[X] The Nusakan pirate point, to save the planetary SDS by assisting the boarders and facing the defending force head on
The SLS
Wales soon jumps in, dumping its dropships rapidly as it moves into position ahead of the oncoming Amaris flotilla. Two massive
Lee dropships brought along move to dock with the SDS stations and break through with raw firepower, while two Overlords and two Triumphs spread themselves out, waiting for an opportunity to weave through the incoming battle to assault the planet directly.
Amaris ships burn hard for the pirate point, knowing full well their best chances lie in striking the drones before they activate. The three hour mark of full acceleration comes and goes, yet they continue forward, skipping the usual midway flip for a deceleration, signaling their intention for a high-speed pass. The maneuver is one known for its utter lethality on both sides, as kinetic and missile projectiles have their power magnified multiple times over by incredible velocity.
The SLS
Wales doesn't hesitate as it orders its own dropships into formation and starts spiraling.
Despite being the most heavily armored warship design yet produced by humanity, the Texas class Battleship has an unusual broadside-focused design reflecting in its protection and weapons. A completely unarmed and less armored fore and aft are mixed with monstrously thick side armor and a surprisingly moderate, when compared to the more famous McKenna, armament of only a single pair of Naval Autocannons, six Capital Missile launchers, two pairs of quadruple Heavy Naval PPCs, and four pairs of a dozen Naval Laser 55's.
An acceptable setup for a slugging match, but one very much not optimized for a high speed pass, where front-facing and physical weapons dominate.
Admiral Dmitrios Rummolo doesn't seem to mind.
Over the next few hours, the SLS
Wales meticulously dumps its entire 300 kiloton cargo capacity in several patches in the space around the SDS, before launching all combat units and lifeboats. The spread of debris is minor in space terms, but it is something incoming forces will be required to keep track of to avoid deadly collisions.
Then the
Wales charges.
To say the
Wales was at a disadvantage would be an understatement. Even discounting that most of its weapons faced the wrong direction, both domestic Rim Worlds ship production and the outdated Terran Hegemony ships it bought at surplus heavily relied on simple Naval Autocannon technology. The very same Naval Autocannons that now had their firepower multiplied ten times or more by velocity.
Yet it's the SLS
Wales that fires first, launching missile after missile well outside of range, not locked on any target and indeed not even aimed directly at the Amaris ships. Instead they fly where Amaris ships
could go, hypothetically, until that space was filled with deadly missiles. The pattern was obvious to both sides; the Wales was trying to funnel ships straight towards it.
When the engagement started and stopped a minute later, it worked as best as could be expected.
Only half the Amaris ships stayed in formation to strike at the
Wales, but those ships paid for it. A Riga I learned that having three times the Naval Autocannons doesn't win a high-speed pass if they miss, and if the enemy's rips you in half. An Essex I Destroyer got a similar lesson on how Heavy Naval PPC batteries are still useful at high speeds against targets they can blow straight through at a standstill. And a Vigilant corvette simply had the bad luck of not being a Pinto corvette, as despite the valiant effort of its suboptimal PPCs, Large Lasers, and AC-10s used as point-defense, the surviving sixth missile still carved the ship apart.
But even as the
Wales drifted apart into a cloud of debris, it's most impressive feats had yet to make themselves known.
Close behind were its dropships and fighters, which carefully weaved through debris to sail right past the occupied Amaris ships and head unopposed to Nusakan, completing their mission of relieving the desperate Castle Brian defenders.
In the other direction, distracted warships going in for the kill carefully adjusted their course to avoid the
Wales earlier dumped cargo before attacking the M-9 Battlestation, but forgot to actually check what that cargo
was.
Hundreds of White Shark and Barracuda missiles, set to acquire their own targets and left adrift, activated as the Amaris ships approached them. Three more warships were obliterated before sensor operators could even report the attack.
In all, only six of the Amaris flotilla made it to their designated targets, hitting drones still coming back online, but they had no stomach for more fighting. They continued pouring on acceleration to hit the nearest pirate point and leave the system while they could.
The M-9 Battlestation near Nusakan survived along with four M-5 Caspars.
At the nadir point, the small ATAC put in the cargo hold of the Tracker was decisive enough to win the battle, but its size was only enough to control a few of the drones. The rest were left to their usual aggressive yet effective tactics, wiping out the Amaris forces but leaving only 20 Caspars remaining. The M-9 Battlestations were destroyed in the fighting.
At the zenith point, the HPG signalled to attack before the locals knew anything was happening, but alert forces noticed the power spikes on the drones and started shooting out of (well-founded) paranoia. Only 30 Caspars and one Battlestation were left after the ensuing chaos.
With space over Nuskan secured and its Castle relieved, the Elysian force:
[] Forms up and leaves the system, telling the Star League how things have gone and letting them deal with taking the planet
[] Forms up and leaves the system, betraying the Star League forces planetside by cutting off contact
[] Stays in the system, telling the Star League how things have gone and letting them deal with ground invasion
[] Stays in the system, providing orbital bombardment on request to ground forces
[] Other
)
