Battle set up:
The Raven fleet was broken up into three groups;
R1. Snow Raven, Lord Death, Blue Quest, Corvidae, Drake, James McKenna, Blizzard, White Terror, Spur, White Cloud, Mountbatton, Kerensky's Hope, Ark Royal, and Storm Crow and 340 fighters.
R2. 2 Miriborg, 11 Titan, and 23 Carrier dropships carrying 620 aero fighters.
R3. Wild Swan, Rook, Trachery, Scavanger, Tenacity, Muninn, Blackbeard and the Nestling. 50 aerofighters.
Viper forces were broken into three as well;
V1. Dark Asp, Ophidian, Serpantes, Zalman's Endeavor, Snake Pit, Martial Legacy, Constrictor, Snake-in-the-Grass and Coiled Serpent. With 27 Carrier and 17 Noruff dropships with 430 aerofighters.
V2. This group is all the jump ships, 7 Comitatus, 5 Hunter, 20 Invader, 11 Odessy, 2 Starlord and 14 Tramp. They sent there escort fighters with V1.
V3. Pit Viper, 31 Broadsword, 10 Confederate, 24 Lion, 12 Overlord, 14 Sassanid, 20 Union and 175 aerogughters.
V1 and R1 are the main battle, R2 is reserve and recovery. V2 is non-combatants and the prize for the R1-V1 battle. V3 is attempting to land on the closest moon 4 days away not realizing that the debris field is actually Raven forces. R2 is sitting 8 hours away from the jump point directly in the path of the Viper dropships. R2 only has enough fuel for 2 passes on the transports, then they must break off. They can still dogfight if the Viper escort wants to fight but cant dog the Vipers if they continue on to the moon.
R1 and V1 met and the fighting was fierce. In the opening salvos Zalman's Endeavor destroyed the Whitecloud(must have been fate.)
The second round saw the near complete annihilation of the Viper warship fleet. Zalman's Endeavor was cut in half by the Ark Royal's cannons. The Snake Pit was destroyed by the Blizzard, the Coiled Serpent fell to the Lord Death.
The Constrictor was the only Viper ship to only recieve light damage the rest received crippling damage.
With the Viper warships out of the way it was little effort to relieve the Raven aerofighters from their slugging match the Viper Dropship and fighter.
V3 headed straight into the Raven trap, when the debris field stopped floating and formed up and attacked. The Vipers were caught flat footed. This explained the initial success but the Vipers regrouped quickly and the second pass was far less effective. The Viper warship and fighters stayed for one more round to allow the dropships a chance to escape. When it became clear the Ravens weren't following the dropships the Vipers broke off and followed. Many of the fighters made good their withdrawal, the Pit Viper was not so lucky, losing her engines to LRM volleys from Kirghiz fighters.
VIPER losses:
Alpha Galaxy;
2nd Viper Guard: Sassanid
4th Viper Guard: Overlord, Sassanid
400 Assault Cluster: Sassanid
Alpha Newt Cluster: Sassanid, Union
Beta Galaxy;
195 Striker Cluster: Union x2
233 Battle Cluster: Sassanid
9th Viper Guard: Overlord
Gamma Galaxy;
94 Battle Cluster: Overlord
428 Assault Cluster: Overlord
57 Striker Cluster: Union x2
Zeta Galaxy;
1st Fang: Union
2nd Fang: Lion
38 Phalanx: Lion
Rho Galaxy;
141 Phalanx: Confederate, Lion
3rd Fang: Lion, Union
4th Fang: Union
164 Phalanx: Lion
5th Fang: Union
Chi Galaxy;
11 Viper Regulars: Sassanid
Omega Galaxy;
80 Fang: Confederate
Psi Galaxy;
144 Phalanx: Confederate, Lion
83 Fang: Confederate, Lion
Ravens were able to recover;
39 Frontline Mech Stars
25 Secondline Mech Stars
12 Elemental Stars
10 Infantry Stars
12 Aero Stars and 4 points
2 points of Broadsword
1 Star 4 point Carrier
2 point Confederate
1 point Lion
2 star 3 point Noruff
3 point Overlord
3 point Sassanid
1 star Union
Dark Asp
Ophidian
Serpantes
Martial Legacy
Constrictor
Snake in the Grass
Snake Pit- drifted into the gravity well and has to be tugged out before it can jump. This will take several days.
Lastly V2 was taken as Isorla.
Khan Zalman died on the Dark Asp, saKhan Andrews is in charge on the surface. Raven forces were occupied making salvage operations and repairs before saKhan Cooper is to return to Lum with the Command star, Storm Crow Star, Circe Star, and all Isorla taken. Leaving Swift Wing Naval star, 4th and 5th Wing clusters, Drake and Corvidae as replacements for the Whitecloud, to work as blockade. The two newly acquired Starlords are staying as well as two stars of Noruffs.