M'rrr'shann Observes

 Although we do not as yet have enough force on this front to mount a major offensive against the Hydran enemy, the combination of our own Far Stars Fleet with the Enemy's Blood Duchy gives us a decent shot at one attack. The Hydrans have been forced to divide their fleets here in two in order to cover both of their Battle Stations that are within striking distance of our vessels, so we pick one and go in. Whichever one we hit will probably put up a stout defence before falling to our local superiority in numbers.

In the event, the two Dukes do a deal to split the honours. Our Far Stars Duke M'Muran graciously agrees to wait out the first attack; after all, the Hydrans have destroyed one of the two Enemy's Blood frontier stations, so it only seems fair to give them first shot. The Enemy's Blood Duke leads from a Battle Tug equipped with new Klingon battle pods - these are functionally the same as our own pallets, but they do look cool. He is directly supported by a Destroyer-class Scout. The rest of the force is also formidable; six Heavy Cruisers and Six Light Cruisers from our combined forces! We supply four of the heavier ships and three of the lighter ones.

Captain M'Mash and I watch from the bridge of War Destroyer Dark Fury in the rear echelons. The Hydran fleet here seems to be composed mostly of their Hellbore ships: powerful, but with relatively little in the way of fighters - for Hydrans, that is. I magnify the view screen to zoom in on the fighters from their station. M'Mash notices the look of concentration on my face: "What is it? Do you see something nasty?" It has to be said that the Lyran sense of humour can seem rather ... peculiar ... to other species. "There's something odd about the way that fighter squadron is deployed," I reply.

M'Mash squints at the screen and strokes his whiskers in agreement. Instead of the usual formation one would expect from a full squadron of Hydran fighter craft, the station has deployed its group of twelve with three dropped behind the other nine, trailing them by a good 10,000 claws. There is also something off about all of their fighters, now that I come to think of it. They just don't look right for some reason, especially those three at the back - they seem somehow sleeker than the others.

There is no time for further speculation as the fleets close. As usual, the Hydran suicide boats - also known as Frigates - dash in and take the initial grief, all three of them drifting off either crippled or heavily damaged. However, this has drawn attention away from the surprising speed of the fighters - they have been souped up or something. They close on our cruisers, which open up with the usual combination of phaser and disruptor power before the fighters then get to ESG range.

It is now the turn of M'Mash to look concerned, and one should always trust the instincts of a veteran commander: "Those little swine are taking far too much damage, and yet they are still coming!" He is right - normally that amount of damage would easily have accounted for many more fighters than it has. This means that more of them than usual make it through the local ESG defences.

Then all hell erupts as the Hydrans pour vast amounts of grief into our cruisers. Around a dozen fighters quickly cripple two Heavy Cruisers and a Light Cruiser, and severely damage another Light Cruiser. M'Mash snarls in disbelief. "They've mounted gatlings on those fighters; it must be a new type of Stinger!" He doesn't need to add anything else - the first version of Hydran fighters was bad enough, but these ones are faster, tougher and carry gatlings. And the three at the back have joined in from well beyond effective phaser-3 range.

"There's something else!" I exclaim, as my attention is drawn to the three trailing fighters. "They have hellbores! Fighters with hellbores!" Our cruiser captains must have realised the same thing, because they open up on the remaining fighters with everything they have, leaving nothing. However, having effectively lost four cruisers in as many minutes, the fleet retreats. 

M'Mash erupts into what we like to call 'snazzles' - snarling laughter that sums up admiration, humour and frustration all at once. "Those sneaky little bastards!" he exclaims, once he has recovered enough to speak. I nod in agreement - everyone had been wondering what the Hydran version of the recent fleet refits would be. It seems that all of the major powers had been expecting a new war for quite some time, ever since the interfering Organians left or whatever it was that happened to them, and everyone has been busy uprating their ships for combat readiness. In our case it was the invention of battery packs for the newer tri-hull ships like our own, and increased shielding and main phaser power for the older catamarans - and rumour has it that the high command has even started experimenting with carriers using the Klingon-supplied fighters we use for fixed defensive positions.

Now we know. The Hydrans didn't refit their ships, they have introduced a whole new generation of fighters. And theirs were already the toughest in known space. I look at my captain as the realisation comes over both of us - this campaign has just become even tougher.