports in the absence of more suitable vessels such as the traffic monitor classes. Little useful intelligence was gained from these prisoners, perhaps the most notable finding being confirmation of sensor specifications for the midrange sensors used by the Belaire Sverdlov and Kirov classes.



Sensor readings showing the composition of the seven-ship convoy destroyed by the Legion on 7 March.

After this, a period of relative calm settled across the Belaire war zone, to be broken at 0305 on 20 March by an urgent report from Warden 2 that a pair of Kirov sensor signatures had been detected in Kuiper 79. As Warden 2 had recently arrived at the jump point to WISE 0350-5658, this was suspected to be a Belaire battle fleet returning to its home system, which had only just now chosen to pulse its active sensors. However, on initial detection it was not yet clear what course the Belaire fleet had set, and the sensor pulse proved to be transient as the Kirovs disappeared from the scanners of Warden 2 as quickly as they had first appeared. At this stage, the Belaire battle fleet was estimated to be roughly 2.2 billion km from the Belaire jump point, which could be traversed by the Belaire in about seven and a half days. First and Second Fleets, on the other hand, could travel the 3.16 billion km from the Giclas 9-38 jump point to the Kuiper 79 jump point across the Belaire system in just under seven days and eight hours. Lord Captain Selene Styx immediately sent out an order for First and Second Fleets to set their course for the Kuiper 79 jump point with all due haste, hoping to set an ambush for what may have been the last remaining group of Kirov-class battlecruisers.

These hopes would soon be dashed as the Kirovs were reacquired by Warden 2, on a direct course towards the WISE 0350-5658 jump point. Disappointed, Lord Captain Styx ordered First and Second Fleets back to their previous locations while Warden 2 retreated from the jump point. Oddly enough, the Kirovs appeared to detect Warden 2 as they approached the jump point, retreating from the traffic monitor as if her presence heralded an entire Legion battle fleet lurking in the void. While the Legion crew was gratified to be held in such high regard by their enemy, it was rather less appreciated to have an undetected Belaire battle fleet traversing Legion space undetected. To get eyes on the targets, Broken Wind was detached from her surveillance position in the Belaire system and ordered to travel along the line from the Kuiper 79 jump point to the WISE 0350-5658 jump point, hoping to spot the Belaire fleet and shadow them if possible. First and Second Fleets were once again ordered to Kuiper 79 to provide security against the potential threat, over protests from the crews who were rather put out by the constant back-and-forth of life in the Legion Navy.

This put out-ness would not be helped as the Belaire fleet detected once again by Warden 2 at 1429, at the instant before they passed through the jump point to WISE 0350-5658. As the various Legion Navy elements were once again ordered back to their previous positions, crews and commanders alike pondered the inscrutable nature of the Belaire fleet actions. Adding to the confusion, Warden 2 reported the re-arrival of the Belaire forces at 1829, although they immediately disappeared through the jump point once again. This was repeated again at 2312, and again at 0742 and at 0757 the next day.

Despite the fact that the Belaire fleet was being kept at bay by an apparent and overblown fear of a 3,000-ton traffic monitor, Lord Admiral Criasus was not comfortable with the presence of a Belaire battle fleet behind his front lines so near to Kuiper 79. To resolve the situation, Cruiser Squadron 5, consisting of the two Invincibles and Judgment Day which had recently completed their allotted shore leave periods, were dispatched to Giclas 9-38 to maintain an anti-commerce presence at that jump point. This would free up First and Second Fleets to commence an offensive action against the Belaire battle fleet. Without the Hellfires the fleets would be likely to suffer some losses against the Sovremennys and their laser batteries, however this would be an acceptable price to pay for comprehensively eliminating the last substantial Belaire combat presence from this sector of the galaxy. To facilitate this, Warden 2 was ordered to move away from the WISE 0350-5658 jump point to remove herself from Belaire active sensor range, counting on her RF scanner to pick up the Belaire sensor signature at this distance.

The Belaire fleet captains apparently had spotted the Legion Navy’s fleet movements, as on 25 March a third pair of Borodinos were detected making a break for the Giclas 9-38 jump point. While they were only approaching at just over 600 km/s, Cruiser Squadron 5 remained seven days away from the jump point and thus would have to give pursuit of the ambling Belaire convoy, aided by Bad Omen on station in the Giclas 9-38 system. Interestingly, as the convoy closed in on the jump point, probe telemetry indicated that there were no escorts of either Slava or Osa class, simply a Kiev-class jump cruiser which would be unarmed. Clearly, the Belaire Navy was running out of even their most numerous escort-class vessels. Shortly after this, Bad Omen reported that the Belaire convoy was sitting immobile at the jump point in Giclas 9-38, at which point the convoy remained for several hours before returning to the Belaire system on 26 March and setting a return course for Belaire Prime - at which point Cruiser Squadron 5 was diverted towards an intercept point along with Gatekeeper 7 which happened to be passing through the system.



Fleet positions as of 1647 on 26 March, at which time First and Second Fleets were passing Cruiser Squadron 5 as each traveled to their respective new positions. The #2 labeled waypoint on the map indicates the planned interception position from which Cruiser Squadron 5 and Gatekeeper 7 would attempt to ambush the Belaire troop convoy.

At 0547 on 2 April, the active sensor signature of the escorting Kiev was detected, on a clear evasive course away from Cruiser Squadron 5. Continued evasion proved fruitless for the Belaire ships, which were efficiently destroyed by 0959. This marked the final pair of Borodino-class armored assault transports, as well as the last known example of the Bodry class which had been provisionally designated as a large auxiliary jump tender. Interrogation of the survivors provided no useful information, although Legion xenobiologists continued to be fascinated at the wide range of colors to which a Belaire could be turned given appropriate external stimuli.



Sensor report from Gatekeeper 7 at 0547+50 on 2 April, as the active sensors of the fleeing Kiev-class jump cruiser gave away the position of the Belaire convoy.

----

Shipbuilding

1x Furious class Jump Destroyer: Fight Fire With Fire
1x Ars Magica Mk II class Survey Frigate: Adamant (refit)
2x Phaeton class Freighter

Research

Flag Bridge
Particle Beam Strength 6

Systems Discovered

Tau Ceti (ex. Algoma): Belaire interrogations, 19 February 4009

----

OOC: And thus another update is upon us, though I admit I had hoped to cover all the ground up to the planned Naval Conference. However, as the Belaire persist in their delusional attempts to challenge the Legion Navy another update shall be required to reach this point, unfortunately this means the Naval Conference will not have a nice, neat chapter number such as XX but such is life.

Meanwhile, the long-awaited 1.13 update is upon us at last. As previously stated I have no intention of abandoning this campaign for such a trivial reason as to keep up with the frantic pace of modern technological progress. However once the Naval Conference has started I intend to take the opportunity to determine if I can in fact transfer the save over to the new DB format. If I can, huzzah! - although I will maintain a separate DB/install folder as this process is not unlikely to produce bugs. If I cannot, then the campaign will proceed in 1.12 anyways which will be no great trouble as I am maintaining a separate DB either way.

[Foxxonius Augustus]

Another great update as usual! A bit light on the political side but I imagine everyone is on best behavior at the moment and playing their hand close to the chest so that they remain invited too and can lay all their cards down at the Naval Conference.  I suspect that soon another round of ammunition will be added to the Hellfire debate, one side claiming that a battle commander saw a need for their capabilities but none were available and that the only solution is to order additional hulls, the other that their lack of staying power has proven that the experiment has failed.

One thing that is beyond doubt is that the Legions officer corp will at least agree that a new, dedicated commerce raider is of vital importance.  The line officers will be adamant that such tasks are beneath them or at the very least, not worth the deployment of the mighty warships that they command, ships meant for battle and glory not poking holes in freighters.  The flag officers and the high command will likely realize that it was a minor miracle, combined with the ineptitude of the Belaire navy leadership that the enemy wasn't able to capitalize of the Legions main battle fleets being out of position, distracted by unarmed auxiliaries.  If the high command is clever they will also realize that it was not the fault of the fleet commanders that they were out of position, they saw an opportunity to hurt the enemy and seized it like any good Legion officer should.  If however, the legion had a small force of dedicated commerce raiders then the opportunity would not have been missed and the main fleets would not have had a reason to be out of position at all.

I do wonder what doctrine will win out for any forth coming raider fleet.  Lone hunters? Wolf packs? Higher speed or more stealth? Fewer, more powerful units or smaller but more numerous ones? Will they be designed with powerful sensors so that they can be the navy's next generation of eyes and ears, maybe even replacing the Bellerophons? Only time will tell!

[El Pip]

You have taken some unpromising material (blowing up several auxiliary convoys) and made something enjoyable out of it, so good work there.

I think the Commerce Raider debate could get at least as heated as the Hellfire discussions. It is a similar situation in some ways, do you want more standard fleet units or some situationally useful specialists. The 'standard' fleet units are more than capable of serving as ad hoc commerce raiders so it is arguable all the Fleets really need is more ships, having a spare squadron they can despatch to run down such units without compromising the abilities of the rest of the fleet. Specialist raiders can't stand up in the line of battle, or at least not as well, so will have to be carefully managed and held back at some points.

The counter-argument is that a specialist commerce raider would do a better job, it could be faster and with better endurance so it could run down enemy convoys faster and have the speed to escape any hostile fleets. Add in a capability to launch probes through Jump Points and maybe they even could go raiding deep into enemy territory (if the enemy co-operates by not defending their JPs).

Dedicated raiders that could capture enemy ships and drag them home might be the clinching argument. You would not need many of them, most commerce destruction would still be done by the regular fleets, but a single squadron of 'ship snatchers' sounds a useful capability.

In any event, bring on the political infighting for which the Legion is justly famed.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Another great update as usual! A bit light on the political side but I imagine everyone is on best behavior at the moment and playing their hand close to the chest so that they remain invited too and can lay all their cards down at the Naval Conference.  I suspect that soon another round of ammunition will be added to the Hellfire debate, one side claiming that a battle commander saw a need for their capabilities but none were available and that the only solution is to order additional hulls, the other that their lack of staying power has proven that the experiment has failed.

It is a good thing that we shall not have to wait too much longer to find out. By this I of course mean several more updates, not out of writerly contrivance of course but simply as it will take several updates to work through the rather busy agenda of the Naval Conference.

At risk of tipping my own hand, I must observe that thus far no commentator has yet made what can be considered a rather crucial observation regarding the future of the particle beam concept, which at least one member of the Lords Admiralty has however noted and shall make public knowledge in due course. Beyond this, I shall in the meantime leave the precise nature of this piece of information as an exercise for the readership. 

One thing that is beyond doubt is that the Legions officer corp will at least agree that a new, dedicated commerce raider is of vital importance.

One should never place too much faith in the ability of the Legion high command to be considered beyond doubt on any matter.

The line officers will be adamant that such tasks are beneath them or at the very least, not worth the deployment of the mighty warships that they command, ships meant for battle and glory not poking holes in freighters.  The flag officers and the high command will likely realize that it was a minor miracle, combined with the ineptitude of the Belaire navy leadership that the enemy wasn't able to capitalize of the Legions main battle fleets being out of position, distracted by unarmed auxiliaries.  If the high command is clever they will also realize that it was not the fault of the fleet commanders that they were out of position, they saw an opportunity to hurt the enemy and seized it like any good Legion officer should.  If however, the legion had a small force of dedicated commerce raiders then the opportunity would not have been missed and the main fleets would not have had a reason to be out of position at all.

In defense, after a fashion, of the Legion Naval officers, all involved were quite certain that the remaining Belaire heavy warships were located beyond Belaire, in Giclas 9-38 or further afield, believing that there was no conceivable reason why the Belaire would have stationed their battle fleet beyond Kuiper 79 yet failed to bring it in-theater before now. Laboring as they were under this belief, the Legion fleets were not believed to be in any sense out of position but in fact in the proper position to engage the last Belaire fleet as it returned to defend its home world. Thus the Legion Navy has learned once again that one should never place too much faith in the ability of the Belaire high command to be considered tactically competent on any matter.

I do wonder what doctrine will win out for any forth coming raider fleet.  Lone hunters? Wolf packs? Higher speed or more stealth? Fewer, more powerful units or smaller but more numerous ones? Will they be designed with powerful sensors so that they can be the navy's next generation of eyes and ears, maybe even replacing the Bellerophons? Only time will tell!

Certainly there are many options available. Perhaps one point to keep in mind, though, is that while the likely outcome of the Naval Conference will be at least a partial blueprint for the next generation of Legion Navy vessels and doctrine, this must be built on top of the existing fleet particularly as the necessary technologies for a full upgrade across the board may be some time in coming. Thus a conservative approach is likely to be the order of the day, and the question will be how drastic of a change can be pushed through by the more forward-thinking Lords Admiral?

You have taken some unpromising material (blowing up several auxiliary convoys) and made something enjoyable out of it, so good work there.

I am glad someone appreciates such things, particularly as in my admitted haste to progress the plot I neglected to include an aside on the debate between using duranium vendaride versus neutronium tricorbomite as the primary material in the TNE alloys used to make the bolts holding the 102 mm railguns together. It is good to know that in spite of my omission, a suitably presentable product was produced.

I think the Commerce Raider debate could get at least as heated as the Hellfire discussions. It is a similar situation in some ways, do you want more standard fleet units or some situationally useful specialists. The 'standard' fleet units are more than capable of serving as ad hoc commerce raiders so it is arguable all the Fleets really need is more ships, having a spare squadron they can despatch to run down such units without compromising the abilities of the rest of the fleet. Specialist raiders can't stand up in the line of battle, or at least not as well, so will have to be carefully managed and held back at some points.

The counter-argument is that a specialist commerce raider would do a better job, it could be faster and with better endurance so it could run down enemy convoys faster and have the speed to escape any hostile fleets. Add in a capability to launch probes through Jump Points and maybe they even could go raiding deep into enemy territory (if the enemy co-operates by not defending their JPs).

Dedicated raiders that could capture enemy ships and drag them home might be the clinching argument. You would not need many of them, most commerce destruction would still be done by the regular fleets, but a single squadron of 'ship snatchers' sounds a useful capability.

Excellent points raised. As there are excellent points on all sides the inevitable conclusion is that an unsatisfying compromise will be reached which shall please no one, but may still lead to a serviceable vessel. Of course, this being the Legion high command it is perhaps equally probable that the matter shall be settled by way of fatalities, in which case a more satisfying conclusion is possible.

In any event, bring on the political infighting for which the Legion is justly famed.

Were I any other author, I would happily inform you that your wish is my command. As it is, however, you shall have to settle for what follows.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

9 April 4009

On 9 April, Warden 2 was given orders to proceed back to her original posting on the WISE 0350-5658 jump point, having spotted not a single Belaire warship in two weeks. This proved to be a moment of some coincidence, as she had been on station for not even two minutes when the Belaire battle fleet jumped into the system - and immediately jumped out yet again. Clearly, forcing the Belaire to give battle would be somewhat trickier than previously thought, and with this in mind Lord Admiral Criasus ordered First and Second Fleets to proceed to the jump point at full speed with the aim of ambushing the slippery Belaire fleet at the earliest opportunity. As the fleets carried out their orders, the Belaire fleet gymnastics exercise continued at irregular intervals, until at last the fleets arrived on the jump point to WISE 0350-5658 late in the evening of 14 April. Dutifully, the Belaire battle fleet jumped into the system only 15 minutes later, however at this point the Legion crews discovered a new source of frustration as the Belaire fleet immediately jumped back out of the system before a single shot could be fired. Legion science officers were universal in voicing their amazement at this, noting that even the finest Legion technology could not permit a vessel to jump through a jump point twice in such an infinitesimal time period.

This posed some difficulty for the Captains of First and Second Fleets. A jump point assault may have been necessary, but would be a dicey prospect given the reduced orders of battle for each fleet, and thus would be considered only as a last resort. Ultimately, it was decided to send a pair of reconnaissance fighters through the jump point at the next instance of a Belaire double-jump, taking advantage of the jump shock effects to protect the fighters from weapons fire long enough to evade the Belaire fleet and perhaps frighten them into jumping back to Kuiper 79. Implicit in this plan was the clear opinion of the Legion Navy officers regarding the stiffness of Belaire spinal anatomy.

Rather concerningly, this plan proved rather flawed, as the Belaire in fact seemed to have reinforcements beyond the jump point. At least, this was the supposition made based on the panicked screams transmitted through the jump point by the fighter crews. In any case, it immediately became clear that a second plan would be called for. After a brief and informal conference, the Captains of the fleets determined that since the traditional approach of offering battle and expecting the opponent to join it had failed, due to the Belaire being utter cowards, deception would be tried instead. The bulk of First and Second Fleets would move back towards the jump point to Belaire, leaving behind a second pair of recon fighters which would monitor the jump point from just outside of Belaire sensor range. The fighters would keep their active scanners off so as to maintain secrecy, hopefully giving the Legion fleets sufficient notice of the Belaire approach to spring a trap once the Belaire had moved far enough away from the jump point that no further shenanigans would be possible.



Schematic showing elements of the Legion deception plan devised and executed on 16 April. Warden 2 was not essential to the plan, but as her station was at the jump point during normal times she would retire a safe distance away to watch the battle - should one occur - unfold.

Barely 15 minutes after Warden 2 had reached her designated holding position, some 53 million km from the jump point, the Belaire battle fleet re-entered the system. By this time the Legion fleets had only proceeded some 77 million km from the jump point, and apparently was still detectable on the Belaire sensors - likely due to the fleets’ large thermal signatures - as the enemy fleet promptly exited once again. Curiously, this process was again repeated at noon on 17 April, despite the Legion fleets being well out of range by that time, perhaps indicating excessive caution on the part of the Belaire fleet. Finally, on 18 April the Belaire fleet once again appeared in the Kuiper 79 system and cautiously set their course for the Belaire jump point - unbeknownst to them, while observed by Recon Flight 2.

At 1731 on 24 April, the passive sensor arrays of Broken Wind detected active sensor emissions from a Kirov-class cruiser approaching the Belaire jump point, roughly 200 million km distant. At this, First and Second Fleet immediately powered up their engines and set out to give chase, acquiring the Belaire fleet on active sensors at 1358 the following day. By this time the Belaire had retreated to 450 million km from the jump point, clearly having spotted the incoming Legion fleet and now attempting to make a futile escape.

First Fleet
Captain Felix Tegyrios commanding aboard CL Dissolution
Cruiser Squadron 1: Denouement, Devastator, Dissolution, Grand Cross, 2x R-56, 1x AR-56 Osprey
Cruiser Squadron 3: Devourer, Double Edge, Garrote, 1x R-56, 1x AR-56 Osprey
Destroyer Squadron 7: Carnivore, Chu Ko Nu, Cretaceous, Felstalker
Totaling 127,500 tons displacement with 3,792 crew complement

Second Fleet
Captain Alastair Pleiades commanding aboard CL Dauntless
Cruiser Squadron 2: Dauntless, Defenestrator, Gothic, 1x AR-56 Osprey
Destroyer Squadron 3: Catharsis, Centaur, Chronomancer, Final Blow
Destroyer Squadron 4: Covenanter, Cry, Ye Wicked, Final Judgment
Frigate Squadron 3 (attached): Broken Wind, Endless Night
Totaling 122,500 tons displacement with 3,691 crew complement

Republic of Belaire Battle Fleet 5
Commander and designation unknown
4x Kirov class Battlecruiser
3x Kiev class Jump Cruiser
3x Sovremenny class Cruiser
3x Slava class Escort Cruiser
1x Skory class Missile Destroyer
4x Osa class Destroyer Escort
Totaling 267,000 tons displacement with unknown crew complement

Author’s Note: While the Legion captains remained certain of victory due to their technological, tactical, and doctrinal superiority, it should be noted here that the Belaire fleet actually outmassed the combined Legion fleets by a slight margin. This is indicative of the by now battle-worn character of the Legion fleets by this stage of the Belaire War, despite suffering relatively minimal losses the Legion Navy was now seeing effects of attrition nevertheless. Notably, the resulting reduction in point defense capabilities had potential to prove concerning for the Legion fleets in the coming engagement.



Initial positions immediately after the Belaire fleet was detected by the active sensor array of Broken Wind at 1358 on 25 April, at which point the full composition of the battle fleet could be verified.

Immediately, the crews of First and Second Fleets leapt into action, executing the by now tried-and-true practice of closing to 400,000 km (actually amended to 450,000 km by the Captaincy in-theater, opting to grant the helm officers slightly more range to work with). At 0336 on 26 April, the range was closed to under 500,000 km and the Belaire fleet began firing its missiles at the Legion ships, as was tradition. Far less traditionally, several Belaire missiles were able to leak through the Legion point defense each time the heavy and light missiles arrived on-target simultaneously, with the first set of heavy missile impacts including one hit on Devastator and half a dozen explosions against the armor of Denouement. While this was worrisome, the fleet Captains elected to press onward, knowing that the Belaire had only a limited number of heavy missiles in their magazines and deeming even the loss of a light cruiser an acceptable price to destroy the last known Belaire battle fleet - particularly as long as the crucial destroyers survived to provide sufficient defense against the far more numerous light missiles launched from the Slava-class escorts. Thus, the pursuit and desperate defense continued.

This bold decision was seemingly proven correct, as the second instance of simultaneous arrival of both Belaire missile classes failed to score a single hit on the Legion cruisers. This pattern held true for the next two such occurrences as well, before Devastator suffered another pair of large explosive hits on her armor, two minutes after the first. By now, Legion sensor officers had been able to determine the approximate explosive yield of the Belaire heavy weapons, announcing to their Captains that the Belaire missiles detonated with a strength of five megatons - a number which would be reported to the Legion media outlets as 5,000 kilotons for a more appropriate dramatic effect.

Devastator would suffer a fourth 5,000-kiloton impact ninety seconds later, still receiving only superficial armor damage for her trouble. At this stage, the Legion Captains were perhaps becoming a bit overconfident, and the Legion railgunners perhaps a tad less attentive to their duties. Whatever the circumstance, thirty seconds later any such illusory overconfidence was shattered by an impressive series of ten heavy missile explosions, with a trio of missiles creating further dents in the armor of Devastator while the remaining seven rocked her sister Double Edge, failing to penetrate her armor. Despite the shocking development in this instant, Legion tactical officers still could not help but comment on the rather awkward target selection of the Belaire missile gunnery crews, as by now the Legion cruisers had been on the receiving end of twenty large nuclear explosions without losing a single internal component, let alone any of their resilient light cruisers. Had these explosions been directed against a single target, perhaps the Belaire gunners would have experienced better luck, inconsequential though it might have been in the end.

As it was, the Belaire had by this stage completely exhausted their supply of heavy missiles, and the Legion point defense gunners would not struggle to deal with the remaining few dozen waves of light missiles over the next several minutes. Finally, at 0348 the final light missile salvo had been destroyed, and the Legion crews turned their attention to the more interesting phase of the battle.



Missile damage suffered to the armor of the three Defiant-class light cruisers on which the Belaire managed to score hits. In the post-battle analysis, most experts would agree that the Belaire gunners would have accomplished a greater effect by concentrating their fire on a single cruiser, most notably Devastator which may have been opened to vacuum by one or two further strikes on her stern section.

As the Legion fleets were unsupported by Hellfires in this battle, the Captains ordered a direct charge towards the Belaire vessels, steeling themselves to receive fire from the Belaire laser batteries. The initial salvo at 0351 from the Sovremennys scored only two glancing hits on Double Edge at extreme range, followed by 32 more out of the next three salvos, all failing to penetrate the cruiser’s armor. From the opening shots, the Legion cruisers required only sixty seconds to close to their own firing range, scoring 150 hits split between the three Sovremennys which due to the long range only caused superficial damage to the Belaire cruisers. Curiously, at this stage the Sovremennys suddenly changed their target and fired their heavy lasers at Broken Wind which had remained with Second Fleet throughout the pursuit. Realizing his mistake, Captain Alastair Pleiades hurriedly ordered Frigate Squadron 3 to break away from the fleet before the Belaire medium lasers could recharge and fire on the frigates, and while this order came too late to prevent the Belaire from targeting the smaller vessel the frigates did succeed in opening the range far enough that only minimal damage to the armor of Broken Wind was suffered.

Having lost their preferred target, the Sovremennys turned their fire on the destroyer Covenanter, scoring a preliminary hit with a heavy laser before landing 26 hits from their medium lasers including eight penetrations. These penetrations caused modest internal damage to the destroyer, however this damage included the loss of an engine and Commander Hephaestus Valerii was ordered to withdraw from the battlefield as a result. In response, the Legion cruisers fired their second salvo of 152 mm rounds, scoring another 180 hits but only a few penetrations as the range was still fairly open at 65,000 km. One of these penetrating hits did succeed in knocking out an engine aboard the lead Sovremenny, which fell out of formation with its escorting vessels.

As the range between the two fleets dipped below 45,000 km, the Osa-class escorts finally opened fire, targeting the destroyer Centaur which suffered five hits to her armor belt. Meanwhile continuing to display an impressive grasp of focused-fire tactics - that is to say, no grasp at all - the Sovremennys fired their heavy lasers at the fleeing Covenanter, scoring no hits. For the lead Sovremenny which had already lost an engine, this would prove to be her final shot as Denouement immediately blew her target to dust with thirty-two well-placed 152 mm rounds. Another 120 shots found their targets against the remaining Sovremennys, dealing heavy internal damage including knocking out several engines and causing the Belaire formation to unravel. As the Sovremennys fell behind the main Belaire fleet, the Legion destroyers were able to take aim. Chu Ko Nu claimed the second of the Sovremennys, which had lost three of its four engines and was quickly overtaken by the Legion fleets, while Centaur eliminated the final cruiser of the trio. In their dying moments, the Sovremennys fired a final salvo from their medium laser batteries, ineffectually grazing the armor of the withdrawing Covenanter.

In a rare case of a Belaire fleet actually exacting revenge for their lost comrades, the Osas fired a concerted broadside at Centaur, crippling her engines and leaving her dead in space. By now, however, the entire Belaire fleet was well within range of the rapid-firing 102 mm railguns of the Legion’s destroyers, and within ten seconds the Osas had been permanently silenced.

With no laser-armed vessels remaining, the Belaire battle fleet stood no chance against the powerful Legion railguns. Even so, the Legion Captains ordered that each remaining Belaire vessel should be targeted by only one Legion ship, hoping that by minimizing the damage done per salvo some of the remaining ships might be persuaded to surrender - hopefully to better effect than their comrades aboard the Azovs had experienced a month prior. This approach proved effective, with one of the large Kirov-class battlecruisers becoming the first Belaire vessel to surrender to the Duranium Legion Navy (and survive intact). Sadly, the self-preserving crew of Kirov 17 could only watch as their comrades chose to fight to the death - for a loose definition of the term “fight”. At 0354 on 26 April, the fifth and final Belaire battle fleet ceased to exist as a naval formation.

By this stage, the Legion intelligence analysts had pieced together a more or less complete picture of the Kirov-class capabilities, thus initial inspection of the captured vessel did not prove terribly informative. Of mild interest was the fact that, according to the surrendering Belaire Captain, the class was properly designated as a “Strike Cruiser” rather than the more evocative “battlecruiser” term used by the Legion Navy to signify a capital ship. Despite the eagerness of the surrendered crew to serve under a more competent chain of command, the Kirov 17 was likely to be scrapped for minerals and research purposes, as the Legion lacked any ability to reequip the vessel with appropriate ordnance, or indeed any ordnance at all.

Off-Topic: Belaire Kirov-class Strike Cruiser • show

Kirov class Strike Cruiser      22,947 tons       573 Crew       2,967 BP       TCS 459    TH 1,560    EM 0
3399 km/s      Armour 5-71       Shields 0-0       HTK 136      Sensors 12/6/0/0      DCR 12      PPV 76
Maint Life 1.54 Years     MSP 969    AFR 351%    IFR 4.9%    1YR 468    5YR 7,014    Max Repair 397.36 MSP
Magazine 1,404   
Captain    Control Rating 4   BRG   AUX   ENG   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

Improved Nuclear Pulse Engine  EP260 (6)    Power 1560    Fuel Use 62.02%    Signature 260    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,400,000 Litres    Range 17.7 billion km (60 days at full power)

CIWS-120 (1x4)    Range 1000 km     TS: 12,000 km/s     ROF 5       
Size 4 Missile Launcher (19)     Missile Size: 4    Rate of Fire 15
Missile Fire Control FC65-R113 (3)     Range 65.5m km    Resolution 113

Active Search Sensor AS69-R113 (1)     GPS 12204     Range 69.4m km    Resolution 113
Active Search Sensor AS31-R20 (1)     GPS 1440     Range 31.8m km    Resolution 20
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1)     Sensitivity 12     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  27.4m km
EM Sensor EM1-6 (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  19.4m km

As the surrendered Kirov was out of fuel as well as ammunition, having suffered an unfortunate accident during the battle which had precipitated her surrender although her fuel tanks remained physically intact, the tanker Dragon was dispatched from the Belaire system, and would take over five days to arrive. In the meantime, the remaining Legion vessels would form up on the wounded Centaur as she effected post-battle repairs to her engines, with the jump cruiser Grand Cross detached to collect the Belaire survivors who had not been wise enough to proffer their own surrenders. Faced with their own insignificance and impending mortality, several of the Belaire survivors had the good sense to strike deals with their Legion Intelligence inquisitors to procure slightly larger prison cells containing not only beds but pillows as well. Most interestingly, several of these volunteers informed their captors that the Republic of Belaire was in fact at war with a second alien race, one not known to the Legion and the Belaire name for which could not be translated. Given that the Legion Navy had faced the overwhelming majority of the Belaire Navy’s battle capabilities, all involved agreed that it was astounding that the Legion Navy had seized control of the Belaire home system well before this unknown race had even come close to mounting their own offensive. Otherwise, however, no new intelligence was gained, albeit less due to the reluctance of the Belaire captives and more due to the fact that the information volunteered had already been provided by previous captives in the process of making similar bargains for themselves.



Pictured: Devastation.

While the necessary post-battle regrouping process continued, Lord Admiral Criasus and his command staff on Kuiper 79-A II determined to their satisfaction that the Belaire Front was completely under Legion control. Of the original Belaire fleet roster determined by Adamant some years ago, beyond which no new Belaire warships had been identified, only three Sovremennys remained unaccounted for along with three Kievs which posed no threat to the Legion fleets. All twenty Kirovs had been either destroyed or in the most recent case had surrendered, and only half a dozen Belaire missile destroyers remained at large. While the Belaire Navy still operated a considerable force of three dozen Slava and Osa-class escort vessels, without any major fleet units to escort these were almost certainly scattered about the galaxy and unable to pose any threat to the Legion as a massed fleet. While the Belaire War was far from over, after all there remained a home planet to be subjugated and looted at some time in the future, the Lord Admiral and his subordinates were confident in declaring that the bulk of their work as fleet commanders had been accomplished, and a certain measure of breathing more easily could be had.

Of course, this did not mean that the actual work of being a Legion Navy Lord Admiral would cease even for a moment, thus Lord Admiral Criasus found himself along with Lord Captain Selene Styx boarding the light cruiser Disruptor, captained by the now-infamous Captain Jocasta Gelanor, which would along with an ad-hoc escort group ferry these commanding officers to Duratus to participate in the long-anticipated Naval Conference. The Disruptor group would make a brief stop at Adamantine Base, where Commander Aion Styx aboard the Hellfire would join the procession, before proceeding to Duratus at full speed so as not to try the patience of the Legion high command any longer than necessary.

While the Lord Admiral and his entourage were in transit, First and Second Fleets reordered themselves, such that all of the damaged ships from the most recent battle were now grouped under First Fleet while Second Fleet would be the “full-strength” fleet in-theater for the time being. First Fleet was left under orders to proceed to Duratus after refuelling from the incoming tanker Dragon, where necessary armor repairs would be carried out and fresh reinforcements dispatched to Kuiper 79 to relieve Second Fleet.

While the majority of the Legion Navy dealt with the vagaries of logistics, Gatekeeper 7 in the Belaire system reported another convoy approaching the Giclas 9-38 jump point on 12 May, consisting of ten Zhdanov-class 68,000-ton auxiliaries escorted by a pair of Osas. These would prove to be an easy target of opportunity for Cruiser Squadron 5, which transited back to the Belaire system and immediately gave pursuit, being careful to remain beyond 50,000 km range until the short-ranged Osas had been eliminated. With their escorts eliminated, a full five Zhdanovs surrendered to the Legion raiders - an incredibly boon, as these vessels in fact turned out to be Belaire orbital mining ships which would be greatly appreciated by the Legion economic planners on Duratus. A flotilla of space tugs was immediately dispatched to the Belaire system to recover the lumbering behemoths and relocate them to the Sol system.



The lightly-escorted Zhdanov-class convoy to be intercepted by Cruiser Squadron 5 on 12 May. The speed of the Zhdanov-class mining ships made them the slowest Belaire class yet detected, suggesting that the convoy had been in flight from Belaire Prime for nearly four months, likely having fled after the jump point assault of 19 January.

----

19 May 4009

00:38 Legion Galactic Time
Duratus spacedocks

In the earliest hour of 19 May, Disruptor arrived at Duratus carrying her precious cargo of Legion Navy flag officers, escorted by the destroyers Champion and Flayer as well as the frigates Executor and Hellfire. While the appearance to onlookers at the Duratus spacedocks would be that of an honor guard escorting Lord Admiral Criasus and his retinue, in practice the collection of escorts had been assembled from a mix of damaged combat vessels and jump ships which no longer had an intact battle squadron to accompany. In each case, the crews of these vessels had been at war against the Belaire for some time now, in some cases several years with only occasional shore leave and certainly no vacation time, thus all aboard were eagerly awaiting their arrival on Duratus. For the Lord Admiral and selected other officers aboard the flotilla, awaited with greater eagerness was the commencement of the Naval Conference set for noon of that day, after allowing time for rest and debriefing.

It was against the backdrop of this relaxed mood that the events of 19 May would transpire. At 0038 the flotilla made their final approach to the spacedocks. Below is a transcript of the radio communications between the spacedock traffic control center and the helm officer aboard Disruptor:

   [00:38:01] TRANSMISSION BEGINS
   [00:38:02] OPERATOR: “Disruptor, you are clear to dock at station Beta-Two, I repeat, Beta-Two, over.”
   [00:38:05] DISRUPTOR: “Roger, Traffic Control, Disruptor clear to dock at Beta-Two. Proceeding now at twenty-five meters per second, over.”
   [00:38:13] OPERATOR: “Roger, Disruptor.”
   [SILENCE]
   [00:38:33] OPERATOR: “Disruptor, we do not detect movement of your vessel. Is there trouble with your engines? Please report, over.”
   [SILENCE]
   [00:38:48] OPERATOR: “Disruptor, are you in distress? Please report, over!”
   [00:38:51] DISRUPTOR: static “Just a moment, Traffic Control.” agitated voices can be heard in the background but no words can be made out
   [00:38:55] OPERATOR: “Do you need assistance? Station vessels can be dispatched to your position--”
   [00:39:01] DISRUPTOR: agitated voices continue to be heard, increasing in volume. After several seconds, the voice of Disruptor’s helm officer is clearly audible. “They did what??” a single loud, agitated voice is heard in the background “OH SHI--”
   [00:39:12] DISRUPTOR: the sound of a loud explosion is heard, which rapidly increases in volume
   [00:39:14] TRANSMISSION ENDED

----

Shipbuilding

1x Charybdis class Destroyer: Charitable Donation
2x Hellfire class Frigate: Harbinger, Homunculus

----

OOC Note: Yes, finally we have arrived at the long-awaited Naval Conference, albeit not in the manner anyone expected I should think. As we prepare ourselves for several updates of fierce debate, mundane technical intricacies, and pointless pontification, what better way to transition to such matters than with a sudden plot twist which is likely to hang over our heads unresolved for the entire duration, driving the readership to demand plot advancement and resolution whilst the author steadfastly insists on writing a political drama spinoff? Then again, perhaps the readership by know expects such things from an author who regularly leaves plot threads hanging while writing about convoy raids and mineral economics, thus this latest development is perhaps not so unexpected as it might first appear? We can only wait and see what the future holds...

[kingflute]

Looks like one side of the Hellfire debate has decided that they werent making their points loud enough...

[El Pip]

OOC Note: Yes, finally we have arrived at the long-awaited Naval Conference, albeit not in the manner anyone expected I should think. As we prepare ourselves for several updates of fierce debate, mundane technical intricacies, and pointless pontification, what better way to transition to such matters than with a sudden plot twist which is likely to hang over our heads unresolved for the entire duration, driving the readership to demand plot advancement and resolution whilst the author steadfastly insists on writing a political drama spinoff? Then again, perhaps the readership by know expects such things from an author who regularly leaves plot threads hanging while writing about convoy raids and mineral economics, thus this latest development is perhaps not so unexpected as it might first appear? We can only wait and see what the future holds...

A masterful use of the Butterfly Effect approach to writing. Lots of people do plot, far too few focus on technical intricacies and mineral economics, so how could I possibly complain about such a correct approach to priorities?

That said you have no forfeited any right to complain about plot advancement (or the lack thereof) and I will remind you of it.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Looks like one side of the Hellfire debate has decided that they werent making their points loud enough...

Perhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.

A masterful use of the Butterfly Effect approach to writing. Lots of people do plot, far too few focus on technical intricacies and mineral economics, so how could I possibly complain about such a correct approach to priorities?

That said you have no forfeited any right to complain about plot advancement (or the lack thereof) and I will remind you of it.

It is fortunate for me then that I have never found cause to exercise such right. Comments, perhaps, but never complaints have been issued from my department. A wise reader after all knows better than to doubt the mystical and wondrous working of such a unique creature as Butterfly.

[El Pip]

Perhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.

Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.

[kingflute]

Perhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.

Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.

Or its a double-bluff by someone

[El Pip]

Perhaps - ah, but which side then? Disruptor is a railgun cruiser, perhaps suggesting something, but then again aboard the Disruptor we have (had?) Captain Gelanor, a known Hellfire advocate, Lord Captain Styx who is a fierce opponent, and Lord Admiral Criasus who is a staunch neutralist and is respected by all. Quite a mix here, and thus far no clear way to tell who, if anyone, was targeted - and who, if anyone, was caught in the crossfire. Clearly, much additional speculation and debate is required.

Clearly this is the work of the Carrier Strike faction.

Or its a double-bluff by someone

Of course! This is clearly the Railgun faction, pretending to be the Hellfire faction, making a false flag attack by dressing up as the Carrier Strike faction while blaming it all on the Missile faction. Their cunning plan being to discredit all other possible factions in one elaborate move. It is most cunning.

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Of course! This is clearly the Railgun faction, pretending to be the Hellfire faction, making a false flag attack by dressing up as the Carrier Strike faction while blaming it all on the Missile faction. Their cunning plan being to discredit all other possible factions in one elaborate move. It is most cunning.

Obviously it is this one. 

[nuclearslurpee (OP)]

Prelude: An Explosive Entrance

The light cruiser Disruptor and her four escorts arrived at Duratus in the first hour of 19 May, being granted clearance to dock at 0038 by spacedock traffic control operators. However, Disruptor herself failed to respond to this clearance, apparently holding position 5 km from her assigned berthing and failing to answer repeated hails from the traffic control station. Corroborating later reports from the traffic control operator on duty of agitation at the bridge of Disruptor, sensor readings from spacedock monitoring posts as well as passive scanner readings from Champion, Flayer, and Executor had indicated significant commotion taking place aboard Disruptor in her aft sections. Shortly after this, after a panicked exchange between her helm officer and the traffic control operator, Disruptor experienced a colossal explosion at 0039 originating from the vicinity of her engine room, consuming the ship in a horrendous nuclear fireball although her thick TNE-composite armor contained the major force of the explosion, saving the other ships in her formation from sharing her fate. Among the surviving crew members who had escaped to life pods were Lord Admiral Absolus Criasus and Lord Captain Selene Styx, having been escorted to safety by a junior officer just prior to the explosion. Captain Jocasta Gelanor, along with her senior bridge officers, were recorded as missing and presumed lost in the explosion.

Approximately twenty-five seconds later, with most ship and spacedock crews still stunned by the destruction of Disruptor, the traffic control station received an emergency hail from Commander Aion Styx aboard Hellfire reporting that an apparent mutiny was in progress. This transmission was abruptly cut off by a second massive explosion, roughly two-thirds the size of the first and originating from the aft section of Hellfire. The ship was completely destroyed, with only forty crew members escaping to life pods, with Commander Styx among them. Despite the weaker armor of Hellfire compared to Disruptor the smaller explosion was again contained well enough to prevent damage to the remaining escorts in the flotilla.

The destruction of two Legion Naval vessels in less than a minute, by what could only be assumed to be an act of sabotage, not only shocked all onlookers but would in fact rock the Legion high command establishment to its core. In the immediate aftermath, the three remaining escorts were ordered to an emergency halt, with the commanders of each ship ordering immediate security sweeps to secure the engine rooms, reactors, and other vital components aboard each vessel. Once this was done, out of an abundance of caution the crews were evacuated by spacedock shuttles, and the ships carefully inspected by spacedock security teams before being towed to their berths. The damage was fortunately limited to only the two vessels already destroyed, and by 0245 the remaining three ships had been taken into the docks without further incident.

----

19 May 4009

The Legion high command was immediately notified of the events which had transpired, convening an emergency midnight meeting of the Lords Admiral to address the developing situation. An ad-hoc investigatory committee was commissioned, with Lord Captain Enzo Iaso tapped to command the investigation due to his extensive background as a fleet intelligence officer. As his first officer Lord Captain Iaso selected an old coworker from his fleet intelligence days, Commander Menoetius Cabeiri, who would primarily handle the logistics and administration duties of the investigation committee while the Lord Captain would take a hands-on approach to his command. The remaining ships and crew of the Disruptor’s escort flotilla were immediately remanded to the committee, along with the salvage ship Accatran which would be needed to salvage the wreckage of Disruptor and Hellfire before the investigation could be considered complete. As Accatran was twelve days distant from Duratus this would impose a necessary delay on the pace of the investigation, a serious concern as the trail of any surviving perpetrators would likely go cold after such a long time.

To facilitate this investigation, particularly the lengthy process of interviewing the nearly 200 survivors of the catastrophe, the Naval Conference was delayed until 21 May, with the planned 0900 start time amended to noon to allow for a memorial service prior to the official opening of the Conference.

----

20 May 4009

In an oral report delivered to the Legion high command on the evening of 20 May, the contents of which would be kept highly confidential until well after the investigation had officially concluded, Lord Captain Enzo Iaso summarized the initial results of his investigation based on interviews with the survivors of the Disruptor and Hellfire explosions. These results were, in the Lord Captain’s own words, “profoundly disturbing”.

As expected, most of the crewmen aboard both ships had been only vaguely aware of the situation until the actual explosions, and as in both cases the explosions had originated from the engine sections of the ships no survivors had escaped from those sections, thus no firsthand accounts of the events could be obtained. However, surviving members of the Disruptor bridge crew had reported being in communication with shipboard security forces and other crew in and near the engine section prior to the explosion, providing secondhand information which while sparse and occasionally contradictory was the best information available to the investigatory commission. Based on this, Lord Captain Iaso and his staff had pieced together a timeline strongly indicating that a shipboard mutiny had taken place centered around the port engine room of Disruptor. The mutineers had mounted a seemingly suicidal charge on the engine room, overwhelming the unarmed engineering crew on duty, and deliberately set the engines to overload. Other interviews indicated that several small fire teams of mutineers had opened fire throughout the ship, apparently in a concerted effort to cause mass confusion and hinder any response to the attack on the engine room. One survivor of the Disruptor bridge crew was able to report that Captain Jocasta Gelanor had apparently left the bridge to take command of the security response around the engine room, perhaps a questionable command decision but nevertheless one reflecting boldness on the Captain’s part along with concern for her crew - a fact which the Legion high command was much gratified to be informed of.

The interview of Commander Aion Styx, ex-Hellfire, was along with three survivors from his bridge crew able to confirm that a similar sequence of events had occurred aboard Hellfire. In this case, however, the mutineers had been too few in number to mount the concerted disruption effort as was done aboard Disruptor, thus they had focused all of their manpower on assaulting and securing the engine section.

In a few cases, interviewed crew members from both ships had been able to identify individual seditionists by name, though this was again secondhand information and subject to significant human error as the names had been heard from intercom reports from panicking crew members close to the action. Nevertheless, the investigatory commission had immediately begun working through the personal files and data of the named crew members, seeking any motive or connection to some other nefarious actor. The greatest breakthrough thus far, the Lord Captain had reported, had been the junior officer who had escorted Lord Admiral Criasus and Lord Captain Styx to an escape pod well before the actual explosion had occurred. This seeming foreknowledge of events had appeared suspicious, and under heated questioning the junior officer had broken down and admitted to having been part of the mutinous plan before experiencing a change of heart when realizing that the much-beloved Lord Admiral would likely perish in the explosion. In spite of this, the officer had still appeared to believe in whatever misguided cause had driven the mutiny, and was at that time proving resistant to further interrogation, notably refusing to confirm the names of any suspected saboteurs.

Strikingly, not a single report by any interviewed crew member had indicated that any demands had been made nor agendas announced by the mutineers. Thus at this time, the destruction of two Legion Navy vessels appeared to have been instigated by a disgruntled cadre of junior officers with no apparent political or other motive, and no overarching leadership could be identified which could have planned such a devastating act of terror. This lack of clarity would haunt the Legion high command, in spite of the admittedly promising progress of the investigatory commission up to this point.

----

21 May 4009: The Naval Conference Begins

0900: Memorial Service for the Lost Crew of Disruptor and Hellfire

The memorial service was attended by some 2,000 members of the Legion Navy and associated organizations, including all sixteen members of the Lords Admiralty, some hundred and twenty commanding officers presently assigned to Duratus, and nearly four dozen other Legion leaders and dignitaries. For those in the Navy currently outside of the solar system the proceedings were also broadcast throughout the stabilized jump point network, notably for the benefit of those in Kuiper 79 and Belaire many of whom had lost valued comrades and friends in the tragedy. While most of the men and women in the Legion Navy had of course seen comrades fall in battle, a clear darkness in the atmosphere was felt by all present with the understanding that for brave officers and crews to suffer death in the skies of their home world was unnatural even for the warlike culture of the Duranium Legion. Underscoring the gravity of the occasion, while not present in person due to ongoing security concerns the Emperor himself addressed the assembled mourners via remote broadcast.

In total, four hundred forty-five officers and crew had perished in the events of 19 May, thus it would not be possible in only a few hours to eulogize every individual honored dead. Nevertheless, mixed in with the somewhat generic eulogies delivered by senior members of the Lords Admiralty were a few heartfelt tributes to particularly well-loved senior officers. As commander in chief of the Legion Navy, Lord Admiral Imperator Aurai Valance made certain to honor each late member of the command staff aboard both vessels by name with a brief moment of praise, no doubt drawn from personal interviews with survivors who had served with these officers. However, arguably the most impactful eulogy of the morning was delivered by Lord Captain Selene Styx, who herself had survived the destruction of Disruptor. Despite her well-known ideological feud with the oft-impulsive Captain Jocasta Gelanor, the Lord Captain spoke glowingly of her former subordinate, praising her bravery and creative command presence in the recent battles against the Belaire. Among the ranks of a Legion Navy officership which had been on the verge of permanent division due to the raging Hellfire debate, this moment of reconciliation did much to soften attitudes and promote unity between opponents - a much-needed effect as the Naval Conference was set to begin only hours later.

On the whole, despite the tragic nature of the morning’s event, ultimately the Legion high command left the memorial having regained in some small sense an institutional unity of purpose. All in attendance had been reminded that the ultimate point of their efforts was not to settle an argument in their favor for personal gain, but rather to come together and determine the best way to advance and protect the best interests of the Duranium Legion in a cold and hostile galaxy.

----

1200: Opening Ceremony of the Duranium Legion Naval Conference

As the Naval Conference opened on 21 May, twenty-five officers and other assorted dignitaries were present. The chief membership of the Conference was of course the assembled Lords Admiralty, sixteen in number:

   Imperator of the Conference: Lord Admiral Imperator Aurai Valance, C.I.C. Duranium Legion Navy
   Speaker of the Assembly: Lord Admiral Absolus Criasus, Kuiper 79 Naval Corps

   The Lords Admiral Assembled
   Lord Grand Admiral Thanatos Adrastus, Training High Command
   Lord Grand Admiral Tethys Argyron, Fleet High Command

   Lord High Admiral Hilaera Antilochus, Survey Command
   Lord High Admiral Aeneas Chalcon, Industrial Command
   Lord High Admiral Jack Macaria, Home Fleet Command
   Lord High Admiral Geras Makedon, Training Command

   Lord Admiral Palaestra Abderus, Mining Corps
   Lord Admiral Pothos Aleus, Training Corps
   Lord Admiral Adrien Agamemnon, Survey Corps
   Lord Admiral Niobe Chryson, Construction Corps
   Lord Admiral Agamemnon Hydra, Terraforming Corps
   Lord Admiral Glycon Limos, Duratus Naval Corps
   Lord Admiral Gaia Pandia, Logistics Corps
   Lord Admiral Caerus Priapus, Cmdt. Duratus Military Academy

   Honored Guests of the Assembly
   Lord Captain Selene Styx, Kuiper 79 Mission Control Department
   Captain Jocasta Gelanor, C.O. ex-Disruptor, in absentia
   Commander Aion Styx, C.O. ex-Hellfire

   Honored Guests of the Imperator
   Lord Imperator Helena Palacios, Sol Sector Command
   Lord Imperator Daedalus Poseidon, Governor of Duratus
   Oracle Geryon Priapus, subject matter expert: beam weapons
   Oracle Xeno Sangarius, subject matter expert: battery director systems
   Lady Imperator Ellen Scamander, Scamander Corporation

   Honored Captains of the Imperial Guard
   Lord General Jocasta Lyceia, Imperial Guard Legion
   Lord General Aphaleia Porphyrion, Emperor’s Hand Legion

As this was indeed the first Naval Conference in the admittedly-short history of the Duranium Legion Navy, the format of the Conference was closely modeled after the storied tradition of Imperial Conferences well known to contemporary students of Legion political history. For the modern student, then, a brief review of the Imperial Conference tradition is here in order:

Historically, the Imperial Conference had been not an occasional event but in fact the primary vehicle of Legion governance dating back to the mid-3700s if not earlier. The Conference consisted of the assembled Lords of the Legion and was presided over by the Emperor, in fact historically the entirety of the Emperor’s power was derived from this presiding role. Specifically, the Emperor was granted three powers over the assembly of Lords: first, the sole power to open a session of the Imperial Conference, which could then be closed only by a vote of the full assembly; second, to veto any motion passed by the assembly; third and lastly, to unilaterally expel any member of the assembly from the Imperial Conference, an act optionally but nearly always accompanied by revocation of Lordship. Outside of performing these three duties, the Emperor was not even permitted by the Law of the Legion to speak during a session of the Imperial Conference, instead appointing a Speaker to officiate the proceedings, an ability considered by many students of early Legion politics to be an unspoken fourth power of the Emperor. These powers thus ensured that the Emperor wielded significant governing power, yet would be unable to act without the express consent of the Lords; to balance this significant power, any act of the Emperor could be summarily overridden by a three-quarters supermajority vote of the assembly, indeed even the act of being Emperor could be overridden in this manner and this was the primary means by which transitions of Imperial power were effected historically.

While in practice this structure had since evolved and eventually been left behind entirely by the Legion offices of government, the Emperor legally retaining and occasionally exercising these powers but by and large not requiring the formal structure of the Conference to do so, the Legion high command considered a revival of this great tradition a fitting implementation of the inaugural Naval Conference. Lord Admiral Imperator Valance naturally stepped into the role of Imperator, echoing the canonical office of the Emperor, and appointed as her speaker the esteemed Lord Admiral Criasus, well-regarded by all not only for his wealth of battlefield experience but also his steadfast commitment to objectivity and nuanced rationality, particularly where matters such as the Hellfire debate were concerned. The remaining fourteen Lords Admiral took their seats in the Conference chamber and awaited the Imperator’s opening remarks.

Joining the Lords Admiral were a number of special guests, these representing a slight break from Imperial tradition in a repurposing of original designations. Honored Guests of the Assembly had originally been those special attendees of an Imperial Conference invited by a Lord to give testimony before the assembly; for the purposes of the Naval Conference, these attendees were considered to be those “of the assembly” in other words invited Navy officers. By contrast, the Honored Guests of the Emperor canonically were exactly that, however for the purposes of the Naval Conference this designation (amended to “of the Imperator”) was granted to civilian attendees regardless of the nature of their invitation. One tradition eagerly kept to was the presence of an Imperial Guard detachment, consisting of two sections of the 1st Imperial Guard Battalion each commanded by one of the Legion’s two Lords General. While historically the Guard detachment had been raised for the purpose of providing security, very quickly the far more important role of these troops in preventing violent brawls between the assembled Lords had become apparent, and the Legion high command took this lesson to heart by explicitly designating the Guards as in-chamber maintainers of order with no security responsibilities whatsoever.

With the attendance of the Naval Conference thus assembled, all attention turned to Lord Admiral Imperator Aurai Valance as she delivered her opening remarks:

“Honored Lords of the Legion, this Naval Conference is now in session.”

The Lord Admiral Imperator was roundly applauded for adhering so closely to Imperial tradition.

As Speaker, it now fell to Lord Admiral Criasus to deliver introductory remarks to the assembled Lords Admiral:

“My fellow Lords Admiral and honored guests:

“We have all stood in battle and triumphed over our foes. I need not belabor to you the nature nor the importance of the task at hand. I shall therefore aspire to be brief.

“We now face a mighty task, and the consequences of our success or failure will determine not only one battle, nor only one war, but in fact the very future of our great Legion. This task is no less than to define what shall be the Navy of the future. Success in this endeavor shall mean decades, if not centuries, of domination across our galaxy. Failure in this endeavor - whether through ignorance, cowardice, or partisanship - shall cause our glorious Legion to be relegated to the dust bins of history at the hands of powerful enemies which suffer none of these faults. To all present I therefore urge: we must balance upon a knife’s edge those twin virtues of caution and boldness if indeed we are to succeed.

“We stand amidst turbulent times. Unto the Navy we have all together come up from have been bestowed new technologies, some practical and some still theoretical, the full impacts of which not a Lord among us yet knows. These we must wisely judge the use of against foes known and unknown. We must not allow fear of the unknown, whether within or without, to drive us to obstinate reactionism. Indeed, though many among our ranks harbor deep differences with their fellows, we must all reach out beyond our own differences to reach not compromise but collaboration. This only will ensure our success.

“Indeed, while our divisions are often deep, I myself hold naught but the utmost hope and assurance in our success. After all, this is not the first time in our history - whether our short history as a Navy or our long history as a great Legion - in which ourselves and those before us have set aside our differences for the good of our crews, our Navy, and our beloved Legion herself. Did fear of the great nations of Duratus prevent our forefathers from waging war across a planet? I tell you, most certainly not! Did ignorance of the great unknown void hold us back from exploring and expanding throughout our great galaxy? I tell you once again, in no way! Did discord and dissent creep into our ranks and destroy the cohesion of our Navy as we fought against the hateful Belaire? I tell you once more, no! And thus I tell you with utmost confidence that as we gather here to determine the future of our Navy and ultimately of our entire people, I expect nothing but more of the same from each and every one of us.

“May we strive to honor the memories of all who have fought and died before us, and may we all be borne on wings of victory through this inaugural Naval Conference. My friends: we serve the Legion!”

After pausing briefly for the resulting applause to subside, neither the duration nor the intensity of which has been recorded in the meeting notes for this occasion, the Lord Admiral announced the broad itinerary for the Naval Conference, which is reproduced in abridged form below:

   21 May
   0900: Memorial service for the victims of the Disruptor and Hellfire incidents
   1200: Opening Ceremony of the Naval Conference
   1330: Review of the Legion Navy
   
   22 May
   All day: Session on Fleet and Naval Doctrine
   
   23 May
   0800: Session on Performance and Assessment of the Hellfire class
   1300: Session on Future Directions for Particle Beam Weapons
   
   24 May
   0800: Session on Jump Vessel Assessment and Future Prospects
   1300: Conference Outing to Hyperion Naval Yards
   
   25 May
   0800: Session on Performance and Assessment of the Bellerophon class
   1300: Session on Future Directions for the Fleet Scouting Role
   
   26 May
   0800: Session for Miscellaneous Business
   1300: Session on Future Fleet Design and Development (1 of 2)
   1800: Conference State Dinner with High Lords of the Legion
   
   27 May
   0800: Session on Future Fleet Design and Development (2 of 2)
   1200: Conference Review and Closing Statements

After this the Naval Conference was adjourned for a light luncheon.