Astyanax and the Campaign for Hydrax
The Coalition have finally made their move. Large numbers of Lyran vessels are converging on our outer planetary systems, while a large Klingon fleet heads directly for our home worlds. I am in the thick of it from the outset in my Knight-class Hellbore Destroyer, the Inevitable.
We take up position well to port of the planet of Hyerark, the final staging point on the way to Hydrax itself. The Inevitable is part of a light flotilla along with another Knight and a Crusader Frigate Leader; the combination gives us respectable Hellbore power. Off to our immediate starboard is a Caravan Tug carrying a Scout Pallet, accompanied by a Thoroughbred Heavy Cruiser. Next to them is our Paladin Dreadnought flagship, with two Ranger Cruisers. I assume that the rest of our fleet is stationed on the other side of the planet. We make rather a grand sight, especially with all the fighters escorting the Paladin and Dragoons, but we are well aware that the Klingons are going to try to degrade our squadrons while keeping their ship losses to an acceptable minimum - well, acceptable for a Klingon, that is.
Facing our wing is a group of three Battlecruisers: two D7s flanking what looks like a Mauler cruiser. Then there is an F5 squadron, one of which is a light carrier going by the squadron debouching from it already. Klingon fighters are not as good as our Stingers, but they carry an impressive drone missile armament. Then comes a D5 War Cruiser squadron and their flagship, a Battle Tug with another D7 and an F5S Scout vessel. It looks as though most of their fleet is concentrated here - so it is just as well that we have extra fighter support from the planet and a Large Auxiliary Carrier.
The battle opens with the Klingons shredding the planetary and auxiliary fighters as our ships steadily advance. This provides an opportunity for the massed group with the Paladin: if they can close with the enemy Battle Tug, we will strike a major blow at their command & control capabilities. The Klingons know this too, and move their ships to help the tug. This puts the Mauler and its two friends on a course straight towards our own Scout Tug, so rather than let that happen my flotilla moves swiftly into close engagement range and lets fly with an entire suite of overloaded hellebores straight at the Mauler's front shield. If we can force the thing to defend itself, then it won't be using all that power to fry one of us. We shall just have to take our chances with the two D7s.
This turns out to have been the correct tactical decision to make in the circumstances. All bar one of our Hellbores hit the Mauler and we add in our Phaser power too - and going by the colors of the electronic discharges, not only does it have to use its impressive battery power to deflect our assault, we even manage to inflict minor harm to its front shield. This leaves us open to retaliation from the D7s, though.
In the meantime, the concentrated Disruptor and Phaser power of the main Klingon ships has been decimating our fighters, and the D7s join in, firing at the mass of little guys on the oblique, a favored Klingon attack mode that takes advantage of all those Phasers. The fighters are almost entirely wiped out, which saves the enemy flagship from a Stinger strike. It also saves us from the D7s.
Our own flag squadron now makes its move, heading straight towards the enemy light carrier group. Opening up at reasonably close range, the two Rangers cripple a Frigate each, while the Paladin completely destroys the enemy carrier. It always feels good when this happens. At this point the Klingons warp out, apparently satisfied at all the destroyed fighters. This is when I realize that our ships have had some success on the other side of the planet: a Lord Bishop Command Cruiser has apparently led two Dragoon Cruisers into close range against a D6CV Carrier Group. Both of its escorting E4s have been crippled and the carrier forced to withdraw due to heavy damage.
Round One to us, then - although at heavy fighter cost. In our reserves we have a Tug with a fighter conveyor pallet, a fitting that remains from the old days of the so-called Expeditionary Fleet. It replaces the lost fighters from the planet and the auxiliary carrier, but not our ships. This is all going to go on for a while, and we don't want to run out of fighters yet.
In the second engagement, our fleet is much more concentrated. We deploy behind the planet, along with the heaviest ships in our fleet, fronted by the four fighter squadrons we have replaced plus the fighters from the cruiser squadron - apparently they were unscathed in the fight against the enemy carrier group. The enemy fleet is also concentrated, although their position is offset somewhat to starboard.
The enemy does what they do best, and wipes large numbers of Stingers. Our flotilla slips to starboard, to take up station immediately beside our command element - basically, to stop the enemy outflanking our valuable capital ships. This turns out to be a good idea because the Paladin leads our main force right into the midst of the enemy concentration, deliberately heading straight for their Battle Tug. The Paladin takes a hammering as it goes in, losing its front shield and taking quite a bit of internal damage - just not enough to deter it. My flotilla keeps the enemy Carrier group and frigates off the Paladin's starboard side, albeit at the cost of our friend the Crusader almost being destroyed. Then our command ships open up, destroying their F5 Scout completely and crippling their Battle Tug as well as a D7 Battlecruiser. The Klingons leave.
We get ready for the next one. Our ships are holding up, mainly because so far the Klingons have been frying fighters, but that will eventually change - what happened to the Crusader is only a sign of more to come. This time we are unable to replace the two squadrons from the planet, although enough Stingers have been scraped together to fill one of the Paladin's Rangers. The only others we will have in this engagement are two squadrons from the large Freighter auxiliary, plus the nine from the Heavy Cruiser squadron - so far they are leading a charmed life.
My flotilla gains a second Crusader to replace the one we just lost, and we arrive on station behind the planet. Almost the entire fleet is to port, the only others in our sector being another light flotilla comprising three Cuirassier Frigates. Together with ourselves this makes quite a nice little Hellbore force, and we have one of the Auxiliary fighter squadrons to help. Strangely enough, the Klingons facing us are also relatively sparse, being composed of a D7 Wing, led by a Command Cruiser. It looks as though this is their flagship now, so removing their Battle Tug from consideration was a good choice. Before things start in earnest, I realize that the rest of the Klingon fleet is indeed deployed against our main ships. The presence of a tiny E4S scout vessel shows that the attrition is beginning to tell on their scouts as well as command vessels. Sensors indicate that they still have many standard ships in reserve, though.
Seeing that one of their few precious command ships is a bit exposed, the Klingons slide a D5 War Cruiser squadron over to help out - which is going to give our little force real problems. And indeed this is the case. As the fleets close, the two enemy cruiser squadrons effortlessly remove both squadrons from the Auxiliary Carrier, and then hit us in turn. We keep them occupied as best we can, but this is a losing fight for us - I just hope the time it costs them is worth it. Our Crusader is destroyed, and the other Knight Destroyer heavily damaged. The loss of our fighters means that more is now being inflicted on our ships, especially the light ones - and we don't have many of those left in reserve. If this keeps up, we will be down to the Police Corvettes.
However, our sacrifice allows our heaviest ships to close on the remainder of the Klingon force, and they pay dearly for having divided into two separate wings. The last escort for the carrier, an F5E, is crippled, as is the D7 Battlecruiser escorting their Mauler. The E4S simply explodes. The Klingons try to reply, but they just don't have the power to do any more than shred the front shields of our two Ranger Cruisers. The coup de grace comes in the form of fighter revenge; the enemy's relatively dispersed deployment has meant that the Stingers from our main ships are able to make an attack run on the Mauler - which promptly explodes in impressive fashion. The Klingons leave.
And again we prepare for another bout. This time, though, the Auxiliary Carrier is withdrawn, and the only fighters we have left are those with the cruiser squadron and the Paladin's group. There are nineteen Stingers in total, a paltry amount compared to our preferred numbers, and still enough to pack a right punch if they can deliver it - as the D6M Mauler has just found out for sure.
Now that the Inevitable is the only standard Destroyer we have left, we are placed in command of a little Hellbore flotilla off wide to port of the rest of the fleet. This gives me command of two Cuirassiers, but as the Klingons warp in, we see that we will again be up against the enemy D7 Wing we encountered last time. Except now we have no fighters nearby, and we are on our own. Both fleets have concentrated their main forces to starboard of the planet, so there is going to be a mighty struggle there. We shall just have to try keep the three D7s away from it.
This we do, albeit at the cost of one Cuirassier destroyed and the other crippled. The fireworks display from the other side of the planet is impressive, as both main forces close and weapons are discharged all along the line. The Klingons do have one area of local advantage, which they use to great effectiveness as their replacement Mauler cruiser gets a good shot at our Tug. The Caravan is made of strong stuff, though, and it only (!) takes heavy damage. Ships are losing shields all along the lines of both fleets, but our breakthrough comes when the Stingers gang up on the enemy's D5 War Cruiser squadron. Their Command Cruiser is destroyed, with one D5 crippled and another heavily damaged. The Klingons leave to get ready for another round.
On the next occasion, my flotilla comprises the Inevitable leading the last Cuirassier Frigate we have, plus a Police Corvette. This time, though, we are close to the main ships, especially the Paladin and her two friendly Rangers; they even have a few fighters out front. The enemy forces in our sector are, once again, their D7 command wing, supplemented by an F5 Frigate Squadron. This is to port from the planet; everything else is on the other side. The Klingons do not seem to have any War Cruisers present, instead having replaced their position in the line with a second F5 squadron, so the attrition is clearly mounting for both sides. Sensors still show large numbers of enemy cruisers and frigate in reserve, though - probably D6s, some F5s and a load of E4s. Our main advantage is in electronic warfare due to the presence of a Large Auxiliary Scout, a Police Flagship, and a Pegasus Commando Scout.
The close presence of so many of our heavy ships means that our part of the engagement goes well. The two D7 Battlecruisers are both forced out of the battle - and the campaign - with one crippled and the other heavily damaged. It is touch and go for a while on the other side of the planet as the Klingon fighters manage a decent strike on our Thoroughbred Fast Cruiser, heavily damaging it. This leaves the Pegasus exposed to the Mauler, but fortunately our remaining Stingers move in and wipe out the enemy frigate flotilla; this is enough to make the Klingons retire again. Our flotilla lost the Police Corvette.
We still have some good ships in reserve, but only a few of them. The admiral decides it is time to commit one of our last few remaining decent formations, the Cavalier Carrier Group. We are trying to sandpaper the Klingons as much as we can in the battle for Hyerark before we are forced to retire on the last line of defence between Hydrax itself, our main Starbase. That and Hydrax both have decent fighter contingents of their own, but this campaign really is touch and go, as the Terrans say. This time my flotilla comprises ourselves in the Inevitable along with the last Cuirassier and the last Police Flagship; the good thing about this ship is the power of its front shield. We are stationed at the far port end of the fleet, which is heavily concentrated mostly to port of the planet. Immediately to our starboard is the Heavy Cruiser squadron.
The Klingons have come in heavily concentrated too, but on the oblique away from us; the planet lies between the two fleets. They still have fighters, but their D6 CV has no escorts - it's basically a cruiser with fighter support. Both sides are definitely feeling the drain; the Klingons have had to replace their D7 Battlecruisers with D6s. It remains to be seen who lasts...
Since we are stationed on the periphery, we don't actually get involved on this occasion. We are swinging round the outside of our fleet, preparing to let loose with our Hellbores on a Klingon Frigate Squadron, when the Boneheads leave. We do, though, have a grand view of the action as our Cavalier group moves towards the main body of the enemy fleet - they have obviously been ordered to use their fighters and escorts to soak up the Klingon firepower while the majority of our force swings around the planet and comes at the enemy from an angle off their starboard flank. The carrier group takes a pounding; all of its fighters are wiped out, and the escorts removed; even the Cavalier takes some internal damage. However, this allows our fleet to align itself for an all-out assault, and between them our heavy ships remove an F5 Squadron and cripple the D6 Mauler - a significant result.
However, we no longer have the power to defend Hyerark, so the decision is made to blow anything of value and fall back on the main Starbase. At least it has its own fighter squadrons, as well as one from the capital's system Monitor. The Cavalier retires to the rear echelons to vacuum up any spare fighters; it is also joined by a couple of reserve escort vessels,
It is now time to see if the Klingons have enough power to destroy our final base. My little flotilla is positioned just to port of the Starbase itself, fronted by a Stinger squadron. On our outside, at the extreme edge of our fleet formation, is the heavy cruiser squadron. The rest of our ships are deployed on the other side of the station.
This engagement plays out almost exactly like the last one. The Klingons efficiently remove all of our fighters while we efficiently remove some Klingons: a D6 and an F5 heavily damaged, and their last D7 crippled.
It is now becoming serious for us: although we have some fighters and a very few ships in reserve in case we have to retreat to Hydrax itself, we no longer have any fighters with the fleet. It's just us and the Starbase. We expect to lose light ships this time.
And we do. Our last two Hunter Frigates are both crippled, and the Police ship with them is destroyed. We lose our Police Flagship to heavy damage from an enemy frigate squadron, but they really should have crippled it. Some of the Klingon shooting is a bit off, which makes me suspect they are using penal frigates as part of the line now. Basically, they have stabilized their fleet organization as two D-Wings (one including the D7C Command Cruiser) and two frigate squadrons, but the actual ship compositions are not of their best. This shows as our Starbase forces a D-hull to retire quite early on with heavy damage - must have been a D6. Our heavy cruiser squadron closes to overload range and destroys another D-hull with a dozen overloaded Hellbores. Our command group smashes an F5 squadron, and the Klingons leave yet again.
However, sizable gaps are now appearing in our order of battle; we just don't have many ships left in reserve. The only light replacement we get is a Police carrier joining our little flotilla. Fortunately, it still carries its full complement of ten Stinger-IIs, which should keep the enemy occupied for a while.
Here we go again - this will be the ninth engagement in which I recently have taken part: six at Hyerark and now a third at the Starbase. The Klingons pick on our Monitor and Pegasus in this engagement - our admiral seems to be trying to keep our actual combat starships intact by offering tempting targets. The idea, presumably, is to draw out the attrition for as long as we can. The main Klingon ships cripple the Monitor and heavily damage the Pegasus, then start to turn in on us. Three D6 Battlecruisers are getting ominously close when space sort of unfolds in front of our eyes and an Orion mercenary Heavy Cruiser appears between our little flotilla and the Klingons. The Orion takes the whole lot as energy readings go off the charts - it suffers only minor internal damage. Our heavy ships then crash the party, and after they lose many of their own light ships, the Klingons exit sharply once more. The arrival of the cloaked mercenary has certainly added extra spice!
In we go again, but this time we really are down on ships. The Orion remains uncloaked and acts as a sort of extra heavy escort for the Cavalier, which has reappeared with a decent number of fighters and a couple of escort ships. On this occasion, our Lord Bishop Command Cruiser is heavily damaged and our last accompanying Cuirassier frigate is destroyed, along with our Police Carrier's fighter contingent. The Klingons leave once again when they lose three E4s destroyed by our command ships and a D6 crippled. Yes, the Klingons are down to the little ones as well.
I get to sit out on the next one. Our admiral is being very judicious with the precious few reserves we have, and this time the fleet is joined by a Liege Early Dreadnought, along with its fighters. Apart from the Inevitable, we only have one other light vessel, and that is a Police Corvette. The Klingons are also feeling the pinch, because almost all of the lighter ships that appear on their side are E4s. The relatively sparse nature of our fleet does afford them various possibilities, and they use their superior manoeuvrability to pick on some relatively isolated vessels. This is the first time that the enemy has seriously threatened our command group, but they manage to cripple a Ranger and inflict heavy damage on the other Ranger and the Paladin. This costs them five light ships of their own, though, so they warp out again.
The Klingons have obviously decided they cannot afford a final assault on our capital, so their forces retire. We have bought ourselves time over Hydrax, but at what cost! One thing is certain: the Coalition forces will be back, because while we have been fighting, the Lyrans have taken all of our there planets and ejected the defenders. They too withdraw, however, presumably to concentrate their forces for a final direct attack on Hydrax.
In they come again, but this time Fate decrees that I take part in only one battle at the approaches to Hydrax. Along with the only other Knight Destroyer left to our forces in the capital region, the Inevitable is assigned to protect the venerable Grenadier training carrier from the Old Colonies - we are pressing everything we have into service. It is very slow, and this combines with our position on the far outside port of the fleet to keep us out of the action, and we are just about getting there when the Lyrans leave. They do vast amounts of damage to our fighters, and also cripple our Lord Bishop Command Cruiser. The invaders' losses are all in the form of lighter ships.
In addition, the Traveller Light Cruiser Entangler is heavily damaged as it leads a couple of Horsemen cruisers against the main Lyran forces. Its captain is killed in action, and since the First Officer has only just recently been promoted from the ranks, the fleet admiral considers him not to be quite ready for command (the Entangler was crippled in a previous engagement and that captain killed). Since I am a veteran of the first Coalition assault on Hydrax by the Klingons, I am promoted to Captain of the Entangler and ordered to take over as the ship retires towards our new Starbase protecting the route to the Old Colonies. This will give me time to familiarize myself with the ship and crew.
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