Gratuitous Federation & Empire

 The Nagato  has not seen direct combat action for a while now, but I know that our time will come. It does so in the form of an order to accompany another of our New Light Cruiser class as pickets for a Heavy Scout Carrier/Cruiser, one of our former Galactic Survey vessels that has been repurposed for the war. Our first engagement against the Klingon offensive sees us stationed at the far port end of of the fleet. In conjunction with a New Heavy Carrier with F-111 heavy fighters, we see off a Klingon attrition group composed of 24 fighters and six gunboats. We exchange fighters before the Klingons warp out, saving their gunboats. Our second fight is rather more dangerous for us as our flotilla is paired with a New Light Cruiser squadron to take on the enemy command element. Their ships are extremely dangerous, comprising a Heavy Dreadnought, a D5X Advanced Technology Cruiser and a D5L Command Cruiser. We manage to damage their front shields, but at the cost of severe damage t...

 The Klingons are pressing deeper into our space now that our forces are stretched by the Romulan invasion. Basically, High Command has three choices for reinforcements: to help the Kzinti stave off the capture of their capital; to shore up the defences against the Klingons; or to stem the Romulan tide. I know from my studies as a cadet in training - oh how long ago it now seems - that we will probably rely on the internal strength of the Federation economy to outlast the Coalition. This means that new builds will be sent in batches at different times to different sectors. It certainly seems as though we need some help in the Rimward marches of our territory. The Orions have declared neutrality, and we are being forced back in this region away from our frontier stations and planets, leaving them ripe for the picking. This is a necessary calculation, because we cannot allow the superior numbers of Klingon vessels to get behind us, but it is heart-wrenching. In a typical engagement f...

 As expected, the Klingons come again. We engage them at the approaches to the curiously-named Bezwell Index, and although we inflict heavy damage, we are forced back to the planet itself. The crew of the Darius  acquit themselves in the way we have come to expect and admire. We are stationed at the far port end of our fleet deployment, just next to a Fast Dreadnought. Our main enemy in this zone is a squadron of D5 War Cruisers, and using Klingon speed and manoeuvrability they cripple our Dreadnought. In return, though, our firepower destroys a D5 and cripples their squadron leader. Elsewhere, the fight does not go well for us as we lose a Heavy Cruiser destroyed and another crippled, in return for crippling an F5C Frigate Leader. Our most telling loss overall is the death of Admiral Shyth as his Dreadnought is crippled. He is replaced by the Terran Rear Admiral Hirva, an accomplished staff officer who is not really an experienced tactical commander. We can only hope that he ...

 The skirmishing with the Klingons continues at the Bezwell Index as they try to retake the planet. Our orders are to keep moving back and forth in this region in an attempt to keep the enemy off balance. Now that the Romulans have joined the war on their side, we cannot allow the Klingons the luxury of a stress-free buildup on our spinward border. Any new construction from the main Federation shipyards will be going to the Romulan Front, but even so it probably will not be enough to stop them destroying large amounts of our military infrastructure. Rumor even has it that a second CVA group has been rushed in that direction. Bezwell Index In any case, the next series of combats at the Bezwell Index sees us engage the Klingons twice - once on the approaches to the planet, and again in orbit. They have superior resources, so we are forced to retreat again. We do, though, inflict considerable grief, including two D6CV carriers crippled. As the fleet gathers at the rendezvous point, ne...

 The 2nd Fleet is ordered to contest the planet known as the Bezwell Index again, with the intention of hurting the Klingon Southern Fleet. It will be even better if we can eject them. The Darius  is one of a flotilla of three destroyers, and I take part in two engagements, one at the approaches to the plant and one in the space near it. The Klingons seem strangely unwilling to contest too heavily, and all we lose is a Heavy Cruiser crippled on the way in, and one of our other Destroyers crippled by a D5 War Cruiser in orbit around the planet itself. The Klingons leave quickly. It would seem that they are happy simply to skirmish with us on this front while their Romulan allies make inroads on our anti-spinward border. I have now fought in four engagements as First Officer of the Darius .

 Julia is my latest hero in the campaign. She comes from an Italian family with a very long, perhaps even legendary, history. She makes her appearance just as the General War really starts to kick off... Starfleet Academy is at full stretch, rotating new officers through the system as fast as possible. The First Officers of older ships up to Destroyer class are being promoted to command their own new vessels as soon as they roll off the production lines, and people like me are being sent to replace them as soon as we graduate.  The overall strategic situation is delicate. The Coalition offensive against the Kzinti has ground down to a sort of stalemate, although the Klingons are grimly reducing our direct geographical links with our erstwhile allies piece by piece. The Hydran capital is reported to have fallen; rumors abound about the little guys fortunately managing to extricate much of their fleet before it met its demise. From  http://www.ussalbion.co.uk/hermes.html In...