Rubik at Dimitris

 Our coreward spring offensive netted our forces Dimitris, the last planet remaining to the Kzinti outside their main home region. This leaves their Marquis with only a single Battle Station; if we can remove that, we will have driven a substantial wedge between the Kzinti and their Flathead allies. While our main fleet retires to keep an eye on the big cats' central command before we gear up for another series of attacks, a large contingent is left to defend Dimitris against an expected counterattack by the Marquis and the Federation 4th Fleet. My F5C Frigate command ship Axe Leader is one of them.

Sure enough, the enemy appears on the long range sensors, and forward elements of our forces are deployed at the approaches to Dimitris. The enemy obviously means business, roughly brushing aside our screening force and inflicting heavy casualties, including the complete destruction of a Carrier Tug. I then take part in a sequence of five engagements at Dimitris itself before the enemy grudgingly withdraws. Some of the combinations I have never seen before in action, as my ship is assigned to a series of different roles in the various battles. The Axe Leader starts off by helping to protect an F5V light carrier until it retreats after losing all of its fighters in action. I then lead an F5 flotilla for two more fights, followed by protecting a ship I have never seen up close before, an E4 Escort Carrier. The E4 hull is a useful little ship. Although they are very small for fleet actions, sometimes we need to use them in the front lines because of attrition on larger vessels. The E4 class does not have very much in the way of armament, but its saving grace is a no.1 shield as powerful as that on our larger true Frigate, the F5. One of our designers somehow found a way to squeeze a wing of six fighters onto the escort carrier version of the E4, which makes this variant a handy one to have around.

Although we just manage to hang onto Dimitris, the damage on our fleet here is considerable, not to mention the toll that is being taken on our battle-hardened warriors. During the inevitable lull that always follows a series of intense combats, our admiral has the unenviable task of reorganising the pool of experienced officers available to him. The Captain of the D5 War Cruiser Rapier is promoted to take over from the sadly deceased Captain of a D6 Battlecruiser, and I am ordered to replace him on the Rapier. The ship's own First Officer is herself relatively newly promoted; although she is offered the position, she turns it down because she feels she is not quite ready yet for a full command of her own. Hence the offer to myself.

The Shapeways version of a D5. Appropriately mean and nasty - very Klingon!

The Rapier has been crippled in the fighting around Dimitris, so my first task after transferring will be to take the ship to a logistics facility for full repair. This will also give me time to familiarize myself with my latest command.

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