Month 118, Day 10, Chruqua System
Finally, the last group of reinforcements, the Combined Fleets, arrived at the warp point. With the arrival of the Combined Fleets, the D’Bringi Alliance now had a combined force of ninety cruisers of all types, and thirty-four smaller ships. This assemblage represented nearly the entire fleet strength of the Alliance. And the Mintek had no idea that they were here.
Skull Splitter and Fortress Breaker had been in communication as the fleet had approached, along with Cho-sho Banzan, and all had agreed on an immediate assault into the Phyriseq system, before the Mintek could bring up automated weapons to impede their advance. No one consulted the T’Pau, who would do as ordered. Therefore, when the Combined Fleet arrived at the warp point, they merely took a few minutes to reorganize and integrate the ships already there, then launched an immediate assault.
Skull Splitter, as the Clan Chief who had been dealing with the situation for the longest, and who knew the situation the best, took command of the overall assault. He had to agree to allow Fortress Breaker to lead the D’Bringi contingent of the assault to get the other clan leader’s agreement to his overall command. The Rehorish had already agreed to D’Bringi overall command of the combined fleets, given the fact that this action was taking place in D’Bringi territory. As usual, the T’Pau didn’t get a say.
As the first wave lined up in front of the warp point, Skull Breaker linked all of the ships in the fleet into a communications net. “Warriors of the Alliance! The Mintek are cowards! Instead of open and honorable attack by force of arms, they sought to subvert our colonies and those of our allies! They chose the coward’s way, and now they will pay the price. What you do here today will bring honor to your clans and your people for all time! Your honor will ensure their safety! We will sweep the Mintek from space and destroy their shipyards! We will ensure that they never raise a hand against our great Alliance again!” The crew of Skull Splitter’s flagship cheered when he paused, their warrior’s blood stirred by the thought of battle.
“The Rehorish and their ancient and glorious clans know honor! The D’Bringi clans are honor itself! And the T’Pau are learning honor by following our example! I speak now to the T’Pau leaders and crews of the ships in this fleet! Know that by your bravery and service you are securing your people’s place within the Alliance! Your sacrifice today ensures their future! To honor!”
Skull Splitter gave the signal for the first wave to move out. The warp link from Chruqua to Phyriseq had the largest known capacity, thus making the assault easier and more likely to succeed without excessive casualties. T’Pau heavy cruisers led the way, accompanied by D’Bringi corvettes flying in close formation with their ‘allies’.
The first wave transited into Phyriseq, to find the Mintek fleet waiting for them. Six Mintek SD’s and six DD’s were sitting just three quarters of a light second from the warp point, arrayed around it to surround the warp point with firepower. Six Mintek BC’s were located four point five light seconds from the warp point, while the seventh was ten light seconds away and out of weapons range.
The first three T’Pau cruisers through the warp point had assembled their data group on the warp point as they came through, and then began moving away on a pre-plotted course which just happened to take them directly between a Mintek SD group and a DD group. One of these cruisers was the first ship to fire, targeting its three lasers and four sprint missile launchers at one of the big Mintek SD’s. In spite of the debilitating transit effects, the T’Pau ship hit with all three lasers and two sprint missiles, but the Mintek superdreadnought shrugged off the damage. One by one the remaining five T’Pau cruisers opened up on the same Mintek SD, getting nine laser hits and ten hits with their sprint missiles. Even the massive Mintek superdreadnought couldn’t stand up to this firepower, and the big ship staggered, its drive field fluctuating.
It became apparent that the assault had caught the Mintek off guard when only a single Mintek DD and two BC’s fired in response. The two Mintek BC’s scored several hits with capital missiles on the lead T’Pau heavy cruiser, with each BC launching three-missile salvoes, while the lone Mintek DD that managed to get to action stations hit the same cruiser with a new weapon that launched balls of plasma. The beleaguered T’Pau cruiser’s point defense managed to stop one of the two plasma balls, but the other slammed into the ships weakened passive defenses, stripping them away and taking out its datalink before it could stabilize after the warp transit.
While the T’Pau cruisers were contending with the Mintek SD’s and BC’s, the D’Bringi corvettes of the first wave were fighting their own battle against a group of Mintek DD’s. Because Skull Splitter had no way of knowing the Mintek deployments, he had purposefully sent the ships of the first wave on different courses away from the warp point, hoping to scatter the defenders before the later waves arrived, and hoping to avoid having the defenders end up in the blind-spots of the entire force. By random chance the lead group of D’Bringi corvettes ended up at point blank range of one of the Mintek destroyer groups, and the corvette crews gleefully opened fire at the bigger destroyers as they closed. The transit effects had degraded their gunnery, though, and only one force beam hit the target, but it stripped away most of the Mintek destroyer’s shields. Two of the second group of D’Bringi corvettes also opened fire, but were three quarters of a light second distant, so their force beams did less damage. The third corvette held its fire, as it was armed with the latest plasma guns. This new weapon was powerful, but slow firing, and the D’Bringi captain decided to delay firing until his targeting systems recovered from the transit. The other two corvettes hit with both of their force beams, punching through the Mintek DD’s shields and armor and damaging its engines.
The second assault wave consisted of six Rehorish heavy cruisers and three D’Bringi corvettes. They emerged from the warp point to find that the battle between the first wave and the Mintek defenders had evolved into a furball, with a group of first wave cruisers chasing the Mintek BC’s that were trying to maintain the range, while a Mintek DD group chased after them. One of the Mintek SD groups managed to close to point blank range of a T’Pau cruiser group as it left the warp point, while the second SD group closed on the warp point to engage the second wave. Meanwhile, the first wave corvettes were swirling around a Mintek DD group. The Mintek ships were struggling to get to action stations, while the first wave ships were recovered from the transit effects.
The first units to fire were two Mintek DD’s that were facing off with a D’Bringi corvette group that had closed to a quarter light second. Two of the DD’s had managed to get their crews to their stations, and the DD’s were each armed with a force beam and two plasma guns. The two Mintek ships divided their fire between two corvettes, and only missed with one plasma gun. One of the D’Bringi corvettes disappeared in a fireball, while the second was heavily damaged. A T’Pau cruiser group which had managed to close to point blank range of a Mintek SD group opened up with twelve sprint missile launchers and nine force beams, ripping through the big ship’s defenses and destroying an engine room.
Two Mintek BC’s opened fire on the T’Pau cruiser group that was chasing them, targeting the same cruiser that had been damaged earlier. The Mintek BC’s also launched capital missiles from their XO racks, and scored five hits on the already damaged CA, wiping out most of its engine rooms. The T’Pau cruisers chose to focus their fire on a closer foe, the Mintek DD group that was closing, trying to distract them from the Mintek BC’s. They targeted an already damaged DD and wiped it from space in a deluge of laser and sprint missile fire. The two remaining Mintek DD’s returned fire at the T’Pau cruisers, swamping one of them in a tidal wave of plasma fire that overwhelmed the damaged CA, leaving it a burning wreck.
The first datagroup of Rehorish cruisers in the second wave ended up poorly positioned, and could only target the lead group of Mintek SD’s which was one and a half light seconds away. They targeted the lead SD, which was streaming atmosphere from earlier laser hits, and the elite crews of the Rehorish cruisers proved their worth when nearly all of their weapons hit their target in spite of transit effects, stripping away the SD’s remaining shields and taking out most of its engines. The second Rehorish cruiser group had emerged from the warp point on a reciprocal heading from the first group, to cover its blind spot, and found themselves facing the second Mintek SD group at three quarters of a light second. These crews excelled as well, scoring hits with most of their weapons and severely damaging the already damaged SD.
One minute into the assault and none of the Mintek SD’s were active yet. That changed as the third wave entered the system. The third wave was comprised of six D’Bringi heavy cruisers, and was led by Clan Chief Fortress Breaker aboard his Clan’s flagship. Even as the last ship of the first wave entered, the heavily damaged Mintek SD that was limping towards the warp point opened up with all of its remaining weapons, six plasma guns. The crack crew of the clan flagship managed to stop two of the plasma balls before they hit, and one missed entirely, but the remaining three slammed into the clan cruiser and wiped away all of its passive defenses. One of the D’Bringi cruiser’s consorts returned fire with force beams and energy pulse cannons, punching deep within the big Mintek ship, and when the other D’Bringi cruiser fired its gun/missile launchers in sprint mode, the big Mintek ship simply blew up.
It was at this point that the other heavily damaged Mintek SD opened fire on a Rehorish heavy cruiser that had closed with it. The big Mintek ship fired eight plasma guns at the Rehorish CA, but two missed and the cruiser’s elite crews managed to intercept three of the six remaining plasma balls with their massed point defense fire. The three remaining plasma balls were sufficient to wipe away the cruiser’s older standard armor and shields, and burned deep within the ship, taking out most of its engine rooms. The damaged Rehorish cruiser’s datagroup companions returned fire, and the elite crews hit with five out of six force beams, and all eight sprint missiles hit as well. The remaining Rehorish weapons wiped out the big SD, leaving an expanding wave of debris and life pods.
It was at this point that a third Mintek SD opened fire. This SD was part of the group sitting just a quarter of a light second from the warp point, engaging newly arrived ships. The Mintek SD targeted an intact D’Bringi CA that had just transited in, and fired twelve plasma guns at the CA. Three missed and two were intercepted by point defense, but the seven remaining plasma balls ripped the D’Bringi cruiser apart. The Mintek SD also targeted a T’Pau cruiser two light seconds away with five capital missiles, and it launched eight XO mounted sprint missiles at a second D’Bringi cruiser on the warp point.
The lead T’Pau cruiser group had closed on one of the Mintek SD groups, and the three T’Pau cruisers opened fire on one of the two remaining SD’s in the group, wiping away its shields and armor with their massed laser and sprint mode missile fire. Meanwhile, three Mintek DD’s, only two of which were at action stations, were tangling with five D’Bringi corvettes at point blank range. The two active DD’s opened fire, each targeting a different corvette, destroying one and heavily damaging the other. In response, the other three D’Bringi corvettes targeted the last DD that hadn’t fired yet, cutting through her armor and doing light internal damage. The second Mintek DD group targeted a Rehorish cruiser that had already been damaged, but only managed to hit with their two force beams, doing light damage. The second Rehorish cruiser group, approaching the Mintek DD group from behind, targeted them at three quarters of a light second and destroyed one of the Mintek DD’s with a deluge of accurate laser and sprint missile fire. Two T’Pau CA’s coming up alongside the Rehorish cruiser group also targeted the remaining Mintek DD of that group, heavily damaging it. Fortress Breaker’s cruiser group was pursuing one of the Mintek SD groups, but a Mintek DD lay in between his cruisers and their ultimate goal, so it became a target for the D’Bringi cruisers. The hapless DD was overwhelmed by energy pulse cannon fire, left a drifting hulk.
The battle had now degenerated into two close-range fights, centered on the two Mintek SD groups. The Mintek BC’s were standing off and sniping from a distance, and the last remaining Mintek DD group had broken free of its corvette assailants and was coming around to assist one of the SD groups. Six more Rehorish cruisers entered in the fourth wave. By random chance, all were headed away from the battle.
The lead Mintek SD group was beset by five Allied heavy cruisers, three Rehorish and two T’pau. The Rehorish CA’s fired first, gutting an already damaged SD with nine force beams and twelve sprint missiles. That SD’s consort returned fire, firing everything it had into a T’Pau cruiser a quarter of a light second ahead of it. The T’Pau ship was overwhelmed and destroyed by the deluge of fire. The remaining two T’Pau cruisers in the datagroup avenged their loss by savaging the already damaged SD, leaving it a drifting hulk.
The two SD’s of the second SD group, now active, unleashed their broadsides on the Rehorish cruisers that were closing on them. Each SD fired eight XO mounted sprint missiles, twelve plasma guns, and five capital missiles, each targeting a separate Rehorish cruiser. Both cruisers suffered heavy damage. The return fire from the other cruisers nearby ripped through one of the two SD’s leaving it limping and heavily damaged.
The six Mintek BC’s had maintained their range from the main battle, but two D’Bringi corvettes were still closing on them, and were now at three point five light seconds range. The two BC groups turned their fire on the two corvettes, damaging both. The corvettes fired back with their force beams, causing minor shield damage on one of the battlecruisers.
The remaining Allied ships fired on which ever superdreadnought was closest. This left two of the three remaining behemoths burning in space, still active, but heavily damaged. Six more allied cruisers entered as the cruisers already present fell upon the floundering SD’s like wolves. A hapless T’Pau cruiser raced in front of the last undamaged Mintek SD at exactly the wrong time and was targeted by the SD’s entire broadside, which had just recharged. The T’Pau cruiser was vaporized.
Two Rehorish cruisers were on top of the lead ship in the second SD group, which had been moderately damaged earlier in the battle. The Rehorish cruisers slammed their force beams and sprint missiles deep within the SD, heavily damaging it. The SD’s damaged partner returned fire, crippling one of the two Rehorish cruisers in return. The last crippled SD finished off the Rehorish CA in front of it, but its time was limited.
All three remaining Mintek SD’s were damaged and slowed, and the Mintek BC’s were clearly withdrawing, as were the two remaining intact Mintek DD’s. The end came quickly. A D’Bringi cruiser group closed on one of the limping SD’s and raked it with their energy beams and sprint mode missiles, destroying it before it could fire. The other two Mintek SD’s had recently fired their plasma guns and were struggling to recharge, but wouldn’t get the time. They were overwhelmed by vengeful Allied cruisers before they could get another shot off.
Clan Chief Skull Splitter, now in the Phyriseq system with the remaining Allied ships, began reorganizing his fleet and detailing ships to pick up life pods. His losses were painful, but lighter than expected.
Intact
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 4xBC, 20xCA, 2xDD, 2xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 20xCA, 23xCL, 18xDD, 2xCT
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 5xCA, 8xCL
Damaged
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 1xCA, 6xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 3xCA
Destroyed
D’Bringi Forward Fleet: 2xCA, 4xCT
Rehorish Grand Fleet: 1xCA
T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet: 3xCA
The Mintek losses of six superdreadnoughts and two destroyers far outweighed the Allied losses, both in terms of sheer mass and as a percentage of their overall force, so all in all Skull Splitter was satisfied. Fortress Breaker was elated, having survived being in the heat of the battle. Fortress Breaker was in particular impressed with the performance of the T’Pau cruisers, which could have hung back and minimized their casualties, but instead plunged into the hottest parts of the battle with near reckless abandon, inflicting severe damage to the Mintek whenever the opportunity presented itself. Indeed, Lieutenant General Morx, the commander of the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, barely survived the destruction of his flagship by massed plasma gun fire from a Mintek superdreadnought at point blank range. He was rescued from his life pod by Fortress Breaker’s command ship, and personally welcomed aboard by the Clan Chief, who, since the battle, has been regaling the entire fleet with tales of the bravery of the T’Pau warriors during the assault.
After consultations between Skull Splitter, Fortress Breaker, Cho-sho Banzan, and for the first time Lt. General Morx, the decision is made to split the Allied Fleet into three forces. A small group of Rehorish and D’Bringi ships will be left behind at the warp point to the Chruqua nexus to guard their lifeline to their home worlds. A similarly small force of D’Bringi ships would be dispatched to the inner system, to secure the colony against any Mintek ships left behind in the system. The bulk of the Allied Fleets would pursue the withdrawing Mintek. They would be unable to catch them, as the Mintek force had lost its slower ships, but they could chase them back to their home system and ensure they left.
With the preliminaries resolved and squadrons detailed to their assignments, Clan Chief Skull Splitter ordered the fleets into motion.
As they departed the warp point, he sent a message to the withdrawing Mintek Fleet asking for negotiations towards a possible peace deal. While he was not sure that a true peace was possible with the Mintek, he was ever mindful of the fact that the Humans would be advancing out of their home system. With the Mintek fleet defeated and withdrawing, he had to try and resolve the situation with the Mintek without further losses, if possible.
There was no response from the Mintek fleet.
Author’s Note: For this battle I used the standard readiness rules in 3rdR (and in the URD for that matter). These rules give every ship in the defending fleet a 30% chance to be active and fire on attackers on the first turn of the assault, with increasing chances of activation on the following turns. For this battle the Mintek suffered because their ship’s crews are all green, which gave them a -1 to their activation rolls, meaning only 20% were active on the first turn. I guess the lesson there is that you want better trained crews if you are in that situation <G>.
This battle reminded me of why I don’t like these rules, though. For smaller forces, like the Mintek fleet, this method is way too random and a few bad rolls, like the ones the Mintek suffered through, can change the whole battle. Worse, I don’t think these rules reflect the way it would work in real life. After all, if you were in command of a fleet guarding a position that could disgorge numerous hostile enemy ships at any second, you would want every ship close to that position to be ready for battle in every respect. They couldn’t stay that way forever, obviously, but while they are within weapons range of that position, they’d want to be ready fire at as soon as possible. Unfortunately, as written the standard rules don’t allow for anything like this. Under the standard rules the defender must place his ships and then after that it’s randomly determined which ones activate. That means the defender must choose to either put ships in harm’s way that won’t be able to activate for some time, or put them in positions out of range of attackers so that they have time to activate, but if they randomly activate on the first turn they can’t affect what is going on at the warp point until they close to combat range.
Therefore, I dug up the alternate activation rules from Electronic Communique. Actually, they were in the same edition that had the warp point assault transit rules I’ve been using. Under these rules, the defender divides his fleet and bases into five groups, and then randomly determines which of the five groups will be active on the first turn of the assault. They can then position their forces based on this information, with active forces close in and inactive forces further out and presumably safer.
I think this system more accurately reflects a defense commander’s ability to have at least some ships at ‘action stations’ and ready to fight, and I will be using this system going forward.