RP: 4th Fleet (NSN) [4th Fleet/Gartagens] The battle for Ether

[Zack]

ON> NSS Hornet

"This simulation," Drei explained, the command table in front of the garts sparking to life, showing the image of a barren star systems. "Covers what we've seen of the NMX so far. If you are that eager to get into combat you should probably get a chance to try your skills before risking your soldiers lives."

While the NSS Hive was busy unloading combat drones that could be attached to gart ships, the NSS Hornet was hosting a small get together with a few of the Garts who had been a little to eager to jump into combat. Drei was hoping to show them that they stood a better chance if they took their time and waited instead of rushing in. Wazu had warned her about their 'warrior spirt' and this seemed the logical way to promote a course of caution.

"War games is the best way to get us familiar with an enemy we know little about." Drei responded. "Many of out commanders wish to simply rush in and put their warrior spirit to the test." She continued. Solar Commander Hujin considers this a joke, but Commander Tam is taking these exercises quite seriously. We intend to send the recordings of these war games to every ship in the fleet so that they may practice similar combat scenarios."

"Eager to get into combat is not a term I'd use. We would prefer to leave well enough alone, but your people have it on good authority that we should at the very least be prepared."

As she spoke Four of the Fleet's cruisers were docked with the Hive to be equipped with the drones. Gian, Commander Hujin, and Tam were both onboard the NSS Hornet, waiting to see what scenarios and situations drei had for them.

"I've rendered a few of your ships against similarly sized NMX craft based on a model that we encountered at Higaflan. I will be letting you command these starships while I run operations onboard the NMX starships."

The display would blink away from the star system which only had one planet of interest, a gas giant with an orbiting mining station, and instead show five Gartagen Union starships in transit to the system via hyperspace fold. "When you are ready, you may begin." She offered.

Hujin stepped up. "Commander Tam, you are in command of the D'jehendrezade." She said sternly. Gian stood back and silently watched Shara's defender's do their jobs. Tam pointed out "Set specifications to this craft to match those on the D'jehendrezade, Drei."

Hujin ordered the course held, and suddenly the five Mk1 Cruiser's completed their in system jump. The simulated craft enter the system in a simple line formation. "All Ship's scramble fighter wings. " She said looking up at the simulated scanner. "I want full scanner sweeps of the system, D'jehdrezade, give me all intel on that station in orbit of the gas giant. I want those fighters to organize into three groups of ssix squadrons."

"Keep weapons at the ready, counter measures and f2s."

The NMX had a handful of battlepods scattered about the system, in a typical orbit around the star. One would already be heading for the Gartagan battle group as it arrived. The main NMX battlegroup consisted of five escort class starships, four of which were full of battlepods. The moment that the Gart ships entered the system they would already be making their own hyperspace jump, flashing out of existence for a few moments.

The starships would then appear in a staggered sphere formation, all of them facing 10 degrees to the left of the Gart starships, only half a light second away from the garts at the 'end' of their line so that the Gart ships would be positioned in such a way as to block each other’s fields of fire while the NMX starships would be able to turn most of their weapons towards their targets.

They would then unleash a volley of anti-starship fire towards the closest Gart ship while launching their battlepods. The few anti-fighter turrets that were unable to take aim at the Gart ships would begin spitting out beams towards the sides and rear of the ships, trying to build up a pattern of weapon fire that would discourage the garts from jumping to those locations.

The destroyers upon making contact immediately began maneuvering their formation, and launched their f2 drones. so that they would be able to bring their weapons to bare against the incoming enemy destroyers. The enemy had gotten the drop on them, but the closest Gartagen ship released a defensive cloud into the cone of fire. Coupled with the fact that it had maneuvered to avoid taking the brunt of enemy fire, it did take a brutal set of hits. The Cruiser was now dead in the water, suffering massive hull breaches and power failures across all decks. The only thing that still seemed to function was the surviving drones that swiftly detached from the craft.

As the f2 drones activated, they fired beams into their respective ships, activating their FTL drives. The f2 then activated their own FTL drives and jumped to with in point blank range of the enemy cruisers.

The Sundancer squadrons who had been abandoned went into action as they moved to intercept the incoming battle pod squadrons. They are at point blank range so each fighter set their missiles to the cruisers and fired them off in one solid volly.

The Gartagen Cruiser's did not jump very far however. it had been preprogrammed into the drones to make them get behind the enemy fleet. The four remaining cruisers winked into existence, and immediately open fire with their XRASER cannons into the rear of the NMX destroyer formation

As the NMX starship's shields started absorbing XASER fire, their weapons turned to track the Gartagan ships, this time splitting their firepower between three of the remaining starships as their battlepods turned towards the last starship. They were going to destroy their enemy regardless of losses.

With the starships still at point blank range, it would take only fractions of a second for the weapons fire to reach the gart ships. At the same time the battlepods that had been launched would use their own FTL systems to close the distance with the 4th, so far untouched, Gartagan starship. They would appear at point blank range and begin unloading cannon and missile fire into the ship. All of the pods remained in the forward quadrant of gart ship, where its weapons were already targeting the NMX Destroyers...

...Which would be able to turn on their interdiction fields for a few moments as Drone after Drone impacted their shields, which flickered and shut down one by one, letting the drones slam into the sides of the ships, blowing them to pieces long before the nuclear missiles arrived.

As the NMX returned fire, the Ablative armor on the three craft were struck, and managed to Turn back some of the damage before failing and letting the damage through to the armor. The first Cruiser was rocked and began suffering hull breaches and massive power failures, and began drivting as the crew struggled to get primary power back on.. The second cruiser Had advanced into their cone of fire as a sacrificial lamb in an effort to save the rest of the group. The force of the damage seemingly ripped the vessel in half, with the majority of her crew being killed in the spectacular explosion. The Third suffered medium level damage thanks in part to the sacrifice of its sister ship, and formed up with Hujin's command ship and the D'hendrezade. They deactivated the missiles, and began moving in to assist the protecting the fourth cruiser which was crippled.

The remaining drones that had not suicided in immediately turned around, and hit their engines up to .5c in an effort to aid the Sundancer squadrons in fending off the Battlepods.

HE missiles and XRASER cannons began striking the battle pods as the Sundancers desperately tried to defend the fallen MK1 Cruiser. They seemed un stoppable until some of the Gartagen Pilots exited the frey, and dumped a massive sand cloud from their mini sand casters.

Ultimately, the Gart ships and drones would be too late, only able to react to the FTL assult from the battlepods that were tearing into their target at only a few hundred kilometers distance. Without their own FTL systems they wouldn't even be able to get in the way before their weapons fire reached its target. By this point the Battlepods would turn towards the fighters and drones, spreading out and beginning their attack but it didn't really matter. Without capital ships the smaller fighters and drones were stranded while the NMX merely needed to wait for their next batch of reinforcements to arrive.

Drei looked a bit disappointed, "I am certain I can improve upon my NMX AI program." She said out loud, "That result was a bit disappointing, they should have activated their interdiction field earlier."

Hujin smirked. "Ambushed, and caught off guard, they will still beat us in numbers." Tam merely shrugged. "Mutual destruction is not the goal we need to strive for." he said looking up to Drei "The harder the A.I. the better, because in real combat we will only get one shot to win. Their ships are faster then our own, but our weapons can still hurt them, this is good knowledge to have."

"As I am sure you are aware, even dust particles moving fast enough pack enough power to destroy even heavily armored starships. This ship has less armor than most in its size class because of the sheer difficulty in using armor to protect against attacks."

"So our sand cannons used in mass would prove a viable weapon against targets of this nature?" Tam said stroking his blue chin. "Fascinating."

"I was under the impression that was the reason you employed sand cannons?" Drei asked.

"Typically we use the sand cannons to act as a screen for enemy strike craft, missiles, and space debris. It has been found that setting a cloud in the face of enemy fire can scatter, and filter it out, however when doing that it does the same to our weapons as well." Tam said. "Typically that tactic is used when defending a planet or a damaged ship."

"I see." Drei said, "First off, you should be using Carbon or Boron rather than a silicon based projectile. The higher vaporization point per energy makes these materials a superior choice. Also, for the same amount of mass, it is generally better to use a solid material for protection in the form of a whipple shield. Pre-scattered sand might do some damage to a missile but it would be ineffective against a laser."

"Experimentation with Carbon is being conducted for the Sand Cannons. As far as a whipple shield. A device was invented, just never utilized. Too specialized." Hujin said calmly.

"There are over 30 types of that shield being used to protect this starship. They are highly effective against extreme velocity impacts and size factors are not an issue with space based hardware." Drei explained, "Now, would you like to try again?"

END>

 

[Zack]

Gartagan Side:
"I would recommend against the course of action." Drei would say, "The Hornet will accompany you if you choose, but I strongly believe that you are not yet ready to handle this kind of operation. It will likely result in heavy losses."

Hujin stood on the bridge of her cruiser. "Then why did Wazu send us on this suicide mission, Drei. Even Tam has his apprehensions." Gian Stood looking at the holographic display. "I recommend we accept the NSS hornet's aid...." She said looking at the screen with a troubled expression. "Wazu sent us all the way out here to aid his people...to show them we are worthy of being allies."

Hujin smiled brightly. "I have no problem dying for my world. If that is what it takes, I will show The leader and the Nepleslian MY worth." She walked around the holographic display that was showing her the image her fleet in hyperspace.

"He wanted you to be ready first, and that requires additional time to prepare. Rushing in is not required of you at this point." Drei protested. "You should not be so eager to get into combat."

"Eager? The best way to test our selves is with our very lives. I will lead these warriors into battle. your enemies have you so afraid, but we will make them fear us. If not, then we die with honor, and take as many of these creatures down with us."

"Drei, Please have the hornet ready to take incoming fire." Hujin would say in a very curt voice.

"This is not how you conduct a war." Drei said calmly...

"Yes, you conduct a war by active defense, and posturing. Drei, rather then complaining, perhaps you can give us some ideas of what to expect in this system." Hujin said in a very controlled tone of voice.

-----
NMX Command Ship>

"Sir!" One of the commander's subordinates said, the dark tan neko looking to get his attention before presenting her reports. "Here are the mining reports. We still have not been able to locate the NDI factories on the planet. Most of the indigenous population has either been captured or destroyed however." As requested, the Neko had taken off her uniform and folded it neatly by the door of the bridge. It had been made clear to her that she was unworthy of being part of the NMX organization and wasn't to appear 'holding rank' in front of the fleet's commander. Her head remained tilted downward, facing the floor as she held out the datapad in front of her with the results of the last survey.

Master Commander Izmarhk'resh shifted his gaze lazily from his console to the Neko who had spoken. She was a lovely specimen, as they all were, but her darker shades added a hint of ... exoticism. No, not exotic. Izmarhk'resh played with his vocabulary and finally settled on calling this one more unique since she stood amongst the lighter coloured of her kin. He extended a tentacle to take the datapad, keeping his gaze on the Neko. She was an Elite Technician. So she would, presumably, have some intelligence. A trait which the Master Commander found to be all too often lacking in his fleet officers. At least, intelligence which he respected.

"It is a start, Elite Technician Gahze. There is no rush to find the trapped enemy. We need only flush them from their hole when we are ready," the Master Commander said evenly. He was not interested in the mining report. It was a routine thing. He was far more interested in the Neko before him.

"The Fleet controls the planetary orbit and space surrounding it. We have twenty-four squadrons of warships in this vicinity with another thirteen patrolling this system, should the enemy decide to attack. Are you confident of our victory here?"

"No sir," She responded calmly, keeping her head down. "If Yamatai decides to attack it is likely they will bring overwhelming numbers of starships with them. In such a situation it would be better to avoid combat with them and return at a later time when their main battleforce has moved on.

The Nepleslians will likely use their FTL weapon systems to strike from afar. We will need to mass our ships interdiction fields to try and compensate. They do have a tendency of withdrawing once their starships are in danager though."

Izmarhk'resh made the NMX equivalent of a snort. She did have the intelligence befitting her rank after all. "Well said, Elite Technician. Your grasp of tactics is commendable, if simple. We would have enough force should a Yamataian fleet or a Nepleslian fleet arrive. But it does not seem likely that the Nepleslians would force an engagement at the moment. They are still attempting to overcome their old hatred of the Yamataians. The Yamataians are still reeling from our engagements at North Gate and Yamatai.

"Which is why I have positioned the Fleet thusly. Our capital ships occupy the center, like great lords, protected by the smaller vessels, their loyal retainers. We have a quarter of battlepods patrolling the inner system, screening us from any surprise assault. Our shields are up and we can activate the interdiction fields to swiftly deal with any threat. Further out, our scouts can quickly send us warning should an enemy force arrived. Based upon the size, we can meet the enemy or, as you say, withdraw. I do not, however, think the latter will be necessary. We should soon find the NDI factories. There are only so many places upon that rock where they can find." He extended a tentacle to her chin and lifted her face so he might gaze upon it.

The Neko had a lean face, and golden eyes that contrasted with her well tanned face. "Of course sir," She responded, her perfectly trimmed body on display for the commander and his entire bridge crew.

The Combined fleet then very suddenly winked into existence In the middle of the system, roughly three AU from the planet. The ships were of unknown origin, but it was clear they were powering up weapons, and thousands of craft were detaching from the hulls of their ships.

"Most of their fleet is in orbit of the home planet." The XO said. Hujin growled "Drones, Target their largest ships, I want them out of this fight!" " Almost immediately Half the drones from the fleet detached from their mother ships simultaneously detached and fired up their FTL drives. “Commander Tam is stating that we are clearly out numbered Commander, we have enemy vectors all over this system.”“Keep the fleet into a tight formation, I want Half of our fighters in space, and the other half on stand by. Ready Sand caster for in coming pods and missiles. Prime all weapons for incoming FTL jumps on all sides.” Gartagen Sundancers exited into space, targets began getting acquired. The battle plan set in play by Solar Commander hujin began to unfold. The fleet formation very irregular sphere, with each ship exposed to incoming fire, but able to return it kind if needed.

Almost immediately after the fleet had jumped into the system. All the drones from the fleet detached from their mother ships simultaneously. Half of the drones fired their beams into the other half which activated their FTL drives. Drones did a short jump into point blank range at the enemy fleet. A few moments later the f2 drones would be firing their beams into the NMX fleet preventing them from activating their FTL drives to leap ontop of the Gartagen fleet. The drones would then initiate their suicide runs into the largest Targets they could find.

The NSS Hornet would deploy all of its drones, as well as activate its own interdiction field, looking to stop the NMX from getting too close to the Gartagan ships. Its F2 Drones would remain in a sphere around their mother ship, facing outward in all directions with their own interdiction beams at the ready.

"COMMANDER!" an NMX Bridge officer yelled out, "NUMEROUS CONTACTS! ENEMY SHIPS HAVE ARRIVED IN SYSTEM!" Gahze looked over at the commander, "We should group our interdiction fields for maximum effectiveness. We'll only have moments before the first wave of FTL attacks arrive."

Izmarhk'resh nodded. "It seems I spoke too soon. Hopefully, the only mistake I shall make today. Activate the interdiction fields for maximum effectiveness. Make sure to prevent anything from reaching our ships. If a single one hits, the enemy fleet will be the last of your concerns." He studied the enemy profile. Unknown save for a single Nepleslian cruiser. A new type of ship design? No - the Nepleslians could not overcome their hate of the Yamataians to truly rally against the NMX. They would be slow to change their design philosophy.

A new enemy? An alien race, as yet undiscovered, perhaps? Well, discovered now to be sure. Since they were associated with the Nepleslians, they were, for now, hostile. Perhaps once the opening salvoes were fired, he would attempt communication. If only to satisfy his curiousity regarding these new... adversaries.

"Launch all battlepods. Prepare the Ravagers but keep them close for now. Instructions for the scout squadrons: rejoin main fleet if possible. If not, squadrons are to link up and make precision strikes where possible. Activate our weapons, I want targets killed immediately. Concentrate fire on the enemy center."

The Interdiction fields would sprint to life shortly after the drones were launched into FTL, pulling them out of FTL only a few hundred thousand kilometers from the capital ships. The NMX ships would throw everything they had at the incoming missiles which were continuing to accelerate, darting around as much of the weapons fire as they could. The NSS Hornet would then focus half of its anti-interdiction beams on a group of F2 Drones, causing them to slip through the NMX's defenses at FTL speeds, rapidly closing in on a single battleship and tearing it apart with repeated impacts until nothing but a debris field was left.

Since the drones caught the NMX unprepared, many were able to find their mark, tearing gaping holes in the main NMX battle line.

Three of the line battleships had been destroyed outright. Six of the carriers too were gone. Four of Izmarhk'resh's destroyer escorts had died alongside their larger brethren. The rest of his fleet's capital ships were damaged, though to varying degrees. All were immobile but some could still be used as stationary weapons platforms.

His own flagship, the Mishhuadarnysz, had been crippled but not killed. "New orders for the scout squadrons. All squadrons are to gather as they can launch assault on the enemy vessels. Kill or capture. I desire at least two of each new type of vessel for study."

"SIR! ENGINES AND LAUNCH BAYS ARE DOWN!" One of the bridge crew shouted.

"There is no need to shout, Superior Fighter. I am perfectly capable of assessing our damage. Our weapons are not down yet I do not hear ship's reply."

Gahze looked up at her commander for a moment, "They do not seem to have their own interdiction fields and are relying mostly on beams. We should move our support groups at the edge of the system into point blank range. Our main group is effectively dead in the water against this level of interdiction."

Izmarhk'resh agreed with Gahze. "Detach our scouts and eight destroyers. Those vessels, along with the scout squadrons, are to engage the enemy at close range. Same order: Kill or capture. At least we launched all of our battlepods before losing our bays. Half of our battlepod force and the Ravagers are to support our units. Use the units from the carriers which have been destroyed. Our remaining destroyers are to shield the carriers from further enemy attack. Our remaining battlepods will intercept and destroy all remaining drones."

"We have incoming enemy Battle pods!" Outer system battle groups are mobilizing! The various crew members started crying out." Hujin watched as some of the drones did their job. The drones continued firing their beams, and sending more drones in to pound the crippled enemy fleet into submission. "Tell Cruiser groups to bring their XRASER cannons to bare rounds into those incoming scout and LP squadrons."

With the enemy crippled and attempting to return fire, the Gartagen fleet continued maneuvering out of the original targeting solution plotted by the enemy ships.

The Cruisers all began acquiring targets, and started discharging beams of invisible XRASER blasts into the Crippled battle ships, carriers and their destroyer escorts.. The Cruiser's missile teams began loading and prepping HE missiles for the incoming Battlepods.

"All ships ready the sand cannons, we have small strike craft incoming!"

The Sundancers held their position and waited rather then activly moving in to intercept the Battlepods who were still a distance away. To great them they primed their Tactical nuclear missiles, When the drones got to close, or preformed and FTL jump they would be greeted by a barrage of tactical nuclear missiles

The Destroyers began moving to defend their fleet's formation from the 30 ship patrol group that was now closing in on them. Once in firing range the LP squadrons would find them selves getting hit with a mixture of nuclear missiles and rail cannons.

"Drei! Give me your assessment and advice as to the data you are collecting on the battle!" Hujin stated loudly.

"Damage has been inflicted to the main formation, however the NMX will be responding soon. Removing ourselves from the battlespace will increase in difficulty once they have enough starships within interdiction range to start affecting our FTL drives." Drei explained.

The enemy had deployed his fighters so as to intercept Izmarhk'resh's battlepods in real space. Izmarhk'resh would deny his opponent the chance. His detached strike group, consisting of twenty eight scout ships and eight destroyers, activated their anti-interdiction fields, allowing the battle pods and Ravagers to make use of their FTL capabilities. A minute later, the ships, battlepods and mecha jumped to the left flank of the Gartagen fleet, bypassing the Sundancer screen altogether. This move placed them in a good position to strike at the enemy fleet.

Fully half of the battlepods were armed with ship killing torpedoes which the pilot-computers aboard began launching at the larger cruisers. One thousand and eight hundred torpedoes began their short flight towards the Gartagen cruisers.

Battlepods not assigned to anti-shipping duty tore off to attack the outflanked Sundancers with the cold, calculating aggression of computer programmed to destroy all enemies. Within moments, they were firing at the Sundancers. In addition to the battlepods, the twenty Ravagers equipped for space combat arrived to provide close support for the strike flotilla. All of them had been stationed aboard the carrier, Fasdihklyn, which had been destroyed. This was their time for vengeance and they gleefully set about their task.

Behind the small craft, the thirty NMX warships began concentrating their fire on the nearest Gartagen destroyers. They had also deactivated their anti-interdiction fields and had turned their interdiction fields back on. Izmarhk'resh had given specific orders for the flotilla to ensure the enemy fleet's focus remained solely on the strike groups and not the crippled warships.

The scout ship squadrons stationed at the system's periphery had gathered to form a second flotilla of forty two vessels. These ships had witnessed the attack on the main fleet. Now, they deactivated their interdiction fields and activated their FTL to attack the right flank of the Gartagen fleet. Once there, the ships fired volleys at the nearest vessels and began moving to place themselves within the Gartagen fleet to cause greater confusion.

At the main fleet, missiles and laser blasts had been shot towards the center of the Gartagen from the remaining ships. The destroyers Izmarhk'resh ordered to guard the capital ships began taking up closer defensive positions while the remaining battlepods intercepted the incoming drones, shooting them all down now that they had been slowed by the interdiction fields.

The surprise FTL jump was an expected tactic the Gartagens had anticipated and trained for thanks to war games scenarios with drew. When those LPs, Battlepods and scout ships jumped in they were greated with a vast cloud from the Gartagen Sand cannons which were focused on their respective locations on either side of the combined fleet. The defensive application, and density of the sand cannons one each ship, was concentrated to encompass the area of tragectory that the enemy projectiles were covering. This created a denial zone that would continue to fwould be enough to ensure that enemy missiles were neutralized.

The NMX torpedos and missiles would start crossing the rapidly expanding barrier put up by the sand cannons, many of them getting destroyed as they tried to pass through a cloud a extreme speed. The NMX's main weapons, however, would cut through the sand like it wasn't even there. The Garts and the NMX craft were now only a few light seconds away, leaving virtually no time to dodge the attacks.

The NMX battlepods would simply adjust their trajectory, avoiding the sand entirely before turning back towards their Gart targets, getting in close enough to the gart fighters to begin trading cannon fire. At the same time the destroyer and scout ship main weapons would be impacting the gart formation, traveling the short distance between the two fleets in fractions of a second. At this point the fight had come down to trading blows between the remaining groups.

The drones that had not been shot down began slamming into the crippled main fleet, bringing them to heel.

The drones that had remained with the Gartagen fleet, sent their beams onto the Gartagen Star ships, sending them into FTL a safe distance away from being torn to shreds by the flanking enemy squadrons. With the main fleet safely away, the Drones immediately began attacking the 36 ship strike group, the LPs and any battle pod in their bath. The Sundancer that had been left behidn were caught off guard by the twenty Ravagers, but quickly joined in the frey, Targeting battle pods, mecha, with their XRASER blasters, and tactical nuclear missiles.

The Gartagen Fleet Appeared on the oppisite side of the system, and though had taken several hits, they were in far better shape then the NMX were, thanks in part to the quick orders of Hujin to use the drones to jump them out of a Messy situation.

"Our supply of drones has been heavily depleted," Drei reminded, "The Hornet is deploying additional drones from its launch bays, but performing another jump will be increasingly difficult. I strongly recommend removal of remaining craft from the combat space before the NMX close in."

Gian Spoke up. "Drei, by word of the leader, you may take us out of this system."

Hujin looked at the fleet's status. Many of her ships had taken sever damage during the initial barrage. But thanks to her and Tam's quick thinking prior to the battle, the bulk of the fleet had been saved. "The pilots..." hujin uttered "Are sacrificed so you could escape." Gian responded sternly.

The gartagan fighters might have stood a chance against the hordes of battlepods descending upon them with the aid of the drones that had been left behind, but the NMX starships would quickly begin picking them off one by one. Before the Gart fleet could finish watching their comrades being destroyed Drei would warp them out.

"We will arrive at Deep Space Rally Point 2 within the our. The NSS Hive will be waiting for us there with repair equipment." Drei explained, "We will begin restocking your ships as resources allow..."

"They leave..." Gahze said, coughing slightly. The bridge of the command ship was one of the few rooms that were still intact. They were now floating in a debris cloud made up largely of the starships they had been using an hour ago. "Those ships did not match patterns produced by Nepleslia. I would recommend sending a ship to follow them."

Izmarhk'resh considered the suggestion. "I think we should do better than that. Our enemy has fled while we still possess superior numbers. Signal our scout squadrons and Listening Post squadrons to pursue and engage the enemy. Our capital ships may be dead but we still posses the tactical advantage. Recall the destroyers and battlepods." Almost every ship from the main fleet was now a wreck. Izmarhk'resh wondered if that were due to superior technology or superior leadership on the enemy's part. He decided on the former since the Nepleslian drones were all that affected the battle.

"YES SIR!" One of the bridge officers said, relaying the orders accordingly. The scout ships and listening craft knew the direction that the attacking starships departed in, and since starships in hyperspace could only travel in a straight line they would be able to extrapolate which planet they were heading towards. Soon, the ships would depart, winking out of existence as they gave chase....

... which led nowhere, after an extensive search it turned out there were no planets or star systems along the escape trajectory.

Ship for ship, his fleet would have overwhelmed the enemy, whoever they were. And their commander had chosen to flee rather than fight, denoting a lack of confidence in the commander's assessment. Nonetheless, Izmarhk'resh knew that the loss of so many fine ships was a blow to the NMX cause. The enemy had gotten away fairly unharmed, though his fleet had annihilated all of the Sundancers and remaining drones with ease. Enough damaged specimens of those craft remained that the NMX would be able to analyze. "Deploy some of our shuttles to begin salvaging those damaged craft."

"Elite Technician Gahze, what do you make of this... rather sudden engagement?" Izmarhk'resh asked inquisitively.

"MORGAN will be interested in receiving our combat data." She said, referring to the NMX's research and development arm. "The Enemy also operated as predicted. When faced with considerable damage to their assets they choose to leave the battle space rather than take damage.

The grouping of our forces also seemed to work against us. I would recommend deploying in a larger number of smaller combat groups, or keeping our main combat groups outside of the star system until an attack force is detected on approach. I would also expect the opposing force to be expecting this, and to develop additional countermeasures to better deal with our ships next time."

"Astute observations. Excellent recommendations. We must also hasten our work to counter the Nepleslian drones. That piece of technology gave our outnumbered foe a large force multiplier. I believe what we have seen today might signal a new phase of the war. A new enemy - new breeding opportunities. However, their caution with their ships might hint that their military is not so great as to afford losses such as what we have endured." Izmarhk'resh studied his flickering console - yes, the enemy had used expendable and insignificant assets to alter the course of the battle. The ships, once within range of the NMX guns, had chosen to avoid conflict.

The destroyers Izmarhk'resh had dispatched to assault the enemy fleet had returned. "I am transferring my flag to the destroyer, Giasdhfunx. Inform the captain. Elite Technician, follow me. And bring your uniform with you. Soldiers, we have won a victory. A new foe attacked us without warning, with superior weaponry and we forced them to flee. There is nothing to be ashamed of. Continue repairs to the ship and signal Headquarters for reinforcements and support units."

"YES SIR!" The bridge officer said as Gahze nodded, following the captain towards the bridge exit, gathering up her uniform in the process.

The system was still under his fleet's control. A strategic victory but a tactical defeat. Despite what he had said about achieving victory, Izmarhk'resh recognized when he had been beaten. His own ship destroyed without a fight. "Better it should happen to me than one of those fools who cannot learn from mistakes," he said aloud as he departed the bridge.

---
Gartagan Side

The Gartagen fleet reappeared at the Rally point and quickly linked up with the Hive, and any other accompanying support craft. Tam had taken this time to meet up with Hujin and Gian on the NSS hornet.

Hujin 'We should have stayed." She snarled at Gian. "Why did you let that Alien machine jump us out of there."

"Because you made a single mistake...with all do respect." Tam said as he approached from behind. "But now is not the time to point out our follys. The enemy will want vengence against us, and at present we are now on the defensive. I would send ships to track us down, and try to neutralise us at our source. I'd imagine they will do the same."

"We can also expect the enemy to not have access to larger ships since Hujin's plan took care of them. However, we will need to change our tactics." Tam would pause and let Drei speak.

"If I may," Drei said, cutting in. "4th fleet combat doctrine involves not using a hyperspace jump between a combat zone and a friendly star system. At best they will be able to track us to our deep space rally point, but they will be unable to follow us further unless they are able to reach the rally point before we leave.

In addition, I thought it was clear that a war of attrition between us and the NMX will result in failure. It is important to conserve combat assets over destroying enemy targets.

Finally, we will continue our attacks on the system to keep up pressure. I will direct the 4th fleets bomber wing to make attacks against the system. We have not abandoned the attack on the star system."

Tam stood and nodded "I agree. We should vanish into the stars, our fighters will not have been taken alive, so all they will have are our corpses."

"We should return to the home system, and focus on expanding our military to better face down these NMX in the future."

Hujin bared her teeth, but said nothing in the face of defeat all she could do was shift the blame. "If the government had given us access to the Prosecutor battle ships..." But the truth was she blamed her self.

Gian shook her head. "Drei has stated they are in dire need of shake down cruises…putting them into needless combat would see be easy prey when we still do not know what issues they have..."

"This could have been a lot worse Solar Commander."

End>