Fate Can Be Cruel (Part One)

[novastorm76]

Your MagLev Train is really slow. They can go over 300 kph easily.

[Kyryst]

Huh. I completely forgot 2ndAcr had that redesigned Elephant that carried a marine regiment. That answers that question.

I like the Marine Assault Shuttle. Basically an earlier version of a Lupus or NL-42 Battle Taxi, with twice the grapples and 2 medium lasers instead of 4 Medium pulse lasers, and carrying 4 companies instead of 3. Nice.

Not what I was expecting, but the Titan is a very useful ship, well worth repurposing. Does the Marine Assault Dropship have a Naval Tug Adaptor as well, for hostile boarding operations? Or is it limited to regular airlock boarding and void boarding?

Thanks for the answer to my question from the previous post.

[2ndAcr]

 The Marine Assault Dropship does not have a Tug Adaptor. The shuttles are what the Marines will use for boarding. I toyed with making the shuttle carry 2 platoons instead of the 4 platoons per Company the Marines use, but I wanted the "Titan" to carry enough Aerospace Fighters to remain a potent threat.

 Has 4 Medium laser, 2 in each Forward Arc.

 I took the stats for the Maglev from the Nolan specs.

[Ajax_Wolf]

15 January 2787
Blommestein (Terran Hegemony)

 She had used a Spheroid design which gave it a strong internal structure. She used large engines to give it a 4g max thrust. Carrying 9 tons of fuel for long distance travel. Clad in 28.5 tons of Ferro Aluminum armor, it's nose carried the most armor. Weapons were 2 ER Large Lasers in the Nose with a pair of Medium Lasers in the Forward Left and Forward Right. Twenty Double Heat Sinks handled the heat load. Between the Nose mounted ER Large Lasers was a smaller version of the Naval Tug Adaptor with built in air lock. Four special grapples had been created that could be fired at a target vessel which would hopefully snag onto the target vessel, an equal number of extremely powerful winches could then pull the shuttle to the target where the modified Tug Adaptor would allow a forced entry of the target. The grapples would only be used against a target that was still under thrust. Then it could deliver it's potent Marine Company of 4 Platoons onto the target.

I see the need for a few weapons to the rear of this. you're pretty defenceless with docked and on the run in, you're open to get reamed.

[2ndAcr]

 They got to make some mistakes. I cant bring myself to min/max everything. Besides, it still has to go thru testing, next chapter. LOL

[2ndAcr]

25 January 2787
Blommestein (Terran Hegemony)

 Trina Weldon-Henderson, Lead Engineer of Hegemony Industries Aerospace Division, was furious with herself. Though her design had passed basic flight tests, even successfully hooked and boarded a warship, once it had faced a active defense screen, it had been shot down every single time by "enemy" Aerospace Fighters before it even got close to it's target. The lack of rear firing weapons had been it's downfall. Even if the test was not quite fair as her shuttle was meant to be escorted by Aerospace Fighters from the Marines Dropship. But the lack of weapons had been a glaring oversight on her part.

 Now, back to the drawing boards. There was no way her shuttle could carry the protection it needed for it's mission AND carry a full company of Marines. SO she made the changes bringing the number of Marines delivered in a single pass to 3 platoons, or 84 personnel. She added 6 more Medium Lasers, 2 in each rear arc to help fend off Aerospace Fighters. She then plowed the remaining weight into the armor now boosted to 31 tons of Ferro Aluminum. The Marine Battalion would now need 6 Shuttles to deliver the entire Battalion of Marines on a target. She sent the new numbers to Thazi where she knew Vernon Clancy would have a fit.

3 February 2787
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

 Vernon Clancy did have a fit when he learned of the need for a larger shuttle squadron. After calling for a work stop, he had spent 2 days trying every combination he could to make the changes, and failed every time. Finally, he had forced himself to down grade the engines, which would have to be newly built to new specifications dropping the newly named Marine Titan (Assault) maximum thrust down to 3g. But it now met every single design specification he had been given. But since he had to wait for a complete engine and rip the old one out, he revamped the weapons package.

 The NOSE Arc now had 12 Large Pule Lasers, 3 AC/20 with 30 rounds and 3 LRM/20 with 30 salvoes. Each WING had 2 AC/20 with 20 rounds, 1 LRM/20 with 12 salvoes, 5 Large Pulse Lasers and 4 Medium Pulse Lasers while the AFT was protected by 1 AC/20 with 10 rounds, 1 LRM/20 with 12 salvoes and 2 Medium Pulse Lasers. Anything that got close would get shredded. Internally, each Aerospace Fighter Squadron had it's own launch bay with 3 doors for rapid deployment, the 8 Assault Shuttles were housed in their own hanger deck with 2 doors. Each hanger deck was fed from a single cargo bay holding 753 tons. The embarked Air Wing and Marine Battalion were quartered in their own staterooms to maximize comfort on long deployments or patrols. The cooling system contained 195 Double Heat Sinks. Final cost was 791.5 Million Dollars.

 He gave the order to undo all of their work and begin making the changes he had input. He knew the workers were calling him every name they could come up with.

Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 The massive convoy was taking shape in the Terra system at the Zenith Jump Point. While a flood of Dropships were moving to the Zenith Jump Point, another flood of Dropships were heading for Terra itself carrying the 52nd Infantry Division. At the Titan Shipyards, SLS Oslo, Essex II Destroyer was just now entering a slip for 3 months of extensive repairs having been recovered by SLS John Glenn, Newgrange Yardship.

 SLS E. Presley, Aegis Cruiser was on it's way back to Terra with a skeleton crew aboard after having been recovered by SLS Arctic, Newgrange Yardship. New assignments were given to both Newgrange Yardships. SLS John Glenn had headed for Nanking while SLS Arctic headed for Bryant.

 At the Nadir Jump Point, a small convoy of 8 LF equipped Tramp Jumpships were securing from recharge operations. With 3 Passenger Mammoth Dropships, 2 Titan Dropships, 3 Mule Dropships and 7 Cargo Mammoth already docked they were ready to begin their estimated 6 week journey deep into the Lyran Commonwealth using uninhabited systems.

Nanking (Terran Hegemony)

 Commodore Phillip Yang, commander SLS John Glenn, New Grange Yardship, sighed as the badly damaged Essex II Destroyer was finally securely berthed in his repair bay. It had taken 2 weeks to locate the derelict and another 3 days to get her stabilized for the trip back to the Yardship. During the trip, survey crews had boarded her and recorded her name, SLS Copenhagen was being returned to the fold. The survey's had estimated 3 months to get her jump capable and another 4 months in a shipyard to repair the extensive damage done to her.

Bryant (Terran Hegemony)

 Commodore Randall Grubrowski, commander SLS Arctic, Newgrange Yardship, had brought his ship to a halt only 30km from the Riga Frigate. He watched as the Elephant Tug wrestled the Riga Frigate towards the awaiting repair bay. Even at this range, the huge scorched White Shark painted on the hull was easily seen. RWS Jagged Tooth, Riga Frigate had been pummeled by the SLDF warships during the liberation. Massive holes could clearly be seen. The interior of the ship was reported to be in worse shape than the outer hull according to the survey crews. Several of the ships magazines had detonated. Though the jump core was intact, the ship was incapable of holding any atmosphere, her engines were totally destroyed and most of her weapons mounts were destroyed. She could jump, but not move nor shoot. Estimates were over a year in a shipyard. His mission was to seal her gaping holes and get her to Terra.

Castor (Terran Hegemony)

 Commodore Erik Wagner, commander SLS Detroit, Newgrange Yardship smiled as SLS Nelson, Black Lion Battlecruiser was pulled from the repair bay 3 weeks ahead of schedule. He had expected her to be sent to Graham IV for repairs but was surprised when he got word that she was to be sent to Terra. He guessed it made sense, for she would need over a year in a shipyard to repair the extensive damage. But once she was clear from his bay, she was no longer his problem, he already had his new orders, head for Bordon and recover SLS Impetuous, Aegis Cruiser from her resting place inside the Messer's Belt.

[Kyryst]

I like the upgrade for the Marine Assault Shuttle, but I have a suggestion for the corrections after next round of testing, drop the 2 medium lasers in the rear and a ton of armor to put in an ER Large Laser. This gives the aft weapons battery an increase in range, as medium lasers have a low effective range, giving the MAS a means to actually hit the SOB riding their exhaust.

Wow. Those Newgrange crews are really going above and beyond, getting those ships jump capable way sooner then expected. They should get a medal. And I have to say, for being regarded as cheap, old, with lower structural integrity, or thinner armor then desired (and I know 2ndAcr is pulling these ships from historical canon), the Aegis, Riga, and Essex (which aren't old, I know) have survived to be recovered a heck of a lot more then other classes. Probably because they didn't need to be pounded as much.

[2ndAcr]

26 February 2787
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 The massive convoy carrying millions of tons of vital factory equipment along with over 1.2 million people departed under a heavy escort. Due to the vital nature of the convoy, orders had been issued to travel deeper than normal into the Federated Suns before heading for Bastrop and then "Home". No chances were being taken with the safety of this convoy.

 In her office, General Rita Mitchell with the aid of several of her most trusted technicians along with Admiral Joan Brandt, scoured SLDF and DoME records looking for hidden bases, supply caches, After Action reports which might indicate locations of derelict warships and basically anything else of importance. The mission to Odessa would not arrive until at least late April. So they delved deep into the archives seeking anything they could find.

 Admiral Brandt already knew about the base inside the Dark Nebula, Camelot Command. This was deemed too far away to be of immediate use, but the information and location were duly noted on a encrypted data pad. One of the technicians searching the DoME archives found records of a two decade long mission to a system named Epsilon Pegasus in the Deep Periphery. But the actual mission was not noted but only listed a completion date. Digging deeper, the technician located a cargo manifest with the Epsilon Pegasus listed as destination. It listed equipment for a HPG station, construction material and even fabrication material. She forwarded this information to Admiral Brandt, who looked it over and walked into General Rita Mitchell's office.

 "Think we found something Rita. Seems in 2620-2641 DoME was constructing what looks like a base in a system named Epsilon Pegasus. Not sure what they built, but a HPG station was sent there and also what appears to me to be the makings of an orbital repair yard. I never heard of the place, but I found the system on a Star Map and if I had to guess, it supported exploration of the Deep Periphery." Admiral Brandt said

 "Interesting, make a note that we should maybe check it out someday. That is way off the beaten path and anything there will not help us in the short term. Also have Curtis add this location to the erase program. If we have to make an emergency evacuation, I want as much important information erased. All reference and location removed from the data bases and star maps." General Mitchell ordered

 "Very well. You sure that is the right thing to do Rita?" Admiral Brandt asked

 "For certain locations, yes I do. If I was up to no good, I would order the complete wipe of everything in the data base. But if we have to make the evacuation, I do not want whoever forced us out to have the information." General Mitchell replied

 "Okay, I just had to make sure. On another note, we have a unconfirmed report that a pirate band bearing the colors of the Rim Worlds has been raiding the Taurian Concordat. They have a couple of warships." Admiral Joan Brandt said

 General Rita Mitchell let out a deep sigh "Let me guess, you want to go after them?"

 "Not really, but I would hate to have them stumble over this." Admiral Joan Brandt replied handing over a piece of paper "We found this in the After Action reports this morning."

 General Rita Mitchell took the piece of paper and looked it over. She looked up at Admiral Brandt "How do you rate this information Joan?"

 "Very highly. We got it off a report sent to General Kerensky and even found his message ordering those ships cached for later recovery." Admiral Brandt said

 "But do we know where they stashed the ships?" General Mitchell asked

 "Sure do. It's a long damn ways from here or the other Hegemony. But, that is the largest confirmed ship cache we have located and it would be a shame if someone else got a hold of it. I think it is worth it." Admiral Brandt replied

 "Start working on a plan. We cannot risk someone else especially those Rim jobs getting them." General Mitchell ordered looking back at the paper she still held.

 NC19110-207 Cache

 SLS Sierra, Essex Destroyer
 SLS Golden Eagle, Essex Destroyer
 SLS Mahone, Vincent Corvette
 SLS Fountain, Carrack Transport
 TCS Ramora, Pinto Corvette
 TCS Tirabad, Pinto Corvette
 MCS Fury, Concordat Frigate
 6 Tramp Jumpship
 8 Liberty Jumpship
 4 Invader Jumpship

28 February 2787

 It took Admiral Joan Brandt a full day to work out the logistics of the planned recovery. She knew General Mitchell would not allow her to lead the operation, as much as she wanted to go. With a pirate band on the loose in the region armed with warships, any mission would have to be well armed and escorted. So she planned accordingly using forces from both Hegemony's.

 Recovery Mission to NC19110-207 Cache

 SLS Tirpitz, Black Lion LF Battlecruiser (Flagship)

 89th Cruiser Division (Rear Admiral Ismael Moreno)

 SLS Conroy, Avatar LF Heavy Cruiser (Flagship)
 SLS Shield, Avatar LF Heavy Cruiser
 SLS Cape Bon, Essex II LF Destroyer
 SLS Cartagena, Essex II LF Destroyer
 SLS Solomon, Essex II LF Destroyer
 SLS Ghost Strike - Vincent Destroyer

 SLS Krakatow - Volga LF Transport
 SLS Vesuvius - Volga LF Transport
 SLS Charlton - Carrack Transport
 SLS Dahl - Carrack Transport

 SLS Deep Builder - Builder Yardship
 SLS Carpenter - Builder Yardship
 SLS Mechanic - Builder Yardship
 SLS Mount Fuji - Carrack Transport
 SLS Servitude - Carrack Transport

 63rd Destroyer Division (Rear Admiral Samuel Harris)

 SLS Sledge - Vincent Destroyer
 SLS Wraith - Vincent Destroyer
 SLS Slammer - Vincent Destroyer
 SLS Crawfish - Vincent Destroyer

 She issued orders for Annapolis and Kure to get the most experienced cadets graduated and ready for departure. It would take almost a year for everyone to get to the cache site, she hoped it would be fast enough.

[georgiaboy]

There is also the Outpost 27? The Rim World Building yard for the Darts.

[2ndAcr]

18 April 2787
Odessa (Lyran Commonwealth)

 Captain Harold Calloway, A Company 3391st Special Forces, was aboard the lead shuttle as they slowly entered the cavernous entrance to the massive asteroid housing the SLDF naval base. Powerful landing lights on the shuttle were turned on as Captain Calloway and his men began going EVA. It took 20 minutes to reach and make entry into the airlock that would allow them into the mass of structures mounted along the wall of the dug out asteroid. Once entry was made, it took another 2 hours to locate what they hoped was the main control room.

 "We still have power, but it is set on idle. The reactor's are still hot. Restoring power level to active." One of the engineers said and slowly the power levels rose and he started restoring power to the various sections of the naval base. Slowly powerful flood lights began lighting the ships silently berthed within the asteroid base.

 Captain Calloway let out a long whistle "Son of a bitch, get a shuttle back to the Dropships and get them inside, we have a ton of work to do." As he spoke, he continued to stare out the massive viewing window at the ships. His brain tried to compare what his eyes saw to his memory in an attempt to identify what they had before them. Aegis Cruiser, think we have 2 Sovetskii Soyuz, Lola III, looks like another Lola III, 2 maybe 3 Essex but what is that other one, I don't recognize it, his mind thought to himself.

19 April 2787

 Massive Dropships were unloading their cargo of material and personnel after docking with the naval base. Shipyard workers were swarming the silent warships berthed inside the naval base. Captain Calloway, with nothing to do and the station secure, watched the flurry of activity from behind the viewing window. Finally he wandered over to a portly man, Jenson Ameswell, who headed up all the shipyard workers and looked over the smaller man's shoulder at the list of ships.

 SLS Remarkable, Aegis Cruiser - Severe Damage, Est 9 months
 SLS Venus Eye, Sovetskii Soyuz Cruiser - Severe Damage, Est 10 months
 SLS Zeus' Wrath, Sovetskii Soyuz Cruiser - Severe Damage, Est 9 Months
 SLS Turnby, Lola III Destroyer - Severe Damage, Est 10 months
 SLS Kryton, Lola III Destroyer - Severe Damage, Est 8 months
 SLS Platitude, Essex II Destroyer - Severe Damage, Est 9 months
 SLS Domination, Essex II Destroyer - Severe Damage, Est 8 months
 SLS Archangel, Essex II Destroyer - Severe Damage, Est 9 months
 SLS Midway, Riga II Destroyer - Extreme Damage, Est unknown

 "Mr Ameswell, how did you get the damage estimates so quick?" Captain Calloway asked

 "Mostly from the computers. The Riga II Destroyer, well they stripped out the jump core and ground it down to raw material. Lucky for us, it is still all stored here at the base and we can recast it. Just have no clue how long that will take. Plus they stripped almost all the weapons off it, those are gone. Give me a few days and I will have a full survey done on all the ships and will have a good idea of what we can do and how fast we can do it in." Ameswell replied

22 April 2787

 Jenson Ameswell looked over the complete survey's of every ship here. No way they would be able to repair all of these ships with what they had on hand. But I can recover most of them, he thought and began making notes.

 SLS Remarkable, Aegis Cruiser - Severe armor damage, Jump Core intact and checks come back jump capable, major weapons damage, roughly 20% active rest destroyed

 SLS Venus Eye, Sovetskii Soyuz Cruiser - 90% Armor stripped, Jump Core shows major micro cracking, 15% weapons active rest destroyed

 SLS Zeus' Wrath, Sovetskii Soyuz Cruiser - Major engine damage, Jump Core checks intact and jump capable, 25% weapons active rest destroyed
                                           (swap jump core to Venus Eye, remove active weapons and install Venus Eye)

 SLS Turnby, Lola III Destroyer - Keel cracked, major armor damage, Jump Core intact and jump capable, 30% weapons active rest destroyed
                                (swap jump core to Kryton, swap engine to Kryton, remove weapons for Kryton)

 SLS Kryton, Lola III Destroyer - Jump Core damaged, very little armor, engine damage, 20% weapons active

 SLS Platitude, Essex II Destroyer - Engine destroyed, Jump Core intact and jump capable, reactor damage, 30% weapons intact
                                   (Swap jump core Domination, swap weapons Domination)

 SLS Domination, Essex II Destroyer - Jump Core major micro cracks, 25% weapons intact, heavy armor damage

 SLS Archangel, Essex II Destroyer - Heavy armor damage, Jump Core intact and jump capable, 35% weapons intact

 SLS Midway, Riga II Destroyer - Jump Core removed and ground, no weapons, reactors removed
                               (Recast Jump Core, strip reactors off other ships deemed scrap)

 He figured he could complete all repairs he had listed in 6 months, including recasting the Jump Core. He could not make them combat ready, but he could at least get them jump capable and returned for a proper refit and repair cycle. His biggest question was what would they do with this base once they looted the ships from it.

[georgiaboy]

Nuclear Waste repository accident on Darkside of Moon/Base. Send Moon/Base into DeepSpace/Gas Giant atmosphere.

[cawest]

so anyone else wonder where the idea for the York came from? 

[2ndAcr]

 The York was a converted Riga II Destroyer.

[cawest]

The York was a converted Riga II Destroyer.

yes and now the have one  >:D

[2ndAcr]

1 May 2787
Zetang (Terran Hegemony)

 Sean Livingston smiled as he looked over the daily reports. But that smile was tempered by an occasional frown. He now had 20 Corx Tunnel miners working on site with another 14 working on the far side. With even more of the valuable Corx Tunnel miners on the way from the factory. The Builder Yardship had constructed 2 Small Habitats near the asteroid to support the mining operation which ran around the clock. The amount of material being removed was astounding, even to him, with all of his experience in mega projects.

 Each Corx Tunnel Miner drilled a hole 20 meter in diameter but only 60 feet per day, on a good day. The deepest tunnel was 5.7km deep after almost 4 months of non stop drilling. This outer shell was some tough stuff. He had continued with his small bore core drilling and found that this extremely hard outer shell averaged 15km thick, with some areas being 40km thick. He planned to avoid those thick area's like the plague, or at least until his special lasers arrived. Several attempts to blast sections had failed. This would have to be done the old fashioned hard way. If all goes well, maybe we can get to the soft chewy center by the end of the year, he thought.

 Over the last few months, his "borrowed" physicist's had run the numbers countless times and finally declared his idea of a central spar mounted on a massive gear would not be feasible. No forge could ever be able to cast such a solid piece. They had then crapped all over his desire to spin the asteroid to create a level of gravity. These are the frowns he occasionally produced. This rock was just too big. But, he had a backup plan for his backup plan. His planned cavern was going to be a minimum of 150km in diameter, until the other side was carved out fully, and that was planned to add another 100km diameter cavern. He had called for all the information he could get on some of the most congested orbital complexes ever created.

 During his research, he had found that the largest shipyard complexes maintained a minimum of 5km between each construct. He was going to use 10km inside his caverns. To create his desired docking facilities and crew quarters, he was going to fill his cavern with multiple modified Olympus Stations, using the one at Thazi as a starting point. Their station keeping drives would enable them to maintain their positions in the cavern. He had asked for and gotten a few of the design folks from the Thazi Olympus and they had spent a few weeks crunching numbers and figured they could build safely berth 8 ships per station. Without the massive batteries or construction equipment, they could easily modify the station with 2-3 of the massive grav decks to easily house the warship crews and other personnel under a 1g environment.

 When they had said without the construction equipment, he had blinked hard, he had forgotten that the Thazi Olympus station was a fully functioning shipyard with (3) 1M unpressurized berths attached to it. Maybe I can convert the other half of this rock into a much larger Mercator-Campion Shipyards complex. This side berths the active and inactive ships while the other side is a fully functional construction facility. Damn sure would be better protected than a normal shipyard complex. He smiled at the thought that flashed inside his head, the cost of this project is going to make some folks heads explode some day when this is all over.

[cawest]

oh man you are evil!!!!

[Artifex]

Oh wow... that sure is going to be THE crowning achievement in the lifetime of Sean Livingston!

A refit/restore station coupled with a mothball hangar coupled with a massive shipyard that actively produces civilian / military spacevessels ... within a massive asteroid is HUGE!  8)

If the powers to be in the THiE do not approve on this they've ingested the most massive idiot ball ever.  ::)

[georgiaboy]

One thought is that since he wants to use the Olympus Mod 1 Shipyard Space Station, the Base can be built as sections with each station beiing a self contained unit.

[Kyryst]

Wow. A lot has happened, and time has passed quickly.

We are about to see the DC offensive kicked off, if things go according to Kurita Plans.

There are a lot of recovery operations going on, and the first ship recovered is about to leave the repair slips. I am sure there is a list those yardships are working down at their best speed, and are going to surprise us.

I am looking forward to seeing what Livingston makes of his project/baby, and how it in turn supports the Hegemony.

Definitely want to see what happens next.

[2ndAcr]

1-31 May 2787
DC and FS Border

 With an announcement from Coordinator Minuro Kurita declaring himself First Lord of the Star League, all along the border forces from the Draconis Combine surged across the border into the Federated Suns. Led by Combine warships leaping into Federated Suns systems which attacked every Federated Suns shipping found followed by ground forces. So swift and massive was the initial invasion, that initial garrisons were simply overwhelmed. AFFS warship patrols were overwhelmed by the massed Combine warships and quickly destroyed along with any Jumpships found.

 The swift and massive invasion caught the AFFS off guard and conflicting orders caused more confusion than the invasion itself. Some worlds fell without a word getting out. The DCMS had invaded with 3 massive columns of almost 90 Regiments of Battlemechs and over 300 conventional Regiments supporting them. Coodinator Minuro Kurita led one massive column and by the end of May stood on Cartago, Jinjiro Kurita stood on Franklin. The Draconis Combine had seized nearly the entire Clovis Combat Region, half of the Robinson and half of the Dahar Combat Region along with half a dozen worlds from the Fairfax Combat Region.

 The Combine assault forces focused on isolating the defending AFFS commands if they could not be overwhelmed quickly instead focusing on isolating the planets HPG compounds from the defenders and bringing in follow on forces to complete the conquest before moving to their next targets. Like a massive slinky, the Combine invasion pushed forward, halted and then advanced again.

 Coordinator Minuro Kurita smiled as he watched his 3rd Sword of Light board their Dropships on Cartago. His 3rd Column would take his columns place in the advance towards New Avalon, he would take his column and exact his revenge.

FWL and Hegemony Border

 Right on the heels of the declaration by Coordinator Minuro Kurita, Captain General Kenyon Marik declared himself First Lord of the Star League and ordered his forces across the border into the Hegemony. While his initial invasion was able to secure each system targeted, they soon began facing Hegemony warships. Over Connaught, the FWL 3rd Fleet was quickly out gunned when the Hegemony 1st Battle Squadron arrived on the scene on 8 May.

 Both forces crashed into each other with a vengeance each side loosing nuclear tipped missiles. In this exchange, the FWL was at a severe disadvantage as only 3rd Fleet's Aegis Cruiser had any nuclear tipped missiles. FWS Sorunda, Atreus Battleship took 4 nuclear tipped Killer Whales and vanished before ever getting a shot off. In the nuclear exchange, SLS Leander, Lola III Destroyer was struck multiple times and destroyed.

 When both forces finally reached range, FWS Bismarck, Atreus Battleship found itself focus fired on by all 3 Texas Battleships, the massive fire from the Texas Battleships quickly rendered FWS Bismarck combat ineffective and adrift with massive internal fires raging. SLS Sandy Hardee and SLS Phoenix, Texas Battleships suffered moderate damage in the exchange before Vice Admiral Zeibler ordered his Battleships to focus on FWS Trembler, Atreus Battleship.

 While the Battleships pounded each other, the ships from the 12th Cruiser Division had swarmed FWS Manaslu, Aegis Cruiser and quickly destroyed it with overwhelming firepower. SLS Hector Zapata, Luxor Heavy Cruiser suffered moderate damage in a close range fight while SLS George Wellington, Vincent Destroyer took heavy damage from FWS Manaslu. For 5 hours the Battle of Connaught raged as the 1st Battle Squadron hammered their way from the Jump Point heading for orbit.

[paulobrito]

To use a well know phrase - And so it begins. With Fire.

[Kyryst]

I guess the Federated Suns military, even with all the prep time, reactivating and reshuffling of forces the Hegemony bought them, still sucked in this time period. I kinda expected them to do a little better.

It looks like Kenyon Marik finally decided to kick things off. Let's hope all of the build-up of military forces the Terran Hegemony was able to make, accomplishes pushing back the Free World invaders.

Has the Lyran Commonwealth invaded the Rim Worlds already, or is that happening now?

[2ndAcr]

10 May 2787
Connaught (Terran Hegemony)

 Over 2 days, the 1st Battle Squadron had reached the planets orbit and destroyed the 2 League II Destoyers that had been bombarding the 79th Mechanized Infantry Division. Having lost a third of their troops, the 79th Mechanized Infantry Division now had the upper hand with their warships supporting and began counter attacking the FWLM forces on the planet.

10-31 May 2787
Terran Hegemony

 With war once again occurring against the Terran Hegemony, on some worlds, it was just too much for them to take. Brownsville, Epsilon Indi and Terra Firma announced they were leaving the Terran Hegemony and joining the Capellan Confederation. Thorin and Zollikofen followed close behind and joined the Lyran Commonwealth. Though many people wished to remain with the Terran Hegemony, they were just bone tired of war. As protests against another war broke out on many border worlds, especially those along the Capellan Confederation, planetary militia's, formed using the Conventional RCT TO&E tried to maintain order without using force.

 By the end of May, Free World Forces had landed on Berenson, Hall, Wyatt, Callison and Marcus. Additional naval forces moved to counter the FWLM incursions. Additional ground troops headed for the border with the Free Worlds.

 On Terra, General Rita Mitchell looked at Director General Amanda Cameron "The cracks are starting to form already Amanda. We can be hurt militarily, but systems leaving the Hegemony will break us. I am not sure I can bring myself to order our troops to retake the worlds that left us."

 "The people are just so tired of war Aunt Rita. We just cannot seem to catch a break or our breath to recover." She looked at the large map displayed on the wall with quite a few systems along the Capellan border flashing "You expect all of these systems to join the Capellan Confederation?"

 "I do, probably in the next month or two. Seventeen systems are currently protesting another war, even though it we, the Hegemony that have been attacked. Plus everyone of those worlds have seen a heavy presence of Capellan "aid" since the Liberation." General Rita Mitchell replied

 Amanda Cameron slowly turned to face General Mitchell "The Mariks are using orbital bombardment against our troops. And until our reinforcements reach the area, our troops get hammered from orbit. We cannot move troops from the Combine border, not with Kurita driving into the Federated Suns. Pull our troops off the worlds you feel will join the Capellan Confederation. No sense having them fight for worlds that want to leave the Hegemony. You agree?"

 "I agree, I can use them to reinforce the Marik front. You know I am already planning, or should I say, never stopped planning for a hasty evacuation." General Mitchell asked

 "I know, I don't think we are there yet, but keep planning it. I just hope it does not come to that." Amanda Cameron said

1-31 June 2787

 As Hegemony forces pulled off worlds along the Capellan border heading for the Marik front, with a week of their departure, many systems declared for the Capellan Confederation. Tall Trees, Saiph, New Canton, Zurich, Aldeberon, Genoa, Nanking and Bex all left the Hegemony. By the end of April, Capellan troops were landing on those worlds.

 All of this was not going unnoticed by the Lyran Commonwealth. Archon Jennifer Steiner had hesitated after Thorin and Zollikofen had joined her realm, waiting to see how the Hegemony reacted. When they did not react in force, she gave the order for LCAF troops to land on Alioth, Summer, Menkit and Lyons. On Alioth, the 3rd Striker Regiment did not hesitate to resist the Lyran troops. For a week they fought the 18th Lyran Guards to a standstill, outmaneuvering the Lyran unit while inflicting 2 to 1 losses. It was only when LCAF warships in orbit began bombarding the 3rd Striker Regiment did the 18th Lyran Guards make any progress.

 On Summer, the 306th Hussar Regiment came under orbital bombardment before the first Lyran troop hit the ground. This hampered their defense against the 15th Lyran Guards. Pushed hard and hit with orbital bombardment any time they attempted to make a stand, the 306th Hussar Regiment was forced to break wage a hit and run defense of the planet.

 On the Free Worlds front, Hegemony forces were slowly arriving on the scene. On Wyatt, the 48th Infantry Division had been struck by repeated orbital bombardments and nuclear attacks. Down to 30% strength, they held out in their remaining fortification.

 On Bereson, the 6th Marik Militia hammered the Conventional RCT garrisoning the planet. Though they fought hard and inflicted heavy losses on the Marik invaders, on 17 June the commander surrendered his forces to the Marik invaders.

 On Hall, the 89th Dragoon Regiment hammered the 37th Marik Militia the moment they made land fall. Sensing defeat, the Marik commander released his few nuclear weapons which devastated the 89th Dragoon Regiment along with the capital Harney.

[Kyryst]

Out the 122 inhabited systems of the Terran Hegemony, there are 10 being fought in, 13 have seceded, 15? were split with the Great houses and lost to them during the Amaris coup. That leaves 84 systems under full control. With the seceded worlds went a lot of dropship construction (goodbye aqueducts, mammoths and behemoths) the ballista artillery, the Wasp LAM, and the Rifleman RFL-1N. The worlds under attack have quite a bit of factory production and infrastructure.

So, I really must wonder how the ones who are tired of war today react tomorrow when they are forced into the servitor caste, realize people are being disappeared by the state security service, propaganda is blared 24/7, and any armed forces have to deal with Maskirovka. That and there will be unrelenting decades of war ahead with WMDs aplenty.

That is not good. With 2 of the 5 attacking and 1 doing a charm offensive diplomatically, and 1 of the remaining 2 slavering to attack, the Terran Hegemony is in a crunch. They have 1 ally, and he is getting the stuffing punched out of him. With the use of nuclear weapons on a worlds surface, the FWL has abandoned the Ares Conventions. With the dissolution of the High Council and the Exodus of the Majority of the SLDF, there is no one to uphold interstellar treaties besides the signatories themselves and realpolitik says fat chance of that happening.

Looks like it is time for some unrestricted void warfare on the FWL.

Right now, contingency plans are Amanda’s friend. I hope she can get messages out everywhere she needs to. Let’s watch what happens next.

[cawest]

well they say the grass in greener......over the CC septic tank. 

i just wonder if they will play Bing Crosby White Christmas like Saigon? 

[georgiaboy]

Wonder if the House Intelligence apparatus have ever heard of the NSA and if they are still in operation. If not Amanda needs to put them back to work. She said that the phone company if neutral. She did not say she can listen in and maybe even edit messages or block certain senders and receivers. Cause in the digital age where computers touch all communication devices,


He who knows Cyber Warfare is King.

[2ndAcr]

5 July 2787
Thazi (Terran Hegemony)

 General Heinrich Rommel had read the message several times in a vain attempt to get a look at what General Rita Mitchell had in her head. Obviously, it was a combat assignment, but he had no clue exactly where they would be going and for what.

 To: General Heinrich Rommel
 From: General Rita Mitchell

 Heinrich, need you to canvas the troops, volunteer only. I want 3 Regiments of Battlemechs ready for deployment by year end. I want an aggressive officer in charge of the unit. Veterans every one of them. I want conventional transport for the command, no warships and none of our advanced Dropships. Only common Battlemech designs and SLDF standard, none of our customs. I want good support for them also. This will be a long deployment, possible multi year. Notify me when they are ready to deploy and I will fill you in on what to tell them.

 He yelled for his aide "Tabitha, need you in here."

 Once she appeared at the door, he said "Get me Colonel Alexander Baldwin in here ASAP from Boulsi."

15 July 2787

 The knock on the door brought General Rommel's head up, seeing Colonel Baldwin at the door he waved him inside "Grab a seat and close the door Alex. I got a hot one for you from General Mitchell. But damned if I have very much information. Here, read for yourself." He said as he handed over the message.

 Once he read the message, Colonel Baldwin spoke "Obviously it is a covert mission. That is obvious from the equipment changes she wants us to make. By years end, hell I better get busy on recruiting."

 "Already ahead of you Alex. I already have all unit commanders working on that. We already have a full Regiment of volunteers, the entire 211th Hussar Regiment volunteered, every single one of them. But I want you to reconfigure the Regiments some. Battlemech only, so we are going to cheat some. Make sure you take a full Battalion of Helepolis 3Hb with you. Yes, I am violating her orders some using our own versions, don't care, not giving you artillery support is wrong. I will take the heat, how you deploy them will be up to you. Now, since we know this will be a long mission, I want staying power. Plan on making the Regiments Heavy weights." General Rommel said

 "Well, I am willing to bet good money we are deploying to the Federated Suns and even better, intel reports that they are using Royal's in some decent numbers. Better tell Major General DeMars to break open his storage depots cause I am going to raid them hard. You know I am praying for a bunch of Gunslinger's to volunteer for this mission?" Colonel Baldwin replied

 "I will make sure you get no grief from Major General DeMars and that is a sucker bet. You know damn well your going to get most of them. It's bad enough I am losing one of my top instructors to this mission." General Rommel said

[Kyryst]

Huh. Sending out troops as mercenaries, huh? I wonder if they are gathering intelligence, or being used as under the table reinforcements? We will see.

[Lone-Wolf]

Huh. Sending out troops as mercenaries, huh? I wonder if they are gathering intelligence, or being used as under the table reinforcements? We will see.

cough Black Ops cough
cough painting them as Kurita/Liao, Marik mechs to attack another Successor State aka False Flag cough

[2ndAcr]

1 August 2787
Terra (Terran Hegemony)

 The end of July has seen the Free Worlds League push deeper into the Terran Hegemony. General Mitchell had been forced to use the 3rd Regimental Combat Team to relieve the 48th Infantry Division on Wyatt under cover from the 84th Cruiser Division. When Marik forces began their next push on 17 July, they pushed into multiple area's. One FWL Task Force entered New Dallas where they were engaged by the 31st Battlecruiser Division. Vice Admiral Connor Shick kept his Division close to the planet where they could be supported by the 280th Mechanized Infantry Divisions Aerospace Fighters along with the New Dallas Militia Divisions fighters. He also made a call for help from the 1st Battle Squadron located at Connaught.

 On 20 July, the 12th Cruiser Division arrived at the Nadir Jump Point and quickly destroyed the Aegis Cruiser left to guard the FWL transports while their Marines boarded the transports. They quickly plotted an in system jump to get ahead of the FWL 4th Fleet which was covering their mass of Dropships. Arriving at the L1 La Grange point, they quickly moved to assist the 31st Battlecruiser Division which was engaging the FWL 4th Fleet.

 Vice Admiral Connor Shick, drove his Flagship, SLS Lady Shandra, Cameron Battlecruiser directly for the FWL Battleships, on his flanks were SLS Anchorage and SLS Admiral Perry, Congress Frigate. He ordered his 4 Carson Destroyers to focus on getting to the enemy Dropships. "Comm, signal all ships, they have nuclear release the moment the enemy is in range."

 The first volley of nuclear tipped Killer Whales launched on the FWL Battleships. This was followed by a 2nd and 3rd volley of nuclear tipped Killer Whales. Aboard the Atreus Battleships, point defense's opened fire and managed to down the first volley of Killer Whales. The 2nd volley saw 1 Killer Whale make it past and slam into the Atreus Battleship, the 500kt warhead shattering the Atreus Battleship. As Vice Admiral Connor Shick ordered a slight adjustment to bring more launchers to bear, the point defenses of the FWL ships managed to down the 3rd and 4th volleys before they struck home.

 "Comm, signal all ships, focus on the next leading Atreus Battleship, we got time for maybe 2 volleys before they enter range to return fire, let's see if we can even the odds a little more."

 While the warships engaged each other, the FWL and Hegemony Aerospace fighters fought each other, the FWL fighters trying to keep the Hegemony fighters away while the Hegemony fighters tried to get at the gaggle of Dropships.

 Rear Admiral John Hoover had ordered his 12th Cruiser Division to boost at 2g's in a attempt to aid the 31st Battlecruiser Division in their fight. As his Division gained on the battle, he watched a 2nd Atreus Battleship vanish in a massive flash. But his experienced eye knew the FWL warships could now fight back against their opponents.

 SLS Lady Shandra, Cameron Battlecruiser shuddered as the incoming fire struck home, armor plates across her Nose and Forward Left Arcs being pummeled by the incoming fire. "Conn, get us into the damned Dropships. Weps, give them everything we have."

 Targeting a Atreus Battleship and League II Destroyer, SLS Lady Shandra hammered her foes hard in return. As she prepared to fire another volley, power failed throughout the ship, leaving her helpless. Again SLS Lady Shandra was pummeled by the FWL warships, even worse this time as additional Arcs were able to bear on the now helpless Cameron Battlecruiser.

 Seeing their Flagship helpless, SLS Anchorage and SLS Admiral Perry, Congress Frigates launched their broadside nuclear tipped White Sharks on the Atreus Battleships. Point defenses managed to down several White Sharks but one managed to get past and detonated but failed to penetrate the thick hide. But it removed massive amounts of armor. Opening fire with their Naval Auto Cannons, they raked the thick hides of both Atreus Battleships. The return fire from the Battleships was devastating to the Congress Frigates.

 For 3 hours, the naval battle raged. Of the 3 Regiments of FWL troops that entered the system, not a single Dropship made it to the surface. Both warship fleets had hammered each other with devastating effect.

 31st Battlecruiser Division (Vice Admiral Connor Shick)

 SLS Lady Shandra - Cameron Battlecruiser - Severe Damage
 SLS Anchorage - Congress Frigate - Severe Damage
 SLS Admiral Perry - Congress Frigate - Severe Damage
 SLS McDougal - Carson Destroyer - Destroyed
 SLS Winslow - Carson Destroyer - Destroyed
 SLS Clark - Carson Destroyer - Destroyed
 SLS Moffett - Carson Destroyer - Severe Damage

 12th Cruiser Division (Rear Admiral John Hoover)

 SLS Carl Sommers - Luxor Heavy Cruiser - Heavy Damage
 SLS Terrance LaMont - Luxor Heavy Cruiser - Moderate Damage
 SLS Hector Zapata - Luxor Heavy Cruiser - Severe Damage
 SLS Thomas Danklin - Vincent Destroyer - Destroyed
 SLS George Wellington - Vincent Destroyer - Severe Damage
 SLS Janet McFadden - Vincent Destroyer - Heavy Damage

 FWL Fleet

 4 Atreus Battleships destroyed
 1 Aegis Cruiser destroyed
 3 League II Destroyer destroyed
 3 League Destroyer damaged and captured

 Though victorious, the damage inflicted on the Hegemony forces would force them back to Terra for repairs.

 Another Free World thrust entered Carver V and quickly destroyed the 2 Vincent Destroyers of the 16th Patrol Division for the loss of a single Leagu II Destroyer. The 1st Oriente Hussars made landfall and after a week of fighting managed to overwhelm the garrison.

 As the reports came in, General Rita Mitchell had no choice but to shorten her defensive lines. She ordered the 79th Mechanized Infantry Division off Connauhgt and the 48th Infantry Division off Wyatt. The 1st Battle Squadron covered the withdraw of both commands.

 General Mitchell turned to look at Amanda Cameron "I don't like it either, but we just cannot hold what we have right now. Either we leave them and everyone dies, or we pull them back to a better supported position. I am going to risk it and order the 287th Battlemech Division and 213th Battlemech Division off the Combine front. Plus I want Admiral Brandt to pull a Division from the 2nd Battle Squadron from the Combine front. We need them to bolster our Marik front while we get some repairs done."

 "Is that wise, we have a bunch of Combine troops right on our doorstep." Amanda asked

 "I just have to hope that Coordinator Kurita has his teeth firmly into the Suns and he leaves us alone until we stabilize the Marik front." General Mitchell said