The First Battle of Radash and Skirmish in Catherine's Star
First Imperial Offensive
10 October 2168 - 1 December 2168
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
- George Santayana
Begin Part One
Prior to the horrific events sparking the war with the Radash Menace, the Imperial Department of the Navy had begun to upgrade and expand the standing fleet. Although no one for certain could have expected the unfolding events, those at the highest echelons set the stage for our success. Specifically, a new design of Battleship and Corvette were ready and already in production. The Von Marsen class Battleship HMS Bismarck was retooled to the new Kaiserlicher Stolz class, as well as three more put into service. Likewise, efforts to replace the Essex class Corvette with the larger, albiet faster, Hermes class Corvette. Finally, the Eoric Franz der Große class Carrier was designed along with a compliment of fighters and bombers, the Landsknecht and Voulgier respectively. At the time of the offensive, two Carriers with full fighter accompaniment were ready for service.
Kaiserlicher Stolz class Battleship:Kaiserlicher Stolz class Battleship 20,000 tons 564 Crew 4,216.8 BP TCS 400 TH 1,600 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 8-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 125 Sensors 40/30/0/0 DCR 33 PPV 77.17
Maint Life 4.19 Years MSP 2,213 AFR 246% IFR 3.4% 1YR 202 5YR 3,030 Max Repair 240 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 200
Capitaine de vaisseau Control Rating 5 BRG AUX ENG CIC FLG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Halbach-Friedberg Aeromarine Modular Plasma System 100 (5) Power 1600 Fuel Use 42.43% Signature 320 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 3,853,000 Litres Range 81.7 billion km (236 days at full power)
Estrup & Vester Armoury 30cm Heavy Cannon Armament (6x3) Range 320,000km TS: 5,000 km/s Power 15-4 RM 50,000 km ROF 20
Estrup & Vester Armoury 20cm Repeating Cannon (
Range 200,000km TS: 5,000 km/s Power 3-4 RM 50,000 km ROF 5
Quad Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Light Kinetic System Turret (2x12) Range 30,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Point Defence Targetting System (1) Max Range: 12,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Estrup & Vester Armoury Repeating Cannon Control System (2) Max Range: 160,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 94 88 81 75 69 62 56 50 44 38
Estrup & Vester Armoury Heavy Cannon Targetting System (2) Max Range: 320,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Wollesen-Lindgren K-S Stellarator Reactor (3) Total Power Output 68.9 Exp 7%
Lundin Electronics Industries M2 Command Search Sensors (1) GPS 42000 Range 117.1m km Resolution 200
Lundin Electronics Industries Command Thermal Sensors (1) Sensitivity 40 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 50m km
Lundin Electronics Industries Command Passive Sensors (1) Sensitivity 30 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 43.3m km
Hermes class Corvette:Hermes class Corvette 7,500 tons 136 Crew 954.5 BP TCS 150 TH 960 EM 0
6400 km/s Armour 2-34 Shields 0-0 HTK 46 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 5 PPV 34.24
Maint Life 3.22 Years MSP 497 AFR 90% IFR 1.2% 1YR 72 5YR 1,084 Max Repair 240 MSP
Cryogenic Berths 200
Corvettencapitän Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Halbach-Friedberg Aeromarine Modular Plasma System 150 (2) Power 960 Fuel Use 116.91% Signature 480 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 2,703,000 Litres Range 55.5 billion km (100 days at full power)
Quad Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Light Kinetic System Turret (4x12) Range 12,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Point Defence Targetting System (1) Max Range: 12,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lundin Electronics Industries Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 24 Range 6.8m km MCR 609.3k km Resolution 1
Eoric Franz der Große class Carrier:Eoric Franz der Große class Carrier 30,000 tons 487 Crew 3,803.6 BP TCS 600 TH 1,920 EM 0
3200 km/s Armour 6-86 Shields 0-0 HTK 148 Sensors 40/30/0/0 DCR 45 PPV 8.56
Maint Life 4.04 Years MSP 2,481 AFR 288% IFR 4.0% 1YR 243 5YR 3,643 Max Repair 168.72 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 9,000 tons Magazine 483 Cryogenic Berths 1,000
Capitaine de vaisseau Control Rating 6 BRG AUX ENG CIC FLG PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 180 Morale Check Required
Halbach-Friedberg Aeromarine Modular Plasma System 100 (6) Power 1920 Fuel Use 42.43% Signature 320 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 5,766,000 Litres Range 81.5 billion km (294 days at full power)
Quad Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Light Kinetic System Turret (1x12) Range 12,000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Saint-Pierre-LeClerc Kinetics Point Defence Targetting System (1) Max Range: 12,000 km TS: 16,000 km/s 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Altermann & Werner TNM-1 Havoc Bomber ASM (120) Speed: 29,600 km/s End: 2.2m Range: 3.9m km WH: 9 Size: 4 TH: 236/142/71
Lundin Electronics Industries Missile Detection Sensor (1) GPS 24 Range 6.8m km MCR 609.3k km Resolution 1
Lundin Electronics Industries Command Thermal Sensors (1) Sensitivity 40 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 50m km
Lundin Electronics Industries Command Passive Sensors (1) Sensitivity 30 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 43.3m km
Strike Group
15x Landsknecht Interceptor Speed: 13368 km/s Size: 5.98
15x Voulgier Bomber Speed: 13368 km/s Size: 5.98
Landsknecht class Interceptor:Landsknecht class Interceptor 300 tons 15 Crew 103.8 BP TCS 6 TH 80 EM 0
13368 km/s Armour 2-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 1.65
Maint Life 6.16 Years MSP 21 AFR 7% IFR 0.1% 1YR 1 5YR 14 Max Repair 40 MSP
Capitäleutnant Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 0.6 days Morale Check Required
Wijnschenk Engines Limited Small Craft Thrust System (1) Power 80 Fuel Use 1325.83% Signature 80 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 17,000 Litres Range 0.77 billion km (16 hours at full power)
Volkert-Venner Dual 10cm Landsknecht Cannon (1x2) Range 48,000km TS: 13,368 km/s Power 1-4 RM 50,000 km ROF 5
Volkert-Venner Landsknecht Targetting Computer (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 15,000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Volkert-Venner Interceptor Stellarator Fusion Core (1) Total Power Output 1.5 Exp 7%
Volkert-Venner Interceptor Missile Tracking System (1) GPS 5 Range 3m km MCR 272.5k km Resolution 1
Voulgier class Bomber:Voulgier class Bomber 300 tons 7 Crew 67.5 BP TCS 6 TH 80 EM 0
13368 km/s Armour 2-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 2.4
Maint Life 6.18 Years MSP 14 AFR 7% IFR 0.1% 1YR 1 5YR 9 Max Repair 40 MSP
Magazine 16
Capitäleutnant Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 0.6 days Morale Check Required
Wijnschenk Engines Limited Small Craft Thrust System (1) Power 80 Fuel Use 1325.83% Signature 80 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 19,000 Litres Range 0.86 billion km (17 hours at full power)
Altermann & Werner Havoc Missile Pod (4) Missile Size: 4 Hangar Reload 100 minutes MF Reload 16 hours
Altermann & Werner Havoc Missile Targetting System (1) Range 37.2m km Resolution 150
Altermann & Werner TNM-1 Havoc Bomber ASM (4) Speed: 29,600 km/s End: 2.2m Range: 3.9m km WH: 9 Size: 4 TH: 236/142/71
Engagement Forces:Imperial Forces:2x CV Eoric Franz der Große
4x BB Kaiserlicher Stolz
9x BB Von Marsen
6x CA Colmar
19x CL Raleigh
27x DD Bavaria
14x CT Hermes
8x CT Essex
30x FTI Landsknecht
30x BM Voulgier
Confirmed Radash Combat Forces:- Ordered by known Tonnage
21x XX Ard - 19kt
18x XX Leathphingin - 13kt
26x XX Tobac - 12.65kt
19x XX Bad - 12.5kt
33x XX Hulaga - 9.3kt
4x XX Soitheach - 6.65kt
19x XX Fraoch - 6.3kt
26x XX Orda - 6.3kt
13x XX Tamoch - 6.3kt
Following the tragic murdering of Imperial citizens aboard the HMS Anthony Jenkinson and HMS Alexandre de Serpa Pinto, the empire was up in arms. Scans showed for a fact that the first vessels contacted all contained diplomatic modules - a clever ruse used to lure in our vessels. Before any meaningful breakthrough in the language barrier could be made, our citizens were engulfed in nuclear hellfire. This atrocity, this impudence, this audacious assault on humanity would not go unpunished. Immediately, the Emperor went before the Volkssenat to implore the dignitaries to symbolically declare war on this alien menace. Obviously this measure was more of a rallying cry than any sort of formal state of affairs - how could one truly declare war on a different species light years away without any knowledge of their language? Nonetheless, war was indeed declared. All across the Imperium citizens flocked to the banner, ready to answer their nation - nay - their species' call.
Contre-Amiral Martina Humbold, as acting senior officer of the 1st Imperial Fleet, devised the battleplan and order-of-battle for the fast approaching offensive. The fleet was divided into 3 task groups. The primary task group, under the command Capitaine de vaisseau Annelise Bendix aboard the Pride of the Fleet HMS Bismarck, was to be the main staying force of the flotilla. Contained within its ranks would be both carriers and the lion's share of the heaviest ships and cruiser support. Specifically, 3 BB Kaiserlicher Stolz and 5 BB Von Marsen. This group was far slower than the rest of the fleet, due to the carriers. As such, the secondary task group was organized around both speed and damage. The plan was for first engagements to revolve around this group's ability, under the command of Capitaine de vaisseau Vasily Ozerov aboard the BB Von Marsen HMS Zähringen, to both scout out engagements and either bait them into unfavorable conditions or contain enough firepower to defeat smaller enemy groups in their own right. This tasking contained several battleships, but few cruisers. 1 BB Kaiserlicher Stolz and 4 BB Von Marsen. Lastly, a support tasking primarily containing point-defence systems and corvettes was to float between the two, keeping eyes on the enemy and bolstering PD when needed.
The offensive order was given in mid-September with first contact being made on 10 October in the Catherine's Star system. The following logs are submitted into official record:
Monday, 10 October 2168
"Contre-Amiral Humbold to HMS Bismarck, you are clear to proceed across the jump."
"Roger Fleet Command. Flotilla in position, see you on the other side.
Fleet! Prepare to cross Catherine's Star Gateway."
"Ma'am it's an ambush! They're waiting for us!"
"HMS Insubres taking missile fire!"
"Fire at will!"
Upon crossing into the system, the fleet was beset by Radash strike group that was likely guarding the gateway anticipating a retaliation for their trespass. Most of the enemy forces fled, proving our first concerns correct. Their ships are categorically faster than ours, with only our corvettes truly able to keep in contact.
Lead carrier HMS Insubres was targeted by several missile salvos before our point defence systems could come online post jump. Fortunately for the crew and fleet, she only suffered scores of armor damage. Despite their greater speed, our enemy seems to either not have great weapon control speed, skill, or simply produce inaccurate missiles. Either way, the Insubres' armor was reduced to 57%, but held strong, before our weapons could respond. What happened next was no less than wholesale slaughter. The Insubres and Arverni decided against sorties due to close proximity with the enemy, but the repeating cannons of the Kaiserlich Stolz Battleships, alongside the Bavaria Swarmer Rocket salvos resulted in a catastrophic loss for the enemy. Within the hour, dozens of crippled and destroyed hulks marked the jump point into the system with zero loss of combat capability for the empre.
"Fleet re-organize to task groups. Hunt down this xeno scum."
After the dust had settled and our enemy was in retreat, CAP Bendix divided the fleet and gave chase to the stragglers. A smaller group of missile capable ships held half of a billion kilometers away so that their comrades could flee. They were summarily wiped from existence within a few hours. Their missiles were all shot down, save three that barely scratched the paint off of the HMS Bismarck. The Secondary Task Group was able to catch up to two Radash vessels 19 hours into the skirmish, approx. a quarter of the way to the Radash jump gate. One salvo of missiles from her Destroyers and two volleys from the heavy cannons disabled both vessels. Two more cannon volleys ended in their destruction. These two vessels likely were support ships as post-engagement scans showed their engines to be civilian in nature. If they truly were civilians they picked a horrible day to travel near hostile space. But then again, these creatures murdered our people. "An eye for an eye," proclaimed Ozerov after receiving the scans.
The support group tailed the surviving enemy combat ships but was unable to engage them before they crossed into their territory. Bendix ordered the fleet to gather within missile range of the jump gate but not to cross until all ships were positioned and accounted for. One day into the offensive totaled zero losses for the empire and approx. 290,000 tons of Radash losses. A proud moment for humanity to be sure.
Hoping to catch a possible reaction force by surprise at the jump gate, the fleet held position at the gate for the time being.
Thursday, 20 October 2168
"Support tasking prepare to jump. Secondary tasking follow at one minute, and Primary tasking prepare to follow suit. It is time to continue the fight. All Imperial forces prepare for battle!"
The fleet arrived at the jump gate on 12 October without any further engagements. Hoping to use the enemy's tactic against them, Bendix held the fleet at the gateway for several days. During this time, several salvage and freighter ships were ambushed and destroyed. However, no military ships proceeded through. Either our foe is cowardly or simply cares little for the lives of their people. Whichever is the truth matters little, the time had come to proceed on.
Learning from the first engagement, Bendix reasoned that no matter which ships crossed first into Radash they would likely be ambushed again. Preferring to not risk the already damaged armour of the Insubres again, she elected to send the faster corvette dominated group across first. Even without their PD systems operational post-jump, their speed may at least help their survivability. Surprisingly, no ambush occurred and the fleet managed to cross without incident.
Whether the ambush was delayed, never planned, or the enemy simply committed another tactical blunder, our fleet was fully combat ready and organized by the time we made contact with combat vessels in Radash.
Untercapitän zur See Gunnar Markussen, at the helm of CA HMS Baltimore of the Support Tasking, led the charge against another missile strike group of the enemy. The enemy struck first, firing dozens of salvos against Markussen. Our corvettes proved their worth as over 200 missiles were shot down before any were able to connect. 20 small, likely anti-missile, missiles struck the Baltimore. This, again, caused no more than an irritation only reducing armour integrity to 94%. In response, the Hellhound Cruise missiles led by Swarmer Missile volleys proved to be more than this strike group could handle. As theorized, the enemy missiles were primarily designed to target missiles as the already approaching missiles changed targets and destroyed many of our missiles.
The successive waves of layered missiles was highly effective, destroying two enemy vessels that were not present in the previous engagement, as well as a missile ship within a few minutes of contact. Within the hour, the prolonged missile battle ended with several more enemy ships destroyed before retreating. At the end of the engagement, eight more Radash ships were reduced to rubble with the worst they could dish out was reducing armour integrity of the Baltimore to 80% and the CA HMS Rochester to 84%. Once again, a resounding victory for the imperium.
Bendix ordered Markussen to regroup with the main fleet following his successes. Ozerov moved his group into the gap to cover the withdrawal of Markussen should any Radash forces come out of the ether to block their movement. Following the regrouping, Bendix examined the planetary charts that the martyred surveyors were able to transmit before their demise. A successive movement towards what we believed to be a large population center, possibly even a regional capital or homeworld. The plan was to move at 500m kilometer brackets, starting 1b kilometers outside the outermost planet, scouring every celestial body for targets and information along the way.
Friday/Saturday, 21-22 October 2168
"Capitaine Ozerov, proceed with your final approach to Rendezvous Point Alpha 3. Untercapitän Markussen full speed to Alpha 4 and prepare an area screen."
"Roger Capitaine Bendix, Second Group ready."
"Roger Capitaine Bendix, Support Group en route."
Late into the evening on Friday, 21 October, the fleet had reached the first rendezvous just beyond 1 billion kilometers outside of Radash-A XI. Support tasking moved north, Primary tasking center, and Secondary south. All three groupings would overlap their main sensors, forming a net of sight to catch out any approaching enemy vessels.
The largest to date enemy strike group was first spotted by Ozerov and the Second group. Orders were given to approach the enemy just outside of missile range. Up until this point, the enemy had not fired upon our vessels until friendly forces were already inside of Swarmer Rocket range. Either their sensors were weaker than ours, or their missiles had insufficient ranges. Given the nature of missiles discovered so far, Bendix and the rest of the command staff believed the former to be the most likely situation.
Swarmer rockets have an effective range of just outside of 3 million kilometers, with the larger Hellhound Cruise Missiles reaching just outside of 2 million kilometers. This distance allowed probing of enemy defenses and ample time to target any incoming salvos before deciding to approach or stay at range. With these parameters in mind, Ozerov continued on towards the approaching fleet. Curiously, the enemy seemed to know all of Ozerov's movements, ebbing and flowing just beyond effective range of missiles but not firing any of their own.
Bendix ordered Markussen to lead the Support tasking on an approach vector that would pin in the enemy fleet and force them to engage one or both friendly groups. Before Markussen's forces could arrive in support of Ozerov, the enemy made their move. Utilizing their greater speed, they hard-lined towards Ozerov at a rate faster than the flanking speeds of Markussen. Before Ozerov could react, the first missiles of the enemy were detected on scans. The first volley was obliterated easily, as most of the missiles were slower than previous engagements. Ozerov rightly feared that many these were of a greater magnitude previously encountered. The second salvo was mostly shredded, but some missiles found their mark.
The Kaiserlich Stolz class BB Hindenburg was pelted by smaller missiles, some 30 of them, resulting in armour integrity dropping to 94%. One of her screens, the Essex class CT Duperre, shot down most incoming missiles save 4 smaller missiles. The Duperre was reduced to 93% integrity. Unfortunately, one larger missile made it through the point defences. Hitting an already weakened section of armor, the missile penetrated through the first layer before detonating, causing a shockwave that knocked out one of her two quad kinetic turrets and cracked two of her fuel resevoirs. Stunned by this, Corvettencapitän Olivia Rhodes was unable to even assess the loss of crew and fuel before the third salvo of missiles arrived. Without her guns fully operational, the Duperre was shredded. One of the missiles struck her engines and caused secondary explosions, resulting in the first Imperial Naval casualties of the offensive. CRV Rhodes managed to escape along with 32 of the original 136 crew members before the ship exploded in hellfire.
The fourth Radash Salvo was able to hit the Hermes class Corvette Frondeur with a dozen small missiles, resulting in integrity loss to 81%. Fortunately, the Frondeur did not suffer the same debilitating shockwave as the Duperre. This luck would not last long with the Frondeur being overwhelmed by further missile fire, alongside her sister-ship the Le Fringant. Both ships suffered softening attacks of smaller missiles followed by killing blows from the heavier missiles. Neither commanding officers survived the destructing of their vessels, with the Le Fringant's bridge being destroyed by the softening blows.
Imperial losses were not felt without vengeance. The enemy may have followed our successive missile salvo strategy, but they were not as proficient in it. Secondary group was able to bait the enemy into coming with missile range of both Swarmer and Hellhound, resulting in equal vessel losses but at a higher tonnage. With the three corvettes lost, the Imperial casualties amounted to 18,000 tons. The Radash had lost nearly double this.
Realizing their mistake, or perhaps part of their strategy, they began to pull back hoping to withdraw out of our range. Two more of their vessels were destroyed in the withdrawal, with equally two more Imperial corvettes meeting their demise. CT Fanion and Detroyat were consigned to oblivion. Not wanting to let the Radash escape, and desiring vengeance for the loss of human life, Ozerov gave chase.
"An eye for an eye."
Knowing well that the enemy would outmatch the speed of the capitals, but only just stay ahead of the light cruisers and screens, Ozerov ordered the capitals to detach while the rest kept the enemy within missile range. Meanwhile, Markussen was nearing the relief range.
Missile salvos continued on with casualties beginning to turn against the Empire. Corvettes Fanfare and Elan fell without any Radash losses in exchange.
Realizing his mistake, Ozerov ordered the screens to return to the capitals. With the Fanfare and Elan gone, there were no more dedicated point-defense units left in the Secondary tasking. The enemy, knowing this well, decided to close in on the tasking. The previously unknown ships from earlier unveiled their weapons system. In a rapid succession of laser fire, the HMS Hindenburg's armour was whittled down to 85% integrity within a mere minute.
Markussen was five minutes from relieving Ozerov, with Bendix also moving to support the tasking.
End Part One