The commodore finally looked up and smiled. "Good eye, Juleen! No this isn't one of our battles, but it is one of the most decisive naval actions in recent memory. I believe the Federation refers to it as 'The Battle of Ixaria Approach'. This is where Commodore Nash ka'Sharren led a Federation task force to kill the Morshadd Emperor and destroy the core of the Arcadian Fleet. She virtually won the war in this single battle."
"I would have been better for us if she had lost," said Juleen, parroting the opinion he'd heard from other commanders.
Wenlai waved the opinion off, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Anyway I've finally been able to get a recording of the battle, courtesy of our allies among the Licori. Commodore ka'Sharren is supposed to be one of the Federation's most skilled commanders. Watching how she runs a battle, I believe I understand her much better. And look... look at this and tell me what you see."
Juleen watched as
one of the Licori cruisers launched a spread of torpedoes at one of the two E-Class Federation battleships in the fight. They exploded with vastly more destructive power than an ordinary photon torpedo should have produced, severely damaging the ship. Before it could launch any more, the other Federation battleship swung around and disabled the same cruiser with an overcharged phaser blast. "The Licori used some of those mentat super-weapons of theirs to take out the Federation battleship?" offered Juleen.
"No! Well, yes. You're right, but that's not the important part. This is where Warmaster Halkh had a chance to win the battle. One of those two battleships had ka'Sharren on it. If he could have hit her battle bridge with that torpedo strike, he could have destroyed the Federation's command structure. Look at how the Licori cruiser holds back its fire... you can tell that's what he's aiming for."
The commodore replayed that part of the battle. Now that it had been pointed out, Juleen could see what was happening. "Too bad he guessed the wrong ship," Juleen offered.
Wenlai frowned. "It shouldn't have been necessary to guess. If you look at the distribution of the Federation fleet... how the ships move... it's obvious where they're being commanded from."
Interesting. Let's see, who do we have that can go up against the LOGH expies.
Ah yes, of course...
Halkh:
"Do Romulans have a proverb about hindsight being ten/ten? Because Licori do."
Of course Halkh would still be on about that. Great tactician. It would have been an excellent glory moment to have crippled the Federation's flagship.
I wonder if he is also a great strategist, though. I suspect not.
A Decisive Naval Action (?)
The screens and walls of Analysis 2, Battle Review Division's main projector suite, glittered with the gold edge of active holographic projections. In the middle, a single human woman in Admiral's red leans slightly against the railing, studying the simulated ships as they spin around her, playing out the recording of a battle that some say won a war.
"Admiral Chen," a soft voice says from the door. "Tiger Team has this room booked in twenty minutes."
"I'll be done by then, Pathe," Admiral Patricia Chen says, not bothering to look over her shoulder.
The Amarkian vice admiral steps forward to join Patricia Chen at the observation deck.
"Ixaria Approach," he says. "We went over this battle scores of times. Perhaps the finest example of the chivalric spirit since the Battle of Kadesh. You think you see something we missed?"
"I doubt that," Patricia Chen says. "I was just gathering some data for a simulation I'm putting together. What-ifs and readiness drills that might be useful for crew training, out in the field." She taps her PADD for emphasis.
"What-if your ship gets hit by a exotic matter-destabilizing torpedo?" Pathe asks with a small smile, as the strike on the
Liberty plays out in front of them.
"More of a scientific curiosity than a teachable moment," Patricia replies. "I've heard too many say that if Warmaster Halkh had only hit the
Enterprise instead of the
Liberty, it would have swung the battle."
"Wouldn't it have?"
"Probably. The Warmaster's targeting decisions could have made a massive difference. Even if the
Enterprise had survived, it would not have been able to destroy the
Pride. With our flagship crippled, their forces could have rallied and forced a retreat. If one studies the battle out of tactical or academic interest, that one mistake stands out."
"And?" Pathe asks, suspecting that Chen has a point to make.
"And it would be utterly academic, of course," Patricia says with a snap of her fingers. "Observe."
She hits rewind back to the launch of the fateful torpedo spread and pauses the recording there.
"It's true, Halkh could have turned the battle in this moment," she tells her counterpart. "If he had been luckier, he might have guessed right. If he had judged ka'Sharren better, he might have targeted the right ship. If he had studied Federation history or talked to our diplomats
before his capture, perhaps he would have recognized the
Enterprise. He would have to win the rest of the battle, of course, which would require more luck, more skill. And we would sorely miss the
Enterprise, and ka'Sharren too if she is wounded or dies."
She pauses for a moment, then leans forward to wave her arms at the frozen holographic ships.
"But what of it?" Patricia says. "Then what? What happens
after Warmaster Halkh drives off Task Force 2 by hitting the
Enterprise where it hurts? Can you see it?"
Pathe looks where Patricia is gesturing. The Licori fleet is burning. The
Indefatigable has a gaping hole where its bridge used to be, the Emperor's quarters behind that already exposed to vacuum. The
Venerable has no such damage to its command facilities, but two of its six nacelles have been shorne clean off, and the hull plating is starting to peel off, barely holding together. The
Insight is a rapidly expanding cloud of debris. The
Censor and the
Beautiful are drifting wrecks. Only the
Pride looks fully operational, covered phaser scorches and shields flickering.
"You see?" Chen asks with a bounce in her voice. "Is this fleet in any condition to contest Ixaria Orbit? Task Force 1 is battle-weary, but the
Excelsior is no slouch, and the Ked Paddah have three battleships ready too."
She thumbs the remote, selecting an Unsaved Custom Scenario 4 from the menu, and the Licori ships, equally damaged, their frigate escort returned, are now facing the nearly-undamaged
Excelsior,
Lexington,
Krinuk, Lightning, Calgary, Cautious, Defender, Shrewd, and
Watchful. Outmassed over two-to-one, the result is clear to the two veteran admirals.
"So even if Halkh had won the battle, he had no chance of victory," Pathe concludes. "Is that what you're trying to teach our ensigns and cadets?"
"Well, as you know well, there are ways to win a battle with only minor damage," Patricia says. "Ambushes. Fixed defenses. Smaller engagements where skill and trump cards are bigger factors. It's not easy, of course. Next to impossible when you're racing to relieve a world under siege, and are forced into a deep space intercept."
"And given that ka'Sharren made that intercept..." Pathe murmurs.
"Exactly as she explained in her after-action report," Patricia says. "She knew from the moment the sensor reports came in that even fighting to a loss would still give Thuir the edge he needed to win.
That's the teachable moment here."
"A costly loss it may have been, had Halkh and our armchair admirals had their way. If I may ask, though. You seem to have more than a passing interest in this battle. Any reason?"
"Ah, that's, ah..." Patricia trails off. "It reminds me of my younger days," she admits. "Because I would have been that commodore, charging off on a prayer and relying on my ship to get me out of a tough spot. I had something of a knack for risky plays."
She shuts down the battle review projector, the room's lights reactivating as they leave. Tiger Team's waiting analysts file in behind them.
"Have you given a thought to acting as Red Team lead in one of our simulations?" Pathe Lantriss asks her as they walk towards the transporter.
Patricia gives a pained look and sighs.
"I suspect my schedule will need to be twisted in knots to allow it, but if I ever have a lot of free time on hand, I would love to. You probably won't want to tell your doctrine teams beforehand, though."
"Tell us what?" a passing ensign asks the two admirals.
Patricia Chen just smiles enigmatically.
"Oh, don't worry about it."
]
