Gratuitous Federation & Empire

 The Romulans press their attacks beyond Midketh, attacking our depleted forces at one of the border Battle Stations. This is the next phase of their offensive: now that we have been forced back into our own territory, they will reduce the border stations before deciding where to strike next. As Captain of the Battle Destroyer Bonecrusher, I take part in two battles. Fighting is extremely intense, even by our standards, and  it is the heavier ships on both sides that pay the price. We lose a full carrier group as well as the station, but the enemy pays a heavy price: a Condor Dreadnought and a Vulture Early Dreadnought both crippled, with another Condor destroyed outright. As our forces retire and reform, I am promoted to Captain of the Battle Destroyer Leader Hunter .

 I take part in two engagements as we launch a huge assault on the Hydran Starbase that stands between us and their Old Colonies. Our forces are decimated in the attention, and the Klingons also take heavy casualties, as do the Hydrans. However, they manage to hold us off. For some reason their Starbase has been named 'Midway' in honor of a naval battle famous from Terran history; it remains to be seen whether this campaign is a similar turning point. The Dark Fury  is destroyed in the intensive fighting, and as a trimaran specialist I am given command of one of our clan's few War Cruisers, the Cold Fang . Image of a Lyran War Cruiser from Deviant Art.

 The Coalition must have rebuilt their strength and repaired their warships after taking the Hydran homeworlds, because they mount an enormous offensive on the Hydran Starbase that stands between them and the Old Colonies. The little guys fight with an admirable combination of ferocity and tactical cunning as they fight off wave after wave of enemy attacks, shattering the Lyrans completely and mangling the Klingons as well. My cruiser the Deathblow  takes part in two engagements, strangely enough on both occasions facing off against other mercenaries. The first one is a newly-built Battlecruiser, the first time I have seen one of those. Our ship of course comes off the worse, but the exchange is followed up by a hail of hellbores from a Hydran cruiser squadron with full fighter support; the enemy drifts off, crippled. We are not so fortunate in our second fight, where again we are met with another Orion vessel, this time a CR Cruiser, and the shoe is on the other foot. We win ...

From https://www.scottbieser.com/HydranSB.htm As expected, the Coalition mounts a massive assault against our Starbase. Standing between the capital and the Old Colonies, this was an extra installation built in the early stages of what is now being called the General War before the enemy took over our territories. We may not be able to weather the storm, but at the very least we will start to bleed the Coalition dry. The Lyrans are fighting on two fronts, and the Klingons on three (!); we have the strategic advantage of short lines of supply. I am heavily involved at the outset. Our first battle is an easy victory - we exchange fighters for the crippling or outright destruction of five Lyran Frigates. The enemy is leading with the Lyrans because the Klingons are the ones occupying our capital and other major planets; they obviously want our damage to be deflected from the Boneheads for as long as possible. The second engagement, however, goes against us. My Traveller Cruiser the En...