On January 13th 2207, a brief battle erupted in the Sol system. A Belial class destroyer of the Zoltan Empire had ventured through the Typhon jump point on a raid. Two Indian Vipul class fast scouts were destroyed before the Belial was taken out by a mixed force of Indian, Martian and Star Viking ships. The Star Vikings returned to Alpha Centauri shortly thereafter, with the Grendel class battlecruiser followed by a force of eleven ships. The Third Battle Squadron cut short its shore leave at Corinth and moved to join the Second near the Enclave home world, in case the Star Vikings decided to launch a more serious attack than last time. The Grendel launched numerous waves of seven missiles each, all of which were shot down by either the Jovian task group or the Enclave orbital defences, then moved away followed by the main body.
The Enclave launched a Scorpion class destroyer on February 1st 2207. As the vessel was known to be beam-armed, Rear Admiral Armand Benitez ordered an initial salvo of twenty Javelins followed by a smaller wave of ten, which left the Scorpion dead in space. The Jovian destroyer Scylla moved in to check if the crippled vessel retained any armament. There was no response to Scylla’s approach so a Nike class dropship launched a boarding assault that quickly secured the Enclave destroyer. The captured ship, known to the Skye Enclave as Hollander class, was a jump-capable version of the Enclave’s Sentry class destroyer escort that sacrificed two of the Sentry’s six turrets in exchange for the jump drive. Despite being badly damaged, the Hollander retained a small amount of fuel and some engineering spares. Once an engine was repaired it would be able to make its way to Sol. Given the number of Enclave warships captured in recent months, Vice Admiral Charleston was considering forming a combat force of ex-Enclave ships and using them to protect survey operations. The lower speed of the Enclave prizes would not be an issue if they operated as a separate force to the Jovian battle squadrons and 3200 km/s would be more than sufficient to keep pace with the survey ships.
Hollander class Jump Destroyer Escort 9,000 tons 232 Crew 1463 BP TCS 180 TH 576 EM 0
3200 km/s JR 4-250 Armour 5-38 Shields 0-0 Sensors 11/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 33.12
Maint Life 1.61 Years MSP 305 AFR 216% IFR 3% 1YR 137 5YR 2059 Max Repair 324 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 1
J9200(4-250) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 9200 tons Distance 250k km Squadron Size 4
96 EP Ion Drive (6) Power 96 Fuel Use 73.6% Signature 96 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 950,000 Litres Range 25.8 billion km (93 days at full power)
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (4x2) Range 48,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (6) Total Power Output 27 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR35-R1 (1) GPS 324 Range 35.6m km MCR 3.9m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 11m kmMeanwhile a pair of Star Viking Gotterdammerung fast scouts had moved within a few million kilometres of the Enclave home world. As far as Jovian Naval Intelligence was aware, the Gotterdammerungs were unarmed and therefore posed no threat. However, since their arrival the Star Viking force of three 16,900 ton battlecruisers and eight 8450 ton destroyers had ceased heading for the Sol jump point and was moving back toward the planet. On February 13th three destroyers, a Valkyrie and two Beowulfs, halted at approximately one hundred million kilometres while the other eight ships continued closing. Once again Rear Admiral Benitez contacted Vice Admiral Charleston and requested permission to engage the Star Viking force if it seriously threatened either the Enclave home world or its orbital shipyards. Once again, that permission was denied.
The situation became more complex when the Enclave launched a new Whitworth class missile destroyer. One unit of that class had already been captured by Jovian forces so its armament was known - five size-5 missile launchers. The Jovian task group comprising the Second and Third Battle Squadrons was closer than the Star Viking fleet so Rear Admiral Benitez expected his ships to be the target of the new destroyer. However, with three Achilles class destroyer escorts in his force he did not expect the Whitworth to pose any danger so he elected to leave it intact on the basis it might prove a distraction for the Star Vikings. As expected, an inbound salvo of five missiles appeared on Jovian sensors and also as expected the missiles were killed by the Jovian defences. Unexpectedly though, that was the only salvo directed at the Jovian task group.
The appearance of the Whitworth had obviously caused the Star Viking commander to reconsider his advance on the Enclave home world as the Star Viking fleet suddenly reversed course. Fifty minutes later Jovian sensors detected two strength-10 warhead detonations and a pair of strength-20 secondary explosions in the same location as the Star Viking fleet. A Woden class battlecruiser slowed and fell behind the other ships. Less than a minute later, the Woden was struck by five more strength-10 hits and left dead in space. For some reason the Whitworth had decided to fire at the Star Vikings even though they were much further away than the Jovians. Perhaps the Enclave high command had realised the Jovian task group was trying to protect their world, at least in the short term. The Star Viking ships were spread out in multiple small groups, albeit within a few hundred thousand kilometres of one another. Even so that weakened their overall defensive capabilities. They tried to defend the crippled ship and two strength-1 detonations were detected astern of the Woden before it was struck by three more strength-10 hits. Three more missiles were intercepted from the next two salvos but the seven remaining Enclave anti-ship missiles could not miss the stationary target and the Woden exploded. A second Woden became the new target of the Whitworth but it was within the heart of the Star Viking formation and almost all the Enclave missiles were struck by defensive missiles. Only a single strength-10 hit was scored, eighteen minutes after the destruction of the first battlecruiser.
The Whitworth returned to the Enclave home world to rearm and then resumed its attack. By this point the Star Vikings were in three distinct groups. The Valkyrie and the two Beowulfs were still out at one hundred million kilometres while the other two groups were much closer to the Enclave home world and within a million kilometres of each other. One of the closer groups comprised three Vithar class destroyers in close formation while the other comprised a Woden, a Jormungandr class battlecruiser and two Asgard class destroyers in a somewhat loser formation. The Whitworth concentrated its attack on the three Vithars, still ignoring the much closer Jovian task group. The first two salvos were unopposed and inflicted three and four hits respectively on a Vithar. A strength-17 secondary explosion blasted a huge hole in the hull and the Vithar exploded. All five of the missiles in each of the next two salvos were intercepted, perhaps suggesting the anti-missiles were originating from the Jormungandr, the Woden or the Asgards rather than the Vithars and had taken some time to arrive.
The next two Enclave salvos were more effective and each scored three strength-10 hits on a second Vithar, resulting in a strength-13 secondary explosion that dramatically reduced the speed of the destroyer. All five of the missiles from the next salvo were on target and blew the Vithar to pieces. For some reason the Viking anti-missile fire had ceased to be effective and only five out of the next twenty-five inbound missiles were intercepted. The last Vithar suffered twelve strength-10 hits and was destroyed by a huge magazine explosion. Meanwhile, numerous strength-1 detonations were detected near the second group, confirming that the Jormungandr, the Woden or the Asgards were the source of the Star Viking anti-missiles. No hits from anti-ship missiles were detected. It was possible that the need for self-defence had been the reason that the anti-missile coverage of the Vithars had been so significantly reduced. Even so, Rear Admiral Benitez was frankly amazed that the single Enclave destroyer had caused so much damage and disruption to the Star Viking fleet.
The seven remaining Star Vikings warships moved away from the Enclave home world for several hours, probably still shaken by their losses, then turned and headed in once again. With the leading group seventy million kilometres from the planet, the Whitworth began launching missiles once more. This time all the missiles were targeted on the Jovian task group which had pulled back to twenty million kilometres. With three Achilles and two Minotaurs providing point blank defence there was no need to expend anti-missiles. Every incoming missile was shot down. The Whitworth reloaded at the planet and launched a new series of attacks, directed against the Jovian task group, the Gotterdammerung fast scouts and the three Star Viking ships furthest from the Enclave home world. All the missiles heading for the Jovian task group were shot down as were seven salvos targeted on the Valkyrie and the two Beowulfs, which suggested those ships were probably energy-armed escorts. One of the fast scouts was not so lucky and took eleven hits, leaving nothing but wreckage. The second scout suffered a single strength-10 hit.
Once more the Star Viking ships, with the exception of the remaining Gotterdammerung fast scout, moved away from the Enclave home world, following their previous pattern of retreating after coming under attack. The Gotterdammerung headed in the opposite direction and made a close pass of the planet, without entering range of the orbital bases, before reversing course. As it pulled away the Star Viking warships set course for the Enclave home world once again. Why the Star Vikings were so indecisive about attacking the Enclave home world was unknown but for the moment at least that was working in the favour of the Jovian Federation. By this point the combined force of the Second and Third Battle Squadrons had moved to the wreck of the Woden class battlecruiser, placing it fifty million kilometres from the planet and in the path of the approaching Star Viking task groups. The closer group, comprising a Woden, a Jormungandr and two Asgards was forty million kilometres away while the Valkyrie and the Beowulfs were at ninety million kilometres.
While the Star Viking commander was apparently vacillating about whether to attack the Enclave home world, a significant Latin Alliance task group was en route to the planet. The Bosisio class battlecruiser had returned to Alpha Centauri, accompanied by an Elicura class battlecruiser and eight destroyers. The Latin Alliance ships were three point five billion kilometres from the Enclave home world and two billion from the Sol jump point. Unusually, two ships of the United Mercurian Emirates were also in the system. Their tonnage was unknown as they were only being detected based on their active sensor emissions. The Jovian invasion of the Enclave home world was scheduled to begin within a few weeks but it could not take place while there were so many Solarian forces in Alpha Centauri. As a prelude to the actual landing the three orbital weapon platforms would have to be destroyed and Vice Admiral Charleston was unwilling to deprive the planet of its defences while there was a chance of a serious Solarian assault.
Meanwhile the Whitworth had reloaded and launched a new attack. The majority of the salvos were directed against the Jovian task group but three, possibly four, waves attacked the closer Star Viking force. Due to all the recent manoeuvring the Woden had fallen one million kilometres astern of the Jormungandr and Asgards. It was struck by two strength-10 detonations. Six further missiles were intercepted by anti-missiles before two more strength-10 detonations. The Woden maintained its speed and all the Star Viking ships changed course away from the planet. As the brief attack on the Star Viking task group was taking place, the Gotterdammerung fast scout closed on the Enclave home world once again. This time it got too close and was obliterated by hail of laser fire.
The Whitworth reloaded yet again and divided its fire between the Jovian task group and the nearer group of Star Viking ships. As usual the defensive capabilities of the Achilles class destroyer escorts were more than enough to handle the small salvos from the Enclave destroyer. The Star Vikings defences fared much better than in the previous attacks because the salvos bypassed the Woden and appeared to be directed at the Jormungandr and Asgards, which Jovian Naval Intelligence now firmly believed were armed with anti-missiles. Only a single strength-10 detonation was detected, with all the other anti-ship missiles being intercepted or missing their target. The Star Vikings continued to retreat and were more than two hundred million kilometres from the planet by the time the Whitworth reloaded. Twenty-six salvos of five missiles were all directed at the Jovian combined fleet. None hit.
As the Whitworth reloaded yet again, Rear Admiral Benitez decided it was time to eliminate the Enclave warship. While it had proved very effective in breaking up the Star Viking attack, it was apparent the Enclave would continue its futile attempts to penetrate Jovian defences, using up all their missile stocks in the process. With the Whitworth eliminated, at least those stocks would be preserved for future Enclave warships that might be launched before the arrival of the Latin Alliance task group, or potentially for the Jovian Federation should the planned invasion be successful. The Whitworth began launching on the Jovian task group while it opened the range, keeping the planet and its bases between itself and its targets. Benitez ordered Immortalis and Imperator, which carried mixed loads of Javelins and Javelins IIs to launch a salvo of the older missiles at the Whitworth.
Two Javelins were shot down and three missed. The other fifteen inflicted significant on the enemy destroyer, reducing its speed to 1600 km/s. As the destroyer was on the far side of the planet and still launching, Rear Admiral Benitez did not want to detach a destroyer to pursue in case it came under fire without the protection of the escorts. Instead, Immortalis launched a half-salvo of five Javelins, attempting to disable rather than destroy. That proved ineffective as four were killed by point defence and the fifth did not penetrate the Whitworth’s armour. Benitez decided not to expend any more missiles as low stocks were beginning to cause serious concern. Instead, he took his ships closer to the planet ready to intercept the Whitworth when it ceased fire. A last wave of inbound Enclave missiles was destroyed and the Whitworth headed for the planet. Centaur was detached with orders to move around the Enclave home world and disable the destroyer. Centaur caught the Whitworth just over a million kilometres from its destination and opened fire. Unfortunately her attempts to slow the Enclave warship to a speed at which it could be boarded resulted in its destruction. The Star Vikings continued to retreat so it appeared the action was over, at least for the moment.
On February 22nd 2207 the Skye Enclave launched a Sentry class destroyer escort. One unit of that class had already been captured so Rear Admiral Benitez was well aware of its armament of six twin 10cm laser turrets. The Sentry attempted to intercept the Jovian task group but that would prove difficult with a top speed of 3200 km/s compared to the Jovians’ 4000 km/s. Benitez pulled his ships back to keep the range open and drew the Sentry away from the planet. While he could destroy it, the Enclave vessel could prove a distraction for the approaching Latin Alliance task group. The Jovian task group led the Sentry out to five hundred million kilometres from the planet, at which point the Sentry changed course and was appeared to be trying to intercept the Latin Alliance force. Benitez ordered his ships to break away ninety degrees to port and held that course for a few hours before heading back toward the Enclave home world. Unfortunately the Sentry changed course once again, this time ignoring all the nearby ships and heading for the Alpha Centauri-B system.
The Jovian force could not pursue without moving out beyond the Latin Alliance task group but Rear Admiral Benitez could not leave the Sentry to wreak havoc on the unprotected shipping moving between Sparta and the Sol jump point. Therefore he detached Centaur with orders to pursue and destroy the Sentry while the rest of the task group moved back to the Enclave home world to await the arrival of the Latin Alliance. The ammunition transport Rashnu was midway between the two stars of the Alpha Centauri system with new missiles. While it was unarmed, it was faster than the Sentry so Benitez ordered Rashnu to move close to the Sentry and attempt to attract its attention, enabling Centaur to catch up more quickly. The ruse was successful and Centaur opened fire as she closed the range to 60,000 kilometres, just outside the range of the Sentry’s lasers. The Sentry was unable to respond as Centaur blasted through its armour and its speed soon began to fall. While still moving at 1100 km/s it was struck by a single strength-3 hit and came to an immediate stop, possibly due to a loss of fuel. Centaur ceased fire and moved to 40,000 kilometres to check if the Sentry retained its weapon capability. There was no response so Rear Admiral Benitez detached one of his two Pallas class dropship carriers with orders to secure the crippled Sentry.
Meanwhile, the Enclave orbital shipyards launched another Sentry. By this point the Jovian task group was one hundred and sixty million kilometres from the planet while the Latin Alliance task group was at seven hundred million. The Sentry set course for the approaching Jovians. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Rear Admiral Benitez set his ships on a direct intercept course for the Latin Alliance, planning to move straight through them with Sentry #2 in tow before swinging round to get in front of them once the Sentry has caused whatever problems it could. With the Latin Alliance task group four hundred million kilometres from the Enclave home world and the Jovians close by, three strength-8 detonations and nine strength-3 energy weapon impacts were detected in the same location as the Sentry, approximately one hundred and fifteen million kilometres from the Solarian forces. Those three hits obviously damaged something vital as the following three salvos were unhindered by defensive fire, scoring fourteen more hits between them and causing two secondary explosions. Given the strong armour of the Sentry it seemed unlikely the first three hits penetrated. However, one of the weaknesses of the Sentry design was its single fire control system so it was possible that fire control had been disabled by shock damage. Jovian sensors detected four new salvos of twelve missiles being launched by the Alliance’s Bosisio class battlecruiser. Two hours later the Sentry, reduced to 1100 km/s by the previous attack, was struck ten times and exploded. Rear Admiral Benitez ordered his ships to head back to the planet. The Latin task group followed in their wake.
With the Alliance task group one hundred and ninety million kilometres from the Enclave home world and the Jovians at one hundred million, Jovian sensors detected salvos of twelve missiles on course to pass a million kilometres to port. The task group adjusted its course so the missiles would pass close by and opened fire with lasers. While he expected the orbital bases to handle the attack easily, Rear Admiral Benitez saw no point in taking chances when his own ships could eliminate the threat. Every Latin missile detected by the Jovian sensors was shot down. As soon as the last missile was destroyed the Bosisio reversed course and headed for the jump point. The other nine ships, comprising a battlecruiser and eight destroyers, continued toward the planet. The Jovian task group took up station just 200,000 kilometres from the orbital bases and prepared for a possible attack by anti-missiles being launched in offensive mode. When it reached fifty million kilometres the Latin Alliance suddenly reversed course and headed back toward the Sol jump point.
By this time the Pallas detached from the main Jovian force had reached the crippled Sentry. Nike 002 was launched, carrying the first cohort of Legio III ‘Ares’, and combat dropped the legionnaires on their target. The Sentry was secured without any Jovian casualties. As suspected the ship had lost its fuel storage so the Pallas transferred enough maintenance supplies to fix one of the fuel storage compartments and then enough fuel for the Sentry to make it as far as Sparta. Centaur was recalled to the main Jovian task group while the Pallas waited for Nike 002 to transfer the legionnaires back into their cryogenic drop modules.
With the retreat of the Latin Alliance task group, the only remaining potential threat to the Enclave home world came from a group of three ships from the United Mercurian Emirates - two 9550 ton Jiddah class destroyers and a 9550 ton Shiraz class destroyer. They were still a billion kilometres out but closing at 3318 km/s. Although as far as Jovian Naval Intelligence was aware the UME was not in a state of war with the Enclave, things could change quickly in the conflict-torn Alpha Centauri system. Surprisingly, once the three destroyers moved within half a billion kilometres they reversed course and headed back to the jump point. JNI had no idea why so many Solarian ships were moving close to the Enclave home world but then turning around without attempting to engage. Whatever the reason it was to the advantage of the Jovian Federation, despite the many tense moments as different task groups approached. With all Solarian ships in Alpha Centauri now heading for the jump point, the invasion of the Enclave home world could finally begin.
Two Aquila class escorts were detached from the Jovian task group and sent to Corinth to rendezvous with three Ares class troop transports, which had already embarked six full Legions plus two cohorts and the headquarters unit from a seventh. A further Legion and twenty cohorts of Auxilia were waiting on the surface of Corinth and would be picked up by the same transports once they completed their initial landings. While the transports were en route to the Enclave home world, the Enclave orbital shipyards launched another Sentry class destroyer escort. Centaur and Scylla detached from the main task group and attacked. With both superior speed and superior range they disabled the enemy ship without suffering any hits in return, allowing a successful boarding action. After a few repairs and the transfer of the legionnaires to the dropship, the captured ship was dispatched toward Sparta.
Centaur and Scylla continued toward the Enclave home world after their attack on the Sentry and halted at 55,000 kilometres. Based on the armament of the Sentry, Jovian Naval Intelligence believed the orbital bases had a maximum weapon range of 48,000 kilometres. No laser fire was directed at the two Minotaur class destroyers so they opened fire on the orbital bases with impunity. First one and then a second were battered into wreckage. However, once the third base was heavily damaged they moved to 40,000 kilometres to determine if its weapons were still operational. There was no sign of life from the crippled base so the second Nike carried out a boarding attack. After thirty minutes of combat the base was secured. Eleven of its twenty-eight laser turrets were still intact but the primary sensor was disabled, which meant the base could not detect the Jovian ships.
Sparrowhawk class Beam Defence Base (Ex-Enclave) 17,900 tons 629 Crew 2799 BP TCS 358 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 6-60 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 6 PPV 231.84
Maint Life 2.07 Years MSP 586 AFR 427% IFR 5.9% 1YR 183 5YR 2747 Max Repair 324 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 3
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (28x2) Range 48,000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (3) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (38) Total Power Output 171 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR35-R1 (1) GPS 324 Range 35.6m km MCR 3.9m km Resolution 1With the Enclave’s orbital bases neutralised, the way was clear for the invasion. However, the way was also clear for any Solarian forces to bombard the Enclave home world or attack the orbital shipyards. The three destroyers of the United Mercurian Emirates that has recently visited the Alpha Centauri-A system had turned around, presumably to investigate the recent combat, and were heading back to the planet. In addition, a Troll class destroyer of the Star Vikings, known to be armed with railguns, had just transited the jump point from Sol and was also en route to the Enclave home world. Rear Admiral Benitez gave the go ahead for the landings to begin. The three Ares class troop transports and their escorts moved into orbit and established a beach head some distance from the major population centres. Once all six Legions were assembled, they launched a major assault on the dug-in Enclave defenders.
The result was little short of disastrous. The defending forces were far more numerous and well-equipped than had been expected and the leading waves of Jovian legionnaires were cut to pieces. A third of the engaged cohorts suffered losses – some up to 50%. The senior ground commander, Legatus Titus Mandonado, estimated his forces were outnumbered by better than 2-1. Acting on his own initiative he called a halt to the attack, withdrew into a defensible position and requested orbital fire support. Admiral Charleston maintained her policy that Jovian forces would not engage in planetary bombardment that would result in significant civilian casualties and decided to recall the troop transports to evacuate the ground forces.
Rear Admiral Benitez protested in the strongest possible terms, supported by Legatus Mandonado. He pointed out that withdrawing would leave the planet completely open to attack by other Solarian powers who would not hesitate to use direct bombardment of population centres to force a surrender, which would result in far more casualties than a bombardment limited to Enclave troop concentrations, not to mention that another Solarian power conquering the Enclave would result in a severe shift in the balance of power away from the Jovian Federation. Vice Admiral Charleston warned Benitez he was straying dangerously close to insubordination and that the Federation Navy would protect the planet as it had before until new ground forces could be trained. Benitez argued that was unrealistic as some of his ships were already in need of overhaul and their crews would need shore leave. A defensive posture could not be maintained for several years, which was the likely timeframe to train the necessary additional ground forces. Besides, his ships could only protect the planet against missile attack. The orbital shipyards were completely vulnerable to attack from energy weapons. Admiral Charleston remained unmoved and ordered Rear Admiral Benitez to evacuate the landing force.
In an unprecedented move, Rear Admiral Benitez and Legatus Mandonado appealed directly to the President of the Federation, stating that Vice Admiral Charleston was endangering the future of the Jovian Federation and probably sentencing hundreds of millions of Skye Enclave civilians to their deaths when the Star Vikings, the Latin Alliance or the Martian Union bombarded the Enclave into submission. Knowing the President supported the principle that the Jovian Federation did not bombard civilian targets, Benitez also mentioned that while maintaining one’s principles was obviously vital, whoever was elected to the Presidency would decide which principles would affect Federation policy. With that he mind he asked the President to consider the likely views of the electorate when the invasion of Jovian Federation was soundly defeated and another power walked in to claim the Enclave home world. The President consulted his advisors and then ordered Vice Admiral Charleston to support the invasion with whatever force was necessary to ensure its success. Vice Admiral Charleston protested vehemently, both about the change in policy and the undermining of her position by junior officers. When the President insisted, she tendered her resignation. The President regretfully accepted it, then promoted Armand Benitez to Vice Admiral and ordered him to secure the Enclave home world for the Jovian Federation.
By this point, the three United Mercurian Emirate destroyers had closed to two hundred and fifty million kilometres and a Grendel class battlecruiser of the Star Vikings had entered Alpha Centauri. The clock was ticking. Vice Admiral Benitez ordered Immortalis to launch the last forty Javelins Is from her magazines against the Enclave ground forces. Each missile had a strength-9 warhead. The bombardment no doubt caused significant casualties but only two enemy units were destroyed outright, at least according to Mandonado’s forward observers. Imperator launched next, expending the last forty Javelin Is in the Jovian task group and destroying a total of fourteen Enclave ground units. All four missile cruisers now had loadouts of Javelin IIs only. Concerned that the large warheads of the Javelins might be inflicting more damage than was necessary to destroy ground units with existing casualties, Benitez ordered the escort Volantis to use her Gladius AMMs in offensive mode. Volantis launched her entire loadout of three hundred and seventy missiles, which had a combined warhead strength roughly equal to forty-one Javelins. By the time the bombardment was completed, twenty-two more ground units had been eliminated. Jovian sensors detected a drop of approximately two-thirds in the contact strength of Enclave ground forces, indicating the orbital bombardment had severely damaged the capabilities of the defenders. Even those units that survived the onslaught would be weakened considerably. Benitez held off on further attack and contacted Legatus Mandonado to recommend a new ground assault. Unfortunately, the best estimate of JNI was that perhaps five hundred Enclave installations would have been destroyed and upwards of fifty million civilians would have been killed by collateral damage.
The three UME warships briefly entered orbit of the Enclave home world without incident and then split up. The Shiraz headed for the life pods of the two destroyed orbital defence bases while the two Jiddah class destroyer headed for the Sol jump point. After picking up the life pods, the Shiraz visited the Enclave home world once more then followed the Jiddahs. Meanwhile, the Star Viking Troll class destroyer was at four billion kilometres and closing. The arrival of the railgun-armed Troll represented a hard deadline on the ground combat. Once it arrived it would no doubt attack the Enclave shipyards, unless the planet had been captured by the Jovian Federation or the Federation Navy took action against the Troll. The three Ares class troop transports arrived at the Enclave home world with the second wave of ground forces, comprising a seventh Legion, twenty-one cohorts of Auxilia and a single replacement cohort. The Auxilia would not be used offensively but rather to secure the planet once the opposing ground forces had been defeated. In addition, the two Nike class dropship combat dropped their two cohorts on the planet to assist, which combined with the partial Legion on the surface added an eighth Legion. While the ground invasion was underway, the two Daedalus class FACs based at Corinth had been redeployed to Sparta to provide some mobile defence. The Minotaur class destroyer Cerberus had completed repairs at Europa and was also now stationed at Sparta.
Legatus Mandonado rallied his Legions and launched a new ground assault. This time the Enclave ground forces were in total disarray with their defensive positions devastated by nuclear attack. Four enemy ground units were overrun and destroyed and the rest retreated toward their centres of population. Jovian casualties were minimal. The contact signature of the defending ground forces was reduced by twenty percent. While combat was raging on the planet below, the orbital shipyards launched a Jaguar class battleship, causing extreme concern for Vice Admiral Benitez. The main Jovian task group was 130,000 kilometres from the planet but the Jaguar was almost on top of the recently captured Sparrowhawk class orbital base, which still had massive armour damage and a third of its weapons offline. The Jaguar moved away from the planet, in the opposite direction to the Jovian task group, and launched a salvo of eleven size-7 missiles. The missiles moved outward from the Jaguar heading toward a pair of Jovian troop transports a hundred million kilometres away. Unfortunately, the escorts that had been protecting the transports were now back with the combined fleet. Benitez ordered all four missile cruisers, both Minotaurs and the two Aquilas that recently joined the task group to destroy the battleship. The Sparrowhawk also attempted to open fire but was unable to do so before the battleship moved out of range.
The Aquilas were the fastest to react and scored twenty-four strength-1 hits with their first two salvos. The four Invictus class missile cruisers launched a combined salvo of forty Javelin IIs, eight of which were killed by the battleship’s point defence. All the remaining Javelins struck their target and triggered two secondary power explosions and a colossal strength-57 magazine explosion. The speed of the Jaguar fell from 3200 km/s to 1066 km/s. Benitez ordered the cruisers to hold their fire, seeing the potential to board the crippled battleship. The Aquilas continued to attack, inflicting a further seventy-five hits before they too were ordered to cease fire. By this point the battleship had slowed to 710 km/s. Severe damage hadn’t disabled all its weapons though and the Jaguar launched a salvo of four missiles at the planet. All the missiles were all shot down by the Sparrowhawk. The Minotaurs moved in for a beam attack, scoring four strength-1 hits at long range. Only one hit penetrated the battleship’s armour but that was sufficient to trigger a catastrophic strength-78 secondary magazine explosion that completely obliterated the Enclave warship. The missiles bound for the troop transports dropped off Jovian sensors. As they were still well within sensor range it appeared they had self-destructed. Scylla moved in to pick up survivors. Interrogation of the prisoners proved very beneficial, as the science officer had been involved in an Enclave research project to investigate the potential for cloaking devices. He revealed enough to his interrogators for Jovian scientists to understand the basic of cloaking theory.
The Star Viking Troll class destroyer, still heading for the Enclave home world, was at three point three billion kilometres. A small 3300 ton Martian survey ship had also appeared on sensors, just two hundred and twenty million kilometres from the planet. As far as Jovian Naval Intelligence was aware the ship was unarmed and was probably on a geological survey mission. Even so, Vice Admiral Benitez was conscious that time was short. It seemed unlikely that the Jovian ground forces would completely crush all resistance within a few days so he authorised a second, much smaller orbital bombardment. An Aquila launched a total of ninety Gladius AMMs, which proved sufficient to destroy seventeen Enclave ground units, all of which must have already taken substantial casualties. When the bombardment ceased Jovian sensors could no longer detect any enemy ground forces. Legatus Mandonado led his troops through the wreckage of the Enclave defensive positions and demanded the surrender of the Skye Enclave. To his considerable surprise, the Enclave government refused to surrender and urged its civilian population to resist. Unfortunately, given the size of the Enclave population, Mandonado simply did not have enough troops to quell all resistance and force the surrender. He informed Vice Admiral Benitez that he needed approximately fifty percent more troops than were in his current order of battle.
Vice Admiral Benitez was starting to believe that the Gods, if they existed, were not on his side. Nevertheless, he treated this frustrating news as just one more obstacle to overcome to ensure Jovian superiority among the Solarian powers. Unfortunately there were very few ground forces available that were not already committed to the invasion. All eight Legions were already on the surface along with the vast majority of the Auxilia. A new Legion, Legio IX Hermes, was in training on Ganymede and would be available soon. However, like half of the existing Legions, it was composed of assault troops that were trained and equipped for offensive operations rather than garrison duty. The Legions comprised of mobile infantry and the Auxilia were more suitable for quelling the civilian population. Sparta, Plataea and Thebes each had one Auxilia unit, although the unit on Plataea was responsible for maintaining order among the occupied Enclave population of four million. In fact, the occupied Enclave colony of Corinth had been left without a garrison force on the assumption the invasion of the Enclave home world would only require a couple of weeks. All four Jovian home worlds had been stripped of ground forces for the invasion. Twenty-one construction brigades were on Sparta. While these were hardly suitable for pacification operations, any assistance they could provide would be welcomed by Legatus Mandonado. Even so, all of them would only provide a fraction of the additional forces needed and they were very large in terms of transport capacity. A single Ares could only carry two at once.
Unable to meet Mandonado’s requirements for the existing Jovian ground forces, Benitez ordered a crash research program to increase the effectiveness of his existing troops and ordered that all new training should be for Auxilia units only, in order to produce the required force in the shortest time possible. Both measures would require significant time, perhaps eight months or longer for the first new Auxilia. During that time, the Federation Navy would have to continue defending against new ships launched by the Skye Enclave and somehow would have to protect the planet against attack from other Solarian powers. Vice Admiral Benitez warned the President that it was almost certain the Navy would have to engage in direct offensive action against other Solarian powers in order to fulfil that duty. The President, having backed Benitez so far could not withdraw that support now without fatally undermining his own position and agreed to let Benitez take whatever action was necessary.
The Martian survey ship moved into orbit of the Enclave home world, apparently engaged in a geological survey of the planet. The Troll class destroyer continued its approach and was now followed by a Grendel class battlecruiser and three destroyers. Believing that conflict against the Star Vikings was very likely, Vice Admiral Benitez ordered the Fourth Battle Squadron to depart Europa orbit and head for the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point. A second Troll class destroyer was picketing the Sol side of the jump point and another Star Viking task group was en route from Titan toward that jump point. Those forces would wreak havoc with Jovian shipping should hostilities break out. With that in mind, Benitez ordered all state-owned commercial vessels to remain at Europa or Sparta once they concluded their current missions. In Alpha Centauri he split the combined fleet back into the Second and Third Battle Squadrons. The Second Battle Squadron, comprising CG Impavidus, CG Inceptris, DD Scylla, DE Odysseus, ES Aquila and one Pallas/Nike combination, remained in orbit of the Enclave home world with orders to destroy or capture any newly launched Enclave warships and to prevent the Troll class destroyer attacking the Enclave shipyards. The Third Battle Squadron, comprising CG Immortalis, CG Imperator, DD Centaur, DE Achilles, DE Ajax, ES Orca, ES Volantis, one Pallas/Nike combination and an Athena II class sensor platform, moved out toward the oncoming Star Vikings. Benitez intended to be in position to strike the Grendel and its escorting destroyers if the Second Battle Squadron was forced to destroy the Troll.
When the approaching Troll was still three hundred and sixty million kilometres from the planet, the Star Viking task group from Titan entered Alpha Centauri. The recently-constructed third Daedalus class FAC was picketing the Alpha Centauri side of the jump point and identified a Woden class battlecruiser, a Jormugandr class battlecruiser and two Asgard class destroyers. Benitez knew that force would be a serious problem, potentially attacking Sparta, Plataea and Thebes as well as massacring any commercial traffic in range, but there was little he could do about it. The Fourth Battle Squadron was on its way so Benitez could only hope that too much damage would be done before it arrived. He ordered the FAC, which would be an easy target for the new arrivals, to enter Sol and position itself a hundred thousand kilometres from another Troll on the far side of the jump point. Given that the Troll class was armed with railguns, the laser-armed FAC would be in a position to attack it from outside its weapon range.
The moment of decision for Vice Admiral Benitez arrived at 18:21 standard Solarian time on April 4th 2207. The Troll class destroyer in Alpha Centauri was eight million kilometres from the Enclave home world and heading directly for the planet. In order to conserve his missile stocks, Commodore Kikugawa Takeo, commanding the Second Battle Squadron, had detached the destroyer Scylla to intercept. Scylla was 175,000 kilometres from her target. Her C.O., Commander Randolph Schaumburg, requested permission to open fire. Vice Admiral Benitez authorised the attack and ordered all Federation naval forces to begin operations against the Star Vikings. Immortalis, Benitez’s flagship, and Imperator from the Third Battle Squadron launched Javelins IIs against the Grendel class battlecruiser, located a billion kilometres from the Enclave home world while the Daedalus class FAC close to the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point attacked the nearby Troll class destroyer. The Fourth Battle Squadron was thirty-seven million kilometres from the same jump point and would not transit for three hours, leaving the area between the Alpha Centauri side of the jump point and Sparta open to attack from the Star Viking task group known to be in the area, although no longer on Jovian sensors. The other known concentration of Star Viking ships was at Titan, currently on the far side of the Sol from Jupiter, and comprised two Hodurs and four Gungnirs, all of which were suspected orbital defence bases, nine Valhalla class FACs, two Berserkers and three Heimdalls. The latter two classes had yet to venture within Jovian active sensor range so there size was unknown, although they both had thermal signatures of strength-600. There were other previously detected Star Viking ships that were no longer on Jovian sensors but it was possible they had been destroyed in the Typhon system as the Star Vikings were also at war with the Zoltan Empire.
What Vice Admiral Benitez had not considered when deciding to launch a war against the Star Vikings was that two of the Jovian Federation’s civilian mining colonies were on Rhea and Mimas, both of which were moons of Saturn and had a total of ten civilian mining complexes between them. Each colony also had a deep space tracking station that had enabled to Federation Navy to keep a close watch on Titan. As soon as the opening shot of the war was fired by the Daedalus class FAC near the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point, the Rhea colony reported inbound missiles. Less than a minute late the colony was struck by several waves of ninety-two strength-1 warheads, destroying the deep space tracking station, the Auxilia unit assigned to the colony and all seven mining complexes. After the destruction of the Rhea colony, Mimas reported inbound missiles and then went off the air. The loss of the mining colonies also removed the thermal detection of enemy forces at Titan, leaving only a few units visible via their active emissions.
The first Star Viking ship to be destroyed was the Troll class destroyer near the Enclave home world, which was torn apart by massed laser fire from Scylla. It required considerably more time for the lone Daedalus to destroy the second Troll using its single laser at long range. The destroyer finally succumbed to the sniping twenty-one minutes after Benitez gave the order to attack. Immortalis and Imperator had launched a total of sixty Javelin IIs against the Grendel class battlecruiser plus forty more against a Valkyrie class destroyer that was accompanied by two Beowulfs. The first two salvos proved sufficient to destroy the Grendel, which meant the Third Battle Squadron had wasted the twenty missiles in the third salvo, much to the annoyance of Vice Admiral Benitez as the ordnance situation for the Federation Navy was causing him concern. The first of the two salvos directed against the Valkyrie proved equally effective. Despite seven missiles being killed by point defence, the other thirteen blew the destroyer to pieces. The new Javelin II missiles were proving significantly more effective than the Javelin Is due to their higher speed. Jovian commanders had yet to adjust to higher hit percentage of the newer missiles when allocating targets. However, in this case the follow-up salvo switched to onboard sensors when its assigned target was destroyed, detected the Beowulfs and homed in on their thermal emissions. Four Javelin II were hit by point defence. The other sixteen obliterated one of the Beowulfs. There had been no sign of anti-missile fire during the attack, which confirmed the suspicion of Jovian Naval Intelligence that the Beowulfs and the Valkyrie were energy-armed escorts. Therefore Vice Admiral Benitez detached Centaur to deal with the last Beowulf while he took the rest of the Third Battle Squadron to Sparta, minus the accompanying Athena class sensor platform which was detached and sent back to join the Second Battle Squadron at the Enclave home world.
Two hours later, the Fourth Battle Squadron transited into Alpha Centauri in search of the recently transited Star Viking task group of four ships. There was no sign of any enemy vessels within the task group’s one hundred million kilometres sensor range so the squadron headed for the Athena II class sensor platform that was positioned two point five billion kilometres from the jump point on the direct course to the Enclave home world. The Athena II and an Achilles class destroyer escort that was assigned to protect the sensor platform started moving toward the jump point, trying to locate the missing task group. While the net was closing, Centaur moved within weapon range of the surviving Beowulf and maintained continual fire from 100,000 kilometres until it was destroyed. After picking up survivors from both Beowulfs, the Valkyrie and the Grendel, she headed for Sparta to unload her prisoners. Meanwhile in Sol, sensor emissions were detected from three Valhalla class FACs heading in the general direction of the Alpha Centauri jump point. It seemed likely the other six known Valhallas were in the same formation.
At 19:30 on April 6th, the missing Star Viking task group was detected nine hundred million kilometres from the Sol jump point by an Athena II class sensor platform. The Fourth Battle Squadron was only three hundred million kilometres away and immediately changed course to pursue. Complicating the situation was the Latin Alliance Bosisio class battlecruiser which had re-entered Alpha Centauri and was approximately half way between the jump point and the Star Viking ships, plus two ships of the United Mercurian Emirates which were also in the general area. The Bosisio was not a immediate problem and Vice Admiral Benitez hoped it would simply move across the system and launch missiles at the Enclave home world, where the Second Battle Squadron and the captured Sparrowhawk class base would shoot them down. Of far more concern was the proximity of two slow-moving Blackjack class freighters four hundred and fifty million kilometres from the Star Vikings and close to the course of the enemy warships. Although The Blackjacks were moving away the Star Viking ships had a speed advantage of 1600 km/s. A large freighter of the Denoon Transport Corporation was further away but heading straight for the Star Vikings. The Fourth Battle Squadron was in a race to save the commercial traffic but it was a stern chase.
The Bosisio moved into active sensor range of the Athena, which detected an additional battlecruiser and six destroyers, a much larger potential problem than so far believed. In any event, Vice Admiral Benitez had at least two weeks to decide how to react to the threat of the Latin Alliance. Meanwhile, the Fourth Battle Squadron moved within eighty-five million kilometres of the Star Viking task group, close to maximum range with the target moving away. The missile cruisers Infinitus and Invictus fired their first shots in anger, targeting a total of twenty Javelins against each Asgard and forty against each battlecruiser. The Star Viking task group was known to have an AMM capability, although which specific classes were armed with AMMs and their likely effective against the Javelin ASM was unknown. By this point the Denoon freighter as one hundred and five million kilometres from the hostile warships.
Sixteen missiles from the first salvo were destroyed by anti-missile missiles. The remaining four all struck Asgard 001. A strength-16 secondary power explosion was detected, although there was no sign of atmospheric streaming so the explosion was presumably due to shock damage. The destroyer slowed to 1704 km/s. Three missiles from the second salvo struck Asgard 002, inflicting internal damage and slowing the warship to 1277 km/s. Nineteen missiles from the third salvo were shot down, leaving only a single missile to hit the Jormungandr battlecruiser. Even so, that single hit caused internal damage, indicating the Jormungandr had relatively weak armour. The battlecruiser suffered four hits from the fourth salvo and slowed to 2342 km/s. The Star Viking ships were becoming more spread out, which probably explained why six missiles from the fifth salvo penetrated its defence to strike the Woden class battlecruiser. Three secondary power explosions and three huge magazine explosion completed obliterated the powerful vessel. Three new salvos were launched, one at each surviving ship. All three were destroyed, with the Jormungandr suffering a similar fate to the Woden.
Every Star Viking task group that could prove an immediate threat had now been eliminated. With only forty missiles in the magazine of each missile cruiser, the Fourth Battle Squadron set course for the Sol jump point. A recently overhauled Athena class sensor platform and Ajax, an Achilles class destroyer escort from the Third Battle Squadron, which was currently en route to Sparta, were both sent to rendezvous with the Fourth as it lacked the capabilities they provided.
Three days later, active emissions were detected from three Star Viking fast attack craft on course from Titan toward the commercial traffic travelling between the Jovian home worlds and the Alpha Centauri jump point. The First Battle Squadron broke orbit of Europa on an intercept course. Shortly thereafter, the Fourth Battle Squadron transited into Sol and also headed for the FACs, trying to trap the faster vessels between itself and the First. The Fourth entered sensor range first, detecting a total of nine Valhalla class FACs, and closed to eight million kilometres before the Valhallas reversed course to run. As the FACs were 900 tons and the fire control of the Invictus class missile cruisers was designed to track ships of 5000 tons or greater, the cruisers were unable to engage beyond three point four million kilometres. The fire control of the two Aquila class escorts, Lupus and Ursus, could lock on but their Gladius AMMs had a maximum range of four point two million kilometres. No such problems were faced by the Valhallas and the Fourth Battle Squadron detected eighteen inbound size-5 missiles. Seventeen were shot down by the Aquilas and the last by the Minotaur class destroyer Chimera.
As the task group had no way to catch or target the fleeing FACs, Vice Admiral Armand Benitez sent the Fourth to picket the Sol – Alpha Centauri jump point and ordered the ammunition transport Rashnu, currently at Sparta, to refill the magazines of the two missile cruisers. Meanwhile, the Jovian FAC Daedalus 003 was dispatched from Sparta to intercept the Star Viking FACs as they headed home to Titan. As they had already launched their missiles, the hostile FACs would be no threat to the beam-armed Daedalus. With a 3000 km/s speed advantage, the Daedalus intercepted the Valhallas well short of Titan and destroyed all nine. Another potential threat eliminated. On the seventeenth of April, a single Star Viking Ragnarok class destroyer was detected one billion kilometres from the Alpha Centauri jump point. The First Battle Squadron moved to intercept and destroyed the target with a single salvo of Javelins.
Three days later, Rashnu reloaded the magazines of the cruisers Infinitus and Invictus. Despite its recent successes, the Jovian Federation was close to a crisis point in terms of ordnance stockpiles. Although all eight Invictus class missile cruisers had full loads, Rashnu now had eighty Javelin IIs in her magazines, Mithras had sixty Javelin IIs and there were just forty Javelin IIs on Io. The reserves were not even enough to fully reload two of the missile cruisers. New missiles were being constructed on Io but the rate of construction was not keeping up with demand. Vice Admiral Benitez urged all his commanders to use beam weapons as much as possible.
On April 25th the Third Battle Squadron arrived at the Enclave home world to support the Second Battle Squadron, just as a Latin Alliance task group of two cruisers and six destroyers moved into weapon range. The combined Jovian force, operating in area defence mode, shot down many waves of incoming missiles. Vice Admiral Benitez was prepared to order his force to engage the Latin Alliance if it closed for an energy-range engagement. Fortunately, to the relief of the Jovian crews, the Alliance ships reversed course and headed for the jump point. Given its ordnance shortages and the fact the Latin Alliance was more powerful than the Star Vikings, the Jovian Federation was not assured of victory if a new war broke out.
Three days later a lone Troll class destroyer was detected heading across the inner system toward the traffic moving between the Jovian home worlds and the Alpha Centauri jump point. Three Minotaurs from the First Battle Squadron intercepted and destroyed the Star Viking warship, Shortly afterwards a pair of survey ships were launched from the Enclave home world. The destroyer Scylla quickly ran down and eliminated both ships. On May 12th, a civilian freighter of the Denoon Transport Corporation detected emissions from a Star Viking Fenrir class destroyer in Typhon. A few minutes later a fragmentary report from the freighter reported missile hits before it was abruptly terminated. Due to its existing commitments, the Federation Navy was unable to divert forces to protect civilian traffic in Typhon. The First Battle Squadron was protecting the home worlds, the Second Battle Squadron was protecting the Enclave home world from the other Solarian powers, the Third Battle Squadron had recently entered overhaul at Sparta and the Fourth Battle Squadron was guarding the Alpha Centauri jump point against any attempted incursion or raid by the Star Vikings. Twenty-four hours after the loss of the freighter, the Fenrir, accompanied by two Gladsheim class destroyers, transited from Typhon into Sol. The Fourth Battle Squadron briefly left its picket position and launched a salvo of twenty Javelins at each ship. All three targets were destroyed.
The Latin Alliance task group returned to Alpha Centauri in June, destroying three Blackjack class freighters close to the Alpha Centauri - Sol jump point as it headed for the Enclave home world. On June 9th, the Enclave launched two Panther class construction ships. Scylla attacked, destroying one and disabling the other. Cohort Ares III boarded and secured the disabled ship. The Nike class dropship that had launched the legionnaires recovered them and returned to its mothership while the Panther was placed in orbit of the planet, acting as a decoy target for any newly launched Enclave warships. By this point, six of the Jovian construction brigades had been moved to the Enclave home world to provide a small boost for the ground forces attempting to force a surrender.
By mid-June, the Jovian Federation was facing a fuel shortage alongside the ongoing ordnance shortage. Sparta was out of fuel, eleven million litres were at Corinth, in the Alpha Centauri-A system while the primary stockpile at Europa was eighteen million litres. The ground forces build-up at the Enclave home world continued with the arrival of Legio IX Hermes, with its four assault cohorts, an Auxilia cohort, a headquarters unit and two replacement cohorts. The headquarters unit was used to form Auxilia I, a Legion-sized unit with four Auxilia cohorts. On June 15th, a very powerful task group from the United Mercurian Emirates, comprising five 19,100 ton battlecruisers and thirteen 9550 ton destroyers, entered Alpha Centauri and set course for the Enclave home world. As far as Jovian Naval Intelligence was aware, there were no hostilities between the UME and the Skye Enclave. Even so, the approach of the UME task group would be of great concern to Jovian commanders.
Meanwhile the Latin Alliance task group arrived in the Alpha Centauri-A system, briefly moving into orbit of Corinth before setting course for the Enclave home world. The Bosisio class battlecruiser launched a new attack on the planet with many salvos, each consisting of a dozen anti-ship missile. This time, the Second Battle Squadron faced it alone as the Third Battle Squadron had returned to Sparta. One Achilles and two Minotaurs were available for area beam defence, as Cerberus had re-joined the squadron, plus a single Aquila class escort armed with anti-missiles. Lasers only proved insufficient and the Aquila was quickly called into action. By the time the last inbound missile was destroyed, the Aquila had only fifty-nine missiles remaining from its initial loadout of three hundred and seventy. The Latin Alliance task group set course for home. Three weeks later it returned, this time with the same escort group but with a Colima class destroyer instead of the Bosisio class battlecruiser. The Colima launched salvos of seven missiles each, which were much easier for the Second Battle Squadron to handle. All inbound missiles were destroyed with minimal use of AMMs.
Two Auxilia cohorts and four more construction brigades arrived on the Enclave home world. New ground combat technology had also been introduced, providing a significant boost to the existing forces. The recently formed Auxilia I had proven very effective, with the headquarters unit directing the efforts of four Auxilia cohorts. Therefore Legatus Mandonado took the controversial step of stripping his assault legions of their headquarters units and using the headquarters to command the other Auxilia cohorts on the planets. While this reduced the capabilities of the Legions, it increased the overall effective strength of the pacification operations. The combination of the new technology, additional forces and change in strategy proved very successful and within a few days it became obvious to the civilian leadership of the Skye Enclave that further resistance would be futile. On July 19th 2207, Legatus Mandonado accepted the formal surrender of the Skye Enclave.
The population of the Enclave home world was more than two point five billion, almost double the total Jovian population of 1285 million and its substantial industry would provide a huge long-term boost. In the short term however all the newly acquired industry was on a world that was suffering the consequences of recent conquest combined with significant background radiation. Its productivity would be very low for several years at least. Jovian freighter capacity was limited and the Enclave home world was over eight billion kilometres from the Jovian home worlds so moving the industry to a more productive location would also be a very slow process. The newly acquired shipyards could be towed more easily but the working population of the Jovian home worlds was almost fully committed to the existing industry. Of more immediate benefit was a significant amount of new technology, including gauss cannons, shields, cloaks and improved jump drives, substantial mineral supplies and several captured ships. In addition, the surrender provided a great boost to the popularity of Vice Admiral Benitez and the President. They had promised a Jovian victory and delivered it. Now they could move on to the war with the Star Vikings.
