Campaign Updates

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 107, Day 27, Kirov system
The Soviet reinforcement group consisted of three battlecruisers, three cruisers, and three light cruisers, and had been racing ahead to join up with General Lebedev in Rehorish space.  On this date a group of CD’s reached the group, sent from Earth with a warning and new orders.  The group was now rebranded as the 2nd Fleet, and the Podpolhovnik in command, Dimitri Semenov, was promoted to Polhovnik and placed in overall command.  He was ordered to wait in the Kirov system until joined by the reinforcements from the Bjering, and then to advance to the warp point to Novosibirsk and deter the Rehorish from advancing into Russian space.  He was ordered to be cautious, and to avoid direct confrontation with the Rehorish fleet until further reinforcements reached his position. 

Turn 107, Day 27, Solar System, WP to Moskva (Sigma Draconis)
The USSR’s Home Fleet, consisting of six BC’s, three CA’s, three CL’s, and seven DD’s, arrives at the warp point in the Home system and jumps through to the Moskva system in combat order, without hesitation or communications with the Coalition force guarding the warp point. 

The Coalition officer in command of the defenses protests this unexplained move by the Soviet Home Fleet, and is essentially ignored by the Soviets.  She immediately sends a report off to fleet HQ on Earth. 

Shortly after the Soviet fleet transited out, a Soviet tug latches onto the massive asteroid fortress anchoring the Soviet warp point defenses and begins towing it towards the warp point.  This is a direct violation of a long-standing, albeit unwritten, agreement between the Coalition and USSR.  Prior to this both sides had kept their bases and ships positioned to keep the warp point just barely within range of their weapons, but out of range of each other’s forces.  Now, by moving the asteroid fort towards the warp point, the USSR is changing the game.  Once again, the Coalition commander is forced to send a report off towards fleet HQ. 

On Earth, the Soviet deployments, taken without warning or notification, caused consternation throughout the upper ranks of the Coalition navy and the Abramson administration.  CEO Abramson is very aware that he was elected on the strength of his promise to oppose the USSR, and feels that he cannot let these moves go unanswered.  He therefore orders the 1st Fleet, stationed at the warp point, to transit into the Sigma Draconis system and to shadow the Soviet Home Fleet.  He then orders the Coalition Home Fleet to move to the warp point and to assume a position within weapons range of the Soviet asteroid fortress, to ensure that Coalition civilian traffic continues to move through the warp point unimpeded.   

Turn 107, Day 30, Kirov system
The promised Bjering reinforcements, consisting of four BC’s, six DD’s, and eight CT’s, arrive at the rendezvous point with the Soviet 2nd Fleet.  Polhovnik Semenov is untrusting of his new allies, given the USSR’s experience with the Rehorish, but desperately needs the added weight of fire the Bjering will bring to his battle line.  The combined force sets out for the warp point to the Novosibirsk system to probe to try to establish the extent of the Rehorish threat. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 1, Solar System
The Soviet Ambassador to the Coalition meets with the Coalition Minister for Foreign Affairs.  The Soviet Ambassador informs the Minister that the USSR has suffered minor setbacks in its war with the D’Bringi, and that the recent movement by the Home Fleet, and the redeployment of the asteroid fortress at the warp point were related to those events, and were not aimed at the Coalition in any way.  In addition, he states that the newly constructed asteroid fortress will be towed to the warp point and will bolster Soviet defenses there.  The Ambassador takes great pains to reassure the Coalition that none of these movements are intended to obstruct or hinder Coalition military or civilian movements.   

Once his meeting with the Soviet Ambassador is over, the Minister for Foreign Affairs goes immediately to inform the CEO of this new development.  If true, this could potentially mean that the Soviets have been weakened, giving the Coalition an advantage.  The situation is complex, though, and the CEO ends up calling in his entire cabinet to discuss the situation.  The meeting lasts the rest of the day and into the night, and no clear consensus is reached. 

Essentially, the cabinet fears that if the situation is as the Soviet’s have presented it, then this is both an opportunity and a threat to the Coalition.  After all, if the Soviets are desperate then they may become unpredictable, and, worse, if the D’Bringi are advancing into Soviet space, then no one can predict what the results will be.  While the Coalition has a treaty with the D’Bringi, it is predicated on the D’Bringi staying on their side of the warp point that was their one point of contact.  If the D’Bringi do advance into Soviet space, will they discriminate between Soviet civilian shipping and Coalition civilian shipping.  And, if things came to their worst, could the Coalition allow the D’Bringi to advance into the Solar system?  Even if the D’Bringi scrupulously adhered to the treaty and avoided Coalition shipping and colonies, certainly there was no way that the Coalition would allow the D’Bringi to bombard Earth, even if they were merely targeting the Soviet PDC’s.  The collateral damage would be unthinkable.  And then, of course, there were those that thought that the Russians were lying and that this was some sort of plot aimed at the Coalition.  The Defense Minister championed this proposition, although she could not articulate what she thought that the Soviet’s might be up to with the plot.  CEO Abramson stood aloof from the discussion, merely taking the temperature of the room periodically. 

In the end the CEO decided to continue on with the position he had already taken.  The 1st Fleet would shadow the Soviet Home Fleet in Sigma Draconis, while the Home Fleet would relocate to the warp point to balance the Soviet asteroid fort(s).  The 1st Fleet was warned to be on the watch for D’Bringi incursions, and the fleet commander was brought up to speed on the new developments.   

Turn 108, Day 4, Moskva System, warp point to Leningrad
The Soviet Home Fleet arrived in good order, with the fleet’s five Udaloy R3 destroyers in the lead.  The destroyers jumped through to the Leningrad system, and cleared the area around the warp point, before sending one of their number back to report that the way was clear.  The entire fleet jumped through and set out for the warp point to the Brezhnev system. 

One light minute from the warp point, nine D’Bringi ships sat with their drive fields down, unnoticed by the Soviet fleet.  The ships were two automated warfare ships, a cruiser and a corvette, two freighters, and five escorting warships, three corvettes and two destroyers.  The D’Bringi ships observed the Soviet fleet entering the system, and sent a contact report via tight beam off to the D’Bringi fleet waiting sixty light minutes away. 

The Coalition 1st Fleet, consisting of thirty-nine ships, remained in the Moskva system.  The Coalition had effectively given the Leningrad system to the Soviets, in exchange for the Soviets staying out of the Coalition’s colonial areas, and if they continued to follow the Soviets they’d be in violation of the agreement.  The Coalition ships took up a position thirty light seconds from the warp point and settled in to watch.     

Turn 108, Day 5, Kirov System, WP to Novosibirsk
The Soviet 2nd Fleet, consisting of three Sverdlov class battlecruisers, three Moskva class cruisers, and three Kresta class light cruisers, hung in space a short distance from the warp point to the Novosibirsk system.  With them were two Bjering ‘fleets’, consisting of a total of four battlecruisers, six destroyers, and eight corvettes. 

The combined fleets had approached the warp point cautiously, as they had no idea if the Rehorish knew of its location.  They were fairly sure that the Rehorish had not entered the Kirov system, for various reasons, but they had no way of knowing where the Rehorish fleet was in the Novosibirsk system, or even if it was still there.  So, as a result, the ships of the combined fleet were all at alert status, and the battlecruisers, all equipped with long-ranged capital missile launchers, were hanging back from the warp point, outside of beam range, but within range of their own missiles.  Three Bjering destroyers and a single Russian light cruiser approached the warp point, and then plunged through, the Bjering DD’s first, followed by the Russian CL.  Thirty seconds later the Russian CL returned, along with a Bjering DD.  The warp point was clear on the far side. 

Two ships were positioned on the far side of the warp point, a Russian CL and a Bjering DD, while the rest of the combined fleets arrayed themselves in defensive positions around the warp point. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 6, Leningrad system, Soviet Home Fleet
Polhovnik General Fedorov lurched out of his bunk and slammed his head into the low overhead, almost knocking himself out in his haste to get up.  He blearily looked around his room, which was lit in tones of flashing red lights, and a wall speaker was blaring an alert signal.  Shaking his head to clear it, he moved to the comm station at his desk, and realized that it too was blaring something at him.  Trying to gain some coherence, he hit a button on his desk to clear the alert signal and the flashing lights.  Suddenly, the comm announcement became clear. 

“All hands, all hands, combat alert!  This is not a drill!  All crew to combat stations!  Button up the ship and report status to the bridge immediately!”

A cold feeling sunk through him as he began pulling on his ship-suit, a combination of ship-side uniform and vacuum armor.  As he did so he punched in the combination for his chief of staff into the comm unit, and almost immediately Polhovnik Sidorenko appeared on his screen.  “We have been ambushed, comrade General!  D’Bringi ships appeared fifteen light seconds away, and are now moving towards us!  They must have been hiding with their drive fields down, waiting for us!”

A dozen questions raced through Semenov’s mind, starting with how the D’Bringi ships had gotten here, into this supposedly secure system, but none of that mattered now.  “Order the fleet to turn away from the D’Bringi, to maximize our time to get the crews to their stations.  I will arrive in the command center shortly.”   

Polhovnik General Fedorov appeared on the command deck of his flag destroyer just under ninety seconds later.  He immediately crossed the deck to the central plot, in the center of the area, where his chief of staff was standing.  He took in the situation in a quick glance.  The D’Bringi fleet had closed to twelve point seven five light seconds, and was moving twice as fast as his fleet, which had been caught off guard.  “Status on the D’Bringi fleet?”

Polhovnik Sidorenko pointed to the icon for the D’Bringi fleet.  “The D’Bringi fleet is composed of three strength fifteen drive fields, ten strength twelve drive fields, and twelve strength four drive fields, or three BC’s, ten CA’s, and twelve CT’s.”

Fedorov did a quick calculation.  His fleet had a minor mass advantage, better than being out-massed but not really enough for a decisive advantage.  “What is the status of our fleet?”

Polhovnik Sidorenko punched up a window showing the status of their fleet.  Ninety seconds after the D’Bringi popped onto their screens eight of the eighteen ships in their fleet were at action stations and ready for combat.  Semenov did some more quick calculations in his head and, although his crews were taking longer to get to their stations than they should, his ships would almost certainly all be at action stations before the D’Bringi reached the maximum capital missile range of seven point five light seconds.  He frowned, his mind racing.  Too many of his ships, particularly the larger ships, had green crews, which would almost certainly affect the battle.   

As Polhovnik General Fedorov watched the plot, the D’Bringi fleet crept closer to his fleet, and the icons for several more of his ships, including two of his battlecruisers, changed color to denote they were now at action stations.  Polhovnik Sidorenko, who was new to his staff, interjected cautiously – “It looks like we have the advantage in mass, sir.”

Polhovnik General Fedorov nodded.  “We do.  And, we have six battlecruisers to their three, which may be a critical advantage.  But we do not know how those ships are armed.  The D’Bringi have never used capital missiles, to my knowledge, but there is always a first time.” 

“They have never shown us battlecruisers either, so we must be prepared for whatever the D’Bringi throw at us.”

Polhovnik General Federov’s lips tightened.  “The D’Bringi cruisers we have observed in the past have been heavily armed with short-ranged beam weapons.  Assuming most of those cruisers are so-armed, they will have a heavy advantage in close range combat, as we only have five destroyers armed with beam weapons.  Our light and heavy cruisers are all armed with medium-range missiles, which may give us an advantage in that range bracket, but if the D’Bringi manage to close to beam range, they will be able to gut us.”

As the two officers discussed the situation, the D’Bringi continued to close, now at ten point seven five light seconds range.  Most of the Soviet fleet was now at combat stations, with the exception of a single destroyer, and the battlecruiser Varyag.  Polhovnik General Fedorov glared at the icon for the Varyag, and turned to his chief of staff.  “Contact Mayor Popov and inform him that if he cannot get his crew to their stations in the next minute, I will have him ejected from his ship in a life pod!”  Polhovnik Sidorenko blanched and turned away to contact the unfortunate commander, and General Semenov turned back to the plot.  Watching the D’Bringi fleet close, he tried to weigh his alternatives.  He could avoid combat, once all of his ships were at action stations, but to do so for any amount of time he would eventually be forced to retreat to the Moskva system, giving up this system to the D’Bringi.  Or, he could accept combat, here and now.  He was torn.  If he lost this battle then there would be nothing between the D’Bringi and the Solar System.  But if he could crush them, here, then their advance would be stopped and the USSR would have time to rebuild its fleets.  Watching the icons for his ships, he came to a decision.  His fleet would smash the D’Bringi fleet, and stop their threat here and now. 

As the general watched, the icon for the destroyer Admiral Levchenko changed to indicate that it was now at combat readiness, but the icon for the Varyag remained stubbornly dark.  Polhovnik Sidorenko returned to his general’s side, and they both watched as the clock counted down to the minute deadline that General Fedorov had given.  Finally, seconds before the minute was up, the Varyag’s icon flickered and changed to show that it was at combat readiness. 

Polhovnik General Fedorov’s finger stabbed down on the all-ships communicator button, and was linked to all of the ships under his command.  “This is Polhovnik General Fedorov.  The D’Bringi thought to ambush us here, to cause us to panic and run in fear.  But they underestimate us!  We are Russian, and we will bury them!  They, and their cursed allies the Rehorish may have killed General Lebedev and destroyed his fleet, but we will repay them for that a hundredfold, and it begins here and now!”  He paused, and he could hear crewmen all over the fleet cheering.  “The fleet will come to combat speed and turn sixty degrees to the right.  We will allow the D’Bringi to close to capital missile range, at which time we will begin a missile duel.  I will designate our initial target, which will be one of the D’Bringi battlecruisers.  All cruisers and light cruisers will stand by to engage if the D’Bringi reach standard missile range.  Destroyers will screen the capital ships from any D’Bringi ships that reach beam range.  We go to victory!”  Once again cheers broke out across the fleet as it turned to allow the D’Bringi to close. 

Polhovnik General Fedorov’s chest was filled with pride as he watched his majestic battlecruisers, the pride of the Soviet fleet, come about, now broadside on to the approaching D’Bringi fleet, and prepare to meet their tormentors.  Less than a minute after General Semenov gave his orders the D’Bringi crossed the seven-point-five light second bubble and both fleets began flinging capital missiles at each other.  This first salvo was something of a test for both sides.  The D’Bringi battlecruisers fired first, with each launching seven capital missiles, all targeted on the rather unfortunate Soviet BC Varyag.  The Varyag’s commander decided, because of the long range, to trust his point defense suite to stop any of the missiles that managed to achieve target lock on his ship, rather than deploying an EDM to decoy some of the missiles away.  This proved to be a mistake as twelve alien missiles achieved target lock, and six of those managed to race through the point defense fire and hit the Soviet battlecruiser, taking out its shields and about half of its armor.  The Varyag’s group fired in response, targeting one of the D’Bringi BC’s in return.  The Soviet BC’s were each launching six capital missiles, and unlike the Varyag the targeted D’Bringi BC launched an EDM in its own defense.  The Russian BC’s, with their green crews, had more trouble getting through the D’Bringi defenses, and none of the first salvo missiles hit their target.  Surprising General Semenov, three of the D’Bringi cruisers launched capital missiles at his fleet as well, six each, all targeted on the Varyag, which had no EDM’s to launch now that most of its XO racks had been scoured from its hull.  Four hit the Soviet BC, taking out a good chunk of its remaining armor.  The second data group of Soviet BC’s fired their capital missiles at the same D’Bringi BC targeted by the first group, and this time they punched three missiles through its defenses, taking down its shields. 

General Fedorov frowned at the plot.  Something about the D’Bringi CA’s…yes!  He punched the all-ships channel.  “All battlecruisers will shift targeting to the designated D’Bringi heavy cruiser.  We will allow the D’Bringi to close to four light seconds, then the fleet will turn to keep the range steady.”  He settled in to watch the next exchange of missile fire, this time at five point seven five light seconds range.  The first to fire was the Soviet battlecruiser group built around the Varyag, launching eighteen missiles at one of the D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers.  The D’Bringi cruiser launched an EDM to decoy the Soviet missiles, but three still got through to hit the D’Bringi ship, which lost its shields in response.  The D’Bringi heavy cruisers fired back at the Varyag, punching three missiles through its defenses and eliminating the last of the Soviet BC’s armor.  The second Soviet BC group punched another two missiles through the D’Bringi ship’s defenses, leaving it streaming atmosphere.  General Semenov nodded; his suspicions confirmed.  The D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers were throwing salvoes every bit as large as those launched by his much bigger battlecruisers, and they also appeared to have relatively heavy point defense suites.  The space for the point defense emplacements and the capital missile launchers had to come from somewhere, and the way the Soviet missiles tore through the cruiser’s passive defenses confirmed that those defenses were thinner than even one of his destroyer’s.  Even as Fedorov watched, though, the second salvo from the D’Bringi battlecruisers ripped through the Varyag’s defenses and savaged the engine pods of the big ship, drastically reducing its speed. 

General Fedorov brought up the all-ships channel again.  “The Varyag will break off.   The fleet will turn right at the designated point, and the cruisers and light cruisers will prepare to engage with standard missiles.  I will designate targets.”  The Varyag was doomed, he knew, as it had no real change of withdrawing at its current speed.  Still, he had other things to worry about as he designated new targets for his heavy and light cruisers.   

The intact Russian battlecruiser group fired first, targeting the D’Bringi BC that had been targeted earlier in the battle.  That BC had lost its shields and at least some of its armor, and had used at least one EDM, making it a good target.  In addition, at General Fedorov’s orders, the Russian BC’s threw their XO mounted missiles into the salvo, adding a total of fifteen more capital missiles to the mix.  The results were gratifying.  The big D’Bringi ship seemed to stagger in space as eight of the sixteen capital missiles that achieved target lock slammed into her drive field.  The D’Bringi BC was left streaming atmosphere and slowed by 16%.  The D’Bringi chose to launch their XO missiles as well, and the return fire from the two BC’s still in their data group totaled twenty-four CM’s, all aimed at the Kronstadt, a BC in the second, intact, Russian BC data group.  The commander of the Kronstadt, having had the example of the Varyag before him, launched both of his XO mounted EDM’s to distract any D’Bringi missiles that managed to penetrate his ship’s active defenses.  Thirteen missiles achieved lock-on, and seven fell to the Russian ship’s point defense, leaving six racing towards the ship’s drive field.  The two EDM’s managed to decoy three of the six away from their target, leaving three to strip away the Russian BC’s shields.  The two ship Russian BC group fired next, targeting the same D’Bringi BC as its fellow BC’s.  This time six capital missiles got through, heavily damaging the D’Bringi ship and slowing it to one third its original speed.  The unfortunate D’Bringi ship targeted the Varyag, doing additional internal damage, and the Varyag returned the favor, scoring a single hit on her tormentor.  The D’Bringi heavy cruisers armed with capital missiles launched then, targeting the Kronstadt.  The heavy cruisers managed to punch eight capital missiles through the Kronstadt’s defenses, shredding most of her armor.  The three Russian Moskva class heavy cruisers joined the fray with their advanced standard missile launchers, targeting the D’Bringi CA damaged earlier in the battle.  The range was at the extreme edge for their missiles, but their commanders had been waiting for this moment.  The cruiser’s advanced launchers managed to fire twice as fast as the larger capital missile launchers on the battlecruisers, and the cruisers mounted six each.  The Russian heavy cruisers managed to punch five missiles through the D’Bringi cruiser’s point defense, leaving her 16 % slower and streaming atmosphere.  Unfortunately, a data group of D’Bringi heavy cruisers also joined the fray, but they had older and slower standard missile launchers.  They targeted the Varyag, and got seven standard missiles through her defenses, causing serious internal damage to the limping battlecruiser.   The Soviet light cruisers were able to fire as well, with their older standard missile launchers, and targeted the same D’Bringi heavy cruiser, hitting it three times. 

General Fedorov watched the exchange of fire with satisfaction.  His fleet was engaging the enemy on more or less equal terms, but that would change rapidly if he let them get into beam range.  His fleet had a grand total of five DD’s equipped with force beams, while the enemy appeared to have twelve corvettes and four heavy cruisers equipped for close combat, based on the fact that they hadn’t opened fire yet.  Coming to a sudden decision, he punched an order for a course change into the command net.  Up to now the Russian fleet had been letting the D’Bringi slip in closer and closer, but now that would change.  They couldn’t prevent the D’Bringi from getting closer, due to the need to keep them out of their blindspot, but they could reduce the rate of closure.  The next exchange of fire took place at four point two five light seconds.  The range was still long for standard missiles, but both side’s capital missiles were in their optimum range band.  The exchange of fire was growing increasingly savage as the two groups of ships closed, and both groups were shedding damaged ships as they fell behind.  The difference was, the damaged D’Bringi ships fell back, out of battle, while the damaged Russian ships fell directly towards the oncoming D’Bringi fleet.  Indeed, the damaged Varyag was now within range of the D’Bringi force beams, and was ripped apart before she could get another salvo off from her few remaining launchers.  The missile exchange between the two battle lines continued as the Varyag met her end.  The Russian BC’s concentrated their fire on an intact D’Bringi BC, which immediately launched EDM’s in its defense.  Both Russian BC groups and the Russian heavy cruiser group focused on that one ship, managing to score enough damage to rip away her shields and armor, leaving her streaming atmosphere but otherwise intact and still firing.  All of the D’Bringi missile ships concentrated on the Kronstadt, savaging the big Russian ship and leaving her crippled and falling back towards the oncoming D’Bringi fleet. 

General Fedorov knew that he couldn’t keep the D’Bringi out of beam range much longer.  He had knocked all of their BC’s out of their data-group, forcing them to fire individually, but with the range dropping their beam-armed ships were rapidly becoming a larger threat to his fleet.  After watching the plot for a few more seconds he began shifting the targeting for his ships to the D’Bringi beam-armed cruisers.  The D’Bringi force had closed to three point five light seconds range, and both sides were now within range of their force beam weapons.  The D’Bringi focused their fire on an undamaged Russian BC, the Senyavin.  The Russian BC immediately fired two EDM’s to distract incoming missiles, and its point defense emplacements began swatting missiles from space.  The Senyavin managed to survive the incoming salvos and the force beams targeted on it, but lost its shields and two thirds of its armor.  The poor Kronstadt, falling back towards the D’Bringi fleet, stabbed out with its force beam turret but missed, and was answered by massed force beam fire from nine D’Bringi corvettes, leaving little but debris and drifting life pods.  The Russian ships concentrated their fire on two D’Bringi beam armed cruisers, and the Russian CA’s and CL’s finally deployed their XO mounted missiles, thickening their salvoes.  They crippled one D’Bringi CA and left the other slowed by 84% and falling behind. 

The Russian fleet continued to run ahead, trying to keep the range open but having to turn to keep the D’Bringi out of their blind-spot, which allowed the D’Bringi to steadily close the range.  The D’Bringi commander now released his corvette force, and it sprang ahead of the rest of his fleet, closing to 2.25 light seconds range while the rest of the D’Bringi fleet was at 2.75 light seconds range.  The Russians continued to focus their missile fire on the D’Bringi beam armed cruisers, while the Russian light cruisers and destroyers began engaging the D’Bringi corvettes before they could get close to the Russian capital ships.  The D’Bringi beam-armed cruiser force was heavily damaged, with two cruisers heavily damaged and falling back, and two with most or all of their passives gone but still forging ahead.  The D’Bringi corvettes proved to be more resilient than the Russians had hoped, and two suffered damage to their shields and armor, but were otherwise intact.  The D’Bringi focused their fire on the Senyavin, a Russian BC in one of the two-ship battlecruiser data groups.  The Senyavin suffered two capital missile hits and nine force beam hits, and lost two engine rooms.   With the Senyavin slowed and falling back, the D’Bringi shifted fire to the Pozharsky, a BC in the last two-ship data group.   The D’Bringi missile cruiser group flushed its XO racks at the Pozharsky, hitting the big Russian ship with fifteen missiles, which was followed quickly by a barrage of force beam strikes from the oncoming corvettes that stripped the last of the Russian ship’s passives and destroyed two engine rooms. 

The D’Bringi fleet continued to close on the fleeing Russian fleet.  The D’Bringi corvettes raced ahead, now a full light minute ahead of the rest of their fleet.  Two Russian BC’s fell back, towards the D’Bringi forces, no longer able to maintain full speed.  The main D’Bringi force wasn’t able to close with the Russian main force, staying at two point seven five light seconds after the Russians made an unexpected turn, while the D’Bringi corvettes closed to one point seven five light seconds.  The Russian CA’s continued to focus their fire on the two D’Bringi beam CA’s still in the fight, and they absolutely gutted one of them, pounding it with no less than twenty-five hits from their advanced missile launchers.  The Russian CL’s and two battlecruisers, firing independently, targeted the second D’Bringi beam cruiser, gutting it as well, leaving it limping away at 16% of its original speed.   The rest of the Russian fleet concentrated on the D’Bringi corvette force, causing armor damage to three corvettes, and seriously damaging a fourth.  The D’Bringi, apparently shocked by the massive damage caused by the Russian cruisers, focused their fire on one, the Stalingrad.  The Stalingrad launched its only EDM and put up a massive flak barrage in between its drive field and the oncoming missiles and beams.  In spite of this, the D’Bringi standard missile armed heavy cruiser group managed to get eight hits on the Russian CA, and these hits were followed by a capital missile hit from a D’Bringi heavy cruiser, and two hits from force beams and another from a capital missile, all from two D’Bringi battlecruisers firing independently.  The two Russian battlecruisers that were falling behind the main fleet focused their fire on the oncoming D’Bringi corvettes, now just one point two five light seconds away.  The Pozharsky targeted a D’Bringi CT with all of its weapons, but its green crew failed to get even one hit.  The Senyavin targeted a different D’Bringi CT, getting a hit with its force beam and two capital missile hits, slowing the D’Bringi corvette.  In return, the D’Bringi corvettes, and the two D’Bringi beam cruisers, targeted the two Russian BC’s, causing additional internal damage and slowing both to just 16% of their original speed. 

General Fedorov watched the battle develop, sweating as his precious battlecruisers were damaged or destroyed one by one.  Three and a half minutes after the firing started, he had lost two of his battlecruisers, and two more were heavily damaged and about to be overrun by D’Bringi corvettes.  His heavy cruiser data group was intact, as was his light cruiser data group, and his five destroyers.  In exchange, the D’Bringi BC data group was broken, with one BC completely out of the fight and the other two firing independently, as one of the two was streaming atmosphere and had lost its datalink systems.  The D’Bringi capital missile armed heavy cruiser group was reduced to two cruisers still in their data group, with the third heavily damaged and fallen back, out of the battle.  The D’Bringi standard missile cruiser group was intact, but the four beam cruisers were all heavily damaged and falling back.  The D’Bringi corvette group was closing on his damaged BC’s, but four of the twelve were damaged.  General Fedorov could feel it, a rising tension in his chest.  The battle was hanging on a thread, and could go either way.  The D’Bringi had more damaged ships, as their damaged ships simply fell back, out of battle, while his were destroyed as they fell towards the D’Bringi fleet.  But, he had more intact data groups, if you excluded the corvettes.  They could still overwhelm him, but his fleet was doing significant damage to the D’Bringi.  His fleet and crews depended on the decision he made next…

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 6, the Battle of Leningrad, continued…
General Fedorov could feel conflicting motives pull at him.  He wanted, he needed, to rip the heart out of this D’Bringi fleet and end the threat to his nation.  As overwhelming as that drive was, though, the awareness that this battle had not gone as well as he had hoped kept intruding on his thoughts.  If he lost his fleet, which was still mostly intact, the USSR would have nothing to stand in between the D’Bringi and the home system. 

He came to a decision.  If he could destroy the D’Bringi corvettes as they pounced on his damaged BC’s, then the D’Bringi would be reduced to their missile ships, most of which were out of their data groups.  They had to be concerned about the vulnerability of their damaged ships.  If he could do enough damage to their remaining ships, they might withdraw to protect their damaged units, which had to represent a significant portion of their fleet.  It might be the only hope he had to save his remaining units.  He rapidly punched commands into his plot, ordering his fleet to turn and come to the aide of his two damaged BC’s.  The only ships not turning into the fray were the three CA’s, which would continue to maintain the range. 

Unknown to General Fedorov, his counterpart on the other side had made the same calculation, and come up with the same answer.  The D’Bringi CT’s did indeed pounce on the limping Russian BC’s, but the main D’Bringi battle line turned away and began opening the range.   The battle around the two limping Russian battlecruisers was intense.  The D’Bringi corvettes got in the first strike, targeting the Senyavin and causing massive damage with their force beams at point blank range.  The Pozharsky fired back, targeting a D’Bringi corvette closing on it with its force beam, and firing its missiles at a D’Bringi heavy cruiser with their main fleet.  The Pozharsky’s force beam savaged an already damaged D’Bringi corvette, and its missiles scored a single hit on the D’Bringi missile cruiser, knocking its shields down.  A D’Bringi corvette group then fell upon the Pozharsky, their force beams digging deep within the big Russian ship, causing massive damage to the faltering giant.  The Senyavin fired its only remaining weapon, a force beam, at an undamaged D’Bringi corvette, knocking its shields down and causing armor damage.  At that point the battle widened, and the D’Bringi capital missile armed cruisers targeted the Stalingrad, getting five hits and shredding her armor.  The Russian cruisers immediately responded.  The Russian cruiser group split its fire between three D’Bringi corvettes, all of which had suffered armor damage earlier in the battle, and thus lost their EDM’s.  The missiles from the Russian cruiser group left two of the corvettes streaming atmosphere and destroyed the third.  Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to save the Pozharsky, as two D’Bringi corvettes swooped in on the grievously wounded ship and ripped her apart with their force beams.  The Russian light cruisers targeted another D’Bringi corvette, causing serious damage to the small ship.  With one of the two damaged BC’s destroyed, the D’Bringi heavy cruiser group fired its standard missiles at the Stalingrad, which had already expended its EDM.  The Stalingrad suffered sixteen hits and slowed to a fraction of its former speed.  The two D’Bringi battlecruisers still in the battle joined in and fired on the Stalingrad as well, causing additional damage.  The Russian destroyers, joined by the two undamaged battlecruisers, focused their fire on the corvettes as well, leaving several more damaged and streaming atmosphere.   

The Soviet heavy cruisers, minus the Stalingrad, which was now falling behind, continued to put space between themselves and the battle, while the main Soviet fleet circled the mortally wounded Senyavin and the corvettes swarming over the Soviet BC.  Eight corvettes broke away from the Soviet BC and raced towards the Soviet main fleet, leaving three of the most damaged corvettes behind to harry the Senyavin.  The D’Bringi main fleet continued to move away, opening the range.  The Russian fleet focused its fire on the D’Bringi corvettes closing on it, and on the corvettes left behind to harry the Senyavin.  The Russians managed to destroy half of the corvettes, including all of the ones left around the Senyavin, and three of the six remaining corvettes are left damaged.  The Russian destroyers, in particular, performed well, taking out several corvettes as they began their run on the Russian battle line.  The two remaining Russian battlecruisers joined in as well, firing their single force beam turrets at the closest D’Bringi corvettes, and showering those left around the Senyavin with capital missile fire.  In return, the D’Bringi corvettes focused their fire on one of the two remaining Russian battlecruisers, the Tallinn.  The corvettes were firing at a half light second, meaning their force beams did additional damage, and they knocked the Russian BC’s shields down and took out a good portion of her armor.  And, incidentally, stripped away her EDM’s.  This left the Tallinn open to D’Bringi missile fire, and the D’Bringi cruisers, both standard and capital missile armed, took advantage of this and showered the Russian BC with missiles, causing serious internal damage and slowing the big ship to 16% of its former top speed.  A single D’Bringi battlecruiser fired a salvo of capital missiles as the poor Stalingrad, overwhelming its defenses and destroying the cruiser.  In the midst of the destruction, it looked as if the battlecruiser Senyavin might actually survive, as the main Russian fleet destroyed the damaged corvettes that had been left behind to finish it off before they could fire.  That wasn’t to be, though.  The Senyavin fired its force beam at a corvette closing on the main fleet, and, as if it had reminded the D’Bringi that it existed, a D’Bringi capital missile armed cruiser fired a salvo at the BC, wiping it from space. 

The last four undamaged D’Bringi corvettes raced towards the Russian battle line, while their main fleet continued to open the range.  The Russian destroyers attempted to interpose themselves in between the corvettes and the main fleet, but the corvettes were too fast and closed to point blank range.  The D’Bringi corvettes opened fire at the last second with their force beams, and at point blank range the corvettes were able to do devastating damage.  The leading two D’Bringi corvettes fell upon the last intact Russian battlecruiser, the Suvorov, and knocked its shields down and took out some of its armor.  The Russian light cruisers raced to their bigger brethren’s defense and savaged one of the two remaining corvettes that hadn’t fired yet, leaving it a glowing wreck after working it over with sprint missiles.  The last D’Bringi corvette fired its force beam at the Suvorov, taking out more of its armor.  The Russian destroyers then began firing individually, and each destroyer had two force beams, doing considerable damage to the resilient D’Bringi corvettes.  In the meantime, one of the heavily damaged D’Bringi corvettes, which had fallen behind, fired on the limping Russian battlecruiser Tallinn, causing more internal damage.  The Tallinn struck back, firing its force beam at the other crippled D’Bringi CT behind it, destroying the tiny ship before it could fire.  The D’Bringi main fleet then opened up on the Suvorov, but the big Russian ship launched its EDM’s and weathered the incoming missile fire well, and actually still had some of its armor left after the blizzard of missiles ran out.  In the meantime, the Russian destroyers fell upon the remaining D’Bringi corvettes with a savage will, destroying one and leaving the others crippled.  The Russian heavy cruisers, having kept the range between themselves and the D’Bringi corvettes open, destroyed the crippled corvettes before they could recharge their weapons. 

With the destruction of the last corvette, the battle ended, just that abruptly.  The main D’Bringi fleet was technically still within capital missile range, at seven light seconds, but General Fedorov told his remaining battlecruisers to cease fire as the D’Bringi fleet was obviously intent on disengaging.  The D’Bringi admiral had apparently issued the same order as his fleet ran, as they fell silent too, and in thirty seconds they were too far apart to continue firing.  The Russian ships converged on the two heavily damaged battlecruisers, while the D’Bringi main fleet rendezvoused with their damaged ships, which had clustered together about eleven light seconds from the Russian fleet.  Both sides transferred injured crew members to ships with intact medical bays, and performed emergency repairs where they could.  After recovering all of their life pods, General Fedorov ordered his fleet to withdraw, slowly, allowing the D’Bringi to recover their own pods.  While this was going on, General Fedorov ordered the launch of a group of courier drones, which immediately sped back towards the warp point to the Moskva system. 

General Fedorov, considering the results of the battle, couldn’t decide if he had actually won or lost.  Oh, he knew how his reports were going to frame the results for those back at headquarters, but in the reality of the moment, just to himself, he couldn’t quite convince himself that he had won, or lost for that matter.  His light ships, the light cruisers and destroyers, were still all intact.  But his heavy ships had suffered.  He had lost four battlecruisers and a heavy cruiser, and of his two remaining battlecruisers, one was heavily damaged and slowed to 16% of its former maximum speed, and the other had lost most of its armor.  As a striking force, his fleet had lost its long-range offensive strength.  The D’Bringi, on the other hand, had suffered as well.  They had lost twelve corvettes outright, and had five heavy cruisers and two battlecruisers heavily damaged.  While they hadn’t lost any major ships in the battle, every one of the battlecruisers and heavy cruisers that was heavily damaged would be out of the war for many months, thus reducing the pressure on the Soviet forces.  And, if this was all the D’Bringi had on this front, then his fleet had almost certainly stopped their advance, at least for now.   

For the next twelve hours the two fleets struggled to repair what they could, and treat their wounded, all the while watching each other closely.  Finally, with as many of the Tallinn’s engines repaired as possible, and the battlecruiser up to one third of her normal speed, General Fedorov gave the order to withdraw back to the Moskva system at their best speed.  The D’Bringi fleet watched them move away, still working on repairing their damaged cruisers. 

Once the Soviet Fleet was well-away, the D’Bringi fleet began moving away as well, towards the outer system.  They were still within detection range of the Soviet fleet, so they were headed no-where in particular, just away from the Soviet Fleet, trying to break contact.  A group of CD’s broke away from the D’Bringi fleet, headed on a course towards the outer system.

Ten hours after their launch, the Russian CD group approached the warp point to the Moskva system.  General Fedorov had ordered his ships to launch twenty CD’s, on the theory that if there were some D’Bringi ships in the system, there might be more.  He was right.  Sitting on the warp point, waiting for the CD’s, were a D’Bringi heavy cruiser, two destroyers, and four corvettes.  Between them, the D’Bringi ships managed to shoot down five of the CD’s before they slipped through the warp point and out of range.  On the far side of the warp point, the Coalition fleet watched as a group of CD’s materialized on the warp point and sped away, towards the warp point to the Solar System.  Shortly thereafter, two destroyers of an unfamiliar design jumped into the system, destroyed the Russian navigation buoy placed close to the warp point to guide CD’s after their warp jump, and then jumped back out.  This caused alarm throughout the Coalition fleet, as the destroyers were not recognizable as D’Bringi ships.  For their part, the two D’Bringi destroyers immediately sent off a contact report once they returned, but the Coalition fleet had been running with their transponders active, so the D’Bringi scouts had been able to properly identify them. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 9, Sol System, Earth
Marshal Padorin, arguably the most powerful serving military officer in the USSR, looked up from his paperwork in annoyance at the disturbance in his outer office.  After a few seconds an aide burst through the door, followed closely by soldiers with internal security insignias.  One of the soldiers held his aide in an armlock, while the other two moved to stand before his desk, hands on their holstered pistols.  “You will come with us, Comrade Padorin.”

Marshal Padorin looked at the two for a few seconds, contemplating the pistol he had tucked away in one of his desk drawers.  After a few seconds he reconsidered.  These two had made no decisions, and were only following orders.  Shooting them wouldn’t give him a reprieve, only implicate everyone around him in open rebellion.  Slowly, he stood up and put his hands up.  “I will go peacefully.”

One of the two soldiers moved around the desk and took his hands, placing handcuffs around his wrists.  At that point, the highest-ranking officer in the Soviet Union was unceremoniously taken from his office and hustled away. 

Turn 108, Day 11, Leningrad system, approaching the WP back to Moskva
General Fedorov had placed his command destroyer, escorted by two Udaloy r3 destroyers, out ahead of his fleet as they approached the warp point.  The long-range scanners on his command ship had detected drive fields around the warp point, and they had failed to respond to hails.  As the Soviet fleet approached the warp point their sensors had resolved the drive fields as seven D’Bringi ships of various sizes, the biggest a heavy cruiser.  The D’Bringi ships had moved back as the Soviet ships had advanced, and were hovering about fifteen light seconds away, watching, as the Soviet ships approached the warp point.   General Fedorov, his command destroyer, and their two escorting destroyers, were two light seconds ahead o the main Soviet force as they approached the warp point.  Cautious, General Fedorov planned to send his two escorts through the warp point first as a probe to ensure that the far side was clear, before bringing the rest of his fleet through to safety.  When they reached two point five light seconds from the warp point, the command ship’s sensors picked up DSB-L’s deployed around the warp point, but there were only a few, and General Fedorov decided to forge ahead.  When the Russian DD’s reached a half light second from the nearest laser buoys, the three Russian ships began firing their point defense and force beams in a concerted effort to remove the buoys.  Over the next minute, the three Russian destroyers destroyed the buoys closest to them, but then the rest of the buoys suddenly detonated, probably after receiving a command from the D’Bringi ships hovering out of range.  The three Russian DD’s were all modulating their engines, against just this possibility, and were outside of the laser buoy’s most effective range.  All three destroyers received armor damage, but none suffered internal damage.  With the laser buoys clear, General Fedorov ordered his ships to the warp point. 

On the command deck of the Marshal Zhukov, General Fedorov’s command ship, the sensor tech suddenly stiffened in shock as his board flashed urgently.  “Mines ahead!” 

At the sensor tech’s cry, the ship’s helmsman immediately reacted, savagely throwing the destroyer into a tight curve to the right, away from the minefield that had suddenly appeared ahead of them.  The command ship’s escorts, though, were not as lucky.   Unlike the flagship, they weren’t equipped with long-range scanners and they didn’t see the mines until they were in amongst them.  The flagship’s command deck crew didn’t have time to transmit a warning the two escort ships, and they sailed right into the minefield.  Between the two destroyers they absorbed over a hundred mines.  Both were smothered in explosions, that, when they cleared, left nothing behind.  The Admiral Kharlamov and the Admiral Panteleyev were both gone.   

General Fedorov was shocked by the close encounter with the minefield.  The USSR currently had minefields, and their control systems, under development, but they were not expected to be available for deployment for many months.  When development started, all officers of the Home Fleet had received briefings on the effects of minefields, with particular attention given to detecting and avoiding such things.  General Fedorov and his entire staff was very lucky that the Marshal Zhukov’s helmsman had paid attention to this briefing, and reacted fast enough to the sensor officer’s warning.  But the loss of two destroyers was dwarfed by the larger implications.  His fleet was effectively cut off from the home system, and from repairs and resupply.  He had no ships capable of sweeping the minefield, and the Solar System had been stripped of ships to reinforce General Lebedev and for his fleet.  That meant it would be some time before he could expect relief. 

After some consideration, General Fedorov made his decision.  There was really no place else to go.  The Russian fleet launched a second swarm of CD’s and turned away, headed towards the warp point to the Brezhnev system.  There were Soviet units there, and an extensive detection network, along with an asteroid base equipped with enough supplies to support his fleet for some time. 

As the fleet withdrew, the ten CD’s launched just before turning away raced through the minefield and jumped out of the system.  Seven of the ten CD’s lost their navigation lock after transiting, as there was no nav-buoy present to reorient them.  Three CD’s kept their lock, though, and raced away towards the warp point back to the Solar System. 

Turn 108, Day 15, Kirov System, Soviet 2nd Fleet
Courier drones from Earth arrived early in the morning, informing General Semenov of the D’Bringi invasion of the Brezhnev system, and the dispatch of the Home Fleet.  The messages indicated that he could expect no reinforcements for some time, and was not to risk his fleet.  His basic orders were unchanged, he was to delay the advance of the Rehorish, but also to preserve his fleet.  For now, the fleet’s orders remained unchanged. 

Turn 108, Day 16, Novosibirsk system, Russian/Bjering picket group
At 0800 hours, the combined picket group picked up a drive field contact headed directly towards the warp point.  Alarms were raised, and a Cd was sent back to the fleets on the far side of the warp point.  The two ships that comprised the picket were surprised when a message bearing proper Soviet Fleet codes reached them, identifying the oncoming fleet as the Soviet 1st Survey Fleet.  The 1st SF had been surveying the Jaroslavl system when the Rehorish betrayed the USSR and launched its surprise attack, and while a courier drone had been sent to warn the exploration ships, nothing had been heard from them since as they had been assumed lost.  Now they were racing directly towards the closed warp point that led, ultimately, back to the home system.  There were no Rehorish ships within range of the picket ships on the warp point, and the commander of the survey group claimed there were no Rehorish ships following his fleet, but the survey ships themselves didn’t mount long range scanners.  General Semenov himself ordered the Brigadir commanding the survey group to turn around and exit the Novosibirsk system through the warp point that led (eventually) to the Tomsk system, but Brigadir Popov refused. 

Thirty-six hours later the Survey Fleet arrived at the warp point and plunged through, several of the survey ships almost ramming each other in their haste to get through the warp point to safety.  Even as the survey ships began making transit, the picket ship’s sensors picked up drive field contacts at extreme range, certainly Rehorish scouts that had followed the survey ships as they fled across the system.  Fortunately, they weren’t close enough to pinpoint the location of the closed warp point, but now the Rehorish certainly knew that the warp point existed and its general location. 

In a rage, General Semenov ordered his pickets to return to the Kirov system, as their presence in the Novosibirsk system would merely allow the Rehorish to further refine their information about the location of the closed warp point.  Next, General Semenov ordered Brigadir Popov to report aboard his ship.  When the Brigadir arrived, General Semenov had him arrested and summarily executed.  The execution was broadcast across the entire fleet.  The Bjering apparently approved of this move, as they congratulated General Semenov on his handling of a clear coward.  The 1st Survey Fleet was ordered by General Semenov to retreat back to the Solar System for reassignment. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 22, Moskva (Sigma Draconis) system
For the last month, ever since the Soviet Home Fleet left the system through the warp point heading to the Leningrad system, the Coalition 1st Fleet had sat at a respectful distance from the warp point that the Russians had left through, watching.  At 0900 hours their vigil was broken by the transit of three D’Bringi heavy cruisers, followed by a D’Bringi battlecruiser, into the system. 

Rear Admiral Ruston immediately initiated communications with the D’Bringi ships, and seconds later a battered old D’Bringi was staring out of the screen at him.  “This is Admiral Ruston, commanding officer of the Coalition 1st Fleet.  With whom am I speaking?”

The D’Bringi shifted.  “I am Group Leader Foe’s Bane, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron.  We greet you, Admiral.”

Admiral Ruston frowned.  “What has happened to the Russian Fleet?”

The D’Bringi shook his head.  “They are no more.  Soon, my forces will advance into this system.  I am grateful you are here, now, as I would speak with you before advancing.  I wish no conflict with the Coalition.”

Admiral Ruston sat back in shock at the information about the Russian Fleet.  “It is good that you are cautious.  The innermost planet of this system has been colonized by the Coalition, and we also have established several mining installations throughout the system.”

“If you send us a system map with your colonies and outposts marked, we will avoid approaching them.”

Admiral Ruston thought this over for a few seconds.  The D’Bringi had explored this system before humanity, he wouldn’t be revealing anything about the system layout to them that they didn’t already know.  “Very well.  This is acceptable.”  He hesitated, then continued.  “There will be Coalition civilian ships, transports and freighters, moving through this system, bound for our colonies.”

The D’Bringi waived one hand, as if dismissing the concern.  “As long as the ships are displaying an ID code that identifies them as Coalition, they will not be disturbed.”

Admiral Ruston nodded, but resolved to send a recommendation to HQ that all civilian ships be escorted through this system for the time being.  “We will not hinder you, as long as those conditions are met.”

The D’Bringi waived again.  “Understood.  We have another matter we wish to bring to your attention.  We are not alone in this fight against the Russians.”  The D’Bringi Group Leader turned and gestured, and a large, indistinct form moved forward into the camera focus.  The newcomer was large, taller than any of the D’Bringi in view, and bulkier as well.  It was uniformly a purplish grey hue, with the exception of a purple carapace that extended from the top of its heads down its back.  The head was comparatively small and set forward on the upper chest, and boasted two eyes and two antennae, with a small mouth partially hidden at the bottom of the head.  The alien had two thickly muscled arms and two equally muscled legs, and a number of smaller grasping appendages down its sides.  Admiral Rustion’s immediate, gut reaction, was to scream “Cockroach!” and leap away, but he fought down the reaction with some difficulty. 

The new alien chittered something in a rapid clicking that was, of course, completely incomprehensible.  The D’Bringi Group Leader said… “This is a Rehorish.  He says that he is honored to meet you.”

Admiral Ruston kept his face composed.  “I am honored to meet him, as well.”

The D’Bringi moved closer to the camera’s pickup.  “The Rehorish are our allies in this war.  They wish peace with you, and want the same non-interference treaty with you that we have established between the two of us.  We have brought the Rehorish Ambassador here to establish communications and facilitate the establishment of a treat between the Coalition and the Rehorish.”

Admiral Ruston sat back in his chair, stunned at these developments.  “I would certainly be interested in establishing communications with the Rehorish Ambassador; however, I do not have the authority to agree to any treaties.  I will, however, send word back to my superiors, and ask for guidance on that matter.  In the meantime, my specialists will be overjoyed to begin working on deciphering the Rehorish language.”

The D’Bringi Group Leader gestured again.  “That is all we can ask.  We have time.”

Admiral Ruston handed the Rehorish over to his contact team, and then began composing a message to his superiors.  The entire complexion of the war and Soviet power had changed in a few minutes. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 25, D’Bringi Prime
The meeting was taking place at the castle-complex of the head of the Keepers, Castle Adamant, located in the wastes close to the great inland sea in the southern continent.  Most of D’Bringi Prime was hot and dry, as the D’Bringi preferred it, but the Keepers, as a non-Clan organization, had been forced by the ancient clans to take up residence in a territory more ‘appropriate’ to their station.  In other words, a less desirable area of their planet.  It was damp and occasionally cold, both of which were anathema to D’Bringi.  Naturally, the contrary Keepers had made enduring the environment a point of pride in their history and hardy natures.   The decision to exile the Keepers to a remote and undesirable location had long haunted the various Clan Chiefs, as by tradition most inter-Clan meetings were held at the Keeper castle-complex, as it was considered neutral ground and the Keepers were generally acknowledged as having the best troops on the planet, limited in number though they were.  As long as the various clan heads were at the Keeper castle, they were as safe as they could be in these modern days of hyper-sonic missiles and faster than light travel. 

The heads of the three main clans were gathered to discuss the state of the war with the head of the Keepers, and none of them were particularly happy.  Losses had been heavy, and too many within their clans had lost first sons and daughters to the war.  Losses like these made senior clan members restless and angry, and that made the clan chiefs fear for their positions.  Keeper-Cleric Half-Hand looked around the table at the other clan chiefs.  They, like him, were all grizzled warriors, and like him, they were all of the last generation that would actually remember and honor the old ways.  They had all been alive before the Benefactors had arrived and gifted them with the technology that made their current splendor possible.  The young warriors these days knew nothing of the eternal desert and the equally eternal fight for survival that their people had engaged in before the arrival of the Benefactors.  They knew nothing of the sorrow of parenthood, when most of the young died at birth, or shortly thereafter.  They knew nothing of the eternal hunger that haunted everyone, even the richest ruler, or the certain fear that death lurked around every corner, over every dune.  Half-Hand shook his head. No, the youth of these modern times had food, and medicine, that those of his generation hadn’t been able to conceive of before the Benefactors.  They lived in glittering cities, and their younglings all lived, or at least they did until the infighting and jockeying for position began.  Times were changing, Half-Hand knew, and he did not know if they were changing for the better.  He only knew that they could not stop the change, merely ride it like a polja, and hope they did not fall off. 

While Half-Hand ruminated, the others argued.  Fruitlessly.  They all had visions of themselves as the latest Great Khan, the one to unite their species under one banner and a unity of purpose.  At times of great danger a Khan would arise, and every one of the clan chiefs, not just the senior-most here to meet with him, saw himself as the one to fulfill that role.  Fools.  Half-Hand pulled his hammer from its sheath and slammed it into the massive table in front of him, getting their attention.  “You argue while our warriors die.  We must come to a consensus and finish this war, securing our future.”

Skull-Splitter, chief of Clan K’Rorin, turned on the old Keeper.  “Yes, we argue!  Our losses have been horrendous.  The parents wail for their dead children, as do their spouses.  Our clan houses are filled with sorrow!”  He paused, and looked at the others.  “The discontent is dangerous.  With all of our forces on the frontlines, we have little strength here to quell discontent.  I have a single cruiser in orbit, and I know you are all in the same position.  Should the…disappointment and despair…become too great, I cannot quell an uprising of the minor houses with one cruiser!” 

The Keeper-Cleric had known that this would be their primary concern, as it must be.  As usual, they had sent all of their best warriors rushing to the front with no concern for anything else.  “I understand your concerns, even if I do not share them.  Therefore, I will release Keeper legions to ‘assist’ your household troops in maintaining order.  That should quell any dissent, at least long enough for our victory to ensure ultimate stability.”

The three clan chiefs were rocked by this offer.  They looked at each other in shock, before one of them responded.  Burning Blade, chief of the B’Regest clan, nodded.  “I…would be pleased to allow a Keeper legion within my halls, but…this is most unprecedented.  The Keepers never become involved in internal clan matters.”

The Keeper-Cleric nodded.  “You are correct, they do not.  But these are not normal times.  The stability of your clans is necessary for the survival of our race, and thus is of concern to the Keepers.  We are not a Clan!  We do not play the great game; we ensure the survival of our race by preserving our history and the old ways.  And now, in these modern times, we ensure our survival by safeguarding what has been given to us by the Benefactors.  We have changed, and by changing will ensure the survival of all that we are, forever.  If my troops can help ensure quiet within your clan halls, then I will commit them, happily.”

The Keeper-Cleric looked around, and realized that he had surprised them into silence, a rare thing.  “Yes, we have suffered great losses, but we have also won great victories!  In two great battles we have destroyed no less than four battlecruisers, nine heavy cruisers, six light cruisers, ten destroyers, and two frigates.  In exchange, we have lost three heavy cruisers and twelve corvettes, with two battlecruisers and ten cruisers damaged.  Yes, our front-line forces have been depleted, but reinforcements are already on their way to the front, and the Rehorish are advancing.  In just days we will have six new cruisers fresh from the yards, and three of our damaged cruisers are ready to go into the yards and will be rapidly repaired.  Once our reinforcements, and our new cruisers, reach the front lines, we will be able to seal the Russians into their home system, allowing the Rehorish to advance to meet us.  And when their forces meet ours, we will crush the remaining Russian forces and force their home land to surrender!”

The Keeper’s stirring speech rallied the clan chiefs, but their own internal problems obviously continued to nag at them, so he continued.  “And, think on this.  Those six new cruisers will need additional troops, as will the invasion force we intend to send to secure the Russian colonies within Moskva and their home system.  If these troop forces tend to be fleshed out with those who are a particular problem, and who are then placed in the forefront of the fighting, and thus given the greatest chance for honor and glory, well, then, who could complain.  Indeed, who would be left here to complain?”

The three clan chiefs settled back with thoughtful looks on their faces.  This was not new, it was an old trick in the endless and unending clan wars, but the new generation ignored the old ways.  Thus, being ignorant of the old ways, would easily fall to their application.  The clan chiefs all looked at each other and nodded.  There would be consensus on this day.  However, the Keeper-Cleric had one more issue to raise.  “Finally, there is the issue of the T’Pau.”

The third clan chief, who had, until now, remained silent, rose from his chair.  Fortress-Breaker was the one who had won the victory over the Russians in Rehorish territory, and had gained great honor when the remaining Russians chose to surrender to him over the Rehorish.  The others fell silent as he began to speak.  “The T’Pau are without honor.  You would involve them?”

The Keeper had prepared for this particular attack, as obvious as it was.  “Yes, I would.  This is exactly what we released them for.  So that they could serve us.  They have six cruisers, and a number of light cruisers.  In our service, under our command, they could do much.  They could lead the way through the warp point into the Human’s home system, for example.”

Fortress Breaker’s hand slammed down on the table between them.  “You would give them the honor of the lead position?”

The Keeper was unmoved by the other’s apparent fury.  “Yes, I would.  Tell me, how long will the lead ships last once they transit into the Russian’s prepared defenses?  Seconds?  Less?  And while they die, absorbing weapons that otherwise would be aimed at us, they allow our ships to get into position and strike back.  We created them as a buffer, in between us and the Humans, should they ever manage to find the closed warp point in the Brezhnev system.  Now, with that system sealed off, we can send them to join our forward fleets, bolstering their strength at a time when our strength is sorely taxed.”

Fortress Breaker stood silent for a minute, considering what had been said.  “Why not send them into the Brezhnev system to eliminate the Russian hold-outs, and to liberate our mining outposts?”

The Keeper-Cleric knew he had won.  Fortress Breaker was now asking questions, instead of instinctively opposing him.  “The Russians there are sealed off.  They have withdrawn the automated weapons that were in the Leningrad system to block the warp entrance in the Brezhnev system from Leningrad, which has allowed us to move some of our mines in Leningrad from the warp point to Moskva to the warp point to Brezhnev, sealing them in that system.  Better we leave them isolated while we advance on their home system.  Besides, you saw the report from our decoy forces that briefly reoccupied the system.  Our colonists there have been indoctrinated, or brainwashed, by the Soviets, converting them to their ‘communism’, whatever that is.  When the war is over, we can deal with this, but I think leaving them alone is best for now.  Besides, I propose using the T’Pau, not trusting them on independent actions.  Who knows what would happen if we sent them into Brezhnev to subdue the Russian holdouts?  No, the wise course is to send their forces to meet ours in Leningrad, before they advance into Moskva.  Combined, our forces can watch theirs, and ensure compliance with our dictates.”

Fortress Breaker stared at the Keeper for a few seconds, then signaled agreement.  “Agreed.  However, I will go to the front as well, to lead our forces, and ensure their compliance.” 

After a few seconds, the Keeper-Cleric and the other clan chiefs agreed. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 25, Leningrad System, Soviet Home Fleet
The Soviet Home Fleet reached the warp point to Brezhnev system early in the day, and was met by the four laser buoy control ships stationed there.  General Fedorov was gratified to find that at least one location in the system remained under Soviet control, and the fleet passed through into the Brezhnev system without incident.  Upon arrival, General Fedorov immediately began taking stock of the situation.  The D’Bringi force was still present in the inner system, and a group of courier drones had arrived in the system and reached the inner system this morning.  What those courier drones contained was unknown, but immediately after the drones arrived, the D’Bringi force left orbit and headed towards the outer system, leaving their troops behind.  It was immediately clear to General Fedorov that his force would not be able to intercept the withdrawing D’Bringi group before it was able to jump out of the system.  After some consideration, General Fedorov ordered the three destroyers and three corvettes that had been shadowing the D’Bringi force to follow them as they withdrew, but to avoid contact.  In the meantime, General Fedorov ordered his fleet to head for the inner system to relieve the colonists there.  As the fleet moved out, General Fedorov settled in to reorganize the forces available to him and to develop a plan of action. 

Turn 108, Day 30, Brezhnev system
General Fedorov’s battle group settled into orbit over the primary star’s innermost planet, a desolate rock rich in minerals and useful materials originally colonized by the D’Bringi some time ago.  The system had been conquered by advancing Soviet forces several years ago, and the conquers had found that the D’Bringi population of the system was composed mostly of oppressed and poor D’Bringi from minor clans that had been imported to work in the mines on the inhospitable planets and moons of this system.  The Soviet conquers had rapidly discovered that the D’Bringi of this system were like oppressed workers in any country on Earth, apolitical and merely wanting to improve their own situation.  The Soviets had recognized the opportunity presented to them, and had shipped in union organizers and commissars to teach the D’Bringi workers to be good communists.  It was now clear that their efforts had worked far in excess of their early hopes.  As the Soviet ships settled into orbit, the authorities on the ground contacted them and announced that the D’Bringi ‘occupation troops’ left by the D’Bringi fleet had all surrendered the second their fleet left orbit.  Later investigation would discover that the occupation troops were mostly composed of low-level security guards and the dregs of the military, combined with groups of civilians swept off of the streets of their home towns and pressed into service with little or no training. 

In any case, the D’Bringi informed General Fedorov that they had formally declared their independence from the D’Bringi Expanses, and were joined by all of their sisters and brothers throughout the Brezhnev system in declaring the formation of the United D’Bringi Soviets.  The leaders of the UDS immediately pledged their people and wealth to support their fraternal socialist brothers within the Soviet Union, and stated that they would turn over all available economic output of the system to support the Soviet fleet trapped within the system.  In addition, they promised to make their medical facilities, limited as they were, available to care for the wounded of the fleet.  Finally, they agreed to allow General Fedorov to recruit from within their populations to fill out his crews, if necessary. 

All of this was gratifying, but really didn’t solve General Fedorov’s problems.  After reorganization, his forces were as follows:

Combat Group: 1xBCR, 2xCA, 3xCL, 6xDD, 1`xDDC, 3xCT
Automated Warfare Group: 4xCT(DSB), 370xDSB-L
Damaged Units: 1xBCR
Picket Group: 20xEXS

The primary problem was that his force required 2,048 MC’s every month to continue functioning.  The output of the mining outposts within the system could offset slightly more than 10% of that, but he would still need 1,792 MC’s, in addition to the system’s output, every month to keep everything operating.  The Fleet had stockpiled maintenance supplies in the system, at a hidden and remote asteroid, against the likelihood that the forces here would be cut off by a D’Bringi incursion, but those supplies hadn’t been intended to support an entire fleet.  There were enough supplies to support his forces for almost four months, and then they would run out.  His own estimate of when they could expect relief from the home system matched that of his staff.  There was no way relief could arrive in less than six months, if then.  The problems were manifold.  First off, the fleet had stripped the Solar System of warships to bolster his fleet, and those ships had either been lost or were trapped here with him.  A relief force would either have to be built, or would have to return from the Rehorish front.  In any case, no matter which course the fleet decided to take, the USSR had no minesweepers, and thus even if they did find warships from somewhere, they would not be able to penetrate the mines in the Leningrad system at the warp point to the Moskva system.  Those minesweepers would have to be built, and that would take time. 

General Fedorov had little choice.  Most of his ships would have to go into mothballs.  The easiest decision was the battlecruiser Tallinn.  The heroic ship was grievously wounded, and couldn’t be repaired with the resources available in the system, as there were no shipyards or repair docks.  The second decision was equally easy.  Three of the four laser buoy control ships were sent to join the Tallinn, leaving one to tend the laser buoys, all of which were relocated from the Leningrad system, at the warp point to Brezhnev, to the Brezhnev system, at the warp point back to Leningrad.  The next decision was slightly harder, the disposition of the twenty explorer class scouts dispersed around the system.  They weren’t armed, which should make the decision easy, but some in his staff had been arguing that they could be used as last-ditch defense units at the warp point, to ram anything that came through before it could get oriented.  They were also useful in their original role, which was to track any D’Bringi ships that entered the system through the closed warp point, which they still hadn’t been able to localize.  In the end, General Fedorov decided to mothball eighteen of the twenty small ships, leaving just two to watch the area around the suspected closed warp point against further incursion. 

Doing all of that reduced the discrepancy to 1,256 MC’s, which meant that they could last five months before running out of supplies.  Even by his staff’s most generous estimate this wouldn’t get them to a time frame where they could expect relief, so General Fedorov was forced to mothball more units.  In the end he decided that a more reasonable time frame was one year till relief, which meant that he would have to mothball one half of his combat force.  In a marathon session with his staff, the decided to mothball the Suvorov, the last remaining battlecruiser, both remaining heavy cruisers, and two destroyers and his flagship, all of which had suffered damage from clearing the laser buoys earlier in the month.  This left him with the following forces:

Combat Group: 3xCL, 3xDD, 3xCT
Automated Warfare Group: 1xCT(DSB), 370xDSB-L
Picket Group: 2xEXS
Mothballed: 2xBCR, 2xCA, 2xDD, 1xDDC, 3xCT(DSB), 18xEXS

The mothballed units would be hidden in deep space, and with their drive fields down and their generators cold, they would be almost impossible to locate unless you knew where to look.  Between the laser buoys on the warp point, and his remaining fleet units, General Fedorov was fairly confident that he could retain control of the system.  Their greatest vulnerability was the closed warp point still lurking in the outer system.  His scouts would make a valiant attempt to localize the closed warp point, but were unlikely to succeed.  They were close enough, now, to localizing it that should the D’Bringi ever return they would be able to immediately pinpoint the warp point’s location, but until then they wouldn’t be able to defend the warp point, like they were defending the warp point to the Leningrad system.   

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 29, Rehorish Prime
The Prime Minister of the Rehorish Executive Council reclined in the pit of warm, salty water and relaxed, waiting as her guest stripped off his equipment harness and settled into the water and got comfortable. 

“Tai-sho Okada, you are welcome here.”

The head of the Rehorish military inclined slightly as he settled into the water.  “I thank you, Prime Minister.  Your hospitality is legendary.”  He suppressed a sigh of relief as he sat down.  The Rehorish were amphibious, and almost always felt better when at least partially in water. 

After allowing her guest to become settled, the Prime Minister got to the point.  “How goes our war, Tai-sho?”

“It goes well, Prime Minister.  Very well, as a matter of fact.  Our forces have taken the Soviet colony on our border, and our allies, the D’Bringi, report that they have won a great victory over the Russians.  And while they appeared to have suffered some losses, our liaison team with their fleet confirms the victory.   Between the losses the Russians suffered in our initial attack, and the losses from the D’Bringi assault, we believe that most of the Russian’s mobile forces have been accounted for at this point.”

The Prime Minister looked at her senior naval officer carefully.  “So you are saying that we are winning this war?”

“Yes.  But…”

“But?”  She didn’t like equivocation, and he knew it, therefore he must have had significant reservations to have spoken at all. 

The naval officer gathered himself.  “We are winning, but we must be cautious.  Our ships are not as advanced as those of the Russians, or our allies the D’Bringi.  Even should all of the technology we are developing right now magically become available tomorrow, and then somehow was installed on my ships the day after, we would still be behind both the Russians and the D’Bringi.  Our sole advantage lies in the number of ships that we can field.”

“And what are you doing to remedy this situation?”

The Tai-sho waived his arm in negation.  “There is little we can do at this point.  The weapons and defenses now under development will take some to develop.  When they are ready for deployment, we will almost certainly be unable to withdraw large numbers of ships from the front lines for refit, which means that while new construction will include the newly developed weapons and defense, our forward fleet will not, not for some time.  And that will have serious implications as the war moves forward.  Even assuming the D’Bringi are right, and we have eliminated the bulk of their mobile fleets, we will, at some point, encounter heavy Soviet defenses.  And when we do, we will have to spend our ships and crews like water to breach those defenses.”  As he spoke, he raised his cupped hand, allowing the water to run out of his hand in a glittering waterfall.  “Our losses will be heavy.  You must understand this, and prepare for it.”

The Prime Minister was taken aback by the Tai-sho’s honesty.  Normally the military would drone on and on about their superiority, but this new honesty was refreshing.  It was also an indicator of how worried her senior military officer was.  “Perhaps I can do something about this technology disparity.  The D’Bringi need us more than ever, now that this war is rolling forward.  Surely, they can be persuaded to share some of their tech, in exchange for our continued good will.”  She saw the Tai-sho prepare to speak, and waived him to silence.  “I know that any technology that we get from the D’Bringi will not help our front-line forces now, but surely such a thing will help in the future.   If indeed we suffer the losses you fear, having advanced ships to replace those losses will help improve our position, not hurt.”

“You are correct, Prime Minister.  It could not hurt.”

“Very well, I will meet with the D’Bringi representative tomorrow.   Now, what of our advance into Russian space?”

“Our main fleet is located in the system the Russian’s call Novosibirsk, on our border.  Our survey fleets have been working to find the warp points we know to reside in the system, but, significantly, our occupation troops on the Soviet colony have managed to locate several computer systems that the Russians failed to wipe as our forces landed.  It took some time, but my intelligence teams have obtained the warp point links two jumps out in every direction from the Soviet colony.  That includes the location of several closed warp points that we would not have been able to find otherwise.  And the location of no less than five Soviet frontier colonies.”

The Prime Minister half rose from the water.  “This is incredible!  When I reveal this news to the Executive Council, all doubt will fall away!  Some have opposed our venture, even after our victory, but now, with this, they will at last be silent.”

The Tai-sho’s facial carapace darkened, an indicator of intense emotion in a Rehorish.  “This is indeed good news, Prime Minister.  Even now, task groups are being prepared to secure the Soviet colonies and establish pickets throughout our new territory.  However, we move in muddy waters.  We do not know if our new data has any missing areas, where the Soviets might have managed to hide a system from us, and, most importantly, we do not know which warp route leads to the Soviet home world.  We have much work to do, and we have limited time before the Soviets recover.  We are moving as fast as possible to discern the route to the Soviet home world, and join up with the D'Bringi fleet.”

“You will have all of the resources I can give you.  We must push this war forward to victory!”  She did not like that her primary uniformed officer had taken such a dark tone in spite of the good news he brought.  Was he disloyal?  Did he fear defeat too much to win a victory that her people needed?

“Agreed.”    If the Tai-sho was aware of his Prime Minister’s thoughts, he gave no sign. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 108, Day 30, Sol System, Earth
 The General Secretary of the Soviet Union, an old man who increasingly looked as if events had overtaken him, stood at the podium, bent and frail-looking.  His voice was still strong, though.  “Former Marshal Padorin’s failures were manifold, and his strategic errors and short-sightedness are the reason we are in the position we are in now.”  There was a stirring throughout the Presidium as the members took this announcement in.  This was a clear signal from the General Secretary as to where the blame for the defeats suffered in the last two months would fall.  “Therefore, in consultation with the General Soviet of the Armed Forces, I have selected an outstanding officer to assume the leadership of the military in this time of troubles.  Marshal Alexi Kosygin will lead the glorious forces of the Soviet Union to victory against the invaders!” 

The room broke into applause as it was expected to, however, the applause was perhaps not as enthusiastic as the General Secretary might have wanted.  He sighed.  It was only to be expected, given the grime news about the war that he had just given them, and the fact that he had placed the future of the USSR in the hands of a twenty-eight-year-old former Podpolkovnik.  He stepped back from the podium, waiving the new young Marshal forward to give his address to the assembled members.  As the young man hustled forward and got himself organized, the General Secretary went back over his decision process in appointing the young man.  He didn’t see what else he could have done.  Too many of the senior officers were tainted by their support for Padorin, and Kosygin had come highly recommended by those he spoke to about the matter.  His thoughts were interrupted by the start of the new Marshal’s speech. 

“Comrades, you are troubled by the current situation, and you are right to be troubled!  You, and all of our political leadership, were ill-served by the time-wasters that led the military and who still inhabit the halls of our command centers and the dens of bureaucracies the govern everything that happens now.  These idiots have led us to this point, and we have suffered defeats such as we have not experienced since the Great Patriotic War!” 

The General Secretary was frowning as he listened.  This firebrand was coming too close, and his criticisms could be interpreted to include his leadership, as well as those who had been disgraced and removed.  Worse, this was not the speech that had been approved through his office.  The speech continued…

“Things are dark.  We are beset on all sides by enemies, and they seem to advance on us inexorably.  However, we are not lost!  We are Russian!  We have been here before, and everyone that has attacked us has found out the eventual cost, to their dismay.  The Hitlerians, the Capitalists, the anti-revolutionary White Guard, all have fallen before us!    We will prevail, and when we do it will be through the wise leadership of our General Secretary!”  The new Marshal turned and began clapping, which was picked up by the members of the Presidium and rose to a roar. 

The General Secretary stepped forward and raised his hands, accepting the acclamation, all smiles now, and then stepped back and gestured for the new Marshal to continue. 

“I have already begun my reforms.  Even now, those who would oppose new ways of doing things within the military bureaucracy are being removed from office to clear the way for a fresh approach.  Orders have already gone out to the 2nd Fleet, recalling them to the Moskva system to defend the Solar system.  Our allies the Bjering have already agreed to stand on our border with the Rehorish and delay their advance, until we can must a force to relieve them.  Orders have been sent to our colonies in the area, ordering them to resist to the last man if the Rehorish should break through while our fleet has temporarily returned to stabilize the situation in the Moskva system.   In addition, I have recalled the 1st Survey Fleet.  It will arrive in the Moskva system in the middle of next month, at which time its officers will be replaced by trusted and properly motivated officers, who will immediately move to defend the warp point to the Leningrad system.  It is true that the survey ships are not armed, but they can be used to ram any ships that come through the warp point!  They will stand between us and the barbarians until we can build proper warships to take over that job!  Officers are already on their way to the Kirov system to meet the 2nd Survey Fleet, and once they are aboard those survey ships will defend the warp point to the Novosibirsk system along with the Bjering!  If the Rehorish dare to come through, they will be met by a wall of steel!”  He paused and looked out over his audience, and they began spontaneously cheering. 

Marshal Kosygin let the cheers wash over him for a minute or so, then continued.  “Over the next month, my staff and I will be reviewing construction priorities, to ensure that we have enough warships to meet and defeat the barbarians, and to deter the capitalists.  In some cases we will almost certainly not be meddling with the construction schedules.  For instance, we have twelve destroyers under construction, all of which will be available for deployment in month 111.  These units were laid down at the start of the month, and will represent a powerful force once they are out of the yards.  In addition, there are three battlecruisers and a new battleship under construction in the yards, all of which have one to two months of construction completed already.   Given the reality that those battlecruisers will not be ready for duty until month 114, we almost certainly will reallocate the yard space devoted to those ships to more urgent and quickly completed projects in the coming months.  In addition, I will make the relief and recovery of the Home Fleet, now trapped in the Brezhnev system, my highest priority, after that of defending this system.  To this end, we will begin construction of minesweepers, already designed by the Korolev Design Bureau, at our surface construction facilities, so that we can devote our orbital construction capacity to building warships to bolster our fleets.”  Again, cheering broke out in the chamber.

“Finally, as you are aware, even now advanced weapons are under development in our laboratories!  These new weapons will become available over the next several months, and as they do, they will be rushed into production to increase our capacity to defeat the barbarians that challenge us!  As it was during the Great Patriotic War, every citizen of the Soviet Union will be expected to do their duty to the fatherland!  And I and my staff will ensure that their labors, their support, will not be wasted!  And to those who would be wasters, who would hinder our efforts for their own gain, be aware that I will root you out root and branch!  I will not allow anyone to hinder our progress towards our rightful place in the galaxy!”

The cheers were overwhelming this time, and the General Secretary stepped forward to take his new Marshal’s hand and bask in the approbation.  Afterward, after the cheers had died down and the General Secretary and his supporters were leaving, he turned to his Internal Security chief.  “Keep an eye on my new ‘hero’.  He may be more of a problem than we anticipated.”

[Kurt (OP)]

Month 109, Day 1, Kirov System, Soviet 2nd Fleet
General Semenov stood on the flag deck of his command ship, looking steadfastly at the video camera that was transmitting his image to his Bjering counterpart.  This was going much worse than he had hoped.  “Admiral, we are not abandoning our alliance with you!  We are repositioning to defend our home world from a more immediate threat!  Surely you can understand!”

The Bjering admiral facing him was the most senior Bjering admiral in the quintet that ruled the Consolidate, something General Semenov had previously taken solace from as a visible indicator of the Bjering commitment to their alliance.  Now, though, he feared that he had done irreparable harm to their alliance by offending the highest Bjering leader.  Admiral Alpha, as he was known, was pacing on his command deck, and his skin, normally a pale green, was now as dark as General Semenov had ever seen it.  The scar that ran down Alpha’s face, partially covered by an eye patch where the scar ran through Alpha’s eye, was livid white against the Bjering’s greenish skin.  Finally, the Bjering leader turned and faced the camera, and the Soviet General.  He flung out a hand, pointing his finger at the Russian.  “You!  Repositioning?  You are running, and abandoning your own colonists!  You are leaving us here alone to face YOUR enemies!  You are cowards!  I will not commit my fleet to fight your battles, protect your people, when you run home to hide behind your defenses!”

“No, that is not what I’m saying.  I have received orders from my headquarters, orders I cannot ignore.  We have suffered heavy losses fighting our enemies in other systems, and my ships are needed closer to home.  My leaders have asked that you remain here, until more of our ships can join you.”

The Bjering leader, who had started pacing again, stopped and whirled towards the camera.  “When?  When will your ships join us?”

General Semenov wished he could wipe the sweat from his forehead, but he wasn’t sure how the Bjering would take something like that.  They were prickly at the best of times, which these most definitely weren’t.  “I don’t know.  Our losses have been heavy.”

“Very well.  My advisors…”  he turned and waived at several Bjering standing behind him, “wish me to wait, to give you a chance to remedy this situation.  However, I am of the firm belief that pressure reveals the real nature of a being.  We are seeing the real Russian nature.  You are preparing to abandon your own people, and your allies.  This alliance is over!  Our fleet will return to our home, and we will see to our own defenses!  You wish to see to your own defense?  You will do so without our fleet!”

The scene from the Bjering ship flickered out, and General Semenov sagged into his chair, wiping his face.  Disaster! 

Five minutes later the Bjering fleet powered up and began moving away from the warp point that the formerly combined force had guarded, heading back towards Bjering space.  The alliance with the Bjering was broken.  The Soviet fleet set out for home shortly thereafter. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 109, Day 1, D’Bringi Home System
Six cruisers, fresh from the yards and crewed with the most eager young warriors from the most vocal sub-Clans, left orbit, bound for the Leningrad system to reinforce the front-line fleet.  Their ETA was 50 days.

Turn 109, Day 4, Solar System, USSR
Marshal Kosygin stood before the group of engineers and scientists assembled at the Rubin Design Bureau’s headquarters.  Beside him stood the Bureau’s head, Igor Spassky.  Spassky had initially resisted Marshal Kosygin’s requests.  After all, the Rubin Design Bureau had been responsible, in one form or another, for designing first submarines and then later starships for the Russian people since before the USSR existed.  Spassky’s objections had been steamrollered by Marshal Kosygin and his staff.  The Marshal knew what he wanted, and it wasn’t more of the same.  Therefore, after making sure Spassky knew his place, he had removed nearly the entire senior staff, replacing them with young, fresh minds, mirroring what he was doing in the military.  Once again, the world was lining up against the Soviet Union, and Marshal Kosygin meant to put the best minds in position to solve their problems.  In his mind that meant young, fresh viewpoints, uncluttered by devotion to outmoded models and political structures.  And, as he saw it, it was his job to give these young minds direction and focus. 

“As of today, this Design Bureau will be known as Ragnarok Design Bureau.  You will have access to the latest technology and every resource you need.  Our old designs and fleet concepts have failed.  We have been pushed back to the Solar System by alien barbarians that will seek to take everything we have, just as all imperialists and conquers have always opposed us!  The people of Russia are counting on you to give us the ships that will push those aliens back!  The ships that will ensure our freedom and conquer our enemies!  I want new designs, new ideas, new fleet concepts.  First, and foremost, we need ships equipped with the latest technology that we can put on the front lines now.  Not six months from now, not two years from now, but right now!  And then we will need ships to take back our territory and liberate our people!”  He emphasized that by pounding the podium in front of him with his fist.

The assembled engineers, scientists, and bureaucrats began cheering, and he turned and left the stage.  Once out of sight he turned to Spassky.  “I want results.  I don’t care about anything but results.  I’m leaving a team of guards here to keep an eye on things.  This is Major Korolev, their commander.  If anyone slows you down or tries to interfere with your progress you are to inform him, and he will tell me.  And I will clear the way for you.  I will smooth the road for you, but in exchange, you and your people will be expected to produce for us.  Is that understood?”

Bureau head Spassky braced to something close to attention.  “Understood, Marshal!”

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 109, Day 5, Rehorish-controlled Novosibirsk system
The main Rehorish fleet, boasting seventeen heavy cruisers and forty-two smaller ships, had been hovering over the Rehorish-controlled colony in the inner system for the last month.  Now, after receiving orders from the home system, part of the fleet began to move.  Eighteen destroyers left the main body, headed for the warp points in the system leading to other systems no known to contain more Soviet colonies.  The Rehorish were not ready to move their main fleet, yet, as they did not know which set of warp links led to the Soviet inner systems, but these picket groups would establish Rehorish control over the Soviet colonies and watch for Soviet reinforcements.  In addition, one of the two survey fleets assigned to assist the offensive sets out for the Kirov system, to begin a warp point survey, while the second survey fleet remained in the Novosibirsk system to complete the warp point survey there.  Although the Rehorish already had survey information on both systems, they did not trust the Soviet information and wished to double check to ensure that the Soviets had not deleted any critical information. 

Turn 109, Day 5, T’Pau home system
Note: The T’Pau were conquered by the D’Bringi many years ago and have since been set ‘free’, with free being a relative term.  They are required by the D’Bringi Expanse to maintain a defense fleet for their system; however, every ship must quarter a D’Bringi guard force, and the T’Pau Syndicate is expected to pay 1,000 MC every turn to the D’Bringi Expanse to cover D’Bringi expenses involved in ‘assisting’ the T’Pau nation.  The T’Pau have three sexes, female, male, and neuter.  The female and males are completely equal both legally and socially, and always have been.  Neuters are fewer in number than either of the other sexes, and tend to be physically smaller and frailer.  As the only gender that can carry an embryo to term, they are thus sheltered and cared for by the other genders.   The T’Pau are bipedal, and are generally human in appearance.  They are comparatively tall and spindly, with brownish leathery skin and a vestigial fin on their back.  They have an elongated head, with a series of horns extending from the back of their head for several inches.   

Orders for the T’Pau to dispatch their fleet to the front lines arrived several days ago, and the fleet is ready to depart. 

Leutnant-General Morx, CO of the T’Pau Expeditionary Fleet, looked around the bridge of his flagship, the Salamander-001 (the T’Pau did not name their ships, as a rule, instead using class and number to ID their ships).  His gaze lingered on the four D’Bringi guards, heavily armed and armored, standing at the back of the bridge.  He turned before the D’Bringi could become aware of his gaze.  Fleet CO or not, he did not wish to attract undue interest from the overlords.  “Communications, does the fleet report ready?”

The Comms officer looked up from her station.  “All heavy and light cruisers report ready.  Expanse fleet command has transmitted the navigation data.”

Morx’s second in command stepped forward.  “We are ready in all respects, Leutnant-General.  Our ETA to rendezvous with the D’Bringi fleet is fifty days.”

“Very well.  Set our course for the warp point to the Boche system.  Maximum cruising speed.”

Without fanfare, the six heavy cruisers and six light cruisers of the T’Pau fleet set out for the outer system and the warp point out of their system.  As the fleet began moving, Colonel Genr stepped closer to her CO, glancing at the D’Bringi guards as she did so.  Seeing that the guards weren’t paying any particular attention, she leaned in closer.  “I hope this is worth it.”

General Morx kept his gaze forward, away from the guards, and answered in a low voice.  “The overlords have promised us an entire system with two habitable worlds, plus the right to explore beyond that system.  That is not insignificant!”

“Is it worth our deaths, or the deaths we may cause in battle?”

General Morx’s gaze shifted to his second.  “Are you under the impression that we had a choice in this matter?”

His second in command took a deep breath.  “You are right, of course.  I am uneasy, though, at the thought of going off to fight against a race we have never met, and have no quarrel with.”

Morx’s gaze hardened.  “We play the hand we have been dealt.  We will do what we must to defend our people, and ensure their future.  If you cannot do this, I can find another to be my second.”

For a second the two officers stared at each other, then the Colonel straightened and saluted.  “At your orders, general!” 

The general turned back to the screen as his second moved back to her station.  Behind them, the D’Bringi guards watched everything. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 109, Day 11, Kirov system
The Soviet 1st Survey Fleet had been making its best speed across the Kirov system, bound for the warp point to Novosibirsk, where it was ordered to take up guard positions and prepare to ram anything that came through the warp point.  Its officers had been completely replaced by a group of young officer candidates shipped out directly from Earth, meeting up with the former survey fleets in the Smolensk system and turning the ships around to head back towards the front.  These young officers had been selected largely for their fervent desire to serve the state, rather than any particular technical knowledge.  The crews themselves were stripped down to the bare minimum needed to make the ships move and keep them running, and guards shipped out with the officers made sure everyone did what they were supposed to do. 

Fleet command hoped that the group of rammers would slow down the advance of the Rehorish, giving the shipyards time to replace losses suffered so far, and, just possibly, convince the Bjering that the USSR hadn’t abandoned them completely.  That was the intent of those in charge, at any rate, right up until the lone scout escorting the survey fleet detected unknown drive fields on its long-range scanners.  The unknown apparently detected the survey group at the same time, because it changed course to close on the Soviet ships.  This led to a hurried conference between the junior officers who had replaced the survey officers who had previously commanded the group. 

The debate was heated, but short.  None of the officers, all of whom were junior officers selected from the academy for their loyalty and willingness to obey orders, rather than any technical capability or tactical training, could see any alternative but to retreat back to the warp point they had entered from, and establish their guard position there.  That would concede the Kirov system to the Rehorish, but none of their ships were armed.  Their sole advantage would be in ramming a ship that had become addled from transit effects.  Trying to ram enemy ships in open space would be disastrous, and continuing forward to try to establish the guard position at the warp point to Novosibirsk was a non-starter as well.  Retreat was their only option. 

As the Soviet ships turned and began making their way back towards the warp point that led to the Smolensk system, the Rehorish picket group followed them.  Several CD’s were launched from the Rehorish destroyers, headed back to the Novosibirsk system and the main fleet. 

Turn 109, Day 14, Novosibirsk system
The CD’s from the Kirov picket group arrived at the fleet in mid-day and caused immediate reaction.  The encounter in Kirov was not definitive proof that the route to the Soviet home system lay through Kirov to Smolensk, but it was a good indicator.  For now, the fleet would remain in orbit, the Cho-sho Banzan began making plans for his advance on Smolensk, once more information about the warp links on the Soviet frontier were available. 

[Kurt (OP)]

Turn 109, Day 15
Many things happened on this day across known space, sometimes within a few light seconds of each other, sometimes light years apart, but all connected….

In the Moskva system, the Soviet 2nd Survey fleet arrived at the Gagarin colony in the Moskva system.  There, the survey officers were removed from the exploration ships of the fleet and replaced with young and loyal volunteers from the Combined Armed Forces Academy on Earth.  The survey fleet, now renamed Guard Group 2, set out for the warp point to the Leningrad system. 

In the Kirov system, a large group of courier drones from the Soviet Military HQ on Earth slipped into the system and fanned out, heading for all of the colonies still not under Rehorish control.  The Rehorish picket group in the system was busy shadowing the Soviet Guard Group, and was too far away to detect the CD’s when they entered the system.

In the Soviet colonial systems of Jaroslavl, Ivanovo, and Magnitogorsk, Rehorish picket groups consisting of three destroyers each settled into orbit over the colonies and demanded their surrender.  All three governors surrendered, as they had no troops or defense, and saw no alternatives. 

In the Tomsk system, the Soviet Governor received a message from the sensor buoy set up to watch the warp point to Kirov.  The Bjering fleet had returned to the system.  This was unexpected, and alarming, as the last report from the combined fleets had indicated no action from the Rehorish.  Shortly after the message from the buoy reported the arrival of the fleet, the Bjering ambassador requested an audience with the Soviet ambassador and the Governor.  The Bjering Ambassador then explained the events in the Kirov system, and the Bjering contention that the Soviet leadership had broken the alliance and abandoned their colonies.  The Soviet Ambassador was shocked, but adamant that their leaders would never do such a thing.  The Governor, on the other hand, was troubled and feared for the safety of his people.  The Bjering Ambassador offered them an alternative, though.  The Bjering leader, Admiral Alpha, who was aboard the fleet now in their system, had been greatly angered by what he viewed as the perfidy of the Soviet leadership.  He had cooled off, though, during the voyage back to the Tomsk system, and in doing so he had realized that the Russian colonists were no more to blame for their leader’s actions than one of his officers would be for the orders he issued.  Therefore, he offered to defend the Russian colony in Tomsk, as well as any other colonies in the surrounding systems from the Rehorish.  It seemed that Admiral Alpha had had a revelation on the trip back.  The Bjering and the Rehorish had never met.  Unless the Soviets had told the Rehorish of the Bjering, he was fairly sure the Rehorish did not know his race existed.  Now, with the mutual defense treaty broken, if the Bjering did not attack the Rehorish, the Rehorish would have no reason to attack in return.  Or, at the very least, they would hesitate to do so while fighting the Russians.  Given that the Rehorish knew nothing of his race, how would they be able to dispute his statement that the colony there was Bjering, not Soviet?

The Soviet Ambassador was against everything the Bjering said, and claimed that if the treaty was broken it was the Bjering that had broken it.  After that he stormed out of the meeting in a rage.  The Governor, on the other hand, was more receptive.  In the end he agreed to allow the Bjering to make contact with the Rehorish if they entered the system, and to support their claim that the colony was a member of the Bjering Consolidate, if it came to that.  He declined to make any other commitments until the situation became clearer, though. 

Once the Bjering were on their way to the warp point, the governor contacted the Soviet fleet detachment that was assigned to guard the warp point to the Bjering home system.  The detachment was small, just three destroyers and two automated weapons control ships, but it was the only naval detachment in the system, or indeed anywhere in the colonial territories if the Bjering were to be believed.  The governor would have been more concerned about the Soviet naval presence, given what he was planning, but he knew the Polhovnik commanding the destroyer group personally.  The man was reasonable, and would almost certainly realize that his only hope of keeping his destroyers in space was to work with the colonists. 

The governor proved to be right, and the three destroyers and two automated warfare ships agreed to move to defensive positions over the colony. 

With the tentative agreement in hand, the Bjering fleet settled into position around the warp point to the Kirov system.  They remained a respectful distance away, as they had no wish to provoke combat as soon as a Rehorish ship came through, but instead assumed a position in between the warp point and the inner system.