[X]At Touca Front - The Touca are an advanced species inhabiting the recently explored Wayfarer galaxy, inhabiting the space mostly centered around spectacular nebula of red dust known as Sentinel's Eye. Masters of advanced biotechnology said to preside over one of the Wonders of the Universe, they had spent decades resisting Imperial Expansion. Now, by Supreme Leader's decree, they are to be annihilated.
[x]Under Marshall Erina Dommel - Hero of the Empire, Marshall Dommel has fought on almost every of the Empire's many, many fronts. A commander known for her courage, and some dare say, audaciousness, she prizes adaptability as source of strength. She currently commands a mobile task-force that acts as rapid reaction force. Currently deployed in Andromeda galaxy on Heleian Absolute Defense Line.
With Marshall [Dommel], the heroic [daughter], not even Hell shall stop us! Whoever says otherwise slanders and lies, they will feel our fist!
The other choices are either likely to embroil Abess in poltics (which he suffers from the disadvantage of being Giscander) or likely to end with the Touca sending a bullshit combining lions or whatever to the Heleian when they finally lose (a failure state, even if it wont be obvious at the time).
By contrast, returning to the Heleian front after succeeding to mitigate the disaster and now working hopefully with a capable commander that plays to Abess' strengths is far more likely to see him survive to the endgame as an opposing but honorable (or at least competent enemy). It will also be cool to see the valiant side of the empire.
[X]Under Marshall Erina Dommel - Hero of the Empire, Marshall Dommel has fought on almost every of the Empire's many, many fronts. A commander known for her courage, and some dare say, audaciousness, she prizes adaptability as source of strength. She currently commands a mobile task-force that acts as rapid reaction force. Currently deployed in Andromeda galaxy on Heleian Absolute Defense Line.
In less than a week since the Executor's arrival and Hayrant's death, you had received your rewards. For unblemished loyalty in spite of your race, courage in the face of the enemy and generally exceptional service in the armed forces of the Empire, you were promoted to the rank of Commodore and hereby given new orders - to join Marshall Erina Dommel and her independent operations task force as reinforcements. After all, who better to send to fight the barbarous Heleians than the man who had given them a bloody nose on the eve of one of their greatest victories?
Few Auxillas had ever been given the honor - though then again, you were now a citizen, not an Auxilla. As the Imperial creed went, you were no longer a Giscarlander at heart, but one of the Star Lords; a Reyan at heart, if never in blood. And Dommel was universally adored by the Empire. Few officers outside of Supreme Leader had ever earned such loyalty and popularity among the citizenry. Not without reason of course: Dommel won campaign after campaign, battle after battle. No matter the odds, she fought on, whether in defense or on the offensive. When military academies talked about model Imperial Officer, they might as well have simply put up the picture of the Marshall.
But more importantly, you weren't being sent into her service as just another distinguished captain. A Commodore was the lowest among flag ranks, and solidified what informal authority you had as a senior Captain. You would command your own unit and see some of the Empire's finest in action first-hand; a tremendous learning opportunity.
It would of course mean ever-greater scrutiny, but since when did that deter you?
A week more passes, during which elements of your new unit arrive in-system while the rest are being coordinated. The Imperial Logistical Service - normally an inscrutable bureaucratic morass that feeds on its own inertia - for once works as advertized. You suspect it has something to do with Executorial presence, and the fact that several of Hayrant's cronies swiftly followed the good Admiral into the afterlife.
Your new formation will be...:
[]Skirmishers: Centered around Destroyers and Strike Craft with Light and Line Cruiser support. Mostly intended to act as screening and escort force for the heavier formations, as well as to act as deep reconnaissance and raiding formation. Fast and aggressive, but with little endurance.
[]Light Assault: Centered around Reyan fast Light Cruisers, supported with Destroyer and Line Cruiser elements and occasional Heavy Strike Craft. Bulkier and more powerful than screening forces, they are used mainly as vanguards, but also as raiders against more heavily defended targets.
With your new formation, there is also the matter of your new flagship. While your Destroyer had performed admirably, the severe damage it endured meant that it would be scrapped, stripped of anything essential and melted down into base resources that would be rolled back into fleet production. And besides, now that you were a flag officer, you needed something that could withstand more than one particle bolt...
[]Chrono-pattern Light Cruiser: Considered to be the "standard" type of Light Cruisers in Imperial service, ideal for quick actions and raids. Comparable in speed and handling to lighter vessels, yet more durable, they typically form the core heavy element of skirmishing forces and bulk of light assault formations. Armaments are composed of two triple positron batteries, aft light positron battery, a 4-cell and 6-cell dorsal missile battery and 8-cell ventral missile battery as well as 4 torpedo tubes.
[]Vaul-pattern Light Cruiser: An older variant of standard Imperial Light Cruiser, that none-the-less still sees much use, especially in skirmishing formations as main attacker, and in light assault squadrons as fire support. Armaments are composed of six torpedo tubes, two 4-cell dorsal missile batteries and three 4-cell dorsal ones, additional side-6 cell missile batteries and two standard positron turrets. Due to its mobility and strong missile firepower, it can serve in both stand-off and direct attack roles, but it somewhat less durable.
[]Hoeth-pattern Light Cruiser: A variant of the standard Chrono-pattern hull, the Hoeth removes the standard positron batteries and both ventral and dorsal missile batteries in favor of a pair of heavy Prism Cannons. These powerful, long-range attack weapons significantly increase the ship's offensive capabilities. Supplementing them is the standard torpedo compliment and 4 light positron cannons, and a pair of aft-mounted 4-cell missile launchers with much-reduce munition bins.
[]Isha-pattern Line Cruiser: "The" naval vessel employed by the Imperial Cosmo Fleet, and one of the few rare vessels that breach the gab between its light and heavy units. Specifically designed as a multirole, medium-weight ship the Isha can keep pace with much lighter vessels while having significantly heavier defenses and weapons, allowing it to serve alongside heavy-duty formations. Perfect for any role, they are armed as standard with three positron batteries, six torpedo tubes, two 4-cell missile launcher on both dorsal and ventral positions and an aft 6-cell missile launcher.
[]Lileath-pattern Line Cruiser: Used mostly among Skirmish and Support formations, but also occasionally Light Assault, the Lileath-patterns are what is known as "Aviation Cruisers". The standard torpedo and missile arrays are sacrificed in favor of major hangar bay, capable of servicing most Strike Craft in Imperial service. Total capacity is 5 squadrons, with additional pair of multirole utility craft. On-board weaponry consist of three positron canon batteries, 4 light positron cannon batteries and a pair of 4-cell vertical missile launchers.
With that settled, you ready yourself for a new chapter in your eternal war...
***
Bit of a shorter update this time around, though as you had picked MAXIMUM ACTION option, your force composition will be vital to the upcoming arc, as it will be deciding in how Dommel will use your force. Well, and you sort of need a new ship too
Needless to say, can cast only one flagship vote, so choose carefully!
[X]Light Assault: Centered around Reyan fast Light Cruisers, supported with Destroyer and Line Cruiser elements and occasional Heavy Strike Craft. Bulkier and more powerful than screening forces, they are used mainly as vanguards, but also as raiders against more heavily defended targets.
[X]Isha-pattern Line Cruiser: "The" naval vessel employed by the Imperial Cosmo Fleet, and one of the few rare vessels that breach the gab between its light and heavy units. Specifically designed as a multirole, medium-weight ship the Isha can keep pace with much lighter vessels while having significantly heavier defenses and weapons, allowing it to serve alongside heavy-duty formations. Perfect for any role, they are armed as standard with three positron batteries, six torpedo tubes, two 4-cell missile launcher on both dorsal and ventral positions and an aft 6-cell missile launcher.
If we are raiding we could be sent to snuff out entrenched targets and generally have missions left to our own devices and not get hammered by a giant enemy fleet in a capital battle clusterfuck while also getting more glory than light skirmishers.
[X] Skirmishers: Centered around Destroyers and Strike Craft with Light and Line Cruiser support. Mostly intended to act as screening and escort force for the heavier formations, as well as to act as deep reconnaissance and raiding formation. Fast and aggressive, but with little endurance. [X] Chrono-pattern Light Cruiser: Considered to be the "standard" type of Light Cruisers in Imperial service, ideal for quick actions and raids. Comparable in speed and handling to lighter vessels, yet more durable, they typically form the core heavy element of skirmishing forces and bulk of light assault formations. Armaments are composed of two triple positron batteries, aft light positron battery, a 4-cell and 6-cell dorsal missile battery and 8-cell ventral missile battery as well as 4 torpedo tubes.
We are a Skirmisher at heart. We've commanded Destroyers and other light units for our entire career, and as an Auxilia we probably never expected to move beyond that. I imagine the good Commodore has a few tricks left to play with this ship type while he might well be inexperienced with heavier ships. Trying to figure out how to best use heavier forces seems like a bad idea in a fleet that is expected to go into heavy action again very soon.
I like the Chrono because of its versatile weapons load, speed and durability. Also because it is the most common type of light cruiser in a Skirmisher formation. Means we can better hide in the crowd. An identified flagship is a dead flagship.
Do we know how many ships a Skirmisher or Light Assault formation ususally includes?
[X]Skirmishers: Centered around Destroyers and Strike Craft with Light and Line Cruiser support. Mostly intended to act as screening and escort force for the heavier formations, as well as to act as deep reconnaissance and raiding formation. Fast and aggressive, but with little endurance.
[X]Hoeth-pattern Light Cruiser: A variant of the standard Chrono-pattern hull, the Hoeth removes the standard positron batteries and both ventral and dorsal missile batteries in favor of a pair of heavy Prism Cannons. These powerful, long-range attack weapons significantly increase the ship's offensive capabilities. Supplementing them is the standard torpedo compliment and 4 light positron cannons, and a pair of aft-mounted 4-cell missile launchers with much-reduce munition bins.
Liking the Hoeth especially because it brings to the table Lance-type weaponry. I don't know how many of these we can get in our main formation but as a flagship in helps our survival by virtue of having the longer-range cannons.
In addition, this provides a way to break static defensive emplacements without relying on torpedoes/missiles, which can be countered by point defense.
[X]Light Assault: Centered around Reyan fast Light Cruisers, supported with Destroyer and Line Cruiser elements and occasional Heavy Strike Craft. Bulkier and more powerful than screening forces, they are used mainly as vanguards, but also as raiders against more heavily defended targets.
[X]Isha-pattern Line Cruiser: "The" naval vessel employed by the Imperial Cosmo Fleet, and one of the few rare vessels that breach the gab between its light and heavy units. Specifically designed as a multirole, medium-weight ship the Isha can keep pace with much lighter vessels while having significantly heavier defenses and weapons, allowing it to serve alongside heavy-duty formations. Perfect for any role, they are armed as standard with three positron batteries, six torpedo tubes, two 4-cell missile launcher on both dorsal and ventral positions and an aft 6-cell missile launcher.
[X]Skirmishers: Centered around Destroyers and Strike Craft with Light and Line Cruiser support. Mostly intended to act as screening and escort force for the heavier formations, as well as to act as deep reconnaissance and raiding formation. Fast and aggressive, but with little endurance. [X]Hoeth-pattern Light Cruiser: A variant of the standard Chrono-pattern hull, the Hoeth removes the standard positron batteries and both ventral and dorsal missile batteries in favor of a pair of heavy Prism Cannons. These powerful, long-range attack weapons significantly increase the ship's offensive capabilities. Supplementing them is the standard torpedo compliment and 4 light positron cannons, and a pair of aft-mounted 4-cell missile launchers with much-reduce munition bins.
Guys! Guys... Hey, Guys. We are skirmishers since the beggining, and she si know for her tactics, while being in comand of a skirmisher (kind of) position right now. About the Heath? Well, the Chrono seemed like the best, but having better, longer-range artillery seems too good to pass up. I mean, even if we ARE skirmishers, it doesn't mean we'll fight only the common way, and we can stay back, sniping special targets while our troops do the "usual" routine. Doesn't that seems nice?
[X]Skirmishers: Centered around Destroyers and Strike Craft with Light and Line Cruiser support. Mostly intended to act as screening and escort force for the heavier formations, as well as to act as deep reconnaissance and raiding formation. Fast and aggressive, but with little endurance. [X]Hoeth-pattern Light Cruiser: A variant of the standard Chrono-pattern hull, the Hoeth removes the standard positron batteries and both ventral and dorsal missile batteries in favor of a pair of heavy Prism Cannons. These powerful, long-range attack weapons significantly increase the ship's offensive capabilities. Supplementing them is the standard torpedo compliment and 4 light positron cannons, and a pair of aft-mounted 4-cell missile launchers with much-reduce munition bins.
