if they do follow us, I'll thank them for the gift of lives and ships.
iirc, the way it went for virmire at least regarding fleet sizes is roughly double the next smaller vessel class. is 1 BC -> 2CA -> 4CL -> 8F -> 16K
so, assuming the bugs are setup the way we are, the rachini fleet has 10BB, i'd guess 20CA 40CL 80F and 160K
going under the guns of 100 CL$ 3BC 6CA 12CL 24F and 48K... i'll take those odds actually, given the superiority of our vessels and stations.
Depends on what the Rachni have in the region in terms of their leadership bonus. Assuming the answer is "not much", Beshkar's roll probably means that he does some damage but nothing particularly vital, and definitely nothing important enough to draw off the fleet the Rachni jumped in against us.
Also depends on what the rachni have in the Maroon Sea in terms of heavy metal. If all they have on station is a short cruiser squadron and a spray of frigates, then their rolling even a fairly brilliant success probably wouldn't doom Beshkar's command.
On the other hand, if the rachni have, say, two or three dreadnoughts liberally escorted by cruisers and smaller ships in like proportion... well, we might be needing a new Secretary of War.
Not really. We basically auto-lose if the Rachni would just get off their asses and attack us with the fleet they already assembled. Their standard fleet composition has ten dreadnoughts. There's basically nothing we can do to them in a straight-up fight. The biggest problem they have is that they don't know how strong we actually are and how many fleets/defenses we have in reserve. If Beshkar's raiding fleet gets mauled here, that very well might make them believe we aren't as powerful as they think we are.
Alternatively, we're looking at two or three or even four "standard fleets" glued together into a single mass, as the rachni scrape up everything that was capable of jumping into this region in time to matter. This could be effectively their entire rear area reserve force not busy facing down the Citadel, the Terminus Alliance, and the quarians.
I mean, when they had us bottled up with a fleet parked on Attican Beta, they had what, three dreadnoughts on station as part of the siege fleet? That is, I think, more likely to be a reference point for "one of their standard fleets." That's what they commit when they know they need some heavy iron (we'd already killed one rachni dreadnought), but don't expect more than ongoing moderate-intensity combat operations.
That ten-dreadnought fleet we're up against? That's a "the shit has hit the fan" fleet that's been sent to stomp on the trouble we're making in their rear areas. They may not actually be able to sustain that deployment here without compromising their defenses on another front.
Then again, they might, at which point we're kind of in trouble without some serious turtling.
Fact of the matter is, they have a fleet with ten Dreadnoughts literally one jump away from our only defensive position. Unless you can give me another reason why they don't just take an hour or so to jump through our relay and smash through, then the only logical explanation is that they think we're stronger than we are, by a lot.
They may be thinking in terms of "how much fortification do the Virmireans have on the Attican Beta relays?" If the relays are heavily defended on our side, then the combination of our known battlefleet plus the defenses might well be able to smash this rachni fleet, albeit at high cost. And if that happens it's a pretty sizeable military disaster for the rachni, I imagine, one they probably can't afford given that the situation on the front lines is... doubtful.
[Doubtful; they're gaining territory in some places but losing it in others. Losing ten capital ships, and still having to scrape up another fleet to besiege Virmire while dealing with all their external opponents, would be a pretty serious blow]
The great issue from Quriaran fleet is who's paying their salary for the duration?
All those foreign sailors spending money in our system is excellent for the economy, but since we are cut off from Quriaran government there's no way to solve that apart from asking the Quriaran fleet Admiral; which is a bit iffy since head of state shouldn't discuss this kind of thing with foreign military.
I'm most definitely not saying we should bribe the Quriarans, but giving them citizenship and right to vote is very much in our Mira's interest power.
I doubt quarians will want citizenship, because they can't live on Virmire or survive off its normal food infrastructure. Plus there may be political or loyalty issues, and we know the quarians are isolationist if not outright xenophobic at this time.
The most straightforward outcome would be for Virmire to pay the salaries and hope to collect from the quarians later; the salaries are a significant sum but small potatoes compared to our overall naval budget.
Alternatively, the quarians themselves may have procedures for this- say, the admiral may have authority to issue currency backed by the faith and credit of the Quarian government.
[I generally try to capitalize Mass Effect species names when referring to them as nationalities, but not when referring them as members of a species. Thus, Salarian Union, not salarian Union]
You are the most optimistic person in these thread. You always assume the best results for Virmire and not the worst.
Like the raiding fleet most likely got ambushed right when they came through the relay. It would not matter if they outnumbered the defenders if they get surprised.
Or that ten dreadnoughts can fire at extreme range and burn down most of our defenses without having to worry about getting hit back.
Those last two predictions are mutually exclusive.
If a raiding fleet is doomed because it jumps right into the teeth of an ambushing battlegroup, then by the same logic, an attacking war fleet will be in trouble if it jumps right into the teeth of our fixed defense platforms.
See, even if you're going to be pessimistic, you have to be consistent. You can't just predict the worst imaginable outcome literally all the time. Not when it results in self-contradictory predictions like "it'll be snowing tomorrow because snow is inconvenient, and at the same time it'll be a heat wave tomorrow because that'd be inconvenient too."
I think they would stay on the relay because it is what I would do to attack any fleet incoming. When you want to come up with things that you may encounter in a operation you picture what you do and plan for that. How would you fight a enemy that was coming through a relay with limited forces?
The Rachni empirically do not work that way.
We saw that in Turn 10's Interludes, where we surprised a third of the fleet at the relay.
Maintenance, fatigue, the risk of being taken by surprise, all those are reasons why they don't sit on the relay. And their larger fleets allow them the luxury of not needing a forward defense to hold a system.
WE do not work that way; once we built battlestations, we pulled our fleet back from the relay and only left the forts in range, bringing the fleet forward when a serious assault was under way.
while quality matter quantity still has a quality of it owns. We took on a fleet with 6 dreadnoughts against the seven battleships and two damaged dreadnoughts. We still came out ahead but mission lost one battleship 3 damaged and 3 omptimale. Not counting the hulked dreadnought and mission kill other one.
In open combat in the field. Where they were free to maneuver, and started firing from Extreme Range.
We had 1 BC seriously damaged enough to withdraw, and 6 remaining BCs, along with two allied dreads thrashed, mostly from previous damage.
This is a very different scenario when your enemy jumps straight into Long Range, where most of your ships and battlestations can engage.
As for a ambush ships do not have to vent when they jump strat through. Right now the Ranchi fleet is venting because they did 6 jumps in a short time.
We should not assume they are going to vent when they come right out. They only need to vent when it builds up.
You are now at LONG range, closing to MEDIUM, to the Rachni fleet. Presently, the tactical initiative is contested.
The Rachni has stripped its dreadnought's screen in order to commit fully to a general melee with your own vessels, with the dreadnought holding back for gun support. Heat readings are spiking quickly in the Rachni fleet.
Your fleet is still in artillery formation, but has time to reform to adapt to the situation. Your heat levels are well under control.
We have better quality, which shows itself in little things like cooling time.
They either don't, or consider it cheaper to not bother and invest the resources in building more ships rather than better ones.
The Zerg strategy, so to speak.
I am assuming the worse because you always assume the worst in a operation. Unless a politician is running something. We should assume that raiding fleet is not going to be operational or fighting in the next faze of combat. That these fleet will follow us and assault us.
You plan for the worst, so you can allow for consequences of Bad Things Happening.
You also keep a clear eye on known facts so you can take advantage of good things.
The last time we lost a fleet, it was because at the beginning of the quest, the then-Prime Minister sent most of two fleets of five heavy cruisers and screen, none of which had anything heavier than a heavy cruiser, into a relay where there were dreadnoughts passing through. Plural.
We still got part of a fleet back.
Here, we're sending two thirds of a raiding fleet, led by two capital ships, into another system, at a time when the enemy is responding to multiple brushfires elsewhere, some by us, some not. We have WoG-confirmed recon results that put the Maroon Sea garrison at about the same size as that of the Hades Gamma garrison, and half the Hades Gamma garrison didn't have a capital ship.
The fleet at Hades Gamma was cut in half in order to respond to the Nebula Expanse crisis; we have no reason to believe the Maroon Sea garrison would have remained at full strength, or larger. Not in the same time frame. And especially not after the Rachni just ended a major offensive, and are fighting off two others: the Quarian offensive that stranded 3RWF, and the Terminus one.
Alternatively, the quarians themselves may have procedures for this- say, the admiral may have authority to issue currency backed by the faith and credit of the Quarian government.
Food and board is provided by the Quarian navy, which will also keep meticulous records of the pay they're owed. Actual cash payment doesn't really matter until they have shore leave and want to live it up planetside. At that point the admiral probably borrows money from us (or arranges to sell off surplus ships/equipment/technology) and hands out spending money, deducting it from the salaries owed.
Side note: if the narrative on the evacuation matches the rolls the Quarians are going to see us as some kind of goddess of war. An enormous Rachni fleet does everything right and still suffers two degrees of failure... lovely.
On the other hand, if the rachni have, say, two or three dreadnoughts liberally escorted by cruisers and smaller ships in like proportion... well, we might be needing a new Secretary of War.
Minister. And your Minister is Toral K'Sharr. Hiral Beshkar is the Fleet Admiral pioneering your new raiding doctrine. K'Sharr is actually still back on Virmire.
Minister. And your Minister is Toral K'Sharr. Hiral Beshkar is the Fleet Admiral pioneering your new raiding doctrine. K'Sharr is actually still back on Virmire.
Minister. And your Minister is Toral K'Sharr. Hiral Beshkar is the Fleet Admiral pioneering your new raiding doctrine. K'Sharr is actually still back on Virmire.
The most straightforward outcome would be for Virmire to pay the salaries and hope to collect from the quarians later; the salaries are a significant sum but small potatoes compared to our overall naval budget.
Compared to the fact that we're going to be rebuilding much of their fleet, refuelling and rearming them, feeding the crews and proving medical care?
Paying salaries is basically a negligible expense.
We're already paying ~400 million soldiers and spacers; a few hundred thousand more isn't going to budge the needle on our military budget.
True.
Not as much as we'd probably miss Kurik if he got murked, but definitely miss him.
I was (and am) still hoping he'd grow his Martial with time, as long as he doesn't get himself killed.
Yes, credits. Blessedly. Although after decades of separation and a war economy, it's all but certain that the value has thoroughly decoupled anyway. Gonna be a time of it.
Yes, credits. Blessedly. Although after decades of separation and a war economy, it's all but certain that the value has thoroughly decoupled anyway. Gonna be a time of it.
Yes, credits. Blessedly. Although after decades of separation and a war economy, it's all but certain that the value has thoroughly decoupled anyway. Gonna be a time of it.
Yes, credits. Blessedly. Although after decades of separation and a war economy, it's all but certain that the value has thoroughly decoupled anyway. Gonna be a time of it.
Given the Volus and their mercantile nature, I'd imagine they and probably a few other economists have probably been thinking on how to deal with the matter for some time now. Personally, I think this wouldn't be as hard to deal with as one might think, though there'd certainly be problems.
Looking at the wiki, the credit has a managed floating exchange rate based on the value of the currencies of the council races. So, it might be a good idea to create our own currency soon given that we might re-establish some means of reliable contact with Citadel space in a few years. In the initial that should be fairly easy - one Citadel Credit at current value in Virmirean space will equal one Virmirean Credit at the start, and our financial institutions will exchange the Citadel Credits for Virmirean ones. We can probably then stabilize the value of our own currency by tying it to the value of some basket of defined resources in Virmirean space (X eezo + Y gold + Z food + <other stuff> = 1 Virmirean credit), and when it comes time to re-connect economies our financial institutions will have a basis on which to trade for Citadel Credits based on whatever they're determined to be worth.
And if we go for independence, it might be a good thing to have a local currency anyways.
There's a significant chance that throwing a 10 dreadnought fleet into the teeth of our relay defenses will end with a mauled fleet being thrown back.
100 CL+ platforms backed by up to 9 capital ships and screen is not trivial, not when you're coming out of a relay jump into their range.
We currently have 1 severely-damaged Quarian dreadnought, 3 effectively-undamaged battlecruisers, 3 damaged battlecruisers, and whatever will survive from the 1st raiding fleet's 2 BCs. So, best-case 5 undamaged, 4 damaged capships. More likely, less. So yeah, we'd maul them, but there's a good chance they could punch through.
Now, the dreadnoughts could wipe the defense platforms if they run the gauntlet and make it out of their range, then turn around to take them out from extreme range. They'd emerge at medium range*, likely disorganized, and have to take a lot of damage while getting out of range... but they could probably do it, with their numbers. The question is, do they want to tie up a massive fleet, with significant losses and damage? We don't know. We have no real idea what the strategic situation is, what the Rachni reserves are... but they've already lost 5 dreadnoughts, and much of their supporting fleet. As has been said, the question for them is, do they think they have the reserves to risk losing much of this fleet?
*Possibly long-to-extreme, if they scatter a lot... but then they're scattered a lot, and out of mutual support range.
Regarding a relay assault, here's from the Lore page:
Relay Assaults: As the only practical form of galactic travel, Mass Relays are the beginning and end of strategic depth and power projection. Those who control the relays, control the course of the war. Thus, the first large engagements in a war are often fought over these vital stations. These battles favor the defender, and heavily; the attacker can drift up to tens of thousands of kilometers, very unpredictably, and is almost invariably forced to reorient themselves upon transition. Even when things go right, that places the attacking fleet very close to the defenders from the start. Relay Assaults are brutal and frantic affairs, typically over within minutes. Attackers need to attack in force if they hope for victory
Also for reference, Extreme range is >10k kilometers, Long range is >1k km, and Close range starts at about 10 km.
So, while there are about 100 CL-strength (CA-level armor) defense platforms, they have to be deployed in a sphere covering probably at least ten thousand kilometers out from the relay, when their maximum range is most likely no more than 5k km. So, if you manage to maintain fleet cohesion, you're likely to only face 1/3 to 1/4 of the fixed defenses most of the time while breaking out of the defense shell. Granted, that's our full-strength defenses for the gateway to Hoc, so confirmation that other defenses on Attican Beta relays are similar strength would be welcome.
We can probably then stabilize the value of our own currency by tying it to the value of some basket of defined resources in Virmirean space (X eezo + Y gold + Z food + <other stuff> = 1 Virmirean credit)
Oh god, could we not? I'm a huge fan of fiat currency and think the best thing humans ever did was get off the gold standard... even if you distribute it across N goods, nothing backs a currency as well as an entire economy.
Oh god, could we not? I'm a huge fan of fiat currency and think the best thing humans ever did was get off the gold standard... even if you distribute it across N goods, nothing backs a currency as well as an entire economy.
Our problem here is that when our economy collides with the rest of the galaxy's economy, things are going to happen and it's not going to be pretty. Especially in light of the war. The big thing we need is a way to make it relatively painless to assess how much our currency weighs against the standard credit, because that's likely going to be the biggest issue we'll end up dealing with, and we can't just say one of our credits is worth a galactic credit because that's got a lot of potential for bad things. I don't really care so much about the specifics of what we do so much as we get something in place that'll make the transition easier. And whatever we do doesn't necessarily have to be permanent, either - we can change the system once our re-integration into the galactic economy is completed and stabilized.
Also, once we have a solid line of communication with the rest of the galaxy the propaganda video option should have a steady income stream attached to it to represent the residuals.
Side note: if the narrative on the evacuation matches the rolls the Quarians are going to see us as some kind of goddess of war. An enormous Rachni fleet does everything right and still suffers two degrees of failure... lovely.
Heh. I want to see if we can get the current political narrative to reflect the 2-degrees-of-success battle. "Sorry, didn't have time for a stupid political battle, I needed to get prepped to destroy 5 Rachni dreadnoughts and supporting fleet. And then bring home a battle-fleet worth of reinforcements."
Ruminations : Rachni culture and defensive strategy.
We have seen that the Rachni use a reaction force, it is not 'every queen for herself'
There are three main defensive strategies that use a reaction force.
Tripwire and smash : Border forces are calculated so that they live just long enough to report contact.
All other forces are consolidated into reaction fleets. Local forces minimum, very strong reaction forces.
The Rachni do not seem to use this strategy, local forces are too strong.
Hold and react : Border forces are large enough to engage attackers, and hold until reinforced.
Local forces medium, reaction forces strong.
This seems to be what we are seeing.
All in : Border forces are strong, all mobile units not currently engaged move at high speed to join at contact.
Local forces strong, but expected to leave own area to reinforce any fight, effectively becoming reaction forces.
This is a good description of our strategy. Not the Rachni strat, or we would have been buried after our initial breakout.
Now Queens are pretty much the only true individuals amongst Rachni, so I believe their strategy is heavily influenced by culture.
I find it significant that the fleet fighting 3RWF in Hades Nexus did not move to follow and engage.
No idea yet whether it is rude to send warships into another queen's area, or if it is rivalry 'Let her ASK me for help'.
So each queen maintains what her industry can support, and contributes to an all-rachni reaction (possibly attack?) force
TLDR local forces will probably not move to engage us if it means leaving their area, giving the opportunity to defeat them in detail.
Assuming we can do so before reaction force arrives.
[X][SALVAGE] Smash and grab. Get the sailors out, and then launch torpedoes. Bombard everything. Take the time to destroy anything without life signs attached. Will need a significant delay.
[X][SCREEN] In fact, you'll deploy your frigates too. All of the delay...if successful.
[X][BESHKAR] The Rachni think they've caught you out here. You disagree. They've sent this fleet across their space twice in response to your movements. You'll bet they don't have another just waiting around in...the Maroon Sea, say? Let Beshkar off the leash again. It's time for another planet to die.
[X][HERO] Delaying actions like this fit the EC's mission statement, and finished or not, they've been activated along with everybody else just in case. Throw them at the delaying efforts. Commits Kurik's bonus to SCREEN actions.
Operation Resurgent Grace
Hiral Beshkar's 1st Raiding Fleet makes the jump to the Maroon Sea cluster, expecting to find the same sort of garrison that awaited them in Hades Gamma, and that is indeed what they find. A severely reduced force, although this one is active and waiting at the relay. A single dreadnought, and a small fleet shielding it. Outnumbered, and even outgunned, with two battlecruiser's on Beshkar's side.
Battle Roll [Beshkar vs. Rachni]: 26+18 vs. 41+14. 44 vs. 55. Two degrees of failure.
But damn, could that fleet fight. Beshkar's fleet sets down at extreme range to the Rachni, and the time they spend switching from a relay transit formation to a battle formation and then closing the distance is time the Rachni spend well, using that dreadnought to bombard your own capitals.
And...
Well.
Eventually, a battlecruiser's luck was going to run out.
* * *
Klaxons howl on the bridge, and Fleet Admiral Beshkar jerks in his harness as another round strikes the ship.
"Strike! Along the spine!" calls the damage control officer. "We've lost atmosphere in compartments 47-12 through 82-12! Main gun inoperable-!"
Another impact rocks the ship, followed by a moment of horrid, twisting acceleration as the helm officer swears, frantically deactivating certain inputs. "I've lost all main port thrusters!"
"Aye, we're dead in the water!" replies DAMCON.
The captain, a salarian, looks to Beshkar. "Admiral, sir. No guns, and no thrust. We need to evacuate before the screen lets another shot through."
Beshkar grimaces, but nods. "Yes, you're right. Sound abandon ship."
The captain nods and turns. "Damage control, sound, 'abandon ship!' Comms, instruct our escorts to prepare to receive life pods! Damage control, have teams arming the scuttling charges!"
Beshkar unbuckles himself from his harness as the bridge springs into action around him, everybody crash-sleeping their consoles and flashing databanks before making for the pods. He takes a moment to rest his hand on the arm of his chair. "You did good, girl."
Then he kicks off, floating in the zero-g environment to a pod.
* * *
Eventually, of course, the Rachni have no choice but to fall back. With the Virmirean fleet unrestricted to the lackluster acceleration profile of a dreadnought, they have no problems closing to long, then medium, range. And at the threshold of medium range, still outnumbered and threatened with the possibility of dusting up with a battlecruiser in a melee, the Rachni turn away and pull back deeper into the system at FTL.
It doesn't matter, though. This battle stopped being about having the chance to burn the system a long time ago. This mess has taken long enough that the 1st Raiding has just been fighting for a chance to secure the relay and go. They do so, taking the time to secure or destroy what they can with the breathing space they've earned. They depart, leaving behind the wreckage of the ships lost.
The 1st Raiding proved unable to push past the Rachni garrison in a timely manner. While the Rachni were ultimately forced to retreat rather than commit to a losing melee, it was here that your luck ran out and the natural result of dreadnought vs. battlecruiser finally told. In addition to sundry other casualties (light, for the record, now at 60% strength from its prior 70%), the VWS Attican has been lost, gratefully with few hands aboard. FAdm. Hiral Beshkar has transferred his flag to the VWS Karimar.
* * *
As a result of the fight in the Maroon Sea cluster, while the Rachni battle fleet hesitates (slight delay bought), it does not stop and certainly does not turn back. It comes on, and your screen gets put to the test.
Battle Roll [Mira vs. Rachni]: 47+24(Mira)+19(Kurik) vs. 50+16. 90 vs. 66. Two degrees of success.
Miracles do not happen in a bright time.
Many forget this, but a miracle is not the story of a tidy operation. It is not the story of going in against reasonable odds, having your plans proceed more or less according to your expectations, and then leaving with your goals in hand. Miracles happen when things are darkest. Miracles are the result of pulling success from the jaws of defeat.
So. A superior force, which you could only maybe beat, jumping in out of nowhere, and you with your hands full. Fifty-six thousand lives on the line, and countless military secrets. On your side, a bunch of screening ships, and the putative start of an eventual elite Corps. The Rachni come on -- not as a single unit, but in a great, expanding cloud, screening vessels flying far and wide, taking dozens of different paths, confounding your efforts to block them until one, just one of these groups finds a gap and slips through, rounding about to circle around one of your pickets and cut it out of the net for the slaughter-
-and the Corps is there, the Explorer, lead ship of its class, executing a daring point-blank jump with its sister ships in tow and unloading torpedoes directly into the side of the enemy force before turning to limp away with heat monitors screaming.
You see a gap opening, a spot where the enemy will surely slip through, this time without the Corps to stop them-
-and, in a moment of mad inspiration, order a light cruiser to jump to within a light minute and fire at the gap, just firing over and over, too far away to be shot in return but near enough that no screening ship is going to be able to risk the passage.
Your ships fall back. Time and again, they slip back, dodging shots from a hundred guns and dancing with hundreds of their opposite numbers. Outnumbered, outgunned -- so back they fall, but slowly. You direct countless sallies and gambits, the Corps jumps in with bursts of mad genius over and over, and while some ships take hits and fall out, and sometimes the enemy presses just barely not through, you buy time.
Battlecruisers, bearing the scars of countless hits, take long chains of cruisers and the great, derelict dreadnought under tow. Cruisers shepherd frigates and corvettes to the relay. Before they go, they take the time to destroy everything, every little lifeless hulk floating in space, every scrap of floating debris you can find in the time you have. Then, you turn and make for the relay. It is an achingly slow course. It takes hours of carefully moving vast trains of warship through empty space, hideously vulnerable, constantly having to maneuver to dodge angry salvos from light-hours away as the Rachni grow increasingly frustrated and desperate, hoping to hit something, to make you truly pay for all you've done today, pay for a lost fleet, pay for the planet you razed-
And then your screen collapses in an orderly swarm, launching one last, dizzying salvo of torpedoes in a great cloud to force the Rachni to spend those extra few seconds evading, and then flying back to your fleet.
Your fleet, having accelerated as swiftly as the fragile tug lines would let you and now close to lightspeed, does not slow. They merely maneuver, bunching up to all hit the relay's approach corridor at once.
And as the Rachni swarm forward in a last, desperate attempt to stop you, the 1st Battle Fleet hits the relay and flashes away, returning home with every single survivor of the 3rd RWF in tow.
And that is a miracle you will happily claim.
Total irrecoverable casualties for the 1st Battle Fleet for the day: down to 75% strength, from 77%. You have recovered the 3rd RWF and all of its survivors, and done a reasonably thorough job of cleaning up the mess. After frantically detaching from your warships the hulls you towed, and preparing to receive assault through the relay, you spent a tense and terrified week waiting before it became apparent that nothing was coming. For whatever reason, the Rachni have elected not to pursue either of your fleets to Attican Beta.
Mission successful.
Prime Minister,
This office has been working full-time since Operation Resurgent Grace, trying to draw conclusions from the intelligence we gathered. What follows are those conclusions by which we will stand with confidence:
Despite its status as a processing center for at least four, and likely five, clusters, Hades Gamma's relay system was not developed to the extent one would expect, given knowledge of Rachni population growth and construction speed. The Rachni's colonial industrial capacity must be lagging severely under the demands of the war effort. This, we had previously expected from intelligence gathered in Attican Beta and the Kepler Verge, but for such a crucial system to be so underdeveloped is further, strong evidence.
The heaviest opposition the Rachni mustered in response to Operation Resurgent Grace was the ten-dreadnought battle fleet observed in both Hades Gamma and the Nubian Expanse. Furthermore, upon review of the data from the reconnaissance pulse, we have found that this force was comprised, in the majority, of ships pulled from border garrisons in Attican Beta's neighboring systems. The Rachni must be sufficiently heavily committed elsewhere -- likely to the ongoing Terminus offensive -- that weakening border patrols was considered a worthwhile and necessary tradeoff.
The Rachni prioritized stopping our rendezvous with the 3rd Rannoch War Fleet over even complete damage to orbital installations, but turned back upon our demonstrated willingness to destroy a planet's surface, and waited to ensure that the 1st Raiding Fleet's second incursion was contained before committing to an assault on the 1st Battle Fleet. From this we conclude that the Rachni do not find it acceptable to permit us either to re-establish contact with the wider galaxy, or to cause substantial and irrecoverable amounts of industrial damage to their colonial economy, and that the economic damage is a risk they privilege higher in their consideration.
The Rachni have failed to follow up on Operation Resurgent Grace with an offensive, indicating an unwillingness to sustain the casualties they expect from doing so. Again, we conclude that their commitments elsewhere make committed action here an investment they hope to avoid.
From these points, this office advances the following conclusion: the Rachni are beginning to experience critical amounts of war-weariness and industrial strain. Operation Resurgent Grace has shown that the Rachni war machine is supported by an underdeveloped industry base; that they lack assets to respond to committed offensives on more than one front, where they must defend three; that they respond with extreme aggression to economic damage or the possibility of separated enemies reuniting; and that they consider themselves incapable of launching punitive attacks on our space in response even to gross provocations. These are not the actions of a victorious power. It is the opinion of this office that the Rachni are badly overextended and incapable of sustaining the losses their attrition-based doctrine demands in the face of its present opposition.
Given the above conclusions, it is the recommendation of this office that the military and the office of the Prime Minister expend all available political, industrial, and military effort towards a renewed offensive against Rachni space in the near future. A detailed report on our findings, and the reasoning behind them, follows this abstract.
In the wake of what has come to be known as Operation Resurgent Grace, the question arises of what exactly to do about the 3rd RWF. Quite aside from the practicalities of the matter, which require rather more consideration, you need to decide the terms of their stay. Realistically, the balance of power in Virmirean space is such that Fleet Admiral Malan's status as a participant in this discussion is largely a formality; you support his fleet, so the decision is ultimately yours. There are several, competing schools of thought regarding what status the 3rd should have.
[ ][RWF] The 3rd is, realistically, at your mercy, but that is no way to treat allies. It would be grossly inappropriate to hold this leverage over them. You will recognize Admiral Malan as the local, ranking representative of the Republic of Rannoch, with absolute power over his domain and empowered to purchase yard space and other goods and services from your government in the Republic's name, credited to their government. This polite fiction, of course, binds the Republic itself not a whit, but the sheer generosity of this deal will represent a major concession on your part when you establish contact with the Republic proper and commence negotiations. Realistically, Malan will do what you ask of him regardless of the formality of your relationship -- but in this case, it would be asking, and to preserve the pretense would require that it ever remain just asking.
[ ][RWF] You are at war, and Malan has already indicated his willingness to submit to your command. Make sure that he understands that this is no formality, moving forward. While the 3rd RWF remains a quarian asset, it must be under your command. It will of course be returned to the Republic of Rannoch once contact is re-established, but until that time, it behaves as a Virmirean possession. Malan shall receive all of the respect and precedence due his rank, but he will be your subordinate, with all that that implies. This won't buy you any favors from the -- famously xenophobic -- Republic when it comes time for negotiations, but the realities of the situation mean that it really won't hurt, either. You've already bought yourself a lot of future goodwill by saving this fleet in the first place, anyway.
[ ][RWF] Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The most radical school of thought regarding the 3rd holds that as you are maintaining it, at what promises to be considerable expense, you hold every right to do with the fleet as you please. Intern the ships. The sailors aboard will be honored guests of Virmire, and of course they are not your prisoners and will be free to go once that's possible, but the ships are yours until the war over, presuming they last that long in the face of battle damage and time (ha). This promises to be an absolute scandal once contact is re-established. Hopefully your extraordinary efforts to save the sailors aboard those ships will make up for the fact that Rannoch really isn't getting those ships back.
As you prepared to leave the Nubian Expanse, you received a top-priority communication from an EC captain named Kurik -- you vaguely remember him -- with an insane proposal. He argued that as the Rachni were currently in a pursuit formation, the relay to the Hades Nexus was presently unguarded -- and that the Hades Nexus was but one jump away from friendly space. With local forces there recovering from the 3rd RWF's passage, and dealing with an ongoing offensive, the time was as ripe as it was ever going to be. He volunteered his ship for the job.
[ ][RUNNER] You authorized his request. The chance isn't good, but with the EC running it, you think you have a shot. This kind of thing is held to be impossible, and consequently, has never been tried...so the Rachni will never expect it. Sending him a hurried data packet containing information that you want the rest of the galaxy to have (your available forces, your ability to contribute to the fight, data analysis on the Rachni from this last operation, the rescue of the 3rd RWF, etc.) you gave him a few other ships to boost his chances and sent him on his way. Commits Captain Jamar Kurik and several EC vessels to a blockade run, taking advantage of Rachni weaknesses along the path. All battle rolls along the way will be made with his characteristic martial bonus (19). Failure means death.
[ ][RUNNER] You authorized his request, but not as an EC operation. It's cold, but you can lose regular corvettes by the dozen. Not the EC. Not even if it means it will probably come to nothing this way. You picked out a group of vessels, gave them the data, and sent them off. Commit more non-EC ships to a blockade run. All battle rolls along the way will be made with a bonus of 6, reflecting the fact that nobody commanding a corvette, who you can quickly find under pressure, is really prepared for this kind of command. Failure means death.
[ ][RUNNER] You denied his request. You're not in the habit of arguing suicide missions of this nature. You withdraw without sending any corvettes. [ ][RUNNER] You authorized his request, but demanded that a different EC captain handle the mission.Mira, unlike you, doesn't know Kurik from Adam yet, aside from having heard Shurna mention his name as a promising recruit a couple of times, and has no reason to value him over any other EC captain.
TWO-HOUR MORATORIUM. THIS VOTE IS NOW CLOSED.
Hm...yes, I think these will do nicely. As always, you may submit write-ins. Approval voting remains a thing.
We'll be resuming year posts after this one, folks, whereupon I will update the Status Screen with revised Attentions for various factions (as far as the MoR can guess, anyway). Have fun~!
[ ][RWF] The 3rd is, realistically, at your mercy, but that is no way to treat allies. It would be grossly inappropriate to hold this leverage over them. You will recognize Admiral Malan as the local, ranking representative of the Republic of Rannoch, with absolute power over his domain and empowered to purchase yard space and other goods and services from your government in the Republic's name, credited to their government. This polite fiction, of course, binds the Republic itself not a whit, but the sheer generosity of this deal will represent a major concession on your part when you establish contact with the Republic proper and commence negotiations. Realistically, Malan will do what you ask of him regardless of the formality of your relationship -- but in this case, it would be asking, and to preserve the pretense would require that it ever remain just asking.
Honestly, the only reason NOT to pick this is if Rannoch is dead, or at least will be by the time we expand enough for it to matter. The last thing we want is a repeat with the pseudo-larians, where we have an independent polity mooching off our industry. If the Quarians are still their own people with their own planet to go to, great, but if they're going to be part of the Vermirian forces, I want to tax they ass.
Right, I think it's past time we started making proper dreadnoughts. Battlecruisers are great cruiser killers, but they don't have the armour to stand up to fighting dreadnoughts.
[ ][RWF] The 3rd is, realistically, at your mercy, but that is no way to treat allies. It would be grossly inappropriate to hold this leverage over them. You will recognize Admiral Malan as the local, ranking representative of the Republic of Rannoch, with absolute power over his domain and empowered to purchase yard space and other goods and services from your government in the Republic's name, credited to their government. This polite fiction, of course, binds the Republic itself not a whit, but the sheer generosity of this deal will represent a major concession on your part when you establish contact with the Republic proper and commence negotiations. Realistically, Malan will do what you ask of him regardless of the formality of your relationship -- but in this case, it would be asking, and to preserve the pretense would require that it ever remain just asking.
This is honestly the best thing to do. We just got every single Quarion out alive. Doing this basically guarantees the goodwill of the Republic of Rannoch, both by their politicians and their people.
Send three small teams. Kurk will be the middle team. They'll chase the first team, and be delayed from pursuing the second team by the third. Cold blooded and sacrificial. It's unlikely the middle team will get back... but they'll get through in one direction at least.
And your Minister is Toral K'Sharr. Hiral Beshkar is the Fleet Admiral pioneering your new raiding doctrine. K'Sharr is actually still back on Virmire.
