Thr35Fingers
Raid on Alabast
"The RTS Christian breaches atmosphere to extract Marine raiders on Alabast."
With their new Vesuvius-class cruisers, the Nipponian Empire was inflciting terrible losses on the Combined Navies. The opening months of the Second Black War were a series of defeats or pyrrhic victories for the Allies. The hordes of newly constructed Imperial cruisers were totally unexpected, representing an enormous industrial effort all the more impressive for the fact it was carried out in near-total secrecy.
The Holy Terran Republic's NIO saught to redeem itself in the eyes of the Admiralty. They started a massive clandestine network of spies and signal-gathering ships to track the movements of Vesuvius-class cruisers. When a suitable candidate presented itself, they presented Operation Red Castle to CINCSNO. Intel had revealed that the RIS Andromeda had been heavily damaged and sent to the shipyards on Alabast for repairs.
Alabast, being deep within Imperial territory, was lightly defended. The NIO proposed to send a small raiding force to infiltrate the repair yards, study the ship, sabotage it if possible, then bring back their findings so a weakness could be found. The plan was rejected by the War Council. The Council didn't believe any force small enough to get to Alabast undetected could fight its way back, and any large force would be intercepted immediately. One member, an unidentified high-ranking Army general, said it was "the most hare-brained scheme I've ever heard!" Another said the operation was "practically suicide".
Admiral Lewis "Snipe" Lee, an infamous fire-breather who'd won his commission by operational merit, disagreed. He privately approached the three intelligence officers who'd made the presentation and gave them his support. He suggested that a couple destroyers from the 3rd Fleet could "go down for maintenace" for a few days. Operation Red Castle was on. The three NIO officers would travel with the task force.
The RTS Christian and the RTS Cutlass would operate under the command of the Christian's CO, Captain Dawson. A special Marine detachment, code-named Ronin, was crammed solely aboard the Christian, as the Cutlass, being a Cutthroat-class, did not have the room to spare. Task Force Cetus set off in the dead of night, lighting up their FTLs only when behind the cover of a nearby moon.
Making their way past ISA pickets, they reached Imperial territory on the second day. Communicating by old-fashioned light signals, they evaded patrol units, though a tense moment occurred when a Concordat raider suddenly appeared and almost rammed the Christian. Luckily, the Cutlass managed to put a torpedo square into its engines without being detected. Given the notoriously unstable cores on Concordat ships, this one's sudden catastrophic failure didn't arouse Imperial suspicion.
On the fourth day, Task Force Cetus arrived in the Alabast system. As per the plan, the Christian took up station in near orbit and launched dropships carrying Marines and the NIO officers. The Cutlass maintained stealth and remained at stand-off distance to offer support if it became necessary.
The Marine dropships touched down, and Ronin moved towards its objective, which was laid up in docks nearby. Kinetic rounds from the orbiting destroyer flattened any suspected troop barracks and defensive structures, as well as roads of ingress to the yards. The Marines, after a brief firefight with dock guards, made it to the enemy cruiser.
Once inside, Ronin split into multiple groups led by an Intel officer. Eliminating any crew they came across, the teams headed for the captain's quarters, engineering room, CIC, and the primary magazine.
In an incredible stroke of good fortune, detailed schematics of the ship were found in the captains cabin, along with a frightened dock foreman hiding under the bed. Laser scans were made of the interior of the ship and charges planted in the primary magazine. Ronin headed for the dropships, but an Aluben-class cruiser blasted the LZ with plasma before they got there. The cruiser had just finished its own repairs and had been loitering in the lee of the planet, unnoticed.
The only way now to get the Marines off-planet was to land the Christian, which would be suicide under the guns of the Aluben. Although the scans of the Vesuvius and its schematics had been uploaded to the orbiting ships, Capt. Dawson never for a second considered abandoning his men.
Time was of the essence. An armoured battalion had closed in on the stranded troops, too close for orbital support. The Marines were low on ammo and a distress call had gone out to the Imperial fleet.
The Cutlass' captain leapt into action. He hurled his ship against the Nipponian heavy cruiser, drawing it away from the planet. The Christian plunged into a steep orbital entry, heating the outer hull plates to the limit of their metallurgical tolerance. Only excellent fire control by the Cutlass' Weapons System Operator Lieutenant Robin Kuo enabled it to tackle its much larger opponent.
Torpedos slammed into the heavy Imperial cruiser, whose barrages of plasma couldnt touch the erratic high-g maneuvers of the Cutlass. Finally, a daring raking pass at point-blank range breached the Aluben-class's power core, destroying it in a flash of atomic fire.
Meanwhile, the Christian managed to land near the Marines, who made a fighting withdrawal under the cover of the destroyer's guns. The Christian broke orbit just as an Imperial QRF fleet jumped in-system.
There followed eight harrowing days of pursuit and evasion, during which the Christian exhausted all of its ammunition. Task Force Cetus destroyed another two destroyers and damaged a cruiser during its journey back. The Cutlass was down to its last quarter-load of torpedoes when they reached safety.
Admiral Lee could not be punished for going being his superiors' back with such a success, and from then on the NIO was regarded very highly in the Navy for its willingness to take bold risks.
Cost of Operation Red Castle:
- 10 million credits for ship repairs
- 21 million credits for dropship replacements
- 4.9 million credits for ammuntion expended
- 162,533 credits to be paid to ((The Sailor's Yard)) for drinks & damages following celebratory shore leave of Task Force Cetus sailors & marines.
Raid on Alabast
"The RTS Christian breaches atmosphere to extract Marine raiders on Alabast."
With their new Vesuvius-class cruisers, the Nipponian Empire was inflciting terrible losses on the Combined Navies. The opening months of the Second Black War were a series of defeats or pyrrhic victories for the Allies. The hordes of newly constructed Imperial cruisers were totally unexpected, representing an enormous industrial effort all the more impressive for the fact it was carried out in near-total secrecy.
The Holy Terran Republic's NIO saught to redeem itself in the eyes of the Admiralty. They started a massive clandestine network of spies and signal-gathering ships to track the movements of Vesuvius-class cruisers. When a suitable candidate presented itself, they presented Operation Red Castle to CINCSNO. Intel had revealed that the RIS Andromeda had been heavily damaged and sent to the shipyards on Alabast for repairs.
Alabast, being deep within Imperial territory, was lightly defended. The NIO proposed to send a small raiding force to infiltrate the repair yards, study the ship, sabotage it if possible, then bring back their findings so a weakness could be found. The plan was rejected by the War Council. The Council didn't believe any force small enough to get to Alabast undetected could fight its way back, and any large force would be intercepted immediately. One member, an unidentified high-ranking Army general, said it was "the most hare-brained scheme I've ever heard!" Another said the operation was "practically suicide".
Admiral Lewis "Snipe" Lee, an infamous fire-breather who'd won his commission by operational merit, disagreed. He privately approached the three intelligence officers who'd made the presentation and gave them his support. He suggested that a couple destroyers from the 3rd Fleet could "go down for maintenace" for a few days. Operation Red Castle was on. The three NIO officers would travel with the task force.
The RTS Christian and the RTS Cutlass would operate under the command of the Christian's CO, Captain Dawson. A special Marine detachment, code-named Ronin, was crammed solely aboard the Christian, as the Cutlass, being a Cutthroat-class, did not have the room to spare. Task Force Cetus set off in the dead of night, lighting up their FTLs only when behind the cover of a nearby moon.
Making their way past ISA pickets, they reached Imperial territory on the second day. Communicating by old-fashioned light signals, they evaded patrol units, though a tense moment occurred when a Concordat raider suddenly appeared and almost rammed the Christian. Luckily, the Cutlass managed to put a torpedo square into its engines without being detected. Given the notoriously unstable cores on Concordat ships, this one's sudden catastrophic failure didn't arouse Imperial suspicion.
On the fourth day, Task Force Cetus arrived in the Alabast system. As per the plan, the Christian took up station in near orbit and launched dropships carrying Marines and the NIO officers. The Cutlass maintained stealth and remained at stand-off distance to offer support if it became necessary.
The Marine dropships touched down, and Ronin moved towards its objective, which was laid up in docks nearby. Kinetic rounds from the orbiting destroyer flattened any suspected troop barracks and defensive structures, as well as roads of ingress to the yards. The Marines, after a brief firefight with dock guards, made it to the enemy cruiser.
Once inside, Ronin split into multiple groups led by an Intel officer. Eliminating any crew they came across, the teams headed for the captain's quarters, engineering room, CIC, and the primary magazine.
In an incredible stroke of good fortune, detailed schematics of the ship were found in the captains cabin, along with a frightened dock foreman hiding under the bed. Laser scans were made of the interior of the ship and charges planted in the primary magazine. Ronin headed for the dropships, but an Aluben-class cruiser blasted the LZ with plasma before they got there. The cruiser had just finished its own repairs and had been loitering in the lee of the planet, unnoticed.
The only way now to get the Marines off-planet was to land the Christian, which would be suicide under the guns of the Aluben. Although the scans of the Vesuvius and its schematics had been uploaded to the orbiting ships, Capt. Dawson never for a second considered abandoning his men.
Time was of the essence. An armoured battalion had closed in on the stranded troops, too close for orbital support. The Marines were low on ammo and a distress call had gone out to the Imperial fleet.
The Cutlass' captain leapt into action. He hurled his ship against the Nipponian heavy cruiser, drawing it away from the planet. The Christian plunged into a steep orbital entry, heating the outer hull plates to the limit of their metallurgical tolerance. Only excellent fire control by the Cutlass' Weapons System Operator Lieutenant Robin Kuo enabled it to tackle its much larger opponent.
Torpedos slammed into the heavy Imperial cruiser, whose barrages of plasma couldnt touch the erratic high-g maneuvers of the Cutlass. Finally, a daring raking pass at point-blank range breached the Aluben-class's power core, destroying it in a flash of atomic fire.
Meanwhile, the Christian managed to land near the Marines, who made a fighting withdrawal under the cover of the destroyer's guns. The Christian broke orbit just as an Imperial QRF fleet jumped in-system.
There followed eight harrowing days of pursuit and evasion, during which the Christian exhausted all of its ammunition. Task Force Cetus destroyed another two destroyers and damaged a cruiser during its journey back. The Cutlass was down to its last quarter-load of torpedoes when they reached safety.
Admiral Lee could not be punished for going being his superiors' back with such a success, and from then on the NIO was regarded very highly in the Navy for its willingness to take bold risks.
Cost of Operation Red Castle:
- 10 million credits for ship repairs
- 21 million credits for dropship replacements
- 4.9 million credits for ammuntion expended
- 162,533 credits to be paid to ((The Sailor's Yard)) for drinks & damages following celebratory shore leave of Task Force Cetus sailors & marines.