Klingons and Battle Stations

 The Klingons continue to try mopping up the three remaining Kzinti border battle stations. Admiral Ulorf has had an easy time of it with his target, but then he does have most of the Klingons contingents' fighters. The next one along is not so easy, because although the Kzinti forces remaining at these stations are something of a mixed bag, in this case it is a very large bag. Or, rather, a bag composed of relatively few, but large, ships. The result in the first pass is a very bloody nose for the Klingons. The Kzinti deploy in two main groups. One is close to the Battle Station, while the other is quite some way off. However, it is composed of craft capable of producing a stupendous amount of drones, and while the fighters and other ships hold off the Klingons, a massive missile bombardment materialises. The Kzinti lose some fighters, but an entire Klingon F5 Frigate squadron simply ceases to exist, and a D6J Penal Cruiser is crippled. The Klingons withdraw, prepare another Frigate squadron and an extra D5 War Cruiser to replace the D6J, and go in again. The Kzinti here have a fast carrier re-supply Frigate in reserve, so they will have exactly the same force again.

The second attack goes even more badly: another F5 Frigate squadron destroyed plus the replacement D5. The Klingons leave. The thing is, their overall strategy, dubbed the "molasses" strategy by Ulorf, is to press all along a broad front because the Kzinti cannot be this strong everywhere. In a way, this defeat is a good thing because the Klingon force has effectively prevented the strong Kzinti ships here from interfering somewhere more important. Their ships are going to have to make a strategic withdrawal anyway, which means they are going to have to order the station to self-destruct because they cannot afford to leave anything this far out on the border - the Klingons are known to have commando vessels in the broad general area, which means they could possibly capture the station, and this is something the Kzinti cannot allow to happen.




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