Gratuitous Federation & Empire

 Our newly-repaired F5E Escort Axe Guard , the first of its kind, is assigned to a D6CV along with a smaller E4E as part of the first wave against the Kzinti Duke's Starbase. Our fleet is led by Admiral Ulorf, our leading strategist on all things Kzinti. We attack in two groups; the battlecruisers are all off to our starboard side, while we are in a battle group with Ulorf's C8 Dreadnought, an F5V Light Carrier; an F5C Frigate leader; and a tug carrying drone pods. Our half of the fleet ends up facing most of the Kzinti, and we take a hammering - gloriously, of course. We go right into the middle of them, and the Axe Guard's weaponry shows its worth against Kzinti fighters, as does the superior fire arcs of our phasers. At one point all of our ships dance our famous Klingon oblique manoeuvre, as we cut loose with everything we have. The carnage is tremendous, with Kzinti fighters exploding all over the place, but they are just too many - and they have the support of their m

 My first engagement as an officer on the Orion Heavy Cruiser Deathblow  is an education in itself. We are patrolling behind the Lyran front lines, picking off some easy targets from their logistical support network, when we are attacked by two Lyran Police Corvettes. The result is nasty; they simply close and ram us with their ESG fields. It does not look as though they expect to survive the fight, and are determined to do as much damage to us as they possibly can - perhaps they knew there was an Orion in the vicinity, just not which one. ESG fields are not affected by our ECM signature. The Deathblow  is crippled in the exchange, and we take large numbers of casualties among the crew; my mate Zriewk and the renegade Lyran Captain of our ship are both killed. This makes me the newly promoted Captain. In addition, according to the customs of my people, I now carry the burden and joy of Zriewk's responsibilities, so making me effective a member of our Ruling Council, if and when I e

 It's all a bit of a fizzle, really, at least where I am concerned.  Along with the other pilots on the CVL Tempest , I watch as the Lyrans overpower our forward lines and then sweep in towards the planet in multiple waves. Our ships give them a hard time as usual as we try to fend them off, with especially high casualties among the pilots. As has been the case in previous positions, the superior numbers of the Lyran force eventually grinds us down, and we have to commit carriers as cruiser equivalents. Our turn comes, and the fleet is deployed in a relatively wide formation; our admiral the Count is obviously intent on following his orders to preserve the carriers as much as possible. Our own position is at the far end of the port wing of the formation, which can best described as a loose line abreast. The Lyrans, however, really mean business this time, as they come in almost entirely together on a heading directly for the planet.  Our squadron turns in towards the planet behind

 The Lyran offensive resumes, and this time their main target is the major Kzinti planet of Zamyan: The big cats are not expecting to hold the planet, especially since much of their weight has gone to help the Duke inflict as much damage as possible on the Klingons as they attack his Starbase. Learning from previous experience, the Kzinti already know that the Lyrans will have a decent amount of fighter power at their disposal, albeit without too much in the way of reinforcement, so they elect to engage the Lyrans at a distance from the planet itself. The open space battle really does not go the way of the Kzinti. The Lyran fleet deploys in a relatively condensed formation, which means their ship defences plus fighters deal handily with Kzinti drone attacks. They really only lose an Escort Frigate crippled plus nine fighters. The Kzinti, however, feel the wrath of Lyran frustration and take it hard, with their Battle Tug, Orion Battle Raider and Drone Frigate all crippled, and two FFk