Spring Y169: Zelkrat Finally Falls

 Third time lucky for the Klingons under Admiral Ulorf, all nice and snug in his favourite Battle Tug:

Although Zelkrat has been defended effectively by the Kzinti at a considerable cost in Klingon ships, the invaders now have the upper hand, with a large fleet and near-parity in fighters. If Ulorf doesn't take the planet this time around, he will be forced to withdraw because he won't really have enough left to continue with this campaign. However, the canny Klingon commander knows exactly what he has been doing by trading mostly lighter ships for Kzinti fighters, and his assault force roars into the system. I've tried to show the relative fleet deployments in the following photo:

In the foreground at the centre left is the Kzinti CVS Carrier group. Just to their right and behind the planet is the remainder of the planetary defence fighters, plus a Battlecruiser and Drone Cruiser. A bit more to their right is the Dreadnought, and then at the bottom right of the picture is the flotilla of three Destroyers that has been playing merry havoc with the smaller Klingon vessels. I roll randomly for deployments to keep playing solo fresh, but it's nice to think of a rationalisation for the placements. In this case, Kzinti Lord Chamberlain Mr'iarr in the Dreadnought has tried to second-guess Ulorf. The Kzin seems to have assumed that Ulorf will repeat his initial tactic of striking directly at the planet; the remaining fighters and the two cruiser-class ships will be able to take advantage of atmospheric conditions to degrade enemy firepower while defending Zelkrat against the expected assault. The CVS group should be able to handle itself, while the Dreadnought and Destroyer combo should give the Klingons a hard time. At least, that's probably what Mr'iarr hopes.

Wrong. It's never wise to predict what a Klingon will do - just because Ulorf struck straight at the planet in the first engagement doesn't mean he's going to do the same thing again. Of course he changes tactics. At the very top left of the picture is a squadron of F5 Frigates; then comes a wing of three D7 Battlecruisers; two D6 Battlecruisers; and then almost everything else in a concentrated group: a D6V carrier with no escorts; an FVL light carrier with no escort; a D6D Scout Drone Cruiser; an F5S Scout Frigate; and, for the first time in the campaign, a ground assault ship, in this case an F5G Commando Frigate, filled to the gunnels with Klingon warriors champing at the bit. Ulorf himself is in his Battle Tug at the top left of the photo, deployed already in advance of the F5s and D7s. His plan this time is to strip away the defending Kzinti ships, and he has quite a bit of firepower and fighter power at his disposal. I'll describe the ensuing fight from the Kzinti perspective because it's easier to follow.

On the left of the field, one of the D7s is crippled quite early on by a massive drone strike from the CVS group, with the two other D7s taking some front shield damage from the fighters' drones. The F5 squadron turns in and engages the CVS group, damaging the no.6 shield of the Escort Frigate. The Kzinti cruisers emerge from the shadow of the planet and damage the front shield on one of the F5s, which is also impacted by a drone from the CVS on its front shield. The Klingons return fire from the Battle Tug, which hits the already hammered front side shield of the Escort Frigate with a perfect disruptor salvo. The little Kzinti vessel drifts off into silent running, severely crippled. The planetary bases remove the front shield of the F5C Frigate commander. The F5 squadron shifts to present fresh shields and closes to range 3 on the Escort Light Cruiser with disruptors and phasers, crippling it too. It also goes into silent running, leaving the carrier on its own. The last act in this part of the battle comes when the Battle Tug closes to point blank range and executes an overrun on the Kzinti Strike Carrier with all disruptors and phasers, including p-3s. The carrier is badly hurt, but not crippled. At the same moment the planet's defences cripple one of the Klingon frigates, and the Kzinti cruisers cripple the other.

The CVS fighters stay ahead of their carrier, downing a shield and doing internal damage to each of the two remaining D7s, their crippled compatriot having left in a huff. The Kzinti must be getting desperate because for the first time so far in the campaign they close to almost point-blank range. Normally they will stay well out of effective counter-fire range, but they must know this is their last chance to save Zelkrat. The smaller contingent from the planet engages the two D6 Battlecruisers, but this is an even match, so not much is achieved apart from some hurt to the fighter squadron.

To the right of the planet, the battle there opens with the Klingons determined to enact sweet vengeance on the enemy Destroyer flotilla. The first Kzinti Destroyer immediately loses chunks of its front and front left shields to the superior Klingon direct firepower in the area - some of this includes a good medium-range spread of disruptors from the two D6 Battlecruisers before they get too busy against fighters. The fighters from the Klingon D6V carrier launch their drones and punch some internals through the already damaged front shield of DD no.1. This is the first time the Klingons have drone and fighter superiority in part of a battle, and they go to it with gusto. Two Destroyers are crippled and the third destroyed by the biggest drone wave the Klingons have been able to mass in the war to date.

Poor old Kzinti Lord Chamberlain Mr'iarr can only watch from the flag bridge of his Dreadnought as his lighter ships are pulverised. The Dreadnought's disruptors help, but it's not enough against the assets massed here by his wily opponent. Mr'iarr reluctantly gives the order for the fleet to withdraw.

Ulorf chuckles to himself as Zelkrat is invaded by the frothers on the commando frigate.